Customer Reviews

Japanese Schoolgirl Inferno: Tokyo Teen Fashion Subculture Handbook

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I've been waiting for this book since I first read about it months ago; when I picked it up, I was a little concerned. I mean, it seems a bit thin and it's not a photobook the way Fruits and Fresh Fruits are.
Lucky for me, it was better than that. "Japanese Girl Inferno" is a history lesson in the social evolution of the various trends that have pervaded the lives of young japanese women, from the motorcycle gangs to gothloli. It was incredibly informative and filled in a lot of gaps for me.
The book is divided into sections by trend, starting with the gang-types fro the early 60s and 70s and ending with the present-day decora; not only does it outline the history, it has "profiles" on each type which include and illustration of a typical member and details on specifics, then another section outlying "Ideal Boyfriends" and "Must-Have Items". The illustrations themselves were very charming, and the book is well-written.
All-in-all, I recommend this book for any fan of Japanese fashion, especially those who enjoyed the movie Kamikaze Girls.

I found this book before it came out, just dubbing around on Amazon. I thought it looked interesting enough, and not too expensive, so I ordered it. I was so pleased when I got my copy in the mail! It's an interesting, well organized, and well catagorized history of Tokyo teen girl fashion. From the well known and ongoing to the unheard of and extinct, it shows a timeline, influences, and interests of every sort of girl. What that girl did in her day. What her interests were. What future styles she may have inspired.

It really is a great book, full of pictures and cute illustrations. It even includes a few makeup and dressing tips, as well as references to check out if anything tickles your fancy. It isn't too long or wordy, and is written in an entertaining style so that the book can interest both hardcore subculture freaks, or maybe just a girl who happens to think Lolita is cute.

I must say, I really enjoyed it, and would highly recommend it to anyone with any sort of interest in Tokyo's peculiar fashions, or even someone with an interest in girl power alone.

When i got this book in the mail, I was really happy and read it right away. The information about all the fashion that happened in Japan and the pictures were really good and interesting, and the mini-interviews of actual people involved in the fashion was really nice. The articles tell you how long that fashion lasted and what caused it to go out-of-style. To me, it was a nice cute touch on how sprinkled in a few of the chapters were the "life of a Manba/GothLoli", and even a segment on how you can transform your face like a Ganguro girl's. Even when my friends looked into the book, then liked how informative it was.
Why did I rate it 4 stars? Well, it's not the information of the book I took out a star for...it's the fact that merely a few minutes after I opened the book, pages started to fall out. And I'm a person who's very delicate with books. I'm not sure if I was the only one that it has happened to, or if the batch of books they were selling were defective ones. But it's not a good thing.
I'm not trying to say "Don't get this book, it's defective!", because really, this handbook is a VERY good one for anyone interesting in the history of Japan's fashion. I'm just trying to give out a little warning to people who are considereing buying this book.

I just picked up this book today, and I've already fallen in love with it! This is a very informative, well researched book on the fashion styles unique to Japan dating back to the 1960s, going all the way up through today (as in 2007).

As the introduction states, "this book [is] a kind of 'greatest hits' of Japanese schoolgirl culture and fashion." Most of the major, iconic fashion styles have their own, detailed sections, with accompanying diagrams of what the major aspects of the look are. There's even a timeline-type chart that shows how each look is related to and evolved from one another. The book even goes so far as to list sub-genres of the looks (like kuro-loli and ama-loli under gothloli) and mentions certain specific details that an outsider to these fashions would never know about but are intriguing nonetheless (like how there is a rivalry between anime gothic lolitas and visual kei gothic lolitas).

Speaking as a fan of visual kei and gothic lolita, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and was not bored by it in the slightest bit. The information presented was well organized, detailed, and didn't come off as condescending like most outsiders' depictions of Japanese fashion do. Yet, the authors start from the beginning, so newcomers to this fashion scene will not be lost. There's a good dose of humor in it too; we're talking about teen fashion not astro-physics and the author's know that and don't take this book too too seriously. The photos are clear, helpful, and clearly captioned, along with the other graphics and diagrams. There's a certain charm about this book and the way it looks that makes you fall in love with it. Yes, the binding does fall apart really easily, but a little glue and it's back together.

I definitely recommend this book to anybody interested in street fashion, Japanese culture, or just have a healthy sense of curiosity.

Japan is home to anime, sushi, samurai, and girls wearing giant hamster suits? Yes, it's bizarre, but true. Kigurumin (girls who wear cheap cloth costumes of characters like Hamtaro, Pikachu, and Winnie the Pooh) are only one of a dozen fashion subcultures that Japanese Schoolgirl Inferno features. From ogals, who rarely bathe, to gothlolis, who manage to be both cute and creepy at the same time, to lady's, who were the "biker chicks" of Japan, Japanese Schoolgirl Inferno covers them all.

The book is broken into sections, each covering a specific fashion or subculture. Each section contains a history of the fashion, fashion profiles, must-have items, and ideal boyfriends. The book also contains make-up tips, interviews, a look at the evolution of the Japanese school uniforms, and a fun little test where you are sorted into a fashion subculture.

As some of the other reviewers have said, the binding is not the best. The book is only available in paperback, unfortunately. I would recommend handling the book with caution, and not leaving it face down on any tables (that's a surefire way to destroy paperback books).

Japanese Schoolgirl Inferno is a must-have for anyone interested in fashion or Japanese culture, especially fans of manga and anime. Of course, the handbook can also be enjoyed by people who know nothing about either fashion or Japanese culture; after all, who can keep a straight face while reading about "fashionable" girls wearing giant hamster costumes?

