Sukeban: Japanese Girl Bosses & Girl Gangs
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Sukeban (スケバン) refers to delinquent girl gangs or more correctly the boss girl in a gang. Sukeban first appeared in Japan during the 1960s, as a female equivalent to the male banchō (番長) gangs. By the 1970s banchō gangs were starting die-out, as the country saw the rise of the sukeban girl gangs. Initially the gangs started as small groups of girls sneaking cigarettes in the bathroom at school, but soon grew in numbers and the level of criminality they became involved in. The gangs grew in the 1970s, and had a reputation for violence and shop-lifting. Gangs ranged in sized from Tokyo's United Shoplifters group, which numbered somewhere around 80 girls, through to the largest gang which was known as the Kanto Women Delinquent Alliance, rumoured to have had around 20,000 members. Making them bigger and more organised than the more well known Japanese organised crime gangs of the Yakuza. The idea of delinquent gangs of girls entered common culture in Japan in the early 70s, when they were featured in a number of exploitation movies known as Pink Films (in a sub-genre referred to as "Pinky violence").
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Sukeban identified themselves as gang members though having brightly dyed or permed hair, and by wearing school uniforms that they'd altered, by rolling up their sleeve, lengthening their skirts covered in gang affiliated symbols and slogans. The Sukeban girls followed strict rules and codes of conduct within their gangs, and breaking them would result in "lynching". Lynching involved several degrees of punishment, but burning with cigarettes was a common punishment for minor infringements of the rules. Reasons for punishment ranged from showing disrespect to the senior members, speaking to rival gangs, cheating with someone else's boyfriend or being caught doing drugs. Although sniffing paint thinner or glue was a common activity among girl gang members.
It was common for girls to carry razor blades, which were easily concealed, through to chains and bamboo swords they'd stolen from the school gym. The criminal activities and violence of the girl gangs in Japan, reached such a high that they were described by Japanese police pamphlets in the 1980s as "omens of downfall". Despite authorities attempts to quell the girl gang culture in the 1980s and 1990s, there has been a recent rise in gang membership. Sukeban have become popular characters in both Japanese fiction, manga, anime and movies. |
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They first came to prominence in the Terrifying Girls' High School series of films, that started in 1972 with Terrifying Girls' High School: Women's Violent Classroom directed by Norifumi Suzuki (see poster left), and Girl Boss Guerilla (1972), also directed Suzuki. Which itself was part of a series of seven "Girl Boss" movies that ran from 1971 through to 1974. These exploitation movies were usually produced by the Toei Company, as a sub-genre of the existing independent culture for softcore pornographic movies categorized as Pink Films. These were cheaply made movies that have developed a cult following over the years, often featuring the same actresses, such as Reiko Ike and Miki Sugimoto, who became well known stars of the genre. Another notable movie of the genre is Girl Boss Revenge: Sukeban (1972), also directed by Suzuki and starring both Reiko Ike and Miki Sugimoto.
Although the height of what became known as Pinky violence movies was in the early 70s, they have continued to be made. Most well known is the manga series known as Sukeban Deka (スケバン刑事), which started in 1976, and ran through to 1982 written and illustrated by Shinji Wada. The series featured delinquent schoolgirl who arrested by authorities and forced to infiltrate gangs of high school girls, to fight crime to redeem herself. She went under the "Saki Asamiya" and carried a metal yo-yo as her weapon of choice. The manga series spawned a TV series, that ran from 1985 through to 1987. And in 1987, Sukeban Deka The Movie (スケバン刑事) was released. The movie closely followed the story-lines of the manga and TV series, even featuring the same actresses from the TV series. It was soon followed by Sukeban Deka The Movie 2: Counter-Attack from the Kazama Sisters in 1988. The genre saw a short revival in 2006, with the release of the third movie in the series Sukeban Deka: Code Name = Saki Asamiya. Released on DVD under the name Yo-Yo Girl Cop in the UK and USA. Yuki Saito, who played the role of Saki in the first live-action television series, appears in the third instalment as Saki's mother. |
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Girl Boss series (1971-1974)
Girl Boss Blues: Queen Bee's Counterattack (1971) Queen Bee's Challenge (1972) Girl Boss Guerilla (1972) Girl Boss Escape From Reform School (1973) Girl Boss Revenge: Sukeban (1973) Girl Boss: Crazy Ball Game (1974) Girl Boss: Diamond Showdown (1974) Sukeban Deka series (1987 - 2006)
Sukeban Deka The Movie (1987) Sukeban Deka The Movie 2: Counter-Attack from the Kazama Sisters (1988) Sukeban Deka: Code Name = Saki Asamiya (AKA Yo-Yo Girl Cop) (2006) |
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