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Ganguro, literally 'face-black,' is a fashion trend among Japanese girls, an outgrowth of chapatsu hair dyeing. The basic look is bleached-blond hair perms that take half a day to set and cost about $400, and a deep tan, produced by tanning beds or makeup. The intent is to produce the tanned, blond California beach girl look. Accessories include high platform shoes or boots, purikura photo stickers,and cellular phones. They go to tanning salons to maintain a dark-brown tan year-round (or apply a dark-brown foundation). They also dye their hair brown or gold and wear blue contact lenses. It's the California beach girl look without the bikini. And sometimes they even wear fake flower leis or fake flowers in their hair. The Shibuya and kebukurodistricts of Tokyo are the center of ganguro fashion. It goes against the grain of the usual Japanese standard of female beauty, which calls for skin as white as possible. The roots of the trend are said to be in the mid-1990s, starting with a popular tanned Okinawan singer named Amuro Namie.The centerpiece of their street costume is 15-cm (6-inch) or higher platform shoes or sandals that makes them tower over the average Japanese. It lets them 'look down' on the world or to have the world 'look up' to them. One step beyond the ganguro is the yamanba, which oughly translates as 'mountain hag or witch' from Japanese folklore. Besides being ganguro, these girls wear more outrageous makeup with white lipstick, white eye shadow around the eyes (a racoon or panda look), silvery hair, and some glitter or fake tear drops on the cheek. They also have a loud, gregarious way of talking and laughing.
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