Political correctness: Gaining traction in Japan?
Posted by ampontan on Wednesday, January 9, 2008
JAPAN HAS ALWAYS BEEN OPEN to new ideas from outside its shores, and as this article in the Mainichi demonstrates, it makes no difference whether those ideas have merit or are emotional froth.
The city government of Oshu, Iwate, asked the JR East railway company to display posters in train stations advertising the Kokuseki Temple’s Somin Festival. This 1000-year-old event is what is known in Japan as a “naked festival”, though no one is in fact naked. The male participants wear loincloths.
JR East refused:
“It wasn’t just that it was out of line because there was nakedness; the pictures showed things that were particularly unpleasant for women, such as chest hair, and it was decided that showing them things they didn’t want to see was sexual harassment.”
This in a country where people still visit mixed-gender public baths, and where NHK television offers live coverage of sumo–six tournaments a year, 15 days for each tournament, three hours a day. The sumo rikishi wear loincloths not that much different from those shown in the poster (which you can see accompanying the article).
Vapidity is apparently contagious. Let’s hope Japanese society has enough natural resistance to these bacteria.
Endnote: Intrepid cultural explorers who would like to see photos of what goes on at the festival and who are hardy enough to withstand the potential sexual harassment can click on this site. It’s in Japanese, but there are plenty of pictures.
This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 9, 2008 at 4:18 pm and is filed under Festivals, I couldn't make this up if I tried, Social trends. Tagged: Iwate, Japan, Shinto. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Dee said
Let’s hope that Japanese society has enough natural resistance to these bacteria.
I don’t see the “PC” bug infecting Japanese culture, at least not in the same manner that it has here in the US.
keiko said
One of my female friends goes to Fukuoka every year to see the Yamagasa festival in which naked men with loincloths carry a portable shrine. She says the most enjoyable part of the festival is watching and evaluating buttocks of each participant.
helical said
My condolences to the man (Sato Shinji-san) whose appearance was deemed a harassment by public opinion.
Ah but the kotobagari epidemic is much worse in Japan to the point of absurdity, and has been sweeping the nation in full force for some time now.
Bender said
I think Japanese PC is much worse than the US, maybe due to the culture of non-confrontism. I think Japanese institutions are especially vulnerable to attacks made by crazy complainers who misunderstand their rights. It’s amazing how they easily bend to complaints. Like this chest-hair ordeal.
Dee said
Ah but the kotobagari epidemic is much worse in Japan to the point of absurdity, and has been sweeping the nation in full force for some time now.
A good friend of mine from Osaka had mentioned this before.
While the subject didn’t strike her as being totally negative, she said it could be annoying.
I think Japanese PC is much worse than the US, maybe due to the culture of non-confrontism.
You may be right about this Bender; but on the flip side the Japanese people could be paying it some lip service, and then letting the issue quietly fade away.
ampontan said
Some PC examples that seem to have become a permanent part of the culture: The disappearance of the words tsunbo (deaf) and mekura (blind). The use by schools of the word hogosha (guardian) instead of the traditional gofukei no kata for parents.
The political orientation of the teachers’ union here, however, is the same as it is in the US and probably the rest of the G7.
Dee said
The disappearance of the words tsunbo (deaf) and mekura (blind).
Interesting.
So are these terms like calling a blind or deaf person a gimp, which has been considered to be rude before the PC craze, or are they similar to the word crippled?
The political orientation of the teachers’ union here, however, is the same as it is in the US and probably the rest of the G7.
Now there’s a huge surprise.
Aceface said
PC has been in Japan for quite sometime.It’s not even new.
Not just wording,certain expression regarding physical disabled has dissapeared like ritual of painting an eye on one eyed dharma doll when the candidate wins in the political elecion
and phrase like 片手おち(one arm lost,means one sided in the views)
I was thinking about telling that to one of the posters when he posted something like “blindmans convention being held in a hall”thing.But I just thought again that he might well be using that in his real life,so I just let him be.
That could lose my job (and that of my boss) if I used that in my work,you know.
Two Cents said
Dee,
There were no other popular generic expressions for the blind and deaf except mekura and tsunbo, and so the nuance depended on the intent of the speaker. But now, the word-witchhunt for the terms is complete, and people use words equivalent to visually-handicpped (shikaku-shougaisha). However, this phrase is also coming under fire since the word “shougai” is currently written using the same kanji for “obstacle,” and is said to give the impression that these people are burdens to society. So now, the more PC-oriented use “people having trouble with their eyes(me-no-fujiyuu-na-kata)”
Aceface,
片手おち does not mean “one arm lost.” It means 片方の手落ち (an oversight resulting in an otherwise properly finished job to be ruined). It’s actually a prime example of a wrongfully hunted word.