{"id":11003,"date":"2013-04-15T14:06:36","date_gmt":"2013-04-16T00:06:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=11003"},"modified":"2021-05-14T14:52:20","modified_gmt":"2021-05-14T21:52:20","slug":"bignose-on-cute-kobito-zukan-comic-characters-for-kids-and-nj-control-fantasies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=11003","title":{"rendered":"Discussion: “Bignose” on Cute “Kobito-zukan” comic characters for kids and NJ control fantasies?"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Hi Blog. In the vein of the recent discussion on treatment of NJ in Japanese media, here’s food for thought from a Debito.org Reader under the pseudonym “Bignose”. \u00a0I’m intrigued but not 100% convinced, so I’ll open this one up under the Discussions heading for lighter moderation. Arudou Debito<\/p>\n

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Cute Kobito and Control Fantasies?<\/strong>
\n January 6, 2013<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hi Debito, It’s Bignose here.<\/i>Remember those stereotypical pictures of Caucasian gaijin so beloved in this country? Looks like theeeey’re back with a vengeance! \u00a0<\/em>I am filing this with you to see what you and other readers think.<\/em><\/p>\n

Initially I thought the point I want to make might be a stretch; that I might be being hypersensitive. It’s possible to see insults where there are none, or that comments received are misinterpreted through cultural misunderstandings, poor language ability, things taken out of context. So I am going to be quite careful what I say. But after long, long experiences living in Japan, to put it in a nutshell, I smell a rat.<\/em><\/p>\n

In a sense, to me, the theme I am about to raise resonates with the issue over “Mr. James,” remember, our lovable goofy Kakakana Japanese spewing junk food munching baseball fan? I know you received a lot of criticism about raising this issue<\/a>. For me the acid test is what would happen if the boot was on the other foot. If a major junk food conglomerate in the U.S. was selling teriyaki burgers flaunted by a slit-eyed, bespectacled, broken Engrish speaking salariman hairi lecommending TERIAKI BURGA, how would the Japanese embassy feel about it. I am not sure they would be happy happy happy about it all.<\/em><\/p>\n

To the item at hand. It’s about othering and control fantasies referring to a “lost paradise” (a shitsuraken perhaps?) that was Japan when foreigners were cute and mainly for entertainment.<\/em><\/p>\n

A few nights ago my wife (who is Japanese) and I and our infant child were having dinner at a friend’s place. Our friend is a longstanding one, she’s known and worked with my wife when they were at a major Japanese advertising company 15 years ago and our friend, who is in her 40s, is a professional and an account manager. She speaks reasonably fluent English and has done home stays, a year abroad, etc.<\/em><\/p>\n

So the three of us were round our friend’s place where she cooked a lovely dinner and then she introduced us to a “must watch” waraibangumi called \u3053\u3073\u3068\u3065\u304b\u3093. I was very interested because as a father I monitor Japanese kids programs my wife wants to show our child quite closely, avoiding programs that I think are problematical (too cute, squealing, gender stereotypes and having very young performers, especially young girls, performing adult routines\u2026and it’s not only my wife and I that find groups such as AKB48 extremely disturbing and problematic on many, many levels). I always try to balance out any media experiences my child has with Japanese media with alternatives in English, either from the U.S. or the UK, for example.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"kobitozukan\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Courtesy\u00a0http:\/\/blogs.yahoo.co.jp\/singing_d_more\/GALLERY\/show_image.html?id=61443344<\/a><\/p>\n

So my friend put on several \u3053\u3073\u3068\u3065\u304b\u3093 segments from her DVD collection:<\/em>
\n https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/results?client=safari&rls=en&q=\u3053\u3073\u3068\u3065\u304b\u3093&oe=UTF-8&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=w1<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

As I watched it, I thought fine, fine, it looks like a decent story, very entertaining. But I wondered, why is this kiddies program so entertaining for adults? Why is it such a hit? My friend’s eye were glowing, and she was clearly getting very excited.<\/em><\/p>\n

By the second minute I started to find the patronizing tone grating, largely because it reminds me of how I am still sometimes treated by Japanese people dealing with gaijin, you know as if we are some sort of stupid alien pets. Or perhaps sometimes it’s just trying to be kind and well meaning to the alien. Or perhaps it’s just me, I was thinking.<\/em><\/p>\n

As soon as our little critter appeared in the third minute, I realized I felt a little bit uncomfortable, but I couldn’t put my finger on why.<\/em><\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=95dEI_hCwIQ<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n