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Japanese society prides itself on its high level of tact in dealing with delicate matters, and indeed, quite often in communication not offending the other party is given priority well above getting your point across. That said, when the system discretion breaks down, it really breaks down, and sometimes you’re faced with the linguistic paradox of candor that’s so cutting because the choice of words is so blunt.
Recently, a bit of a firestorm was set off in Japan by a male-oriented magazine spitting straight talk on what makes the ideal girl in extremely intricate detail.
The one-page feature started zipping around the Internet when a photo of it was tweeted by a woman with the user name Marie@Test Shuryo.
The Twitter user took issue with the lengthy list of specifications crammed onto the single sheet of paper. “Don’t you think this is asking for a bit too much?” asked Marie, whose Twitter page is, ironically, decorated with images of Justin Bieber, someone whose rise to fame has been largely due to maintaining an image carefully crafted to have as wide an appeal as possible within his target demographic.
Still, Marie definitely has a point in that the list delves into topics even we, with our extensive experience in the field of daydreaming about attractive females, hadn’t really given much thought to. Let’s take a look at the magazine’s spec sheet for the perfect girl.
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A cute (as opposed to sexy) face, dimples when she smiles, and natural-looking makeup.
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Long, black, slightly teased hair
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Height: 160 centimeters
- Weight: 48 kilograms
The implication here seems to be that guys want a girl who’s under 50 kilograms, and who isn’t in danger of hitting that mark after a big dinner.
- Breast size: C cups
C is the most common bust size in Japan, and while the numerous items on the list paint a demanding picture when taken as a whole, this individual point at least speaks to a certain enlightened attitude by men regarding female chest sizes.
- Would rather tease others than be teased by them
Japanese flirting has co-opted the words sadism and masochism, tweaked their meanings, and now uses them to describe people’s personalities and communication styles more than their sexual fetishes. The magazine’s list says the ideal girl has an S-type personality, meaning that she’ll be more likely to playfully tease her boyfriend than vice-versa. We’re not sure if this is a chivalrous case of letting the lady have her way, or an instance of guys just being too lazy to come up with their own zingers.
- Smells like soap
There are definitely a couple head scratchers on the list, but this is one we can understand right away. The number of guys who are really turned on by perfumes is a drop in the bucket compared to how many react favorably to a girl who just smell like, well, a clean girl.
- A personality that runs hot and cold
Taking a term straight from anime fan lexicon, the next quality of an ideal girl is a "tsundere" personality. A combination of the terms "tsun tsun" (easily irritated) and "dere dere" (cloyingly sweet and affectionate), a proper "tsundere" is willing to go the extra mile to please the guy she likes. Just don’t ask her to admit she did it because she likes him, or anything.
- Often says, “You dummy” (but in a sweet way)
Speaking of "tsundere" tendencies, the makers of the list have a soft spot for a gal who tosses the word baka/dummy around, but shows through her inflection that she’s charmed all the same.
- Wears “cute” clothes
Again, cute, rather than sexy. Guys may like stealing a peek at a girl out in public wearing a mini skirt, but they don’t want their ideal girl giving a show to everyone she walks by on the street. On the other end of the spectrum, the rough and sporty look doesn’t seem to quite meet their expectations of femininity, leaving the middle ground of cute fashion as the happy medium.
- Hobby: Cooking
In any country, the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. The list’s creators figure a girl who’s good in the kitchen is a girl who’s good to have in your life.
- Favorite type of music: Rock
As with cute clothes, this seems like the result of a process of elimination. Successful pop musicians in Japan are almost always heavily dependent on their looks, and it’s not hard to imagine many guys feeling irritated, threatened, or some mixture of the two if their girlfriend was a huge fan of a group of pretty boy idols.
- Favorite food: Green tea ice cream
We’re not sure if it’s because it shows she’s sophisticated and traditionally-minded, or if it’s just because the stuff tastes great and if she orders some you can steal a bite, but green tea ice cream got the nod here.
