Japan's 'grass eaters' turn their backs on macho ways

Yuki Sakurai and thousands like him have cast off the traditional image of the company salaryman

by Justin McCurry, Tokyo
Sunday 27 December 2009

As the twee cafes and boutiques in this quiet corner of Tokyo's Marunouchi business district fill with groups of "office ladies", it is easy to see how out of place Yuki Sakurai would look in the company of the blue-suited salarymen grabbing a quick noodle lunch beneath the nearby railway tracks.

For one thing, the 28-year-old business consultant is impeccably turned out, from his perfectly knotted striped tie to his scuff-free brown leather shoes, bought after a champagne breakfast with some female friends.

He is patience personified when passers-by do a double take while he poses for the Observer's photographer. When I ask him when he decided to become an unrepentant "grass eater", he doesn't flinch. It is not an unkind reference to his diet. Sakurai is a proud member of a new tribe of Japanese men who have eschewed traditional notions of masculinity and adopted a gentler, more "feminine" persona.

He is a soshokukei danshi – herbivorous boy – a term coined two years ago by the commentator Maki Fukasawa to describe the proliferation of men who, in appearance and attitude, bear little resemblance to the two dominant Japanese male groups of the past century: soldiers and their peacetime offspring, corporate warriors.

The typical herbivore cares, sometimes a little too much, about his appearance, eats sparingly, prefers afternoon tea with female friends to an evening spent drinking and shows little interest in the obsession that consumes so many of his peers: sex.

Sometimes referred to as ojo-men (ladylike men), they are mounting a counter-attack against the baby-boomer generation, whose lives revolved around company, colleagues and, a distant third, their wives and children.

Some dismiss the genre as the product of inventive marketing for male cosmetics, skin-tight fashions and, at the most militant end of the spectrum, male bras, minus the lacy frills.

But Megumi Ushikubo, author of The Herbivorous Ladylike Men Are Changing Japan, says men such as Sakurai are the vanguard in a quiet social revolution. Ushikubo, president of a market research firm, reckons that as many as 60% of Japanese men aged between 20 and 34 display at least some herbivorous tendencies.

"They don't have the material aspirations of previous generations," says Ushikubo, whose interest in the phenomenon was piqued by calls from companies unable to sell fast cars or alcohol to young men. "They have no appetite for food or sex. You ask them what they want out of life and they say, 'Nothing much'."

Rather than bond over beer, the average herbivore invests his time and money in activities once regarded as the preserve of young women: shopping trips, dining out, personal grooming and cultural pursuits.

The herbivores have no personal experience of the bubble years of the 1980s. Instead, Sakurai's generation reached adulthood as the economic edifice started to crumble, and unemployment and contract work replaced jobs for life and twice-yearly bonuses.

"Young men went through a crisis of confidence towards the end of the 1990s," Ushikubo says. "The economy isn't performing well, so they don't see the point of working too hard, because they think things will never improve."

Less amenable to sociological analysis is the herbivores' ability to suppress their carnal instincts. Sakurai, who says he has been single for several years, puts it down to an overdeveloped fear of rejection and commitment.

"I have lots of female friends I'm attracted to," he says. "But you weigh up the risks and benefits and come to the conclusion that things are best left as they are. I'm lucky to work in an industry where there's no stigma attached to being single and no pressure to get involved with someone."

The rise of the herbivorous man has met with mixed reactions. Traditionalist employers complain that they lack the work ethic of older generations, while commentators blame their sexual abstinence and relative thrift for the low birthrate and the weak economy.

Some women, too, say they prefer their men rougher around the edges. A popular revival in interest in Japanese history has made unlikely pin-ups of feudal warlords from the distant past.

Sakurai doesn't take the criticisms seriously. "It's too bad about the birthrate, but that's also a sign that the women are enjoying more freedom than before. It's as if social stigmas attached to both sexes have been lifted."

The herbivores' appearance in the Japanese social firmament is not without its benefits. "They really care about their families," says Ushikubo. "They don't believe that the state will be able to do its bit for their parents or themselves after they retire."

As he approaches his 30s, Sakurai reluctantly accepts that his grass-eating days may be nearing an end. "My younger brother just got married, and I can't see myself being single in my 40s," he says. "But I'm in my comfort zone right now. Why would I want to change that?"

Source: The Observer UK.

Japan photographer probed over nude shots on Tokyo streets
25 January 2010


A photo from Accidents Series 11 by Saki Takaoka and Kishin Shinoyama

Japanese police are investigating celebrity photographer Kishin Shinoyama for indecency after he took pictures of nude models in public locations around Tokyo, police said Monday.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department has sent the case to prosecutors who will decide whether to indict Shinoyama, best known for his nude photo collections of top actresses Rie Miyazawa and Shinobu Otake. Police charge that Shinoyama, 69, and two models committed acts of public indecency during dozens of nude photo shoots around Tokyo in 2008, including on streets, at the foot of a bridge and in front of a vending machine.

