Koakuma Ageha
Encyclopedia
Koakuma Ageha is a gyaru
fashion and lifestyle magazine
published monthly in Japan
by Inforest Publishing. Targeted at females in their late teens and 20s, Koakuma Ageha caters to the styles of oneh-gyaru ("o-neh-san gyaru", lit. "older-sister gyaru") and hime-gyaru (lit. "princess-gyaru").
Koakuma Ageha is noted for its significantly large circulation and its unique trait of relating to the hostess club culture, as it mainly targets women who work at hostess clubs as hostesses, and most of its both exclusive models and irregularly-appearing models are hostesses who actually work at hostess clubs.
Sociologist Shinji Miyadai
has described this magazine as a "textbook for hostesses". Some describe this magazine as the "bible for hostesses".
scene, as its chief editor. Koakuma & Nuts was only a special edition of the dark-skin oriented Happie Nuts
gyaru fashion magazine, but after publication of the second issue, it changed its name to "Koakuma Ageha" and became monthly in October 2006. Circulation was then around 220,000 but climbed to 350,000 by the end of 2008.
all over the islands of Japan. Unlike the ones in Happie Nuts
, Ageha models are not required to be dark-skinned. Their unique styles of fashion is called "Ageha-kei" (lit. "Ageha-style"), which has become quite popular among women in their teens and 20s. Some explain the typical "Ageha-kei" style as an "evolved form of the gyaru style, grown in the cradle of the hostess club scene, with an essence of yanki". The Ageha style, as a lifestyle, is noted for its tendency to be "local-oriented", in contrast to most other fashion-based lifestyles which tend to be Tokyo
-centric.
Koakuma Agehas uniqueness is also attributed to its tone; it features hostesses' lifestyles without romanticization, not just recounting the glamorous aspects, and although its main focus is, of course, fashion, it sometimes features the serious themes of "yami (simultaneously meaning "darkness " and "sickness ") in the human heart". Models talk actively about their "darksides" in their own way, and often reveal some "negative secrets" about their lives and pasts, such as the ones about delinquency
, running away, hikikomori
, bullying, betrayal
, heartbreak
, mental illness
, trauma
, suicide
, self-image issue, sexuality
, loneliness
, abused childhood
, domestic violence
, and alcoholism
. This is considered quite unique for a Japanese fashion magazine, as Japanese fashion magazines are in general relentlessly light-hearted from beginning to end.
Ageha models often garner an almost cult-like popularity and attract large amounts of media attention. Eri Momoka, known as "Momoeri", is an early example, and just like Momoka, who has her own brand "Moery", some Ageha models individually launch their own fashion brands. Sumire
(1987–2009) launched her own fashion brand "Divas" and often introduced herself as the "Divas designer" during the last days of her life. Shizuka Mutoh, an irregularly-appearing Ageha model, launched her own fashion brand "Rady" in 2008 and its monthly net earnings reached $1 million in April 2011.
Notable Age-mos and Age-jos have included Sayaka Araki, Rina Sakurai, Shizuka Mutoh, Rina Ayukawa, Riho Nishiyama, Maria Kurotaki, Rin, Satomi Yakuwa, Ayana Tsubaki
, Mika Kagoshima, Crea Himesaki, Mikitee, Sakura Asakura, Makoto Minami, Airi Kisaki, Sayo Hayakawa, Marie Iemura, Nanako, Nami, Erika Koda, Arisa Ichijo, Kyoka Ichijo, Yurika, Vanessa Asuka, Hikari Kamikawa, Chihiro Kondo, Sako, Ichigo Yuki, Minami Aikawa, Keiko, Tomoyo Mizuno, Eri Momoka, Nemu, Erisa Kaminomiya, Sumire
, Himeka Shirosaki, Nonorin, and Hotaru Akane
.
, and is modeled by Koakuma Ageha models.
«stylized as "I LOVE mama"» was first published in September 2008 under the name "Mama Nuts × Ageha" as a special co-edition of Koakuma Ageha with Happie Nuts
. Mama Nuts × Ageha changed its name to "I Love Mama" and became monthly in March 2009. I Love Mama is a magazine especially for gyaru women who have gotten pregnant and become mothers (called "gyaru mama") — the first-ever magazine dedicated to gyaru-mamas.
Gyaru
is a Japanese transliteration of the English word gal, that of girl being . The name originated from a 1970s brand of jeans called "gals", with the advertising slogan: "I can't live without men", and was applied to fashion- and peer-conscious girls in their teens and early twenties. Its usage...
fashion and lifestyle magazine
Lifestyle magazine
Lifestyle magazine is an umbrella term for popular magazines concerned with lifestyle. There is no universally accepted definition of what constitutes a lifestyle magazine: it is often used to encompass a number of men's magazines, women's magazines and magazines about health and fitness, tourism,...
published monthly in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
by Inforest Publishing. Targeted at females in their late teens and 20s, Koakuma Ageha caters to the styles of oneh-gyaru ("o-neh-san gyaru", lit. "older-sister gyaru") and hime-gyaru (lit. "princess-gyaru").
