Subcultures in Japan: Difference between revisions

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* Lolita fashion, including "[[Elegant Gothic Lolita|Gothic]]", "Sweet", "Classical", "Punk", and a number of other variants.

* Cosplay, in several forms. Anime and J-rock (Japanese rock music) cosplayers and lolis gather around Yoyogi Park in Tokyo on Sundays.

** ''Kigurumi'' ~~-- Also~~ called ''animegao'' ("animeface"), this is the practice of cosplaying human and humanoid anime characters using masks and body stockings. The effect is often rather creepy, as it seems to back into the [[Uncanny Valley]] from the human side; that many of its devotees are males who crossdress as female characters makes it just a shade creepier. Doubly so since, with the body stockings, ''you can't tell.''

** ''Kigurumi''—Also called ''animegao'' ("animeface"), this is the practice of cosplaying human and humanoid anime characters using masks and body stockings. The effect is often rather creepy, as it seems to back into the [[Uncanny Valley]] from the human side; that many of its devotees are males who crossdress as female characters makes it just a shade creepier. Doubly so since, with the body stockings, ''you can't tell.''

* ''Ero kawaii'', another fashion subculture.

* ''[[Hikikomori]]'' - Young people who withdraw from active life outside their home. They often withdraw into isolated existences with no face to face contact and a refusal to leave their homes or rooms. While not specifically a subculture per se, their behaviour and living styles tend to follow similar patterns. Many of them hang around the notorious [[wikipedia:2channel|2ch]] (ni-channel) web boards. Most anime is aware of the subculture, but because it also often includes some otaku it's a sensitive topic to address.

* ''[[Otaku]]'' - In the Japanese sense, obsessive enthusiasts of a particular ~~hobby -- not~~ necessarily anime. Generally follows the same tone as older, more derogatory meanings of the Western word "geek". Still, these enthusiast groups are extremely organized and, at least within their own area of interest, highly social. Recently some otaku have taken to calling themselves ''Akiba-Kei'' or "Akiba style", in reference to the Tokyo neighbourhood of Akihabara where electronics shops, anime merchandising and maid cafes abound. Female otaku, and especially those interested in [[Yaoi Guys|BL]], are called sometimes ''fujoshi'' or ''otome'', the latter because they cluster around Otome Road in Ikebukuro and the former being a derogatory term for a [[Yaoi Fangirl]] derived from an alternate reading of "unnatural woman".

* ''[[Otaku]]'' - In the Japanese sense, obsessive enthusiasts of a particular hobby—not necessarily anime. Generally follows the same tone as older, more derogatory meanings of the Western word "geek". Still, these enthusiast groups are extremely organized and, at least within their own area of interest, highly social. Recently some otaku have taken to calling themselves ''Akiba-Kei'' or "Akiba style", in reference to the Tokyo neighbourhood of Akihabara where electronics shops, anime merchandising and maid cafes abound. Female otaku, and especially those interested in [[Yaoi Guys|BL]], are called sometimes ''fujoshi'' or ''otome'', the latter because they cluster around Otome Road in Ikebukuro and the former being a derogatory term for a [[Yaoi Fangirl]] derived from an alternate reading of "unnatural woman".

* [[Visual Kei]]: More elaborated upon on its page, musicians (generally of some permutation of rock music ranging from [[Heavy Metal]] to [[Power Pop]]) who dress in very elaborate and artistic styles, often intentionally trying to create [[Viewer Gender Confusion]]. Along with bosuzoku and yankii (which helped birth it in their own ways) one of the older subcultures, being, along with them, pre-Internet with its origins in the 1980s. Also unique in being one of the two first Japanese subcultures (along with [[Otaku]]) to gain true non-Japanese adherents worldwide (Lolita fashion was next). While some non-musicians are involved, usually ''some'' level of artistic or musical interest (if not competence or skill) or at the very least [[Groupie Brigade|interest in the musicians]] is a prerequisite for involvement.

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