The women, identified by police as "adult video actresses" aged 22 and 26, had posed "in situations that the general public could witness" as they shot the book "No Nude by Kishin 1 20XX Tokyo," a Tokyo police spokesman said.

The photos were all taken between 8:30 pm and 3:15 am in August and September 2008, said police, who raided his studio last year after the book was published. The maximum punishment for public indecency is six months in jail or a 300,000 yen (3,300 dollar) fine.

Shinoyama's office said he would not comment during the investigation. The Jiji Press news agency reported that Shinoyama had told police: "I wanted to make a monumental piece celebrating 50 years since I started taking photos but I lacked consideration."

Source: Breitbart.

The boys of Shinjuku: Is Tokyo's gay district doomed?
7 February 2010

Tokyo's gay scene is 300 bars and clubs packed into two blocks, where, perhaps surprisingly in an otherwise regimented society, it has been anything goes for decades. So why, asks our Tokyo correspondent David McNeill, is the wildest party in town coming to an end?


The Hijoguchi club has introduced nights such as Tokyo's Got Talent in an attempt to boost trade

Nothing outside Tokyo's 24 Kaikan hotel hints at what goes on behind its grey concrete walls. Tucked in off a back-street near the Shinjuku business and shopping district, the seven-story building could be an apartment block for retired civil servants. A steady stream of customers in the salary-man's uniform of dark suit, sensible shoes and winter overcoat files quietly through its innocuous doors. Only in the lobby, cheerily adorned with scenes from a sex movie that depict a portly company president being diligently serviced by a young apprentice, does it become clear that this is one of Asia's biggest gay landmarks.

Past the ticket machine – 2,600 yen (about £18) for a 13-hour stay – and pretty much anything goes, say guests who come from across Japan, and even abroad, to sample its treats. Soak in the sauna/bathtub then make your way up semi-naked through the floors, where porn flickers 24 hours a day in dimmed communal sleeping areas equipped with futons. Wander around and watch the sights or lie back and wait for someone who fancies you, instructs one guide, which blissfully advises customers to expect "some mind-blowing tableaus". Amid the satyric excess, bilingual signs posted throughout telegraph the only constantly visible rule: "Gentlemen who chew gum" will be evicted from the premises.


The two blocks of the gay Ni-chome area in Shinjuku, Tokyo has been struggling lately

It is, in many ways, very Japanese: discreet, compartmentalised; fastidiously careful about order and details. Live and let live as long as the outward appearance of things is maintained. "This is a country that happily lives with contradictions," says Taq Otsuka, author of several books on Japan's gay scene. "It has its one way of doing things that people sometimes don't understand." Thus, Tokyo, a city with a reputation as one of the most uptight, buttoned-down capitals, also boasts, in its Shinjuku district, one of the world's densest and most diverse concentration of gay bars and clubs: the Ni-chome (pronounced "nee-chomay") area.

Roughly 300 businesses, including the 24 Kaikan, are squeezed into Ni-chome's couple of blocks, from sex shops to watering holes that cater to a staggering array of tastes – known in Japan as kei (speciality). Bars for overweight men, transvestites, spankers, the hirsute, the young, men over 70, older men who want to be with younger men; with names such as Popeye, Tarzan, Duke, Brutus and Bambi. One establishment specialises in guys who look like pin-up idols; another reportedly caters to clientele from the countryside. "I've even heard of one place that is for busaiku-kei [ugly men]," laughs Otsuka, who has run local institution Tac's Knot bar for 28 years. "There isn't much you can't find here."


But the Ni-chome area is still the place most gay Japanese men head to hangout

But, roughly half a century since it emerged as a refuge for homosexuals in what was formerly a red-light district, the block is in decline. The local commercial organisation that promotes Ni-chome estimates that the number of gay bars in the area has fallen by at least a third in the past decade. The once exclusively male gay clientele is filled out at the weekends with the straight, the female and the simply curious. "Are gays vanishing from Shinjuku Ni-chome!?," wondered one of the country's most popular magazines recently."This used to be a place for communicating with and discreetly meeting like-minded people," explains the organisation's head Mitsuo Fukushima. "Now there are many other ways of communicating."

Last year, artist Susumu Ryu tried to document the decline in a 276-page manga comic with the clumsy English title, "Vanishing Shinjuku Ni-chome – who severed the jugular of a flower garden of heretical culture?" Ryu blames gentrification associated with the opening of a new subway line, which has pushed up local property prices and made many of the tiny bars here unviable; and the rise of the internet, which has given men with secret lives a way to navigate the world. Instead of cruising bars for strangers, they can now hook up online and arrange to meet in a love hotel or apartment. He cites the 2004 closure of the famous gay magazine Barazoku after 33 years as a key moment. "That was a symbolic event when the internet overtook gay culture here." Recession hasn't helped: many of the bars demand a cover charge of up to 1,000 yen (about £7).


