TOKYO EYES II

[Aaron Gerow]

Roger Fischer asked,

>The kogaru's are sometimes also named kogal's or ko-gals as for example in
>the film "Bounce Ko Gals" by director Masato Harada. Naturally it is easier
>to go from girl to gal, but Japanese does normally not know the "l" and has
>to use the "r" plus a vowel. How does it come that there is kogal and
>kogaru? Is there a hidden signification in the use of the "L" instead of
>the "RU"? Or is it an english version of kogaru? And what term is more
>often used?

The reason Harada's film uses an "l" is because the original title uses a 
mix of roman letters and Japanese characters, as such:

バウンスkoGALS

The proper romanization of the original title is thus technically "Baunsu 
koGALS."

The expression normally used in Japanese is, in katakana,

コギャル

or "kogyaru" (not "kogaru") in romanized form.

Why the producers decided to use "koGALS" in instead of "kogyaru" 
(including the change in capitalization) is a good question, but the use 
of English words or lettering in Japanese youth culture does have a long 
history (its more hip, its presents an alternative to stifling  
"Japaneseness," etc.).


Aaron Gerow
Yokohama National University
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