Some people call it Japanese Street Fashion while others call it Japanese Underground Fashion. Whatever you call it, Japanese fashion is influencing the way youths want to express themselves.

One unique style of Japanese Street Fashion is called Visual Kei (ヴィジュアル系,). Visual Kei is often associated with J-rock, glam/metal music and musicians. Obviously different bands will vary in style and dress, but generally speaking Visual Kei is characterized by androgynous looks, use of makeup and dyed hair and over the top clothing.

The Lolita (ロリータ) look can be described as a mixture of Victorian clothing with a modern twist. One of the sub genres of the Lolita look is the Goth Loli (ゴスロリ) look. Goth Loli is short for Gothic Lolita, which is a mixture of Goth and Victorian era clothing. The skirts are often knee length, black or blackish, and depending on the wearer, a parasol, gloves, and eyeliner may be used.

The Bōsōzoku (暴走族) look is often associated with motorcycle gangs and street racers. The Bōsōzoku look is characterized by either an afro pushed to the front of the head, an Elvis style hairdo, or a tight perm for males. This look is steadily declining, but the Bōsōzoku look involves wearing sunglasses and clothing with the emblem of a Japanese flag.

The Ganguro (ガングロ) look is characterized by Japanese girls who dye their hair blonde, regularly tan themselves, wear high platform shoes, bright makeup, and flashy jewelry. Manba (マンバ) and Yamanba (ヤマンバ) are sort of the extreme versions of Ganguro. Manba and Yamanba girls will often dye their hair neon colors, decorate their faces with stickers, and wear white/pastel makeup.

Cosplay (コスプレ) is a type of costume dressing where people design their own costumes, hair and makeup to resemble anime characters, action figures, manga/comic/cartoon characters, etc. Cosplay can take the form of adopting the character’s persona, mannerisms, way of speech, and so on. Girls can dress as male figures and males can dress as female characters. Basically anything goes, in Cosplay.

A common cause for the rise in various fashion subcultures in Japan is the need for Japanese youths to express individualism and freedom of expression. Some Japanese youths feel that traditional Japanese society is stuffy and uptight. So fashion is one avenue of exploration and experimentation for Japanese youths. Ironically, as more of these fashion subcultures become popularized, they become less associated with individualism, and more to do with identifying people into certain clicks or groups.