gyaru

[Anonymous]

Noticed the official Gaijin Pot blurb says that gaijin men in Roppongi can be found with *gyaru* on their arm.

Well, I have been here 4 years and seen gaijin with gyaru (the chou kawaii girls w/the bleached hair and the tan) only 3 times, and one of those was with a guy who had clearly grown up here. Anyway, they hang out in Shibuya not Roppongi.

I have *friends* of that ilk and from what they say (and the evidence of several mote-mote friends who can pull anything and everything BUT them) they simply do not go for gaijin (not just me -- that's not so unlikely whatever the type!)

Gaijin Pot's cool 'n' all but maybe their relationship expert could use a little more, er, research. Perhaps he (assuming it's a he) might agree... ;)

Since I think they are the cutest creatures alive I would very much like to be proved otherwise though. Email your pic to....

[Anonymous]

Wtf are you talking about? Do you have a point in all that mess you wrote?

[Osakan]

Sim's right. Ko-gyaru are the group least available to foreign men. That apparently unapproachable, intimidatingly beautiful and immaculately turned out O-Jo-sama is a very much better bet.

Ko-gyaru aren't interested in foreign men for a variety of reasons. Chief among them that they're engaged in a race against time to find an orange-haired idiot who'll knock them up in the back of his white van (double exhaust, widewalls and 'Pico-Pico' stickers). They want to be baby mamas, know that they can't support themselves and so need to marry a (blue-collar) Japanese at the first opportunity. You just don't fit the profile.

[Anonymous]

Cool terminology.
Guess I best get used to the lingo before I transfer from China.

[trip_hop]

Have a gyaru-mama (baby mama) living close to me, and she is just as Osakan described, with a bunch of kids and an orange-haired husband occasionally around. She is quite distinctive, with her incessant, high-pitched voice talking at her children, and her unique sense of fashion. She's quite friendly, and belongs to (in fact she leads) a group of similar children-laden women, who spend a few afternoons a week there in communal coffee and baby-sitting, 8-10 kids in a small room!

In our eyes, she possibly she married too young, but of course neither she nor hubby ever learned about contraception or precautions at school, she has no-one other than her friends to turn to for help (blind leading the blind), the usual dysfunctional family of non-speaking parents, but despite all that, her kids are fine, she's doing a good job bringing them up.

But little interest in anything, except afternoon TV. And very hard to talk with.

[matt]

England has the shellsuit wearers, NZ/Aus has the boguns/westies... if I`m white trash are the folks mentioned above yellow trash?

[Anonymous]

I don`t know why you would want to risk it with those shibuya gyaru types anyway. I mean, certainly those beautifully shaped long tanned legs and long long eyelashes can be very attractive.....but!! ....they are very very dirty and are most likely to have a variety of sexual diseases!! Be warned!!

[yshirtsu]

They are shockingly gorgeous.
I got one, but then she promptly became a bit more normal.

Hope it wasn't my effect.

Do we recognise a different between Gyaru and Kogyaru? I had thought that the Ko variety were still at school.

My real question, has any one else got it together with one? Are they that different from other J girls? Mine was really opinionated and moaned alot when I didn't buy her stuff.

"A Japanese guy would!!!"
"Really..."

[Emi]

I just wanna say:
Actually most gyaru r soooo dirty,dont(cant)mind other ppl,etc,
BUT,some of them arent.Just their appearances are similar,
but the characters are not same.

So,,,,,,Please dont misunderstand them,and dont judge the appearance.

thanks

[Anonymous]

Well, I would love to meet some of these `gyaru` types who are actually nice girls. I have a feeling that they are in small number though. They are undoubtedly the most sexy Japanese girls and I think most will agree with that.

[Anonymous]

I for one would not... however as for them having diseases, a condom or two (or a Sainsbury's carrier bag strategically placed) should take care of that!

