Even till this day, so many things about Japan and its rich culture fascinates us. After visiting Japan and laying eyes on some bizarre fashion and beauty trends first hand, we noticed that this juxtaposition of the vibrant tradition and technologically advanced society has created so many more bizarre counter-culture movements other than lolita and cosplay, which Malaysians are most familiar with. Here are some outrageous ones that intrigued us:
1. Decora – Ladies who are into the decora trend wear a crazy amount of eccentric plastic accessories, especially on their hair, and exceptionally bright neon and colourful socks, barrettes and cute character merchandise on top of their outfits. The trick here is to pile as much as you can on until you resemble a rainbow unicorn.
2. Kigurumin – This popular street style involves sporting cute cartoon character and animal costumes purchased from party stores. Most of the time, they would also have accessories like animal bags and shoes to match. From Pikachu, Hello Kitty and Rilakkuma to other animal characters, there are plenty for you to choose from.
3. Ganguro – Ganguro girls take fake tanning to an extreme level by purposely applying foundation meant for black women from head to toe. Besides the dark skin, they bleach their hair, wear crazy contact lenses and play with contrast for their makeup by applying white concealer as lipstick, and using white eyeshadow around the eye area.
4. Yaeba – Many people dream to have perfect teeth and unfortunately, not all of them can afford braces. However, in Japan, young women are heading to dental clinics to surgically implant artificial enamel over their real teeth to mimic the look of having a set of ugly, crooked teeth.
5. Shironuri – The word shironuri literally means painted white in Japanese and it originally refers to the makeup worn by Japanese geisha and kabuki performers. It is a style that revolves super pale white base makeup, lots of fake eyelashes, white wigs and ghostly fabrics.
6. Yankii – More of a lifestyle choice than a style trend, the yankii culture sees young men and women who dye their hair blonde, wear trashy clothes, and smoke, drink and spit in public. They are popular for being loud and rude, generally acting in a rebellious way that goes against traditional, courteous Japanese manners.
