Why "Keiko's Homepage" Rings True

Over the last few weeks this blog has received a substantial number of visitors intrigued about the Keiko's Homepage scam, and as I said at the time, while this particular case was a blatant hoax, the reason why this particular ruse seems so credible is that there is enough reality behind the "Charisma Man" (aka "Zero to Hero") phenomenon for one to imagine some eccentric young woman going that bit further; indeed, the trend is notable enough for the 外人好き女 ("foreigner-loving woman") - or 「外専 ("foreigner specialist")」for short - to be a staple of 2ch discussions: if you're white and your goal in life is to sleep around with women who would be out of your league in normal circumstances, Japan is definitely where you want to be (as is Korea, from what I hear). But how exactly did it come to pass that things are this way? I believe the answer is to be found for the most part in articles like this one:

When Japanese men such as Ryuji Shinozaki go shopping, they aren't likely to see their peers among the pantheon of foreign models on billboards. On Japan's leading fashion boulevard, Omotesando, Japanese male role models are almost nonexistent. A recent survey of images from L'Oreal to Benetton to the Gap counted 17 white males, 16 white women, one black woman, one David Beckham, nine Japanese women, but not a single Japanese male face.

"I feel strange because it's mostly foreign guys on billboards," says Shinozaki, 24. "It's difficult to find Japanese on billboards, so it's difficult to build up my own clear identity."

Out of 30 fashion magazines at a convenience store in Tokyo's Nakano district, only one featured a male — white, of course.

"Imagine if you were in New York or Paris and every model was Japanese," says Shinozaki.

This is one of the oddities of Japanese mass media that I've never understood, the superabundance of white faces plugging everything under the sun: if your media tells you every waking moment of your life that the ideal man is a blond-haired, blue-eyed American, it's only natural that you'll grow up imbibing a preference for such men, isn't it? In fact, what would be surprising is if you didn't, despite everything you see telling you to do so.

Only when Japanese men are held up indisputably as the ideal within their own country will their womenfolk get over the mentality which sets up "Beckham mania", "DiCaprio fever" and other such embarrassing displays of an inferiority complex which sees any Johnny Foreigner with the right skin color treated as if he were a prince stepping out of the pages of a Cinderalla book. Until then, frustrated and horny young white guys are welcome to take advantage of the situation to the maximum extent: go to Tokyo and you will find your very own lotus blossom(s), guaranteed or your money back. Hasten thee to Shangri-la while you still can!

*With said discussions usually filling up quickly with epithets like 「日本の恥」, 「尻軽女」,「肉便器」and other vulgarities not worth translating ...

Comments

[Jim]

It is a bizarre trend, I do agree. And yet despite being a white male in my mid- 20s in Japan, I'm not a big fan of it at all. Yes, there are girls that want to crawl all over me, but how good will the relationship be? It just shows the power of advertising on people's psyche. No wonder so many psychology-majors get into media.

Most of these relationships I see between Japanese girls and white guys can get sour very quickly. In fact, isn't it true that there is a high divorce rate for Japanese (Or other Asian women) and white males? Call me an ol' fuddy duddy, but I don't want to get into a relationship with a girl just because she's good looking and wants to get into my pants. Personally, other white guys I meet who take advantage of this arrangement make me cringe.

One thing that surprised me about the area of Japan I live in (Tohoku) is that I've actually seen American women married to Japanese men. Interestingly enough one such coupling I've seen is a much stronger and trusting relationship than the usual Japanese girl/white dude pairing. Granted this must be rare, but it was refreshing to see.