Overseas people see Japanese women as sexual beings and think they don’t speak up for themselves, but I’ve always thought that is not true.

99.9 percent of the "sexualization of Japanese women" in the world is done in Japan by Japanese people. Have you seen the JAV industry's offerings? Boundless imagination when it comes to sexualizing women, including the really extreme BDSM stuff, which can be disgusting. When people overseas are subjected to such sexualization it nearly always comes directly through a Japanese filter. Reddit has several highly subscribed JAV subs.

As for bathing, Japan TV is filled with scenes of attractive young women bathing at onsen, it's a staple. Why is it suddenly a sin when a foreign production does it even just briefly?

And as for not speaking up, gimme a break. The most famous Japanese woman in the West is Yoko Ono. And yeah, she's veeeeery well known for speaking up. LOL.

Anna is delusional and I think highly insecure, which explains her xenophobic comments.

Nice comment, JeffLee. Very true.

It's true. And you can also add "Japanese men" to the title.

As someone who's married to a Japanese lady who is never shy about ripping me a new one if she is displeased, Ms. Sawai has a definite point.

I meant "overseas people and Japanese men"...

Xenophobic much, Anna? Totally ignoring the JAV industry and J-men as JeffLee pointed out? Well, this “overseas person” won’t be watching anything with you in it. See how you like them apples.

The Anjin in James Clavell's book is described as having a large appendage that wows Japanese ladies several times in the book. Apparently talking about it was a running joke among the producers of the Disney version.

In the context of her acting in a Clavell adaptation, which also includes people committing seppuku every five minutes, her comment makes sense.

The sexualization of women here is an established / accepted part of the social consciousness.

It is the structure of much of media's presentations incl tv, sms, film, advertising, magazines and filters into business, work environment. entertainment and daily life.

The same can be said of other countries too, but the pace is certainly set here.

And I find there is often an over-sexualization of "western" women here by the same above sectors.

The blue-eyed blonde fantasizing phenomena is strong as.

All a bit cringe-worthy.

My wife, Asian, knew that more men approached her than her friends because she was Asian. She hated it, and her Asian friends told endless stories about "Asian-Freaks" and "Yellow Fever". We aren't together anymore, but I had a friend gush and gush about how beautiful she was. Watching his behavior I could tell he had a thing for Asian women. I don't know why, but in the US a lot of guys have a thing for Asian women. A guy putting in a new refrigerator one time asked me if I was married. I said yes, she's from Korea. "Wow!" he said. "I wish I had an Asian wife." I see it everywhere. Still don't quite understand the fantasy, but it's real. Ask any Asian woman in the US. Almost all of them have had such an experience. It happens in France, too. Any other place, I don't know, but I can vouch for what Sawai says.

In the US a lot of guys have a thing for Asian women.

"The US"? Women from northeast Asia are popular among men in many places in the world, not just the US. In South and Southeast Asia, they are admired for their light complexions. I've heard that Japanese and Chinese women who venture to Africa get lots and lots of male attention. Just about everywhere. I don't know about Latin America, though.

Asian women being submissive and subsequently sexual objects is a Western stereotype that goes back to the 1800s. Based primarily on the early contacts with Japan where in fact the women were delegated to a submissive role. To a Western man, a beautiful and submissive woman is a dream come true. There have always been men who are fixated on Asian women, predominantly because of the stereotype. Many of these men "can't deal" with the hardball playing Western women.

The Japanese AV industry is for the domestic audience, as well as overseas Asian fetish audiences. This has absolutely nothing to do with what Anna Sawai is talking about, and is way out in left field.

I have known plenty of men in the west with no interest in Asian women too. They just can't see the attraction. And then there are others who might like Thai women but not Japanese or Chinese. I think it is Anna Sawai who might be doing the stereotyping. It may even be based on her own personal experience but that doesn't mean she should generalise about "overseas people". TBH it is practically racist. Hopefully the quote is taken out of context but, if not, she has diminished in my estimation.

And as others have said, the sexualisation of women is so ubiquitous in Japan that is the water we swim in (though it was worse 30 years ago). That, of course, doesn't make it right, whether of Japanese or any other women, anywhere else.

Come on, guys the Japanese Geisha and/or Chinese Dragon Lady sexual fantasy is something that cannot be denied in the USA at least dating back to at least the mid 19th century. I applaud Anna Sawai for standing up against this stereotype and making demands on the Shogun producers.

As someone who's married to a Japanese lady who is never shy about ripping me a new one if she is displeased, Ms. Sawai has a definite point.

I'll second that, being married to 5 foot 2 of semi-tamed Rottweiler.

Every culture has its people interested in those who are different (imagined as exotic), be it Whites attracted to Asians or Blacks, Asians attracted to Blacks or Whites and Blacks attracted to Asians or Whites, etc.

