Comments

1. emfole wrote:

   right on!!!

   Posted 13 Mar 2009 at 1:39 pm ¶

2. Silvena wrote:

   “But unfortunately real life transgender people in Japan have been reluctantly hiding in the shadows in a culture that prizes conformity.”

   Good post! But I wonder about the above statement. Seems a little decontextualized to me.

   What is a “culture that prizes conformity?” Gender conformity/general conformity? How so? Historically or only recently? Is this on a societal/structural level also? Like a society that prizes conformity? How is that connected to the culture?

   Without more context, we can’t help but attach a subtle “as compared to” to that statement, as if “prizes conformity” is linear and can be measured objectively. “A culture that prizes conformity (as compared to …)” Like a two-dimensional, “those people and their problems” kind of statement. Cultures are multidimensional and bound by societal structures. I can’t think of one culture that can fit easily into “prizes conformity”/”allows for nonconformity” dichotomy…so what exactly makes Japan’s culture fit so easily?

   I’m not denying that trans people have faced oppression in Japan which has caused them to “hide in the shadows.” Don’t worry, no cultural relativism for me. But explaining that oppression as simply because of a “culture that prizes conformity” is akin to saying “it’s because that culture is backwards,” no structural or institutional factors.

   The unspoken question put in place by those words is: well then whose culture is forwards?

   (Why is WordPress telling me I’m posting comments too quickly?)

   Posted 13 Mar 2009 at 2:36 pm ¶

3. JC wrote:

   Yes there’s still plenty of stigma associated with them in Japan, but I would say it’s much better than in the US, since Japan like other Asian Nations with Buddhist traditions, doesn’t have a religious reason to hate them. Japan has been more than accepting of “metrosexualization” of men… I mean, Kimura Takuya, most famous of the beautiful Johnny’s boys, even did a lipstick ad. Much like China, there’s has been a long tradition of male actors acting in female roles in Kabuki and No, so culturally transvestites has been around for ages.

   I know that on modern Japan they are called “Newhalf” and some of them are really famous. I think there’s growing acceptance of them in Japan with young people. There are a LOT of newhalfs on TV today. I know that one of the most famous comedians/talents (they are called talents due to their lack there of) in Japan right now is Haruna Ai. She was known for her dead-on impersonation of one of Japan’s top idol ex-momusu Matsuura Aya, but became a household after she went on a top rated variety show called London Hearts and openly professed love for the male host (and ended with a public mouth-to-mouth kiss). Now everyone knows about her and she’s a regular guest on the show. The show is famous for its torture of guests and frank, open discussion about many subject taboo to the Japanese society, and you can get a sense from the show how transvestites, even post-ops like Ai-chan, are treated.

   Basically she was treated like a male comedian at first and was put together with their male guest panels (and suffer male only “tricks” like kancho, look it up), but recently after numerous viewer complaint she was placed with the female panel and was given full female treatments (the one trick they pulled on her recently was to send a hot guy to ask her out on the street while video-tapping the whole thing). However, when the hosts talk to her, they still often refer to her as “a guy” and not fully accepting of her female identity. I suppose they treated like a joke. This goes to show that even with most liberal of Japanese media (this is a show where one guest often comes clean with their true feelings), trannies are still being seen as oddities and still very much male.

   Here’s the Great Danny Choo’s take on Haruna Ai:
   http://www.dannychoo.com/detail/mac/eng/image/4529/Haruna+Ai.html

   Another very famous post-op newhalf is also one of the prettiest “girl” I’ve ever seen – Tsubaki Ayana. She is one of the top model in Japan:

   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3E1wjBEkd_g

   Just listen to her… she is just 100% Japanese idol girl. I think many guys (or rather, 2ch otakus) has accepted her as fully female.

   Here’s a cross-play video for fun… to bad he/she has to start speaking…

   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3hL2jNAhLU

   Posted 13 Mar 2009 at 4:48 pm ¶

4. Restructure! wrote:

   Co-sign with Silvena:

   But explaining that oppression as simply because of a “culture that prizes conformity” is akin to saying “it’s because that culture is backwards,” no structural or institutional factors.

   Posted 13 Mar 2009 at 6:21 pm ¶

5. Veronica wrote:

   Just because there are not many religious reasons for discrimination, it doesn’t mean that attitudes in Japan are more progressive. The reason that it is socially acceptable for Kimutaku to sell cosmetics is because until recently “gay” and “transgender” were not identities in Japan, so cross-dressing is for comedy and can be on TV, or is related to prostitution and can’t be talked about. “Newhalf” is a trendy way of saying “okama” and doesn’t mean that the person is accepted as a female.

