Gyaru: ギャル (gyaru), what the word means
ギャル (gyaru, “gyaru”) is a Japanese fashion subculture for young women, known for dyed hair, bold make-up and a confident attitude. The word is the English "gal" said the Japanese way, and it also works as a plain word for a young woman.
It took off in the 1990s in Shibuya, Tokyo, and it has many sub-styles, from the tanned ganguro to the pastel hime gyaru.
Say it "gya-ru": the ギャ is one syllable, then ru. It's written in katakana, the script Japanese uses for words from other languages. ギャ is the sound "gya", and the whole script is in What is Katakana?.
Where the word gyaru comes from
ギャル is a loanword from English "gal". The dictionary gives the subculture sense and a casual sense of "gal" or "young woman".
Some say the word spread in Japan in 1972, when the jeans brand Wrangler released a women's line called "Gals". Both English and Japanese Wikipedia give this as "some say", not as confirmed, so treat it as a likely story. English Wikipedia adds that the word was used in the 1970s for energetic, youthful women, long before the subculture.
The subculture has its own slang. ギャル語 (ギャルご, gyarugo) is the way gyaru talk. There's also ギャル文字 (ギャルもじ, gyarumoji), a playful writing system used by young women in texting. Some words tied to gyaru talk, such as マジ (maji, “serious”) and ガチ (gachi, “serious”), are now ordinary casual Japanese.
A short history of gyaru: kogal, ganguro and Shibuya 109
Gyaru as a youth culture grew out of the early 1990s. Sources agree on the broad picture and differ on the details.
- 1993: the kogal. High-school girls in short skirts, loose socks and bleached hair began to draw media attention. English Wikipedia says a 1993 TV special called "The Kogal Night" (Za Kogyaru Naito) introduced them to a mass audience. The dictionary entry for コギャル (kogyaru, “kogyaru”) describes a teenage schoolgirl with a style of miniskirts, baggy socks, brown dyed hair and a dark tan.
- 1995: egg. The magazine egg launched in 1995. It featured ordinary readers as models.
- Mid to late 1990s: the boom. Singer Namie Amuro's fans copied her look, and Japanese Wikipedia dates the "Amuraa" wave to 1996. In the same years, Shibuya 109, a fashion shopping centre that opened in 1979, became the hub where this fashion was sold.
- Late 1990s and early 2000s: ganguro. The next style was ガングロ (ganguro, “ganguro”): a heavy tan, bleached hair and heavy make-up. A still more extreme version, ヤマンバ (yamanba, “yamanba”), is said to be inspired by the mountain witch of Japanese folklore, 山姥 (やまうば, yamauba, “mountain witch”).
A word on the term itself. Kogal is usually described as short for kōkōsei gyaru, "high-school gal", where 高校生 (こうこうせい, kōkōsei, “senior high school student”) is the second word. Other accounts read the ko as "child". Sources differ, and the girls themselves often just said gyaru.
Gyaru styles: the main types, briefly
Gyaru split into many sub-styles. These are the names you'll meet:
| Style | What it is |
|---|---|
| Kogal | The 1990s schoolgirl look: short skirts, loose socks, dyed hair |
| Ganguro and yamanba | Deep tan, bleached hair, bold make-up; yamanba is the extreme version |
| Hime gyaru ("princess") | From the 2000s, peaking around 2007 to 2012: pastel colours, lace and bows, inspired by rococo style |
| Onee gyaru ("big sister") | An older, more grown-up look that appeared around 2000 |
| Agejo | The 2000s style linked to the magazine Koakuma Ageha |
Gyaru is also split into kuro (tanned) and shiro (pale) gyaru, and Japanese Wikipedia says the pale kind later became more common than the tanned. The dictionary has an entry for the abbreviation お姉系 (おねえけい, oneekei, “fashion style characterized by brown hair and deep-tanned skin, expensive brand-name clothes and accessories”). Details of the sub-styles vary by source and by decade, so treat the table as a map, not a rulebook.
Is there a boy version of gyaru?
Yes. ギャル男 (ギャルお, gyaruo) is the male version. The word is gyaru plus 男, "man". English Wikipedia describes it as a youth culture that grew up alongside gyaru, with its own magazine, Men's egg. Gyaru itself is mostly a female subculture.
Why is gyaru controversial?
The media panic
In the 1990s, parts of the Japanese media linked kogal to 援助交際 (えんじょこうさい, enjokōsai, “paid dating (esp. with an underage girl”), in which older men paid schoolgirls, often for sex. That was a real child-protection problem. What is disputed is the idea that most kogal were involved: a Grinnell College course page notes that kogal did not make up the majority of teenage prostitution. The sociologist Sharon Kinsella, in her book Schoolgirls, Money and Rebellion in Japan, traces the wider panic about "delinquent" schoolgirls to male anxieties about gender equality.
Race and blackface
Ganguro and yamanba raised another objection: that darkened skin imitates Black people, as in blackface. Grinnell's page points to Kinsella's 2005 article on gyaru and race, which notes that the make-up resembles blackface, and to a thesis on how African Americans experience blackness in Japan. A University of Southern California course page, citing Kinsella, reads ganguro as a challenge to pale beauty ideals, and says the girls were seen as "racial and cultural traitors" for it.
Some people in Japan see skin-darkening differently. A 2015 Global Voices piece on blackface in Japan records Japanese users calling it homage, and citing ganguro as a parallel. It also quotes the African-American student Diana Powell saying that anyone paying tribute needs to understand Black history first. The honest summary: for some wearers ganguro was a protest, and others criticise it as appropriation. Both views are held, and no source settles it.
