Ganguro, literally "face-black," is a fashion trend among Japanesegirls, an outgrowth of chapatsu hair dyeing. The basic look isbleached-blond hair perms that take half a day to set and cost about $400,and a deep tan, produced by tanning beds or makeup. Theintent is to produce the tanned, blond California beach girl look.Accessories include high platform shoes or boots, purikura photo stickers,and cellular phones. They go to tanning salons tomaintain a dark-brown tan year-round (or apply a dark-brown foundation).
The centerpiece of their street costume is 15-cm (6-inch) or higher platform shoes or sandals that makes them tower over the average Japanese. It lets them "look down" on the world or to have the world "look up" to them. One step beyond the ganguro is the yamanba, which roughly translates as "mountain hag or witch" from Japanese folklore. Besides being ganguro, these girls wear more outrageous makeup with white lipstick, white eye shadow around the eyes (a racoon or panda look), silvery hair, and some glitter or fake tear drops on the cheek. They also have a loud, gregarious way of talking and laughing
They also dye their hair brown or gold and wear blue contact lenses. It'sthe California beach girl look without the bikini. And sometimes they evenwear fake flower leis or fake flowers in their hair. The Shibuya and Ikebukurodistricts of Tokyo are the center of ganguro fashion. It goes against the grain of the usual Japanese standard of female beauty, which calls for skin as white as possible. The roots of the trend are said to be in the mid-1990s, starting with a popular tanned Okinawansinger named Amuro Namie
