A variety of fairly attractive models wearing outlandish caricatures of their supposed national costumes were on display at the Miss Universe 2009 event, and the results make interesting (and frequently rather bizarre) viewing:
Visit the article to see the rest of the images in this gallery post
The Democratic Party of Japan has not unexpectedly crushed the ruling Liberal Democratic Party in an unprecedented landslide, ending their almost uninterrupted 50 year reign with a spectacular victory which sees them on track to seize 300 seats in the 480 seat Diet.
The forecast crushing defeat was widely predicted, with the government unable to control record levels of unemployment or deliver any convincing reforms after the loss of Koizumi; Rozen Aso’s endless gaffes and increasing unpopularity doubtless also contributed.
Political observers tie the scale of the defeat more to exasperation with the LDP’s incompetence and a desire for substantive political change than to any great enthusiasm for the DPJ itself, although as a basically unproven party it is not yet clear how they will perform.
Actual discussion of policies was given limited attention throughout the campaign, with emotional appeals instead being the campaigning mainstay.
The DPJ’s basic domestic policies are to curtail the overpowering influence of the civil service and introduce more benefits; it claims it can fund increases in spending without raising consumption tax, through savings on the bloated civil service bureaucracy.
It also claims it can introduce a $10 hourly minimum wage throughout the country (a substantial increase on prevailing lowlevel wages in many areas).
It has also stated its intent to prepare Japan to effectively receive more immigrants, in particular through allowing permanent residents to vote in local elections, though the LDP also notionally supported this.
Where international policy is concerned, it promises pro-China policies and a reduction in the US military forces stationed in Japan, though with no significant change in alignment.
Critics are intensely sceptical of its ability to fund any of its promised spending increases without increasing the tax burden, strangling private enterprise and further increasing the national debt.
The LDP itself has enjoyed near uninterrupted political power throughout the post-war period, though the existence of multiple competing factions within the LDP, in effect parties unto themselves, ensured an unorthodox form of opposition was present even if the actual opposition was unable to affect policies.
This system may very well have been shattered (though the DPJ has its own internal policy factions), although a lacklustre DPJ performance would likely quickly see the prior status quo reasserted; it seems the real hope of many voters is to see a substantially reformed LDP returned to contest future elections.
The UN has told Japan it must ban adult games and erotic manga featuring themes of rape, calling Japan’s protection of fictional women from fictional rape “inadequate.”
The demands come by way of the UN’s radical feminist arm, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, or CEDAW. Extreme feminist pressure group Equality Now previously vowed to make them seek such a ban, and it seems CEDAW happily complied.
Calling Japan’s treatment of women “inadequate” and “regrettable,” CEDAW formally demanded Japan end “human rights violations” against women by banning games and manga featuring themes of “rape and sexual violence.” It is not clear whether they extend their demands to anime, AV or literature, though this seems likely.
The suggestion that fictional works such as manga serve to promote sexual violence is entirely unproven; it is notable that Japan has some of the lowest rates of crime and sexual violence in the world, and yet some of the most abundant pornography, much of which deals with such themes.
This is of course undoubtedly tied to the intervention of busybody international feminist groups in Japanese politics after the Rapelay scandal…
Via Asahi.
Anti-loli crusader idol Agnes Chan is still trying to curry favour for her cause, despite having been abandoned by Japanese politicians in the face of elections. Now she has started hinting that the Internet itself is part of the problem…
She made a variety of comments lamenting the lack of a proper loli ban in a short interview with the Yomiuri Shimbun, but the highlight is her comparison of the Internet to a lolicon highway:
“Why doesn’t the loli decrease?”
“The Internet is like a highway down which loli porn travels. Even if one country restricts it, it will just flee to a country with looser laws. Just having loli isn’t even a crime in Japan. Most other countries ban it, I want Japan to change its laws too.”
With this line of thought, it is not hard to guess what sort of laws she will be promoting should she get her ban – mandatory filtering of all Internet connections springs to mind, already in operation in a number of developed countries which should know better.
