E. KATASONOVA

Doctor of Historical Sciences

In modern society, national borders are increasingly blurred, and television and the Internet are becoming the main channels for shaping the views and approaches of the younger generation. "Electronic universalism" primarily leads to the fact that new subcultures are becoming an integral part of the life of young people in almost all countries of the world, including in Russia. They find a sufficiently favorable ground for their development and, most importantly, receive constant information about the state of similar trends in other countries. That is why today we have every right to talk about the global penetration of new subcultures into the youth environment and the growth of their influence.

Japan is one of the countries that is often judged by common stereotypes. For many, Japanese people are still people who spend their time in creative collective work, and weekends - for the tea ceremony and arrangement of ikebana flowers. Perhaps it was, but only in the past. The bursting of the bubble economy in the early 1990s dramatically changed the life of society, especially young people. Young men and women no longer want to follow the path of their fathers: they have ceased to put common interests above personal ones. Individuality and self-expression became their credo, which was immediately reflected in everything: in their lifestyle, attitude to work, leisure and entertainment.

Today, there is a fairly widespread perception that the Japanese have no equal in the world in terms of the abundance and originality of youth subcultures, and Japanese youth has every chance of being considered the most shocking and extreme in the world. Journalists, scientists, sociologists write a lot about it, and fashion designers and musicians draw a lot of material for their creativity from the Japanese youth environment.

A BIT OF HISTORY

All currently existing youth groups in Japan can be divided into three main categories: the first is informal youth organizations whose value orientations are somewhat political, but more escapist in nature (hippies, punks); the second includes groups formed on the basis of different musical tastes and styles, as well as various trends in youth fashion (Takenokozoku"Lolita", etc.); the third is youth groups that profess a cult of power, as well as criminogenic formations that unite on the basis of aggressiveness, rigid organization and illegal activities.

Most of these subcultures, ranging from hippies to skinheads, came from the West and spread widely and almost unhindered in Japan in the wake of the processes of Westernization and, mainly, Americanization of the country, which have now resulted in a single stream of globalization. In Japan, many trends of Western youth subcultures often transformed into rather remote forms, often coinciding with Western ones mainly in external attributes and to a lesser extent in their ideological or social content.

At the same time, we note that the existence of subcultures as a kind of protest form against the dominant official culture does not mean a complete rejection of national traditions accepted by the main part of the population, but is only a more or less pronounced deviation from it, although society in the majority treats any subculture with distrust and disapproval. Perhaps this is due to the fact that the first post-war youth associations were often either sharply political or semi-criminal in nature. However, today the main part of youth subcultures in Japan is formed by street fashion and the latest world trends in music.

But first, a little history.

The formation of youth subcultures - making them into independent practice and a way of self-realization of young people-ended in Japan by the 1980s. It was at this time that various associations formed a certain system consisting of youth subcultures specializing in a certain type of leisure, creative expression and social manifestation, with clearly established communication channels between them. Although, of course, there are still hidden and explicit processes going on in this system today: some formations are dying out, new ones are taking their place; some groups are changing their ideology or mode of action, others are merging into larger associations or, on the contrary, breaking up into small and independent communities.

In Japanese, a subculture is denoted by the word zoku, which literally means clan, family. This concept emerged after the war. The first subcultural formations date back to the 1950s and 1960s and largely repeat the youth hobbies that were observed in those years and in other countries. For example, kaminarizoku - "children of thunder", as fans of high-speed motorcycle riding called themselves; erezoku were fond of electronic music, etc.

In the 1950s, the writer Shintaro Ishihara published his novel "Seasons of the Sun", in which he described in detail the youth of that time, becoming, one might say, the father of the new youth subculture taiyozoku ("children of the sun"). Japanese "children of the sun" absorbed a lot from their European and American counterparts-rockers and grizers (nabriolinennyh), which seemed to come from the screens of cinemas, where such Hollywood films as "Rebel without a Cause" (Rebel without a Cause) with the cult hero of American youth of the 50s performed with great success. James Dean, "Grease" and others. In the eyes of traditional Japanese society, these new Japanese looked like troublemakers because of the internal aggression and emotional breakdown that was still strong in the younger generation after the recent tragedy of the war years.

