Paper short abstract:

This presentation is an attempt to analyse the image of masculinity in Japanese textbooks used since 2015. The results show that the image presented in the textbooks is a new type of masculinity model, based primarily on such traits as family orientation and caring.

Paper long abstract:

One of the most important tools through which first grade students learn about the world is school textbook. The information gained during this period may have a strong impact on views about reality presented at later stages of life. This presentation is an attempt to analyse the image of masculinity in Japanese textbooks used since 2015 in the first semester of the first year of elementary school. The research method was based on the model of analysing the problem of sexism in English textbooks according to the methodology of Porreca, which allowed to combine quantitative and qualitative methods. To determine relationships between variables, the χ2 test was used at a significance level of p <0.5, if the data type allowed. In addition to the textual material on which the analysis carried out by Porreca was based, it was also decided to include graphic material in the research, which, especially in the case of Japanese textbooks, forms an integral part thereof. The results show that the image of masculinity presented in the textbooks is almost exclusively positive. Male characters are characterized by such features as: family orientation, protectiveness, friendliness, courage, knowledge, modesty and astuteness. As such this image can be classified as a new type of masculinity model, contradicting the traditional model portrayed as busy employee (salaryman).

Paper short abstract:

The word otonadanshi or adult boys has appeared in Japan recently. This presentation discusses the reasons behind the selection of this oxymoronic term otonadanshi, wherein otona connotes maturity while danshi connotes immaturity, and investigates the concept of maturity and immaturity in Japan.

Paper long abstract:

Over the past several years, the word otonadanshi has appeared in Japanese men's fashion magazines. Otonadanshi is composed of two words: otona, meaning 'adults', and danshi, meaning 'boys.' The term seems to have been inspired by the similar word otonajyosi ('adult girls'), which has been used in Japan for the past decade. The words danshi and jyoshi are essentially neutral terms used to refer men and women — for example, danshi judo and jyoshi judo refer to men's and women's judo categories in a sports competition. However, for those who have completed primary and secondary education, especially for those under 60 years old, the words danshi and jyoshi evoke the image of boys and girls in a school classroom. This presentation investigates when the term otonadanshi began to be used in men's magazines, describes the contexts in which the term was used, and examines the concept of the 'ideal man' which these magazines try to promote. In addition, the presentation discusses the reasons behind the selection of this oxymoronic term otonadanshi, wherein otona connotes maturity while danshi connotes immaturity.

In Japanese society, maturity was linked to an individual's role in society roughly until the bubble era. People who were in primary and secondary school were considered to be children, and university students were regarded as immature youths. On the other hand, those who had finished their education and had a job and family were considered mature adults. In terms of fashion, there was a distinction between 'we young people', who have long hair and wear jeans, and 'those adults', who wear dobunezumi colour or rat-grey suits. However, the boundary between mature adults and immature youth has become increasingly blurred in fashion — and in society more broadly — in recent years. This presentation discusses the concept of maturity and immaturity among Japanese men through the lens of men's fashion magazines and media discourse. By studying this, the presentation hopes to explore how Japanese society has changed and predict where it may proceed next.

Paper short abstract:

This ethnographic paper discusses the current state of transgender communities in Kansai, with a focus on Kyoto and Osaka, since the passing and revision of the 'Law Regarding Special Treatment for Persons Diagnosed with Gender Identity Disorder' in 2003/2008.

Paper long abstract:

The last twenty years have been a time of significant change for Japan's transgender community. The pathway to legal recognition of gender transition only began in 2003 with the Law Regarding Special Treatment for Persons Diagnosed with Gender Identity Disorder. Despite its revision in 2008, the standards for ratifying gender transition remain draconian: trans people must undergo invasive medical intervention (including sterilisation); they must identify within strict binary gender roles; and, if already married, they must divorce their spouse. The Tokyo High Court upheld the sterilisation requirement in early 2019.

There have also been encouraging signs of change in the last decade. All Japanese medical insurers are required to cover transition-related procedures as of August 2018; Tokyo's Minato Ward passed an ordinance guaranteeing LGBTQ residents' freedom of expression in January 2020; and December 2019 saw the first Trans Studies conference at Ochanomizu University, the first all-female college in Japan to admit trans women. However, the topic of everyday transgender lives, especially those of people who cannot or do not wish to medically transition to the satisfaction of the Japanese State, is still under-researched and under-represented in academic works.

This paper is an ethnographic exploration of trans individuals' compliance with and divergence from legal standards of transgender existence in Japan, with a particular focus on the formation and reproduction of trans communities in Kansai.

Drawing on two years of fieldwork in Kyoto and Osaka, and on my own emic knowledge as a trans anthropologist, I will discuss the contexts in which trans community is formed and made visible within an urban context; the compromises trans people must make between lived experience and legal strictures; and the conflicts engendered within domestic arrangements, family life, and transition-related bureaucracy.

I close with a look ahead to the next ten years of Trans Japan and the changes my respondents think (and hope) will come to pass in that time.

Paper short abstract:

This paper investigates the appeal of the oiran kitsuke towards the gyaru subculture. I will discuss the motives and reasons behind its popularity, arguing that the practice provides young women with an alternative to the ideal of hegemonic femininity generally associated with dressing in kimono.

Paper long abstract:

The coming-of-age day (seijin-no-hi), celebrated annually on the second Monday of January, marks the transition from childhood into adulthood within the context of contemporary Japanese society, celebrating all young adults who have turned twenty over the course of the year. To celebrate the occasion, all new adults are invited to attend coming-of-age ceremonies (seijin-shiki) which are organised and conducted by the local municipalities throughout the country. Dress plays an important part of the event, with young men dominantly dressing in suits, while young women wear long-sleeved furisode kimono. The koten style, a kimono style which evokes ideas of ‘traditional Japaneseness’ and projects an image of female refinement and pleasantness through the ideal of a demure samurai daughter, or ‘Yamato Nadeshiko’, is commonly regarded as the most popular and accepted style. Not everyone wants to follow this route however.

In the early 2000s, young women of the gyaru subculture started modifying the standardised kitsuke (the way of fitting a kimono) which included positioning the obi’s knot in the front, and not, as conventionally expected, on the back of the upper body, while additionally loosening the kimono’s collar to expose the neck and shoulders. These elements reference the high-class courtesans of the Edo period called oiran, and the style came consequently known as the oiran style, or oiran kitsuke. This paper will unpack the appeal and popularity of the style among the gyaru, or, more precisely, age-jō subculture. I will investigate the origins of the style, demonstrating how individuals, magazines, manga, and celebrities all played their part in the establishment and dissemination of the style. I will ultimately argue that this style provides young women with an alternative model of womanhood; it is not the ideal of a demure samurai daughter inherent in the koten style, but the idea of a complex human being with sexual desires and longings which is projected and celebrated through the oiran kitsuke.