Japanese Schoolgirl Inferno: Tokyo Teen Fashion Subculture Handbook
Japanese Schoolgirl Inferno: Tokyo Teen Fashion Subculture Handbook
Izumi Evers and Patrick Macias
Anyone even moderately familiar with Japanese teen culture probably knows that there are some kids who dress extraordinarily strange, especially compared to the expectations one frequently has of a nice, sweet conformist school girl. This book traces the general evolution of schoolgirls dressing oddly in Japan. Starting with tough girls in the 60s, the book covers everything from biker chicks to Gothic Lolitas, to kids dressed so wildly one might think they were living in a full time rave. Fun illustrations and fantastic photos illustrate what is essentially a field guide to teen subcultures.
Manga fans and Japanaphiles will enjoy seeing a bit of history and geography related to trends they might see in movies, manga, or Fruits collections, but may be disappointed in the range of photos and the lack of information on current trends. Still, this is a fun book and worth having in any public library collection. There is one quote that would make me hesitate to place this in a school library...funny how provocative one phrase can be, but if you have teens in your library who are obsessed with Japan, this is a book well worth having.