However, many of them turned to a different path for self-realization. While one part of the militant youth acted as destroyers of social foundations and loitered around the streets of cities in search of opportunities to "let off steam" and stretch their muscles, the other tried to express all their exuberant energy of youth in dance.

THE ROCK AND ROLL GENERATION

Dance - as a new social hobby, and, in fact, one of the first subcultures, began to spread among young people in the late 1960s.in the wake of the so-called rock ' n ' roll revolution in the West, which reached Japan.

Japan at that time was experiencing a period of not only economic, but also spiritual revival after the tragic defeat of the nation in the war and seven years of American occupation. Naturally, the American mass culture, which was actively planted by the occupation forces, had already taken deep roots in Japanese society, and the Japanese had the opportunity to learn rock and roll not by hearsay, but from the original source-the Americans.

The first post-war generation born in the late 1940s and early 1950s - children of the so-called "baby boom" - danced. Having acquired faith in the future and a certain minimum of material opportunities for this, their parents, after the tragic military events, hard work and huge hardships of the first post-war years of economic ruin, finally felt the spirit of rebirth and began to rapidly acquire offspring. The euphoria of parents was later transmitted to their children, who, entering adulthood, sought to fully experience the joy of being - something that the older generation did not get, which in life had no choice but to encourage these desires and create all the necessary material conditions for their implementation.

Of course, not all of them, but the most "advanced" part of the population began to gather in the vicinity of Harajuku (Tokyo metro station) and dance rock and roll, dressed in American second-hand clothes (second-hand)-a legacy of the occupation times, trying to get closer to the images of American pop idols - Japanese ones turned out "Marilyn Monroe "and, of course, "Elvis Presley", with his famous coiffure and springy gait. The fashion includes dyed blondes, cokes made from men's waxed hair, and so on. But not only the external attributes of the West were adopted by this generation of Japanese. Together with dancing, they tried to get a deeper understanding of modern pop music, the latest movies, etc. - everything that came to Japan on the wave of American pop culture, and this could not but affect their psychology and attitude.

It was a rock and roll revolution of its own, different from the West, which later developed in line with the history of Western youth subcultures: hippies, hip-hop, etc. All these Western trends are widely represented on Japanese soil, naturally, in their national specifics and interpretation.

BAMBOO SHOOTS-TAKENOKOZOKU

Such a specific national youth hobby was the dance movement, which received the name "takenokozoku", which means" bamboo shoot tribe", and soon formed into a separate subculture. However, unlike the supporters of rock and roll, "bamboo" did not seek to penetrate deeply into the essence of certain modern cultural phenomena, they just danced thoughtlessly, for which they were constantly attacked by local fans of the West and accused of ignorance and provincialism. Often in mutual rejection came to fights. And it was not so much in the inevitable conflicts or open personal hostility, but, implicitly, in the confrontation between two cultures that emerged in these years - Western and eastern.

"Bamboo" was a rare example of how a new youth subculture was formed in fact almost exclusively on national soil, with the minimum of foreign inclusions, without which it is difficult to imagine any modern cultural phenomenon.

Young people dressed in bright exotic outfits, stylized as national, on Sunday occupied the long road near Harajuku station, leading to Yoyogi Park-a favorite holiday destination of Tokyo residents. Car traffic was suspended by the traffic police at a clearly defined hour, as if by magic, the whole space turned into a so-called "paradise for pedestrians" and mass dances began. In many ways, the event resembled national holidays and festivals, the traditions of which have been going on for centuries.

This youth hobby started in 1978. Perhaps the dancing boys and girls were too young to go to the disco, or maybe just

they didn't have the money to do it, but somehow they would gather in the streets and dance with abandon. Participants of the impromptu street festival lined up in two rows or formed a circle and, at the whistle of the manager, began body movements reminiscent of rock, samba, jive or twist with elements of folk dance-odari (by the way, the same traditional odori dance was the basis for the most fashionable youth dance style in Japan today para-para dane). When the whistle blew, they paused to rest, and then began to dance together with renewed vigor.

