Howard just wrote in to comment on the gaijin in fundoshi post from yesterday:
I think "gaijin" in fundoshi are wrong on so many levels. It nearly reminds me of white boys in black face. There's an element of mockery here...and turning a Japanese custom into comedy. Yeah, I get the so-called erotic point. I wore a fundoshi as a young boy in Japan. If the Japanese public -- not necessarily gay Japanese -- see this, my concern would be their reaction ("Stupid gaijin.") Just as bad was the gaijin at the Penis festival wearing the Japanese "hapi" coats. Want to role play in Japan? Then dress as a cowboy and mock our traditional "cowboy" dress. Some will think: can this guy get a life? My response would be: I lived there as a kid and was ashamed of the many comments made by Japanese about the "rude Americans." Perhaps this blogger living there now can give me a diff perspective.
In my experience, Japanese people seem very happy, if not insistent in some cases, about getting gaijin to participate in festivals. The guys pictured in the post are all JETs I believe and as a former JET who lived in the countryside I can attest to the fact that you are often expected to take part in the local events in your village or town. This can include being made to dress up. I don't think that most Japanese people see taking part in these, including dressing the part, to be offensive as it is in the context of experiencing the event. There are of course guys who turn it into a fetish, who want to do it as cos-play, and I think that is fine too. My complaint about the gaijin at the penis festival was more aesthetic and that the Japanese were not wearing fundoshi and so a gaijin wearing one was not in context with the event. There will always be insensitive and stupid gaijin in Japan and there are plenty of stupid and insensitive Japanese-I- can't tell you how many times people outside of Tokyo have tried to touch my hair or asked me if I have a big cock or if I can eat fish-- that's just life.
Please continue to comment if you are interested in discussing this topic. For those who come only for the flesh, my apologies for this outbreak of text!
I think "gaijin" in fundoshi are wrong on so many levels. It nearly reminds me of white boys in black face. There's an element of mockery here...and turning a Japanese custom into comedy. Yeah, I get the so-called erotic point. I wore a fundoshi as a young boy in Japan. If the Japanese public -- not necessarily gay Japanese -- see this, my concern would be their reaction ("Stupid gaijin.") Just as bad was the gaijin at the Penis festival wearing the Japanese "hapi" coats. Want to role play in Japan? Then dress as a cowboy and mock our traditional "cowboy" dress. Some will think: can this guy get a life? My response would be: I lived there as a kid and was ashamed of the many comments made by Japanese about the "rude Americans." Perhaps this blogger living there now can give me a diff perspective.
In my experience, Japanese people seem very happy, if not insistent in some cases, about getting gaijin to participate in festivals. The guys pictured in the post are all JETs I believe and as a former JET who lived in the countryside I can attest to the fact that you are often expected to take part in the local events in your village or town. This can include being made to dress up. I don't think that most Japanese people see taking part in these, including dressing the part, to be offensive as it is in the context of experiencing the event. There are of course guys who turn it into a fetish, who want to do it as cos-play, and I think that is fine too. My complaint about the gaijin at the penis festival was more aesthetic and that the Japanese were not wearing fundoshi and so a gaijin wearing one was not in context with the event. There will always be insensitive and stupid gaijin in Japan and there are plenty of stupid and insensitive Japanese-I- can't tell you how many times people outside of Tokyo have tried to touch my hair or asked me if I have a big cock or if I can eat fish-- that's just life.
Please continue to comment if you are interested in discussing this topic. For those who come only for the flesh, my apologies for this outbreak of text!
Comments
So I think most of the guy you call "stupid gaijin" because they are in those kind of festivals are the very gaijins who actually wish to respect japanese's tradition, and expectations.
Then again, there are some cosplayer but I don't think they are a majority.
There are many times in your Japan life where you HAVE to do typical japanese things.
I have been to many festivals. The "gaijin"s I have seen in fundoshi turned a tradition into something of a self expression. There is one particular festival I went to that the "gaijin" (there was only one) was the first in line to do everything! It seems to me this is self promotion, not understanding what it means and what the festival represents. I found it disrespectful, and I think many people at the festival felt the same way, judging from the disapproval comments and looks of the auidence.
If it is true that Japanese people seems happy, if not insistent, about getting "gaijin"s to participate in festivals, then respect the tradition and remember you are a guest. Understand the meaning of it all and respect your "host" and the festival. Turn it into something else would only ruin the tradition and turn more people away from enjoying the festival, no matter what it is they have come to enjoy.
That is, it's a matter of 1 looking good in it and 2 not making a parody out of it.
Beyond that, any reasonable mind would struggle to find one being more "wrong" than the other.