Why do so many people on the internet like to characterize Japan as sex-crazy?

[Timnoldzim]

A lot of it is thanks to the videotape boom of the 1980s. Since videos were less restricted by film industry censorship than theatrical movies and TV were, a huge number of super-violent, disturbing, ugly movies appeared regularly on shelves. They were massively controversial, especially in the UK (look up "video nasty"), but they were also massively popular among teenagers, college kids, and underground movie aficionados- to the point where some such movies became household names to this day: Faces of Death, Cannibal Holocaust, and The Evil Dead were just a few of the movies that became famous thanks to their video releases.

This phenomenon wasn't exclusive to the West- in Japan, basically the same thing was going on, though I don't personally know if there was as much public controversy. Regardless- a lot of nasty, nasty videos were coming out in Japan, and a lot of them were selling VERY well. So well, that naturally, American distributors took notice. They grabbed the goriest, nastiest, sexiest, or/and(!) most depraved Japanese movies they could find and plopped them in American video stores. Probably the most famous one of these was Legend of the Overfiend, which got rave reviews in the arthouse-cinema scene before debuting on video, and is the movie that made "tentacle porn" famous.

Now, the American mainstream always saw these counter-culture video tapes as being porn. Porn, after all, was the OTHER market that got fat on VHS, and this was still a time where dubbing something as "porn", however incorrectly, was an easy way to make people hate it. Never mind that a lot of those movies were incredibly unerotic- "only total sickos would actually like these movies, and we already know that total sickos LOVE to masturbate to murder!" (Granted, many of these really WERE porn in, but a lot of others just happened to have nudity in them, which Americans only seem to see in a sexual context.) And when people took a look at all these shocking cartoons (which got special attention because cartoons, OBVIOUSLY, are only for children, so they were seen as trying to sell video nasties to kids!!!), they noticed that all of them had Japanese names in the credits... but there were no Japanese movies coming out here that WEREN'T depraved! Thus, the mainstream decided that "all Japanese people masturbate all of the time everywhere".

 

[EHKOS]

Because hentai lives on the internet. Whether you're looking for it or not, it will find you.

 

[Timnoldzim]

(I know that post was very US-centric, but that's where I live and it's my frame of reference. So I MIGHT be stretching it a little here without realizing it.)

 

[Cecilo]

Because a lot of people on the internet get their knowledge of Japan from video games and anime?

It would be like learning of Australia by watching Crocodile Dundee.

Or America from Grand Theft Auto. Seriously though I get a bit tired personally of the 'everything in Australia is going to kill you' meme coming from American's (the land of bears, racoons, cougars and Texans).

All countries ARE sex crazy, and always have been, we're just more classy about it.

Americans. Classy? Classy is word I'd ascribe to brits, I associate America more with the stumming of banjo strings... and gunfire, lots and lots of gunfire.

Appropriate, stereotyping Americans in a topic about stereotyping Japanese, we don't all live in swamps, play music and live off the government, not even as many people in the South do that as the internet would like to say we do. While we are at it, all Italians are cowards, all French are pompous asses, all English are just as pompous as the French but they still get away with it, all Germans are warmongers who are raised in a dark setting, all Russians are drunks, Australian men are overly muscular with awesome mustaches, and all Canadians apologize for everything even if they haven't done anything wrong.

 

[Compatriot Block]

Because a lot of people on the internet get their knowledge of Japan from video games and anime?

It would be like learning of Australia by watching Crocodile Dundee.

Or America from Grand Theft Auto. Seriously though I get a bit tired personally of the 'everything in Australia is going to kill you' meme coming from American's (the land of bears, racoons, cougars and Texans).

All countries ARE sex crazy, and always have been, we're just more classy about it.

Americans. Classy? Classy is word I'd ascribe to brits, I associate America more with the stumming of banjo strings... and gunfire, lots and lots of gunfire.

I don't really get it. I guess since people have been calling Britain classy for so long, it must be true?

No country is inherently classy. We all have our local version of trailer parks. It'd be just as easy to associate Britain with football hooligans and "chavs."

 

[Terramax]

It bugs me a lot. I had a hard to trying to get this question out, but seeing jokes on this site and Cracked, as well as a few of my ignorant friends spouting has spurned me once more to try to ask the question, hopefully in a manner that is to be taken seriously, considering the subject matter that will be brought up. (I have my doubts about that, even on the Escapist...)


So... how about it. Why does everyone think they're all sex-crazy when that's definitely nowhere near the extent which everyone thinks? (Though this perception is NOT helped by the cultural-dissonance on how both the West and East view sexuality).

