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Why are Japanese women so eager to bare themselves?

93 Comments

Shukan Gendai (Nov 27) poses an intriguing question: “Why are Japanese women so eager to bare themselves?”

“I’ve been photographing amateur female nudes for more than 20 years,” says photographer Jiro Wada, “and my feeling is that women really love being photographed naked. They say they’re embarrassed, but that’s just words.”

Well, a photographer would naturally encounter women inclined that way. Does that prove it’s a universal taste? Maybe not, but other facts at least suggest it, in the magazine view. Plainest of all is the fact that Japan is awash in nude photos and videos – the so-called “adult videos” (AVs), produced at a rate of some 10,000 a year. By Shukan Gendai’s reckoning, that would mean one woman in 500 has appeared in an AV.

To say nothing of men’s magazines, which claim to be deluged with photos submitted for publication. Ninety percent of them, editors say, are of amateurs – not porn stars, not models or even aspiring models, just ordinary women stretching the conventional boundaries for reasons of their own.

What reasons? “I just happen to think my body is extraordinarily beautiful,” says a 21-year-old fourth-year university student. “I love it when men praise my nude body.”

“I wanted some beautiful nudes of myself while I’m still young,” explains a 26-year-old OL. “I paid a photographer 30,000 yen, and we went to a hotel. At first I was thinking just of the photographs, but the click of the shutter, the flare of the flash… I got so excited I couldn’t restrain myself.” The photographer made no effort to restrain her, and “I’d never been so wild before. It felt absolutely wonderful. The photos were fine too.”

Strip clubs, too, whatever other problems they may have, will apparently never go out of business for want of strippers. “The customers’ response is interesting,” muses a 22-year-old student whose professors probably don’t know how she moonlights. “Everybody’s attention fixed on my privates, and I’m thinking, ‘That’s raw male instinct.’ And I was hooked.”

“In the past,” psychologist Takashi Tomita tells the magazine, “women who got naked did it purely for money. Now it’s a form of self-expression. Women want to appeal sexually to crowds of men. It’s a form of self-assertion.”

“I was a bit shy at first,” admits a 26-year-old freeter who strips by night. But then, she adds, “it’s so liberating!”

And not just for young women. “For two years,” says a 40-something woman – one of a great many – who posed nude for a magazine, “I pretended not to notice my husband’s philandering. Then I thought, Now I’ll have my revenge.”

© Japan Today

©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.

93 Comments
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I paid a photographer 30,000 yen, and we went to a hotel

I need to change my job to this.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

Deflation Driven Desire, nothing but money, for the sake of money !

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I think TOKYONOVICE took the words not only out of my mouth but from ever other regular guy here on JT! Getting paid for taking pictures of beautiful nude women! THe heck with my English lessons! But wait, how about nude English lessons say like in the middle of summer...

1 ( +1 / -0 )

I must have been living in the part of town where women don't reveal themselves.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Dang, I need to get some professional equipment and help these ladies out. For a reasonable fee of course.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

When I was doing my video slide shows on various sites, and had over 3,000,000 views, the women I photographed nude, mostly did it as a way to preserve their young beauty. I thought their reasoning was quite wonderful to be exact. I enjoyed the artwork, and had fun doing it. Writing the music for the shows was the hard part. Eventually, women from around the world were asking me to do pieces for them and I did. I did everything for free by the way. And no, the pieces of course are on my portables, but I removed them all from the net except for on YouTube. Site is still up there as someone hacked my simple password and changed it. YT refuses to remove the site as I used false names to sign the work. Oh well, I will be in cyberspace until the day I die.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

shonanthebeach 136 vids still up there. These women make great models.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

actually my friends did some research into this. they posed as movie producers, and they starting asking young and attractive ladies passing by if they are interested to star into an amateur porn movie. well paid, foreign kakkoii actors, no hard stuff. If I remember correctly, about 1/3 were interested and agreed

0 ( +0 / -0 )

the flare of the flash… I got so excited I couldn’t restrain myself.” The photographer made no effort to restrain her, and “I’d never been so wild before. It felt absolutely wonderful. The photos were fine too.” .......................................

ummmmmm, what's that supposed to mean ??

0 ( +0 / -0 )

“For two years,” says a 40-something woman – one of a great many – who posed nude for a magazine, “I pretended not to notice my husband’s philandering. Then I thought, Now I’ll have my revenge.”

