
They are known as the grass-eaters: Japan's Generation XX - dc2k08
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/japans-generation-xx-1704155.html
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ryanwaggoner
It's hard to tell if this is an interesting correlation of several different
sociological trends, or just sloppy journalism. This whole thing reminds me of
the "metrosexual" thing in the US, but it's interesting that they also tied in
vegetarianism and living at home with their parents.

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dkarl
Reading the American media, I haven't seen any connection between this trend
and vegetarianism except the name, similar stereotypes of "herbivores" and
vegetarians (that they're weak, effete, and unmasculine,) and a comment on
that page that says there's currently a fad for vegetarianism in Japan. I read
a different and more likely-sounding explanation for the name, which is that
in Japanese a sexual relationship can be called a "friendship of the flesh."

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jimbokun
"Her company claims that roughly two-thirds of all Japanese men aged 20-34 are
now partial or total grass-eaters..."

A very imprecisely defined term, so how do we know that it accurately
describes two thirds of men in that age range, roughly or not?

It is hard to tell whether this article is hyperbole or not. There is very
little in the way of quantitative data to say. Although this bit of
quantitative data caught my eye:

"About one third of the Japanese workforce is now casual or part-time"

That seems a huge number to me, and could account for some of the claimed
changes in the culture.

I also found interesting the inclusion of "has a liking for deserts and
foreign travel." These are indeed traits considered feminine in Japan, but not
so much in the rest of the world (I learned to curb my enthusiasm for sweets
when I lived in Japan).

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gaius
_That seems a huge number to me_

Well, this is common in economies where the fallout from the end of "job for
life" is being artificially contained, either by rigid tradition or by
government legislation. In France, for example, once you have a permanent job,
you're set for life, but the flipside is these jobs are hard to come by (it's
a big risk for a company to hire someone it can never fire) so people who
haven't got one and _do_ want to work (rather than live on the dole) have no
choice but temping and short-term contracts.

In the UK and US economies, it's easier to get fired, but it's also easier to
get hired, so this phenomenon is less pronounced. People temp and contract
here as a lifestyle choice, not because that's all on offer.

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manvsmachine
Having semi-worked in the nightlife industry for a little while, I can assure
you that the same phenomenon is _very_ present here in the US. A night out in
ATL is chock full of guys with spiky hair and fauxhawks wearing Affliction /
Ed Hardy / whatever the new craze is and sporting more accessories than the
girls that they're hitting on. Google "peacocking" and you'll see what I'm
talking about.

This just seems like more of westernized / American culture making its way to
Japan, more specifically "local celebrity" / "rockstar" culture. The critics
are even using similar terminology; hip-hop has been calling guys like this
herbs for over a decade now. From Urban Dictionary: Herb - Someone who tries
too hard to be cool. An overzealous poseur.

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gaius
Peacocking is more due to over-reading Neil Street's _The Game_ than anything
else. If you're going to base your ideal of masculinity on a book then _Fight
Club_ is a better choice...

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manvsmachine
It's Neil Strauss, but yeah. The first thing I thought of when I saw the OP
was Mystery and the whole PUA craze. The main difference being that pick up
artists here are at least still trying to get laid.

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russell
Male BRAS?

Japan has always struck me as very strange, at turns brutally rigid, bullying,
and at the same time very faddish. The article paints this behavior as a
reaction to the salaryman excesses of the post war environment, where the
people in their 20s and 30s are withdrawing from commitments and becoming
virtual hermits.

The comments are fascinating with some likening them to Well's Eloi and others
commenting on parallel behavior in Britain.

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kqr2
Is this the Japanese equivalent of what we would call metrosexual?

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patio11
Yes, in the sense that it is 10% genuine social change and 90% desire for a
snappy title to sell books/journalism.

(Pro-tip for foreign consumers of Japanese journalism: NHK is the BBC, the 3
big national dailies are the NYT, Nikkei is the WSJ, and every other news
outlet in the country will happily just make things up. 85% of 35 year olds
below the poverty line!? For pity's sake.)

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asdflkj
What are the three big national dailies?

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dhs
According to the World Association of Newspapers [1], they are Yomiuri
Shimbun, Asahi Shimbun, and Mainichi Shimbun; also, those are the largest
newspapers in the world. In terms of political leanings, Yomiuri is
conservative, Asahi is liberal, and Mainichi is somewhere in-between.

[1] <http://www.wan-press.org/article2825.html>

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electromagnetic
By the name given to these men I was expecting something _entirely_ different.
I was expecting it to be bush munchers, not effeminate vegetarians.

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mynameishere
Estrogen-in-the-water-supply-eaters more like it. Or PCBs. Or something.

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stonemetal
Processed soy (like tofu) has Estrogen like chemicals in it.

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alecco
I like how your hats match.

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aaronblohowiak
Google phytoestrogens.

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alecco
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phytoestrogens#Health_Risks_and...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phytoestrogens#Health_Risks_and_Benefits)

<http://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Phytoestrogens>

