No, this is not about cutting yourself but a very specific style of bangs.
As mentioned in a previous article, japanese girls are very insecure about their round face shape and obscuring the flaws with hair helps them to feel better mentally. The bangs consists of thick straight front, that starts very far away from the natural hairline, combined with slightly curved Shokkaku sidelocks that end under the chin.
It is like if you would have a frame around your face.
Japan is known worldwide for its traditional design principles and
zen-influenced aesthetics like “wabi-sabi,” but how about the
up-and-coming illustrators of subculture Japan? Bright color palettes
and a big emphasis on kawaii and youth culture help define some of the
most prominent artists in Tokyo’s underground art scene. Find out more
about the artists you see all over Harajuku and your favorite idols’
album covers!
1. Ai Madonna
Specializing in colorful-haired schoolgirls with sapphic overtones, Ai
Madonna has become one of the most recognizable illustrators in the
subculture scene thanks to her collaborations on t-shirts, pins, and
other goods with idol group Dempagumi.inc. She’s also offered her
talents to Bandjanaimon!, creating 4 different album jackets with the
group. Her fascination with seishun (youth) is shared by many
in Japan, tying her colorful imagery of school uniforms to good memories
of feeling young and vibrant.
Omochi Alien is exactly what it sounds like– a squishy, sticky alien
girl made of mochi. She is five years old and in the Hydrangea class at
her kindergarten on the distant 135th planet “Ami.” Omochi Alien is a
character created by an artist known as borutanext5, and may have caught
her big break making cameos in Dempagumi.inc’s 2013 video for
“DenDenPassion.” Recently, she can be spotted in plush form inside UFO
catchers, so you can take home an Omochi Alien of your own! Don’t forget
the Omochi Camera iOS app, where you can stamp the lumpy alien onto all
your photos.
With thin, crisp lines and a gentle, subdued color palette, Kato Rei’s
illustrations are romantic in both feel and content— his pieces often
include a speech bubble with some bittersweet musings, like “please make
my heart beat faster this year, too” and “I closed my eyes as if I was
kissing the crying sky.” Over the summer, he released his first art
book, “girl friend,” and penned Amanatsu Yuzu’s solo jacket for
Bandjanaimon’s newest single, “NaMiDa.” Check him out on tumblr, too!
A self-titled “music-style illustrator,” Fukuzawa enjoys participating
in the music scene through their art, whether it’s illustrating bands’
music videos or doing live paints on stage right beside them. Recently,
in collaboration with book/music/variety stores Tsutaya and Village
Vanguard, Fukuzawa’s mildly melancholy work has been reaching a wider
audience. Over the summer, they collaborated with t-shirt designer and
sentimental poet Hajime Fantasy to create Mune Gyun, an illustrated
poetic short story about one-sided love. The two embarked on a
countrywide book tour featuring live paints by Fukuzawa and a line of
poetry for each location by Hajime Fantasy.
With their trademark super-sparkly kira-kira eyes, Sekiya Yurie’s girls
and critters started catching on in Harajuku and are now taking over
Tokyo. Reminiscent of 90’s toys like Popples and Strawberry Shortcake,
her saccharinely-sweet characters have been featured in mash-ups with
PASSPO, Bandjanaimon!, Neon Genesis Evangelion, as well as on the covers
of popular fashion magazines NYLON, with various fashion brands, and
most recently, in UFO catchers as cute plush toys.
Nakamura Yusuke is that type of artist you never knew you already knew,
especially if you’ve ever listened an Asian Kung-Fu Generation CD. Aside
from having designed countless album covers and other art for the band,
Nakamura’s distinctly bold style of pure-white people and vivid animals
in fantastical settings can be found on the covers of magazines and in
print at fashionable book shops like Village Vanguard. He also created a
series of illustrations with Big Comic Spirits, featuring a
collaboration with AKB48’s Kashiwagi Yuki!
Smooth, rounded lines, soft gradients, neon-pastels and sometimes really
long legs are the trademarks of F*Kaori’s easy-on-the-eyes
illustrations. There’s a lot of 90’s nostalgia to be found among
tropical, summery themes and old-school magical girl anime tribute
pieces, and F*Kaori often works closely with Shibuya’s most colorful
fashion brand, galaxxxy. She also designed a super cute t-shirt for idol
group Moso Calibration, which sold out in no time at Tokyo Idol
Festival 2015.
Reflecting mental health issues (caused by the pressure of society) as a fashion statement have become somewhat of a
trend among young subculture Japan, so of course even this trend has a
cute mascot— Menhera-chan. Designed by illustrator and manga artist Ezaki
Bisuko, Menhera-chan and her friends Sabukaru-chan and Yumekawa-chan are
paired with dark imagery like pills, nooses and knives in a totally
weird combination of kawaii (cute) and kowai (scary).
Their goods feature all sorts of edgy messages, like the kanji for
“death” and “suffering” pasted in cute pink hearts, or magical box
cutter-wielding girls telling you you’re ugly and need to die. Everybody
has an edgy teen phrase, right?
If you happen to be in an edgy adult phrase, Saiaku Nana might be for
you. Combining haphazard colors, lines, and patterns makes for a sort of
cute-chaos with melancholy undertones, fit for depicting the emotions
and suffering of girls. With an aesthetic reminiscent of Omori Seiko’s
crazy “Kyurukyuru” music video, it’s not too surprising that they’ve
collaborated on a t-shirt.
Overexcited children! 1970’s Japan! Space travel? Welcome to the weird world of Sootome Keiko, bordering on the edge of kimokawaii
(gross-cute). Working almost exclusively in paint, she’s known for
creating lots of weird-looking kids in zany poses, especially gazing
upwards into galaxies beyond. Her unique art makes a great addition to
your LINE conversation in stamp form, and yes, even she has collaborated
with Dempagumi.inc!
