Posts Tagged japan
Japanese dressed in blackface (yet again)
Again we find yet another example of Japanese people dressed in blackface in an attempt to be funny. This time it is a “We are the World” parody.
Let’s try to put this on the other foot. Suppose some non-Asians in another country did a parody of a famous Japanese song. Suppose they taped their face back to make their eyes look thin, and wore body paint to make their skin look more “yellow”. I think many Japanese people would be upset, and rightly so.
Yes, I know, they parodied white people in it too. But there have been so many instances of Japanese actors and comedians wearing blackface and “acting black”, along with the racist Little Black Sambo books, the little black dolls with big white googly eyes and big red lips, the monkeys pretending to be Obama, chimps imitating black actors, and on and on… it’s hard not to put this parody in that whole context of stereotypical and racist portrayals of blacks that seem to come up time and time again in this country. And then every time the same debate comes up and the same arguments are heard — that they didn’t mean any offense, that they were just trying to be funny, that they didn’t know the historical context of blacks being degraded by portraying them apes or dressing up in blackface, that they don’t have many black people in Japan so they don’t know what is offensive and what isn’t, etc. And we usually get the refrain that they’ll try to be more sensitive next time. And then we see the same thing again in yet another commercial or another variety show episode.
Really gettin’ old.
Criticism of NYT article on hostesses in Japan
I have to say that I am quite disappointed in a recent NYT article on hostesses in Japan for a number of reasons. First, the emphasis is almost entirely on the increasing popularity and “glamor” of hostessing with very little mentioned about the dangers that women in the industry often face. The article makes it sound like the greatest dangers from hostessing are drinking and partying too much. That, unfortunately, is the least of their worries. Human trafficking is a very real issue in the industry, with women from both overseas and within Japan tricked or coerced into the industry, or being lied to about the working conditions or pay. Women are often pressured or required to go out on “dates”, or “dohan”, with male clients, where sex is often involved.* There is a strong connection between hostess bars and prostitution — both geographically and otherwise — and unfortunately the article devoted very little attention to that.
In addition, the article stated that prostitution is “illegal”. Actually, only the act of coitus is illegal, and even that receives scant enforcement. For instance, if a hostess and her male client go out on a “date” and have sex, the male client can claim that he paid only for the “date” and that they both “consented” to have sex. This is also how the “soaplands” get around the law as well.
What is interesting is that even in a recession, the male demand to spend large amounts of money for the sexual exploitation of women is still high. That plus the fact that there are few opportunities for women to be financially independent and secure in Japanese society make it an increasingly popular option for women. What does it say about a society that the most lucrative jobs available to women are those where they are required to please men?
Criticism of “Sour Strawberries”
The Kansai Scene recently reviewed a documentary called Sour Strawberries, which focuses on the exploitation of foreign laborers in Japan.
To begin with, the Kansai Scene article describes Kabuchiko as “one of Japan’s foreigner friendly hotspots”. The glaring omission in this description, of course, is that Kabukicho is a hotspot for sexual exploitation — hostess bars, pornographic video stores, and, of course, brothels. This omission, along with the characterization of Kabukicho as a “hotspot” for foreigners, is troubling.
I myself purchased the film recently. While overall I thought it was interesting, I found the scene with Debito in Kabukiko problematic on a number of levels. In this scene, Debito is walking in Kabukicho and discovers a sign which prohibits foreigners from entering an establishment. He raises objections to the sign with a staff member, and an argument ensues.
However, the establishment was most likely a hostess bar, brothel, or some other venue where men sexually exploit women, in an area teaming with similar establishments. As Debito has pointed out, these establishments often hire and exploit foreign women. In fact, the human trafficking of foreign women for sexual exploitation in Japan has been well-documented (see here as well as Debito’s recent post on the UN’s criticism of Japan in this regard). In a documentary about the exploitation of foreign workers in Japan, wouldn’t it have made more sense to focus attention on the plight of these women rather than on the men who fuel the demand for the industry which exploits them?
UPDATE: The above was also posted in the comments section on debito.org, where a discussion of my comments is taking place.
White anti-feminist men in Japan
There was a study done a few years ago which examined attitudes towards women among American men who were in college fraternities compared with American men in general. It found, not surprisingly, that those men in fraternities were more likely to have anti-feminist and misogynistic attitudes when compared with men in the general population. What I think would also be interesting is if a study were conducted that looked at the attitudes of white men in Japan compared with white men in the general population of their home countries. My feeling is that a similar trend would be found with regard to their attitudes about women.
Many foreign women living in Japan have told me that the white men they encounter in Japan very much fit within this description. One said that there is a common acronym that is used to describe them: “LBH” (Losers Back Home), which refers to a foreign man who is socially inept or socially unacceptable in his own country but thrives in Japan. How common are these men in Japan, and what affect do they have?
I have written from time to time on this journal about Gregory Clark, vice-president of Akita University and former Australian diplomat who has a regular opinion column in the Japan Times. Mr. Clark is a frequent contributor to the National Bureau of Asian Research (NBR) Japan-U.S. discussion forum (to which I also contribute), a moderated online forum of academics, businesspeople, policymakers, and others with an interest in Japan-related issues. I have written before about Mr. Clark’s controversial and inaccurate statements regarding his support for merchants who engage in racial/ethnic discrimination. He recently has been opining about the announced resignation of Japan’s prime minister and the race to succeed him, specifically focusing on the chances of Ms. Koike, a former minister of defense, who he referred to as a “still-unmarried lady” who has “coquettish appeal”. He concludes by stating that “the ease with which females come to the top in political scrums worldwide is something the political scientists, and the feminists, should be looking at”.
One professor rightly took exception to these statements, particulary that which referred to the apparent “ease” in which women rise to the top — despite the fact that only 4% of heads of state worldwide are women. Not to mention the use of term “coquettish”, a highly gendered term which does not have a masculine equivalent.
Mr. Clark then shot back: “Feminists should lighten up sometimes. If they did, women could begin rise to many other top positions and put an end to the dreadful male macho belligerence that does so much harm to this world.”
I see. So in other words, Mr. Clark believes that these uppity feminists are actually working against equal rights and equal opportunity, and that everything would be fine if they just shut up. Amazing. If we substituted “black civil rights activists” for “feminists” and “blacks” for “women”, I wonder what kind of reaction it would receive (if it even were approved by the moderator to begin with, as the above post was). Needless to say, I wrote a strong rebuke of Mr. Clark’s comments, and I wondered how the faculty and students at his university would react if they were to read such rhetoric coming from their vice-president.
This is not the first time that such anti-feminist rhetoric has been posted on the forum. Another frequent contributor to the forum, a professor at Taisho University, has also made anti-feminist statements on this forum. Earlier this year he wrote that “feminists have something of a track record of making assertions and demands that are not always well grounded and not necessarily in accord with the constituency they allegedly represent.” Again, substitute “feminists” with “black activists” and I doubt that any white professor would get away with making such a statement publicly, let alone getting it approved on such a forum.
Based on my professional and personal experiences, I have found this kind of anti-feminist rhetoric — along with much, much worse — to be unfortunately quite common among foreign white men living in Japan. One has to wonder why so many of these men come to Japan. Is there something about Japan which attracts men with such anti-feminist views? How do their views affect their personal and professional relationships with Japanese? Given that some are in senior positions within business and academia, how much of an impact does it have on policy and international relations?
Recent Comments