People in Bar A typical scene of Japanese salary men relaxing after work ... served by women.
Except, at this bar, the women are the customers .... turning the tables.
Now, take a closer look ... because the 'male hosts' are also women, masquerading as men.
At the New Marilyn bar, a woman can unburden herself on a sympathetic 'male' ... knowing she'll be perfectly understood.
Confused? This is Japanese female sexuality in the 1990s.
Night lights There is a new boldness about Japanese women these days. Some are calling it a female 'sex boom'. But, just like the New Marilyn bar back there, it's a social trend full of contradictions and surprises ... and one that does not necessarily conform to Western notions of 'women's lib'.
Pleasure shop Her name is Ulala Aikawa.
Ulala is a sex counsellor ... and purveyor of ladies pleasure products...
Ulala Aikawa Recently it's become easier for Japanese women to buy these things. Although they may feel they want to become sexy, I think it's because they've already become more active.
Ulala This is a slightly erotic 'How To' video I want to introduce...
In Japanese terms, Ulala is a pioneer of female sexual emancipation.
Filming sex show This is a scene of a man and woman having sex.
Ulala speaks
Couple sucking Her 'How To' videos for women are being featured on television
tongues talk shows....
Ulala This is a scene of a man and woman having sex.
Interview with This commercialisation, the flourishment of sexual representation
Chizuko Ueno itself stresses the women's pleasure which encourages women it's
Feminist Scholar perfectly OK for women to pursue their pleasure. So, it's in a sense a by product of male-oriented porn.
Assistant passes Chizuko Ueno is Japan's leading feminist scholar.
books
She welcomes the fact that Japanese women are becoming more sexually demanding.
Even though it may be a limited victory.
Chizuko I would call it liberation from within bed, rather than at work places. And this commercialisation of sexuality is actually both positive and negative. So we have to take advantage of any kind of change in this market economy.
Male Strippers Voiceover In the 'open market' of sex, Japanese women are now free to enjoy this...
In Tokyo's most fashionable neighbourhood, the J-Men's Club serves up 'bump and grind' for petite college students and office ladies.
The sort who usually giggle behind their hands in male company.
Last week Disneyland ... this week, well, another kind of fantasy.
The all-American strippers average two thousand dollars a week, just in tips.
One way to a skimpier trade deficit.
Sex Festival That Japan should need to import sex entertainment of any sort is puzzling, given its own cultural heritage.
In folk festivals, like this one near Tokyo, the sex organs are worshipped as gods of fertility ... and paraded through the streets.
Priest blesses Japan's native Shinto religion celebrates human sexuality ...
penis statue uninhibited by shame or guilt.
Woodblock Artist The same attitude inspired the great wood-block artists of the past.
Shunga Their 'shunga', or Spring Pictures, explored sexual pleasure in all its variety.
The emphasis was on men and women in mutual enjoyment ... sex as a technique of love.
Porn Censors In the modern era, with increasing state control and influence from the West, things have changed.
An obscenity law requires publishers and film-makers to obliterate the genitalia.
But it's bureaucratic censorship ... that leads to absurd double-standards.
In the office of a men's porn magazine, the editor's red felt pen draws the line at pubic hair...
... yet doesn't blush at graphic images of female humiliation.
Magazine Editor I can't sell these magazines without touching them up. So this something I have to do.
Reporter Is it a kind of art to put in as little as possible?
Editor That's right. The readers prefer it that way.
Manga in news- It's even easier to make a nonsense of the law in the fantasy
stands world of comics, or 'manga', as they're called here.
These are erotic 'manga' - available at any newsstand with annual sales in the hundreds of millions. The typical ingredients of their stories are rape, paedophilia and sado-masochism. So it may surprise you to learn that erotic manga are now also being produced and read by women.
Milk Morizono Milk Morizono is one of the first artists to create erotic manga for
working women.
Her comics, 'Feel'', and 'Young Feel', sell over a quarter of a million copies a month.
Milk Flips Pages The Heroine's lover has been captured by a famous married couple
& Tells Story who like sadomasochism. To get to him she has to join their bondage party for group sex. That's the story so far.
Reporter All the usual ingredients of manga for men.
Except, in these stories, the women use their sexuality to get their own way.
