Housewives of Kendou

[Confound]

Am I the only one who finds it hilarious that among the tournaments listed on the All Japan Kendou Federation, we find the "Housewives of Kendou Championship" in Tokyo on August 6th? How do we prove she's a housewife? O right, she's a Japanese woman, its not like she has too many options anyway.

c

[mingshi]

http://www.kendo.or.jp/japanese/news/2002-kateihujin-youkou.html

Hi Confound,

according to the regulations (at the above link), competitors should be:-
1) registered as a AJKF member
2) married housewives
3) below Godan for the 1st-4th team member; no restrictions for the 5th (taijo?)
4) max. 2 for same occupation (eg. police officer, teacher <-possibly PE teacher...and yes housewives doesn't mean she's to sit at home looking after babies after Kendo practice!!)
5) recommended by local association; (chosen through local competitions, etc)
6) one team from each prefecture; 2 teams for Tokyo
7) age for team members: 1st=20s, 2nd-3rd=30s, 4th-5th=40s+
8) 1 team manager with 5 members; team manager can also be a member of the team
9) proved healthy

Satisfied??

[JSchmidt]

Question; If you really dislike Japan so much why are you still there?.
This is an honest question; I moved country once myself (for work) and spend the first year hating it, until I realised that either I put up with it or left.
Just because things are different, doesnt mean that they are wrong.

Jakob

[Kendoka]

It is good that Japanese women who may not be in the workforce are able to enjoy kendo and compete against others with a similar profile.

I'll bet they are tough!

Richard

[richard haly]

Housewives and Japanese women...

Confound, in a number of earlier posts you have referred to Japanese women as stupid or "air-headed" or something along those lines. I think you are missing something. The submissiveness, lolita-like, perpetual sumimasen is not what it appears to be. It is a sophisticated cultural exchange in which some people can be better than others (brains help). People often make mistakes re. Japanese culture when looking for an "essence" whereas it is the "periphery" that counts for most. Watch "gift giving" if you want to see real stuff. Likewise, as an young acquaintance here lamented "the Japanese are clueless. They wear all these clothes and listen to music and have no idea as to its real meaning." He is assuming that the meaning he ascribes is the real one. Other cultures do work in different ways (fortunately). This doesn't mean they are all equally valid or "good", just that it takes a lot of examination of one's own assumptions to begin to understand 'em.

[Alex]

Confound- 46 posts to date and hardly a positive thing to say...:(

At least you're livening things up with your misery. Go and have some tonkatsu and take a chill pill. Japan has its problems, but it's not all that bad. :)

[Hyaku]

Mr Haly

Forgive me if I am wrong but I dont think the stupid airheads Confound was referring to are the sophisticated cultural ladies you refer to. Its the bleached dippy keitai garu. First it was Ko-garu who made prostitutes look fashionable. Now we have O-garu a breed of unhygenic smelly girls that wear unwashed undies for weeks

Also I think she was saying that, Is there anything other that women can do other than be a housewife? There are no options. A few have succeeded well but most who do are usually unmarried. Its the norm here that once you get married you "should" stay at home and look after the family. The only employment you can get is an OL (office lady). There are quite a few teachers though.

Hence the rise in women that do not want to get married or are leaving it later and later.

Maybe Im wrong. Perhaps she dislikes all of em lol

I'd best let her answer

Hyaku

[Confound]

Originally posted by richard haly
Housewives and Japanese women...

Confound, in a number of earlier posts you have referred to Japanese women as stupid or "air-headed" or something along those lines. I think you are missing something. The submissiveness, lolita-like, perpetual sumimasen is not what it appears to be. It is a sophisticated cultural exchange in which some people can be better than others (brains help). People often make mistakes re. Japanese culture when looking for an "essence" whereas it is the "periphery" that counts for most. Watch "gift giving" if you want to see real stuff. Likewise, as an young acquaintance here lamented "the Japanese are clueless. They wear all these clothes and listen to music and have no idea as to its real meaning." He is assuming that the meaning he ascribes is the real one. Other cultures do work in different ways (fortunately). This doesn't mean they are all equally valid or "good", just that it takes a lot of examination of one's own assumptions to begin to understand 'em.