Koakuma Ageha is noted for its significantly large circulation and its unique trait of relating to the hostess club culture, as it mainly targets women who work at hostess clubs as hostesses, and most of its both exclusive models and irregularly-appearing models are hostesses who actually work at hostess clubs.
Sociologist Shinji Miyadai
Shinji Miyadai
is a Japanese sociologist and is a professor at Tokyo Metropolitan University.He has a Ph.D from Tokyo University for his research on Mathematical sociology. Using the method of game theory, he analyzed how the power of the state works in society...
has described this magazine as a "textbook for hostesses". Some describe this magazine as the "bible for hostesses".
History
Koakuma Ageha was first published under the name "Koakuma & Nuts" in October 2005 with a 27-year-old woman, Hisako Nakajo, who had been familiar with the gyaruGyaru
is a Japanese transliteration of the English word gal, that of girl being . The name originated from a 1970s brand of jeans called "gals", with the advertising slogan: "I can't live without men", and was applied to fashion- and peer-conscious girls in their teens and early twenties. Its usage...
scene, as its chief editor. Koakuma & Nuts was only a special edition of the dark-skin oriented Happie Nuts
Happie Nuts
Happie Nuts is a gal fashion magazine published monthly in Japan by Inforest Publishing. Targeted at women in their late teens and early 20s, Happie Nuts is highly oriented toward the style of oneh-gal Happie Nuts is a gal fashion magazine published monthly in Japan by Inforest Publishing. Targeted...
gyaru fashion magazine, but after publication of the second issue, it changed its name to "Koakuma Ageha" and became monthly in October 2006. Circulation was then around 220,000 but climbed to 350,000 by the end of 2008.
Model & style
Koakuma Agehas exclusive models are called "Age-mo(s)", and its irregularly-appearing models are called "Age-jo(s)". Most of them are active hostesses from various cities "of the night"Red-light district
A red-light district is a part of an urban area where there is a concentration of prostitution and sex-oriented businesses, such as sex shops, strip clubs, adult theaters, etc...
all over the islands of Japan. Unlike the ones in Happie Nuts
Happie Nuts
Happie Nuts is a gal fashion magazine published monthly in Japan by Inforest Publishing. Targeted at women in their late teens and early 20s, Happie Nuts is highly oriented toward the style of oneh-gal Happie Nuts is a gal fashion magazine published monthly in Japan by Inforest Publishing. Targeted...
, Ageha models are not required to be dark-skinned. Their unique styles of fashion is called "Ageha-kei" (lit. "Ageha-style"), which has become quite popular among women in their teens and 20s. Some explain the typical "Ageha-kei" style as an "evolved form of the gyaru style, grown in the cradle of the hostess club scene, with an essence of yanki". The Ageha style, as a lifestyle, is noted for its tendency to be "local-oriented", in contrast to most other fashion-based lifestyles which tend to be Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
-centric.
Koakuma Agehas uniqueness is also attributed to its tone; it features hostesses' lifestyles without romanticization, not just recounting the glamorous aspects, and although its main focus is, of course, fashion, it sometimes features the serious themes of "yami (simultaneously meaning "darkness " and "sickness ") in the human heart". Models talk actively about their "darksides" in their own way, and often reveal some "negative secrets" about their lives and pasts, such as the ones about delinquency
Juvenile delinquency
Juvenile delinquency is participation in illegal behavior by minors who fall under a statutory age limit. Most legal systems prescribe specific procedures for dealing with juveniles, such as juvenile detention centers. There are a multitude of different theories on the causes of crime, most if not...
, running away, hikikomori
Hikikomori
is a Japanese term to refer to the phenomenon of reclusive people who have chosen to withdraw from social life, often seeking extreme degrees of isolation and confinement because of various personal and social factors in their lives...
, bullying, betrayal
Betrayal
Betrayal is the breaking or violation of a presumptive contract, trust, or confidence that produces moral and psychological conflict within a relationship amongst individuals, between organizations or between individuals and organizations...
, heartbreak
Broken heart
A broken heart is a common metaphor used to describe the intense emotional pain or suffering one feels after losing a loved one, whether through death, divorce, breakup, physical separation or romantic rejection....
, mental illness
Mental illness
A mental disorder or mental illness is a psychological or behavioral pattern generally associated with subjective distress or disability that occurs in an individual, and which is not a part of normal development or culture. Such a disorder may consist of a combination of affective, behavioural,...
, trauma
Psychological trauma
Psychological trauma is a type of damage to the psyche that occurs as a result of a traumatic event...
, suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
, self-image issue, sexuality
Human sexuality
Human sexuality is the awareness of gender differences, and the capacity to have erotic experiences and responses. Human sexuality can also be described as the way someone is sexually attracted to another person whether it is to opposite sexes , to the same sex , to either sexes , or not being...
