Mar

Q: What is menhera? What is jirai? Aren’t they basically the same thing?

A: Menhera and jirai are not the same. The only similarities are that they are both subcultures from Japan that came to be as a result of Japan’s mental health issues and their culture of stigma surrounding it. 

Menhera is a subculture originating from the early 2000’s that started out as people gathering online to discuss mental health topics. Over time it has become a space for people to talk openly about their mental health struggles, share tips for coping, create vent art to get out their negative emotions, and often wear printed versions of said vent art on clothing as a form of self-expression and/or mental health advocacy. It’s important to note that while it sometimes is misinterpreted as romanticizing mental illness, menhera is a pro-recovery movement. The word menhera literally means “someone that seeks mental well-being (mental health)”. As implied above, there is a “menhera fashion”, but it’s not required to wear it to be part of the community; Menhera is a subculture first, fashion second type community in a way that’s similar to punk or emo in the west. The fashion is basically printed vent art on clothing (usually t-shirts) + medical accessories.

Jirai, in the context of the subculture and "fashion", is newer, dating to around 2020. It's a controversial term because before 2020 "jirai kei" referred exclusively to a stereotype. The word "jirai" means "landmine", which in Japanese can also refer to being triggered. So someone who is a "landmine type" (jirai kei) is someone you have to tiptoe around because you never know when they might blow up on you and act abusively. It’s kind of like if you called someone a “ticking time bomb” or even a “psycho” in English. It is misunderstood by some people as being a “reclaimed” word with positive meanings but this is not the case. People who call themselves landmines are usually either doing it for clout or because they genuinely identify with the negative and toxic traits of the stereotype, including but not limited to: self harm, forming cutting circles in public places, underage prostitution, homeless youth/runaways, substance abuse, gang activity and violence, behaving abusively towards partners, and more. Note that in the western tumblr jirai community, you will come across many jirais who don’t know this or who try to disassociate themselves from the original meaning, so you can’t assume that all jirai tumblr users are participating in these things. We’ll talk about that more later, but hopefully this basic overview explains why calling other people you don’t know “jirai” without them using that label first is very rude and inappropriate.

Q: Isn’t jirai a fashion? 

A: No, jirai is not a fashion. This is a common misconception. The main fashion most people in the west think “jirai kei” refers to is actually called dark girly kei. The connection between this fashion and the jirai stereotype became popular after a “psycho girlfriend” dress up challenge where its creator wore girly kei and referred to her outfit as a landmine type (jirai kei) cosplay. The actual origin of this connection probably lies within the Toyoko Kids, a gang comprised largely of mentally ill, homeless youth and adults that influence or enable them. Members of the gang have always worn dark alt fashions, and allegedly the reason many girls in the group wore dark girly was because it was the preference of their now deceased former leader “Howl.” The concept of jirai as a fashion may originate with what a man facing child rape charges thought was attractive on the minors he took advantage of. 

Over time jirai has become associated with multiple pre-existing fashions that became popular with jirais. Some of these fashions include (dark) girly kei, yamikawaii, mizuiro, and jersey maid. Calling these fashions “jirai fashion” forces people who have been wearing these clothes since before 2020 to be associated with the negative things we’ve discussed about landmines, sometimes to the extent that they may leave the fashion in order to escape the assumptions being made about them. A way to think about it is this; there is no “jirai fashion” but there IS “fashions that are popular with jirai.”

Q: Can I be both menhera and jirai? 

A: I’m not here to be the jfashion police, so I’m not going to outright say no? But I am going to say: these communities don’t go well together. My favorite way to explain this comes from someone in the menhera community on tumblr (no idea if they'd wanna be named here lol). The way they put it is: calling yourself a “jirai menhera” is like calling yourself a “feminist misogynist.” The two movements are so contradictory to each other that most people who know what those words mean are going to be confused and go “how does that work..??”

One of the biggest differences between the movements is that menhera is pro-recovery while jirai is anti-recovery. Menhera are generally trying to improve their lives, even if only a tiny bit, while jirai are generally not trying to improve, and may actively want to get worse. I understand that if you’re thinking about this in a black and white way you may feel like you don’t fit in either category, but trying to combine them really just makes things more confusing. The most important thing, though, is that you are using both terms correctly.

A common sentiment I see among people who want to be both is that they think of menhera as a toxically positive or “sugarcoated” community that won’t accept them if they’re struggling too much or too visibly. Personally, this has never been my experience in the menhera community and it’s a bit insulting when people imply that we’re “less unwell” than jirais just because we aren’t anti recovery...You don’t have to be positive all the time or even commit to trying to recover to be menhera. You just can’t make anti recovery posts or act toxically to other community members. That’s it. So if your main concern that makes you feel like both is that you’re too mentally ill for menhera, please know that this isn’t true. As long as you aren’t hurting others we want you here too.

