J a p a n e s e    C u l t u r e

Modern and Traditional Japanese Culture: The Psychology of Buddhism, Power Rangers, Masked Rider, Manga, Anime and Shinto. 在日イギリス人男性による日本文化論.

Sunday, October 30, 2005

 

In Japan even Workmen are Cute


In Japan even Workmen are Cute
Originally uploaded by timtak.
As Foucault argued, in a society where sex is taboo, sex - in a cleansed form - becomes a social obsession. Cleansed sex, or romantic love, is a major Western obsession.

In Japanese society, on the other hand, where the womb and all it stands for is the most secret, hidden, scarlet taboo, motherly love seeps out everywhere. Even yakuza pretend to be elder brothers (perhaps in a sense mothers or care givers), and even the most hardened of businessmen learn to fawn ("amae") to their bosses. Japan is awash with fawning, spoiling, and people being cute.

Even building site labourers are cute. These work safety promotion posters depict building site labourers in a big-eyed, cute way. And building site labourers, in their knickerbockers, really do look cute too.

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This blog represents the opinions of the author, Timothy Takemoto, and not the opinions of his employer.