Japanese Notion of Beauty: Ganguro

Japanese Notion of Beauty: Ganguro

Ganguro is an alternative fashion trend of blonde or orange hair and tanned skin among young Japanese women. Ganguro is the larger subculture of gyaru, a slang term used for various groups of young women, usually referring to overly childish rebellious girls Ganguro is a fashion style, where young women combine a deep tan with hair dyed in shades of orange to blonde, or a silver grey known as “high bleached”. Ganguro women also use black ink as eye-liner and white concealer is used as lipstick and eye shadow. The ganguro look isn’t complete without false eyelashes, plastic facial gems, pearl powder, platform shoes, and brightly colored outfits. In the field of Japanese studies researchers believe that ganguro is a form of revenge against traditional Japanese society due to resentment of neglect, isolation, and the constraints of Japanese society.

The practice of the ganguro lifestyle is an attempt at individuality, self-expression, and freedom, in open defiance of standards and regulations. There are two types of ganguro practitioners within the ganguro culture, Yamanba, a term that is derived from the name of a mountain hag in Japanese folklore whom the fashion resembles, and Manba. Manba practitioners have dark tans and white lipstick, pastel eye make-up, tiny metallic or glittery adhesive below the eyes, brightly colored circle lenses, plastic Day-Glo colored clothing and incongruous accessories. Yamanba’s on the other hand are more extreme and their hair is often multicolored, and usually synthetic. Manba’s and Yamanba’s can be identify distinctively by where their make-up is placed, Yamanba’s have white make-up only above the eye, while Manba’s have make-up below and above the eye.

The culture of Ganguro has transformed the notion of Japanese beauty, from the traditional Japanese beauty that has placed countless constraints on the young female population to a place of no limitations or roles. Ganguro has become normalized as a form of female beauty by magazines, television, and media making ganguro a face of Japanese beauty that promotes expression, liberty, and difference.

“Ganguro - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ganguro (Accessed May 7, 2010).

Macias, Patrick; Evers, and Macias, Patrick; Evers, Izumi. 2007. Japanese Schoolgirl Inferno - Tokyo Teen Fashion Subculture Handbook. San Francisco: Chronicle Books.