................ yeah, you go, girl !!

0 ( +0 / -0 )

But how is this possible? The Japanese are soooo shy!

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I love the stories of these women. Am I wrong to guess that when these ladies get wild, the photographers (the poor men) go out of control,and anything can happen?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

And the 40 year old's way of solving her problem deserves a nobel prize? Heard a variety of such excuses from women about why they want to cheat. The best that is lingering in my mind is that of a 57 year old woman. Don't want to see the old body of the retired husband. Has sons who are around 30 and doing high profile jobs. She is looking for adventure with young foreign men. Mind you she was never employed.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Nothing wrong with a woman wanting to be photographed naked but you gotta be careful about it. Going to a hotel with a photographer is just risky and stupid! Some of these women may think they are liberated but they are more likely being naive. For a mature and smart woman, no problem.

There are lots of men out there who take advantage of young woman who are either naive or money-hungry or both. The money is definitely an attractive part of it; especially in Japan where a female student or OL is probably pulling in a pretty small wage.

It can be an empowering experience for a mature woman who loves herself and her body and is doing it for the right reasons.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

My interpretation: women love attention. The path of least resistance for getting attention -for an attractive girl- is to bare some skin. Or to dress up in Lolita fashion.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

It appears that none of you grew up in the 60's during days of Nam. Had a draft card, but did not go. Sexual freedom was wonderful. Sexual freedom here in Japan is the only freedom they have. Leave it be. Everything they do is told how, when and where.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

But it is their culture and their country, so love it or leave it.

typical.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

" Plainest of all is the fact that Japan is awash in nude photos and videos – the so-called “adult videos” (AVs) "

Waitasec. Isn´t the writer confused about the topic? Adult videos are a different animal from nude pictures (called "gravure" here), which do not depict sex acts. And which also form a large part of classical European art. Seems to me he/she is writing about two different subjects, mixing them up into a meaningless hodgepodge.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Its all going back to adam and eve. Noting wrong right?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Nothing*

0 ( +0 / -0 )

dolphingirl, you say it's "empowering."

I say that's a euphemism for narcissism.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Personally I found the west just as smutty(maybe more so). It just isn't in the public eye like in Japan.

Yeah, Japanese are NOT shy depending on situations/company. Which suits me as I come from a similar culture.

Really feel sorry for the puritans traveling the globe.

Most japanese are aware of it as are teens overseas and the old nudge and wink gets you a lot of attention and action.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Um, this article is just stating that Japanese chicks like to get their gear off. I'd suggest that is the reason more than half of the foreign men are here. Not that I am a porn fan, but the difference between Japanese porn and western porn is very clear. Western porn contains mostly porn queens and men with huge dongers, but Japanese porn is just the girl next door doing her thing with one or many men.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

ouch damn cool

0 ( +0 / -0 )

...a photographer would naturally encounter women inclined that way....

Truthfully, I wouldn't care if they were inclined or standing, or in any other position. In fact, I'd have them run the gamut - as a professional, of course.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I agree with the one poster about it being narcissistic. Just look at the skimpy amount of clothing many women wear even in the middle of winter. That's a clue right there. Can't say I hate it. In fact, I downright love it!

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Freedom for women, freedom for women.

Yet I am glad my wife did not belong to the 1 in 500 :-)

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Are sure she didn't belong?

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

I see some minds are working over-time here again. Naked woman + Photographer = sex ..... Too much Pron fantasy, IMHO.

A pro-photographer cares more about getting a good shot than the subject he is shooting, he is a pro and earns a living from his work and reputation Not saying things might not happen but unlikely. It is his job to take a subject and show it to its best advantage, angle, etc.

Either way good for the ladies, they are comfy with their bodies, etc. Know many woman that aren't comfy with theirs and it affects the relations with their partners, etc.

Ditto for guys. You are who you are. Things don't get bigger, firmer, etc especially as we get older.

Be comfortable in yourself and see the world change around you.

My View.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Zenny, way too uplifting, new-age post.

let's all keep in mind the source of this "article," 'mkay?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

The Japanese have a much fresher approach to nudism than westerners do, they have no religious guilt trips to hold them back. Things here are as you see them, no BS. Chicks wanna show it ? You go girls !

0 ( +0 / -0 )

This is non-news right? I don't think Japanese women are any different from women in any other ennui-drenched post industrial economy.

