Sex myths without substance

Interesting article on how Western media (mis)report on Japan. I wasn't aware of practises like "bagel heads, snail facials or ritual head shaving".

Anyhow, an overdue reality check for Western correspondents "reporting" from and on Japan!

Sex myths without substance: Mislabelling Japan
These stories gain traction because they support a view
of east Asia which is at best patronising and at worst overtly racist

This round was kicked off with an article in the Guardian looking at reasons behind Japan's rapidly declining population. Since then, sound-bites have been repeated and distorted, and the spiralling birth rate figures have become a hook for a spate of ill-informed, voyeuristic articles that fail to note that the 'weirdness' they see before them is far from representative.

TIME asked whether millions of young people are eschewing sex because they'd rather "manage a virtual candy store in a video game". Vice segued into an expose of Japan's sex and love industry, taking time to name check "a generation of men obsessed with virtual reality and so intimidated by real women that they prefer cyber girlfriends". [...]

Coverage peaked last Thursday, with a BBC2 documentary entitled 'No sex please, we're Japanese'. While there was some good reporting on what a shrinking society means for Japan, it was almost entirely undermined by an apparent determination to blame "a generation that has never had to grow up".

Presenter Anita Rani's quest to understand the "psyche of the modern Japanese man" leads her to Akihabara: the home of otaku, or geek, culture. As happens all too often, a tiny minority is portrayed as though it were representative of the wider population, and its impact wildly exaggerated. In a supporting article, Rani makes the entirely bogus claim that "One reason for the lack of babies is the emergence of a new breed of Japanese men, the otaku, who love manga, anime and computers – and sometimes show little interest in sex".

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Yeah, this was all pretty BS. A few of these articles popped up in my Facebook feed, all from friends who had never been to Japan. The Guardian article sported statistics, but it really didn't reflect the people I meet here. Possibly the people who live such sexless lives simply don't socialise?

I think the articles paint a distorted picture of Japan.

I had friends visiting who actually enquired about the "used-panty vending machines".

thomas said:

I had friends visiting who actually enquired about the "used-panty vending machines".

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Oh yes, that's a huge one, I've encountered about a dozen times. It really is like going to the New York gay pride parade and reporting that Americans wear **** rings and butt plugs in the streets.

Kind of pointless to cite stats when N=2 or thereabouts.

thomas said:

I had friends visiting who actually enquired about the "used-panty vending machines".

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Nothing wrong with that inquiry. The machines are real. They just are not everywhere like the press makes it seem. I have never seen one myself.

Japan also has beer vending machines, battery vending machines, porn vending machines, sex toy vending machines and still has cigarette vending machines.

And I have no doubt that used underwear can be purchased on-line in western countries and that men still collect them as trophies.

Of course women's underwear is not the best thing in the world...but next to it!

What amazes me is all the denial that western men were ever interested in women's underwear. I see the vending machine thing as a vehicle to further the denials and scapegoat the Japanese. Guys, man up for chrissake. You know you love the smell of vagina in the morning and they have not bottled it yet. But its in vending machines in Japan.

These stories gain traction because they support a view
of east Asia which is at best patronising and at worst overtly racist

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Racist? Maybe. I would say bigotted because Japanese is not a race. However, where it points fingers at East Asians in general, it is racist.

And like I said above, there is the scapegoating. The "lookee over there" approach to draw attention away from oneself. Similar has been done to the Germans over such things as scat and S&M, but these things happen all over the world.

Its an attempt to label others as perverts so that one can try and put up a front of chasteness. I don't buy it.

Nor do I subscribe to a policy of dismissing or hiding our manliness to grovel before the feet of women. We are men, and we should not be ashamed of our sexuality or let women and other men browbeat us for it. We all need to draw a line in the sand. I am fine with keeping it all under wraps a bit, rather than display it. But when people open their mouths to diss male sexuality we should put our foot down. We all have desires others may not appreciate. But if we let others get a verbal beat down for it, our times will come as well.

We men need to stick together more, even if it means just saying that most of the Japanese style perversions hurt no one so leave them alone. Beats the hell out of living like a damned anti-sex puritan or frigid female, the people who are truly worthy of our scorn.

It also just hit me that we can no longer thump our chests and declare that "at least we are not gay" to put down other guys to impress women. That is so 1987. So we harp on the Japanese with stories about a handful of individuals made to look like its the whole damned country.

Of course another one that burns me is the ASSumptions made about love hotels, like how they must be dirty and stuff. This from people who wear their shoes on carpets, in bed and don't typically shower before sex? Just freaking incredible. Really.

And you know where the image of Japanese love hotels come from? Western roach motels. This is much like how I discovered the image of sushi in America comes from the week old fish tossed off the ice truck into the "guaranteed stale" American supermarket. A whole bunch of sour grapes mixed with fermented cow manure frankly.

