Girly men of Japan just want to have fun

The Times ^ | 11/2/2009 | Richard Lloyd Parry

[markomalley]

At the age of 18, Mitsuhiro Matsushita already has a good idea of his ideal future. After he graduates from university a few years of work will be followed by marriage to an industrious wage earner. When children arrive it will be Mitsuhiro who stays at home looking after them, baking cakes and biscuits and living the traditional life of the Japanese housewife.

None of this would be noteworthy but for one thing. Mitsuhiro is not a conventionally minded Japanese woman, but a thoughtful, articulate and fashionably dressed young man. And far from being a marginal eccentric he is a member of a large and growing tribe of Japanese manhood that is attracting the fascinated and anxious attention of companies, academics and the mass media.

Two phrases have been coined to describe them: soshokukei danshi or “herbivorous males”, and Ojo-man – or “girly men”.

Definitions vary, but the new herbivores could be described as metrosexuals without the testosterone. Although most of them are not homosexual they have in common a disdain for the traditional accoutrements of Japanese manhood, and a taste for things formerly regarded as exclusively female.

Two phrases have been coined to describe them: soshokukei danshi or “herbivorous males”, and Ojo-man – or “girly men”.

(snip)

The author of the last work, Megumi Ushikubo, estimates that two thirds of men aged 20 to 34 have herbivorous tendencies.

(snip)

“I worry that herbivorous boys are the future of Japan,” he says. “As young Japanese men become more timid and more averse to taking risks, it will affect the energy and vitality of the society.”

[markomalley]

So is that what happens when a country utterly abandons its values and traditions?

[John Leland 1789]

A societal reprobate mind (Romans 1:20-32).

[happinesswithoutpeace]

lulz

[Tamar1973]

It’s what happens when a country experiences 15 years or recession and men don’t see the point of being hard-working, strong and ambitious when there’s little hope of reward.

[bethybabes69]

Amusing, you gotta laugh :)

Whatever happened to the lunatic, Kamikaze Japs? Have they now traded their knives and weapons for 'man-bra's' and 'pink, man-skirts'?

Fate, is not without a sense of irony it seems!

[SolidWood]

What happened to the nation of Samurai and Ninjas? :oP

[x_plus_one]

They took to socialism and didn’t look back...

[JoeDetweiler]

I feel kind of herbivorous myself, trouble is....I can’t find a carnivorous woman to support me.......

[03A3]

Whatever happened to the lunatic, Kamikaze Japs?

They were called Bosozoku when I lived there back in the early 80's. The Nissan Skyline was the rage. Damn thing is almost $100K now.

[Androcles]

I average 60 hours a week. How do I apply ffor this?

[B-Chan]

Whatever happened to the lunatic, Kamikaze Japs?

We killed them all off sixty-five years ago.

[Pistolshot]

In Japanese history, historically, Kabuki actors were exclusively male, regardless if they played a woman or a man.

In a relatively closed society, such as Japan's, where organization and conformity is a societal trait, being 'unique' gets you more attention.

[Vanders9]

The UK times online should know.

[MrB]

Trust me, you wouldn’t be happy as such a male...

If it’s not according to God’s plan for your role as a man,
you won’t have good, blessed results.

[Vanders9]

If men are constantly pilloried by strident feminists,
and marginilised and vilified for being what they are,
and their values are constantly rubbished,
and they are expected to fulfill all their traditional roles AND be kind, sensitive etc etc
and they are discriminated against in law,

Then eventually they will stop being men. QED.

[MrB]

Yes, and to what end? Read my tagline then read the following:

Destroy the man, destroy the father.
Destroy the father, destroy the family.

The family being the basis of so much,
Destroy the family, destroy the society.
Destroy the family, destroy the Church.

Destroy the society, destroy the nation.
Destroy nations, destroy humanity.

[Vanders9]

More importantly, you wont find a woman who is happy with you being such a male. Trust me, I fell for all the partnership/sensitive/new man crap. It doesn’t work. There’s an immense gap between what women say they want and what they actually DO want.

[Vanders9]

Fortunately, we have an advocate and an intercessor that will intervene for us.

However, I concur. It’s a dangerous path we are going down. This is the faultline in so many liberals. They never think through what the consequences of their actions will be. Dupes.

[MrB]

John 8:44

Libs are working for their “father”, whether they know it and acknowledge it or not.

[VanShuyten]

My Japanese MIL and a college-aged niece and nephew came to visit about a month ago. My nephew is one of these herbavores. My niece commented on how my nephew was more similar to my 80-year old MIL than his own father, and not in such a nice tone. She knows what she wants in a man, but she says that it's so difficult to meet such a guy in college that she's just concentrating on her studies now, and will look for a man later.

I lived in Japan from the 80s to the 90s, and while I saw some change (fewer bosozoku-types and more urbane-types), this move towards girly-men has surprised me.