Ganguro

Ganguro (ガングロ) is an alternative fashion trend among young Japanese women which peaked in popularity around the year 2000 and evolved from gyaru.

The Shibuya and Ikebukuro districts of Tokyo were the centres of ganguro fashion; it was started by rebellious youth who contradicted the traditional Japanese concept of beauty; pale skin, dark hair and neutral makeup tones. Ganguro instead tanned their skin, bleached their hair and used colourful makeup in unusual ways.^[1]

Ganguro has a connection to Japanese folklore of ghosts and demons who are depicted with a similar appearance, such as those in kabuki and noh costumes. This connection is further underlined by the off-shoot style yamanba, named after a mountain witch in Japanese folklore.^[2]

The ganguro trend started in the mid-1990s and reached its peak by the latter half of the decade; it purportedly became almost obsolete by 2000 when a bihaku (light skin) craze emerged among young women who wanted to imitate the look of their favourite popular singers,^[3] specifically Ayumi Hamasaki,^[4] who debuted at the time. The ganguro trend faded out afterwards, although its influence can be observed in yamanba style.^[5]