| Women in the Media |
| LIM Ming Kuok |
“Japanese women run away, whenever I tried to talk to them!” This rather dramatic statement was said by my Cuban friend, Damien, about four months after we had been studying in Japan. Damien is not that scary, but he is big and tall and sports a fabulously ‘wild’ crown of hair. He also likes to give great big bear hugs when he meets his friends. Till this day, I still have doubts over this statement. For one thing, he must live a very lonely life if all the Japanese women run away from him every time he tries to communicate with them. Secondly, I seriously do not think Japanese women are that timid. Nevertheless, women in Japan are an interesting lot to be studied. I would like to take this opportunity to try to make a few personal observations of Japanese women in Japan.
I watch television everyday, partly because I like watching television and partly because I major in media studies. I find the way women are being portrayed on Japanese television fascinating. There are several types of television genre where women are being portrayed. There is the news program where two-thirds of the news castors are man and women don’t get to cast the “heavy news”. In Malaysia, most of the leading newscasters are an actually woman, that’s why I find it intriguing that Japan has the opposite. I remember a lecture I once took during my undergraduate years in Malaysia that had left an impression on me. Our lecturer showed us a recording of a news program from United States, in the recording the newscaster was a woman and what makes this particular newscaster stand out was the fact that she was a disabled person. She used a wheel chair to move around in the studio. She was not strikingly beautiful but had a pleasant face and she articulates her points very clearly and confidently. I cannot help but compare the situation in Japan and United States every time I watch the news and wonder if the same scenario will happen in Japan in the future. Having said that, I also realize cultural differences exist between the two countries, and indeed between the two continents.
Then there is the television drama genre; in this genre women are better off with more diversity of roles. While traditional roles like virtuous housewives, nurses or office ladies that are committed to their careers, marriage and child rearing are still the main fare, some played vicious villains with awesome powers that can kill you with a wave of her hand or righteous heroines. Typically, Japanese women characters in television dramas can be split into two types. The first one (TYPE I) is the all suffering, and hardworking type that follows the conventional way of how women should behave especially in front of men. They listen to what their superior/parents/friends/society tells them and do as told. They are or should be the yamato nadeshiko. They appear to be content but are usually not very happy because they seem to exist for the men (or for their children) and not for themselves. Deep down you can feel their longing for something else, something exciting. Type I is socially acceptable and they live a stable and quiet life. Then there is the Type II, these are the all suffering, and hardworking woman (almost all woman regardless of types are generally depicted as strong, and hardworking). Type II breaks the conventions and usually tries to prove to the world that they are better than the men. Obstacles and objections are thrown at the faces very episodes. They are despised, discourage and even feared because they are unusual according to the convention. We can find these roles in dramas like Power Office Girls, You are My Pet, Long Vacation, Trick and many more. In the drama “You are My Pet “starring actress Koyuki (from Last Samurai), the lead character, Sumire, is a super career woman with high income and education level. However, whenever Sumire works extra hard or over-perform what is expected of a women she gets rather negative responses from her co-workers. Many men and even women still think it is not appropriate for women to “supercede” the men in work, as depicted in “You Are My Pet”. Fortunately most Type II including our heroine from “You are My Pet” usually has a happy ending after a long hard struggle.
The worst of all are women in the variety entertainment genre. Variety shows that occupies prime time hour and are watch by millions of viewers from children to adult everyday. Despite their prime time hour, the women in the entertainment industry are the most poorly treated among other genres. They are always the ones who do the most talking and more actual work but it is the male artist or talents that get the spotlights. It is always “Beat” Takeshi, Tokoro Jouji, Shunsuke or Tamori-san that get the spotlights. How unfair. One notices that there are no prime time variety shows that have a main female host. Popular shows such as Trivia no izumi has two male host three male regular guests and only one women and the food program Dotchi no ryouri sho has an all male regular presenters. Women hosted variety programs are on the fringe hours, in the early mornings, afternoons and late nights. Even those are few and in between. I believe the genre that needs the most catching up is the variety genre.