Taq Otsuka has run local institution Tac's Knot bar for 28 years

On a Saturday night, though, the decline is not immediately obvious. Crowds and taxis throng through Ni-chome's streets, and clubs and bars fill up after 11pm. But many businesses are clearly struggling. In Sazae, a retro-themed disco for cross-dressers, men trickle in, wearing suits and civvies, change into dresses and don wigs in the toilet, then dance and pair off. Like many of these bars, the master – a middle-aged queen with a passion for 1970s soul and funk – sets the atmosphere and discreetly regulates the clientele. "Business has certainly peaked," he laments, grimacing unhappily. "It used to be packed here and you can see what it's like now," he says, sweeping a hand around the half-empty bar. "The customers are getting older, too."

Fittingly, perhaps, as he shouts over the noise of the disco, Gloria Gaynor's great gay anthem "I Will Survive" comes pounding out of the speakers.

Ni-chome partly mirrors the changes in Japan's gay culture. Until the 1980s, says the 62-year-old Otsuka, the area – 10 minutes walk from Tokyo's busiest transportation hub – was an escape for men who were often married and hiding their sexuality. "When I came here first in my twenties, everybody used fake names and it was just accepted that you were going to be unhappy," he recalls. "Even couples came separately. The idea that gay people could share a life together was a fairy-tale." Adds Mark Oshima, a Japanese-American who came to live in Tokyo two decades ago: "In the old days, everyone got married – as long as they had respectable lives on the surface, they could live a double life."


Sazae is a retro-themed disco for cross-dressers

Though blighted by the typical agonies of personal identity and need for secrecy, gays and lesbians in Japan nevertheless did not suffer the same outright repression as those in other parts of the world. Discrimination in Britain and the US, at least until the 1960s, was "horrendous", points out Mark McLelland, a UK-born academic and author of Homosexuality in Modern Japan: Cultural Myths and Social Realities. "You could be prosecuted there, whereas the Japanese are fairly laid-back about sexual scandal – it's not personally harming in the way it is in the West."

While British cops were still busting men in public parks, Japan didn't even have an anti-sodomy law, nor what McLelland calls the "anti-homosexual rage" of many Christian cultures, the lethal fuel for homophobia and the "hyper-violence" of gay-bashing incidents. As Otsuka puts it: "Homosexuality was never considered a sin here, just shameful."

But if Japan was more laid-back about its sexual preferences, it also lacked the political and social frisson that helped transform the lives of homosexuals elsewhere. Gayness was, and is still, largely seen as a personal lifestyle choice, not something to be flaunted or argued over on the streets and in parliament. Otsuka says he sometimes looked with envy at the battles for gay equality in other parts of the world. "It seemed very extreme and frightening, but I admired how you could shout your identity from the rooftops, and tell everyone that you were in a gay relationship."


Yusuku Takane feels safe in bars such as Sazae, though the cross-dressers' bar is half-empty these days

He began writing about what was happening abroad and set up his bar to lead by example. "I learned the English phrase 'coming out' and told people about it. I was in a long-term relationship and I wanted to show others it was possible, if they had courage. When my partner died of Aids [about 10 years ago], there was a lot of ignorance about the disease, so I spoke about that too, though it was very hard for me."

Today, men in Ni-chome are far more likely to use their real names and announce their same-sex relationships to the world – or at least to the clientele of their favourite club. But progress has been tortuously slow, and many gays and lesbians are still living a lie, says David Wagner, a business consultant and 24-year veteran of the Ni-chome district. "It's the Stone Age here. This is one of the biggest cities in the world but the gay scene is pathetic. The Sydney gay parade has maybe 500,000 people marching every year – Tokyo has maybe 3,000, when it happens." He still meets many gay men who are lying to their families about their sexuality. "I say, 'If you all came out the same time, everything would change.'"

Homosexuals are still not legally recognised in Japanese civil law, civil unions are prohibited and there is, as yet, not a single openly gay law-maker or prominent business person, admits Kanako Otsuji. A lesbian activist, in 2007 she ran as the country's first openly gay candidate in a national election, after publishing her biography Coming Out. "There is a saying in Japan: 'to put a lid on something that smells,'" she points out. "The topic is ignored and disregarded. You don't touch it. But this is still not a bad place to be homosexual."

Indeed, young gays hopping from club to bar around Ni-chome find bewildering Otsuji's struggles to change society, or force it to acknowledge their sexuality; one reason, perhaps, why she came near the bottom of the 2007 poll. Many have never heard of her or the landmark 1969 New York Stonewall riots, or taken part in the Tokyo Pride parade, which limps into action some years and other years doesn't happen at all. But many accept that their lives have been transformed since the last generation of gay corporate samurai fled here from tormented lives.

"I came out to my parents when I was 11," remembers Yusuke Takane, a 23-year-old university student sipping a drink in Arty Farty, one of the district's most popular clubs. "I don't know what it means to be hiding." His experience living abroad has convinced him that Japan is friendlier to gays than elsewhere. "I lived in France and people there shouted 'pede' ('fag'). I couldn't imagine that here, especially not in this area. That's why I come here, even though I can meet people on the internet – I feel comfortable."

Few seem worried or even aware that Ni-chome may be dying. But among many proprietors, the talk is of little else. Some speculate that Tokyo's famously right-wing governor Shintaro Ishihara, irritated by the area's reputation for sexual freedom and occasional debauchery, may have a hand in its decline, but there is no proof of that. "He doesn't have to crush Ni-chome," says Wagner. "It's imploding."

If it is, nobody has told the clientele of the 24 Kaikan, which will surely be here long after the last bar shuts its doors. At nearly midnight on a Saturday and the building is three-quarters full. Cars outside bear licence places from several prefectures. Foreign and Japanese men in towels wander the corridors, discreetly eyeing every new customer. Nobody is chewing gum. "I've been here dozens of times and I love it," says one middle-aged Japanese man, who requested anonymity. "I hadn't heard about the problems in Ni-chome but even if it's true, so what? We will always find ways to meet. You can't stop people enjoying themselves."

Source: The Independent UK.

Japanese husbands get help to express their love
12 February 2010



For many Japanese men, it is still hard to say "I love you" to their wife, upcoming Valentine's Day or no.

But help is now at hand from the Japan Aisaika - or "devoted husband" - organization (JAO), with products and events to encourage traditionally reserved Japanese husbands to express appreciation for their spouses.

JAO distributes so-called hug mats, printed with a couple's footmarks for hugging guidance. The popular product, with two distinctive pairs of footprints - one larger, one smaller - was the subject of a full-page spread in the major daily Asahi Shimbun in January. The organization also created the hug time project, suggesting a time for all its customers to make simultaneous use of the mat - at 8:09 pm on January 31. The date was considered auspicious by the company, as the 1/31 date can be read as "ai-sai," which in Japanese also means beloved wife.

The project gives couples in Japan, where marriage is sometimes considered more of a social union than an emotional one, an opportunity to express their feelings and help save troubled relationships, company founder Kiyotaka Yamana said, no stranger to the problem himself.

Some of the project's volunteers posted their comments on the JAO website. "Thanks to this project, I feel we were able to overcome an imminent crisis," one person said. Others did not feel expressing affection was so difficult. Mari Nagai, a twenty-something travel company employee, and her boyfriend "don't need such a mat at all. We hug very often," she said. "Still, he never wants to do that in public."

Yamana has also created other events for Japanese men to prove their passion for their partners. In Shout Your Love from the Middle of a Cabbage Patch, dozens of men, one by one, yelled, "I love you!" or "Thank you!" to their wives, some for the first time.

Many Japanese husbands say they are too proud or embarrassed to express their love once they get married. Often Japanese men, accustomed to being the household's breadwinner, "are afraid of seeing things from a different perspective," Yamana said. "When looking from their wife's standpoint or accepting it, they tend to think they are defeated or that their pride is hurt," he said.

But the Japanese are losing their traditional patience with joyless unions. Divorces jumped 88.7 per cent from 1988 to 289,836 in 2002, according to government figures. Although this number dropped somewhat in 2009 to 251,000, in-home separations are still common. Many couples tend to avoid full divorce for the sake of their children, economic reasons or to save face.

Yamana recalled that he never questioned the all-work, no-play lifestyle that cost him his first marriage. His marital problems were caused mainly by a lack of communication, he said. He said, however, that a few years into his second marriage he truly felt a sense of happiness, and willingly shared more time with his wife. The JAO aims to let other men experience the joy that Yamana found in marriage. That requires changing attitudes toward work, he said.

Many workers in Japan are pressured to put their company first and show their loyalty by working hard. That pressure has increased during the country's economic downturns, he said. "Japanese men place a high value on which company or organization they work for," Yamana said, adding that such status also matters to some women looking for a husband.

At another JAO event in late January called Shout Your Love from the Middle of Hibiya Park - a major park in Tokyo - advertising employee Shinya Muto yelled "I love you" to his wife of 20 years. Muto, whose wife was not in the park at the time, said he had participated in the event for three years in a row, but that he rarely uttered the L-word at home. "I wish I said it to her," he said.

Meanwhile, some critics said marital respect in Japan would be better served by reducing the economic disparity between the genders. Mie Ueda, formerly in charge of a shelter for domestic violence victims, said "women's economic independence is more important" than learning to nurture devoted husbands.

Many participants in JAO events, however, said more devoted husbands would also benefit society beyond their own homes. "I think husbands who take great care of their wife can be considerate to others," Nagai, who wanted four children in the future, said. She added "if there are more devoted husbands, that could also help resolve the low birthrate," one of Japan's most intractable problems.

Source: Earth Times / dpa.

From The Times
March 3, 2010
Japan Airlines faces boom in black-market demand for stewardess uniforms


Japan Airlines employees at Haneda International airport in Tokyo
Leo Lewis, Asia Business Correspondent

Since its humiliating bankruptcy in January, Japan Airlines has faced mass layoffs, customer fury and national shame, but its worst nightmare may yet lie ahead: a potentially thriving black market for the uniforms worn by its air stewardesses.

For decades, the crisp, no-nonsense outfits have appealed to male Japanese tastes. New Japan Airlines (JAL) uniforms have long been in demand in the local sex industry for customers keen on role-playing fantasies, while rare specimens that have actually been worn are hugely sought after by fetishists and are worth their weight in gold.

Countless shops will sell a very credible imitation for a few thousand yen, but the real thing can fetch a fortune. Historically, says Yu Teramoto, the owner of a specialist costumier in the Akihabara district of Tokyo, real JAL outfits have been virtually impossible for buyers to lay their hands on. However, the post-bankruptcy prospect of huge layoffs at JAL — especially among uniform-wearing air-crew — raises the prospect that former staff will attempt to sell their outfits for a profit.

“It is hard to say but it is at moments of confusion and anger like this that the black market for uniforms should do well,” he said.

JAL has long been aware of the uniform’s mysterious power and has been at great pains to ensure that none of the real ones ever get on to the black market. Efforts have included putting a serial number into each item of clothing, and keeping meticulous records of the exact whereabouts of garments all around the world.

The risk of a new flood of uniforms on to the black market has raised the stakes for the airlines. All Nippon Airways (ANA) — which has the same problem — has begun sewing computer chips into its stewardess uniforms so that errant skirts, jackets and hats can be tracked from space. JAL is understood to be installing a similar system.

A spokesperson for JAL described a series of measures that meant that it was “virtually impossible for an individual to hold on to their uniform after they have left their job”. He admitted that a uniform of the sort worn by staff in the business-class lounge had been stolen a few years ago and had appeared on an internet auction site. JAL paid £1,500 for the uniform to keep it off the market.

Mr Teramoto told The Times, however, that there had always been a few that escaped the JAL dragnet and which had found their way into specialist shops. In a notorious incident five years ago, twelve ANA uniforms were stolen during an advertising shoot. Eight were returned after a nationwide amnesty but four are still at large. Mr Teramoto claims to know of one uniform from that famous haul that sold for £11,000.

Source: Times Online UK.

Man marries pillow
by Tom Phillips
9th March, 2010


Lee Jin-gyu kisses his new bride, a pillow with a picture of anime character Fate Testarossa on it

True love can take many forms. In this case, it has taken the form of a Korean man falling in love with, and eventually marrying, a large pillow with a picture of a woman on it.

Lee Jin-gyu fell for his 'dakimakura' - a kind of large, huggable pillow from Japan, often with a picture of a popular anime character printed on the side. In Lee's case, his beloved pillow has an image of Fate Testarossa, from the 'magical girl' anime series Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha.

Now the 28-year-old otaku (a Japanese term that roughly translates to somewhere between 'obsessive' and 'nerd') has wed the pillow in a special ceremony, after fitting it out with a wedding dress for the service in front of a local priest. Their nuptials were eagerly chronicled by the local media.

'He is completely obsessed with this pillow and takes it everywhere,' said one friend.

'They go out to the park or the funfair where it will go on all the rides with him. Then when he goes out to eat he takes it with him and it gets its own seat and its own meal,' they added.

The pillow marriage is not the first similarly-themed unusual marriage in recent times - it comes after a Japanese otaku married his virtual girlfriend Nene Anegasaki, a character who only exists in the Nintendo DS game Love Plus, last November.

Source: Metro UK.

3 Filipinos arrested for illegal entry
16 March 2010

FUKUOKA, Japan (Kyodo) — Three Filipino men have been arrested in the city of Fukuoka for entering Japan on passports with women's names after undergoing sex change operations, police said.

Although it is not legally possible in the Philippines to change one's registered gender, the three, aged 30, 43 and 44, have formally married Japanese men, according to local immigration authorities.

After falling in love with the Japanese men while working at night clubs, they reentered Japan on different persons' passports to submit marriage registrations and have obtained residential status as spouses of Japanese nationals, the police said.

They were quoted as telling investigators they wanted to live as women and lead their lives with their loved ones.

Source: Breitbart.

Nothing says springtime like a penis festival
By Jonathan Adams
March 16, 2010




KOMAKI, Japan — It's springtime in Japan and that means one thing.

Actually, two things. Penis festivals and vagina festivals.

It may sound like a sophomoric gag. But these are folk rites going back at least 1,500 years, into Japan's agricultural past. They're held to ensure a good harvest and promote baby-making. Maybe they should hold more such festivals. Japan has one of the world's lowest birthrates (1.37 children per woman), which experts blame on stagnant incomes and changing gender relations. The center-left government that came to power last year hopes to make child-rearing more affordable with a $280 monthly stipend per kid.

Meanwhile, the festivals provide an economic shot in the arm for host cities, a party for foreign tourists and expats, and a chance for locals to let loose, too. One of the best-known penis festivals is at Komaki City's Tagata shrine, about 45 minutes outside Nagoya, every March 15. In a neighboring village, a vagina festival is held the Sunday before that. This year, that was the 14th — meaning rare, back-to-back genital
worship days.

At the Hime-no-miya grand vagina festival, parents dress up their kids, pray for healthy babies, and celebrate with sake, beer and snacks galore. In the morning, children carry a small vagina to the Ogata shrine. Later, some 40 grown men strain under the weight of a massive vagina while carrying it to the shrine in the main parade. They're followed by two smaller vagina litters. At the end of the day pink and white mochi (glutinous rice ball treats) are hurled into the crowd.

The penis festival the following day drew far more foreign and Japanese tourists — some 100,000, according to a festival brochure. Festival foreplay included much posing with wooden and candy penises. The main event is the parading of a two-foot by six-and-a-half foot long phallus carved from Japanese cypress. Teams of men strain under the weight, stopping to spin the penis around a few times amid yelling, cheering and jostling. The work is so hard that teams rotate during the one-and-a-half hour procession.

This phallus parade is rooted, says the brochure, in "an ancient Japanese belief that for the growth and development of all things, the mother, earth, has to be impregnated by the father, heaven."

"People come here when they want to have a baby," said festival volunteer and Komaki resident Katsuragawa Noboru. "If it works, they have to come back the next year to thank the gods." It worked for Katsuragawa, twice: He has a son and a daughter now, he said with a laugh.

Lucy Glasspool, who researches gender and pop culture as a visiting scholar in Nagoya, was helping out at the information booth. It was her first penis festival. "I heard about this a long time ago and I'm not sure I believed it," she said. "But now I'm here and it's everything I thought it would be. I highly recommend the penis-shaped candy." She gave English-language updates on the penis' progress through a microphone, and passed out detailed information in English on the history and significance of the rite. But most Western tourists seemed happy enough just to drink beer and make endless penis jokes.

Vendors sell penis- and vagina-shaped candies and chocolate-covered bananas, wood penis sculptures and penis earrings, adding to the mirth. Eavesdropping was a riot. Said one American woman into a cell phone, in a southern twang: "We just found an ashtray that's in the shape of a vagina that you need to buy." "It's smaller than last year's," one jaded female expat loudly complained, as the phallus approached.

One American woman, reviewing a photo of her friends posing with penis-candy-sucking Japanese, said, "Oh my God. This one is so going on Facebook."

Source: Global Post.

Dream of big-toe penis inspires author to write bestseller
by Elaine Lies
5 May 2010


Japanese author of ''The Apprenticeship of Big Toe P'', Rieko Matsuura, speaks during an interview with Reuters in Tokyo in this March 26, 2010 file photo. REUTERS/Toru Hanai

TOKYO (Reuters Life!) — One night in the early 1990s, Japanese author Rieko Matsuura dreamed that her big toe had turned into a penis.

Coming just as she was contemplating her next book, the dream provided a vital plotting hint that helped her write "The Apprenticeship of Big Toe P," a Fellini-esque take on sexuality and gender roles in Japan that became a bestseller and won a literary prize after its 1993 publication.

"I'd thought for a long time that I wanted to write about a woman whose views on sexuality change in response to various experiences, but I wasn't sure how. Just having a woman's spirit take root in a man's body was too cheesy," Matsuura told Reuters in an interview on the publication of the book in English. "I thought there must be another way to do it, and just at that point I had the dream."

"Big Toe P," as the 51-year-old Matsuura refers to it, follows the adventures of Kazumi, a naive 22-year-old who wakes up one morning to find that, as in Matsuura's dream, her big toe has become a penis. Her boyfriend wants to deal with the toe by cutting it off, and Kazumi flees, falling in love with a blind pianist and joining a performance troupe, all of whose members are sexual misfits. She travels along, her ideas about sex, love and gender changing so much that she even has an affair with another woman.

"This seemed to be the best way to challenge accepted thinking about sex, a woman with something that looked like a male sexual organ. Having her be naive would be more effective too, I thought," the soft-spoken Matsuura said. "There are a lot of people in the world like her, who just imitate sex and gender roles without questioning them. Having her meet people who are far from the sexual norm themselves helped open her eyes."

Though traditional Japan had no specific taboos against homosexuality and sometimes fluid ideas about gender roles — men taking women's parts in kabuki theater, for example — post-World War Two Japan was less open-minded. In fact, it wasn't until the rise of feminism in the 1970s that much discussion of homosexuality and gender roles arose. Though Matsuura lamented that change in Japanese attitudes about gender and sexuality has been glacially slow in the 17 years since the book was written, there are still positive trends, which she attributes to greater opportunity for women.

"Women have gained economic strength and self-expression, and society recognizes this. What women say is also given much more attention than in the past," she said. "There's an increase in the number of men who can interact with women from the heart, who don't put them down."

But Japan still lags the West in acceptance of homosexuality, and while more and more women now work, their salary levels and promotion fall well below men of comparable experience and age.

(Reporting by Elaine Lies; Editing by Sugita Katyal)
Source: Reuters.

Japanese government blocks a ban on child pornography

The Japanese government has blocked legal efforts to clamp down on child pornography, with the country becoming the world's "kiddie porn superpower," according to a pressure group.

By Julian Ryall in Tokyo
14 May 2010

The ruling Democratic Party of Japan has refused to support legislation that would outlaw the possession of child pornography on the grounds that it would infringe individuals' freedom of expression – although there has been a stepped-up police campaign against people that sell sexual images of children.

Twenty people were arrested this week for posting child pornography on a mobile phone web site that was set up by a 17-year-old high school student, while Japan was shocked earlier this year at the arrest of a mother who took indecent images of her infant son and sold them via the internet.

The National Police Agency said it received 4,486 complaints from the public of child pornography on the internet in 2009 and a record 650 people were charged with offences related to child pornography. Campaigners believe that represents the tip of the iceberg.

"We are urging all the political parties here to ban the possession of child pornography in the present session of parliament, but I am not at all optimistic that it will happen," said Keiji Goto, a lawyer and chairman of the Forum for Creating a Society That Does Not Tolerate Child Pornography.

In 2009 the government submitted a bill to revise the law on child pornography but lost the general election in August before it could be enacted. The DPJ opposed the bill and instead called for the definition of child pornography to be narrowed down, while acquisition for money and multiple acquisitions would be made illegal.

"We consider child pornography to be the worst of all evils and we find it hard to understand how images of naked children tied up with ropes can be considered acceptable," Goto said. "The only people who will be pleased at the failure to pass this legislation are paedophiles."

Source: Telegraph UK.

Child sex in 'manga' — art or obscenity?: Graphic but healthy, free speech
By TAKAHIRO FUKADA
12 June 2010

The Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly is deliberating stronger regulations on sexual images of minors in "manga" comic books, animation and video games.


Keep access open: Yukari Fujimoto, associate professor of Meiji University who opposes the planned metro government regulations on pornographic products, is interviewed May 25 in Tokyo. SATOKO KAWASAKI PHOTOS

If the revised ordinance is passed, publishers will have to exercise greater restraint on content with sexual depictions of characters that people can assume to be underage. The tougher ordinance would also designate publications that express sexual violence and other material deemed outside the social norm as "noxious" and restrict young readers' access.

Cartoonists and others have lodged protests over the proposed crackdown, which was introduced by the metropolitan government, arguing it could violate the freedom of expression. With the assembly debate heating up, The Japan Times interviewed a leading supporter and a vocal opponent. Yukari Fujimoto, a 50-year-old associate professor of girls manga and gender at Meiji University in Tokyo, is opposed to the revised ordinance, saying it is rife with problems and is a "bad law."

Fujimoto said a law already exists to keep juveniles from being exposed to hardcore pornography. She suspects that the revisions could lead to regulating all content of a sexual nature depicting minors.

Under the Tokyo Metropolitan Government's desired changes, businesses and residents would be obliged to recognize that materials positively depicting sexual acts of minors can hamper the ability of children to develop a "healthy" attitude about sex and to keep such material out of the hands of minors. Fujimoto said that if the ordinance takes effect, it would take only one person to step forward and brand, for example, a comic book or game that depicts sexual acts involving high school students as "unhealthy" to have such works removed from stores. Unless the metropolitan government's plan is dropped, "movements to suppress undesirable books will begin," Fujimoto said.

Triggered by self-censorship, the United States saw its comic book industry decline drastically, she said. She warned the metropolitan government's proposal would deprive artists of freedom of expression and deal a devastating blow to the manga industry.

Fujimoto, who is a former editor at a major publishing firm and a manga critic, said manga have traditionally targeted adolescent readers and dealt with sex and violence. By depicting these themes, Fujimoto said, minors can learn to cope with them and come to grips with their own desires. "It is important that (children) face a variety of information and establish their own thought patterns," Fujimoto said.

Academic research on media shows children can be protected from harmful media influences by openly talking about sex with their parents and friends, Fujimoto said. If children are sheltered from sexual information, she said, they aren't able to talk about sex with anyone and may develop a sense of guilt about their feelings.

Fujimoto said an American study found that the percentage of people who committed sexual crimes was lower among those who were exposed to sexual material from an early age than those who were raised under more strict conditions. Statistics in Japan support this thesis, she said. According to her, the number of rape victims who were elementary school students and younger dropped in the last 40 years to less than one-tenth of the peak year of 1965. That period coincides with the gradual rise in sexual content in manga and other media, she said. "Liberation of sexual expression clearly helped to reduce the number of rape victims in Japan," Fujimoto said.

Minors have the right to know about sex, she added, claiming an international treaty guarantees this. She said children should "gradually" learn how to deal with sex. "Under the proposed changes, adults could completely deprive children of opportunities to think about the nature of their sexuality," Fujimoto warned. The deliberation process in the assembly has also been rife with problems, she said.

The panel that submitted a report to Gov. Shintaro Ishihara that later became the foundation for the proposed ordinance revisions included members with ties to police, she said. However, it had no participants who were against tightening the ordinance or anyone from the manga industry.