[Anonymous]

One of my Japanese friends used to be a gyaru.
According to her, gyaru, in the tradition of true gyarus all over the nation, do not change their underwear for long periods of time... (and you wondered why Shibuya has such a peculiar smell...) and refrain from washing their hair at the same time. Only those gifted with true gyaru logic would understand the reason for this, and whether it's true or not...well, perhaps some of the guys could help us out on that one.

[Anonymous]

Oh my god..................you guys actually fancy gyaru so much.................unbelievable!!
when i was working in Tokyo, i met a couple of guyaru. They were extremly rude at first but then they were actually hiting on me in front of their boyfriends...........................the guys got really pissed but they didn't need to worry..................Man, gyaru makes me want to run away, if their is someting to cut off my apetite it's definetly gyaru......!

I didn't check if weither they are dirty or not.................luckily, i didn't.

Then again, i respect everyone taste, therefore don't take what i said badly.

However i think that Japanese girls are pretty, therefore there is no need to paint their self!

Although, i respect gyaru and their choices.

[Anonymous]

Stop saying "They are" " They aren't"....quit all these value-laden judgements. Stop trying to pigeon-hole everyone. And stop talking about Japanese girls like they are some commodity for you to use. It sounds like you are persusing a catalogue "Mmmm maybe not a J-girl today, but perhaps a Shibuya Ko-Gyaru. Or perhaps a Roppongi Sasseko-Tai-pu".

"They don't change their underwer, theyd on't wash their hair" ...what all of them? Or just 20 percent ? Or could it perhaps be a dirty rumour that you would like to believe ?

e.g " What ? They don't change their underwear ? I knew they were dirty ! ! "

TH hit on something as she identified a social group in Japan that has equivalents around the world. However, everyone is different with their own traits and foibles. The desire to pigeon-hole people is understandable - we hate to be in doubt about things. But certainty is a ridiculous conditition.

[Anonymous]

.................touche!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(-_-*)..................

[Anonymous]

To Mr Rapecock (That is the funniest name I've ever heard)

You are right that it is wrong to make over-generalisations about a particular group, but as you probably already know, it is quite normal to do this in Japan. I think that a small minority of gyaru may not fit the typical image, however most of them seem to be on the unintelligent end of the scale and do their best to be as similar to each other as possible in appearance, speech and outward representation of their personality. This tendency to want to be as similar as possible seems to be most prevalant among the gyaru species. Still, aside from the dirty shibuya types, they are by far the sexiest ___. chicks around. It'd be nice to find one with they same kind of sexiness, but who is actually polite and trustworth, down to earth etc. Just dreaming-excuse me!

[Max]

i've been in japan about 13 years and have dated plenty of gyaru. the girls i have dated have been, for the most part, great in many ways. being a 'gyaru' is both a social phenomenom and a fashion statement. in reality, the hardcore 'gyaru' that most people seem to be talking about are far fewer than the fashion 'gyaru', who just want to have the look. regardless, the biggest issue with all gyaru is that they tend to tie up their entire identity with the look that they convey - their entire lifestyle tends to be centered around their fashion. however, they are still all individuals and other than being extreme fashion junkies, their personalities run the gamut as with any other identifiable group in japan or elsewhere.

[Anonymous]

gyaru who deliberately don't wash much are called OGYARU (O meaning 'dirty', as in OSEN, OSHOKU) (ogyaru being a very small subset of gyaru)

Daniel

[DJ]

Are you sure you don't mean ganguro or yamamba, no "o-garu"? Max is right in that the vast majority (99%) of "Garu" aren't the nasty no-sock/underwear changing girls....most are in it for the look and are quite clean....at least in my experience. Finally.....you gotta be a little cool if you are going to be successful with these girls. They aren't going to throw themselves at you (although it happens) like the naive country livin' honey's.........

[westsan]

I think most Gyal's are into that look to be popular amongst thier J g-friends and J b-friends.
They are not really into gaijin. But you can tap into thier natural curiosity toward gaijin.
But if they are popular with the japanese around them you will have lots of intellectual/fiscal competition.
So your better off sparkling like they do. Dress wild crazy hip-hop with bright colors and sunglasses keepin em entertained. Then youll have a chance.

