Japan is notorious for its sex-industrial society. I'm afraid
that it's an undeniable fact. You would see many posters
advertising date clubs or sex clubs on streets in city. On the
train, you would see some guys watching obscene pictures in daily
newspaper. Although it's too much to say that "Japan will be
called Land of the Rising Pervert," I mostly agree with the
author of the article, Karen Hill Anton. So what caused this
present situation? I suppose that Japanese "culture" is the key
to answer. First, I'd like to explain my idea from two points of
view; then I'm going to offer a solution to the problem.
It is said that Japan has a "culture of shame." You can notice
it from the fact that Japanese think highly of "enryo," a
reserve, and that they talk things indirectly. However, Japanese
culture of shame has been changing. Although it still remains,
today's culture of shame in Japan is like "It's OK to do
something shameful if nobody knows it." Some guys molest women on
the train since "Nobody would see it." They go to sex clubs or
soaplands because "Nobody would come to know it." Then they go to
the office and then to home nonchalantly.
The other cultural factor that caused the problem today was
the domination of men over women. Although the place of women in
Japanese society has been improved recently, the domination of
men over women, which is a regrettable part of Japanese culture,
still remains. I think that sexual harassment which is taking
place in many Japanese companies, and "enjo-kosai," a custom that
teenage girls sell sex to older men, are typical examples that
show Japan is a man-dominated society. "Enjo-kosai" is translated
to "charitable relation," and the word "charitable" shows how
arrogant the men who do "enjo-kosai" are. They are convinced of
their superiority either consciously or unconsciously.
Maybe you would say that the author of the article has a
strong bias against Japanese society. Although it's certain that
her essay has some fallacies such as not mentioning any other
countries concerning incidents committed by perverts, it doesn't
mean we can be indifferent toward these problems. No matter how
small the issue is, a problem is a problem. We should try to make
the situation better. You would also say that the rate of the
sexual crime could be much higher in another countries like U.S.
or some European countries than that of Japan. But what you
should remember is the fact that Japanese women are often under a
big cultural pressure and that they usually don't speak out. Even
though they were involved in the incident, they wouldn't tell the
police the truth because they don't want to bother their family
or friends. Besides, unlike another advanced countries, Japanese
police makes light of those sexual problems. Unlike American,
Japanese people are not used to bringing an action in the court.
These are the points.
So what should we do to solve the problem? I think we should
impose restriction on magazines or newspapers, which are full of
pornography, since they exaggerate the concept of subjection of
women. Besides, moral education at junior or high school should
be more emphasized to educate students to be more responsible for
their conduct. Finally, maybe we should also reconsider the
importance of family as a place to take over proper culture.
by Rumiko Nomura