People like to get naked, especially if they look nice. Nothing too odd about that. Maybe I am a cold fish, but if I have five minutes to kill in front of a rack of magazines, I don't dive for the SPORNO or Jubbly mags.

It is a whole lot of noise. Nudity is great, and then you get older and clothes are great, and then you get older and fiber is great. When has it been any different?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

This article is useless without an accompanying photo gallery.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

klein2, stop making sense!

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Go ahead Japanese women. Liberate Yourselves!!!

0 ( +0 / -0 )

“Why are Japanese women so eager to bare themselves?”

Because when it comes down to it, what else have they've got to show for themselves?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

"There are lots of men out there who take advantage of young woman who are either naive or money-hungry or both"

"I paid a photographer 30,000 yen, and we went to a hotel"

dolphingirl, agreed. --the tipoff, for control of proper lighting, among other things, why not a professional photography studio?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

If you've got it, flaunt it!

0 ( +0 / -0 )

"If you've got it, flaunt it!"

The other day I saw a Japanese woman wearing denim hot pants and boots. Of course her jacket just came down to her waist so as not to cover any of her magnificent legs.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

It is Thanksgiving in America, and thank goodness the Japanese didn't have Pilgrims and their ultra conservative view of the beauty of the human body.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Zenny:

" Back home all public pools(outdoor) been topless for decades "

So where is "back home", Zenny? I had you pegged as Norwegian before, but even in Norway (where I have relatives), this is not true. Frankly, I can not think of one European country that fits that topless pool description of yours.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

@Salsero

Are sure she didn't belong?

Very, very absolutely. Why would you ask?

Moderator: Stay on topic please.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Zenny11 wrote: "Naked woman + Photographer = sex"

LOL!! Hmmn, I'm gonna have to buy a camera and get into this flesh photo thingy. lol!

0 ( +0 / -0 )

We are living in a golden age!

0 ( +0 / -0 )

"Why are Japanese women so eager to bare themselves?"

Not sure, but I am just as eager for them to do so! I'd like to open a private studio, but where to advertise? Shufu no Tomo?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

The other day I was with my family in Shinjuku, just going out for lunch, I noticed a very lovely pregnant Japanese woman in the same crowded elevator and a few minutes later, her husband pulls out this huge digital camera and was looking at some pictures he had taken, I just happened to take a peek and they were all of his beautiful NAKED pregnant wife!

0 ( +0 / -0 )

After reading this, I just took up photography. Buying my camera today!

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Ok, here's my two cents. The women finally feel liberated enough to express their womanhood. Even in public. I think it's nice to see people celebrating themselves!

0 ( +0 / -0 )

This article is useless without an accompanying photo gallery.

Yep. Completely agree Sarge. Usually JT is quite accommodating with the soft porn so why are they holding out now? Shame. Get with it JT.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Re: "The other day I saw a Japanese woman wearing denim hot pants and boots. Of course her jacket just came down to her waist so as not to cover any of her magnificent legs."

Not often we get to see magnificent legs here in Japan sarge. Beautiful faces, but the fashion for legs like bambi does nothing for me.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Japanese women now losing their moral values and have degraded themselves to such a low level and have a warped idea of what is beauty and and what is not. That makes them really to be bad future mothers, not to mention that Japan already have lots of bad fathers. Japan is now on the way of its self destruction. I think because the media has painted "evil" as good and good as "evil", people now have wrong perceptions and moral values. Now these generations and generations to come will become worst. Leaders of this nation should do something about it. This is the reason I pulled out my daughters from a Japanese school. The school cannot teach the right moral values. If they can't then I should do something about it and teach them myself.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Funny how society is ok with everyone watching the world be destroyed in movies, or violence or suffering. But sex is still a taboo. Twisted priorities.

If you are happy being naked, showing some skin or taking photos, why not? Enjoy it while you can if you are an adult and prepared to accept any negative consequences.

Better than violent images in any case.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

If you have something to show that is appreciable why not go ahead. And beauty is only for some days.... Save it before it vanish.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

4icejp: It's not up to the government or schools to teach morals. That's what parents should be doing.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

The magazine which contains this article has very low quality. Don't believe this that much.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

The magazine which contains this article has very low quality. Don't believe this that much.

