A circle of friends connected by gut touch! The “FIST BUMP” corner of the radio program “GRAND MARQUEE” features people who live and enjoy Tokyo in a relay format.
On August 3, Yonehara Yasumasa, an editor, artist, curator, and DJ, was introduced by NENE of the idol group “Meme Tokyo” to appear on the show. Yonehara is an instigator of women’s underground culture since the 1990s, including serving as creative director of the legendary gyaru magazine “egg.” We asked him about what goes on behind the scenes of “egg,” why he moved to China in the late 2000s, and about the brand and gallery he recently launched.
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Everyone in Harajuku has known the editor since the 1990s
Takano (MC): Are you two friends?
Celeina (MC): Yes, we are! May I, may I call you friends?
Yonehara: Totally OK.
Celeina: Thank you very much. I would like to touch the backbone of Yonehara Yasumasa and Yone-san in a fresh way.
Takano: He is already a great person.
Celeina: Yes, in the 1990s, if you walked around Harajuku, everyone would know him, right?
Yonehara: It’s still true today (laughs).
Celeina: No doubt about it. From that time until now. Yone-san, you have many faces: editor, artist, curator, and DJ. What was the beginning of your career?
Yonehara: Basically, I was, and still am, an editor at the base. Other things are just one of the various fields of editing. Editing is a process of bringing together many different things within my field and presenting them to others, so I consider curation and DJing to all be editing. That’s why I say “I’m an editor” when I do other jobs.
Celeina: Is editing the main part of what you do when you take pictures?
Yonehara: Basically, I do everything myself, from choosing the people to deciding what kind of photos to take, so I consider myself an editor.
Takano: I want to include spirituality as well.
Yonehara: So, there is a part of me that would not take a picture unless I like it.
Takano: I was interested in the legendary gal magazine “egg. When did you start working as the creative director of this magazine?
Yonehara: In 1994, I was consulted and asked, “What kind of girls are you interested in?” and that was the beginning. I am not ZEEBRA, but I am friends with most of the bad guys in Shibuya and Roppongi (laughs). (Laughs.) The girls I hung out with on the streets at that time usually wore American-style casual clothes that were scaled down in size, but when it came to school uniforms, they wore loose socks and mini-skirts. At the time, high school girls in the media were usually dressed in knee-length skirts and pigtails. I thought this was strange, and I wanted to create a media outlet where the popular girls on the street could appear.
Celeina: Thank you, Yone! Yone-san’s initiative has brought us to where we are today.
Takano: Yone is the one who is creating the culture. It’s amazing, isn’t it?
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From Girls Culture to China and Art
Celeina: Since then, you have been active as the founder of “OUT OF PHOTOGRAPHERS” and producer of “smart girls,” but were you based in China from the late 2000s until 2017?
Yonehara: The reason why I created “Aufoto” was because it was a time when high school girls were taking pictures with “Sharundesu” and everyone started taking pictures. Basically, “egg” does not focus on photography, so I thought it would be a good idea to create a magazine that focuses on photography. Smart girls” had a section where the girls dressed sexy, but on the other hand, there was nothing sexy about the blue-character girls, so I wondered what it would be like to add sexiness to that section. I’m good at creating things that girls think “I could step into if only there was something like this.
When I went to China once, I thought that Japan could never compete with the enthusiasm of the people there. Then I got into it thinking that I could successfully introduce aspects like girls’ culture to China, and I’ve been going to China for a long time.
Takano: Why do you focus on girls’ culture?
Yonehara: Because men are no good (laughs). I basically love punks, or outsiders, and I like people who are not bound by social things. But when I date guys, even those who pretend to be subcultural have a vertical pecking order, or they are like the flip side of a company. With girls, there are a lot of people who are completely out of the norm and free-spirited. I find that interesting, and that’s why I do it.
Celeina: That ‘s interesting. And what you are putting the most effort into now is curation?
Yonehara: This is also a part of editing. Art, by its very nature, is a place where you can do a lot of things with free ideas. I think we need to find new art, but now there are so many people who say, “It’s going to be expensive,” so I think it’s better to do it ourselves. Not that there is anything wrong with getting more expensive, but before that happens, the biggest part of the current movement is to create a place where interesting people can present their work.