Milk In erotic manga for men, the women are men's dolls or slaves. That's the way men would like to manipulate women. In my case it's different, the opposite. In this story, the woman is not obedient to the man. She's independent and pursues her own career in the fashion industry.
Looking at Manga. Once a target of feminist criticism, women's manga are being seen
Voiceover in a new light....
Chizuko Ueno In men's comics women are always victims. But in female comics, women, well, in the guise of victim, she takes control of the offenders.
Enter disco A similar kind of control game is going on here.
Women dance The discos call it 'body consciousness' ... female patrons who pay to become the stage show.
Men are spectators, not partners, in this game ... kept at a distance, while the dancers urge each other on.
Man watches It's a private-public show of independence ... by women whose lives away from the disco are a very different story.
Ueno (English) They are actually just ordinary girls working as OLs.
Reporter Office Ladies?
Ueno Yes, office ladies. They usually have a quite boring frustrated job. So, as a compensation they want to attract male attention, as an inaccessible object.
Shibuya crowds The disco display would have been unthinkable a few years ago
walking - but, then, much has changed for Japanese women.
They now make up forty per cent of the workforce.
More women than men are taking degrees.
And many are seeking a more equal partnership in marriage.
Interior College Seijitsu. You want your husband to be faithful. In this class if your
American Anne husband had an affair would you divorce him?
Sokalsky
Voiceover American academic, Anne Sokalsky, is surveying how Japanese women feel about their lives.
Sokalsky to Would you divorce him?
students
Girl - long hair Absolutely. (Laughter)
(English)
Sokalsky OK. Why?
Student Because it's not fair to me. Also to him. So absolutely.
(English)
Girl with Glasses Personally I don't respect me. Because until now men would
(Japanese) call themselves 'Great', 'Great'. It is, it's what they say. But actually they were propped up by the women all the time.
Voiceover These college students are typical of a more outspoken Japanese womanhood.
Sokalsky I think it's a reflection of women becoming more vocal. The increasing women's consciousness here. The fact that their real power - it's no longer being as secretive as it used to be. Women are starting to stand up for their rights. They're starting to claim more through the law.
TV Show host After the titles a one minute bath scene, centre position. Unlike
Ai Iijima foreigners Japanese women don't show all of themselves, and don't
(Japanese) try to be sexy. Japanese are more reserved. But, I don't think it has to be that way.
Iijima Yuki Hitomi is sick and can't make it, I'm sorry ...
Putting on makeup A most public face, and someone who gives a final twist to this tale, is Ai Iijima.
In Studio Her office is a television studio ... hosting a show which tops the late-night ratings.
Iijima on TV Everybody, are you feeling run down? To relieve stress, a bath is the best thing ...
Voiceover It's not a cable channel - but a free-to-air broadcast.
Japanese Supers The 'Wueen of the G-String' is a respectable star in Japan ... she even gets fan mail from primary school children.
Iijima on TV It's a bath-house special tonight. And now ...
Voiceover Yet this is someone who began her careen as a porn video actress.
Japanese Bath Scene
(Japanese) In this season, the best combination is a pretty girl and a draught beer in a bath ...
Show's Producer The image of adult videos is not good. So we try to erase it and she
(Japanese) herself has stopped. With a good image she's now able to appear in quiz shows. Through this program, I'd like to create more stars like her.
Girls Respectfully Is this pitch by the producer merely an excuse for crass commercial
Greeting Ai exploitation?
Or does the show represent a mutually advantageous pact between commercial enterprise and Japanese women?
The fact is Iijima-san has more female admirers than men ... women who see her as a role-model.
Although the star herself qualifies that admiration.
Iijima (Japanese) I'm glad to hear that. But only the outside, not the inside. I didn't go to school so much, I didn't study and I've had a hard time, which I regret. I don't want them to follow me in that way.
Back to TV show Here is a new motto for a restless society: 'Girls, enjoy your bodies, but study hard.'
In this sexual awakening, old distinctions have become blurred.
Anyone is now a potential object of desire ... anyone a potential consumer of the desirable.
Whether pleasing men or ... just pleasing themselves.
Changing the plot .... or being caught in one.
