April 13, 2010
SŌshoku Danshi
By Dominic Carter
Walking up and down the streets of Shibuya on a Saturday
afternoon, Yuuji Morimoto was surprised at what he saw. Things
seemed quite different to the way they were 5 years ago when he left
Japan to attend university in the United States. Everywhere he
looked, there were an increasing number of men wearing clothes
normally seen on women, standing outside with mirrors fixing their
hair, walking with heads down and headphones blaring as they let
their PSPs drown out the reality around them, and sitting alone in
café’s reading novels while sipping lattes. What was this new
phenomenon, he asked a friend later. It was then that he was told of
the recent increase of soushoku danshi, or “grass eating boys” in
Japanese society. But where have all the big money-spending, sake
drinking, secretary chasing carnivores of the bubble era gone, and
who are these replacements?
Soushoku danshi are characterized by their meek personalities, lack
of interest in women and sex, and their lack of desire to lead
competitive, active lives. This trend in breaking away from what
was normal for men 10-15 years ago and being happy with “the
norm”, has been said to have been derived from the economic
stagnation of the 1990s in Japan. The media is split on the topic, as
are the public. Some see soushoku danshi as refreshing, especially
with the recent high influx of foreign “meat eaters” to Tokyo and
other parts of Japan. Others, many women included, are worried
about the future of Japanese society, and also disappointed in the
country’s men for not taking more initiative in the daily scheme of
things and at least attempting to live normal, active, romantic,
spontaneous, and interactive lives with members of the opposite sex
as well.
Japanese companies are also worried as more and more herbivores
continue to change the ways businesses operate internally in terms of
healthy competition, as well as about revenue, as lack of competitive
spirit and a goal or purpose to save their money is fueling an anemic
consumption rate, especially for firms offering status products such
as luxury cars, brand name items, etc.
Perhaps the most irked at the situation, though, are the women
existing in this new world of men who are more interested in taking
up personal hobbies than in dating, etc. Lackluster marriages and
couple relationships are not the most disturbing area of this
phenomenon. Women are more worried about the fact that men seem
to be becoming increasingly unable to even verbally communicate
their feelings to women at all if the topic is not related to work or
something un-personal. Some are saying that this communication
problem stems from the fact that many of the “now soushoku
danshi” grew up without siblings in households where both parents
were frequently busy working instead of spending time with their
children. As if the egos of these men weren’t low enough already,
the simultaneous development of a new breed of female in the
workplace further serves to highlight the growing issue of soushoku
danshi. Japanese females are shifting societal roles, becoming career
women who marry later and who love to pursue personal hobbies,
while making money and saving for their futures. In the work
environment many of these women have more presence than their
male counterparts, which is doing nothing to inspire the men to try
harder but merely knocking them down another notch. The females
in Japanese society have become the hunters in relationships as
well, actively seeking out male counterparts due to lack of initiative
action from the opposite sex. Continuing, the male lack of
confidence when it comes to spending money these days stems from
the fact that many young males are now choosing completely
opposite career paths than their fathers and grandfathers. Men
today are deciding to go to art school, become musicians, or work in
beauty salons, where your next paycheck is not always as securely
guaranteed as the salary men of yesteryear who were granted lifetime
employment in large companies that offered them enough security to
make large purchases.
Alternative lifestyles, alternative fashion, and alternative goals in
life are all characteristic of the soushoku danshi, or “grass eating
boy”. The Internet also adds fuel to the fire with new manga series
about “boy love”, cross dressing, etc. It is almost as if Japanese
society sees the problem but does the opposite of what it should to fix
it. Although many of these men appear gay, many are not, and are
merely choosing to shun both traditional Japanese lifestyle
standards as well as the stereotypical standards adopted previously
as a result of Western influence. These “middle men” do not care
about how others view them, as to them the trends of modern society
have indeed “run their course”.