Herbivorous Boys and Predatory Girls: Gender, Consumerism and Low Birth Rate in Japan

This presentation will examine possible reasons for Japan’s low birth rate from an anthropological point of view.
The critically low birth rate of recent decades is a major concern for the Japanese government, which has been trying to tackle the issue by setting up a childcare allowance, providing social welfare, encouraging companies to provide maternity and childcare leave, and increasing nursery places. However, these measures are insufficient. The large proportion of unmarried people in their 20s and 30s also needs to be taken into account. Unlike Western European countries, where out-of-wedlock fertility is socially accepted, people in Japan are expected to have children after marriage. The proportion of unmarried people thus reflects birth rate figures. This presentation will investigate some of the reasons for this situation, focusing particularly on single young men and the rise of sōshokukei danshi (“herbivorous men” who have little interest in women).

Profile
Satoshi Ota is an associate professor at Tama University, School of Global Studies. He received a PhD in Social Anthropology from SOAS, University of London, an MA in Social Anthropology of Japan from Oxford Brookes University, and a Post-Graduate Diploma in Social Anthropology from the University of Manchester. He previously worked at the University of Delhi and at Jawaharlal Nehru University, India. Research interests include: popular culture, consumption and consumerism, youth culture, identity construction, globalization, nationalism, Japan, Taiwan, and North­east India.

Recent Publications:

‘The witches of Tokyo: An investigation into the bimajyo trend’ in East Asian Journal of Popular Culture Vol. 1 No. 2, 2015 

‘Herbivorous Boys and Predatory Girls: Gender, Consumerism and Low Birth Rate in Japan’ in S. R. Nagy (ed.) Japan’s Demographic Revival: Rethinking Migration, Identity and Sociocultural Norms, Singapore: World Scientific, 2015

‘Ethnic Identity and Consumption of Popular Culture among Young Naga People, India’ in International Journal of Asia Pacific Studies Vol 7. No. 3, 2011

‘Cultural Authenticity in the Works of Tanizaki Junichiro: An Anthropological Investigation’ in Unita Sachidanand (ed.) Japanese Literature:the Indian Mirror, New Delhi: Anamika Publishers, 2010

Moderator : Rémi SCOCCIMARRO (UMIFRE 19-MFJ)
Org. : Bureau français de la MFJ
Co-org. : CCI France Japon
In English without translation