Koakuma Ageha
October 2010
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| Chief editor | Hisako Nakajo 2005 – 2011 |
|---|---|
| Categories | Fashion, Lifestyle |
| Frequency | Monthly |
| Circulation | 350,000 – 400,000 |
| Publisher | Neko Publishing 2015 – present Inforest 2005 – 2014 |
| First issue | October 2005 |
| Country | Japan |
| Language | Japanese |
Koakuma Ageha (小悪魔ageha, lit. "Little-devil (or demon) Swallowtail [butterfly]") is a gyaru fashion and lifestyle magazine published monthly in Japan. Targeted at females in their late teens and 20s, Koakuma Ageha caters to the styles of Agejo (a combination of ageha and ojousama, which means "young miss") and hime-gyaru (lit. "princess-gyaru"). It also incorporates different styles into the agejo style
Koakuma Ageha is noted for its significantly large circulation and its unique trait of relating to the hostess club (Japanese-style cabaret) culture, as it mainly targets women who work at hostess clubs as hostesses, and most of its models are hostesses who actually work at hostess clubs.
Sociologist Shinji Miyadai has described this magazine as a "textbook for hostesses". Some describe this magazine as the "bible for hostesses".
Koakuma Ageha ceased publication in April 2014 following the bankruptcy of its parent company, Inforest Publishing. It restarted in April 2015, on another publishing company Neko Publishing.
Koakuma Ageha was first published under the name "Koakuma & Nuts" in October 2005 with a 27-year-old woman, Hisako Nakajo, who had been familiar with the gyaru scene, as its chief editor.Koakuma & Nuts was only a special edition of the dark-skin oriented Happie Nuts gyaru fashion magazine, but after publication of the second issue, it changed its name to "Koakuma Ageha" and became monthly in October 2006. Circulation was then around 220,000 but climbed to 350,000 by the end of 2008. Hisako Nakajo left Koakuma Ageha, and its parent company Inforest Publishing, in November 2011.
Koakuma Ageha's exclusive models are called "Age-mo(s)", and its irregularly appearing models are called "Age-jo(s)". Most of them are active hostesses from various cities "of the night" all over the islands of Japan. Unlike the ones in Happie Nuts, Ageha models are not required to be dark-skinned. Their unique styles of fashion is called "Ageha-kei" (lit. "Ageha-style"), which has become quite popular among women in their teens and 20s. Some explain the typical "Ageha-kei" style as an "evolved form of the gyaru style, grown in the cradle of the hostess club scene, with an essence of yanki". The Ageha style, as a lifestyle, is noted for its tendency to be "local-oriented", in contrast to most other fashion-based lifestyles which tend to be Tokyo-centric.
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