The Development of Sexuality in Japanese Advertising



Advertising is a sexualized milieu

It may not have always been that way in Japan, but it clearly is now

Sex is now everywhere in Japanese advertising

There are many reasons for this: some apparent, others less so, perhaps

The first may have to do with historical change

in manners, in values and behavioral codes in the social milieu

Japanese society seems somehow freer, more open to the public display of intimacy, affection, and sexuality
 Thus, in years past, this sort of scene would have appeared:

a foreign woman and man embracing

As "outsiders" to Japan, such actors were capable of acting in ways that, if performed by a Japanese actor, might be unseemly to Japanese sensibilities
Were a Japanese to be involved in the embrace, it would often be at the initiative of a foreigner
It could always be possible to justify the act as: "the outsider is naturally aggressive. It's their influence that's the cause."
Historically, foreigners were deemed less socially graceful, less decorous, but also more "public", less private

And so, foreigners were often depicted performing extreme or foolish acts

So, too, would non-Japanese women be shown exposing more skin

Certainly, this behavioral representation still persists in today's advertising
Consider this stream of public physical display by foreigners in a recent commercial for a Japanese car
Other reasons contributed to this "public use of foreigners" for communication purposes

  • for one thing, Japanese, whose social relations tended to be shrouded from public view, were still interested in witnessing extreme public behavior

    • in fact, Japan has long had a surveillence dimension to its society

  • In addition, Japan has long evinced an historical impulse to take instruction from those outside its boundaries
But what is different now is that in contemporary advertising, Japanese are calling on themselves to make the display
And suddenly, mainstream ads show scenes like this:
Just your typical "Hi honey, I'm home!" in everyday Japan, circa 2002

Accounting for these Developments

One question is "why the shift to Japanese actors in the expression of sexuality?"

However, one factor that should not be overlooked is the enormous increase in sexuality over all -- native and foreign

And thus, the question really ought to be rephrased: "why all this kissing and hugging?"

In an earlier section of this research, we considered how color is often employed in relation to woman, as well as product.

One reason may be to heighten desire, a possibility I have assessed systematically in other work.

In years past, when Japanese advertisers wanted to heighten sexuality in their communications, they often relied on foreigners to provide the symbolic punch

Now they have just ratcheted up the amount of sex-acts (both qualitatively and quantitatively

That's one answer, of course

Another is about the world of economics

the corporate imperatives underlying the crafting of ads The reality is that Japan today is an extremely competitive marketplace

its economy is way down, mired in long-term recession

there are increasingly fewer people to buy an ever-accreting number of goods

and this is the world's second largest advertising market

Positioning in such a severe climate is crucial

and this is true for all ad elements: whether product, corporate entity, star, soundtrack artist, etc.
What works to position?

Well, let's see... what about... sex?

We always hear that sex sells, but that isn't very likely. More often sex provides a temporary thrill

And when we're talking about 15 seconds of sex at the most, that's quite a ephemeral flush for the viewer

on the other hand, that jolt
and, perhaps that jolt can occasionally help an ad or one of its elements to stand out
What we do know is that the ad market in Japan has changed. It is acting different, it looks new.

But consider this: although all these intimate moments are flashing across the TV screen, and although it is true that this is a larger amount of emotional energy than normally emerges from TV ads in Japan, it is also true that there is not an extensive amount of discourse about "love" and "forever" and "commitment"

In short, physical exchange abounds, but the expression of deep feelings is rather absent

The ads are new, yes; but what is old is that discussion of emotions are kept on the back burner

Or are they?

To see that, let's consider how ads treat emotions.



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