Gyaru-o misc historical image b 2007-7-2

''Gyaruo'' (which can be written as ギャル男, ギャルオ, ギャル汚 in Japanese) are a sub-group of modern

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

ese youth culture. They are the male equivalent of the

gyaru ( ja, ギャル) , is a Japanese fashion subculture. The term ''gyaru'' is a Japanese transliteration of the English slang word . The term for was introduced in Japan by the American jeans company ''Lee'', who introduced a new line of je ...

. The ''o'' suffix that is added to the word, is one reading of the

kanji are the logographic Chinese characters taken from the Chinese family of scripts, Chinese script and used in the writing of Japanese language, Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese ...

for male (男). And recently, the kanji for 'dirty' in Japanese (汚), which also has the same reading, is often used by ''gyaru'' and ''gyaruo'' in a light hearted way, poking fun at themselves because of the reputation that their subculture has gained within society due to their dark skin, hairstyles and often gritty, rough style of clothing that they wear. ''Gyaruo'' are characterised by their deep tans, dyed hair, party lifestyle and a liking for all different types of trance music including para-para dancing music,

Eurobeat Eurobeat refers to two styles of dance music that originated in Europe: one is a British variant of Italian Eurodisco-influencedAng, Ien & Morley, David (2005). "Cultural Studies: Volume 3, Issue 2". ''Routledge''. pgs. 171, 173, 170. . "Eurore ...

, etc.

Lifestyle

Most major cities in Japan will have certain streets or districts within the city centre where ''gyaruo'' and ''gyaru'' are most likely to be hanging out. Using the two biggest ''gyaruo'' culture influencing cities as example: in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

two of the popular places to hang out are around the

Shibuya Shibuya ( 渋谷区 ''Shibuya-ku'') is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. As a major commercial and finance center, it houses two of the busiest railway stations in the world, Shinjuku Station (southern half) and Shibuya Station. As of April 1 ...

Shinjuku is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. It is a major commercial and administrative centre, housing the northern half of the busiest railway station in the world (Shinjuku Station) and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, the administration ...

areas. In

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...

Amerikamura Amerikamura (also America mura; アメリカ村, ''American Village'') is a sizable retail and entertainment area near Shinsaibashi in the Chūō-ku district of Osaka, Japan. It is usually referred to by locals as "Ame-mura". Amerikamura is a ...

, which is often shortened to Ame-mura (アメ村), and the

Shinsaibashi is a district in the Chūō-ku ward of Osaka, Japan and the city's main shopping area. At its center is , a covered shopping street, that is north of Dōtonbori and Sōemonchō, and parallel and east of Mido-suji street. Associated with Shin ...

(心斎橋) areas are popular places for ''gyaruo'' to hang around. In 2005, Tokyu Hands opened up a second branch of their popular girl's ''gyaru'' fashion shopping complex, 109, called 109-②. Two floors of the

located 109-② store are dedicated to ''gyaruo'' brands such as Vanquish, Jack Rose, Varosh, Diavlo, Roi Franc, and Gennaro. The rise in ''gyaruo'' fashion has led to openings of other 109-② stores featuring male brands in

Fukuoka is the sixth-largest city in Japan, the second-largest port city after Yokohama, and the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The city is built along the shores of Hakata Bay, and has been a center of international commerce since ancie ...

, Machida,

Shizuoka Shizuoka can refer to: * Shizuoka Prefecture, a Japanese prefecture * Shizuoka (city), the capital city of Shizuoka Prefecture * Shizuoka Airport * Shizuoka Domain, the name from 1868 to 1871 for Sunpu Domain, a predecessor of Shizuoka Prefecture ...

and

Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region, the fourth-most populous city and third most populous urban area in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020. Located on the Pacific coast in central Honshu, it is the capital and the most pop ...

. The 109-② in Shibuya has since been renamed 109-mens, with all floors dedicated to ''gyaruo'' fashion instead of the initial two.

Magazines

''Gyaruo'' fashion can be seen in certain magazines such as '' Men's Egg'', "Men's Roses" or ''Men's Egg Bitter'' (for ''gyaruo'' aged 23+) and a fairly new magazine called ''Men's Digger''. Then there is the popular ''Men's Knuckle'' magazine which is aimed at wearers of the more mature looking onii-kei fashion (お兄系), hosts (ホスト) and ''gyaruo''. ''Men's Egg'' is the most popular magazine amongst ''gyaruo'', and is often described as the "''gyaruo'' bible". It is this magazine that has arguably had the largest influence on the development and constant change of ''gyaruo'' lifestyle and fashion. Men's Egg magazine which is published monthly, has everything from the latest fashion to articles about the sex lives of the readers. It was this last part that got the magazine a temporary ban by the government, due to complaints by parents and disgruntled traditional politicians who had heard news of the magazines content. Every month this magazine hosts ''Men's Egg Events'' at different clubs around Japan keeping its customers entertained by inviting along the magazine's most popular models along to the events to be adored by the excited crowd. The events which are called 'Men's Egg Night', is often shortened to just 'mennai' (メンナイ).

Fashion

Within the ''gyaruo'' fashion There are a number of sub fashions, which can roughly broken down into the following groups: *Military (ミリタリー系) *Rock (ロック系) *Biker (バイカー系) *American Casual (アメカジ系) *Surfer (サーファー系) *Adult (お兄系)

Reputation

Since the ''gyaruo'' youth culture sprang up in Japan alongside its female counterpart, it has gained quite a negative reputation with the older members of society and through the media, which has led a lot of people in the Japanese public to look down upon the ''gyaruo'' lifestyle due to what they have heard about it, and from what they have learned through the media. Since ''gyaruo'' do not fit in with the normal Japanese tradition of blending into the crowd because of their appearance, they are associated with youth rebellion.

External links

Yukihide Sawamotos BlogKazuaki Oishi Blog
{{Japanese subcultures Japanese words and phrases Japanese subcultures Japanese youth culture Slang terms for men Japanese fashion Gyaru

Lifestyle

Magazines

Fashion

Reputation

Further reading

External links