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[momentarily]

WOW, hi there, LJ. It's been a while, huh? Uni's been busy, I'm in my final semester (which is all sorts of terrifying), and I have a shit load of work to do. But I'm doing my best! lmao after all of the concerns from last year, I definitely feel better about things this semester/year. I've not even been ill once so far, which is a sharp, sharp

Comments

[how_we_dance2]

Hi. :) I watched a 3 part series on Japan and it enlightened me as to the darker and more unsavoury side of Japanese culture, it's really put me off the country. :( I don't really know why I'm telling you this, I think it's because you're the person on my flist who knows about Japan, so maybe you could dispell some of my fears?

[momentarily]

I could definitely try. I mean, I really enjoyed my time out there although, obviously, it's not a perfect country. Was there anything in particular?

[how_we_dance2]

Um, well, I found out that the age of consent is 13 and that child pornography is tolerated and quite open in society... And they showed a sex doll factory which made child dolls... The man who ran it said he was happy to sell them to paedophiles to try and prevent them sleeping with real children. It just sent a chill down my spine. I mean, is that sort of thing really so common and permitted in everyday society? :S

[momentarily]

I did just have to look some of that up lmao

As for the age of consent, officially it is 13, but ACCORDING TO THE JAPANESE WIKI PAGE which I just skim read because of the Child Welfare Law, it's generally considered to be 18, and that the number of people who actually know and recognise the age of consent as being 13 is probably quite low

[how_we_dance2]

Right, ok. I didn't think all of Japan was like that, and obviously you get strange people in all countries, but it just looked as though it was more open and accepted, which freaked me out. I don't think the show really showed a fair representation of Japan, but then again all we tend to see of the country usually in the UK is the cute, fun side of it, so I guess we need to see the darker side too. Overall, I don't think I'd cope in Japan, not because of these aspects, but because of the whole general lifestyle. :P The Japanese can also be quite racist towards non-Japanese apparently as well, like you're not allowed access to certain bars etc. unless accompanied by a Japanese person. Watching the TV show I got the impression that the English presenter was being mocked a lot by the people he met. He did some manzai comedy with a Japanese guy and he had to be the stupid half of the double act because he was foreign and therefore inherently daft and hilarious. XD I know it doesn't sound that serious, but it's still quite xenophobic