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Ganguro gals.

Ganguro (ガングロ, Ganguro^?) is an alternative fashion trend among young Japanese women which peaked in popularity around the year 2000, but remains in evidence today. The Shibuya and Ikebukuro districts of Tokyo are the center of ganguro fashion.

The basic look consists of dyed hair (predominantly blonde, but often of several colors) and a deep tan. Black and white eyeliner, false eyelashes, platform shoes, and brightly-colored outfits complete the ganguro look. Also typical of ganguro fashion are tie-dyed sarongs, miniskirts, and lots of bracelets, rings and necklaces.

Fashion magazines like "Egg" and "Cawaii" have had a direct influence on the ganguro. Other popular ganguro magazines include Popteen and Ego System. It has been proposed that the ganguro look is meant to resemble a certain African anime character who had brown skin and multicolored hair;^{[citation needed]} African-American models have also been suggested as influences. An increase in the popularity of hip-hop music is also thought to have been one of the indirect origins the ganguro subculture.

The deep ganguro tan is in direct conflict with traditional Japanese ideas of feminine beauty. Due to this, as well as their use of slang, unconventional fashion sense, and perceived lack of hygiene, ganguro gals are almost always portrayed negatively by the Japanese media. Ganguro girls are treated as outcasts by mainstream Japanese society.

Yamanba (ヤマンバ, Yamanba^?) is a newer term often used to describe extreme practitioners of ganguro fashion. Yamanba feature darker tans and add white lipstick, pastel eye makeup, tiny metallic or glittery adhesives below the eyes, brightly-colored contact lenses, plastic dayglo-colored clothing, and incongruous accessories to the ganguro look. Some yamanba wear stuffed animals as decorations. The male equivalent is called a "center guy" (センター街, Sentaagai^?, Center Street), a pun on the name of a pedestrian shopping street near Shibuya Station in Tokyo where yamanba and center guys are often seen.

The etymology of the word "ganguro" is disputed. Some academics claim that the name derives from the word ganguro (顔黒, ganguro^? blackface), but ganguro practitioners invariably say it derives from the phrase gangankuro (ガンガン黒, gangankuro^? exceptionally dark). The term yamanba derives from Yama-uba, the name of a mountain hag in Japanese folklore whom the fashion is thought to resemble. It is sometimes shortened to manba in Japanese slang.

• "Blackfaces, Witches, and Racism Against Girls", by Sharon Kinsella, in Bad Girls of Japan, Laura Miller and Jan Bardsley eds., Palgrave, 2005.
• Klippensteen, Kate, and Everett Kennedy Brown (photographer). Ganguro Girls: The Japanese "Black Face". Cologne: Koenemann, 2001. ISBN 3-8290-7926-5.

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