Japan is known to the rest of the world as being fashion forward, often fashion trends start in Japan before reaching the rest of the world months or even years later! When you think of Japanese fashion, most people think about the various vibrant and unusual fashion subcultures that you would often come across Tokyo's trendy districts, Harajuku and Shibuya. However how many Japanese fashion influencers could you name? Very few if at all we're guessing! So here we are to introduce you to some AMAZING Japanese fashion and beauty influencers who are seriously worth keeping an eye on!!!

Naomi Watanabe

Naomi Watanabe started off her career as a comedian on Japanese TV and soon shot to popularity because of her unusual looks and of course her hilarity! Naomi then went on to produce her own fashion brand Punyus which focuses on making plus sized clothing with cool and colourful prints, like food items! Considering the rarity of plus sized brands in Japan and popular ones at that, the fact that Punyus has managed to make it into shopping malls like Shibuya 109 famous for their tiny clothes is fantastic! Naomi has also been making waves on the body positivity movement in Japan, being an inspiration for Japanese girls of all sizes and continues to appear on Japanese TV and commercials regularly.

Naomi's Instagram

Kuua Oyasumi

Kuua Oyasumi is an illustrator known for her influence on the Yami Kawaii subculture in Japan. Kuua mixes elements of kawaii fashion (ribbons, pastel colours, frills) with darker elements (piercings, gore, bondage gear) and goth. Her illustrations also contain these themes and they're very popular with the alternative subculture scene in Japan. She often does live drawing sessions where you can watch her work! She's definitely one to keep an eye out for as shes always doing something interesting!

Kuua's Instagram

Aya Stella

Aya Stella was a former gyaru fashion magazine model, turned brand owner much like Dolly Wink/Candy Doll/Eat Me brand producer Tsubasa Masuwaka. However Aya went down the path of Instagram baddie, rather than the mature cute route Tsubasa took. Though Aya clearly takes inspiration from the Kardashians and Instagram baddie gyal culture, what sets her apart is that she puts a Japanese spin on it which makes it super interesting! Aya is the director/designer of Yello Shoes which features a ton of cool and unusual designs and her thigh high boots are to die for! Keep watch as we have a feeling she's on to big things!

Aya's Instagram

Amiaya

Twins and inseparable duo Amiaya have a multitude of ventures under their name at only 29 years old! The pair are known throughout the fashion scene in Japan as models, DJs and for making their own music! They're pop icons in their own right! The pair also currently are the creative directors for Japanese fashion brand Jouetie, a well known brand in young womens fashion in Japan. The pair are constantly off on one of their ventures and it's exciting to see what they'll do next!

Amiaya's Instagram

Risa Nakamura

Risa Nakamura, also known as Risa Doll is an extremely popular model in Japan's girly fashion scene known for her doll-like looks. She's one of the main models for Larme, a Japanese girly sweet fashion magazine popular with young women across Japan, but also modeled for Gothic Lolita Bible before it ceased publication and continues to model for various Japanese fashion and lolita brands. Risa started off as a shop girl for Harajuku brand Katie, before going on to collaborate with the brand Ehyphen Bon Bon as a producer of the brand for several seasons, however as of early 2018 left. She has also collaborated with fashion brand Bubbles to produce a collection in the past.

The daughter of two Japanese actors, it's no surprise that Risa also made a big screen debut playing the main character for the film Shojo Tsubaki (Camellia Girl) in 2016, alongside fashion and music icon Takeru. Her style is very distinctive, with a colour palette consisting of mainly pinks, blacks and whites, use of lingerie elements and vintage cuts along with chiffon and lace materials. We wouldn't be surprised if Risa has her own fashion brand in the works!

Risa's Instagram

What do you think of our lineup? Do these ladies seem cool or what?! Is there anyone you think we should add to our lineup? Let us know in the comments!

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