   And Japan is a country that prizes conformity. It is one of the principles of “nihonjinron” and is taught in middle school moral education classes.

   Nihonjinron: 1) Japan has a unique language and culture and can only be really understood by Japanese people. 2) Japan is a homogeneous country. (Anyone who does not conform has probably come under “foreign” influence.) There’s more to it than that, but that’s what they teach at school.

   Posted 13 Mar 2009 at 7:08 pm ¶

6. Hokayshenao wrote:

   In 2009 gender bending issues remain prevailent. I would agree that androgynous people should be handled with extreme care. I am pleased to see that trans- gender people have jobs with the government and still care about diversity. In my thoughts about Japan I have noticed that the people are not like Americans who value the individual that can incorporate “freedom of expression.” Today people may fear the outsider, because, the validity of their testing will determine their acceptance.

   Posted 13 Mar 2009 at 10:34 pm ¶

7. theboxman wrote:

   RE: Nihonjinron:

   While indeed an issue, I’ve always thought that on some level, Euro-American attention to Nihonjin-ron discourse is somewhat overblown, and tends to play up precisely the very same stereotypes of conformity in a strange circular logic. On the contrary, I cannot help but wonder if the very proliferation of nihonjin-ron is symptomatic not of its wide acceptance, but its lack thereof, in the sense that there still exists a need constantly re-assert its values; it hasn’t quite taken on the position of invisible ideological presupposition the way that, for instance, ideas of American exceptionalism need no similar treatise but are nevertheless presumed and as such, arguably, more insidious.

   Posted 14 Mar 2009 at 7:07 am ¶

8. theboxman wrote:

   (to continue from the above)

   I mean, in other words, the argument can be made that the US is a more likely candidate for a so-called “nation that prizes conformity” when one considers all the tropes of American exceptionalism that rarely get questioned in mainstream discourse.

   Posted 14 Mar 2009 at 7:11 am ¶

9. atlasien wrote:

   Interesting article.

   I agree that the word “conformity” is a loaded one in American discussions of Japan, and it’s a good idea to really ground it and make it as specific as possible.

   All cultures have a standard of conformity. In America, for example, you’re expected to do certain things that seem insane to other countries, like leave home at the age of 18.

   The more complicated questions are… what are these standards of conformity? Through what attitudes and institutions and media are they enforced? What are the consequences of not conforming?

   In Japan, it sounds like transgender people do have a certain degree of nonconforming cultural freedom that they don’t have in America. Lack of religious taboos against transgender is probably a big factor. But they also lack a different kind of space that they may have otherwise had in America, judging by that incredibly restrictive sex-change law.

   Posted 14 Mar 2009 at 8:02 am ¶

10. little mixed girl wrote:

    like JC above said, i think that japan’s “new-half” are more accepted on tv.
    haruna ai seems quite popular.

    then you have people like ikko and other openly gay/transgender entertainers.

    they might be paving the way for more acceptance?

    Posted 14 Mar 2009 at 8:44 am ¶

11. Afro-chan wrote:

    Cosign JC and Little Mixed Girl. Transgender people are all over the TV here. The only difference I see is that transgender tends to be more okay if you are in the entertainment industry. Men will often watch transgender women and openly remark about how beautiful they look. I hear lots of women remark about a man being good-looking because he is pretty like a woman. Men to women seems almost more excepted than the other way around. I feel like it is more socially acceptable here (albeit maybe not legally) than in the US. Let me add that I did grow up in the bible belt.

    Posted 14 Mar 2009 at 11:50 am ¶

12. Greg wrote:

    I’d say that having a commonly quoted adage such as “The nail that sticks up gets hammered down” qualifies a culture/society as one “that prizes conformity” without too much to get worked up over. And in the way that much of Japanese society has yet to fully embrace diversity in areas such as race, gender, and sexuality, I ain’t afraid to say it’s backwards as all hell.

    Posted 14 Mar 2009 at 5:09 pm ¶

13. atlasien wrote:

    “I’d say that having a commonly quoted adage such as “The nail that sticks up gets hammered down” qualifies a culture/society as one “that prizes conformity” without too much to get worked up over.”

    The charge of unique conformity is very often leveled by unimaginative, ignorant racists who are jealous of what Japan has economically accomplished and looking for some way to call sour grapes. It became really popular in the 1980s in conjunction with American panic about Japanese buying American companies and “stealing American jobs”.

    Conformity alone is meaningless. Again, conformity to what standard? And how is it enforced? And what space is denied/given to people who don’t conform?