Sadly for her aspirations, Japanese politicians will be for the foreseeable future only be concerned with saving their own skins as elections loom and the LDP’s popularity continues to plummet.
The latest fashion amongst Japan’s notoriously effete men is none other than the skirt, with men about the fashionable districts of Shinjuku often to be seen wearing long or even short skirts.
Staff from a Tokyo fashion shop hold forth: “There are quite a few men who skirts you know. A while back there was the ‘Comme de Garcons’ fashion of skirts for men, but lately this has spread to the mainstream.” The shop handles a variety of brands aimed at men and women.
Men are overwhelmingly said to be preferring long skirts, though some prefer short skirts, sometimes with trousers worn underneath. One marketer for top Gothic brand Eichi Naoto concedes that while they offer no skirts specifically for men, “The cases where men buy skirts for ladies stand out,” with long black skirts a top seller.
The crossdressing action masquerading as high fashion does not end there:
“Unisex is becoming a keyword in men’s fashion. ‘Skinny pants’ aren’t just for women, now men wear them too, and with the advance in fashion gender men increasingly don’t feel a problem with wearing a skirt.
Skirt wearing men started increasing in the fashionable areas like Shinjuku a few years ago, and there are men who wear high heel boots too.
They probably became aware of how there are so many fashion items for women which show a good sense of style.
By the way, it looks like when they wear skirts they prefer to remove the hair on their legs.”
Top Japanese fashion blog “Elastic” conducted a survey of its readers, and of some 1,300 responses, 40% thought men wearing skirts were “ari,” they have “it.”
Skirt wearers offered their opinions: “I have four Comme de Garcon skirts. I wear them to wine bars,” “I wear them. It’s fun to press back the boundaries of fashion!”
On the other hand even some fashionistas disapprove: “Men wearing skirts still feels wrong,” “You can’t wear them normally. If I wore one I couldn’t go to university.”
Via Itai News.
2ch offers its own opinions:
“No! No!”
“I thought this was Scotland for a moment…”
“Impossible. These guys are idiots.”
“Gross.”
“I saw one in town, it was sick. Honestly, I thought he was some transvestite.”
“There was one at uni, but everyone around recoiled…”
“I’m often around Shinjuku. I haven’t seen any, where are they at?”
“Shinjuku Ni-cho-me.”
“Another boom?”
“This is gross. Don’t be spreading this around please, mass media.”
“I think you may be arrested in some cases.”
“I’m a woman… Maybe with someone really stylish this could work, but I wouldn’t want to be seen with them.”
“You hikikomori had better get out and take a look at the streets. There’s a surprising number of them. I even saw some in Akihabara.”
“You sure they weren’t just ugly women?”
“Garment makers are so desperate they are trying to get men to buy skirts…”
“If you are an old guy you’ll be reported.”
“Look at that picture. It’s too disgusting.”
“The age has finally caught up with me.”
“Sure someone hasn’t been paid to write this by the skirt makers?”
“I’m sick of the mass media making this stuff up.”
“Wear a skirt and urinate sitting down. Japan’s end is nigh.”
“I won’t accept anything which isn’t a kilt.”
“There was a fashion like this ten years ago. Lasted a year.”
“This is going to be reported overseas and cause a stir again, isn’t it? Like the men’s bra…”
Nyotaimori, “naked sushi” or “body sushi,” is the formerly obscure “Japanese” performing art concerned with eating sushi off the bodies of naked ladies, enthusiastically picked up on by western media as an example of Japan’s perverted culture and probably now enjoyed by far more western perverts than Japanese.
As with many such terms, the meanings in Japanese and English have diverged, but the essential theme of combining food with sex is quite intact.
You can see a variety of artistic depictions of such practices below, along with explanations of such.