The peak of this passion occurred in the summer of 1979, when up to five thousand people could gather in one place at a time to demonstrate their choreographic and physical abilities. These dance gatherings began to be shown on national television, and after the dancer Hiroyuki Okita became a pop idol among the fans of these parties, they acquired something of a cult status.

These huge groups of dancers were divided into smaller communities, each of which had its own name: "Rainbow", "Angels", etc., in a fold acquired a portable tape recorder and a set of cassettes with their favorite music, most often such groups as "Arabesques", "Genghis Khan", "Abba". Each community had its own style, its own uniform, etc. The icon with the name of the subgroup was necessarily attached to the dancers ' clothes.

This youth subculture took its name and style from a boutique in Harajuku, which was called Takenoko - " Bamboo Shoots "(it was opened in 1978). It sold fairly loose-fitting clothes that vaguely resembled Oriental style, and you could also find something similar to an old Japanese costume: a kimono of the Heian era (VIII-XII centuries), etc. Exotic goods with the brand "Takenoko" were among the most expensive, which forced young people to make for themselves something similar to what they saw in the boutique,but in fact what their skill and means allowed. The fruits of amateur creativity were strikingly different from the original and looked quite eclectic, but this was not given any importance. Participants of the youth action were happy to put on homemade outfits-in loose synthetic hoodies of bright, flashy, as they say now, "acid" colors, often decorated with hieroglyphs. Under them, you could always see wide trousers-harem pants and light flip-flops or soft slippers for kung fu wrestling.

The Takenokozoku did not belong to the anti-social elements, but sometimes at night they tore down banners from shops and made them into original capes. The teakenoko girls preferred cheap jewelry - plastic bracelets and beads, stuffed toys bought from nearby stores. Most of all, they looked like little kids dressed up like dolls. Their favorite materials are lace ribbons, long necklaces, paper hats, and the manners of elementary school girls.

Since then, the Harajuku area has become a well-established center of youth culture and street fashion. The phrase "Harajuku girls", which has become a catch phrase in recent years, has been attached to this place since the bamboo days, despite the fact that most of the boys and girls participating in street dances were not residents of the capital at all. They came here in crowded trains and subways from the suburbs of Tokyo and neighboring prefectures and danced unrestrainedly and selflessly.

Sunday street parties for many of them were, if not the goal of life, then at least its main joy. This was almost the only opportunity for them to get away from the usually monotonous and unattractive work at least once a week, to relax and get enough of the "metropolitan air". They liked being members of the organization, becoming the center of attention of tourists and onlookers, turning into one of the attractions of Tokyo. "In the village where I came from in Tokyo, there were often processions and dances. I loved them very much, " one of the participants of this movement told her story. "I feel lonely in the city. I work in a store. I don't have any friends. One day I was in Yoyogi and saw takenoko dancing. I've been dancing for a year now, too. A day spent in Yoyogi allows you to take a break from a week of tedious work at the counter. Education is not affordable, other entertainment is too expensive. I don't like books... I still have to save up for my dowry ... " ¹

Gradually, dancing among young people gave way to music.

NAGOMU-GYARU GIRLS*

One of the first musical idols of this generation of Japanese people was a singer and actress

* Gyaru - a girl (from the English girl).

Jun Togawa, who first appeared on the music scene as a 1950s housewife in a polka-dot dress, black gloves, and a large artificial flower in her hair. In the 1980s, she worked a lot as a child actress, sang in one of the ultramodern groups, performed in TV commercials. However, the turning point in her career was her participation in a concert on national television, where she was able to successfully show outstanding stage skills and demonstrate her rare soprano beauty and strength.

This performance was not only an artistic discovery for many Japanese people and turned the fate of the actress herself upside down, but also a turning point in the history of Japanese youth culture. Having created her own group "Yapoos", Togawa brought a completely new stream to the musical culture to the stage, giving it an extraordinary entertainment: numerous disguises in fancy costumes, grotesque, with no less success she began to use these techniques in children's television shows.

