First of all, for a basic understanding, “gal” is one of the many fashion styles found in Japan. The style has been around for several decades, evolving into different shapes and forms. Even today, there are various subsets to the style. Although not as popular today, one of the more visually striking forms of gal is the ganguro.

The ganguro trend emerged in the mid-1990s. The basic look consists of bleached hair, a deep tan, both black and white eyeliners, false eyelashes, platform shoes (usually sandals or boots), and brightly colored outfits. Also typical of the “Ganguro Gal” look are cell phones covered with stickers and crystals, tie-dyed sarongs, mini-skirts, hibiscus flower hairpins, and lots of bracelets, rings, and necklaces. (The terms Yamanba and Manba refer to the extremists of the ganguro style.)

Since Japanese culture is about NOT sticking out, the ganguro girls are often shunned and have trouble finding acceptance in mainstream society. The media does not help either, for they dub ganguro girls as “bad girls,” who are unhygienic, promiscuous, and crazy.

However, while they were not accepted by the whole population, ganguros were strong. They had the strength to perpetrate their own style in the society. Gradually, the ganguro gals started to earn acceptance from society.

However, in the mid-2000s, the entire fashion trend called for “Hard-a-starboard.” Traditional, neat and clean girly style carried away the girls. As ganguro style was left back in time, its devotees immediately faded away from the district of Shibuya. From dark skin to white skin, from hard-core to sweetness. As the trends changed, ganguros disappeared.

Yet, Erimokkori still sticks to the ganguro style. “I do ganguro because no one does it now.” She has been a ganguro ever since she entered middle school at 13. She has passed the last decade as a ganguro.

I found an elder girl at school who was in ganguro style and it was a revolution for me. “This is what I wanted to do! She’s completely cute!”

Erimokkori was rather a shy girl. At that time, she wore outfits her mother chose, and a hairstyle done by her mother. She had no questions or passions. She couldn’t even insist on something to her friends.

But ganguro changed her life. The very first thing she did to become a ganguro was to start tanning her skin.

Dark skin is fundamental. Even how much you dyed your hair, how much you had crazy nail decorations, if your skin was white it doesn’t mean anything. It’s “pa-gyaru.”

Pa-gyaru literally means “gal in a half-hearted attitude.” But she was not. She usually caught a train to go to a tanning salon located in the next town. Sometimes she even accomplished the two-hour trip on her bicycle to go to the tanning salon.

For clothes, I asked my friends to offer me what they didn’t want. I saved as much as possible to tan even 10 minutes longer.

You could easily imagine her parents offended her. She was told not to walk outside when their neighbors were out in the streets. Her clothes were often thrown away.

It was maybe her friends who supported her to be herself. They never judged her, and were with her the whole time.

None of my friends did ganguro so I looked completely awkward around them. But they never judged me. We still go out together often.

It is not only other people’s eyes that makes the ganguro life hard. In the first place, you have to pay more than other fashion styles to keep up the basic ganguro style.

Nail decorations cost 25,000JPY (approx. 220USD). Using stronger bleaching liquid, and with all the decorations, she pays 30,000–40,000JPY (approx. 260-350USD) at the hair salon for one session.A tanning salon costs 20,000JPY (approx. 175USD) for one visit. She has to tan frequently to keep the ganguro identity, the requisite dark skin.And another 20,000–30,000JPY (approx. 175-260USD) flies away with cosmetics, colored contact lenses, and clothing.

This is the cost every month. This is definitely pricey, compared to following other styles.

Moreover, she has to give up an entire day for each session.

For ‘normal’ hair-style people, they only spend 3–4 hours, even though it took longer than usual. But for a ganguro hair-style, you go to the salon at 10 in the morning, and you get out at 8, 9 at night. That is for the nail salon too. Of course you can’t work on that day.

Basically there’s a lot to do to be a ganguro. But what makes it even harder for Erimokkori, is that as the trend changes, more and more, she loses the means to achieve her look.

