Fifteen-year-old Hiroshi lounged at the family dinner table in the fuzzy glow of a pastel pink sweat suit — accented with a sparkling pink hair barrette. Like most adolescents in Japan, Hiroshi was glued to a cell phone — a metallic pink one covered with bling bling.
A typical teen anywhere in the world, right?
Right.
Except for one thing. Hiroshi is a boy.
The feminine colors are decidedly not worn to make a statement about sexual preference, but the latest fashion craze among young Japanese men.
Masculinity and femininity have never been as wide apart in Japan as in the west. For hundreds of years, the basic garment for both men and women has been a kimono, for example. Even in modern times, gender differences have been limited. A study done in the year 2000 showed that Japanese men and women didn’t score differently on a western scale of what is feminine, but the color pink was still reserved for little girls.
The latest craze for pink in men’s fashions is part of the changing gender roles in Japan, according to an article in the Washington Post from September 2005. Not only are more women entering the work force, but more men are embracing their feminine sides. There’s even a chain of spas for men, called, aptly enough, “Dandy House” where men can get facials, undergo weight-loss programs and get their eyebrows plucked.
The article quoted Marco Shimomura, VP of Dandy House:”Japan has never really stressed the concept of being macho in a Western sense, but what we find now is that men are actively seeking the soft and smooth look that is considered so attractive now. They aren’t scared of getting their hairs plucked. And believe me, it hurts.”
In fact, the second most popular cosmetics line in Japan is Mandom, which combines the words, “man” and “freedom.” The bulk of Mandom’s customers are not those with wrinkles and other facial flaws that might need some cosmetic correction, but 15 to 25-year olds embracing Japan’s obsession with “kawaii” or over-the-top cuteness.
“Right now, the emphasis is on ‘pretty’, and nice, delicate men are in style,” said Mayu Shimokawa, chief manager of product promotions at Mandom, in an article from China Daily published in August 2007. “Masculine men don’t seem as young. Men who fight, men who try really hard and exert themselves seem old and outdated.”
In fact, Japanese women find feminine men attractive.
“Japan’s latest heartthrobs are a far cry from the American masculine ideal of stoic, stubble-cheeked muscle men,” the article stated. “Slender, smooth-faced and androgynous stars such as singer-actor Takuya Kimura, or Kimutaku as he’s affectionately known, routinely top popularity polls among women, and men in Japan are taking note.”
In fact, Kimutaku is the face of Mandom cosmetics. In one TV ad he wears frilled silk pajamas and twirls wavy shoulder-length hair while making faces in a vanity mirror.
In another male cosmetics ad Actor Shido Nakamura also glances at himself coyly in a bathroom mirror. The married father gently plays with a calla lily while applying lotion under soft lighting.
Even the Yakuza, the Japanese mafia, has softened its image. According to the Washington Post article, members have taken to wearing pink women’s sandals and floral-patterned shirts while on their nightly prowls. No one knows why.
Nagami Kishi, head of the Research Institute for People and Corporations, says the trend was caused by the Japanese ethic of overwork prevalent since the post-war economic bubble. When fathers are absent at work 14 hours per day, six days per week, boys are left with the feminizing influence of mamas, sisters and aunties.
“When I was young, we were trained not to cry,” said Kishi, who grew up in the late 1930s, “but nowadays, men in their twenties freely express their emotions and cry even in front of women,” he added. “Young Japanese men are gentle, shy and sensitive; they’ve turned into a bunch of . . . mama’s boys.”
