How is junior idols/culture seen in Japan? (2024)

mdchachi said:

It's considered normal more or less.

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Really? Like I said, it looks problematic cuz of what I mentioned

OlympusRoyalMon said:

Really? Like I said, it looks problematic cuz of what I mentioned

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Well let's see what current residents say. Maybe things have changed.

bentenmusume said:

I'm a current resident in Japan (I've been here for about fifteen years).
A blanket "it's considered normal" doesn't seem quite accurate to me.
It's true that a lot of grown men are into that sort of thing here (certainly far, far more than you'd expect to see in Western countries.)
That said, I get the impression that there's certainly a fair percentage of the adult population who would regard that interest as kind of creepy (in a sense somewhat similar to how an "otaku" overly obsessed with female anime characters or whatever would be stigmatized).
Perhaps not quite to the degree you'd see in the West (where the vast majority of people would probably think you're a pedophile), but it's definitely not the sort of thing where pretty much everyone is into it and they can profess their interest and put up sexy pictures of preteen girls on their office desk and have no one bat an eyelash.

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Why is it tolerated though?
But I mean, those men are pedos I'm sure

bentenmusume said:

I'm a current resident in Japan (I've been here for about fifteen years).
A blanket "it's considered normal" doesn't seem quite accurate to me.
It's true that a lot of grown men are into that sort of thing here (certainly far, far more than you'd expect to see in Western countries.)
That said, I get the impression that there's certainly a fair percentage of the adult population who would regard that interest as kind of creepy (in a sense somewhat similar to how an "otaku" overly obsessed with female anime characters or whatever would be stigmatized).
Perhaps not quite to the degree you'd see in the West (where the vast majority of people would probably think you're a pedophile), but it's definitely not the sort of thing where pretty much everyone is into it and they can profess their interest and put up sexy pictures of preteen girls on their office desk and have no one bat an eyelash.

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I think the target market of teen idols is mainly other teens is it not? Or are we talking about pin-up girls only?

By "normal" I didn't mean widespread for grown men to be into them. But at the same time, I think it's somewhat unremarkable.
It wouldn't surprise me to see an adult looking at a teen idol mag on the train, creepy or not.

Lothor said:

I agree with bentenmusume that it's not considered normal but it is tolerated, and there is a blurring between girls and women in Japanese society that I find unpleasant. Examples are the Pretty Cure anime series, whose core audience are small girls and a certain type of man (my train line sometimes does stamp rallies to promote the series and you'd be surprised how many sweaty men take part), the prevalence of adult women in school uniform on TV, and bands of little girls dancing getting the same kind of adulation from adult male fans that adult idol groups receive. I've also seen girls under 16 in bikinis promoted as the next generation of idols in weekly magazines.

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Yikes....

bentenmusume said:

but it's definitely not the sort of thing where pretty much everyone is into it and they can profess their interest and put up sexy pictures of preteen girls on their office desk and have no one bat an eyelash.

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Post your sexual obsession now and lets see who bats an eyelash. If you dare to be honest ( and I doubt you will) we will see how you get judged.

See, its less to do with what you like and more to do with how you just cannot be open about sexual things at all and I curse people for that. Its the origin of a lot of this unfair and unproductive condemnation and its ALWAYS directed at male sexuality.

Men better learn to start sticking up for each other. Attacking each other is weakening us all. Stop it. For yourself and all of us.

OlympusRoyalMon said:

it looks problematic cuz of what I mentioned

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It "looks" problematic to YOU and you mentioned NOTHING that qualifies as a "cuz" whatsoever. All you did was chuck out a prejudgment based on your culture, and I assure you your culture is nothing to base your judgments on nor even be proud of.

OlympusRoyalMon said:

Why is it tolerated though?

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Why is anything tolerated? Society could and pretty much has taken issue with damn near anything and everything. In Middle ages Europe they used to cover table legs with cloth because they were deemed "sexually explicit". Crazy? Absolutely. Any topic of human sexuality will glean truck loads of crazy every time. So my advice is unless you can connect a concrete problem to this concretely (and you won't be able to) then don't judge it as "problematic".

Further I think you would do better to ask yourself why this is NOT tolerated where you are from. That discussion will actually be a lot more productive just as long as you learn to spot all the falseness in the "reasons".

Then again, there are child beauty pageants to talk about...so lets not pretend there is zero tolerance.

Mark of Zorro said:

Post your sexual obsession now and lets see who bats an eyelash. If you dare to be honest ( and I doubt you will) we will see how you get judged.

