Comments on: Akihabara? No Thanks. (Vlog Ep. 13)

By: Alan

Alan — Fri, 06 Mar 2020 01:08:26 +0000

I have lived in Japan 3 times.. at first I couldn’t understand what’s happening in thier country.. what happened too thier true culture.. now I see everything has been sold out and turned into commercialized sexist crap.. such a brainwashed society.. such a shame… considering thier true past Buddhist culture… everything is lost

By: Nora

Nora — Wed, 02 Aug 2017 08:52:56 +0000

In reply to Sarah.

Hi Sarah,
I actually enjoyed the Robot Restaurant experience, however I went in knowing full well it’s ridiculously touristy and completely over the top. I was actually inspired to go because of Anthony Bourdain, who went to a Robot Restaurant show in his show Parts Unknown, and emerged from the place obviously lost for words. So he ended up saying “that was the greatest show in the history of entertainment”! It was full of sarcasm, but with that kind of reaction, I had to see what it was all about. And, well, you’ll read the post/see the video soon….but it was amusing to say the least.

What disturbs me about places like Akihabara and maid cafes is that they’re not built for tourists, nor intended to be over-the-top. It’s an intrinsic part of Japanese culture.

By: Sarah

Sarah — Tue, 01 Aug 2017 23:52:02 +0000

I avoided the maid cafes and the robot cafes, thinking they would be over the top. Watching the YouTube video of the maid cafe, I would have hated them and glad I avoided. Loved watching the vid though, it was hilarious.

By: Nora

Nora — Sun, 30 Jul 2017 11:01:27 +0000

In reply to Lydia Nasso.

Hi Lydia,
Oh my gosh! You just helped me realize why I have had such a bad reaction to the anime – it’s not just exploitation of women….it’s of little girls!!! Wow. Thank you. I can’t believe I didn’t make that connection. That’s totally it.

By: Lydia Nasso

Lydia Nasso — Sat, 29 Jul 2017 18:00:08 +0000

I also find manga quite disturbing. Those teary-eyed, innocent eyes obviously belong to a young girl but then the overtly sexy outfit is more suited for a woman. In my opinion, any type of porn anywhere is detrimental to women (western society is brimming with media exploiting women) but when it’s presented as child-like then it seems to fringe on pedophilia (I cringe just writing that word). :\

By: Nora

Nora — Fri, 28 Jul 2017 13:53:51 +0000

In reply to Zardoz.

Hi Zardoz,
Indeed – I know manga is more than your average comic book!
It’s interesting – my Mum was telling a Japanese friend of hers (who lives in Canada) about some of the struggles I’ve had with the overt sexuality in Japan and some of my conclusions about how it’s problematic in society when women are exploited to such an extent. Her reply was a very dismissive “yes, Japan is a very sexual culture. We just ignore it. But how is Nora enjoying Japan?”
This ignoring concerns me.

By: Zardoz

Zardoz — Fri, 28 Jul 2017 03:50:24 +0000

Ah yes the manga-porn connection. I always laugh when somebody quotes a statistic to the effect that most Japanese men read comics. Which is taken to mean that it is a nation of geeks. Um… not quite… most Japanese men read manga ‘cos most manga is soft porn…
There is an interesting tradition of sci-fi-comic-porn that is not just Japanese. This is a classic example:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbarella_(film)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbarella_(comics)

Some academic type really should do a study on the subject.