Facebook

As this is March (the infamous month in a JET participants life when nothing ever happens) I have been spending a fair bit of time on facebook. As it seems have a number of other people in Toyama, inbetween reading other people’s blogs, travelling and watching Quantum Leap.

Here are some of things I like best about facebook (to be honest, I have nicked some of these ideas):

1.) The pointlessness of it

Facebook serves no purpose other than keeping dead friendships on life support and providing a space for people to complain about shit that no one cares about. (to be honest I didn’t think of that it was a quote I stole from somewhere on the internet - I changed the word “junk” to “shit” though because I thought it sounded better). This is the beauty of facebook, there is pretty much no point to it.

2.) Friends that you don’t really know or care about.

I like the way you get to add people who you vaguely know or knew 10 years ago as friends. You probably don't give a shit 'what they're up to now' but you leave one totally shit message on their wall, and they leave one totally shit message on your wall and then that’s it. (I copied that from my brother).

I also like the way some people add you as friends but know so little about them you can’t even write a totally shit message on their wall. It just looks like you’ve got more mates.

3.) Walls

I like it when people organise nights out and stuff via walls – facebook is clearly the best way of sorting out a night out.
Other enjoyable things about walls are a) people writing things that embarrass and/or reflect poorly on the person and b) no one writing at all and making the person seem like a loser.

4.) Pokes

Pokes are classic facebook. Totally pointless and signify nothing. Accepting a poke isn't an option, you can only hide a poke or poke back so once you’ve started a poke exchange there is no end to it. I particularly like the way having sent a poke it says “you have poked _________”
(____________ means the persons name)
I find this works best with Joy Neely.

4.) The gifts

I love the idea that people would actually pay money to send one of those gifts! Why would you do that!? "yeah didn't know what to get you for your birthday so I just paid for a totally shit little picture of a bear on the internet. I hope you like it."

5.) The bit where you get to say how you know the person.

It’s funny when you get to say you hooked up with people, and it’s sexy.

6.) The way on your profile if gives you two separate headings – one for activities and one for interests.

What’s the difference though? If you played badminton, would that be an interest or an activity? Wouldn’t it be an activity you are interested in? (This bit is stolen from Jamie)

7.) The News Feed

Probably my favourite thing about facebook is the News feed – I love the random bits of information it gives you.
For example:

Alan Hughes added “shagging” to his favourite activities. 4:35pm

Steve Thomson’s relationship is no longer listed as “complicated” 4:15pm

Chris Allen left the group You don’t have to be mental to work at Cheltenham and Gloucester morgages…… but it helps!!!!. 2:14pm

Lisa Jones added “Sister Act 2: Back in the habit” to her list of favourite movies. 1:45pm

Jim Griffin wrote on Simon Andrews wall. 11.33am
“"Achhk, you bahhhhhstaaard! That's not me bagpipe!"”


If you haven’t already joined facebook I definitely recommend it, it’s a great way to spend one’s life.

Red Face

In Japan it seems that a week cannot go by without someone telling me I have a red face. Phrases I often hear include “sugoi akai kao!” (you have an amazingly red face) “honto ni akai kao!” (you have a seriously red face) and “kanpekina akai kao” (you have the perfect red face).

It’s not really a compliment though is it? Having a red face is not exactly a thing you generally associate with good looks or beauty. You don’t normally hear conversations like this:

Barry: Check out that little fittie over there.

Mavo: Yeah, she is a real beauty, just look as those great knockers.

Barry: I’d love to have it off with her. What an amazing body.

Mavo: Yeah fucking gorgeous red face too.

People don’t tend to go to dating agencies and give their preferences like this: I’m hoping for a tall, dark haired, handsome man. A good sense of humour and an outgoing personality are essential. Oh, and if possible I’d really like him to have a red face.

Having a red face is so not attractive there isn’t even a weird niche porno site dedicated to it. You can find sites showing a woman sucking a dog’s cock or a midget shitting on a fat black woman’s face (so I’ve heard), but it seems that there are not even sick weirdo pervs that like red faces. I’ve never seen or heard of a porn site advertising “sexy red faced babes”.

I don’t know why all these people keep feeling they have to tell me I have a red face. I mean, I don’t usually go up to people and point out their unattractive features. I don’t come into school and say “hey Miyamoto sensei, you know, you have really disgusting teeth” or “by the way, Kawaguchi san, you’re a fat bastard”.

Why the red face.

It is often said that Japan falls behind other leading industralised nations when it comes to the treatment of women. Personally, I think this is complete bullshit. In fact, I think Japan should be praised for its attitudes towards gender equality.

I mean, sure, people can point out the fact that males tend to dominate in all walks of life in Japan but I think that’s missing the point. Ok, studies do show that Japanese women fall behind women in most other countries in economic and decision-making roles. Big wow. Yeah it’s true that Japan ranked a lowly 41st out of 70 countries in a recent United Nations Gender Empowerment study. So what!?

Does this mean that women are treated as inferior to men in Japan? I don’t think so.
Some people say that Japan’s business climate tends to be male-dominated. But is it really!? I mean, people may point to the figures that show that in Japan only 3% of department managers are female. Who cares! And so what if salaries for Japanese women are on average less than half of that of their male co-workers!? Is that really important?
I think that men and women are treated exactly as they should be, particularly on TV and across the media. I don’t think there is any objectification of women as sex objects at all. Also I don’t think you could never say that Japanese women are patronized. In fact, I think if anything, companies tend to be too feminist!

For example, an advert for Tokyo Gas Company a few years ago was praised for its enlightened attitude towards women. It was actually so successful that it even won the prestigious Asahi Advertising Prize.

Here is a brief description of the advert. It would probably be better to just show it but I couldn’t find it on youtube so what can you do.

The advert starts by showing a woman carrying out some normal everyday women’s duties (in this case, she is in the kitchen, wearing an apron and washing dishes whilst next to her a pot is boiling on a stove). It then shows the woman's reflection in a mirror, putting on lipstick (again, a perfectly normal thing for a woman to be doing). However, she can’t put the lipstick on very well because she is not looking at herself, she is watching the pot on the stove.

The advert is for a gas cooker with a special sensor that automatically stops the gas when the fire goes out. A caption read, "Toshi gasu wa feminsuto ne?" meaning, "City Gas is a feminist, isn't it?"

The idea is that because Tokyo Gas brought out this special gas cooker, it helps women with their tasks. She now doesn’t have to worry about the flame going out and her house filling with gas. This cooker would free her from constantly watching the stove and allow her to continue with her important “woman’s jobs” like doing the dishes, or putting on make-up.

I mean some people might argue that this is blatantly chauvinistic, but I would say that’s just political correctness gone mad! To me, this truly is an example of feminism – it is thinking about women’s needs. What a considerate company Tokyo Gas must be – always thinking about how it can improve women’s lives. For example, a woman might be in a real rush, she’s got a shitload of cleaning to do and she’s gotta cook dinner – how does she find the time to put her make up on!!!? Now, thanks to this new cooker she doesn’t have to worry about watching the stove the whole time.

No wonder the advert won an award.

I think these people moaning about gender inequalities and the like just need to chill the fuck out. Like I say, it’s political correctness gone mad!

I mean, for fucks sake, some people would probably even find this following video offensive. Personally I cannot see what the hell is wrong with a man going up to random women in the street and lifting their skirts and pulling their knickers down. Surely that is just a bit of harmless fun?

“Nihon wa feminsuto ne?”

video is nsfw