When you visit Tokyo, there’s a list of places you must attend. Ganguro Cafe would very much like to be on that list.
In Tokyo’s Shibuya, the ladies of Black Diamond have opened a “ganguro cafe and bar.” Black Diamond is a “gal circle,” and its members are into tanning, super-long fingernails, flashy clothing and colourful hairdos. I’ve written about Black Diamond several times before (here).
This is Japan’s “gal” (ギャル or gyaru) subculture. The fashion turns its nose up at traditional Japanese notions of feminine beauty: pale skin and black hair. The subculture has its roots in 1990s Japanese youth fashion, when teens began dying their hair brown and hitting the tanning beds. (I also wrote about the kogal trend in my book, Japanese Schoolgirl Confidential.) The Ganguro Cafe is named after the style called “Ganguro” (ガングロ), short for “intensely black.”
Picture: ganguro.jp
This cafe staffed by women who are very into ganguro fashion!
Picture: Keiteen1220
It’s a way of life.
Ganguro Cafe is most unusual, even in Japan, which is why it’s gotten some national TV coverage.
Picture: mokorieri
Here is television personalty Matsuko Deluxe getting blown away by the idea of a Ganguro Cafe.
Picture: mokorieri
The cafe is going out of its way to promote itself to international visitors — which is great.
The Ganguro Cafe has even reached number seven on TripAdvisor for recommended restaurants in Shibuya. Reviewers say the staff is nice, fun, and even though many of the gals don’t speak perfect English, they’re used to foreign customers (note: one of the cafe’s staffers, Barbie, hails from the U.S., so obviously her English is fluent!). Besides serving drinks, they do para para dancing (video via Kai-You). So, yes, this all sounds like a memorable experience.
Picture: Kai-You
If you plan on visiting, check out the cafe’s official site. There’s more info, including directions.
Picture: rakan_rose
Comments
11 responses to “Tokyo’s Newest Tourist Destination Promises A ‘Crazy Experience’”
One thing I love about Japan is they do not fear for any new things and strive to achieve something with it. Or in other words, “Japan”
So they get a free pass for going blackface but we get crucified? Neither Australia nor Japan had the history america had with blackface, so why are we the only ones that got crucified in the media over it?
Ummm. Ok. We? who is we exactly?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hey_Hey_It%27s_Saturday#The_Jackson_Jive you don’t remember americans loosing their shit a few yrs ago about an australian tv show doing blackface? They seem to forget that the whole blackface/slavery thing was something that happened in their country and not everyone elses.
Because dressing up as a minority in a fashion associated with racism becomes classy and acceptable if your country doesn’t have a cultural history of doing such things. And we can all just pretend that we never knew that people did this historically as a means of belittling minorities, so it’s totally OK because that never happened here.
Maybe Americans will loose their shit again over this. Personally, my shit is tight.
Looks more like a Jersey Shore tan than blackface
Yeah i just doesn’t thnk it was a big deal at the time. Y’know how so often the media tells us we’re outraged but really it’s 3 dudes and a dog? And heavy use of fake tan isn’t blackface.
You have no idea what you’re talking about
if u click on the japanese article link you will see that ‘blackface’ is really a black person from the USA
Why is when I look at those pics I think Nicki minaj impersonators?
Or drag queens?
Ganguro has been around longer than Nicki Minaj. If anything she copied them.
I feel a new MTV show coming…..Jersey Shore: Tokyo