Visit the article to see the rest of the images in this gallery post
Feminist crusader group Equality Now’s latest moralist histrionics take the form of a strongly worded letter to the UN accusing Japan of being rape heaven, and demanding a ban on hentai and other forms of pornography “harmful to women.”
The letter tells the UN’s feminist arm CEDAW, the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women, to tell Japan in no uncertain terms that it is a bad country which is oppressing women, and there are a number of laws it must enact in order to appease American feminists.
Here is the summary of their rather lengthy screed, which can be read in full here (PDF version):
Japan is a nation which accepts hentai. This encourages rape so hentai must be banned.
Japan is nation where courts let rapists go free with a slap on the wrist. Sentences must be increased.
Japanese judges violate the rights of women by taking into account whether they resisted their “rape.” Women should not have to resist sex to be able to call it rape.
Evil misogynists have waged a “hate mail” campaign against us. We were sent some AV which we thought was child porn involving “girl-children”, but Japanese police experts on pubic hair told us it wasn’t, so they must all be misogynists.
Rapelay was withdrawn from sale, the EOCS banned all fetishes, and some companies have banned foreigners from their websites. This is not enough. The Japanese government must ban everything we object to and make it all illegal.
The UN must tell the Japanese to do as we direct.
It is no wonder this group has attracted “unprecedented” criticism for its unremitting attacks on freedom of speech.
You can convey your thoughts on their wanton attacks on visual culture on their website.
Perhaps being bombarded with criticism in the same way they bombard politicians in other countries with unsolicited mail is a new experience for them, hence their displeasure.
Pro-censorship feminist group Equality Now’s latest crusade against freedom of expression took the form of an attack on Japan’s eroge industry, causing the industry to censor itself in a futile effort to dissuade politicians from harassing it any further; however, the group itself admits to receiving “unprecedented” criticism for its meddling, which it characterises as “hate mail”.
It appears the reaction to the group’s campaign has been most unfavourable, so much so that it has desperately attempted to refute the criticism by its usual expedient of failing to present any statistics or factual evidence in support of its claims, save the specious propaganda other feminist groups frequently publish.
The group’s whimpering response can be read below:
Since launching Women’s Action 33.1 calling for the withdrawal of RapeLay, a rape simulator game produced and sold in Japan, and for the Japanese government to effectively address violence and discrimination against women, Equality Now has been inundated with responses.
Many have been positive and have come from women and men in Japan and around the world in support of the Action. Some have spoken about their own experiences and the negative impact they feel this form of hentai is having on women and girls, who have become increasingly targeted with sexual harassment.
Sadly, however, Equality Now has also received an unprecedented amount of hate mail, including death and bomb threats. Many of these messages have referred to statistics of rape in Japan that are reportedly far lower than in the U.S. for example [such as these].
Equality Now does not believe it serves any purpose to excuse crimes in one country by pointing out that there are more in another.
In addition, women’s rights activists in Japan inform us that the numbers of reported rapes are not likely to reflect the actual incidents of rape in Japan. It is also difficult for women in Japan to report rape because victims have little faith in the criminal justice system and are worried about the stigma attached to rape.
This was also reflected by the United Nations Committee that monitors implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).
When examining the report of the Japanese government in 2003, the Committee expressed concern about “the prevalence of violence against women and girls and about women’s apparent reluctance to seek assistance from existing public institutions.” The Committee also noted that “the penalty for rape is relatively lenient.”
The fact that there are women-only carriages on Japanese commuter trains due to the high prevalence of groping and sexual harassment faced by women in Japan also highlights the need for the government to actively address violence against women.
Banning extreme computer simulator games that promote sexual violence and harassment such as RapeLay would be a step in this direction.
A large portion of the hate mail and threats we received not only underlines the profound misogyny that is prevalent among consumers of such games, many also conflated Equality Now’s campaign to the opposition to sex. Rape and sexual harassment are forms of violence against women and girls and can never be equated with consensual sex.
