For all intended purposes Japan is pretty much a godless nation. Some people may give me shit for making such a statement, but the fact cannot be overlooked that most Japanese people have no real faith in a higher power. They seem to only believe in themselves. Some people may say that Japan does indeed have a deep religious backbone. It is true that Japan has many Buddhist and Shinto temples and shrines, yet for the most part, it appears Japanese consider such things only for big events or useful when someone dies. At lest one person, who appears to be Japanese, has attempted to explain Japan`s religious nature. Taking from my experience of not only living in Japan but forming relationships with Japanese people over the course of my life; I have formed my own opinion regarding the mostly godless nation of Japan.
The biggest thing I have noticed about Japan is the tendency of Japanese to indulge their inner desires. I have ran across just about every kind of sex service one could think of in Tokyo. Such things are shunned in the more religious west. The Japanese seem to have no problem paying for a gal to fondle for a bit. In Japan it seems to be viewed as just `blowing off a little steam.` In my home nation `blowing off a lttle steam` by spending some time at a sex club or girl parlor is still taboo; although we do have such places. In the states society tries to encourage us to resist our inner desires, while in Japan, society views the sex business as natural and even necessary. I think this casual attitude towards sex is a reflection of a lack of religious moral authority.
It is a common theme in many religions to instruct their followers to resist casual ideas concerning sex. Religions seem to take pride in spreading the idea that `sex is a dirty devilish act.` The followers of Christ push this attitude towards sex the hardest. Hell, even masturbation is painted in a bad light by most religions. Yet, in Japan the rule seems to be `whatever gets you off.` What passes for normal sexual behavior in Japan would shock the rest of the world. Spend a few evenings on the hunt in Shibuya and there is a good chance you will have some interesting experiences.
The only thing is while Japanese have very open cultural feelings towards sex, they have problems producing enough babies out of all those sexual encounters.
3 comments:
Yet another reason Japan's so awesome.
I hate how religious people tell us that sex is an evil thing. If you stop and think about it, the act itself is nothing horrible.
Everything in moderation, as they say!
Although being casual about prostitution is sure to lead to problems...
I was told very early on in my time in Japan that Japanese people tend to regard sex like they regard going to the bathroom. They see it as a biological necessity to be dealt with rather than an emotional or spiritual concept.
This is, I believe, in part what has lead to the low birth rate. Women typically see sex as something emotionally and physically intimate and men see it as a need to be met. Since Japan is male-dominated, the prevalent view of sex is a male one. As women have become economically empowered, there has been less in marriage for them in terms of benefits. Why should any woman marry a man who isn't going to improve her quality of life emotionally, physically, or materially? In other words, the fact that sex is so cold and unimportant (and that women are objectified so readily in Japan) makes it less worthwhile for women to engage in it.
I'm not a Christian and I personally don't care how much or what kind of sex people have, but I don't think that it is an act which should be completely depersonalized and treated as being the same as, say, eating an ice cream sundae. Sex is an intimate thing and should involve the cooperation of both parties to make it pleasurable. They don't have to have a commitment, but they should at least have enough of an investment emotionally in the act to make it worth their while to make the other party happy. I don't think you see that much in Japan.
Good point Orchid64. This may explain one of the reasons Japanese gals go crazy for gaijin men.
Post a Comment