Ganguro

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Ganguro is a fashion trend among many Japanese girls which peaked in popularity from the late 1990s to the early 2000s, an outgrowth of chapatsu hair dyeing. The Shibuya and Ikebukuro districts of Tokyo are the center of ganguro fashion.

The basic look consists of bleached hair, a deep tan, both black and white eyeliners, false eyelashes, platform shoes (usually sandals or boots), and brightly-colored outfits. Also typical of the "Ganguro Gal" look are cell phones covered with purikura stickers, tie-dyed sarongs, mini-skirts, hibiscus flower hairpins, and lots of bracelets, rings and necklaces.

Extreme trend followers further bleach their hair up to a platinum blond shade, get even deeper tans, wear white lipstick, multicolored pastel eyeshadows and tiny metallic or glittery adhesives around the bottom rim of the eye sockets. Popular Ganguro magazines include Egg, Popteen, and Ego System.

In an interview with Tony Barrell, Shoichi Aoki, the creator of FRUiTS magazine, stated: "Ganguro was a phenomenon that was specific to Shibuya, about 1km away from Harajuku—which we have been talking about—and they were totally different so FRUiTS as a rule didn’t really take them up. Only a few times we’ve covered ganguro in our magazine. Where they came from is actually a mystery, no one really knows but there is some speculation that they were girls who were infatuated or fascinated with Janet Jackson or black American musicians or perhaps Naomi Campbell, the supermodel, but it’s still a mystery what their origins were."

Some foreign observers speculate as to 'who' these ganguro are "meant" to look like. Some say that because of the blonde hair, hibiscus flowers, and extremely tan skin, they want to look like America's west coast girls. A handful of others believe it is an obsession with being black. A more nuanced explanation is that the Ganguro girl is a unique style evolved from Japan's own original culture in response to the media/entertainment pop culture of the West. Like certain subcultures in the West, the style may be a form of self-expression in opposition to conservative mores.

Ganguro are almost always portrayed negatively by the Japanese media.

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It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Ganguro"