Americans might be surprised to learn that in Japan, the term "Yankee" refers to a type of delinquent youth, recognizable by their intimidating appearance and fondness of gaudy hairstyles like the punch perm, mullet, or the waning-in-popularity yet ever so glorious pompadour.
The term originated in Osaka in the 1970s, referring to the young people who wandered the city streets dressed in the flashy clothes symbolic of the fashion shops of the city’s Amerika-Mura (“America Village”) district. As the term spread across Japan, "Yankee" became synonymous with "juvenile delinquent" and it eventually came to describe an entire subculture as the Yankee image was popularized in magazines, television dramas, comic books and other forms of media throughout the '80s and '90s.
And now, Japan’s bad-boy culture has entered the digital era with a new social network designed exclusively for Yankees, Yankee I Love You.
Developed by mobile game company Tasuke, Yankee I Love You follows the same formula as other Japanese social networking services (SNS): registration is free and users may fill out their profile, share pictures or write blog posts.
So what does Yankee I Love You offer disgruntled youths that Facebook or Mixi doesn’t?
First you have the dark yet glitzy design, with studded jewel skulls and butterflies for a default profile image instead of that dull upper-body contour. A number of users have uploaded their own profile pictures, the most popular choices being aggressive scowl, generic purikura peace sign pose or a photo of their prized custom lowrider.
If you feel like the profile pic isn’t enough to prove your street cred, you can expand your profile by filling out one of the many customizable forms tailored to reflect the unique and exciting Yankee lifestyle, such as:
・Name of Biker Gang ・Favorite Motorcycle ・Police Record ・Arrest Record ・What You Think You Were In Your Previous Life ・Favorite Hairstyle ・Favorite Perfume
Users may also create and join communities, called “hang-outs,” to discuss shared interests. The site already has hundreds of hang-outs, including communities for people to share stories about run-ins with the law or brag about how sick their ride is.
According to an interview conducted by Yahoo! Japan with the site’s manager, the idea for Yankee I Love You came to developers at Tasuke after the success of an image-sharing mobile application targeted at Yankees.
User registration has increased to a pace of about 700 per day since the site launched on February 24 and shows no signs of slowing down. There are slightly more male users than female, and many people use the site to share pictures of their vehicles or recruit members for “clubs.”
Despite the rough nature of the site’s clientele, the site manager comments that there have been no issues with users thus far.
When asked about plans for the future of Yankee I Love You: “Yankees are people who value love and friendship and are extremely loyal to their group. We want to create beautiful site worthy of this Yankee spirit.”
Yankee I Love You provides Yankees across the country with a comfortable outlet to connect and communicate. And if the site lives up to its promises, it could also provide an opportunity for people to rethink a unique Japanese subculture that, while dwindling in number, rides on strong in spirit.
© RocketNews24
20 Comments
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gaijinfo
Poseurs.
yokatta
childish stuff ne
Gurukun
Good way for the Keystones to catch some of these Bosozokus!
ebisen
Nothing one (ore more) good spanking(s) can't solve...
DentShop
Ha ha ha ha ha ha!! Oh brother ha ha!
GW
Guru,
Hahaha yr assuming the keystones wud be smart enough to look there, I am not so sure!
paulinusa
Biker gang, Police Record, Arrest Record...Favorite Hairstyle? Favorite Perfume? Hilarious stuff. Yes, tough guys indeed.
Gurukun
GW-Thumbs up for that post!! You got that right! LOL!
paulinusa
Does anyone really think a criminal would even bother with this silly site?
Loki520
"Gang"???
Oh, that's rich. I doubt many of these clowns would survive being jumped into a real "gang"?
Lilith12
Met some, cause my daughter wrote her thesis about "outsiders" in Japan, they were not dangerous at all, but quite polite. Young folks! Normal thing to be "different" etc. for some time. Always adjusted and well behaving kids are a little bit creepy for me too!
Cletus
Oh are they talking about those little boys (sexuality is definitely in question for most of them) that ride around on those pathetic little crotch rockets revving the life out of them and thinking they look cool and intimidate people. The term get a life losers springs to mind.
Ewan Huzarmy
Bunch of tossers ! Young, dumb and full of....
It's guys like these who have to prove their strength by stabbing unarmed bus drivers.
The next time I ever get trouble off of one of these guys, I'm going to hit him where it hurts.... i.e. mess his hair up !
Eduardo Gonzalez
The ministry of justice could be kicking EEEH! After reading this. What's worse, first degree homicides can reach an all-time nationwide high in years
yasukuni
Send them all to yankeeland.
CanadaManBear
"Hey Taka, you know what would be cool?" "What's that Yuki?" "Beautiful Bronze long hair in the back and short on top!" "I can see it now flying in the wind on my scooter, with smoke in mouth. You're brilliant Yuki!" "So brilliant I left school to work in construction at 16!" "ME TOO!"
sakurala
Ahhh, to be a young punk :) I can totally relate to these kids... I was a young punk too at one time. I lived the fast life with my long pink hair and 16 piercings but now I have grown up. Most of them will grow out of it but a few will undoubtedly turn to a life of crime.
Lilith12
Ah Sakurala, at least one you have not forgotten how it was to be young or was not boring then. Not all of this guys are bad and not of all the stabbers etc. in Japan are in a gang, same of same are frustated "normal" people. Don`t judge some for all.
Lilith12
Sorry for my fault, sitting in the office, I had to do other things too: correct would have been: some of them are....