Fetchi

April 11, 2004 1:26 PM

A dictionary of Japanese pornography terms. After you've mastered the theory, you can read about it in greater detail, then test your knowledge. (First link SFW if no one's reading over your shoulder, others N.)
posted by kenko (9 comments total)

That could have come in handy for these guys. ;-)
posted by shepd at 1:34 PM on April 11, 2004

Maybe it's just me, but this doesn't seem like the "best of the web" we are trying to put on MeFi. I mean, yes, it's "informative" about another culture, even though the sites linked talk about Japanese culture in a degrading manner, but if I wanted to read stories all about poo-eating and whatnot I would go to Consumption Junction or something.

Maybe I am overreacting?
posted by lazaruslong at 1:41 PM on April 11, 2004

Hey, it's cultural anthropology, whether it concerns religious rituals or sexual fetishes. It's just as legitimate to read about one as to read about the other. If you don't want to read about it, it's easy enough to scroll down and read something else.
posted by bubukaba at 1:49 PM on April 11, 2004

Bubukaba: I hear what you are saying. My concern was that the sites linked use language like this:

"Japanese porn consumers are so utterly perverted that the industry can't invent new kinks fast enough. "

"In general, Japanese are much more SINGLEMINDED and focused in persuit of their hobbies"

It seemed like the author was being more than a little sterotypical in describing culture, and that bothered me. Again, maybe it's an overreaction.

And the "scroll down if you don't like it" argument doesn't hold water here. The whole point to MeFi is to filter and self-police. If we all just scrolled down, there would be no MeTa, and no filtering.
posted by lazaruslong at 2:05 PM on April 11, 2004

Very good points. I do see what you're saying regarding the stereotypes on this particular site - it had just seemed like you were dismissing it based only on the fact that it consisted of "stories all about poo-eating and whatnot." Stereotyping is a legitimate reason to not like this link, but IMHO the subject matter is not.
posted by bubukaba at 2:13 PM on April 11, 2004

He occasionally offers the following apologia:

But obviously most Americans aren't into those fetishes! And obviously most Japanese don't enjoy the stuff in the magazines I'm about to show you, either. I come from America, the country that invented 'KNOCKED UP AND PACKING', the magazine about heavily armed naked pregnant women, so obviously I'm in no position to be mocking Japan for having 'weird' magazines. Nor am I ENDORSING the stuff in the Japanese magazines. I just think it's INTERESTING, and I'm sure that you'll find something interesting here as well.

I found comments in the preamble to the dictionary off-putting myself when I read it. Fortunately it's less present in the contents and, for that matter, in the rest of the site.
posted by kenko at 2:43 PM on April 11, 2004

Whether or not the guy apologizes for it, he's still mocking this stuff. If he really believed that he's "in no position to be mocking Japan", he'd skip the actual mocking stereotypes, not throw in some wishy-washy little qualifier for it.

That said, the dictionary site is genuinely informative, and not too heavy on the stereotyping and bullshit anthropology, so it's OK with me. The comments page on any randomly-selected fark.com story about Japan is much worse... heck, I've even seen worse in Metafilter comments.
posted by vorfeed at 3:08 PM on April 11, 2004

This was pretty interesting to read and although I agree that the way it is presented is a bit ethnocentric and vulgar, it is still a good effort. Perhaps the person who made the dictionary just doesn't know much about the differences between Japanese sexuality and American sexuality. [not that I do either]
posted by sciurus at 3:54 PM on April 11, 2004

I would like to publicly thank the Interweb for making this sort of cultural exchange possible.
posted by Joey Michaels at 4:54 PM on April 11, 2004