http://www.japaneselifestyle.com.au/tokyo/harajuku_girls.htm
Obviously made popular by Gwen Stefani’s term for her backup dancers, and their impact on her own creative influences, these girls in Tokyo are the real deal. When culture, fashion, and creative little Japanese girls are put in a small area of Tokyo they become an amalgam of different cultures, resulting in their flamboyant and outlandish dress.
The U.S. has seen this kind of taste in style rear it’s head in different genres of music as well as suburban outbreaks of individualism used to assert independence from authority (as teenagers do). From punk rock, hair bands, gothic, grunge, rap, etc. and of course . . . pop, these girls take the entire mix and throw it together as an ensemble to be worn as everyday wear.
While it seems like these girls (from are westernized point of views) are dyeing for attention, or to shock people, this assumption would be missing some vital information on the average Japanese student in high school. All students and all schools (with the exception of colleges) in Japan require uniforms: skirts, knee-highs, vests, cardigans or blazers. Individualism, and independence is not stressed in the Japanese culture. Being self reliant, well put together, and keeping your outward emotions to a minimum are considered highly desirable traits in a person.
With this in mind, especially the information about school uniforms, I think it makes sense in retrospect, that a somewhat large group of people in the highly conservative country of Japan, started dressing, after school hours, in eye-catching and eccentric attire. I use the term ‘people’, because really this is a movement in Japan that encompasses both sexes. You will see similarly dressed boys with blue hair shaved in to a Mohawk, wearing flannel pants and a leather jacket, strolling along with a girl in a pink tutu, and black army boots- and not just in Harajuku!
As Hall points out in Among Cultures, change is almost always controversial, and since popular culture is usually obsessed with “the new thing” the changes popular culture always initiate, help keep popular culture in the maelstrom of controversy that it creates (pg. 311). “Popular culture not only reflects held beliefs, but it also challenges them and encourages people to adopt new beliefs . . . . . The views espoused in popular culture may well challenge traditional views within a community and often become vehicles for change” (Pg. 310).
I believe the Harajuku Girls, and the culture the help accentuate are strong reminder that not everyone wants to be a part of the crowd. As Americans we live and breath individuality, it is probably one of the most esteemed traits in our culture, as such, while we see the clothes and styles the Harajuku Girls wear, we should applaud their bravery and (our favorite trait) individualism. Which we helped to create because we gave them a lot of material to create their looks!
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It is interesting to see what happens when you bottle the human spirit. I think you were correct when you mentioned that “individualism is America’s favorite trait.” That is something that we, as Americans, take for granted. Our culture encourages us to be unique and respect the uniqueness of others. In fact I think that one meaning that can be attributed to “cultured,” in our society, is this very practice. The idea that a society encourages its citizens to avoid individuality and strive for “sameness” is very hard to wrap your mind around. (93)
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