Last but not least is also my favorite genre, anime. Female characters in anime are so cool. Furthermore, they are also nearly always the main characters. To borrow a much used slang phrase to describe the female characters in anime, “they kick butts!” —sometimes literally. Female characters usually have to make important life or death decisions that will effect the very existent of Earth or the particular planet they happen to live on. Multitudes of men have to depend on these outwardly fragile female characters for survival. What a refreshing change from other genres. For example, Miyazaki Hayao’s works usually have the heroine making the big decision to sacrifice herself, in order to save her loved ones or country. Nausicaa of The Valley of The Wind sacrificed herself to stop the stampede of giant creature from destroying her village (everyone thought at the beginning of the story, that a male mythical Golden Warrior will be the one to save them but the Golden Warrior was turned out to be reincarnated as Nausicaa, a young girl). Sen in Spirited Away was the one that save her parents and the life of the dragon-boy, Haku as well as the lives of everyone else from her workplace. As most of us already know, Spirited Away also became the first Japanese animation to win the Academy Award in 2003. In this year’s anime, Appleseed, the heroine that save the world from utter destruction is a women whose wish was to be a mother after the war has ended. There are too many other examples of such story to be listed here. Many foreign students actually chose to come to Japan partly due to the popularity of anime. I even know some students who started to study Japanese language and culture because they were fans of anime. Such is the power of this particular cultural product. However, I have to confess that I was not an anime fan before I came to Japan. I actually preferred Spiderman and X-men. However, after being here, I too have become an anime fan myself, especially of Miyazaki Hayao’s and Oshi Mamoru’s. I still like Spiderman and X-men ( I had seen both the movies in Japan) but some of the better Japanese animation such as Tokyo Godfathers, Ghost in a Shell, Innocence, Princess Mononoke and many more offer depth-of-story that rivals and sometimes excels human films. I realized that what matters are the story and the development of the characters. Animation is a just a technique to achieve that goal and Japanese master animators knew well of this and therefore were able to create these powerful stories that stirs the heart of the audience. This is of course, very good news for the women in Japan because these master animators usually have a very high regard for women and it shows through their works.
Nevertheless, reality is a bit harsher on women in Japan. How many women are there in the government who are lawmakers? The first one to come to mind (perhaps the only one for some people) might be Tanaka Makiko. The numbers of Japanese women lawmakers is the lowest among developed countries at a mere seven percent. 70 percent of Japanese women permanently retire from the labor force after getting married partly due to the reality that, after staying at home for several years to bring up their children, only low-paying part-time work is available to them. On a brighter side, an NHK survey reveals that more Japanese agrees that there should be more balance between employment and home life. In 1998, 46 percent of the respondents support the notion that there should be more balance between employment and home-life, compared to only 20 percent in 1973 when the survey was first conducted. Personally, I would really like to see more women have a hand in running this country or any country for that matter. According to a Chinese proverb, women hold up half the sky, it would be interesting to see how the country will develop with more women at the helm.
Even though women may not yet head this country at the highest level, they are everywhere else in Japan. You not only see them but also hear and maybe even feel their presences indirectly. Obviously there a lot of women, half the world’s population are women, there about 64.7 million women in Japan compare to about 62 million of men. The physical numbers of women are not as interesting as compared to the number of “virtual women” one comes in contact with everyday. Of course, we can see them everyday as old ladies walking in the park, housewives totting their kids while trying to do some shopping and as giggling high school girls talking through their brightly colored keitai (mobile phones) with numerous daggling keitai straps attached to them. What I mean is the “unseen woman” (I am not talking about supernatural beings or ghosts either). These “unseen woman” appears when you use the telephone, when you enter the elevator and when you use the ATMs. You see, all these service oriented technology uses automated female voices. I cannot remember the last time I heard a male voice in these automated machines. Even the computer I am using now has a female voice telling me to add more paper to the printer! I suppose a female voice is more soothing and gentler to the ear. This is considered especially important in the customer service-oriented industry like telecommunication and department stores. The Japan Railway (JR) trains have male voice over the P.A systems informing the passenger of the latest information but those are live broadcast instead of a recorded voice. It is really hard to find an automated male voice in Japan.
Another interesting aspect of Japanese women is their relationship with the Japanese economy. There is an often quoted saying that Japanese economy is supported by women. Perhaps this is true, for example, if we take a look at departmental stores in Japan, one will see that there are several levels dedicated to women of different ages and just one for the men. If we take a look at movie cinemas, there are only a few male customers around during the Men Day while Ladies Day will be packed with female customer consisting of mother-daughters, office ladies groups, young housewives group and schoolgirls group. I had the experience of getting the Men Day and Ladies Day mixed up once and had to sit through the entire film surrounded by women. That was when I realized that, cinema owners should be doubly appreciative of this important source of revenue. I think Japanese women must be one of the top consumers in the world.
This year is will be my third and last summer in Japan, and I am starting to get a mix feeling about leaving. Friends often tell me that I am becoming more and more like Japanese as the day passes. When I first came here in 2nd April 2002, all around was still gray and dull. It was not the most welcoming sight for someone who had just taken a long plane ride and away from home for his first time. Then as the new students were brought to the university campus, I was greeted by this weird sight of sickly looking trees that had no leaves and were all wrapped up in brown cloths. They bore an uncanny resemblance to Egyptian mummies. Transnational trees? Of course, much later on, I learned that trees and plants were wrapped up or propped-up with planks to protect them from the harsh winter. Incidentally, the trees are called suzukake no ki (plane trees). After I got over my initial shock of mummified trees, I made friends, learn to love sushi and natto and enjoy living in Niigata. Next month, I will make a solo backpack travel from Niigata to Nagasaki. I am not sure what incident will happen on this adventure but I am sure whatever it is, it will only enrich my experience, understanding and love for Japan.