J-Rock Groupies: 200 Photos of Unique Japanese Girls [Paperback]

Cocoro Books (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 2007

Cosplay for J-Rock groupies. Japanese rock bands are hot! And Japan leads the world in rock band fashion. Girl fans dress up in unique and wild styles and concept clothing and display their creations, en masse, at rock concerts. Here, hot and absurd groupie fashion girls tell readers in their own words why they do it. This collection of 200 photos and interviews delves into this unique world, bringing readers the unique fashions and musical passions from the streets and live rock houses of Tokyo.

Product Details

• Paperback: 191 pages
• Publisher: DH Publishing (May 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1932897151
• ISBN-13: 978-1932897159
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.7 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #708,104 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

DH Publishing is Tokyo's #1 publisher of Japanese pop culture books for the English speaking world. DH Publishing's goal is to introduce non-Japanese readers to the many facets of Japan's vibrant pop and underground cultures.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars For it's price and 190 pages of full color photos, an excellent visual resource for J-Rock fans, August 8, 2008

By 

Dennis A. Amith (kndy) (California) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 50 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: J-Rock Groupies: 200 Photos of Unique Japanese Girls (Paperback)

One of the coolest offerings from DHP Publishing/Cocoro Books is the release of "J-Rock Groupies". A 190+ page book featuring photography of various J-Rock fans around Japan and what I like about this book is that it doesn't just feature people wearing similar outfits, Cocoro Books really does a great job in selecting outfits that are not similar.

And also, an interesting look at the various Indie Visual Kei bands in Japan to the mom and their toddler dressed in matching J-Rock outfits.

Of course, there are photography of people sporting interesting outfits such as the girl in Pokemon Pikachu outfit but her face features the long bangs in dark black and blonde and piercings on her lips.

Some fans featured are those who sport the black leather, some that sport a Burberry style of fashion, some that sport really dark outfits to some who are very colorful in their clothing presentation. And of course, several who are obsessed with the Rococo era and sport that Lolita look.

This book has a little bit of everything and for those wanting large photography, this book features full page, full body photograph. Only the few Indie visual-kei band photos will you find half-page photography or quarter-page photography.

Also, the photography of the people featured are all female with the exception of the Indie visual-kei bands. The photos feature their names and ages.

So, for those wanting a resource from the hair, the makeup, the clothing and accessories and the shoes, this book does a good job of that.

By saying that, this is pretty much what the book is for. A visual resource.

This book does not go into the various J-Rock fan's names or where they purchased their outfits. No interviews.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic, Fun-Filled, Faddy, Fashion Flash, Foto Folio, April 4, 2009

By 

James R. Holland "Author of Boston's Notable ... (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: J-Rock Groupies: 200 Photos of Unique Japanese Girls (Paperback)

J-Rock Groupies, Not Your Parent's Jail House Rock! This is another of those books about the youthful female fashionistas of Japan. It's really a collection of individual portraits of avid fans of various Independent Japanese bans. Like the book length photo essays "Gothic & Lolita" by Masayuki Yoshinaga and Albert Siegel's "Harajuku Girls" this book has almost no text. It's really a kind of Internet Collection of Friends like one would find on Face Book or My Space. Many of the girls furnishing their colorful portraits and fashion styles for this collection are slightly older than the teens in "Harajuku Girls." In this volume a couple of the groupie girls have their children along with them, some dressed in matching fashions.
Text-wise there are only four pages--actually two end sheets. J-Rock is defined by Rusanchiman Takeda, the stage name of a guitarist for independent band, the "Tsuberukurin". Japanese rock groupies apparently aren't like band groupies in the west. "We enjoy being flattered by our groupies, but, it's not like we fool around with them. I don't know about foreign groupies, but Japanese groupies don't offer themselves to us. They always come to our gigs to bring a lot of excitement. Japanese groupies are into the `fashion.' Since we are known as a `visual rock band', wearing hardcore and crazy fashions, our groupies try to fit in with us by coming to our gigs and dressing in crazy and sexy ways too. They relate to us by mimicking our style. In other words, they want to have a spiritual connection with us. I find our groupies are cute and touching. We don't have to fool around with them. I just enjoy watching them."
This rock band member asked their "cameraman to take snap shots of these groupies." The pictures were then made into a photo album and spread worldwide.
A sixteen-year-old high school student wrote the groupies description. She said, "her parents are very conservative, when I would go out to see him perform they always yelled, `Stop wearing those clothes!' So, now, I put my outfit in a plastic bag and leave my house wearing normal clothing. I change in the bathroom of the closest train station where the gig is going to be I get really `turned on' when I'm at a concert." She goes on to describe the rest of her feelings about j-rockers, and her fellow groupie friends and their fashions. Her description is very fresh.
The book contains excellent performance photos of the following Indies Bands: Atelier, cinema-s `trip, Undead, lilyspider, Maverick, Rutiru, and Sinner along with dozens and dozens of their cute female fans, four of their fan's children, and their Japanese subculture fashions. These portraits are in sections called Groupies Galleries. This is a fun book. One can almost feel the beat and see the happy fans dancing in time with their favorite J-Rock musicians.

5.0 out of 5 stars Love this fashion style!, December 30, 2010

By 

Kevin Foureman (Arcanum, Ohio United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: J-Rock Groupies: 200 Photos of Unique Japanese Girls (Paperback)

I have purchased all the books like this I can find. As a photographer of alternative fashion styles this is one of the ones I love and have a lot of models that do as well. So I try to find all the books and magazines on this style I can find. This is an excellent book full of photos that help inspire styling for images that I produce in my own work. And I always wanted to be a fashion designer so this is the type of book I love...just a lot of pics of the styles. Excellent reference!