Fashion Fierce

Japanese Ganguro Fashion

Black and white make up styles and clothing styles are very popular in the West and that once again can be attributed to a Japanese street culture look. The fondness for this stark and creative look is inspired by what is known as ganguro fashion which is found mainly in the arty districts of Tokyo like Shibuya and Ikebukuro districts of Tokyo. The look has been around since the late nineties and designers like Gwen Stefani have taken their cues for their own collections from this type of Japanese street culture.

The basic look consists of bleached hair and a deep tan which is not exceptional in itself except that most Japanese woman is born with jet black hair. Ganjuro stands for “black face” in Japanese and refers to the heavy black eyeliner and loads of mascara that is used for this look. The look is also often completed with fake eye lashes and heavy white eyeliner below the eyes.

A real signature of this look is a tiny glittery adhesive that is worn on the bottom rim of the eye. White lipstick is also common which gives the women that wear this work a distinctly sixties feel.

There are also anime characters (Japanese cartoon characters) that are based on ganguro. One of them is called Peach Girl manga. This refers to a famous anime character named Memo who claims that she came by her tan skin and blonde hair naturali.

One subculture spring off of this look is called Manba or Yamamba which means ‘mountain hag.” However the look is actually very glamorous.

The women who sport this look seem liek Birds of Paradize. There are rhinestones and glittery adhesives below the eyes and brightly colored hair extensions in colors like pink and violet attached to the hair. The hair may also have clips attached to give it more height or make it seem longer.

Women also put stickers right on their faces and they could be images from Buddhism or cartoon characters like Hello Kitty.

Dayglo colored clothing and brightly colored contact lenses are also part of the Manba ganguro fashion look. For the longest times it was very hip in Japan to wear a Hawaiin lei with your ganguro style outfit. Other outrageous accessories worn might include an entire stuffed animal hanging from your hip or neck, bells on your ankles or around your neck or giant fake hibiscuses.

There is one small distinction between Manba and Yamanba looks. Yamanba will have white make up above the eye only while manba ganguro practicitoners will boast it below the eye as well.

Popular magazines associated with this trend in Japan are Popteen, Egg and Ego System.