That is the paradox, the living dilemma, of Japanese women in the 1990s.
Except, at this bar, the women are the customers .... turning the tables.
Now, take a closer look ... because the 'male hosts' are also women, masquerading as men.
At the New Marilyn bar, a woman can unburden herself on a sympathetic 'male' ... knowing she'll be perfectly understood.
Confused? This is Japanese female sexuality in the 1990s.
Night lights There is a new boldness about Japanese women these days. Some are calling it a female 'sex boom'. But, just like the New Marilyn bar back there, it's a social trend full of contradictions and surprises ... and one that does not necessarily conform to Western notions of 'women's lib'.
Pleasure shop Her name is Ulala Aikawa.
Ulala is a sex counsellor ... and purveyor of ladies pleasure products...
Ulala Aikawa Recently it's become easier for Japanese women to buy these things. Although they may feel they want to become sexy, I think it's because they've already become more active.
Ulala This is a slightly erotic 'How To' video I want to introduce...
In Japanese terms, Ulala is a pioneer of female sexual emancipation.
Filming sex show This is a scene of a man and woman having sex.
Ulala speaks
Couple sucking Her 'How To' videos for women are being featured on television
tongues talk shows....
Ulala This is a scene of a man and woman having sex.
Interview with This commercialisation, the flourishment of sexual representation
Chizuko Ueno itself stresses the women's pleasure which encourages women it's
Feminist Scholar perfectly OK for women to pursue their pleasure. So, it's in a sense a by product of male-oriented porn.
Assistant passes Chizuko Ueno is Japan's leading feminist scholar.
books
She welcomes the fact that Japanese women are becoming more sexually demanding.
Even though it may be a limited victory.
Chizuko I would call it liberation from within bed, rather than at work places. And this commercialisation of sexuality is actually both positive and negative. So we have to take advantage of any kind of change in this market economy.
Male Strippers Voiceover In the 'open market' of sex, Japanese women are now free to enjoy this...
In Tokyo's most fashionable neighbourhood, the J-Men's Club serves up 'bump and grind' for petite college students and office ladies.
The sort who usually giggle behind their hands in male company.
Last week Disneyland ... this week, well, another kind of fantasy.
The all-American strippers average two thousand dollars a week, just in tips.
One way to a skimpier trade deficit.
Sex Festival That Japan should need to import sex entertainment of any sort is puzzling, given its own cultural heritage.
In folk festivals, like this one near Tokyo, the sex organs are worshipped as gods of fertility ... and paraded through the streets.
Priest blesses Japan's native Shinto religion celebrates human sexuality ...
penis statue uninhibited by shame or guilt.
Woodblock Artist The same attitude inspired the great wood-block artists of the past.
Shunga Their 'shunga', or Spring Pictures, explored sexual pleasure in all its variety.
The emphasis was on men and women in mutual enjoyment ... sex as a technique of love.
Porn Censors In the modern era, with increasing state control and influence from the West, things have changed.
An obscenity law requires publishers and film-makers to obliterate the genitalia.
But it's bureaucratic censorship ... that leads to absurd double-standards.
In the office of a men's porn magazine, the editor's red felt pen draws the line at pubic hair...
... yet doesn't blush at graphic images of female humiliation.
Magazine Editor I can't sell these magazines without touching them up. So this something I have to do.
Reporter Is it a kind of art to put in as little as possible?
Editor That's right. The readers prefer it that way.
Manga in news- It's even easier to make a nonsense of the law in the fantasy
stands world of comics, or 'manga', as they're called here.
These are erotic 'manga' - available at any newsstand with annual sales in the hundreds of millions. The typical ingredients of their stories are rape, paedophilia and sado-masochism. So it may surprise you to learn that erotic manga are now also being produced and read by women.
Milk Morizono Milk Morizono is one of the first artists to create erotic manga for
working women.
Her comics, 'Feel'', and 'Young Feel', sell over a quarter of a million copies a month.
Milk Flips Pages The Heroine's lover has been captured by a famous married couple
& Tells Story who like sadomasochism. To get to him she has to join their bondage party for group sex. That's the story so far.
Reporter All the usual ingredients of manga for men.
Except, in these stories, the women use their sexuality to get their own way.
