Kids in 24 Hour Tag Batsu

So as an American I found it interesting that they were able to get away with, and not only that but decided to include, the fully naked children who then proceeded to press their bums on Hamada’s face. As an American i can tell you that something like this would never happen on American television due to the stigma of pedophilla in America and the feeling that children must be protected. I’m not saying that I found the act to be disgusting as I found it quite funny but I’m more interested in the Japanese view on acts such as these. Obviously the Japanese are able to take this as a joke and not dig deeper into it but I was wondering if anyone who is more familiar with Japanese culture could enlighten me on this subject.

First of all, don’t assume that everything you see on TV completely reflects the monolithic mind of the whole Japanese populace, if there ever is such a thing. What you are asking about here is the ethical codes that the Japanese broadcasting industry made up by itself.

A quick Google search tells me that nude female kids are completely prohibited and people are asking why the difference in treatment. They aren’t getting any logical answers from broadcasting companies. Then, of course, there are organizations who advocate the ban of any nude kids.

There is no straight answer even from Japanese viewers. You have to ask the industry.

>.> I will admit I was surprised too when I first saw it, however the view I took on it is a bit different. I knew it wouldn’t fly on American television, but if anything I was really impressed by the fact that Japanese people can take that as a joke. <.<

Although the thing I’d like to state though is Japanese people don’t really have homophobia or fright of gayish things. For example, It’s completely safe to wear pink. If not, girls will find you sexier in pink than in other colors here… Another example would be at school, as a JOKE guys will come up from behind each other with their hand in the shape of a gun and try to poke friends in the bunghole… I was kinda surprised when this first happened to me and wanted to know wtf what was going on, but as I’ve watched them do it to other people… I learned to get used to it. Another common thing is for them to grab balls as they walk by in the hall… IDK why and I don’t do it, but they’ve done it to me. Although they don’t punch you in the balls per say, but it surprised me as well.

Yeah… it is a really different world over here, so for the love of god DO NOT apply AMERICAN values to JAPANESE things. JAPAN IS JAPAN and AMERICA IS AMERICA, AMERICA HAS NO BUSINESS IN CHANGING JAPAN’S CULTURE! That is all.

Oh I had no wish ti apply American values to Japanese culture. Like I said, I found it to be funny and took it as it was, a joke. I also wasn’t trying to generalize the views of an entire nation or people just based off a TV show. I was just asking how the average Japanese person or an American living abroad in Japan felt about something like this. I wasn’t trying to offend anyone or suggest anything, I was just more interested in getting to know the culture and how they work better.

I kinda feel my closing statement was a bit stronger than my true intentions, sorry about that.

I’m living abroad in Japan though and American so… that’s the one concern that came to mind at the time of my post.

Although one thing to denote is this last weekend I saw two ads in Downtown Niigata where kids were either half or pretty close to nude. It made me think of this thread actually xD… One was advertising tooth paste for kids and the other I couldn’t read so… However, just kinda wondered "why" as it seemed it wasn’t advertising something necessitating nude children… although that’s no to say toothpaste for kids necessarily requires half-nude children, but if you know how some of the Japanese elementary schools work with uniforms… it kinda makes more sense. (Some Japanese elementary schools requite all kids both male and female to run around school without shirts nor shoes nor socks. Even during winter while it snows, in which case the kids have to huddle together to share warmth. These schools are considered top class though because it teaches the kids the prospect of "gaman" or "just living with it"…)

Maybe it’s more a case of American sensibilities sexualizing the idea of the little kids in the 24 Hour Tag batsu vs. the Japanese sensibility of it just being two cute little kids doing something outlandish & unexpected for laughs?

Its probably the fact that we in the US are a bit anal retentive when it comes to anything remotely sexual. Mindless violence is perfectly a-ok, but sex, NOPE.

Simply put; in japanese gameshows anything goes.
You might want to read up on the term pairings "honne, tatemae" and "omote, ura", they might give you a better insight into the japanese psyche in this case.

OP, be careful what you wish for next time.

The US’ retentive anus exploded in the form of TSA :hug:

Be careful what I wish for? Pretty sure I was just trying to pick the brain of the people who are a bit more familiar with Japanese culture than I am but okay, whatever you say. It seems like some of you are accusing me of being an anal retentive American when in reality I’m the exact opposite and was looking at it from the position that most Americans would take on the subject. I guess this will be the last time I try to start an intelligent discussion in this forum.

I was watching Americas Funniest Home Videos and this boy fell out of a bath tub and his penis was in clear view and uncensored. I don’t really know the answer to your question, personally I think the broadcasters might not be checking each episode of it’s shows and see if it complies with broadcasting limits…

Meh.

Haters will hate. :hug:
The US censorship are just sensitive.

It’s just a cultural difference thing. In Japanese culture it’s really quite natural to be naked among strangers (hot springs) so obviously the producers of Gaki wasn’t really thinking along the lines of pedophilia but the fact that it would just be really funny and disgusting. Americans are very sensitive about subjects involving children since people can sue very easily, while in Japan, not so much. And as you probably already figured out, Japanese people have a different sense of humor so being naked is really not that big of a deal. i hope this helped! I’m Japanese but I live in America