Abstract
It is likely that returnee high school girls adopted different habits of personal adornment such as hair coloring and pierced ears from ordinary high school girls, due to their experience of living in a foreign culture. In this report, the author tried to clarify the differences based on the results of a questionnaire and factor analysis. In July 2008, 74 returnee high school girls and 328 ordinary high school girls in the Tokyo area were asked to fill out a questionnaire. The results led to the following conclusions:1. Ordinary high school girls have a more positive view of hair coloring compared to returnees (61.5% compared to 46.6%) and think of it as a kind of fashion statement;2. Returnee high school girls have a more positive impression of pierced ears than ordinary high school girls (43.1% compared to 32.7%) and think of it as a kind of fashion statement;3. The result of factor analysis suggests that 1) ordinary high school girls want to change their appearance when they dye their hair and be more noticeable; and 2) ordinary high school girls wear pierce earrings in order to make themselves more noticeable.
