Message from ablackwelder

[Anonymous]

A few thoughts on Professor Fischler's fine discussion (a welcome change from the standard lecture):
1) I felt both enlightened and frustrated by the experience. After the first activity, when we were asked to objectively observe the film (and then realized that we were all pushing subjective answers) I was afraid to give a response! My initial answer was going to be "cock fighting and feral dogs," both of which no one mentioned. A lesson learned in speaking up.
2) I became a little upset when the discussion centered on human trafficking in Japan and the amount of pornography that can literally be found everywhere- from manga to the inside walls of public phone booths to commonly circulated magazines. Although I lived in a small city in Shikoku (60,000 people), everyone knew where the "snack bars" (where you are entertained by women emplyed by the establishment who sing karaoke with you and laugh at your jokes as you buy them drinks) and the houses of ill repute were located. It was also clear that the foreign women- mostly Filipino- who were "employed" were actually slaves of the establishment and had to have escorts every time they wanted to go anywhere; their freedom in terms of travel were nil. This was an arrangement that clearly violated human rights.
But porn? I will be honest in saying that I was never outright offended. To see a businessman checking out some dirty manga next to you on the train was no cause for concern. To me it always felt like part of the culture, much like students moving in for the dangerous kancho (look it up). I felt that the foreigners who complained about the porn were the same who thought alchoholic vending machines on the street were unethical and the smoking lounge off to the side of the teachers' room should be done away with. Heck, I took up smoking when I realized it was a cultural "in": here was a place that teachers would let their guard down and meaningful conversations were never far behind. Now, granted, I wasn't buying the adult comics, but overall I made it a point to accept my new home as a place not strange or wrong but different, a different kind of truth from a culture much older than my own. Just take some time before you judge... I guess that's what I'm trying to say. Or ask yourself where that gut reaction of "this isn't right" is coming from.