Gyaru as a lifestyle - Music.

I'm going to be doing a series of posts about the so-called "Gyaru lifestyle". There's huge debate in the community about whether Gal is a lifestyle choice or just simply a fashion statement. I am undecided mostly but I do believe that you do have to live a certain lifestyle for Gal to fit everyday, for example most Japanese gals work as hostesses or staff-chans and sacrifice other jobs because they wouldn't be able to dress the way they enjoy.

Today I want to cover what exactly a Gyaru would listen to. Mostly when I think of Gals and music I get drawn to Eurobeat mainly because of the Gyaru craze of Para-para.

Aside from Eurobeat the other two music genres that I see mentioned the most are Jpop/rock and R&B/Hip-hop. Obviously the latter form a huge base of influence for the Bgyaru off-shoot and the former seems to be prominent among the rokku, banba and tsuyome gals.

Personally I listen to mostly Jungle, Drum and Bass, Reggae & Dub, Dancehall, Techno, Hardtek, dubstep, breakbeat and UK Hip hop.

What are your music tastes? Do you fit the bill with the most commonly listened to "gal music"?

Shopping Mall Japan Review.

I got another order from Shopping Mall Japan through and I thought I'd write a more detailed review about their services this time, so here goes. I hope some of you find this useful.

Everything arrived in a box, well padded by a ton of Japanese newspapers. I really appreciate how padded-out the packages are to ensure that no, or as little as possible, damage is caused to the items inside.

The items themselves are always packaged in little bags with the auction number and such on a lable on the outside. The items are usually folded pretty well too.

The items were both undamaged and I was really pleased with the way they packaged and sent their items.

I personally use SMJ as you can put down a deposit through paypal and you can bid up to 5x that ammount on as many items as you like. You also dont have to pay the invoices for 2 weeks after you recieve them which is both a blessing and a curse for me!

Their fees are pretty good too but they charge different rates depending on which auction site your using or if you're placing a shop order. If you want to know their fees information just go to their website: http://shoppingmalljapan.com/generalfees.html

They only allow EMS shipping which is at normal rates. As far as I know they dont send items standard post. They usually ship pretty soon after you place your shipping request I've had no complaints with their dispatch times so far.

They support Yahoo Japan auctions, Amazon Japan, Rakuten auctions etc but do not support Mbok so you will have to use another shopping service for that.

Lastly their Customer Service is fantastic. Everytime I've had a query with them they have replied within 24 hours and are always friendly and polite.

Overall I really have nothing bad to say about this shopping service other then the fact they do not support Mbok. I'm hoping this will change soon but otherwise, if you're looking for a great service for Yahoo Japan and Rakuten I really recommend!

http://shoppingmalljapan.com