The Japanese don't do everything right. But the west sure as hell doesn't either.

I don't think those things have anything to do with Japan itself at all, really. I've known quite a few groups of American people online that are obsessed with anime characters, virtual reality, etc, and spend all day at home playing video games... they're actually a little creepy, and they're almost all obsessed with Japan.

I looked into things a bit more, actually, and found that part of the reason Japanese people are viewed the way they are, is because most Americans hear about Japan through these groups that fetishize some aspect of Japanese culture, like anime porn or something. Those people are, sadly, the most vocal about their appreciation of Japanese culture.

As it turns out, however, those sort of people are considered just as nerdy/creepy in Japan as they are here, if not more so. Part of the perception probably stems from the American tendency to stereotype Asians as nerds in general. The loud obsession a lot of American nerds have with Japan likely doesn't help that perception...

Another problem is all these white men that marry an Asian girl and bring her over here so that they can treat her badly, in ways that no one else would tolerate. So when people see a white guy with an Asian girl, they tend to think the guy is really weak/selfish loser who wanted a submissive wife, and that she's probably being abused. And too often, that does happen.

It's actually bad enough that I don't really like to tell people in real life that I'm interested in Japanese culture at all, because they tend to associate it with these kind of things. Rather than something harmless like enjoying Sushi, thinking Toyota makes good cars, or trying to beat people in Pokemon battles.

I think, if anything, an increased trend in this direction probably reflects the fact that more people are fixated on technology and less engaged in real life... all over the world. Businesses often do things more via the Internet anyway, which reduces opportunities to do things in real life anyway.

A lot of times, if you go to a business and ask for a service you used to be able to get easily, all they do is hand you a piece of paper or direct you to a computer terminal, telling you that you have to go online and figure everything out by yourself.

Jeremy Andrews said:

It's actually bad enough that I don't really like to tell people in real life that I'm interested in Japanese culture at all, because they tend to associate it with these kind of things. Rather than something harmless like enjoying Sushi, thinking Toyota makes good cars, or trying to beat people in Pokemon battles.

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Looking at your profile, we can see this:


Japan-related interests
Japanese food, Anime/manga, J-Music, Video games, Movies, Martial arts, Buddhism and/or Shinto, History

So, anime, manga, and video games are indeed on your list of cultural interests after all. At 25, do you or your friends often read any American comics, watch American cartoons, or play American video games, too?

Glenski said:

Looking at your profile, we can see this:


Japan-related interests
Japanese food, Anime/manga, J-Music, Video games, Movies, Martial arts, Buddhism and/or Shinto, History

So, anime, manga, and video games are indeed on your list of cultural interests after all. At 25, do you or your friends often read any American comics, watch American cartoons, or play American video games, too?

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Well, actually, I do watch Looney Toons and Disney cartoons a lot. I'm not all that grown up, really, and sometimes I get tired of all the violence and heavy relationship stuff in adult TV. You'll note that I listed those things as interests, they aren't necessarily things that I know a lot about.

The "Japanese food" thing was because I occasionally go out to eat Sushi with my Mom. The anime thing was because I liked Pokemon and Digimon on TV growing up, and found out later that they were considered anime. I do like some J-pop, yes, but I also like Classic rock and Power metal.

I've never actually done Martial Arts, but I enjoy watching karate on TV. I have occasionally thought of learning it for self-defense, though, because I'm not really a big guy, and I do get picked on sometimes. But I haven't seriously pursued it.

Now, Buddhism and Shinto are one thing I have studied a bit, because I had an obsession with learning about spirituality and philosophy. I used to study everything from Western Astrology to Feng Shui trying to improve my luck and predict the future.

Umm... and uh, honestly, I don't have any friends in real life. I live with my Mom and I don't have a job, and I never really go anywhere except to see family on the holidays. The rest of the time, it's just awkward because I have no place to be and no money to spend.

When I am out in public and I engage people in superficial conversations, I try to come off as fairly normal. But it always gets awkward when they ask what I do for a living. :/

I don't mind answering your questions, but I feel that they're a little off-topic, and honestly somewhat personal... would you mind PMing these kind of questions to me in the future? You're drawing a lot of public attention to me on a personal level that makes me uncomfortable... I feel kind of "put on the spot." I was really hoping we could keep the conversation fairly general and impersonal, about larger groups of people. I wasn't really wanting anyone to call out other people as individuals...

Well, actually, I do watch Looney Toons and Disney cartoons a lot. I'm not all that grown up, really, and sometimes I get tired of all the violence and heavy relationship stuff in adult TV.

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A fitting response to "Hey look at me! I am am so mature!" I especially like the point about violence. So many shows made for adults are chock full of it and we get warnings that its for a "mature" audience. Mature my foot! Mature people would decry all the violence on TV, not lap it up.

That said, I don't consider myself to be so mature either.