As for Yakuza, I didn’t think they’d be doing such an act as human trafficking. Ever wondered if Japan’s government is going to have a Mexico-styled crackdown on this kind of crime?

A lot of it is cultural pressure. Everyone works ridiculously long hours, so working less is seen as lazy by your peers. I hope that people will start working less hours as the years go by and generations move on: lots of people don’t like it, but they also don’t see any way of changing it. Social inertia is a powerful force.

Yeah, I agree, Enjo Kosai can be dangerous in those terms… I guess the social disapproval might make it more appealing to girls participating, maybe? There’s almost no chance of being found out, yet you get to do something risky, dangerous and frowned upon without actually getting socially ostracised yourself.

Also, almost never seeing your wife, yet having a kind of formal relationship can make things awkward. How can you be loving to a partner if you have very little idea of what she spends her days doing? For the husband, it’s much easier just to do Enjo Kosai or something similar.

Okay, overlong comment alert. Sorry about that. I’m enjoying your blog greatly Yuribou, keep it up!

I agree that it is a strange phenomenon and it seems to be more prevalent than in other countries. I think the culture just breeds it because of the nature of what circumstances are available in Japan that do not exist elsewhere.

Hmm, well I’m interested to hear what your friends will say about this topic. I have a friend and cousin in Tokyo and Hokkaido respectively. I find it a bit tough to get a straight answer out of them and perhaps its because the Japanese language is not direct. I’m probably not getting the gist of it. So please! Keep up the good work deciphering Japanese culture!

Well, it does seem a strange phenomenon – since its not as if the Japanese are a particularly repressed culture sexually.

I guess that my current opinion is that there is a great effect from the Japanese workaholic culture – when I was working in hospitals there it was common for the whole team (including consultant) to stay in the hospital from 8am to 10pm even though they were not contracted to work that long, just in order to finish up work.

Couple late hours with a long commute/living away from home and i guess for some its a lot easier for lonely businessmen to get their kicks in the city instead of returning home.

Maybe when I’m back there this year I’ll ask people ^^

I’ve been a reader of yours for quite some time and appreciate your in-depth look on sexuality within anime and Japanese culture. This article is great and I hope you will expand upon it in future entries because I’ve always been plagued with finding an answer to this topic. Keep up the good work.