[Confound]

Originally posted by Alex
Confound- 46 posts to date and hardly a positive thing to say...:(

At least you're livening things up with your misery. Go and have some tonkatsu and take a chill pill. Japan has its problems, but it's not all that bad. :)

I've had a few to say actually. (that last post was a mistake. bloody tab..)

Re: Haly and Dr. A.

About Japanese women.... There's a huge trade-off in this culture. There aren't many places in the world where a woman can walk down the street at 3 am in the morning and have few worries about being assaulted (if you're alone, if you're walking down the same street with a male who isn't a blood relative, i'd be careful). Japanese women aren't stupid per se, I've met many that are actually pretty sharp, once they realize they don't need to put on the 'act' around you. However, Japanese society, frankly, does like its women barefoot and pregnant.

Let's delve a little here, and get technical.

Through the traditional means of socialization, women in Japan are taught to behave in ways that appear, to women from Western cultures, as though they are bloody incompetant retards. That said, the surface appearance isn't always the case, however, that doesn't stop me from being annoyed by it. Though there have been some excellent changes in attitudes towards women, their options in the working world, in the social world and especially in academia, are still limited. Women in Japan also get a very bum rap in the legal system. Many women who try to get divorces are unable, and those who finally succeed, may lose their children.

The climate of this culture is not mysogynistic in any sense, in some bizarre way, it elevates and objectifies women. Though in our daily lives, we are all objectified to some degree, the level of female objectificationi in this culture is extremely high! Women are like dolls in a parade, it's absolutely staggering. I only know a few Japanese women (all of them married), who are not elaborately coiffed, pressed and presented every morning. It's impressive really, however, when one looks at the historical view of women in Japan, it is not altogether surprising.

To keep this post from becoming even LONGER, I'll only point out the most obvious, and most curious, aspect of women as pbjects in Japan: the geisha. Everything in her appearance, her training and her work makes her an object of art. She is a walking masterpiece, both aesthetically and intellectually. I've opened up a large can of worms here, as there are many misunderstood things about japan, and geisha are close to the top, not that i'm an expert, but still.

at any rate, that's about all i feel like typing about objectification of women, but i'm sure that i'll end up typing more later after some of the replies come in...


re: my 'misery'
you have to admit, Dr. A, that there really are many romantic notions about Japan, mostly on the part of people who honestly haven't been here. i get very annoyed by these 'starry eyed views' of Japan, mostly from people who like anime, manga, video games, and other things related to Japan (even martial arts). You get a very different perspective on any country when you visit it as opposed to when you live there, I call this the Holiday Inn Syndrome, but that's another rant entirely.

I do like living here, most of the time, but when i read such strange and silly things, I really do get annoyed. Tonkatsu incidentally is a wonderful thing, and i'll miss it when i move away.

re: Hyaku

Thank the great fish for Hyaku. He grokks it. Consistently.

About women succeeding, Hyaku, you're quite right.

School Tea lady
Office Lady
Nurse
Accountant (almost all the school accountants in my city are female)
Language teacher (English, Chinese, Japanese)
Hostess (this is hardly a job you can have for over 5 or 10 years)
Mama-san

Those are the main options. I've been lucky enough to meet women who have succeeded in other fields, but i'd hardly say their achievements are normal.

[KhawMengLee]

hmmnnn....just because one is a housewife doesn't mean one isn't successful. My mom is a housewife and she is the best darned mother anyone can have.

I must admit that kogals are annoying but not every girl I've met in Japan was like that( this adding to the fact that I was staying next to kitakyushu women's college). Then again I stayed in Kyushu so maybe its not as crazy as tokyo.

mmmm....tonkatsu...I think I'll have that for din dins.

meng

[David J]

Originally posted by JSchmidt
I moved country once myself (for work) and spend the first year hating it, until I realised that either I put up with it or left.
Jakob

What made you hate it so much Jakob?

[JSchmidt]

"What made you hate it so much Jakob?"

Why, it was different!. :D.
I've seen in others since. They go to another country, notice that things are done 'differently', but instead of just accepting that things are 'different' they say it's 'wrong'.

When in Rome.....


Jakob