    I’m not accusing Monica Roberts of anything more than a single slightly dodgy word choice, because she actually raises those questions in this article. But this unique conformity of Japanese culture is not anything self-evident — it’s a myth and a cliche.

    My father is a product of traditional Japanese society, and also happens to be iconoclastic and eccentric to the extreme. He makes his own sandals out of used tires, cuts his own hair and insults the Imperial family. I’ve met enough “nonconformist” Japanese and enough “conformist” Americans to be skeptical about claims presented like “oh the Japanese think they’re so COOL but they’re NOT because they’re CONFORMISTS nyah nyah nyah”.

    Also, where on the map is this incredible society that “fully embrace[s] diversity in areas such as race, gender and sexuality”? I haven’t encountered it, but I’d really like to find it some day.

    Posted 14 Mar 2009 at 11:26 pm ¶

14. Greg wrote:

    @ atlasien:

    Ouch. I really don’t want to turn this into a pissing match or start throwing around insults like “unimaginitive, ignorant racists.” But I would like to defend my comment a little bit.

    In no way did I say that Japan was uniquely conformist; it’s true: much of America is just as sickeningly conformist (though, of course, in different ways). Some Japanese conformity, off the top of my head, though, to qualify: national school curricula/dress; simultaneous, fixed-phrase speech (ever have lunch with an elementary school class?); heck, just fixed-phrase speech in general; how the simple presence of a non-Japanese in many cases is seen as disruptive (though this is slowly changing); strict adherence to gendered speech patterns; strict expectations of dating/marriage.

    The primary difference, I think, is that in Japan, conformity as a concept is considered a good thing: to tell someone they stand out in a crowd might more often be an insult than any sort of compliment. In the States, however, it’s often considered a good thing to be a little different, “to march to the beat of a different drum,” “to stand above the crowd,” “to have an edge.” This is not to say that Americans never conform, but as a concept, I think conformity is not very highly valued.

    When I wrote I wasn’t afraid to say “much of Japanese society” is backwards — that was in response to comment #2 (Silvena’s). More accurately (and without much need for context), I would say that any society failing to fully embrace diversity is backwards. And where is this incredible society, indeed? So, maybe even more accurately: backwards is humanity. So, please, rather than an “unimaginitive, ignorant racist,” please feel free to insinuate that I’m an “unimaginitive, ignorant misanthrope.”

    This, too, is why I was careful to say “much of Japanese society” — because in certain subcultures, just like everywhere, diversity is highly valued. In my personal experience, the goth subculture in Japan is one that fully embraces all sorts of diversity. It’s also the subculture in which I met a good many queer and tranny Japanese who would very likely agree with my comment above.

    If you please, piss further. But I have flushed.

    Posted 15 Mar 2009 at 8:53 pm ¶

15. little mixed girl wrote:

    i think that westerners quote “the nail that sticks up gets hammered down” more than japanese people.

    i do agree that japan has a long way to come in terms of acceptance of different races or even various gender issues.
    but, america is the country that is all about promoting diversity and welcoming in the outsiders (how well it’s done is debatable, but that it’s something that’s considered part of american culture is well understood…i think).

    japan was never about racial/ethnic diversity. it was very much about being one japanese.

    we also have a saying that goes, “the squeaky wheel gets the grease”, which i would say is close to the japanese one.
    ….anyways…

    Posted 16 Mar 2009 at 7:54 am ¶

16. NancyP wrote:

    Both Japan and the US have had their share of Organization Men. Both countries have had their romantic outlaws (”39 ronin” story, cowboy stories). I’ll bid you one Yukio Mishima for an Allen Ginsberg AND a Jack Kerouac. (Mishima was a piece of work, that’s for sure). Some of the best noir films in Glorious Black and White are from Japan – Kurosawa adapted from American mystery novels. There is the sense of rootedness that must pervade the Japanese culture that is lacking in the US, where “old” means earlier than 1950, and “really old”, 200+ years, is found only in 1/100,000 of the land area, on the East Coast in cities, confined to theme parks or marked with plaques. Relative to the rest of the world, nearly everyone in the US is from “somewhere else”.

    Posted 16 Mar 2009 at 8:30 pm ¶

17. Aris wrote:

    Tsubaki Ayana is really pretty.

    Posted 17 Mar 2009 at 1:33 am ¶

18. Mark wrote:

    Well, all the best of luck to them. Unfortunately, the culture of Japan means that they will be treated with disdain for years to come. Japan hasn’t had much history when it comes to dealing with diversity, and the current culture is set up in such a way that any significant deviation from the norm is scorned. Remember, Japan still doesn’t allow any non-japanese immigration, still believes in the concept of the “sacred” Yamamoto race, and still tries to white-wash WW2. Of course, I’m not saying that Japan is completely racist or evil (I happen to like Japanese culture quite a bit), but I am saying that unlike the US, Japan has never really had to face a diverse community, never had to really deal with minority rights and so forth.