I lived in Japan for a long time, and while I got used to many strange things something that never ceased to turn my head was when a tribe of schoolgirls would come walking by dressed in bizarre outfits that looked more like Halloween costumes than actual clothing. I'll never forget my first encounter with the kigurumin, groups of girls dressed in full-length pajamas of popular characters like Pikachu and Winnie the Pooh. The nice thing is these girls are always happy to pose for pictures with an astounded foreigner, and I took more than a few over the years.

"Japanese Schoolgirl Inferno" is a fashion-guide to some of the more outrageous outfits to come in and out of popularity over the years. I know from personal experience that these are all real styles, worn by guys and gals who put considerable time, energy and money into creating the perfect effect. As is true in most Japanese culture, it is all about fitting in with the group, and making sure that everyone is matching. They might like to stand out, but individualism is the last thing on anyone's mind, with choreographed dance moves and coordinated colors declaring your membership in each tribe.

The book starts in the 1970's, with the Sukeban fashion inspired by and inspiring the Pinky Violence genre. These tough and sexy girls were the devils of Japanese streets, managing to be both cute and dangerous at the same time. The trends continue with the Takenoko Zoku in the 80's, the schoolgirl prostitutes known as Kogals, and the incredible Panda-women that haunted Shibuya, Tokyo and were known as Gonguro. All of these fashions were supported by the infamous Egg Magazine, which laid out the rules and costumes for each group.

After seeing these fashions live and in person, it was cool to get the run down on the styles and attitudes behind them, as well as the history and inspirations. "Japanese Schoolgirl Inferno" is more than just a photo book, and does a great job showing the culture necessary to spawn these complicated fashions. Of course, there are photos as well, as well as fantastic illustrations by Nonaka Kazumi that give greater details on the costumes, the type of guys favored by each tribe, and the era in which they were popular.

The image of the Japanese schoolgirl is one that many a Japanophile fantasize over and romanticize to ridiculous degrees. But really, who can blame them? With the way that these girls are presented in anime, manga and games, you'd think they were were angels straight out of heaven. However, those of us keen enough to realize that Japan isn't at all like its cartoon counterpart know that such an image simply doesn't jive with reality. However, upon opening this book, one notices quickly that the reality behind these girls is much stranger than the fiction.

Japanese Schoolgirl Inferno takes us straight into the belly of the beast without any warning. The introduction throws you into a club with Patrick and crew as they do some research for the book you're holding in your hands. The image painted by this opening text is one of youth, excitement and energy. Nothing too strange, really. But as your eye scans these opening pages and actually starts to notice the accompanying photographs, you realize that this whole affair is anything but normal. And once the introduction ends, things really get weird. In the best possible way, of course.

Spanning from the late 1960s to the present day, Inferno covers all the major movements in Japanese girls' fashion, complete with interviews, photos and Macias' unique brand of writing. In each chapter, Macias puts you right in the middle of the movement, involving you with these girls and their era personally. Simply put, it feels like you're there. This is actually pretty incredible, considering Macias himself wasn't even around to experience some of these movements, which just goes to show how great this book is.

It's evident a meticulous amount of research and love went into writing this, as each chapter contains a comprehensive history of each movement, but at the same time is presented in a very conversational manner. Macias talks to you. He knows this stuff back to front. He's seen some of this stuff happen, and for the stuff he missed, he talks to people who were there, reads old magazines and just digs around. Then he just tells it all to you, and you simply can't help but be mesmerized.

This book isn't all a history lesson, though- as the title states, it's a handbook. So, between Macias' witty and entertaining discourses on various fashion movements, the book comes with various "how to" guides, "a day in the life" segments, interviews with current/former Gals, and each chapter ends with a list of "must have" Gal items complete with "Ideal Boyfriend." This mixture is one that produces a most entertaining read.

Another notable aspect about this book is the design and illustration work. Izumi Evers, the designer, lays out the book very well, and pushes the aesthetics appropriately over-the-top to compliment the subject matter. Similarly, Kazumi Nonaka's illustrations are detailed, colourful and have a doll-like look to them that works well with Macias' witty writing style, and interacts nicely with Evers' design work.

Japanese Schoolgirl Inferno is simply a great book. It's fun to read, informative, and just nice to look at. If there needs to be complaints to make this review complete, the ending of this book is a bit abrupt. It would have been better if there was a closing statement after the final chapter- a section where Macias could reflect on all this and provide some witty opinions. But that's being nitpicky. It does come with this "WHAT GAL ARE YOU" test at the end, which is clearly hours of fun for the whole family.

Go out and buy this if you haven't already. You don't even have to care about fashion or Japan at all- this book will make you care. Because it's that good.

This is a very well-designed book (if you're into that sort of thing). With dimensions just slightly larger then your average Japanese manga book, this paperback feels weighter then it should thanks to its use of high-quality, glossy paper stock. The pages are in full color and there is a plethora of full color photos and cartoon style sketches to complement the smatterings of text.

As far as the actual content of this book - if you're at all interested in the concept of the Japanese 'school girl' as a cultural icon - this book does cover the various sub-cultures of this iconic demographic spanning the 1960's through the present and covering everything from the biker-gang type delinquents to the glam Material Girls of today. A very easy book to breeze right through if you have a couple of hours to kill.

Great book to add more idea to your cosplay collection to POP at next Event

This was such a fun read, I couldn't put it down.

Anybody who has any interest in Japanese subcultures would be doing themselves a major disservice in not owning this book. ^_^