The ‘secret’ side of Japanese culture, is it too open?
- Eva Tao
- Feb 6, 2019
- 6 min read
Updated: Mar 3, 2019
By Eva Tao
In Japan, one of the reasons why many women dislike ‘otaku’ – generally young men obsessed with gaming and anime to the point of crippling their social lives – is the phenomenon of hyper-sexualisation of female characters in anime. Many women believe that such works should be banned due to discrimination. But is that really the problem and the solution?
Japanese culture is known to be conservative, but Hak Kyoung Lee, an expert in Japanese and South Korean studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) has an explanation for this phenomenon: “Modern Japanese men and women are actually very conservative and oppressed. Japan's fast-paced life has made many young people feel at a loss. More Japanese teenagers have gone on to become ‘otaku’”.
But is Japan really that conservative?
Actually, this might not be the case. The Japanese nation has always been contradictory; extremely confident yet extremely withdraw, extremely civilised yet extremely sanguinary.
In male-oriented anime, women are usually dressed in a revealing manner. Within most anime, including anime pornography (otherwise known as ‘hentai’), women are often viewed and treated as objects, and have next to no purpose in contributing to the actual plot. Many shows are created for ‘fan service’ to sexually excite the audience. Even those who are not part of the feminist movement seem to be irritated by the portrayal of women in anime.
Montis Songsombat, a male member of an online anime group, says: “There is definitely exaggerated hyper-sexualisation. In Food Wars: Shokugeki no Somai, women get orgasms from tasting food even. It makes me very uncomfortable – both seeing it and hearing it.”
He adds: “There is a hierarchy between men and women, why would they put such images in anime, if it is not a phenomenon in the culture?”
Michelle Li, a cosplay costume designer, says: “There is sexualisation of men as well, but the ways of objectification are totally different. For example, it would normally be more to cater to women psychologically, in terms of being perfect ‘boyfriend material’. But as for male-gaze anime like ‘Oh my Goddess’, a series about a goddess helpline materialising students’ fantasies, the images of women are certainly sexual. They emphasise a lot on cosplay designs, which reveals more body parts.”
It seems as if a female character’s sole purpose is sexual entertainment.
Video from Shokugeiki
So what’s the reason behind the sexual fantasy?
Japan is a stressed out country. Labour productivity is low, ranking 21 out of 35 countries under the intergovernmental Organisation for Economic and Co-operation and Development (OECD). Their working class is the least motivated, and have experienced 368 cases of ‘karoshi’ – which is literally translated to “overwork death” in Japanese – yet the GDP stands at only 70 per cent of US GDP. Their happiness index is known to be low, and working overtime is normal. As their unhealthy working environment pushes them to their limits, sexual fantasies have become one of their stress-relief outlets.
Fashion curator and cultural commentator Mizuki Lee says it traces back to history with the West: “When (Commodore Matthew) Perry’s black ships arrived at the gates of Japan, it was the first time that the Japanese realised the physical differences between them and Westerners. It was partly due to their non-carnivorous eating habits, or that they were rather malnourished compared to the white foreigners. The feeling of inferiority crept in, and fetishes towards curvy Western bodies started to develop. However, in real life, as they could not really obtain it, they had to dream it in the world of anime.”
Annemarie Luck, editor-in-chief of Tokyo Weekender Magazine, believes that gender stereotypes have been ingrained in the culture for so long that people simply accept it without question.
Anime pornographic sites in Japan are legal. There are also many adult television channels that provide ‘sex education’ – we use that term loosely – to teenagers. In other words, these sexual fantasies were fabricated since one’s childhood.
Shiho Takahashi, a 24-year-old Japanese prostitute in London, says: “Quite a few of the customers are hentai lovers. Lolicon – where they would ask prostitutes to dress up like school girls – is probably their favourite. Bondage is common as well. Most of them are Japanese and they seem to have an obsession with anime porn.”
Are Japanese women equally interested in this ‘secret’ side?