During this decade, tanning salons closed. A salon Erimokkori goes to often had to raise its prices. Contact lenses and make-up for dark skin disappeared from stores. Brands for ganguro styles went of business too. Right now, Erimokkori customizes clothing herself to make it fit to her ganguro fashion.

Well, you can’t help it, but the trend changed so much so it is really hard. I know it was easier to be ganguro 10 years ago, when it was still a big trend, but you would be ‘one-of-them.’ Because it’s normal to be ganguro at those times. Ganguros now do it because they want to be different from other people. We chose to be ganguro to stand out. So I think I wouldn’t have been ganguro 10 years ago. I would rather have followed a nice and clean sweet style.

Now, as a leader of gal group “BLACK DIAMOND,” Erimokkori exerts a strenuous effort to send out gal style on TV shows and social media. Inevitably, her strong attitude and style have inspired many girls and many messages to support her come in every day. “I want to be like you!”

I’m so happy with the message so I tell them to do what you want to do when you want to do it, but too many of them reply, ‘my parents,’ ‘teachers,’ ‘I live in the countryside,’ ‘I don’t know what my neighbors would say about me,’ and so on. That is kind of sad. Their philosophy is already not gal. They would never be gals.

Do what you want to do—this is the gal philosophy.

But rather than to be true to yourself and pursue our own will, we might be

in an age of trying to look good and creating illusions for people that see you.

Everyone cares about what the boys would think about them. When I was with a girl from the rookie team for BLACK DIAMOND on TV, she was asked what kind of gal she wants to be. She answered, ‘Even when I tanned, I only want to tan to a color that boys would think cute.’ If your priority is how the boys would think about you, it’s not gal. The darker is cuter of course, and a gal’s priority should be on what YOU want to do. So I was like ‘you’ve got something wrong . . .’ when I was listening to her.

Considering other’s perception with your outfit is never a wrong thing. There are times that you have to care whether your style is appropriate. The desire to be loved is also something that cannot be denied. What’s wrong with that?

But her attitude made me ask this question: Can you care too much, so that it restrains your originality? Isn’t fashion for self-expression?

Of course, if you pursue your style too obsessively, there is a problem. “I never can date a guy,” says Erimokkori, when I asked her about the bad effect of being ganguro.

All guys basically don’t like gals in the first place. They always say, ‘if you become normal (we’ll date)’ or ‘if you made your makeup lighter I could, but I can’t go out with you in this way.’ When I hear them say so, I just give up because for me, he’s the one being ridiculous to care about what people think about him walking with me. But on the other hand, I do have a sad feeling that gals can’t be the one for anyone.

As she gets older, more and more questions arise within her.

Even in the BLACK DIAMOND, there were only two others that were going hard-core ganguro like Erimokkori. But one of them gave up being ganguro to get married. She “graduated” from being ganguro, and went back to her hometown earlier this year. Before she went back, the three did a “graduation ceremony” together with tears. Now, there are only two real ganguros left.

I question myself often when to quit being ganguro, since I am in my 20s. This year, I will be 25, and it makes me think of marriage and stuff. But still I’m a leader, and I have this feeling that I just can’t quit so easily. There are no girls that are flashy like me in the group and it makes me wonder who could push up the group? I feel like I should quit after making the group larger. Some sort of responsibility (laughs).

Continuing to be a ganguro, what does she aim for?

Well, I do think I want to make more girls dress ganguro. Not that I want to make it a boom again, but there are just too many girls that say ‘I want to be gal but, but, but.’ Simply, I think the ganguro style is the cutest among any styles and I like gal style. So it’s kind of a simple wish that there would be more people who would understand and give out the message together.

When I think back, I think it was a dumb question to ask Erimokkori: “How do you want to spend your old days?”

When I asked her the question, she was perplexed and said, “Oh I have never thought of that stuff… I don’t know…”

It was natural that Erimokkori couldn’t answer. Because gals live with all of their might in the present.