For over a decade, Tokyo-based Masayuki Yoshinaga has been photographing Japan's intricately organized subcultural groups. Often working on assignment for cult magazines such as Burst, he has portrayed motorcycle gangs, the young members of Tokyo's yakuza (gangster) clans, and the street-fashion teenagers of Tokyo and Osaka.

"Bosozoku," which translates as "violent running tribe," are Japan's teenage biker gangs, which are found in every large city. For six years Yoshinaga, who as a young man was himself a Bosozuku member, photographed both male and female bikers across the country, sometimes posing them in studio settings with their customized motorcycles. Their white or black jumpsuits (called Tokko-fuku) are decorated with a variety of slogans and emblems that are frequently nationalist in nature; the gold rosette, for example, symbolizes allegiance to the emperor. The Bosozuku are often portrayed by the Japanese media as dangerous juvenile outlaws or future members of yakuza societies. Yoshinaga, however, sees in these groups, with their strict hierarchical structure and ritualized code of behavior, "a unique Japanese subculture that is part of a larger Japanese psyche."

Bosozoku

Zoku

Gothic & Lolita

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