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.

Monday, June 22, 2015

 

Paedo Nation, Paedo Fantasy, or Child God

Paedo Nation, Paedo Fantasy, or Child God
Japan seems to have a bit of a poor reputation among its foreign residents for having paedophillic tendencies based upon the Japanese preference for young female stars (see comments here for example). Is this reputation fair? The graphs on the left from Kenrick and Keefe (1992) for Americans, top, and Oda (2000), based on analyses of lonely hearts advertisements show that Japanese have only a slight preference for younger women in the case of older Japanese men. American 50-somethings advertise for women over about 35 whereas Japanese 50 sometimes (8 years later) advertised for women over 30. At younger male ages the differences in age preference between Japanese and Americans is minimal.

What then of the prevalence of very young women appearing as scantily clad "idols" on Japanese television and in magazines? The important difference may be that they are not real. Buunk, Dijkstra., Kenrick, and Warntjes (2001) surveyed Americans to regarding their stated minimum age preferences for marriage partners, relationship partners, someone with whom one could fall in love, partners in a causal affair and sexual fantasy partners. They found that only those males in their twenties saw women below twenty as a potential partner even in a fantasy (approximately 18). Bearing in mind that the average age of AKB48 was approximately 22 years, they would seem on that basis of appropriate age for a US band. The average age of the HTK28 idol group based in Fukuoka was however 13.8 at their formation and 16.6 more recently. This is lower than any of the stated ages in the above American male focused research (Buunk, Dijkstra., Kenrick, and Warntjes, 2001) .

An important point may be however that Japanese "idol" groups stress their purity -- they are fired if they have a relationship -- and it is argued that they may be thought of under the literal meaning of "idol," an object of veneration or worship, and not a potential partner of any kind. On the other hand however, the particular appeal of the recent spate of XYZ48 idol groups is that they appear on stages and even shake hands with their fans. They have brought a greater degree of reality to the idol genre (Nishio, 2013, p90). Even so this may mean that simply, like shrine visiting, the fans now can get up close to their idols in the literal sense. It may still be the case that they are not seen as partners in any kind of fantasy, but that they are in a sense child gods. Indeed the depiction of children as gods in Japanese festivals has a long tradition.
 
The truth is that I do not have data on the extent to which fans of idols see them purely as objects of veneration or partners but the difference in attitudes reflects a massive difference in cultures.

www.japantoday.com/category/entertainment/view/one-finali...
11歳のAKBメンバーが登場したことについての英語話者のコメント
No. Wrong. Stop. Now. いや!悪い!止めろ!今!
twelve years old do those creepy predatory bikini pics 12歳でビキニ姿の卑怯で強奪的な写真も撮る
Sick...病気
The utter debasement of a child.子供の心を踏み潰している
what the f. are the parents thinking? 両氏は何を考えているだろう?
Disgusting! This is soft kiddy porn. If the fans were the same age it would not be a problem but the fans are older men! ぞっとする!これはソフトな児童ポルノ。ファンが同じ年齢ならまだしも、しかしファンがおやじだ。
The peadophiles who watch these girls will be so happy!
AKBを見るのは、小児愛者・子どもを性的に虐待する犯罪者で
喜びそうだ
Stepping up the ante from "quite very creepy" to "incredibly creepy".かなりキモイから、驚くほどキモイへ
Paedogeddon is upon us 小児性愛の悪と善の最終決戦開始前

お取り下げご希望でありましたら、コメント欄、またはnihonbunka.comのメールリンクからご連絡ください。
Kenrick, D. T., & Keefe, R. C. (1992). Age preferences in mates reflect sex differences in human reproductive strategies. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 15(01), 75-91.
西尾久美子. (2013). エンターテイメント事業の比較分析: 宝塚歌劇と AKB48.
小田亮. (2000). 日本人における配偶相手の好みにみられる性差: 結婚相手募集広告の分析から.
Buunk, B. P., Dijkstra, P., Kenrick, D. T., & Warntjes, A. (2001). Age preferences for mates as related to gender, own age, and involvement level. Evolution and Human Behavior, 22(4), 241-250.

Labels: , , , ,


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