Togawa became a style icon for her generation, symbolizing the complete creative freedom of expression that was so lacking in the youth of those years. And many young men and especially girls, seeing in Togawa an ideal to follow, began to join this new musical subculture.

Soon its new symbol was the actor and musician of the band " Height of the Universe "(Uchuoten), who performed under the stage name Keralino Sandorovich, better known as Kara. He was a genius of comedy and a master of sketches, and in the world of music - the creator of a new wave in the style of groups "Devo" (Devo) and idols of the American cultural intelligentsia group "Talking heads" (Talking heads). The content of his songs ranged between wit and cynicism and was aimed at ridiculing the absurd phenomena of everyday life. It is enough to name one of his popular songs "Mississippi", in which the hero talks about how he brushes his teeth three times a day under the impression of advertising.

Although music lovers were not happy with Ker's musical experiments, Jun Togawa's female fans soon switched sides with the musician. They bought up his CDs and even began to visit clubs-places of mostly male gatherings-to see their idol firsthand. They tried to imitate everything that the inventive Kara came up with.

In 1983, the musician created his own music label Nagoma and began to surf the underground in search of the most extreme music. The bands that worked under the Nagomu label were strikingly different in style: hard rock, punk, etc. These groups, who had great creativity and extraordinary humor, not only gained loyal fans, but also became the heroes of such youth publications as the humorous anthology "Garo" or the magazine "Treasure Island". It was on the pages of this magazine that Nagomu's CDs and other products were constantly advertised, and the name nagomu-gyaru first appeared. So they began to call the customers of these products and in general fans of everything that took place under this brand.

A whole nagomu-gyaru subculture emerged, which, like Kara's musical quest, assumed the widest variety of clothing, but above all, it was vintage dresses and rough thick - soled boots, striped T-shirts with long sleeves, knee-length skirts or shorts, long knee socks. Nagomu-gyaru's hair is usually long and straight, sometimes curled into steering wheels, thick bangs, thin eyebrows, often half covered by a velvet beret, bright red lipstick. My favorite accessories are a bag like a school satchel, dark sunglasses, and a CD under the "Nagomu" label. They had a strange combination of sexuality and naivete - something that would later become the backbone of the Lolita subculture.

"They were small and plump-cheeked, and I'd never seen a single tall nagomu-gyaru," recalls To-mo Matiyama, former editor of Treasure Island magazine. "These girls usually seemed timid and shy, but when you spoke to them, they turned into loud and unpleasant people. Perhaps they resembled the American "Goths" in some ways, but only without a shadow of gloom and showing any interest in sex"². The main thing for representatives of this subculture was the desire for self-expression and creativity, but by imitating always and in everything their musical idols.

The Nagomu label ceased to exist in 1989, but the fashion for certain musical groups and the desire to imitate their idols in everything did not end there. Former representatives of this sub-

they became famous artists in the style of Masha (Japanese comics) - Hanako Yamada and Kiriko Nananan, soloists of female musical groups such as "Masako-san", etc.

The Nagomu subculture influenced the origin and popularization of one of the most numerous modern subcultures at the moment, united under the general name " Lolita "or" Gothic Lolita "("gotlolita").

LOLITA

The Lolita style appeared in the 1970s, and became widespread only in the late 1990s. Its main features are doll - like, innocent and infantile, and the taste preferences of its adherents are the dresses of young ladies of the Victorian era (a la "Alice in Wonderland"). What does a typical Lolita look like? Straight bangs, flesh-colored bows in the hair, corsets, long knee socks, bell-shaped skirts above the knee. You can't help but wonder how these things, as if brought from England in the 19th century, are worn so enthusiastically by Japanese girls in the 21st century.

The name Lolita is associated, first of all, with the young heroine of the world-famous novel by V. Nabokov. The writer depicted in a romantic way the intimate moments of growing up of a teenage girl, the features of her entry into the adult world: the first sexual experiences, etc.

