The Japanese and Nudity

[nakeduni]

In another thread on this forum, I am being virtually called a liar. In a reply to a post, I had said that if I walked down a street naked, people would call the police more likely in the U.S. than in Tokyo. Even when I expressed my knowledge of Japanese culture from visits, friends, family, and Japanese acquaintances, I am told I have no credibility while another used selected pieces of information to mislead, not inform. This person does not admit to any knowledge of Japan. Then, I was asked to prove a negative, that the Japanese would not call the police. Anyone who knows anything knows one cannot prove a negative. Since I cannot prove a negative, I was told I had no credibility.

I have listed a few references to Japanese and Nudity. You may have to use "find" on words like "nudity" to zero in on the relevant passages. I know some people can't make the leap and are mired in their own culture and assume all cultures are like their own. Then don't believe me. Those with open minds will learn, other won't.

http://www.tapanime.com/General-Info/charfeatures.php

http://www.loveofanime.com/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=21

http://www.japan-guide.com/forum/quereadisplay.html?0+41962

http://ming.tv/flemming2.php/__show_article/_a000010-000791.htm

http://theprophetrael.blogspot.com/2008/01/press-release-japan-somin-festival.html

http://www.lycos.com/info/japanese-anime.html

http://letters.salon.com/mwt/col/tenn/2007/10/30/britney_spears_naked/view/index9.html?show=all

[jon71]

I think you made your point extremely well. Although it's a populous enough country that uniformity would be impossible it's a well known (and you did a great job of documenting) fact that western style modesty is considerably less prevalent there. It might not be a full blown naturist paradise but it's closer to that end of the spectrum than the U.S. is. Btw, I'm a fan of anime and manga (mostly Ranma 1/2 and Project A-Ko) and I don't shy from letting my daughter see it too. I don't like the violent stuff anyway and since she was 4 or 5 she's been watching the Ranma 1/2 with me, partial nudity and all.

[enertronik]

think you proved the point. nudity is seen much differently in Japan than in North America. thanks for that

[Joontiki]

I agree. Nudity is much more accepted in Japan.

I went to Japan for a month when i was 17 years old with a large group of kids from my home town. I have never been shy about being nude in front of people, so i went into the public bath, when not one of the rest of my group would. There were public baths everywhere. Everyone was nude in a big warm pool. I thought it was great!

Also, would you believe that at one public building we were at (a restaurant? hotel?), i had to actually walk THROUGH the men's washroom, past men standing & peeing at the urinals to get to the women's washroom? Talk about a different attitude! Personally, i thought it was really interesting! I just couldn't pass up that experience! :-)

And this was a good many years ago (over 30 years). I can only imagine how much more liberal it is now!

[mountainman]

I had a girlfriend a few years back whom spent 2 1/2 years full time living in a large city in Japan. She experssed that same view on their cultural pespertive of nudity as you all have.

From my reading, I think it safe to say, if you look at their history, mithology, historical art, etc. you will have to conclued that nudity and overt human sexuality are thought of as normal, some thing to be displayed as mormal. This acceptance, of course, is in direct conflict with western, overbearing modern religious indoctrination, thus people tend to refute it:o.

[Joontiki]

I had a girlfriend a few years back whom spent 2 1/2 years full time living in a large city in Japan. She experssed that same view on their cultural pespertive of nudity as you all have.

From my reading, I think it safe to say, if you look at their history, mithology, historical art, etc. you will have to conclued that nudity and overt human sexuality are thought of as normal, some thing to be displayed as mormal. This acceptance, of course, is in direct conflict with western, overbearing modern religious indoctrination, thus people tend to refute it:o.

Oh, speaking of Japanese overt sexuality... have you seen the Penis Festival? (Actually it's a fertility festival) Where everything is phallus-shaped & paraded around? Little kids posing on giant carved wooden penises, people sucking on phallus-shaped lollipops & wearing fake penis-noses? It's incredible! If you haven't heard of it, just Google it. Lots of info & pictures will come up.

Why don't we have that here??? I would LOVE that! :-D We are SO stuffy, compared to them. Well, actually if you're a part of the Pagan community, there are things similar to that - like May Day - which is also a fertility festival... But still, not such blatant public fun! :-D

[fredm74]

Joontiki, you were not exaggerating. I found a clip of the Penis Festival on YouTube and I am in a state of amazement. Everyone is celebrating and worshiping the penis. Wow, who knew? This most certainly would not happen in the U.S. that's for sure.

Stay nude, Fred

[fredm74]

http://............................../

"fredm74, I'm sorry the comments in the link provided contain inappropriate, vulgar, and offensive language not suitable for this forum.

[luvnaturism]

I'm not going to guess about what might happen to a man walking nude in public in Japan. Conformity is a high value there. However, there's no question that they have much different ideas about the body than in the US.

One hot day I went into the men's locker room at a furo (hot spring). The window was wide open, and a steady stream of women were walking by. No one looked in, because the Japanese just aren't interested in sneaking a peek. Same with restrooms. It's common to be able to see directly into the urinals. I concluded that elaborate privacy screens are unneeded in a country in which no one would bother to look.

[luvnaturism]

In another thread on this forum, I am being virtually called a liar.

Don't worry so much about it. We have many wise and knowledgeable members here. It also happens that several villages have sent us their idiots. When you encounter one, my suggestion is to ignore him and trust the rest of us to know which one knows what he's talking about. It's usually easy to figure out.