New Urban Tribes - Ganguros & Yamanbas (VIDEO)

Far from describing a twanging marsupial, the word Ganguro actually means “black face”. It’s a fashion term that tends to be used by Japanese girls. It tends to involve bleaching hair a platinum blonde, having deeply tanned skin, rimming eyes with black and white pencil liner, applying false lashes, colored glasses and sporting platform shoes, either sandals or boots. It’s a look hot enough to leave even Malibu Barbie green with envy!

It is also characteristic of “Ganguro Girls” to cover their cell phones with their purikura sticker collections (small, retouched, personal pictures), tie sarongs around their waists, wear mini skirts, Hibiscus bobby pins, a lot of bracelets, rings and necklaces.

Extreme Ganguro followers wear white lipstick and multicolored pastel eye shadow to offset their tans, and wear eccentric adhesives around their eyes.

If an oriental version of Paris Hilton is unpleased with her ganguro look, she evolves like Pokemon, and ends up being a “Yamanba”

Here is a documentary about the history of the Ganguros and the yamanbas: