http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-23182523
An interesting article on generation gaps and the stress of modern life.
Such a strange society. I never understood why they censor pubic hair but happily show anime demon tentacle rape. Selling used panties from vending machines and the routine groping of women on public transport is normal to them. I find their society very interesting, always have done, but it’s got a lot of weird, pervy, sadistic stuff. Sections of the population have never learned to admit that the emperor wasn’t divine and that their national behaviour from the early 1900s-1945 was, for lack of a better word, evil. The people are fastidiously upbeat and friendly, but at the same time lots of them hate foreigners and do not accept mixed race Japanese. I’d definitely be interested in visiting but i find it strangely intimidating.
That’s a really interesting article, cheers for posting it.
the routine groping of women on public transport is normal to them.
Is that illegal and frowned upon as it is here in the US? or is it “sweet, hot chick I wonder how firm her tits are <grope>” and the woman is ok with it?
Late,
grmpysmrf
I reckon it’s probably illegal in Japan as well, but seems to be accepted for the most part. They’ve devoted an entire genre of porn to it!
The subway groping is kind of gone with the times. It’s certainly not blindly accepted anymore (things were different in the 80’s and such). There are signs encouraging people to report such illegal actions nowadays. It was NEVER something that the women really “accepted” and it wasn’t like people thought it was permissible or okay.
The real underlying issue is that Japanese are VERY non-confrontational and do not just openly express dissatisfaction, rage, etc. The Japanese are very overly polite and proper and there is a weird cultural aspect where they are always apologizing for everything and ashamed about everything. It’s sweet, but also can be frustratingly inefficient and a prohibitor to progress.
So, whereas if some pervert grabs an ass on the subway in New York he’ll get smacked by the lady and likely a bunch of bystanders will feed him a justice sandwich too, this type of vigilantism is unheard of in Japan. No one wants to make a scene. No one wants to rock the boat.
But like I said . . . . times ARE changing a bit (especially now that travel to the Western World and communication with it is so much more common).
Underwear vending machines are also supposedly no longer legal (I think there are some online sellers, though, as well as some other rare black market stuff). I have been to Japan probably 10 times and never seen the elusive underwear machines of the 80’s/ early 90’s. They did absolutely exist at a time, though.
When i was writing that i was just thinking you’d probably been to Japan on your many travels, haha. A friend of mine’s half Japanese, he lived there late 80s and possibly on/off before and after that, i think he’s been back a few time since too. We’ve had a lot of interesting conversations about the place!
What you say about people not wanting confrontation certainly agrees with what he’s said as well, and the insane politeness. I think it most likely stems from their old culture of the samurai and their masters being above everyone else, and normal society was basically subservient to the ruling class, very polite and so on. As society evolved, there was always the Emperor and the ruling class, until 1945, really. After that, people still seem to have stuck to the same sort of ideas and polite way of life, even in the absence of any ruling class (the Emperor was still there, but not as a ruler), unless you count the criminal groups who surged upwards in the absence or any obvious authoritarian rulers and controlled various everyday things.
I’ve been interested in Japan since i was very young, but have never been there. I don’t know if i’d ever be able to afford to go, the prices are just crazy. It looks amazing.
They got rid of the underwear vending machines ages ago by invoking some obscure antique law dealing with the sale of used goods.
I’ve been interested in Japan since i was very young, but have never been there. I don’t know if i’d ever be able to afford to go, the prices are just crazy. It looks amazing.
It was brutally expensive in the late 80’s and early 90’s . . . . then the YEN got really week in the early 00’s.
In 2001 I could get 135 Yen for $1.
It was about 80 a while ago, but I think it’s about 100 now.
Even though it’s more expensive, it’s kind of nice when the conversion is 1:100, because it is very easy to know how much everything costs (just add a decimal point, haha).
Jay, if you can go with your Japanese friend or if you have some locals that can help host your visit it is best for your first time. Japan is very safe and very polite, but if you do not know the language it can be very frustrating and exhausting trying to get around and have a fulfilling experience.
The thing is, i’m a real non-traveller, haha, been to the US a few times, but apart from that only a few European countries. To quote the Sex Pistols “I’m a lazy sod!”, i like the places when i get there, but the travelling really does my fucking head in. If there’s long layovers i get easily bored, or very drunk, which is a risk i suppose you don’t want to take in case they smell the booze and decide they don’t want to let you fly. Although i did once fly from New York to San Francisco having to be held upright by my friends, maybe the sunglasses made it look less bad than it really was, hahaha