Japans history of onsen's as where the families and communities bathed together daily is a factor for Japan. French embracing nudity in modern art, Greeks and Roman's in ancient art. These things can often have a beginning in the innocent and acceptable.

Sawai not doing the scene in the onsen reflects her modern perception but defies the perceptions of the time in the 16th and 17th century Japan. She is entitled fully to object to doing any nude scene or scene that makes her uncomfortable. That being said, when doing a period piece where every aspect is meticulously researched to ensure authentic portrayal, her refusal would be out of character for the person she portrayed. A shame as it would have been a fun scene with the Anjin being no doubt somewhat embarrassed, as he would be the one not used to bathing with others let alone with a woman.

“ Overseas people see Japanese women as sexual beings and think they don’t speak up for themselves, but I’ve always thought that is not true. “

( Anna Sawai, who won the best actress Emmy for her role in “Shogun.” She said she set her own rules for production in an attempt to change overseas views that sexualize Japanese women, including refusing to appear in a scene that required her to remove her clothes and bathe in a hot spring )

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Hmm, the fact that she doesn’t acknowledge that women (of all races) are oversexualized anywhere in the world makes her opinion a little hard to accept as valid—

a small and important detail in what she said (and which she seems to focus on): “ … and think they don’t speak up for themselves … “; well, Japanese women (in general) are known to be submissive (and that’s part of the reason why many men around the world are attracted to Japanese/Asian women)—perhaps Anna doesn’t wanna accept and understand this reality and where this reality comes from and how that might change for the better in the future, but what she’s always thought/her experiences and what she wants that reality to be are two completely different things;

…

but hey, I agree with everything Anna Sawai says, heheh, (and it’s true that there are too many stereotypes); all the best to her—sincerely hoping that Shogun (an amazing show) is just the continuation of a successful journey for her (on the world stage) and allows her to gain even more recognition in the future.

Japanese women and popular in most places because...they are real women. This is different from what many see in America and parts of Europe. Many American women think they are men, and I am not just talking about the mentally ill "transgender" folks.

@Gene Hennigh

Still don't quite understand the fantasy, but it's real. Ask any Asian woman in the US. 

Maybe it hasn't quite occurred to you yet Gene, but yes, many people do have particular preferences when it comes to potential or fantasy love interests. "Asian" can be one. On the other hand, some people are into very "heavy" types of any ethnic background. We could draw up a list, but surely that's not necessary.

@Peter14

Thanks as always for your sane and thoughtful comments.

So, when she says “overseas people” does that include all the people of southeast Asia as well?

I'd say people think that because it's mostly true, and that's mainly because that's what Japanese men like. I'd say if you come here as a foreigner you are more likely to end up with a Japanese woman that speaks her mind, because that's usually the type that specifically goes after foreigners.

The average Japanese woman is for better or worse more obedient, docile and like men to take the lead or at least act like they do, Marry one and that goes out the window.

Can't blame people visiting here getting that image.

Will speak truths drop posting from JT? Here go, around the world for so long now Japanese porn are popular by showing women as sex. submissive and make it worse seems to encourage incest and forced sex; and like it or not, access to porn is easy nowadays through Internet so the believe of Japanese women are sex hungry and toy is nothing different than fake news that are getting more difficult to separate from facts.

Blaming ‘overseas people’ for seeing Japanese women as sexualized misses the point entirely. Japan itself is the source of hyper-sexualized images of its own women - look no further than the abundance of explicit anime, manga, and porn depicting them as submissive sex objects.

Virtue-signalers like Sawai are quick to call out Western influence but rarely, if ever, question the industries and cultural practices here in Japan that reinforce these stereotypes. Instead of ignoring this, maybe it’s time to look inward and acknowledge that Japan’s own media is the root cause of these perceptions.

Blaming ‘overseas people’ for seeing Japanese women as sexualized misses the point entirely. Japan itself is the source of hyper-sexualized images of its own women - look no further than the abundance of explicit anime, manga, and porn depicting them as submissive sex objects.

You are not contradicting the claim, you are explaining why this happens. For people inside the country the image on the media is counterbalanced with what they can see with their own eyes in the society. But for people overseas the image in the media is the only one they have, so they get the wrong idea very easily.

There is no virtue signaling nor western influence in the claim, she is simply saying the image overseas is not correct and there are plenty of opportunities to correct this. Changing the stereotypes in the media is just one of the many different things that can be done.

Nice comment, JeffLee. Very true.

I'll second that.

Xenophobic much, Anna? Totally ignoring the JAV industry and J-men as JeffLee pointed out? Well, this “overseas person” won’t be watching anything with you in it. See how you like them apples.

Same here.