Speaking as someone that lives in Japanese society, it's a really hard issue to explain.

Sex is everywhere in this country. I mean, seriously, everywhere.

I can't tell you how shocked I was with the number of porn stores in this country, particularly in bigger cities like Akiba, Kyoto, Osaka, Tokyo, etc.

To cut a long story short, I'd say it's what you coined at the last sentence - it's because their idea of sex, sexuality and sexy is completely different to the west. For instance, a great many Japanese women wear short skirts. They don't wear it so much because they think it's super sexy. The do it because it's the social norm. And yet, all of us western men go wild over it, because very few women in the West wear skirts the way they do. And yet, unlike the west, they don't often show their cleavage so much. It's just totally different.

I will say that Japan uses sex to sell products MUCH MORE than the west. I'm not saying the west is conservative, but seriously, just look up some of the adverts from the highly successful group AKB48.


I mean, seriously, this is just a candy advert!

In Akihabara, about 30% of stores are selling AKB48 gear. There are some stores, which used to be video game stores, which are now completely dedicated to selling DVDs and photos of AKB48 members. I mean, I know you have famous singers in the west like Beyounce, Justin Bieber, One Direction, etc, but do you see stores on the highstreet dedicated to photos of them in bikinis or shirtless outfits?

Perhaps its also the fact that Japan has the second biggest porn industry in the world.

It's ironic that Japan has been having a decreasing birthrate for around 3-4 decades now. From what I've heard, Japanese couples don't actually have that much sex.

 

[Paragon Fury]

Because a lot of people on the internet get their knowledge of Japan from video games and anime?

It would be like learning of Australia by watching Crocodile Dundee.

Crocodile Dundee is a totally accurate portrayal of Australia. In fact, if it is at unrealistic it is because not enough things try to kill people during the movie.

 

[MrHide-Patten]

Because a lot of people on the internet get their knowledge of Japan from video games and anime?

It would be like learning of Australia by watching Crocodile Dundee.

Or America from Grand Theft Auto. Seriously though I get a bit tired personally of the 'everything in Australia is going to kill you' meme coming from American's (the land of bears, racoons, cougars and Texans).

All countries ARE sex crazy, and always have been, we're just more classy about it.

Americans. Classy? Classy is word I'd ascribe to brits, I associate America more with the stumming of banjo strings... and gunfire, lots and lots of gunfire.

Appropriate, stereotyping Americans in a topic about stereotyping Japanese, we don't all live in swamps, play music and live off the government, not even as many people in the South do that as the internet would like to say we do. While we are at it, all Italians are cowards, all French are pompous asses, all English are just as pompous as the French but they still get away with it, all Germans are warmongers who are raised in a dark setting, all Russians are drunks, Australian men are overly muscular with awesome mustaches, and all Canadians apologize for everything even if they haven't done anything wrong.

Let us commence war over natural resources. Sterotypes are going to sterotype.

 

[viscomica]

Well, what about burumas?

 

[Phrozenflame500]

Because anime is from Japan.

And a good portion of porn is done in the style of anime.

Hence, people think most porn comes Japan.

 

[Queen Michael]

Not to be prejudiced or anything, but it IS possible for one country to be more about teh sexiness than other countries.

 

[Sheo_Dagana]

It's because a lot of the shit that comes out of Japan is so weird (and therefore completely up my alley) but they pretend really, REALLY hard that absolutely none of that stuff exists. It's like they're trying to fool the rest of the world and no one's buying it. It's like the fat guy always sucking his gut in - everyone knows and it's really just kind of funny. No one would care if they didn't care.

So basically, lots of people just like to poke fun at them about it and it slowly became a stereotype.

 

[Something Amyss]

The point isn't sexual harrassment, it's that it's such a big issue and the only way they have of combating it is to rethink public transportation on a nationwide level. Is that what it takes?

Yeah, when you need to talk up "no groping" sections in public transportation, something's wrong.

It's nsort of like advertising that your restaurant's food is now spit free.

 

[Bara_no_Hime]

So... how about it. Why does everyone think they're all sex-crazy when that's definitely nowhere near the extent which everyone thinks? (Though this perception is NOT helped by the cultural-dissonance on how both the West and East view sexuality).

Because most people on the internet are massively ignorant of any culture aside from their own.

It is actually fairly rare for people to know anything about a culture they have never interacted with personally. I know a little bit about Japanese culture, and I've studied it intently via media, text, and translated literature (and I'm talking novels here, not manga) for the past 15 years. I've put 15 years into the study of Japan, but I have barely scratched the surface. I have friends who have lived there and learned far more by actually being immersed in the culture, but even there some things remain alien.