    As a result, the entrenched culture and prejudice that is currently present, has never been fought or challenged.

    Posted 17 Mar 2009 at 7:49 am ¶

19. Katie wrote:

    Mark, your comment still reads as really essentializing of Japanese culture. There is diversity within cultures that you may not necessarily perceive if you hold up the US as the standard by which all other diversity must be measured. Also, I’ve got a Korean relative over there who’s married to a Japanese guy, so I assume they do in fact allow some non-Japanese immigration.

    Culture is not a monolith, and it’s time people – not just you – stopped treating it like one.

    Posted 17 Mar 2009 at 11:12 am ¶

20. theboxman wrote:

    “Remember, Japan still doesn’t allow any non-japanese immigration, still believes in the concept of the “sacred” Yamamoto race, and still tries to white-wash WW2.”

    First, it’s “Yamato race.” More importantly, in fact, the Japanese empire from 1895-1945 was a diverse multiethnic empire. While racist institutions permeated the operations of its institutions, it is nevertheless incorrect to state that Japan “has never really had to face a diverse community.” On the contrary, the ideology of the homogeneous and monolithic Japanese race is largely a post-WWII artifact.

    Moreover, to say that “Japan” does not allow non-Japanese immigration or tries to whitewash WWII is a massive overgeneralization. The Japanese state — which was been dominated by the conservative liberal-democratic party for over 50 years (in part due to the effective anti-left policing during the postwar American occupation) — enacts such policies and promotes such ideology. Japanese society, as a whole, however, sees far more contestations, far more resistances to these discourses than it is given credit for. Just because they don’t take place in English or receive wide coverage does not mean they exist. To say that these have never been fought or challenged cannot be anything but a statement borne out of ignorance of what in fact goes on in Japan.

    Funny how such historically ignorant statements about non-American POCs pass with little challenge in what should be an anti-racist space.

    Posted 17 Mar 2009 at 11:14 am ¶

21. Latoya Peterson wrote:

    MOD NOTE

    @ theboxman –

    Funny how such historically ignorant statements about non-American POCs pass with little challenge in what should be an anti-racist space.

    Very true. danah boyd asked about this at our panel, how we moderate an international space, which Racialicious is rapidly becoming.

    I’ll talk to Carmen and we’ll put together a policy. Thanks for pointing that out.

    Posted 17 Mar 2009 at 12:28 pm ¶

22. atlasien wrote:

    Even though the Yamatomatillo race are very racist and benighted, Mark still cares for them. Aww… so sweet.

    @theboxman: I think I just recognized your screen name. Abe?

    Posted 17 Mar 2009 at 2:59 pm ¶

23. theboxman wrote:

    Thanks Latoya for the note, and apologies for the rather snarky tone that took. That wasn’t warranted.

    Posted 17 Mar 2009 at 6:35 pm ¶

24. theboxman wrote:

    @atlasien

    Yup, Abe Kobo’s totally screwed-up novel indeed.

    Posted 18 Mar 2009 at 9:22 am ¶

25. rengeko wrote:

    i don’t know much about japan, though my brother lived there for several years-and had very ambivalent feelings about the culture. we haven’t really talked about it, as we are not close. but i CAN say that america, while giving lip service to the “individual” is very conformist. i grew up in a very unusual family situation, moving a lot-internationally, with a very strong female head of household-and i can tell you that i am very much considered strange and scary here. while it is true that i live in the midwest now, i can also say that i did not have it much easier in southern florida or california. i believe that it is likely that while japan gives more lip service to conformity, they probably permit more individuality than is advertised.

    Posted 18 Mar 2009 at 11:25 pm ¶

26. little mixed girl wrote:

    As others have said, non-Japanese immigration is allowed in Japan. Just a while back I was reading a newspaper article about a local foreign couple that got Japanese citizenship.
    I don’t know why people would think that non-Japanese can’t get citizenship.
    They might certainly be more picky, but there are non-Japanese immigrants…a famous one is auturo debito.

    Secondly, I think that many Westerners tend to label Japan (or Asia) as conformist or sexist while ignoring the different histories of their countries.

    The people I work with are all unique individuals with their own thoughts, dreams, lives.
    There’s a lot of stuff that I find just plain stupid in regards to how certain aspects of Japanese schools are run or how news is presented.
    …but the same can be said about America too.

    Posted 19 Mar 2009 at 10:36 am ¶