International
Wed 19 Jul 2006
'Women only' signs make Japan's men fume
AT THE time, most people agreed it seemed a good idea: carriages on Japanese commuter trains set aside specifically for females would dramatically reduce the number of women being molested by the chikan who get their kicks by having a sly fondle among the tightly packed bodies. And it worked.
The idea was so effective that it was quickly adopted by numerous train companies across the country, with pink signs adorning certain carriages warning men to keep their distance.
What is less welcome, however, is the sudden embracing of an entire male-free environment by whole sectors of the Japanese service industry.
It has become so common to see "no males" signs outside stores, restaurants, hotels, spas and even entertainment outlets that the victims of this policy are beginning to grumble that they are becoming second-class citizens.
"I completely supported the whole thing with women-only train carriages, even though it made my commute more difficult because there always seemed to be room in those carriages while us men were squeezed together tighter than ever," one Tokyo businessman said.
"But now it's just getting silly. I couldn't even get into my gym at my regular time last week because they have introduced a 'women-only' hour in the early evening."
Responding to a survey in the weekly news magazine Aera, 55 per cent of men said matters have gone too far. Perhaps surprisingly, 40 per cent of women agreed, saying the complete exclusion of men amounts to sex discrimination.
Men turning up at restaurants are being turned away because the women-only lunch special is on the menu, while convenience stores, cinemas and even pachinko parlours - the pinball gambling game that is the staple for the weary workers - are out of bounds for the boys, either permanently or for parts of the day.
"All these other establishments are simply jumping on the women-only bandwagon because they see an economic opportunity in it," says Toshiko Marks, a professor of multicultural understanding at Shumei University.
"It's well-known that single women today have a lot of money, so companies are exploiting that. Men are definitely starting to complain."
This article: http://news.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=1047972006
Last updated: 19-Jul-06 00:46 GMT
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Comments
I have lived in Tokyo for the last 8 years and I have never seen any of the women's only areas discussed in this article outside the above mentioned train lines.
It is regrettable that women are harrassed to the extent that they feel the need to be segregated from men. However, as my co-worker mentioned to me just the other day, if the men would stop sucking their teeth, picking their noses in public and keep their hands to themselves, women would not mind being around them more.
Report as unsuitableI am Japanese and many Japanese newspapers have repeatedly reported the recent spread of the "women's only" services.
I know that there are women's only apartment, women's only hotels, women's only seats in public libraries..etc.etc.
There is even an italian restaurant in a railway station which only women or couples can enter.
It sounds unfair that only women have their exclusive seats in public liblalies thinking that both sex equaly pay tax for the library and never seeing any harassments in libraries in more than 30 years of my life.
"the men sucking their teeth, picking their noses in public and keep their hands to themselves" can NOT be common, average men know manners, and this can NOT be the cause for this kind of services.
Many of my friends are lifting up their hands when they are in a crowded train not to be mistaken for molesters because it can sometimes happens when a train is too crowded
The "women's only" services can be understood as a strategy of service industries to exploite women's money by creating a kind of sense of superiority of women over men. Put it in another words, some of these services are close to discrimination against men.
I hope women will wisely recognize the ridiculusness of excessive spread of the "women's only" services.
Report as unsuitableI aswell am a Japanese male that has seen these "femal only" signs in various parts of the city.
As for what Tomoyuki has mentioned about his friends with their hands on the overhead straps, I aswell do the same in case I am on a train and it's crowded. Recently, there are even problems of females randomly choosing a male and accusing them of chikan, then reporting to the railroad police just because they are bored or want to have fun watching the male being taken to the police station. You never know when some female randomly does so to you aswell.
Report as unsuitableTomoyuki, who is opposing the new seperation of men and women convenietly fails to mention their gender - I suspect it's male. "Chikan" (sexual assault if we use the proper term for it) DOES happen far too often in Japan, and if average Japanese men really did know manners, there would be no seperation as there wouldn't be so many incidences of sexual assault from Japanese men.
You say "It sounds unfair that only women have their exclusive seats in public liblalies thinking that both sex equaly pay tax for the library and never seeing any harassments in libraries in more than 30 years of my life" , but don't you think it's more than just a bit unfair that the thing that has caused this is the life-destroying sexual assaults that happen too often at the hands of Japanese men?
Yukihito, it is a fact that in just about every country in the world, there are false reports of sexual assault. However, it is also a fact that in each of these countries, such false reports are extremely low. With so many women having their lives destroyed at the hands of men sexually assaulting them (don't try to dress it up with words like "chikan", it's sexual assault), it wouldn't make any sense for women to make it more difficult for victims by making false reports. Just because you haven't seen it happen, or/and it hasn't been proved, that does NOT mean the woman is lying. For what it's worth, I live in Japan. See the website I have linked to for evidence that sexual assault usually results in long-term trauma, plus this one: http://www.safehaven-uk.org/aftermath/myths.shtml#6
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