[reepo]

I saw a T.V.program about them once.A lot of them live(?)in these tiny apartments that are so full of trash it is enough to make you sick.The presenter asked if her bathroom is so full of trash,where does she wash.Her reply was that she washes about once a week at a friends/mothers etc.Do you really want a piece of that?

[Anonymous]

What??? I'm sorry this topic just... really rubs me the wrong way.
No, I don't know any gyaru. But I do know a lot of people who subscribe to other branches of Japanese subculture... and they are not all alike, do not all fit the stereotypes of personality even if they do physically. But...
Judging a whole group of people by what they show on TV?
Think about Jerry Springer and those types of shows. How do they protray transsexuals? exotic dancers? people who live in trailer parks? Now think about the people who you ACTUALLY KNOW who fit those categories. Are they ANYTHING like the people on Jerry Springer, or are they normal human beings who happen to have a slightly different lifestyle than most.

No one would put a girl on TV who said "Well, I only dress like this after school. I'm actually a straight-A student , I bathe every day, and someday I hope to realise my dream of *fill in normal career/marriage here*" Of course they wouldn't, that's not entertainment.

Also, the treating of people as objects is NOT likely to get you a girlfriend--gyaru or otherwise--who is a nice normal person. If you want someone because of a fetish, chances are you're only going to be able to meet people who have a gaijin fetish. I speak from experience.

[reepo]

Stereotype or not,every civilised person I know bathes everyday or when they can.

[Luke]

I have had gyaru as a girlfriend(6 months when at a high school over there) she was a great girlfriend and i made many great friends though her. I just came back from Japan 2 months ago from doing a working holiday about 65% of my friends were gyaru's and now i have another gyaru girlfriend we have been going out for 1 year and 3 months!

[Jk]

Well dont be hog em mate. Hook us up!

[Phil]

Luke what's your take on the underwear washing controversy?

True or false?

[Max]

as i posted previously, i have gone out with many and am currently dating a gyaru. i also mentioned, and emphasize again, that the gyaru thing is mostly a fashion statement (in many cases, putting fashion above all else) - sometimes it's more, but we're talking about the majority here since we are making broad sweeping generalizations just by using the term 'gyaru'. at any rate, just like most japanese girls i've known, they have excellent hygiene - far better than most westerners i know. why does everyone seem so caught up with the dirty panties thing?

on another note, since the gyaru thing is largely a fashion statement, while they may, as a rule, not be particularly interested in foreigners, if a guy's sense of fashion appeals to them and he speaks japanese well, understands them, and/or (more unlikely) she speaks some english or has interest in speaking english, there's plenty of potential for 'inter-cultural' relations, so to speak.

[Luke]

Phil what do you mean?
I agree with Max about japanese girls Hygiene the girls i know spend 20-40 min's in the shower and take very good care of their skin(more than gaijin women i think) most gyaru i know did have alright hygiene. Also ''gyaru" are mostly school girls(around 85-90%) their are other japanese girls that change their hair colour like gyaru's but doesnt make them a gyaru its a fine line between a gyaru and normal japanese so you might see a girl walking in Shibuya with dyed blondish hair but that doesnt make her a gyaru give you something to think about?
ALSO
if you put "gyaru" in english spelling it's "girl"

[Jackie Treehorn]

Thanks for pointing that out Luke.......there is a fine line between real fake Gyaru. Too many foriegners lump them all in a pile, and even wanna-be old Japanese chicks call themselves gyaru in an attempt to be "cool".

-The Gyaru Expert

[fivefivefive]

This old thread still got life...?

Good.

Anyway, the GYARU would be (if anything) GAL, in English.

Girl is written　ガール.
A subtle difference but important.

Gals do want to be different from all other girls, imo. But with the Japanese trend towards looking/dressing foreign (define that!) a great many women here could be mistaken for Gals, even by other Japanese.

It's all about fashion, so I reckon there are a fair few who like gaijin.