, loneliness
Loneliness
Loneliness is an unpleasant feeling in which a person feels a strong sense of emptiness and solitude resulting from inadequate levels of social relationships. However, it is a subjective experience...
, abused childhood
Child abuse
Child abuse is the physical, sexual, emotional mistreatment, or neglect of a child. In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Children And Families define child maltreatment as any act or series of acts of commission or omission by a parent or...
, domestic violence
Domestic violence
Domestic violence, also known as domestic abuse, spousal abuse, battering, family violence, and intimate partner violence , is broadly defined as a pattern of abusive behaviors by one or both partners in an intimate relationship such as marriage, dating, family, or cohabitation...
, and alcoholism
Alcoholism
Alcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing...
. This is considered quite unique for a Japanese fashion magazine, as Japanese fashion magazines are in general relentlessly light-hearted from beginning to end.
Ageha models often garner an almost cult-like popularity and attract large amounts of media attention. Eri Momoka, known as "Momoeri", is an early example, and just like Momoka, who has her own brand "Moery", some Ageha models individually launch their own fashion brands. Sumire
Sumire (model)
, better known by her genjina ', was a Japanese hostess and fashion model, who was known as a featured model on the popular gal fashion magazine Koakuma Ageha.-Early life:...
(1987–2009) launched her own fashion brand "Divas" and often introduced herself as the "Divas designer" during the last days of her life. Shizuka Mutoh, an irregularly-appearing Ageha model, launched her own fashion brand "Rady" in 2008 and its monthly net earnings reached $1 million in April 2011.
Notable Age-mos and Age-jos have included Sayaka Araki, Rina Sakurai, Shizuka Mutoh, Rina Ayukawa, Riho Nishiyama, Maria Kurotaki, Rin, Satomi Yakuwa, Ayana Tsubaki
Ayana Tsubaki
is a Japanese transsexual TV personality and fashion model.-Biography:Tsubaki entered Aoyama Gakuin University as a male, but left in the second year to work in Kabukichō, Tokyo. In July 2006, she underwent sex reassignment surgery in Phuket, Thailand, and in December 2006, officially changed her...
, Mika Kagoshima, Crea Himesaki, Mikitee, Sakura Asakura, Makoto Minami, Airi Kisaki, Sayo Hayakawa, Marie Iemura, Nanako, Nami, Erika Koda, Arisa Ichijo, Kyoka Ichijo, Yurika, Vanessa Asuka, Hikari Kamikawa, Chihiro Kondo, Sako, Ichigo Yuki, Minami Aikawa, Keiko, Tomoyo Mizuno, Eri Momoka, Nemu, Erisa Kaminomiya, Sumire
Sumire (model)
, better known by her genjina ', was a Japanese hostess and fashion model, who was known as a featured model on the popular gal fashion magazine Koakuma Ageha.-Early life:...
, Himeka Shirosaki, Nonorin, and Hotaru Akane
Hotaru Akane
aka is an award-winning Japanese model and AV idol. She is active in many media formats in Japan including a role in a mainstream theatrical film, and is a popular blogger. Her adeptness at female ejaculation has earned Akane the title, "Shiofuki Queen". She retired from AV work in 2008.-Early...
.
Sister magazines
Ane Ageha
Ane Ageha was first published in November 2010 under the name "Oneh-san Ageha" as a special edition of Koakuma Ageha, and it became independent in March 2011. Ane Ageha is a bi-monthly fashion and cosmetic magazine, and its target audience is females in their late twenties and older.Kimono Ageha
Kimono Ageha was first published in December 2010 as a special edition of Koakuma Ageha. It is an irregularly-published magazine specialized in kimonoKimono
The is a Japanese traditional garment worn by men, women and children. The word "kimono", which literally means a "thing to wear" , has come to denote these full-length robes...
, and is modeled by Koakuma Ageha models.
I Love Mama
I Love MamaI Love Mama
I Love Mama «stylized as "I LOVE mama"» is a gyaru fashion and lifestyle magazine published monthly in Japan by Inforest Publishing.Originally named "Mama Nuts × Ageha", I Love Mama was established as a special edition of two gyaru magazines, the hostess-targeted Koakuma Ageha magazine and...
«stylized as "I LOVE mama"» was first published in September 2008 under the name "Mama Nuts × Ageha" as a special co-edition of Koakuma Ageha with Happie Nuts
Happie Nuts
Happie Nuts is a gal fashion magazine published monthly in Japan by Inforest Publishing. Targeted at women in their late teens and early 20s, Happie Nuts is highly oriented toward the style of oneh-gal Happie Nuts is a gal fashion magazine published monthly in Japan by Inforest Publishing. Targeted...
. Mama Nuts × Ageha changed its name to "I Love Mama" and became monthly in March 2009. I Love Mama is a magazine especially for gyaru women who have gotten pregnant and become mothers (called "gyaru mama") — the first-ever magazine dedicated to gyaru-mamas.