- Gets good grades in arts and literature classes
Considering the obvious esteem Japan has for engineering, and how many men earn a living working in technical fields, we’re a little puzzled by this one, which we’re chalking it up to a simple case of opposites attracting.
- Above average grades, but not at the top of the class
Specifically, “grades at the upper end of the middle of the pack.” It’s hard to see any rationale here other than wanting a girl who’s smart enough to carry on an engaging conversation, yet not so intelligent as to be intimidating or make the guy feel like he can’t measure up intellectually.
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In the dance club at school
- Dislikes exercising
Huh? How’s this fit with that whole dance club business?
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Comes from a family of two children, with one younger brother
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Has a toy poodle for a pet
- Favorite manga: One Piece
Frankly, we think you should count yourself as lucky just for the fact that your girlfriend shares your passion for comics, without worrying about which exact series she likes.
- Works part-time at a cafe
Bonus points if the cafe serves green tea ice cream, we’re guessing
- Often uses the Mogu Mogu Brown stamp for LINE
Sure, the character’s cute and all, but once you start worrying about what kind of decorations your girlfriend adds to her social networking messages, you might be on the cusp of losing sight of what really matters in a relationship.
- If you ask her what kind of guy she likes, she’ll say, “Someone who’s kind, like you”
Honestly, we’re not sure we could even remember all of those, let alone be bothered to check for each and every one of them. Still, if you’re starting from the unrealistic premise of designing a perfect person, it’s already too late to bring logic into the discussion by capping the number of allowable criteria.
It’s also worth keeping in mind the exact wording of the list’s title, in that it’s talking about ideal qualities, as opposed to required ones. Entertaining the idea that the girl of their dreams already exists somewhere out there is what gives some guys the courage to jump into the dating pool in the first place, after which their expectations become more flexible and realistic.
On the other hand, if any of you ladies happen to get rejected by a guy because you prefer mint chocolate ice cream to green tea, or have a goldfish instead of a poodle, don’t lose any sleep over it. Odds are you just dodged a bullet.
Source: Jin
Read more stories from RocketNews24. -- Five ways guys blow their chances at singles’ parties in Japan -- Five things men in Japan hide before inviting over a woman -- Gentlemen, take note: The top five dates Korean women hate
© RocketNews24
49 Comments
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titaniumdioxide
Too much ideal ! Japanese men should lower their standards if they want their country's population grow. Same goes for the women.
Smells like soap? 0.0David Varnes
Sounds like a few of those are because the "men" who wrote this are more or less afraid of a girlfriend who could call them on their BS.
"Oh, you don't understand this economic stuff, you were only in the top half of class and focused on arts and literature."
Alphaape
Sounds to me that some men have the same fantasy as women on what their ideal opposite would be. How many times have we seen articles along this line with the list of what women want in a man. Each person has a list of likes and dislikes.
Harry_Gatto
Nothing wrong with "girl who just smell like, well, a clean girl.", I agree with that one.
C Cups; "this individual point at least speaks to a certain enlightened attitude by men regarding female chest sizes." No, this is a result of them reading the sizing chart whilst browsing a ladies underwear catalogue.
jojo_in_japan
Sorry guys ... I already married her. =)
sighclops
Ah Japan... forever stuck in the 50s
roughneck
This is the dumbest (and offensive to men and women) article I have seen in recent times.
Bondsan
I think those ideals seem to be more related to anime characters. My ex had reached 78kg by the time of replacement.
Yasmin Torpelund Weaver
These two squeal "Because art and literature are girly" and "I want a girl that defers to my wisdom" to me... does any one here get that vibe too? :/
TokyoGas
lol. Sounds like the dude is looking for someone to take care of him.
TheInterstat
Seems the standard Japanese young relationship fantasy perpetuated by the endless meaningless adverts on Youtube is still going strong.
Bryan Swann
@Bondsan - I was thinking the same thing. It sounds like a list from anime characters attributes.
