Rost in tlansration. From The Times:

The appropriation of certain English words by foreign cultures can produce odd misunderstandings. But there can be few more bizarre than the interpretation of the term “Lolita” among young Japanese women. Tokyo’s “Gothic Lolitas” exhibit a bizarre style of dress that applies a grungy twist (lots of black eyeliner and pouting) to a “Lolita” aesthetic. The result is a tad disturbing, especially for readers familiar with Nabokov. The girls are delighted with their look, as was one of the organisers of a gathering of 1,500 “GothLolis” in Tokyo.

Naoki Matsumara, editor of the gothic Lolita magazine Kora, tried to explain the appeal: “Gothic fashion represents coolness in the darkness. That’s why these girls mixed Lolita fashion into it, so they can look cool and pretty.” Sorry, still confused.

The Japanese are funny when they are just being Japanese, but they are even funnier when they try to be a bit un-Japanese. About a year ago a bizarre list of Japanese neologisms relating to single women was published in The Times. They make Ally MacBeal, the profoundly irritating, cadaverous TV "lawyer", who needs a good slap and a bacon sandwich, seem quite feisty. Choice examples for Arry MacBear are:

Kakobijin Literally, past beauty. Describes the sort of woman who talks incessantly about how she would have been thought of as a stunner if she had lived in a different era, when men’s tastes in women were different.

Ame-unication The act of offering sweets to another woman in the hope of striking up a conversation and breaking the loneliness of single life

Rakudaraifu Literally, camel life. Applied to single women who spend much of their weekends cooking food and deep-freezing it so that it can be reheated in a hurry when they return from work late

Henkyoryugaku Literally, study abroad in the wild. Describes young women who in their twenties and thirties rebel against social norms and travel abroad to devote time to an eccentric art form, such as Balinese dancing

Toirebijutsukan Literally, toilet museum. The trend whereby young women moving into an apartment alone for the first time will go to extreme lengths to decorate their lavatory, scent it with perfume and stock it with interesting literature

And the greatest of these is toirebijutsukan.