So, when people like myself and my friends who have actually studied Japan or lived there for years can barely understand it, is it any wonder that people who've only seen a little anime have no clue what they're talking about?

 

[Fox12]

It bugs me a lot. I had a hard to trying to get this question out, but seeing jokes on this site and Cracked, as well as a few of my ignorant friends spouting has spurned me once more to try to ask the question, hopefully in a manner that is to be taken seriously, considering the subject matter that will be brought up. (I have my doubts about that, even on the Escapist...)


So... how about it. Why does everyone think they're all sex-crazy when that's definitely nowhere near the extent which everyone thinks? (Though this perception is NOT helped by the cultural-dissonance on how both the West and East view sexuality).

Because Japan doesn't represent itself too well. The majority of people I know get their knowledge of Japan from video games and anime, and when your average anime heroine looks like this:

http://l4c.me/fullsize/juegos-anime-1348533375.jpg

http://viewallpapers.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Anime-Pretty-Soldier-Wallpaper.jpg

http://www.wallcg.com/images/2012/12/anime-hd.jpg

http://www.deviantart.com/art/Anime-172238185

Then you're going to end up with some very skewed ideas about Japan and sexuality. Those were just pictures I got from typing "anime" into google. Is this entirely fair? No. I have no idea what it's like in Japan. The average Japanese person may look at the above pictures the same way the average American would. I have no idea. There are also great Animes out there that I love. Princess Mononoke is one of the greatest films of all time, Spirited Away blew my mind. Naussica of the Valley of the Wind was great. Berserk is the best fantasy epic outside of Lord of the Rings, and it's far better than Game of Thrones. Saikano may be the single greatest treatise on the cost of warfare I've ever seen in any fictional medium, period. An absolute masterpiece. But these stories are going to be drowned out in a sea of the above images.

I live in the South, and for the most part we're really the same as everybody else. But if all you know about the southern United States is what you saw on Honey Boo Boo then you're going to end up with some strange (and horrifying) misconceptions about life here. We're as disgusted with that show as everyone else is, because it's based on horribly exaggerated stereotypes, most of which aren't true. I assume it's the same with Japan.

Side note: seriously, go watch Saikano. Like, holy cow, that show blew my mind. I don't know why most people haven't heard of it.

 

[SecondPrize]

It bugs me a lot. I had a hard to trying to get this question out, but seeing jokes on this site and Cracked, as well as a few of my ignorant friends spouting has spurned me once more to try to ask the question, hopefully in a manner that is to be taken seriously, considering the subject matter that will be brought up. (I have my doubts about that, even on the Escapist...)


So... how about it. Why does everyone think they're all sex-crazy when that's definitely nowhere near the extent which everyone thinks? (Though this perception is NOT helped by the cultural-dissonance on how both the West and East view sexuality).

I'd say it's the tradition of groping strangers on subways, but that's just a wild guess.

 

[BazaarFawkes]

Perhaps artists in Japan are more expressive in their work? No really sure if thats the right response.
I feel that there seems to be less "creative" restrictions whenever you look at how a character is designed, or the sheer ridiculousness of scenarios and that candy advertisement example above from Terramax. If they wanted to go all out, then there is nothing stopping them.

What I am curious about is if all of this is mainstream in Japan. As much of a constrast Japan's culture is, people are still people, surely the majority of the population don't feel ok with it, right?
And is it a niche of the niche scenario and it is only noticed because it's extreme? Because as much as we have listed examples of how wild character designs can get, there is just as much, if not more, examples of the opposite.

So... how about it. Why does everyone think they're all sex-crazy when that's definitely nowhere near the extent which everyone thinks? (Though this perception is NOT helped by the cultural-dissonance on how both the West and East view sexuality).

Because most people on the internet are massively ignorant of any culture aside from their own.

It is actually fairly rare for people to know anything about a culture they have never interacted with personally. I know a little bit about Japanese culture, and I've studied it intently via media, text, and translated literature (and I'm talking novels here, not manga) for the past 15 years. I've put 15 years into the study of Japan, but I have barely scratched the surface. I have friends who have lived there and learned far more by actually being immersed in the culture, but even there some things remain alien.

So, when people like myself and my friends who have actually studied Japan or lived there for years can barely understand it, is it any wonder that people who've only seen a little anime have no clue what they're talking about?

Couldn't have said it any better myself. I tend to just ignore people's remarks about Japan (since this the topic) unless they're legitamately serious about discussing it or actually know the culture in and out (like being from Japan is a good start).
I remember when the jokes about Japan having panty vending machines were a thing. The amount of facepalm I get just by seeing that...