Garthgoyle
As long as she doesn't stink like cigarettes and uses deodorant I'm fine. I can't stand a woman (or anyone) who refuses to use deodorant when it's clear they need it. Same for a constant smell of cigarettes (their clothes, car, home, etc).
Spanki
This is good news for me! You can keep all your cutesy girls, it's the sexy looking/dressing ones i'm after!
jojo_in_japan
I wonder how this piece would have been written during the Bubble???
The Original Wing
"Sorry Miki...you're just about perfect, but you've got an older brother instead of a younger one, and darnit, you smell like flowers! Why can't you smell like soap instead?? Have a nice life..."
555Book
Do westerners like Americans and Europeans, whose societies are just as advance and sophisticated, also developed the same level of fuss and demanding taste like the Japanese?
NeoJamal
"Uh.I would like.a woman who would judge me by my personality rather than my humongous pay check"
CGB Spender
The list sounded good. But then ...
Has a toy poodle for a petYuck! This spoils it for me!
katsu78
Does anyone know which magazine this comes from? Because between the weird points revolving around school and the general tendency to look for women who are particularly non-threatening (not to mention the prominent featuring of school uniforms in the photos) this doesn't sound like a "male-oriented" magazine. This sounds like a magazine for boys. Or a magazine for awkward teens who want to date but are still too insecure in themselves to date who they like and need a magazine to tell them who is safe.
Leigh Ivan Quintellio Wighton
It's funny because a lot of the female equivalents of this magazine demonstrate that Japanese women are looking for guys incredibly similar to the girl described here. Both genders here appear to want......girls. No wonder the birth rate in Japan is falling.
The Original Wing
I'm not sure that this article proves that Japanese people are fussy or demanding. My image is that this is mostly for fun. If I were to imagine the absolute perfect dream girl, of course she'd watch the same TV shows as me and avoid the same ones as me, and she'd be highly skilled at cooking exactly my favorite foods, and she'd cheer for the same baseball team as me, and have a perfectly complementary personality and sense of humor as me... but I'm not expecting or even looking for a girl who has those minor, particular details. That's impossible, and it'd be kind of boring, to tell you the truth. This article is just a fun exercise of thinking about "designing" a fictitious person that would perfectly match you - nothing more.
Fukuppy
My ideal
Sola Aoi
Long, black, slightly teased hair - i.e. Sola Aoi
Height: 160 centimeters Sola Aoi?
Weight: 48 kilograms Sola Aoi?
Breast size: Hitomi Tanaka
Does as she is told.
Smells like sex
Does as she is told.
Always says, 'Anything you want, dear' and does it.
Wears nothing
Hobby: Pleasing me.
Favorite type of music: Classical with a jazz bent.
Favorite food: Me
Gets good grades in cooking and cleaning the house
The dumber the better. Think Brittany in 'Glee'.
In the cookery and homemaking club at school.
Likes toning the fatty bits to please me.
Definitely needs to have a brother 'chonan' so we don't get lumbered with the senile, drooling parents.
Has me for a pet
Favorite manga: anything by S1 or SoftOnDemand.
Works full-time to support my low-paid ALT job that I need just to get a visa and stay in Japan.
Often uses the Mogu Mogu Brown stamp for LINE (I don't know what this is!)
If you ask her what kind of guy she likes, she’ll say, “you when you are nasty to me'Probie
Yuck. Any person, and especially girls who like dumb comics is a big turn off.
Peacetrain
Totally ridiculous, sexist and offensive.
All I want is a woman whose sole concern in life is to please me.
Thunderbird2
The article starts off listing traits for a woman, but the further it goes down the list the woman turns into a schoolgirl... the photo at the top also shows a schoolgirl.
Articles like this are just silly really... unless the woman matches their checklist then she has no chance? Crikey.
Ah_so
The picture clearly indicates that the ideal girlfriend is a school girl.
No surprises there!
tmarie
A silly list but at least it included personality traits. Beats the "rich, tall and handsome", list that is common for what females want in males here, no?