Do gyaru still exist in Japan?
Yes, but fewer than at the peak, and the look has changed. egg stopped printing on 31 May 2014 after 19 years, and Japan Today reported in 2015 that the classic look "seems to have dropped almost to zero". It added that modern gyaru had moved to a more mainstream style, with more natural make-up and no dark tan.
A 2018 WWD Japan interview with a Shibuya 109 director said real gyaru numbers had fallen a lot, and that the idea had widened from a strict look into a mindset. It suggested the next boom could come around 2020 to 2024.
Japanese Wikipedia describes a revival of the Y2K look in the 2020s, with TikTok playing a part, in which "Reiwa gyaru" (named after the era that began in 2019) put values ahead of extreme styling. A June 2026 report in the Korean outlet Asiae describes Reiwa gyaru as a blend of Y2K fashion and Korean make-up. English Wikipedia says egg returned as an online magazine in 2018, and Asiae says it was relaunched in the 2020s, so the safest line is that it came back.
Practise ギャ, ギュ and ギョ
ギャル starts with ギャ, one syllable (gya). Practise the gy-sounds in katakana with a short quiz.
Can anyone be a gyaru? The question about race
Gyaru is a style and an attitude, not an ethnicity, and fans outside Japan take part too. English Wikipedia notes that Western fans sometimes call themselves "gaijin gyaru", and that Japanese speakers say "kaigai gyaru", where 海外 (かいがい, kaigai, “foreign”) means overseas.
The most debated element is the deep tan, which critics compare to blackface. English Wikipedia also lists B-gyaru, a sub-style inspired by hip-hop, among the styles criticised for borrowing from Black culture. Many fans today use lighter tans or none. A sensible approach is to read the history first and to know why you choose a look.
What is black called in Japan?
The word for the colour is 黒 (くろ, kuro, “black”), and the dictionary word for a Black person is 黒人 (こくじん, kokujin, “black person”). The name ganguro comes from 黒 too: the dictionary lists it as 顔黒, "face black". If you're talking about people, check how a native speaker uses the term in context, because tone matters.
Questions about gyaru
What does gyaru mean?
Gyaru (ギャル) is the Japanese way of saying "gal". It names a fashion subculture of young women with dyed hair, bold make-up and a confident attitude, and can also just mean a young woman.
Why is gyaru controversial?
Gyaru has been criticised for two reasons: the 1990s media panic that tied kogal to compensated dating, and the claim that the deep tan of ganguro imitated Black people, as in blackface. The first is disputed, since kogal were not the majority involved, and the second is still debated.
What makes a girl a gyaru?
There's no test, but gyaru is described as an attitude as much as a look. In a 2018 WWD Japan interview, two directors described gyaru as inner qualities, such as warmth, inner strength and enjoying life, more than a strict look.
What is a 12 or 13 year old gyaru called?
There's no official name, but Japanese media use informal shorthand by school stage: JK for 女子高生 (high-school girl) and JC for 女子中学生 (junior-high girl). A 2012 J-CAST article describes junior-high girls who dressed in gyaru style. These are casual labels, not dictionary words. The word kogal is usually explained as "high-school gal", so it doesn't strictly fit.
Is gyaru based off Black culture?
The sources describe gyaru as starting with Japanese youth and the English word "gal", not as a copy of Black culture. Two things are debated: the deep tan of ganguro, which critics compare to blackface, and B-gyaru, a sub-style that takes from hip-hop fashion. Others, like hime gyaru, draw on rococo style.
Can a white girl be a gyaru?
Yes. Gyaru is open to fans outside Japan, who are called "kaigai gyaru", gyaru from abroad. It's wise to learn the history and the race debate first.
What is black called in Japan?
The colour is 黒 (kuro), and a Black person is 黒人 (kokujin) in the dictionary. Check the context and tone with a native speaker before using the word about people.
Do gyaru still exist in Japan?
Yes. The classic look is much rarer than it was, but gyaru has come back in a softer form in the 2020s, helped by social media.
Is there a boy version of gyaru?
Yes, it's called ギャル男 (gyaruo). It's a male style of brown or blond hair and flashy clothes, with its own magazine, Men's egg.
Sources
- Readings and meanings: JMdict (EDRDG, CC BY-SA 4.0), including its senses for ギャル, コギャル, ガングロ, ヤマンバ, ギャル男, お姉系 and ギャル語.
- Word origin, kogal, styles, controversies and gyaruo: English Wikipedia, Gyaru, Kogal and Gyaruo; egg dates: Egg (magazine). English Wikipedia carries maintenance notices, so its points are hedged.
- Timeline, Shibuya 109, styles and the 2020s revival: Japanese Wikipedia, ギャル.
- Scholarship and controversy: Grinnell College, Gyaru, Subcultures and Sociology; Routledge, Schoolgirls, Money and Rebellion in Japan (Sharon Kinsella, 2014); University of Southern California, Ganguro Girls and Sexual Liberation; Global Voices, Is blackface in Japan a form of racism or respect?.
- Decline and revival: Japan Today, Where have all the gyaru gone? (2015); WWD Japan, ギャルトレンド再燃するか (2018); Asiae, The Return of Gyaru (June 2026).
- Junior-high girls in gyaru style: J-CAST, JKじゃなくてJCだった (2012).
- Facts on this page last checked on 2026-10-01.
- Reviewed independently; the points about the JK and JC labels, the word 黒人, the Wrangler origin, the kogal etymology and the race debate are waiting for a native speaker's check.