{"id":7711,"date":"2009-07-29T14:18:35","date_gmt":"2009-07-29T18:18:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jetwit.com\/wordpress\/?p=7711"},"modified":"2009-07-29T14:33:09","modified_gmt":"2009-07-29T18:33:09","slug":"wit-life-46-defining-adulthood-hostess-envy-and-2-d-love","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jetwit.com\/wordpress\/2009\/07\/29\/wit-life-46-defining-adulthood-hostess-envy-and-2-d-love\/","title":{"rendered":"WIT Life #46: Defining adulthood, hostess envy and 2-D love"},"content":{"rendered":"

WITLife<\/a> <\/strong>is a periodic series written by professional Interpreter\/Translator\/Writer Stacy Smith<\/a><\/strong> (Kumamoto-ken, 2000-03).\u00a0 Recently she\u2019s been watching Fujisankei\u2019s newscast in Japanese and sharing some of the interesting tidbits and trends together <\/em>w<\/em>ith her own observat<\/em>ions.<\/em><\/p>\n

There is talk in Japan of changing the legal adult age of 20 down to 18, as a government advisory panel introduced thi\"\"s idea on Wednesday.\u00a0 This was put forth by the Democratic Party, who is expected to take power from the long-reigning Liberal Democratic Party in the upcoming general election.\u00a0 The proposal will be submitted to Japan’s justice minister if the Legislative Council approves it at its general meeting in September.\u00a0 This could go through sas early as May of next year, and it would allow people to vote in elections and get married without permission from their parents two years earlier than is currently permitted (the current marriage age is 18 for men and 16 for men, but they suggest making it 18 for both).<\/p>\n

It has been said that this idea is being floated for the purpose of “young people’s self-sustainability,” but the word on the street from those interviewed on the news was that kids wanted to stay kids for a bit longer.\u00a0 One girl said she felt she couldn’t handle the pressure, and another said that if she were allowed to have her own credit cards she would soon max them out.\u00a0 Other social aspects that would change for young people are the legal ages for voting, smoking, drinking and horse racing.\u00a0 In a separate survey carried out by Japan Today, 70% of respondents opposed the proposed lowering.<\/p>\n

In other news about young people, there was an interesting article in the New York Times yesterday about the surging popularity of the hostessing profession entitled Young Japanese Women Via for a Once Scorned Job<\/a>.\u00a0 Among the upsetting statistics cited in the article is a recent survey of 1,154 high school girls by the Culture Studies Institute in Tokyo that found hostessing to rank No. 12 out of the 40 most popular professions, ahead of public servant (18) and nurse (22).\u00a0 In addition, a quote from a former hostess who has gone onto to larger fame in fashion (designing her own hostess clothing line) and on tv was, “I often get fan mail from young girls in elementary school who say they want to be like me.”\u00a0 The recession is certainly a factor and the pay cannot be beat, but one would hope that young Japanese women could find their inspiration somewhere besides hostessing.<\/p>\n

An article<\/a> featured in the Times’ magazine this past weekend also highlighted another notable Japanese trend, that of 2-D lovers. \u00a0 This is a thriving subculture of men and women in who indulge in real relationships with imaginary characters, and they are a subcategory of otaku<\/em>.\u00a0 This fetishistic love for 2-D characters is also known as \u840c\u3048 (moe<\/em>, literally budding) and according to author Lisa Katayama, “In an ideal moe<\/span> relationship, a man frees himself from the expectations of an ordinary human relationship and expresses his passion for a chosen character, without fear of being judged or rejected.”\u00a0 All those profiled in the article are all men, with this gender dominating as in the hikikomori<\/em> phenomenon.\u00a0 In the midst of all the recent konkatsu<\/a> <\/em>pressure in Japan, perhaps 2-D love is an escape route for a certain segment of the population. \u00a0\u00a0 \"IMG_2666\"<\/p>\n

Is it just me or does the media always seem to focus on the most salacious aspects of Japanese culture?\u00a0 I understand that you have to attract readers\/viewers, but this constant portrayal of Japan as a sexually charged nation full of freaks gets old after a while.\u00a0 Of course such fringe aspects exist, but they are probably about as mainstream as furryism is here in the States (people who dress up in furry costumes like animals, a trend captured in tv shows such as Entourage and CSI).<\/p>\n

Funny enough, on my last State Department interpreting gig one of our destinations was Pittsburgh, and we happened to be there the same weekend as an event called Anthro-Con, the world’s largest furry convention.\u00a0 Where we were staying was actually the official furry hotel, so every time we got on or off the elevators there were new animals awaiting us.\u00a0 Our group ate it up, one of them even purchasing his own Siberian Husky tail!\u00a0 Seeing and learning about all aspects of a country is a wonderful thing, but my worry is that people exposed exclusively to sensationalistic coverage end up making assumptions that are largely unfounded.<\/p>\n

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