I’m back with more Gyaru history! This time I wanted to talk about the most well-known Gyaru pose and its connection to one of the first (and main) photographers for EGG: Ryuta Suzuki, vulgarly known in the Gyaru world as Cunnilingus Suzuki / Kunni Suzuki.
Kunni was one of the main photographers for EGG magazine and a huge supporter of Gyaru culture (and despite his nickname, has the reputation of being one of the most decent adults in the industry).
As we know by now, EGG used to be a men’s magazine: The first issue of EGG was in 1995, and at that time, magazines such as “Fine” and “Hot-Dog PRESS” were the mainstream. Also at the time, EGG wasn’t in Shibuya but in front of the Laforet intersection in Harajuku. It was a men’s magazine that published a snap of a girl on occasion. In fact, the editorial department was made up of people who made adult magazines and disco magazines.” The turning point at the time was that more replies from young women responding to questionnaires in EGG began to increase. That’s why in 1997, the route changed to cater to teenage women, which would then lead into Gal culture.
Once EGG changed directions towards the 7th or 8th edition, it was the photographers’ jobs to spend their time in Shibuya and take pictures of the young women they found to be interesting. For example, a young woman would have a specific brand item worn and when they’d come back in a certain amount of time, they’d see five other young women wearing that brand; it was their job to document this and support it. Next thing they knew, with vol. 45 (when Ganguro was at its peak), the shock of selling more than 450,000 copies was absolutely insane – and thus the boom was born.
At the beginning of the magazine gaining traction with this newfound direction, Kunni was assigned to taking Club Snaps and EVERYONE would do the “chekira” pose. At some point he got tired of always taking the same type of picture so he started suggesting that they open their hands!
Before Kunni: Normal chekira pose
After Kunni: the EGG pose that many models in Heisei and Reiwa ended up adopting