Untitled, from Luminous. Radiant, 2009
From a central European view Japanese, particularly women, take great care to stay out of the sun. In western society the desire for white skin is rather antiquated, harkening back to a day when a tan linked sun exposure to outdoor labor.
Due to widely spread inacceptance of bronzed skin a rebellious group of girls started tanning in the early 1990. These so called Ganguros („Black Face Girls“) unexpectedly became extremely popular amongst young people, especially women in Japan. The purpose is to elicit the iconic look of tanned, blonde girls of California, USA. By rebelling against social restrictions and pressure they established a subculture that peaked around the year 2000 and is now the driving force of Japanese fashion developments.
Due to widely spread inacceptance of bronzed skin a rebellious group of girls started tanning in the early 1990. These so called Ganguros („Black Face Girls“) unexpectedly became extremely popular amongst young people, especially women in Japan. The purpose is to elicit the iconic look of tanned, blonde girls of California, USA. By rebelling against social restrictions and pressure they established a subculture that peaked around the year 2000 and is now the driving force of Japanese fashion developments.
Chiru, from Luminous. Radiant, 2009
What was once subculture influences mainstream development to a big extent, leaving traces in social structures and views on individualism, turning into ever day culture itself. Luminous.Radiant observes the influence of ganguro tanning culture on the ordinary society. Is it more popular to tan after the ganguro revolution? Are tanning parlours flourishing? Are tanned people just as accepted at work as non tanned people? Benjamin Füglister will conduct interviews and portray people who use public tanning beds to find answers to these questions.