photo: getty images

Sayonara,
Macho
Man
A kindler, gentler breed of Japanese male
is delicately taking the country by storm
By Steve Powell

In Japan, rarely a month goes by without a newspaper article or government survey

lamenting the country’s lack of sex drive, a trend which has exacerbated the already rock-
bottom birthrate. More than a third of teenage boys (and half of girls) find sex a “bore and
a nuisance,” according to the Japanese Family Planning Association. “Young people, don’t
hate sex!” pleaded The Asahi Newspaper’s weekly magazine, while large organizations like
Nippon Oil and even the Japan Business Federation, whose membership includes more
than 1,200 companies, have initiated “family weeks” during which workers are exhorted to
go home at 6 p.m. and have sex, in order to raise the nation’s birthrate. The government has
done its bit by increasing child allowances (a law that gives money to parents) to encourage
couples to procreate.

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 The reason for this new wave of tue that’s not common among old-
sexlessness? According to the Japa- fashioned Japanese guys: “They
nese newspaper Mainichi Shinbun, always listen to a girl,” says her
it’s because “masculinity is dying,” classmate Ayaka. “And they’re very
and it’s all due to a new breed of Jap- kind. So a girl feels really relaxed
anese male known as soshoku dan- around an herbivore boy. They are
shi—literally, herbivore boys. These very close to a girl’s image of a per-
boys, in their 20s and 30s, don’t fect boy.” But not everyone agrees.
chase women or care about mak- “Herbivore boys are boring and ef-
ing big bucks. The money they do feminate,” says Ayaka’s classmate
make is spent on clothes, hair care, Risa. Of course, not all girls have
and hobbies like baking and collect- such clear-cut preferences. “Ide-
ing teddy bears. They pluck their ally, I’d like my boyfriend to be an
eyebrows, favor sculpted hairstyles, herbivore by day and carnivore
and use face cream, foundation, and by night!” says Mayuko, another
other skin-care products (there’s an classmate. Makiko quickly agrees,
ever-growing range just for men be- saying, “The three most important
ing offered in Japanese drugstores). qualities in a boy for me are that
Ultimately, in the words of Boy he is intelligent, gentlemanly, and
George, these sensitive, gentle, non- cool. It’s hard to find a carnivore
competitive guys would rather have boy with the first two.” Herbivores
“a nice cuppa tea” than sex. These boys, in their themselves say that the traditional
To better understand the appeal Japanese man, with his cocky, old-
20s and 30s, don’t
of these men, I spoke to 45 female fashioned approach to life and dat-
college students in Hiroshima. I chase women or care ing, is an outdated model. “What’s
began by asking which kind of male about making big so good about being aggressive
they preferred: herbivore boys or anyway?” asks Kenji Arimoto, a
the traditional macho Japanese bucks. The money 26-year-old self-described herbi-
men, nikushoku danshi (carnivore they do make is spent vore. “I can’t be bothered with all
boys). Almost half of them declared that macho nonsense. It’s pathetic.
a preference for herbivores. Given
on clothes, hair care, I’d be delighted to meet a nice girl,
that in 2005, ladies-only cars were and hobbies like but she’d have to talk to me first; I’d
introduced in Tokyo’s subways— baking and collecting never take the first step.”
in an effort to curb the alarming The two basic types—herbivores
amount of groping on crowded teddy bears. and carnivores—are constantly
trains—it may not come as a sur- evolving. 2012 saw the emergence
prise that Japanese women are giv- of “rolled-cabbage” boys, who “look
ing the thumbs-up to this new, passive male. like herbivores, but underneath there’s meat, just like in a Japa-
The term “herbivore boys” was coined in 2009 by writer nese rolled-cabbage dish,” explains Yumiko, 25. “They’re so
Maki Fukasawa, who chose the moniker not because of this cool,” adds her friend Emi. “They’re ideal!”
new species’ diet, but because of their sexual tendencies. In Not interested in rolled cabbage? How about the polar op-
Japanese, “sex” is translated as “relationship in flesh,” and posite, “asparagus-bacon” boys, a term inspired by the popular
herbivore boys aren’t interested in sensual pleasures, says Fu- dish of veggies wrapped in meat? These men look like carni-
kasawa. So just what does a girl see in a guy with little money, vores, but inside they’re meek. Other recent variations include
zero ambition, and the sex drive of a neutered panda? “It’s not “glasses-wearing” boys (self-explanatory) and “parasol” boys
that they’re not interested in women,” explains student Ayaka. (young men who, like many Japanese women, carry an umbrella
“But they leave love to take its own course.” Shiho, another stu- to protect their skin from the sun’s harmful rays). Amid all this
dent, adds, “And they’re so cute!” Since Japan’s love of all things apparent softening of the Japanese male population, it’s now
adorable is well-known (think Hello Kitty), calling someone commonplace for women to refer to men well in their 20s as
photo: Angeles Marin

cute is high praise. danshi (boys).