Milk In erotic manga for men, the women are men's dolls or slaves. That's the way men would like to manipulate women. In my case it's different, the opposite. In this story, the woman is not obedient to the man. She's independent and pursues her own career in the fashion industry.
Looking at Manga. Once a target of feminist criticism, women's manga are being seen
Voiceover in a new light....
Chizuko Ueno In men's comics women are always victims. But in female comics, women, well, in the guise of victim, she takes control of the offenders.
Enter disco A similar kind of control game is going on here.
Women dance The discos call it 'body consciousness' ... female patrons who pay to become the stage show.
Men are spectators, not partners, in this game ... kept at a distance, while the dancers urge each other on.
Man watches It's a private-public show of independence ... by women whose lives away from the disco are a very different story.
Ueno (English) They are actually just ordinary girls working as OLs.
Reporter Office Ladies?
Ueno Yes, office ladies. They usually have a quite boring frustrated job. So, as a compensation they want to attract male attention, as an inaccessible object.
Shibuya crowds The disco display would have been unthinkable a few years ago
walking - but, then, much has changed for Japanese women.
They now make up forty per cent of the workforce.
More women than men are taking degrees.
And many are seeking a more equal partnership in marriage.
Interior College Seijitsu. You want your husband to be faithful. In this class if your
American Anne husband had an affair would you divorce him?
Sokalsky
Voiceover American academic, Anne Sokalsky, is surveying how Japanese women feel about their lives.
Sokalsky to Would you divorce him?
students
Girl - long hair Absolutely. (Laughter)
(English)
Sokalsky OK. Why?
Student Because it's not fair to me. Also to him. So absolutely.
(English)
Girl with Glasses Personally I don't respect me. Because until now men would
(Japanese) call themselves 'Great', 'Great'. It is, it's what they say. But actually they were propped up by the women all the time.
Voiceover These college students are typical of a more outspoken Japanese womanhood.
Sokalsky I think it's a reflection of women becoming more vocal. The increasing women's consciousness here. The fact that their real power - it's no longer being as secretive as it used to be. Women are starting to stand up for their rights. They're starting to claim more through the law.
TV Show host After the titles a one minute bath scene, centre position. Unlike
Ai Iijima foreigners Japanese women don't show all of themselves, and don't
(Japanese) try to be sexy. Japanese are more reserved. But, I don't think it has to be that way.
Iijima Yuki Hitomi is sick and can't make it, I'm sorry ...
Putting on makeup A most public face, and someone who gives a final twist to this tale, is Ai Iijima.
In Studio Her office is a television studio ... hosting a show which tops the late-night ratings.
Iijima on TV Everybody, are you feeling run down? To relieve stress, a bath is the best thing ...
Voiceover It's not a cable channel - but a free-to-air broadcast.
Japanese Supers The 'Wueen of the G-String' is a respectable star in Japan ... she even gets fan mail from primary school children.
Iijima on TV It's a bath-house special tonight. And now ...
Voiceover Yet this is someone who began her careen as a porn video actress.
Japanese Bath Scene
(Japanese) In this season, the best combination is a pretty girl and a draught beer in a bath ...
Show's Producer The image of adult videos is not good. So we try to erase it and she
(Japanese) herself has stopped. With a good image she's now able to appear in quiz shows. Through this program, I'd like to create more stars like her.
Girls Respectfully Is this pitch by the producer merely an excuse for crass commercial
Greeting Ai exploitation?
Or does the show represent a mutually advantageous pact between commercial enterprise and Japanese women?
The fact is Iijima-san has more female admirers than men ... women who see her as a role-model.
Although the star herself qualifies that admiration.
Iijima (Japanese) I'm glad to hear that. But only the outside, not the inside. I didn't go to school so much, I didn't study and I've had a hard time, which I regret. I don't want them to follow me in that way.
Back to TV show Here is a new motto for a restless society: 'Girls, enjoy your bodies, but study hard.'
In this sexual awakening, old distinctions have become blurred.
Anyone is now a potential object of desire ... anyone a potential consumer of the desirable.
Whether pleasing men or ... just pleasing themselves.
Changing the plot .... or being caught in one.
That is the paradox, the living dilemma, of Japanese women in the 1990s.