2003
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Marie Reisel, « De fillettes en amazones : maturation et transformation des générations Shibuya », Ebisu - Études Japonaises (documents), ID : 10.3406/ebisu.2003.1359
The Shibuya girls known as kogyaru or ko-gals are a known phenomenon on Tokyo's cultural map for over 10 years now. During the years, they have created a unique youth sub-culture, whole feminine, which has filtered into various layers of culture, influencing values, beliefs and mainly gender status. The kogyaru are very young, mostly high-school girls, but they already follow an ideology of freedom for women and changes in the traditional values of society. One of the dominant features of the kogyaru sub-culture is the practice of enjo-kosai, a form of prostitution, as part of the ideology of the group. Ènjo-kosai has become a central feature of the kogyaru, being their flag of freedom of women over men by using the body as a symbol of power. This article is based on a research conducted in Shibuya during the years 2000-2002. The research was based on observations and interviews and it tried to follow and explain how enjo-kosai became a major symbolic pattern of the kogyaru and the reasons for practicing it.