Please Confirm Your E-mail Address Click Here!

Girls Longing To Be “Half”! “Half Tarento” And “Half-gao Make-up” Boom In Japan

| FASHION | Posted by Satsuki on May.01.2015

Sponsored Links

There isn’t a day that you wouldn’t see a “Half tarento (talents)” now in Japan; inter-racial Television personalities or fashion models on television shows, commercials, and magazines. Becky, Rola, Maggy, Reina Triendl, Akemi Darenogare are just some of the example, young, female television stars who are categorized as “Half talents.” Currently, there are fashion models such as Kiko Mizuhara, Tina Tamashiro, and Saya Ichikawa, who are becoming fashion-icon for young females in Japan. There is also an attention to the Japan’s representative for 2015 Miss Universe contest, Eriana Miyamoto, who is half-American, and half-Japanese.

Rola; Half-Bangladesh, Quarter-Japanese and Russian

Maggy; Half-Canadian Scottish, Half-Japanese

Triendl Reina; Half-Austrian, Half-Japanese

Akemi Darenogare; Quarter-Japanese and Brazilian, Half-Italian

Tina Tamashiro; Half-American, Half-Japanese

Because of the popularity of the “Half” celebrities been conspicuous for these couple of years, many of the young Japanese females are now obsessed with trying to be “Half-gao,” meaning, looking more like Caucasian, with lighter skin tone and hair color, and colorful and wider shaped eyes. Currently, there are numerous amounts of hits of blog sites and video clips of make-up tutorials on “How to make up to be Half-gao.”

One of the accelerator to this “Half-gao” make-up boom is the popularity of the color contacts in Japan. The color contacts were used as orthoptics, but it raised awareness when female television stars started to wear them and fashion-conscious young girls started to wear it like an accessory to their style. The color contacts have rapidly become popular when the 1-day disposable type have released and it has now become more like a gimmick, to make their pupils bigger with natural lighter color. Some of the colored-contact brands sell it’s sellers with advertisement like “Half-kei (like) color contacts.”

1-day disposable type color contacts with the advertisement “Real Half-like.”

Another aspect of “Half-gao” sensation is the development of fake eyelashes in Japan. It has been said that the fake eyelashes were worn amongst Geishas and KOJI, one of the cosmetic brands in Japan, was the first company to release fake eyelashes as a product for geisha in Asakusa. One of the trigger for fake eyelashes being used as fashion in Japan was Twiggy, popular British model in the 1960s. Her iconic skinny legs, and her bushy eyelashes were sensation for young teenagers at that time, that fake eyelashes have become part of fashion. Currently, there are different types of fake eyelashes accorded to the usage for women’s daily lives. Not just for a cocktail party to look fancy, but to wear it to the office, hanging with friends on weekends, and so on, more leaned towards everyday use than for special use. Because of the color contacts and fake eyelashes that have become part of Japanese girls study how to look more like “half” celebrities and models.

“Dolly Wink” Fake Eyelash series, produced by charismatic gal-model, Tsubasa Masuwaka, released from KOJI

Because that traditional Japanese looks, sharper eyes and dark black hair, is a complex for some of the girls, and since color contacts and fake eyelashes are accessible to everyone, the girls are being more creative and transforming themselves to look differently from the traditional Japanese looks. And having “Half tarento” as one of the biggest factor for the “Half-gao” boom, beauty products are also developing alongside to that as well. Could this be the new creativity of beauty? Or losing our identity as Japanese females? Either way, we got the tools!

Author

Satsuki

Grad student in Tokyo. Born in Tokyo, raised in New York, studied in London. My interests lies in Tokyo's urban street cultures and girls cultures,rock music, fashion and manga. Just livin' it up :)