Bingo! Again, no statistics, no real data, just some guy saying that there is 'increase' in women showing themselves in porn videos or in magazines. But let's look at one quote 'the so-called “adult videos” (AVs), produced at a rate of some 10,000 a year. By Shukan Gendai’s reckoning, that would mean one woman in 500 has appeared in an AV.' So, one in 500 Japanese women are porn artists. Uh? Really? Maybe, just maybe, those 10,000 videos have the same woman in them but with a little different makeup or hair style. No one can say, exactly how many ORIGINAL or new women are becoming porn "artists"--for lack of a better word. I do agree with 4icejp in that women who are going to star in porn videos might want to hide this later on, or might find it hard to get married in the first place because too many men know about the video or they just love this kind of life. Subculture is everything and the subculture of porn is not necessarily the best one to build a society on. And the fact that this business is like baseball! After your are 30 something, it's bye-bye. Then what kind of real skills do the women have to fall back on?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Wow, that's some tunnel vision. "Japan has lots of porn" = "women like to be naked". That's like saying America has lots of fast food because people like cooking junk for others.

Look up real amateur porn, and the US has way more than Japan.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

The major porn stars typically have 40 to 100 videos each. Look it up in their discography, it's pretty staggering. Some even change names and production companies, meaning they double or triple dip lol.

Extrapolating a small segment of the population to the country is pretty hilarious. By that logic, everybody has gay sex.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Gurukun........."After reading this, I just took up photography. Buying my camera today!" ,...........hahahaah same

0 ( +0 / -0 )

4icejp has apparently confused "beauty" and "morals". Morals deal with social inter-relationships and expectations. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and exists whether there is social interaction or not. You cannot teach "beauty". You CAN teach "morals".

These ladies have accepted the burden of dealing with the self-rightous moralizing by the 4icejp's of the world in order to let the world evaluate them on their beauty and sensuality.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Sunjovi: "Save it before it vanish"

You mean "Flaunt it before it vanishes."

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I dont think it is exclusive to Japanese women. Celebrity American women (and the wanna bees) are nude all over magazines and in strip clubs too. The only difference is Japanese women have a much better package to see because they are all natural.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

1 in every 500 women is not as bad as it seems. Every woman wants to know that she is wanted at one point or another, maybe the significant other is not making them feel pretty. "Wife- does this make me look fat?" "Husband-.......... sukoshi?" Woman walks away in a huff ha

0 ( +0 / -0 )

TheRat, in Japan we have our own moral code but then we are not descendant fro Puritans and the like. Only difference between America and Japan is we do not pretend that it is bad in other words not flaming hypocrites. Our bodies are natural and nothing to be ashamed.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Speaking as an American, I do not think it's wrong at all to "flaunt it if you've got it." Japan and many other countries (Brazil comes to mind) are ahead of the U.S. in this regard.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

cause they are beautiful generally

0 ( +0 / -0 )

2 thoughts to this.

Nudity and sexuality to the Japanese are different to those of the west. More relaxed, more natural. It's a form of power women can utilize in a society that still considers them the weaker of the species and treats them accordingly. In that context, ff you can reduce a man to a dribbling mess by revealing yourself to him, but then deny him the physical access, it must be an incredibly powerful experience. I don't doubt it doesn't have major appeal to some.
0 ( +0 / -0 )

bdiego :

Look up real amateur porn, and the US has way more than Japan

You are right on ! And do not forget Europe where porn is normalized . Besides this whole discussion reflects vacuity, and one wonders why it is even a "news item". Perhaps JT finds it a scintillating theme ! roll eyes

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

"Not eager enough! I want to see some t!t flashing in clubs, nude beaches, and more sexual liberty! Go girls!"

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I fully agree with making youth a Kodak moment. I tried and tried and tried to get my wife to make a video of our natural act, all five sweaty minutes of it (I'm kidding), using this as my main argument. When I am 80, I wanted to see us bang like thirty year olds. Sadly, the only shape I am in now is round. The wife still looks pretty hot though. I'm gonna have to have her read this article. Wish me luck!

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Sadly, the only shape I am in now is round.

MeanRingo-Lighten up, my friend! Round is a shape too (^^) And Good Luck!

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Tamarama: I think you hit the nail on the head!

MeanRingo: LOL!

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Meanringo:

Hidden camera is the word :-)

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Young naked women are beautiful alright, but I'd rather look at my wife. Anyway, this article is crazy. The question posed is "why are Japanese women so eager to bare themselves?" then it produces a statistic that that out of 500 women 499 have NOT appeared in an AV. Shouldn't the question be the opposite. It's just not true statistically that women are flaunting their naked bodies.