However, since herbivore boys aren’t known for taking the Rest assured, men aren’t the only ones being given these
initiative in relationships, they can be frustrating for even the snappy monikers. The term for women who are proactive and
most open-minded ladies. “They’re incapable of saying ‘I love dominant in their relationships with men is nikushoku onna,
you,’” scoffs student Makiko. But in exchange, they possess a vir- or carnivore women, and Mayuko thinks that their numbers

56 . feb/mar 2013 . BUST

 are on the rise. Whether this is
because of herbivore boys’ inabil-
ity to take the initiative, or if herbi
boys themselves are a reaction to
more assertive women, is a chick-
en-or-egg question no one seems
able to answer.
Nowhere is Japan’s fascination
for this new phenomenon of mel-
low boys and aggressive women
more apparent than in the hit com-
ic book Otomen. The name is a pun
on the Japanese word otome, mean-
ing girlish, and the English word
“men.” So it quite literally means
“girly men.” Japan’s Fuji TV turned
Otomen into a prime-time TV dra-
ma series; a promo for the show
says Otomen are “men who have
feminine hobbies and thoughts and
show great ability in housework
such as cooking.” The series cen-
ters on soft-featured heartthrob
hero Asuka Masamune, who is “a
truly manly man,” a martial-arts
expert who’s captain of the school
kendo (a kind of fencing) team. Yet
he secretly loves all things cute,
reads girls’ comics, spends his free
time sewing, is an ace cook, and
keeps his house spotless. He falls in
love with a beautiful female class-
mate, Ryo, who loves action movies
and is a disaster in the kitchen.
It’s tempting to see herbivore
photo: Angeles Marin (top); Otomen © Aya Kanno 2006/HAKUSENSHA, Inc. (bottom)
you’re making. I want to be natural,
just to be myself.”
For Fukasawa, who coined the
term, the trend toward more sen-
sitive males isn’t just this year’s
wacky Japanese fad. Instead, she
feels it harkens back to the country’s
ancient traditions of Buddhism and
vegetarianism. Being an herbivore,
she theorizes, means “that you’re
more spiritual.” This seems to align
with the overall politeness and
elaborate rituals that contribute to
Herbi boys relaxing Japan’s reputation as a gentler, far
in the wild less violent society than its Western
counterparts. “These guys sport a
new style of manliness,” Fukasawa
says, one in which males no longer
need to feel ashamed of cultivating
their softer side.
At the heart of this softening,
observes Masahiro Morioka, phi-
losophy professor at Osaka Uni-
versity and author of more than
18 books on ethics, is the fact that
men have been freed from the pres-
sure to “act manly,” because Japan
has enjoyed 60 peaceful years
without waging war on anybody.
Other observers attribute the rise
of herbivores to socio-economic
factors, —above all, the prolonged
recession. With fewer job oppor-
tunities, many males have stopped
even trying to fight for a place in

boys simply as Japanese metro- An issue of “girly man” comic Otomen the high-stress, corporate rat race
sexuals. After all, David Beckham, that consumed their fathers, opt-
The Situation, and Ryan Seacrest ing for a more relaxed lifestyle.
have long been advocates for a brand of masculinity that allows And the same goes for their fathers’ aggressively macho pur-
for manicures, waxing, and all-around preening. Nevertheless, suit of women.
there’s something uniquely Japanese about the herbivore boys. Tapping into their country’s roots in a search for inner peace,
Some analysts see it as a rebellion against the businessman gen- the herbivore boys seem to have come up with a new kind of Zen
eration, characterized by slavish devotion to the company and for the turbulent post-recession world. In fact, the trend shows
rampant consumerism, not to mention flagrant sexism. “In my no sign of slowing: a recent Japan Times report estimates that a
mother’s day, there was no ‘ladies first,’” says Noriko, another whopping 60 percent of men ages 21 to 34 consider themselves
student. “It was ‘ladies last.’ Wives were expected to walk be- herbivores. And their numbers are growing, as more and more
hind their husbands.” men seek relief from the pressures of having to live up to macho-
For Hide Kitamura from Hiroshima, a self-declared herbi- man stereotypes.
vore boy since 2010, “showing sensitivity is not a weakness. Our So perhaps the reign of the postwar “samurai salaryman”—
fathers’ generation devoted their lives to their jobs, worked long where men work hard, drink hard, and are hard on women—is
hours, and hardly saw their families. That just leads to karoshi on its on last legs. This might not be such great news for the
(death from overwork). There’s more to life than working.” As country’s ailing economy or declining birthrate. But a bit less
33-year-old herbivore boy Yasuo Takeuchi told U.K. paper The aggression in the world is a good thing for all of us, women and
Times, “There’s no need to show everyone how much effort “boys” alike. B

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