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You don’t have permission to access /upload/Beware of Perverts___Chikan chuui.gif on this server.

@patg7590 Sorry about that, didn’t happen when I found the image…

here is another link to the same image.

according to that sign
the offenders are females

Ha… Hadn’t noticed that. I’m not having very good luck with this whole image thing. My apologies, that is a parody of the original sign.

link

There. That should be the one. Third time’s a charm, right?

hahaha thats hilarious.
I mean of course the situation isn’t funny, just the visual
yes, successful linkage.

.Wow, I have new wallpaper!

It’s not a stereotype, it’s a truth. The official name for the fetish is Bura-Sera, which I’m told stems from the term for part of the Japanese schoolgirl’s P.E. uniform.
. . .

Japan has [one of] the largest rape, and other violent pornography industries, and recently placed third world wide in terms of total pornography revenues (2006)

It’s [Safe] been [Safe] suggested that the accessibility of porn, has a correlation to the increase in sex crimes.

Depending on the source, Japan places anywhere from 1st to 54th in the world for sexual assaults. The inconsistency is, of course, due to the number of actual reports, whether or not statistics are based on convicted cases alone, and whether the ranking is per capita.

I think, for Japan, the idea is more deeply rooted in the culture though. I’ve lost track of some of the historical references, but consider Shunga, antiquated wood-block prints of Japanese Erotica. A piece from the late 1800’s entitled
[NSFW] Dream of fisherman’s wife [/NSFW]
depicts the now stereotypical tentacle scenario well before modern pornographic works.
As another example, think about how commonplace a vending machine dispensing the [Safeish] used underwear of [Safe: Snopes] schoolgirls is.

. . .
As for the legal aspect, a lot of the difficulty with convicting offenders of an already notoriously legally difficult crime has to do with the definitions Japan’s legal system has.

Source

The definition of rape in Japan is limited to vaginal penetration by a penis, therefore excluding forced oral and anal penetration and penetration by any other object, as well as rape of men. Forced penetration of these kinds is downgraded to indecent assault. These laws have remained basically unchanged apart from a few minor changes since they were promulgated in 1907

The concept of mens rea in Japanese rape law means that if, from the point of view of the attacker, no harm was meant, no harm was really done. As male and female sexuality are constructed differently, the fact that sexual advances were unwanted from the female point of view does not mean that the male attacker held criminal intentions.
. . .

Kind of tangential:

The idolization and obsession with young girls continues to evolve. Otaku, which traditionally has described anyone with an obsession, has more recently come to describe a different subset of obsession. Some boys, young men, and even men, will fixate on a J-pop idol, and then memorize a choreographed dance so that they can go out to clubs or public performances, perform the dance alongside others, while each attendee becomes mesmerized by an idol on a small stage at one end of the club. This seems to be a release from daytime life expectations, where behavior is serious, composed, and emotions are surpressed. My understanding is that Japanese boys are taught to refrain from expressing excitement or enthusiasm for anything, so the frenetic dance with others has become a [culturally acceptable?] way to channel frustrations with that aspect of life.

. . .
Hope that helps a little bit.

@Beta_Orionis Awesome answer to a complex question citing many credible sources. Kudos.

I do, however, take some offense to the idea that shunga is evidence of a culture of sexual assault. I think this is going too far. Shunga is a traditional erotic art form not unlike other traditional erotic art forms. Yes, it reflects the sexual culture of Japan but I don’t believe there is more evidence of sexual assault in shunga than in “Western” erotic art.

I do think that the Japanese are struggling with a changing sexual culture (and counter-culture) much as the U.S. struggled with this same issue in the sixties (and continues to). More or less, then, I agree with you that sexual assault (especially the legal definitions and social perceptions) is a problem in Japan.

In my opinion, the Japanese standard of being polite puts enormous pressure on Japanese people. I think that one outlet for this kind of sexual pressure is wreckless abandon in bed, at least historically. During a period of hyper-industrialization and urbanization, the process of meeting, dating, and becoming intimate has been turned on its head extremely quickly. Young Japanese find it very challenging to meet potential partners, particularly when the pressure to perform well in school and career leaves little room for personal pleasure. I personally believe that this extreme social change has left more people sexually frustrated than just the culture itself. Sexual frustration sometimes turns into sexual assault.

Just my opinion with no credible sources.

@timothykinney oh no, no, no. My apologies! I did not intend to cite Shunga as an example of sexual assault, but to point out that some of the recurring subjects seen in today’s very violent pornographic material have much older (gentler) cultural origins. It was meant to support the culturally rooted conceit, not a history of violation. Sorry to have placed it within an ambiguous context.

I did want to find material that supports the idea that change is also happening for the better, but had to stop procrastinating on homework. :) I know recently there was some development about the reinstatement of juried trials?

I agree very strongly that the cultural standards for behavior and success have resulted in a lot of sexual frustration. It’s another element I wanted to tackle, but didn’t want to approach haphazardly. You summarized it very well.

GA and thanks very much for calling me out. Sometimes it’s hard to know how things might be interpreted. Hindsight is 20/20 and all that.

@Beta_Orionis Well, you’re clearly well-versed on the culture. It’s nice to meet someone else who enjoys Japanese culture. Kanpai!

@timothykinney :) Not as well as I’d like to be. It just happens to fall into the random knowledge category. I’m certainly enamored of the Language. If only I could find time to learn it!