Q: Why are menhera often uncomfortable with the jirai community?

A: There’s a large variety of reasons some menhera are uncomfortable with jirais, so it would be basically impossible to list everything. However, a few common points:

It seems like a lot of new jirai (and menhera) don’t know this, but a lot of the damage done to the menhera community stems from landmines. Not just indirectly, but by directly harassing menhera blogs and spreading misinformation about menhera. For people who were around for this, jirai blogs often raise red flags and make them wonder if they should be worried about getting harassed

On a very similar note, I need to emphasize something previously discussed. Jirai kei, when not being used shallowly for clout, refers to a stereotype and people identifying with the term are AGREEING that they fit this stereotype. The landmine stereotype doesn’t just include self harm and mental illness; it also can refer to abusive behavior, resorting to violence, and engaging in harassment. So when people see the term, a lot of people get worried that you may be here to start drama or cause trouble. This is a natural side effect of choosing to take on this term and it doesn’t just apply to menhera but anyone who knows what jirai kei is. If you willingly call yourself a “ticking time bomb,” you can’t be upset when people wonder what happens when you explode.

Jirai often use the menhera tags incorrectly, leading to frustration. Jirai usually are adding our tags for “more reach” but to us this is tag spam. Even worse, this tag spam isn’t just annoying, but often results in anti-recovery posts ending up in the menhera tag without any warning, which can trigger people.

Many menhera also wear other jfashions such as girly kei, and may find themselves frustrated at how the clothes they like to wear for fun and comfort have become associated with a stereotype they never agreed to. It doesn’t help that some landmines try to claim that jirai is “just a fashion,” which spreads misinformation and erases all of the history of these fashions and overrides it with this stereotype.

Some people question whether or not it is even appropriate to use the term if you never had to be called a jirai as an insult in real life, ie: Japanese women, or at least women who grew up in Japan. You can read more about that here and here. It’s worth noting that a lot of people don’t care about others calling themselves landmine at all, and just want to stop the spread of misinformation and for people to not label strangers as jirai based on their appearance.

Q: What do you mean when you say “anti recovery posts,” and why are they frowned upon in the menhera community?

There’s no agreed on definition on what exactly “anti recovery” means in terms of posting rules, but generally I see it as anything that encourages people to get worse or refuse help, is unnecessarily triggering, or promotes the idea that things never improve. People in the menhera community don’t like to see this because they’re often looking for support, but instead are exposed to things that make them feel worse when we allow these kinds of posts.

Examples of anti recovery posts: 

Posts or replies encouraging someone to hurt themselves, cut deeper, engage in risky behavior, etc.

Posting pictures of fresh cuts, EDblr type posts about your current weight, etc

Responding to other people’s positivity posts cynically 

Posts romanticising or encouraging real abuse (I see this a lot with “yandere” posts)

Overly graphic descriptions of something, such as exactly how you’re planning to hurt yourself (what would be “too much” is subjective)

Talking about self harm and other harmful things like they’re cute, funny, etc 

Posts about how the world is awful, there’s no point in living, etc stated as fact (NOT in a venting context. Also very subjective and relatively unenforceable, this is just an example )

Things that are NOT anti recovery and are fine:

Vent posts (bonus points if it’s under a cut or has warnings)

Harm reduction resources, such as how to clean wounds

Healed scars

Vent art that might be graphic (bonus points for putting triggers in the tags for filtering)

Discussing harmful urges

Talking about negative or triggering things outside of purposefully promoting them

Please remember that I am not The Authority on what is allowed in menhera/the tag, or what’s morally right, etc. These are not rules, I’m just giving examples of what comes to mind when the pro vs anti recovery discussion comes up.

Q: What is a fashion jirai?

If I had to sum it up simply, a fashion jirai is basically a poser. They wear dark girly kei and pose with cute deco knives and cans of strong zero, but in reality they don’t cut, binge drink, or do anything associated with landmines. Usually they’re just hopping on the trend for likes, and are often criticized for cosplaying as mentally ill and/or erasing the actual origin of jirai. 

It can also refer to people who think jirai is “just a fashion,” once again erasing the actual history and meaning of the term. They often throw “actual” jirai under the bus, claiming that those people are just “bad apples,” when they are the ones who actually represent the reality of what a landmine is.

Articles that I strongly recommend for a full understanding of this topic

“Jirai Kei” and the History of Girly Kei Fashion Stereotypes-- the absolute best resource for understanding the origin and meaning of jirai kei

Menheratic-- the 3 articles under the research tab are still the best resources for understanding menhera 

Is Overlap Possible Between Menhera and Jirai-Kei? 

Discussing the Harm of the Overuse of Jirai in Western Spaces