Fujimoto said Ishihara publicly admitted he has not read the revisions or the kind of material that would be subject to the tightened regulations. Also, deliberations in the assembly have been insufficient, she said. By expanding the scope of offenders, Fujimoto argued, the proposed revisions will benefit the police because they will be able to trumpet to the public that they are working hard for society. "(The government) must not regulate expression as proof that the police are doing their job," she said. "They should be preventing real children from being sexually attacked," she said, adding that authorities must protect children from sexual crimes and implement more measures to support victims of those crimes.

Source: Japan Times.

'Manga' child sex clampdown fails
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Kyodo News

A Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly panel voted down on Monday a controversial proposal to toughen regulations on pornographic depictions of children in comic books and animation, in line with the ruling Democratic Party of Japan's wishes.

Using the concept of "nonexistent minors" for characters in "manga" and "anime" that appear to be under the age of 18, the proposal would have urged bookstores and other vendors not to sell content depicting minors engaged in sexual intercourse to children.

The proposal's concept came under criticism from manga writers, anime creators and publishers as being vague in its definitions and possibly violating their freedom of expression. After revising the wording in the current version, the metropolitan government plans to reintroduce the proposal in September or later to revise the local ordinance governing the environment for children's growth.

Besides urging voluntary action from bookstores and other vendors, the proposal also called for content depicting rape and other heinous acts of violence to be designated as "unhealthy reading material" that can't be sold to children. The ensuing criticism from the manga writers, anime creators and publishers prompted the assembly to decide in March to skip a vote and continue debate on the measure.

Also Monday, the panel voted down a similar proposal by the Liberal Democratic Party and New Komeito. The DPJ comprises the largest voting bloc in the assembly.

Source: Japan Times.

Japan's gay parade returns after 3 years in bid for acceptance
By Antoni Slodkowski
August 12, 2010


Participants march at the Tokyo Pride Parade in Tokyo August 11, 2007. REUTERS/Toru Hanai

TOKYO (Reuters Life!) — Japan's gay community is set to put on the glitz as the Tokyo Pride parade returns this weekend after a three year absence with the aim of winning acceptance among the country's conservative society.

Drag queen shows, debates and theater plays are being held in the lead-up to the parade which was put on ice due to a lack of staff as many gay Japanese don't dare to come out to their families or workplaces. For Japanese gays in Tokyo's Shinjuku "2-chome" district where some 250 gay bars operate, the event is an opportunity to get together and celebrate in style, but also to seek understanding from other Japanese for their homosexuality.

"I lead two separate lives — during the day, I'm a full-time 'salaryman' in a web design company, but at night I come to '2-chome' to work here as a barman," said Yuu, who declined to give his last name. "At work no one knows about my secret and I have been living this double-life for some seven years now," he said, singing loudly to the latest karaoke hits.

The district is gearing up for Tokyo Pride on Saturday with a number of side events aimed at making Japanese society more understanding toward the country's gay, lesbian and transsexual communities. Noriaki Fushimi, a gay rights activist, is holding a debate on the future of the gay movement in Japan, while "2-chome" will hold a "Rainbow Festival" on Sunday with food and beer stalls.

Apart from the celebrations, activists and politicians will also be highlighting the reasons for the gathering as many gays and lesbians feel excluded from society. Traditional family ties still play an important role in Japan and many homosexuals find themselves under pressure to marry to fulfill their parents' expectations.

"I have known full well I'm gay since primary school but I would always bring girlfriends home to appear "normal" in my family's eyes," said Sota Aoki, 24, from Sapporo in northern Japan. "Now my parents press me to marry and until recently I've been seriously considering that, but I thought I don't want to end up like many of my friends who despite being gay got married and have kids and who now have to lie for the rest of their lives."

SOCIAL TABOO

While some celebrities can afford to be open about being gay or transsexual, coming out is a big social taboo for most Japanese. There are also very few openly gay politicians in Japan so little lobbying in the corridors of power over gay rights. Japanese gays and lesbians have no right to the civil partnerships or marriages offered in some other countries.

"Some people are so desperate to officially form a family, that the older partner adopts the younger one — that's the only way to gain the right to hospital visits or inheritance," said Aoki from Sapporo.

But Aya Kamikawa, the first ever transgender politician in Japan and a councilor for the biggest ward in Tokyo, stressed that changes can only happen when people become more open about what they want. "There are about 5,000 people working in the Setagaya ward office and none of them is openly gay," said Kamikawa, who succeeded in lobbying for sex changes to be recognized by the family register system in 2003. "Some workers come to me secretly to confess their sexual orientation and I always tell them to speak out if they want things to change."

Despite the economic slowdown taking its toll on bars in Shinjuku's "2-chome," the parade has seen a gradual increase in participants and this year over 5,000 are expected to march, dance and take part in side events.

"People come here from all over the country to celebrate in style so I'm taking a day off in the office," smiled Yuu, toasting a glass of sake rice wine. "We will be flooded with the happy crowd."

(Reporting by Antoni Slodkowski, Editing by Belinda Goldsmith)
Source: Reuters.