Playboy in Junior High.

A fellow JET commented a month or two back upon her arrival that this country was particularly sexually overcharged- citing one example of the plethora of Playboy paraphenalia adorning skantily clad women of almost all ages. Now whilst i dont entirely disagree with the sexually overcharged country bit- I had to re-adjust my inexperienced friend as to the reasons why playboy (or the brand Playboy) is popular in Japan.

The bunny is cute.

Thats it. That's the rationale behind the brand succes in Japan. The clothes are considered "kawaii" and there's a cute rabbit on it aswell. Japanese dont have a word for sexy. They use "bijin" for "a beauty" , "kirei" for beautiful and "kawaii" for cute and pretty. English has one or two more categories or classifications and different uses and meaings and nuances in all. But i detract.

The bunny is cute.

Thats why girls as young as 11 and 12 sport the gear. Cause the bunny is cute. Today however- in class....first grade junior high- so thats what....12 year olds ? This girl had a folder. It was a playboy folder- complete with retro 60's and 70's playboy covers. It was tame by modern standards- no nudity- but suggestive. But the girls on the cover of her folder would be considered "kawaii" by her standards. All very very very interesting. Since the adult entertainment industry in all its mosaiced glory permeates almost every aspect of everyday life (you literally cant get on a train without some dude paging through a rape manga of some sort) it seems to desensitize the masses to the point where this little 12 year old girl had NO clue or not even the suspicion that her english folder was in fact sponsoring Mr Hefners harem of hoes.

Interesting shit really.