Japanese youth culture

thumb|upright=1.6|Cosplayers at Yukicon 2014, a fan convention in Finland thumb|Three cosplayers at the Comic book convention|Comic Con in [[Long Beach 2014, representing James T. Kirk (Star Trek), the superheroine Wonder Woman (DC Universe), and supervillain Loki (Marvel Universe)]] A cosplay (a portmanteau of "costume play") is the activity and performance art in which participants called cosplayers wear costumes and fashion accessories to represent a specific character. Cosplayers often interact to create a subculture, and a broader use of the term "cosplay" applies to any costumed role-pla

type of entertainer

thumb|200px|right|A or wandering Shibuya in 2007 '''''' (, ) is a Japanese fashion subculture for all ages, often associated with gaudy fashion styles, an extreme makeup style and dyed hair. The term is a Japanese transliteration of the English slang word . In Japan, it is used to refer to young women who are cheerful, sociable, and adopt trendy fashions, serving as a stereotype of culture as well as fashion. The fashion subculture was considered to be nonconformist and rebelling against Japanese social and aesthetic standards during a time when women were expected to be housewives and to fit

Pixiv is a Japanese online community for artists. It was first launched as a beta test on September 10, 2007, by Takahiro Kamitani and Takanori Katagiri. Pixiv Inc. is headquartered in Sendagaya, Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan. As of January 2024, the site consists of over 100 million members, over 115 million illustration and manga and over 21 million novel works posted. Pixiv aims to provide a place for artists to exhibit their illustrations and get feedback via a rating system and user comments. Works are organized in an extensive tag structure which forms the backbone of the website.

Mixi (stylized as mixi) is an online Japanese social networking service. It opened in 1999 and is owned by . As of September 2012, Mixi had about 14 million monthly active users, with about 8.6 million of those on smartphones. Mixi, Inc. was founded by Kenji Kasahara in 1999 as a limited liability company and became a Japanese corporation in 2000. The company changed its name to Mixi, Inc. from E-Mercury, Inc. in February 2006 to align its name with the social networking service, and was updated to MIXI, Inc. in 2022. Its headquarters are in Shibuya, Tokyo.

Japanese music genre

organization that discusses/celebrates Japanese animation

is a Japanese fandom subculture popular among young people, especially young women, in which a person spends significant amounts of time and money to support an idol or favorite character, primarily as a form of fan identity. It gained popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic and has been compared to Western stan culture. The subculture and its activities have been criticized for enabling addiction and unhealthy spending, while businesses and economists see the trend as a potential avenue to revitalize Japan's economy.

thumb|Typical gyaruo in associated dress, 2007. Gyaruo (which can be written as ギャル男, ギャルオ, ギャル汚 in Japanese) is a sub-group of modern Japanese youth culture. They are the male equivalent of the gyaru. The o suffix added to the word is one reading of the kanji for male (男). The kanji for 'dirty' in Japanese (汚), which also has the same reading, is often used by gyaru and gyaruo in a light hearted way, poking fun at themselves because of the reputation that their subculture has gained within society due to their dark skin, hairstyles and often gritty, rough style of clothing that they wear. Gya

right|thumb|An example of the chapatsu (Japanese boy).