hoodies featured

Up until recently, the hood was mostly a taboo clothing item in Japan. The common thinking was that only criminals and people who had something to hide would wear a hood over their head while out and about on a perfectly clear day. Anyone who bought a hoodie or sweatshirt was doomed to leave the hood unused, dangling lifelessly behind them.

But thanks to the power of the internet, a new trend in Japan is spreading: “hooded girls,” basically just photos of girls wearing hoodies with *gasp!* their hoods up. Because nothing turns something from kowai (scary) to kawaii (cute) faster than pretty girls on Twitter.

Most of the Western world, aside from a few exceptions, has embraced the hoodie for years. But up until recently, if you wore a hood in Japan, no matter who you were, you automatically turned into this:

vendettaFlickr (Mark Taylor)

But now, thanks to the help of “hooded girls,” (okaburi-joshi in Japanese) you can turn into this instead:

If you’re a fan of this change in cultural norms, then you can thank Suu, a member of the Japanese girl group “Silent Siren.” She has tweeted several selfies of herself as a “hooded girl,” inspiring her thousands of followers to, well, follow suit.

▼ Here’s one of Suu showing off her “hooded girl” skills.

▼ And another, encouraging others to make use of their once-flaccid hoods.

Here’s some more pictures of the “hooded girl” boom she’s helped cause:

▼ The classic “are you sure it’s okay for me to put my hood up?” look.

▼ Masks down, hoods up!

pink hoodieTwitter (@ts_momoco)

▼ Some girls need a little help overcoming the mental block to put up the hood.

▼ Apparently the “hooded girl” boom has spread to Korea as well. They’re a bit behind on how to do a proper peace sign though.

korean hoodieTwitter(@BTvxq5)

Of course Japanese netizens had lots to comment about the “hooded girls.” (Some liberties were taken when translating the puns.)

“I thought they were ‘wooded girls’ at first. I guess this is better?”
“They look like Little Red Riding Hood.”
“It’s good for hiding bald spots I suppose.”
“Well I mean, it’s cold, so why not? Don’t want to get frostbite on your ears.”
“Ohh. I thought they were ‘crooked girls.’ Their pictures are all taken at angles….”

So what do you think? Are “hooded girls” deserving of their hashtags? Or are they just ho-hum? Personally, I think they need to step up their game by trying out some more extreme hoodies.

Source: MyNavi News via Kinisoku
Images: Twitter (1, 2, 3) (Edited by RocketNews24)