Japan's concept of free love lost in translation
2006-10-15 , 18:19 - source: Asian Sex Gazette
By Ryann Connell
October 15, 2006
One of the more preferred adoptions of Western culture among Japanese men, Weekly Playboy opines, has been sexual liberation, which the men's weekly notes started flourishing around 1966, the year it began publishing.
Nonetheless, in an article marking its 40th anniversary, it seems Japanese guys' ideas of "Free sex" may have been a little, well, lost in translation as a look at the Foreign Ministry's advisory on Sweden shows.
"There may have been travelers prompted by the misunderstanding that it was a country that advocates 'free sex,' but sexual attitudes in Sweden emphasize fundamental gender equality, and basic wholesomeness and what may be termed the 'sex business' is virtually unseen in Sweden," the magazine quotes the government's website as saying.
"Free Sex" is, according to Weekly Playboy, the idea that people can partake in sexual liaisons outside of a marital relationship provided there is no love involved, a state the magazine argues already exists in Japan.
Over the past four decades, Japan has witnessed the destruction of sexual taboos and a libertine attitude to the pleasures of the flesh that has led to the flourishing or such practices as enjo kosai, the euphemism to describe mostly schoolgirl prostitution but which literally translates as "compensated dating."
More recently, though, Japan has also been swept up in the whirlwind of a "pure," or true love boom, the weekly says, adding that it's probably the result of more guys obeying whatever women tell them to do.
"Recently, there have been more guys who make masochistic statements. Actions that would once have been regarded as girly are common and men find life easier if they do what women want," columnist Asato Izumi tells Weekly Playboy. "We're living in an age where it's better off for men if they choose to live like masochists."
The weakening of Japanese males has been accompanied by women becoming increasingly assertive to create something of a balance."Nowadays, it's impossible to get married unless you're rich. A guy with no money has no hope of marrying. Look at marriage statistics by income and what I'm saying becomes crystal clear. We have a reality where a part-time worker making 1 million yen a year simply can't afford to get married," economic journalist Takuro Morinaga tells Weekly Playboy. "The upshot of all this is that there's been a dramatic increase in the number of people who've simply given up on women, which is mainly the result of the huge increase in otaku-type nerds."
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