However, the artistic concept of the Lolita style is not connected with Nabokov's heroine. It focuses on children's innocence and purity. Indeed, young women dress up in children's dresses, playing on the contrast of innocence and sexuality. Their touching childish appearance serves as a kind of bait for men. But this interpretation is not relevant for today's Japanese "Lolitas". They strive to look childishly cute and funny, beautiful and elegant, they are more doll-like than sexy.

At the same time, among the "Lolitas" there is a clear gradation between the Victorian and Rococo styles. The first one with its elegance and simplicity is shown in the clothes of classic and dark "Lolitas". Supporters of the classics prefer complex and elegant clothing of muted colors, are distinguished by refinement and maturity of the image, while lovers of dark stylistics tend to adhere to it in everything: in dark dark colors in clothing, black makeup, etc. In the Rococo style, "light Lolitas" dress, who pay special attention to the luxurious decor in their clothes, and "cute Lolitas" seem to come from the pages of children's fairy tales, they adore flowers and pastel colors.

In general, in different sources you can find more than 30 varieties of this style: "sweet Lolita "(Amaloli), "snow-white Lolita "(Tirololi), " Gothic Lolita "(Gosuloli), etc. Although this fact is also questioned. It is said that just a few years ago, the "Lolitas "organized an all-Japan congress, at which they officially dissociated themselves from Nabokov's heroine and passed a resolution recognizing the existence of only six types of"Lolitas". It seems that this topic is inexhaustible.

What is important is why this semi-childish, semi-circular subculture originated in Japan and became so widespread here?

In search of an answer to this question, many researchers pay attention to the excessive infantilism of Japanese adolescents, who literally do not want to grow up and try to delay the moment of entering adulthood with its problems and the need to solve them independently for as long as possible. Going to the world of childhood and trying to stay in it as long as possible, hiding from the real world, -

the path that many Japanese boys and girls have chosen for themselves today. This is one side of the problem. The second one lies on a completely different artistic plane.

It is believed that this youth style has a direct connection with the European Gothic subculture, but differs from it in particular refinement and "aestheticism"³. However, there is a directly opposite opinion that the subculture of "goth" as such in Japan is almost nonexistent and few people know about it. At the word "goth", the Japanese immediately think of "Gothic Lolita", and not the typical "goth", familiar to the European eye ... ⁴

In fact, the roots of "Gothic Lolita "can be found in the style of the first English punk bands of the late 1970s-" Bauhaus "(Bauhaus)," Sisters of Mercy "(Sisters of Mercy)," Sousie and Banshees " (Sousie and Banshees). However, the first wave of the Gothic movement attracted only a small group of Japanese music fans, who became more interested in the decadent symbolism of the Goths than in their musical quest. "Gothic dresses and the Gothic style in Japan have only the remotest relation to the original Gothic music in the West. For example, in Japan, there are no more or less well-known bands or singers of the Gothic genre. It is also not popular among fans of modern music, which is listened to only by a small number of girls, and then mainly by those who follow this style in their clothes. From time to time, night clubs host certain events in the style of Gothic culture, but the number of participants does not increase ⁵."

Perhaps the external features of the Gothic style, more than its essence, won the hearts and minds of the Japanese, since in the cultural traditions of this country there were no such typically Gothic symbols as vampires, bats, etc. The most consonant with the moods of the Western "Goths" in Japan were some principles of traditional aesthetics based on the chanting of the shadow, the tendency of the Japanese to mysticism, etc. These sentiments are vividly captured in the works of the writer of the Taisho period (1912-1926) Rampo Edogawa, who came up with an author's pseudonym that echoes the name of his idol, the American writer Edgar Poe. All the difficulties and spiritual searches of his contemporaries in a rather complex and contradictory era, he reflected in such novels as "The Blind Beast", "The Human Chair", etc. Edogawa is considered the founder of a new genre in the history of Japanese literature - eroguro (eroticism+grotesque). His followers were writers of this era: Tatsuhiko Shibusawa, Suehiro Tanemura, Shuji Terayama.

