Tokyo and tech through the eyes of a split pea

Feminization of the Japanese male

so says the Washington post.

Some snippets:

“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,” said Marco Shimomura, vice president of Dandy House. “They aren’t scared of getting their hairs plucked. And believe me, it hurts.”

Yet Japanese men are softening at least in part, analysts say, because that’s what Japanese women want. With record numbers of women here financially independent for the first time, the dating game has become a buyer’s market for single women — who, polls show, prefer men who are gentle and squeaky clean.

I think they have it all backwards; first of all, who is determining that this new style is attractive? It’s not news that there are more single, financially independent, confident Japanese women, but it’s a stretch to think they’re looking for pansies as partners. If Japanese men still have to be told what makes a woman swoon, they’ll only win over woman comfortable with insecure personalities. Most Japanese women (most women, for that matter) want attention and affection, which is being mistaken in Japan as this increasing sense of gentility, cleanliness, and sensitivity. I would suggest the Japanese man stop pampering himself and start pampering her.