Viclovesdrama
Lol, a bit like those women who try to achieve to look like a barbie doll, completely unrealistic. But let them all have their dreams.
One correction though, C-cups are not the norm, AA or A-cups are :-) unless you count the stuffed bras that make your AA look like a B or C.
7sky7
This is just a ridiculously stupid list, but in the context of how magazines and present day Japanese trends go, it is the norm to be ridiculous, as long as there is something 'kawaii' about it.
Graham DeShazo
Rainbow_Demon
Stopped reading at that point. Horrible misuse of a good word like "enlightened". There is nothing enlightened about base likes. I like chocolate. You don't. I don't like natto. You do. No amount of "enlightenment" is going to change that.
Japanese men may prefer C size because that is what they grew up surrounded by. Or the preference may be innate, and C size women have been breeding more successfully for centuries. But nobody is more enlightened for a breast size preference, not even if they were to lie about it to please some others warped world view.
avigator
My ideal Japanese woman: 1) Has long legs 2)Has normal body length, (not long body) 3)No flat buttocks 4) Has some pigmentation 5)Does not talk like a baby or whispering 6)Knows more words than "kawaii", "oishii", "kowai" 7)Does not have a round face 8)has a high nose 9)works hard for the money 10)is not into conformity
Serrano
"physically fit"
Oh well, there dooms countless disabled females.
genjuro
I'll verify that once I see guys packing bathroom scales to dinner dates.
Smells like teen spirit?
If I can get occasional freebies, hey, why not?
JoiceRojo
On the other hand these features explain why AKB is so popular
kdotson1965
OK - I can see a few matches to my ideal girl - I also like long hair on a girl, and think that Asian women have a nice, even intoxicating scent; but lets get real for a moment. If this is your ideal girl guidelines - get a robot!! I have told friends of mine that I compare women to Ayumi to get the perfect girl, but this is based on how I "Think" she might be, not on anything that is real. Everyone wants the perfect partner, but let remember that it would get very boring if that partner met every single tag you set for them, there would be no surprises, no mystery, nothing to discover about them.
iLikeTurtles
My wife comfortably hits 15 of these, sadly #5 is not one of them :(
Carcharodon
by a male-oriented magazine
male orientated magazine aimed at who? otakus? manga nerds? that list - what a load of bollocks!
Bear27840
The men should be very careful of what the get for what they want can turn out to be something they do not.
ratonratonjp
I want to be jojo in my next life...
nath
How can the majority of them ALL like this same type of girl? And its just as possble there are more than one girl out there who actually fits this mild. One of the reasons I don't have any friends here. Neither do I really want any. Unless they are a real out-cast. In a good way.
fannybatter
In other words, someone just like your mummy.
NathalieB
I cant decide if this article is more offensive to women or men actually.
Christina Khetsisouvanh
This article is so SEXIST and a double-standard. It's offensive to women and you can't have a perfect, flawless woman who hits ALL 23 CHECK POINTS. Dude, LIVE IN THE REAL WORLD. Not all women are like this. I mean, really guys.
Think about if women had a 23 checklist for men. I would love to see that! You'd indefinably feel offended and inadequate too.
It's no wonder Japan has a declining population.
LostSoul45
It's offensive to cool people who managed to get past adolescence.....regardless of gender.
All these so-called "men" can keep their 'cute' Stepford Lolita molls.
I'll take the aged-to-perfection full-bodied sexy 40 to 50-something genuine 'women' complete with high-heels, silk stockings, lace garters, daring mini-skirts, G-cups, dynamite smile, lipstick, eyeliner, and silky black or moderately brown tastfully styled hair....
...plus physical fitness, enjoyment of outdoor and athletic activity, a healthy adventurous libido, and the intelligence, worldly experience, and wit to actively engage in stimulating conversation on nearly any topic (as opposed to "ehh? Wakanna--i! hee hee hee").
Ah....I just described my exquisite girfriend.
I'm off to be with her then and stop wasting time here.
See ya!