Screenshot from the video of the song "ROSE" via HANA's official YouTube Channel. Fair use.
The Japanese girl group HANA has recently been selected for Forbes Japan's prestigious "30 Under 30" list, which highlights young innovators shaping the future. While the recognition celebrates HANA's growing influence in the music industry, their story also reflects broader cultural and social shifts in Japan -- especially around how young women understand and embrace feminism.
Japanese society is patriarchal, marked by an entrenched gender inequality problem rooted in feudalism. According to the 2025 Global Gender Gap Index, Japan ranked 118th out of 148 countries. The widest gaps appear in employment opportunities, income, and political representation, and most Japanese people have stubbornly adhered to the conventional gender norms of women being expected to juggle unpaid domestic work alongside precarious employment, while men bear the burden of breadwinning.
Multiple generations of Japanese women have sought to challenge the gender code through the post-World War II women's suffrage movement, and later through institutional, legal, and policy reforms, including the introduction of the Gender Equality Law in 1999 and the establishment of the Gender Equality Bureau in 2001.
However, since the early 2000s, the feminist movement to advance gender equity in government and public institutions has unwittingly provoked a backlash, as social media began to proliferate. Online misogynists and conservatives often pejoratively label women who speak out for equal opportunities and against the conventional female role as "feminist aunties" (フェミニストおばさん), with the suggestion that they are "losers" in heterosexual relations.
At the same time, young women are reluctant to embrace feminism, partly because they interpret it as self-victimization that portrays women as being oppressed, and partly because they embrace more diversified female images that are inclusive of sexy images that older generation feminists often criticize as the "objectification of women."
For young Japanese women, the images of women in the TV show "No No Girls" -- which eventually gave rise to the girl group HANA -- have not only challenged the conservative gender role but also been perceived as more empowering than the stereotypical asexual and professional woman images promoted by the older generation.
In fact, Chanmina, a young Japanese-Korean artist and the producer of the program, explained the meaning of "No" as:
No Fake＝本物であれ
No Laze=誰よりも一生懸命であれ
No Hate=自分に中指を立てるな
No Fake: Be real -- express yourself, show your life and truth.
No Laze: Work harder than anyone, know and own your growth.
No Hate: Don't give up on yourself; believe in your worth and voice.
The program recruited girls who had been rejected by the entertainment industry, society, or themselves. Its core message was that women could be powerful not by meeting external expectations but by affirming their individuality and resilience, as Chanmina put it:
身長、体重、年齢はいりません。ただ、あなたの声と人生を見せてください。
We don't care about your height, weight, or age. Just show us your voice and your life.
The show's theme song, "NG," conveys similar messages by mocking the constant judgment of women's bodies and encouraging women to self-embrace. You can see the video below.
By putting diversity -- of body type, personality, and style -- at the center, the show directly challenged the traditional notions of beauty that have long dominated Japanese pop culture. The show's 30 contestants spoke openly about their insecurities and struggles, turning vulnerability into strength.
For many viewers, this authenticity was transformative, as reflected in the following viewer's comment:
オーディション番組が苦手だったけど、ROSEを聞いて全部拝見しました。素晴らしいオーディションでした。ガラスの靴を履くために、足を変形させ時には指を切り落とし血まみれですまし顔してるような、そんな女の子を見るのが本当に嫌だった。それを努力と言う風潮が嫌だった。見るたびに痩せている子、最初の歌声が失われている子、いつの間にかオーディション番組に嫌悪感しか感じなくなりました。ノノガにはそんな子ひとりも居なかった。自分の靴で駆け上がる姿の美しさったらない。本当に素晴らしいものを見せて頂きました。
I used to dislike audition programs, but after listening to "ROSE," I watched the entire show. It was truly remarkable. What I hated before was seeing girls forced into a "glass slipper" -- as if they had to deform themselves, even smile through the pain, and call it "effort." The thinner they became, the more their voices faded, until audition shows only left me disgusted. "No No Girls" was utterly different. There was nothing but beauty in the way the contestants ran forward in their own shoes. It was truly amazing to have witnessed something so inspiring.
Seven contestants, Chika, Naoko, Jisoo, Yuri, Momoka, Koharu, and Mahina, eventually won the No No Girl audition and formed a new girl group, HANA. Their debut song "ROSE" resonates with the value of the program and redefines the beauty of a rose with its thorns. You can watch the song below.
For many young listeners, it was empowering to see a girl group sing not about pleasing others, but about surviving and flourishing on their own terms.
While HANA's members and their producers rarely use the word "feminism" explicitly, their image and songs are loaded with feminist motifs: challenging gender stereotypes, embracing sisterhood, and celebrating individuality and diversity. And the audience receives these ideas with open-mindedness:
HANA was insane〰️〰️〰️❤️🔥❤️🔥❤️🔥❤️🔥❤️🔥❤️🔥
They just performed their debut song and omg, the choreo was made by the girls themselves?!
The power, the strength -- it was pure girl energy and so freaking cool!! 🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌
However, as the girl group becomes more popular, some are concerned that the mainstream market may compromise their rebellious image. @agitator_0320 from X, noted that the group's recent release, "Blue Jeans," is loaded with a stereotypical heterosexual motif:
I was really looking forward to HANA's "Blue Jeans," but it felt too heteronormative and honestly hard to watch. The performance was filled with strict male/female representations from beginning to end, which was exhausting. It made me feel disappointed, like they weren't willing to challenge that kind of "No." I guess I just expected too much.
Yet, as role models spotlighted by mainstream media, HANA may still influence how cultural industries, from fashion design to advertising, represent women and how public discourse around gender evolves. At least, the acceptance of the need for girls to fight against "Nos" in society will likely have an impact on the development of feminism in Japan.