In case, readers don't realize, articles like this are indeed just for titillation. They so the ojisan in the train can read the article and think about whether the women in the same carriage would do something like that. The next week there will be an article about "Why women like chikan?" Not worth taking seriously.

On the other hand - it's pretty well known that women love to think their faces and bodies are beautiful and desired. The real question, is why did I bother even commenting on this?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

but, desire or more exactly the drive for sex is dying in Japanese girls. Funny thing is they do not even want the expensive gifts from skebe oyaji salarymen in exchange for sex, now the trend is all about expressionism, Japanese girls want themselves known for their individual uniqueness and creativeness, not as symbols of sex.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I think this article it total bunk.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Why are Japanese women so eager to bare themselves?

To please their men.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

This article is trash.

I wish Japanese women really were eager to bare themselves.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Huge % of strippers are foreigners - or so I have been told.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Change the question to one which is more semantically appropriate please:

Why are Japanese women who bare themselves so eager to do so?

They need cash. They want cash. They have no respect for themselves. They are narcissistic. They are bored with life. They don't understand the reality of what they are doing. They do understand the reality of what they are doing.

Lucky 7.

Pick one of them, it's the same reason any other woman or man does the same, in any other country.

The End.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

...the so-called “adult videos” (AVs), produced at a rate of some 10,000 a year. By Shukan Gendai’s reckoning, that would mean one woman in 500 has appeared in an AV.

Umm, something tells me Shukan Gendai didn't take into account that a single AV actress could be in 50 of those 10,000 AV's/year and that the same actress will appear in AV's for multiple years. That will probably skew their 1:500 ratio a bit.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Nobody wants to deny that. Japanese girls is so open, brave and beauty.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

tch tch tch. They beer themselves, then bare themselves to an old bear, and then they cannot bare themselves any more.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Great time to be a photographer. Imagine THEM paying YOU to take naked pictures!

0 ( +0 / -0 )

ANSWER: Because they are slutty and have no scruples.

Moderator: Please tone down your rhetoric. Such comments lower the level of discussion and reflect badly on yourself.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I hope you are speaking in your professional capacity, American_Bengoshi.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

“In the past,” psychologist Takashi Tomita tells the magazine, “women who got naked did it purely for money. Now it’s a form of self-expression. Women want to appeal sexually to crowds of men. It’s a form of self-assertion.”

This is bunkum. Until westerners came, and so to be (un) civilised they made a law against it, Japanese men and women got their kit off in mixed public baths. Hiding ones body is very unhealthy. Added to that, the Japanese live in the imaginary (Lacan) rather than the symbolic world of words, so to have to hide ones body is like being forced to keep quiet about ones personality. Everyone wants to be loved for the things with which they are ego invested.

If someone complements me on my typing skills, then I won't give a damn because typing is not something I care about. If someone compliments me on my nihonron I will feel a deep warm feeling, because my nihonron is what I care about.

Japanese people in general, and Japanese women in particular are deeply ego-invested in thier bodies. If they have to keep it covered up, then compliments, said or unsaid are going to be few on the ground.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

From the headline I thought this would be about the super short skirts the ladies and lasses wear. Instead it is strippers. Oh well.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Japanese women will do anything if the image is right and there's money involved. There is no set of core values that needs to be persuaded. It's very easy to convince them to do anything so long as image and money are dangled. They have no values to fall back on to be strong.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I bet undertakers see the world as full of dying people, for police officers it's filled with criminals, and for psychiatrists most of us are crazy. For a weekly magazine reporter catering to male interests Japan is swarming with ladies itching to get their kit off. In my experience it's absolutely not true that Japanese women are eager to show off their body, not more than women of other nationalities anyway. However, to those few who are comfortable with nudity and want to push the boundaries of what is deemed OK in Japan, more power to you girls. I won't be complaining.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

on japanese variety shows, the men are much more eager to bare themselves. especially the old, fat & ugly. girls in bikinis on late night shows, but i never see them gettin' nude. not even close in prime-time. i'm tired of seein' j-dudes gettin' nekkid on t.v. ... it's sickenin'.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Let all hang out.....maybe that is the reason why

0 ( +0 / -0 )

People posting about size and proportions are the exact reason people feel embarrassed or shy to wear swimsuits. Pathetic and childish to say the least.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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