Alex Waespi Photographs Tokyo's Gyaru Girls in Their Bedrooms

London-based photographer Alex Waespi has been documenting the gyaru subculture in Tokyo since a visit to Nail Sucre in Shinjuku. Gyaru emerged in the 1990s as a rejection of traditional expectations for young Japanese women, encompassing a maximalist aesthetic and a mindset of positivity, kindness, and self-love. Waespi's ongoing series, titled gyaru*, focuses on the private bedrooms of her subjects, where they style themselves amid collections of anime ephemera, nail art, and kawaii accessories. The portraits reveal how each girl constructs her identity within the subculture's many variations, including doll, Lolita, and otaku styles. Waespi notes that gyaru is not about becoming someone else but about becoming a stronger or freer version of oneself. The project has helped Waespi find a sense of belonging in Tokyo's vast urban landscape.