{"id":139,"date":"2006-09-11T16:14:41","date_gmt":"2006-09-12T00:14:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/godammit.com\/2006\/09\/11\/139\/"},"modified":"2006-09-11T16:15:41","modified_gmt":"2006-09-12T00:15:41","slug":"139","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/godammit.com\/139\/","title":{"rendered":"What’s Up With Japan?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Without wishing to endorse racism, I have to admit that the Japanese psyche appears to be a little demented when it comes to sex. If bukake wasn’t enough, now I’ve learned about another popular Japanese practice called “chikan<\/a>“. Chikan is the groping of women in public places, especially on packed trains, where women tend to be too embarrassed to either cry out or report such assaults<\/a>. Japan has responded to the practice by making some trains “Women Only” and posting signs that warn “Beware of Perverts.”<\/p>\n

How do you avoid perverts in Japan?? If they’re not busy with bukake (which now includes at least six sub-varieties, not including the new “Lesbian Bukake”) and the purchase of schoolgirl underpants (burusera,) they’re looking at anime porn (hentai.) And if they’re looking at anime porn, they might even be getting turned on by Tentacle Porn<\/a>, in which women are raped by giant octopus creatures\u2026.a subject dating back to at least the 19th century in Japanese erotica.<\/p>\n

What is the deal? I guess it starts with repression, but even the British haven’t cultivated a sexual culture so rich with messed up shit. Is it something to do with the issue of shame, which we know is a big deal in Japan? Is it something to do with crowding? I am really interested in the roots of such widespread fetishism. Somehow, it all fits in with the wacky Japanese game shows that traffic in humiliation and debasement. Then there is the Japanese fixation with cute little toys\u2026..<\/p>\n

I will always remember my sister’s reaction to the Japanese art film “In the Realm of the Senses,” based on a real incident in the 1930s. There was a lot of graphic sex, and it ends in castration. “I can never look at a kimono again,” she said bitterly. I’m glad I didn’t see the movie, but I have read my share of Japanese fiction( e.g., Endo Shusaku, Abe Kobo, etc) and my feeling about many of these writers has been: What the hell is wrong with you guys?!? Not that I can’t understand Mishima<\/a>‘s arousal at the sight of Saint Sebastian impaled by bloody swords.<\/p>\n

Does anybody else wonder about this? I hope so. I am eager to hear any thoughts or opinions. I also wonder why Japanese girls are so attracted to those awful little Prada backpacks<\/a>, another Mystery of the Far East.<\/p>\n

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