We ask that you continue to write to Illusion Software asking it to fully withdraw RapeLay [sic: RapeLay has already been withdrawn] and all other similar titles and to Amazon which also sells similar games promoting the rape, sexual assault, stalking and molestation of women and girls. Please also write to the Japanese government urging it to comply with its international obligations under CEDAW.
You may also find it useful to contact Equality Now directly about their continued attacks on freedom of speech in Japan and elsewhere.
You are of course invited to explore the scant validity of their specious claims in the comments below.
A recent survey attempting to discover which of the Japanese regions have the most appealing womenfolk presents results which are rather unsurprising, giving top positions to areas with huge populations or traditional reputations for beauty and style.
The survey asked which prefecture respondents thought had the most “kawaii” population, which presumably includes menfolk too. The rankings run thus:
1. Tokyo
2. Akita
3. Okinawa
4. Kanagawa
5. Kyoto
6. Fukuoka
7. Hokkaido
8. Hyogo
9. Osaka
10. Aomori
Presumably large population and positive media imagery help ensure the most famous and charismatic regions of Japan get such positive attention.
And the bottom 5?
43. Yamanashi
44. Shiga
45. Gunma
46. Tochigi
47. Tottori
If you have never heard of them, you may not be missing much. Unsurprisingly, these are all backwater prefectures whose main purpose in recent decades appears to be to provide additional population for the big cities…
Via Goo.
Japan’s much vaunted mobile phone networks are groaning at the seams thanks to the rapid growth of the market for mobile pornography, which now increasingly takes the form of video.
According to mobile phone network operators DoCoMo and KDDI, adoption of “unlimited” internet access plans on their mobile phones (traditionally charged by the packet) has prompted people to download porn whenever they are away from a computer.
“A mobile is far handier than a computer for Internet access – I seldom use a PC outside the office,” confesses one mobile onanist.
Several of Japan’s top phone companies say they are considering or have limited the access of thousands of heavy users of accounts with unmetered data transfer plans.
Although Japanese privacy law prohibits phone companies from logging and looking at the downloads their customers make, they speculate adult videos in particular are causing the bandwidth slowdown.
“We can’t see customers’ data but can surmise the biggest portion of it is probably movies,” said a rather circumspect spokesperson with KDDI, “We can’t deny the possibility those movies include adult content.”
3G Internet speeds apparently slow down the greatest after midnight when the heaviest mobile internet users access online content.
Some data analysts believe porn sales are currently beating the second largest mobile download industry, that of music sales. They project the mobile pornography industry to double by 2013, whereas music sales are projected to grow only by a third by 2013.
Executives of the unfortunately named Soft on Demand, one of Japan’s major porn DVD and online video distribution services, have already noticed the trend in adult movies purchased by mobile users and anticipate a profitable market.
“We see the mobile phone as potentially a huge market,” said the head of Soft on Demand’s online sales, whose mobile porn sales surged 40% over the past year, already having reached several million dollars in revenue, though this is a small fraction of Japan’s billion dollar porn market, of which Soft on Demand commands almost 15%.
As the desire for data access grows, phone companies will have to decide how to structure their new unlimited Internet access plans to accommodate users in a strangled 3G wireless network.
A telecommunications analyst from Tokai Tokyo Securities Co. said pornography will likely be the cause of this change and “may prompt even tighter access restrictions.”
Several data-tracking companies saw this issue coming with the advent of Third-Generation internet services in Japan in 2001 and the trend of mobile phones to glorified miniature computers.
“When you have unlimited data, you’re going to have an issue with capacity – it’s an issue that’s been waiting to happen,” said one analyst, “It wouldn’t surprise me that it happens in Japan first because they’ve had 3G for so much longer.”
Via Bloomberg.
The less than truthful way “unlimited” data plans are marketed for mobile devices or ISPs will doubtless need some adjustments, but with inexpensive metropolitan wifi networks increasingly available in Japan and elsewhere, mobile onanists may have a convincing alternative…