Once Again, Japan Weirdness Leads The Way…

WHILE THE REST OF THE WORLD is going Harry Potter mad today (and judging by the empty shelves in my local bookshops I’m guessing it’s the same everywhere) I decided to intentionally ignore all the wizard related stories and instead had my attention grabbed by a muggle related item in my most favourite alien place on this spinning rock of ours. That’s Japan for anyone who wasn’t paying attention!

I’ve written previously about how weird and wonderful that country is and in fact have an entire category dedicated to my time over there if you’re interested. I can state categorically that it’s the most alien and unexpectedly magnetic (in the sense that I feel the need to go back) place I’ve ever had the pleasure to visit. It’s about a year since I was there and my intial shock and surprise at the seemingly endless list of differences and weirdness experienced while there has since receeded into a more palatable longing to return and give it another whirl. I’m sure it’s still as insane, as weird and as alien now as it ever has been, but I think I’d be better prepared next time; well I certainly hope so!

Anyway, what caught my attention today was a story over at Reuters about how lonely Japanese men are turning to sex dolls for solace. It seems that they regularly invest in more than one rubberised companion and spend money dressing them up, pampering them, watching TV with them and even just talking to them for company (rather than the obvious uses). The dolls themselves range from your basic plastic crappy blowup variety to expense life-like creations which actually have moving joints and silicon implants too. Trust the Japanese to take sex dolls to a new level!

Japanese men are seemingly feeling more and more disenfranchised and (strangely enough) alienated within the traditional Japanese culture. Rather than remain miserable and lonely, they turn to doll makers to help liven up things a bit, but is this the start of a fracture in the otherwise strict society?

The thing is this trend is on the up, and the doll makers will always rise to meet the demand so pretty soon if things continue they way they are Japanese high rises will be populated by lots of middle aged lonely men dragging their lifeless companions around the apartments instead having to maintain a wife and family. If you take a cold objective look at it for a second you will see that actually it’s a logical step for someone on a moderate salary to take. Japanese women are gradually rising up the ladder out there and this makes the men uncomfortable because it challenges the status quo which has been in place for centuries. In choosing the less complicated path of staying single, in place of the traditional family and associated costs, the middle aged executive instead keeps his money for ‘me’ time and spends it on sex/companion dolls instead, with probably the odd trip to a hooker when the need arises.

It’s an extreme solution to a growing problem but not exactly a surprise given the strict nature of Japanese society. Over there you either fit in, or you don’t… and when you don’t you become invisible to everyone else. It can be quite cruel to see this in action (from a westerners perspective) but that’s just the way things are over there. Indivuduality is not something which is generally rewarded, in fact it’s distinctly frowned upon in most cases so a powerful and successful woman on the rise (from a career perspective) must frighten the shit out of the average male.

Should the trend continue it will also impact on the women, as the concept of a salarywomen earning the prime salary in a household and a japanese man tending to the family is probably a step too far at this point in time. So when a career focused women starts to rise up the ladder and realises that she can’t get married and keep a career – where is she to turn to for solace and companionship? It could be the beginning of the end for traditional family life in those high rise tower blocks in Tokyo.

I wonder if similar doll options are provided for Japanese women?