Eroguro's moods were revived again in the 1980s in the Japanese underground: in the pages of the comic anthology " Garo "and the subcultural magazine"Treasure Island". The artists Suehiro Maruo, Hideshi Hino, Keiichi Ota, Kazuichi Hanawa turned in their work to the works of their predecessors - images of Eroguro literature. Sex and death became the main motives of their works, the style of which was consonant with the creative search of Japanese musicians-representatives of the underground. So the contours of a new musical direction were born and the first musical groups of Japanese "goths" appeared, such as YBO-2, Sodom (Sodom), Zoa (Zoa) with an unusual heavy sound, from which the development of Japanese industrial and noise rock (noise rock) went on. Their fans always dressed all in black, and they were dubbed "trans girls".

In the 1980s, a new wave of Western music swept Japan. These were such groups as "Deep Purple", "Black Sabbath", "Judas Priest", "Rush" and many others. These new hard-rock and art-rock musical trends quickly took root on Japanese soil, but all attempts by Japanese musicians to repeat their Western idols in music ended in failure. And then the Japanese took a rather original move, offering a new and original stylist in the stage design and external images of the musicians themselves-bright challenging makeup, unusual hairstyles and costumes of performers, which began to play as important a role in their work as music.

These artistic experiments were guided by punk culture, the band Kiss, and the images of David Bowie, who already in the 1970s used visual transformations to reveal the nature of music. The Japanese went further, using their medieval artistic tradition based on play and mixing of the sexes, which was vividly reflected in the art of Noh theaters and especially Kabuki, where women's roles were masterfully performed by men.

The very theme of the stage transformation of a man into a woman is far from alien to the Japanese mentality, and in the view of many Japanese, it is male actors who are endowed with the ability to convey the ideal of female beauty and grace most closely. Androgyny became one of the distinctive aesthetic features of this new Japanese musical direction, called "visual Rock" - Visual Rock or Visual Key, essentially combining elements of Western Gothic and punk rock.

Such bands as" X Japan"," Buck Tick "and others became classics of this new musical genre, followed by the now famous groups "Glay" (Glay), "Lunar Sea" (Lunar Sea) and others. Soon Visual Rock gained huge popularity in Japan and, especially, among the female part of the country's population, noticeably crowding out Western products on the shelves of Japanese stores. But the main success still falls on live sound and live performance, because the main fascinating moment is the very atmosphere of romance and fantasy, combining elements of decadence and innocence, mysticism and reality, which come from the stage and absorb and fascinate the audience.

Now more and more often concert performances began to turn into carefully rehearsed costumed performances using all the possibilities of pyro and lighting equipment. The Japanese rock industry was gaining momentum. And due to the growing popularity in Japan, companies specializing in the design and manufacture of costumes for musicians began to appear. ID Japan remains the largest company to this day.

A special place in Japanese rock culture is occupied by the group" Malice Mizer "(Malice Mizer) - representatives of neoclassical Gothic, which they took creatively, creating their own style - "Gothic and Lolita" (Gothic and Lolita). They often appeared on stage in leather suits draped with lace, with improbable hairstyles and deadly pallor on their carefully made-up faces. They offered not only a new stage image, but also a new lifestyle full of fantasy and mysticism.

The face of this new youth movement was the then lead singer of this group, Mana, who often performed as a vampire. He chose the style of "Gothic Lolita" and became the most active propagandist of this direction of youth fashion. Thanks to his star status, he very soon converted many teenagers to his "faith", because those who wanted to be closer to their idol, immediately and unconditionally began to dress like him, thereby contributing to the popularization of the fashion trend.

In 1999, Mana founded his own clothing and accessories brand, Moi meme Moitie ("And I'm half"). To describe the style of goods sold in these stores, he coined the terms "elegant Gothic Lolita" (Elegant Gothic Lolita, or EGL) and " elegant Gothic Aristocrat "(Elegant Gothic Aristocrat, or EGA), he has a kind of copyright on these names. Only people dressed in Moi meme Moitie can be called EGL and EGA, the rest are called "gothic Lolita" and "Gothic aristocrat".

"Gothic Lolita" is almost a puppet creation, and the clothes of this style are puffy dresses and skirts with frills, petticoats, lace pantaloons, etc. True, today there is also a fairly traditional direction in the "Gothic Lolita", the so-called" wa-lolita " (wa means traditionally Japanese), whose costumes are a cross between the clothes of the Japanese Middle Ages and modern trends in this style.