Japanese conservativeness is built into the people’s mindsets. Luck also explains that the patriarchal family structure – where it's the man's duty to go to work and provide for his family, while the woman stays home – originated during the Edo period.
“I think that Japan hasn't moved on beyond this point as quickly as other countries are because they have remained fairly homogenous. They haven't been too influenced by the Western notion of ‘girl power’,” she says. Therefore, Japanese men believe that they have authority over women both socially and politically.
Mizuki Lee shares about her experience growing up in Japan: “I was told that girls should always smile, even if someone has offended them. There is a saying in Japanese: ‘男は度胸、女は愛嬌’, meaning that men should always be brave but women have to be coquettish. They are used to these norms so they don’t feel like they are being objectified.”
“Japan is a country with the greatest difference in gender, and they have deliberately constructed their society to highlight these differences. For example, barbeque is only a meal for men; women and men should be seated separately during meals; designers cannot design across genders,” adds Mizuki Lee.
Most of Japan’s traditions originated from China. Hak Young Lee said: “Both Japan and South Korea inherited the idea of Confucianism from ancient China. The principal of Confucianism is to be well-mannered, especially for men. South Korea absorbed more of the idealism; because of that, South Korea is way more conservative, to the point where they only started selling condoms in convenience stores less than 10 years ago. That is also why a lot of Koreans think that Japanese culture is too ‘open’.”
Geeky Girl conducted a survey on Instagram asking our readers this question: ‘Between China, Japan, and South Korea, which country do you think is the most conservative?’ 71 per cent of our 67 respondents chose Japan. One Japanese respondent stated, “Japanese are very cautious about changes, they like sticking to traditional values and rules.”
Another participant said: “Japan is the most conservative society. They still keep their traditions in their daily lives and they don’t allow Western countries to influence their culture and values.”
But we are concerned with what Japan is hiding underneath that mask. Back in the Edo period, an art movement called ‘Ukiyo-e’ was born. Its woodblock prints and paintings depicted traditional female beauties, kabuki (Japanese dance drama) actors and sumo wrestlers, as well as acts of sex between men and women. This open concept of sexuality allowed Ukiyo-e paintings to combine desire and beauty – and that was the beginning of Japanese sex culture.
Erotic culture and penis festival
Many popular things in pornography today also came from Japan, such as sexual aids, work and school uniforms, et cetera. A lot of businesses have become successful selling sex toys, which are used to drive erotic plots in manga. There was a common belief that kimonos were designed like a duvet and a pillow, as in old times most Japanese men were conscripted and had little time to partake in reproduction. Due to the notion of sexual liberation, men could comfortably have sexual intercourse with women anytime and anywhere.
In the modern age, there is Kanamara Matsuri – a penis festival, which happens annually in Tokyo. Massive penis-shaped floats are carried through the streets, and penis-shaped products, like penis shaped candies, ice lollies, sausages, are available for purchase. These products, as well as the festival as a whole, are symbols of appreciation for fertility and celebration of masculinity in Japanese culture.
Shoko Saito, a Japanese journalist who attended the event herself, recalled that most of the sellers were females. "It is akin to Stockholm syndrome, where in order to conform to the social norm, women adapt to the situation and celebrate the very same masculinity that oppresses them,” she says. This creates a vicious cycle, wherein male-focused sexuality in the media is given more power and freedom than women’s.
Japan, as one of the countries with the longest history in the world, has developed its own culture. Westerners may have influenced them to a certain extent, such as contributing to the birth of some fetishes, but sex has always been a major part of the Japanese culture. Imagine western norms and Japanese sex culture in a Venn diagram, and there will not be much overlap; what we deem as weird might not be weird to them, what we see as a normal might not be normal to them.
In the meantime, the situation in Japan is changing, slowly but surely. As women are beginning to work more and gain more independence, power and self-esteem, they are given the courage to speak out against gender stereotypes and hypersexualisation.
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