Japan’s Cultural Change:The Kogyaru Fashion

Introduction
The article, “Wearing Out Racial Discourse: Tokyo Street Fashion and Race as Style”, is about race, fashion and cultural change. The article goes to all lengths to explain how the young Japanese, of Japan, are changing culture. The article is aimed at a general audience that wants to know more about the Japanese and how their popular culture is changing. This aim can be seen through the explanations of the Japanese history and the comparisons between Japanese and Whites (Black, 2009).

Street Fashion
Further, this article is about street fashion and not about catwalk fashions. The article discusses fashion change, in Japan, through photographs taken by Shoichi Aoki. Street fashion is a fairly new concept in Japan. The Japanese in the past were famous for mimicking fashion from the west. However, the young Japanese have developed a fashion called, “kogyaru”. This fashion has been established as a subculture fashion in Japan (Black, 2009).

Beauty
Kogyaru fashion has been around for a while, however, this fashion is still influencing young girls and boys, at an all time high. The style is about beauty and a hint of Caucasian appearance. The look is basically a set of physical signifiers and how the signifiers change the physical appearance of a person. Therefore, this fashion can be understood as having a racial importance, because of the physical changes (Black, 2009).

What is the Change?
The most important aspect of the kogyaru fashion is the yearning for dark skin. This desire for dark skin is referred to as, “ganguro”. Ganguro means “blackface”, in English. This desire for darker skin is a huge shift in the Japanese culture. The older Japanese, found pale skin to be the most desired, especially for women (Black, 2009).

Kogyaru Fashion
The kogyaru fashion is made up of different components and is made possible through the use of makeup. For instance, the face is covered with dark foundation. Further, the lips are colored with white lipstick, so the dark skin tone can stand out. The eyelids are colored in with white eye shadow, which is supposed to help the eyes look bigger. Further, the kogyaru fashion requires platform boots, mini skirts, and tinted contact lenses, which are either green or blue. Some people dye their hair blond, also (Black, 2009).

The mix
The kogyaru fashion is a mix between a change in Japanese culture and a western desire. The cultural change can be seen in the desire for darker skin. The western desire can be seen in the face features such as the contact lens. The widening of the eyes is a symbol of white beauty and blond hair, also. Further, the platform boots and mini skirts follow the idea that longer legs are beautiful, which is another characteristic of Whites or Western (Black, 2009).

History of Japan
The Japanese had the desire to look white or westernized for generations. This desire started back in the late 1800s, when the United States made friends with Japan, for trading purposes. The Japanese did not allow foreign influences in the country, before this friendship was made. This friendship was developed through a treaty. After this treaty the Japanese consumed the western culture in many ways and tried to become white. However, the Whites made the Japanese feel inferior (Black, 2009).

The Japanese seen the White people taking over the world, therefore, the Japanese wanted to be like them. So, the Japanese prized the western look and tried to change their appearance to be White. The Japanese women color their faces white. Further, the Japanese tried to strengthen their identity among the Whites by creating a racial hierarchy. The Japanese fought for years to be at the top of the Asian hierarchy, so they could be the closest, to being white. The Japanese scarified it’s own culture by modernizing its military, economic power and drawing a racial line between the Asians. The Japanese did accomplish this hierarchy through its anthropology and the Japanese were at the top. Hence, the Japanese were the closest to being white (Black, 2009).

Analysis of Japan’s Present & History
The kogyaru fashion might weaken the racial hierarchies that the Japanese in the past worked hard to establish. However, certain racial identities will still probably be prized more, then others. The kogyaru fashion, might have established an idea, that you are able to be beautiful and not have to be White. Further, this fashion does show that racial identity can be combined and still be beautiful (Black, 2009).

Conclusion
In conclusion, this article is trying to explain how the young Japanese have created a different fashion sense. Further, how the White or Western desire is still there, but in a new way that has been changed to some degree. This article is great for understanding how popular culture can be changed within a generation and how the idea of beauty can change. This article is well written and easy to understand (Black, 2009).

References
Black, D. (2009). Wearing Out Racial Discourse: Tokyo Street Fashion and Race as Style. Journal of Popular Culture, 42, 239-256. Article retrieved April 2, 2009, from Academic Search Complete.

Google Images. (n.d.). Retrieved April 24, 2009, from http://images.google.com/