See, its less to do with what you like and more to do with how you just cannot be open about sexual things at all and I curse people for that. Its the origin of a lot of this unfair and unproductive condemnation and its ALWAYS directed at male sexuality.

Men better learn to start sticking up for each other. Attacking each other is weakening us all. Stop it.

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I'm not sure what I said to offend you. I was simply trying to answer the OP's question about how these things are perceived in general in Japan. (With a caveat that it is impossible to speak in broad terms about how all people in a given country or culture perceive certain things.)

I was not passing any judgment on people with certain obsessions, only expressing what I believe to be a fairly objective fact that some people will pass judgment about such things, and others won't.

You seem to have very strong opinions about male sexuality. I imagine I probably agree with you on some points and disagree on others. That was not, however, a discussion I was trying to trigger or enter into with my initial, entirely non-confrontational comment.

Lothor said:

there is a blurring between girls and women in Japanese society that I find unpleasant.

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And there is blurring between girls and women in YOUR society that you don't find unpleasant. I guarantee this. Women everywhere emulate "girls" in some fashion. Not consciously seeing it is a just a form of denial.

bentenmusume said:

I'm not sure what I said to offend you.

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Sorry for my attitude but topics like this do tend to trigger and frustrate me. In the focus on certain topics the general and all important themes get lost, and its a never-ending source of irritation for me.

NO MAN is free do display his sexual kicks without some sort of negative condemnation. Women especially simply will NOT allow it to be any other way. As such its next to nothing to do with interest in junior idols that gets a man labeled "creep". Its simply knowing what floats his boat that does it. Hardly matters if its big boobs, big butt, anal sex, bondage, MILFs or whatever. No man is free to be open and honest....and that too angers me as it hurts us men.

Mark of Zorro said:

Sorry for my attitude but topics like this do tend to trigger and frustrate me. In the focus on certain topics the general and all important themes get lost, and its a never-ending source of irritation for me.

NO MAN is free do display his sexual kicks without some sort of negative condemnation. Women especially simply will NOT allow it to be any other way. As such its next to nothing to do with interest in junior idols that gets a man labeled "creep". Its simply knowing what floats his boat that does it. Hardly matters if its big boobs, big butt, anal sex, bondage, MILFs or whatever. No man is free to be open and honest....and that too angers me as it hurts us men.

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You have issues man. You defend pedophilia.

OlympusRoyalMon said:

You have issues man. You defend pedophilia.

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I was told the same when I defended gays, masterbators and inter-racial couples.

You cannot even define "pedophilia".

I assure you the issues are all yours.

OlympusRoyalMon said:

early teens in swimsuits and suggestive poses

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This sort of language really gets my goat. What pose ISN'T suggestive to someone? Just sitting down is a potentially sexual position. Standing with hands on the sides of the neck and elbows out, holding long hair behind is suggestive. Or hands on hips and turned toward the camera suggests a sexual interest to the viewer.

People see sex in everything. The only reason they get all indignant about it is because their needs are not being met. And if there is a thing we can indeed label perversion (and I debate it) then I once again state its because needs are not being met.

And I cannot say if Japan is making a conscious decision in this but I suspect not, but Japan is safer for young people than any of the first world crap holes people who complain about this stuff comes from. My own country, the United States has more teen rapes, STDs, unwanted pregnancies, motherhood and I am also sure, kidnappings and runaways. Only Canada beats us in teen suicide but is close enough in all the other horrors. Who the HELL would listen to someone who says they should do as America does in any way, shape or form concerning this? Put your emotions aside and look at some data. Whether Japanese have or not they are still doing the right thing by not giving a damn.

It is really quite telling when you bring up child safety you have people like this who won't even consider it in their rush to attack perceived "pedophiles". It really shows where their priorities lie and where they don't. People like this (most in fact) don't give a single damn for kids. They just want to attack some subgroup for their own pleasure, and it could be literally any subgroup deemed worthy of attack....and there have been so many over the centuries. Is it not fascinating how no one attacked Thomas Jefferson for having sex with a 14 year old? No. At that time the issue was that she was Black. Now that situation has completely flip flopped...as in its okay that she was Black but bad that she was 14. Why? Cause people really are just talking animals after all.

This also reminds me of the people who whine about abortion while promoting policies that ensure the demand for abortion increases. They are like a double secret troll, or perhaps a subconscious one. They also don't care about the (unborn) children they pretend to. They only care for the pleasure of condemning and vilifying others. Also perhaps just having a fight to fight.