The blouse is replaced with a shortened model of the upper kimono, and a cute full skirt acts as a long hem. Such a costume is worn without a lower kimono (juban), instead it is worn with a white scarf, which must be visible. Like any kimono, even for a "Gothic Lolita", it is tied with a wide obi belt.

"Elegant Gothic Aristocrat" is a real unisex. Things for men and women are very similar. Basically, these are rather simple, loose and elegant clothes in a dark color scheme. This style has a female variety - " Gothic Lolita-aristocrat "(Gothic Lolita Aristocrat). Fans of this trend wear strict dresses, long skirts, tight trousers.

Today, we can distinguish three categories of girls who consider themselves "Lolitas". First, this is the category of teenagers for whom the concept of "Lolita" is a lifestyle. They follow all the vowel and unspoken rules of this subculture and never go out of character. Secondly, they are fans and fans of Visual-key, who wear these clothes only to concerts and performances of their idols. And, thirdly, these are girls for whom "Lolita" is just an actual fashion trend.

Why are you so interested in the image of "Gothic Lolita"? - this question was addressed to several young girls. And here are their answers. "We strive to constantly experience beauty," said one group of respondents, while others are more attracted to the very clothes of this style. "What do others think of you?". This question also caused mixed responses. "Because of the way we dress, people see us as something mysterious." Some claim that "this is the only way they can express themselves", while others admit without resentment that "others often make fun of them" ⁶.

This subculture gained great popularity thanks to the film "Shimoyuma Monogatari", which was very popular in Japan, which was held with great success in the United States under the name "Kamikaze Girls"about the friendship of representatives of two extremely opposite subcultures: Lolita girls and biker girls.

A major influence on the development of this subculture is provided by the magazine Gothic & Lolita Bible - a periodical devoted to the" Lolitas", or rather, the ideology, values and priorities of this subculture. Various clothing brands are promoted here, interviews with Visual-Rock stars, photos are published, various practical tips and patterns are given, etc., and each issue must contain a manga telling about the life of "Lolita" and their adventures. Naturally, this magazine plays an important role in advertising and standardizing this style.

Since February 2008, this publication has been published in English. Most of the materials are translated, and eventually publications about American "Lolito-Gothic" fashion will be added. "Despite the fact that in America and Europe the name Lolita evokes ambiguous associations, in Japan the style is mixed with ostentatious modesty," explains Jenna Winterberg, editor-in-chief of Tokiopop publishing. - If in Japan the "Lolita" and "Gothic Lolita" styles are often considered a way of life, in the West it is still just a fashion that activates the creative potential of young people and helps them express themselves. We will try to trace the relationship between the eastern and Western features of the style " ⁷.

What is it-fashion or masquerade, carnival or madness show? Every Sunday, dozens of girls come to Harajuku Station, Takeshita-dori youth fashion Street and enjoy showing off themselves and their outfits. Such bright unusual people can hardly be found anywhere else: doll girls with bows, strange "Gothic" characters, bright blondes and blondes with a typical Japanese appearance, etc.

For an untrained person, all this diversity is a real culture shock. But this is exactly what young people of recent decades see as one of the ways to self-identify, making an absolute tilt towards entertainment and consumer orientation. It is difficult to say what it is: a kind of cry of the soul, a challenge to the system, a Japanese youth revolution akin to the European rock and roll sixties? But one way or another, this part of Japanese youth chose an alternative path, deciding to throw off the gray suits of clerks, free themselves from moral dogmas and cultural stereotypes preached in the family and society, and look for new forms of self-expression in clothing, music, and pastime.

¹ www.russian-bazaar.com

² Japanese Schoolgirl Inferno. San Francisco, 2007, p. 111.

³ www.ru.wikipedia.org

⁴ www.forum.xansai.ru

⁵ Japanese Schoolgirl Inferno.., p. 118 - 119.

⁶ Ibid., p. 125.

⁷ www.emod.ru

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