TOKYO MALE ORDER
Before Traveling to Tokyo, you should brush up on what masculinity means in the land of the rising sun.
Designer bags. Smart shoes. Heavily plucked eyebrows. No, not another episode of Sex and the City but the modern version of the typical straight male you’ll find in Tokyo. While a Westerner might consider this rather — ahem — gay, a well-rounded physical appearance and good hygiene are simply components of what Japanese consider masculine. In a cosmopolitan culture that spearheads international trends, gender roles are continuously blurring, but the male will maintain his position as the authority figure, even if his nails are chipped (unlikely).
It’s often said that the Japanese are known to take something and do it better. When it comes to masculinity, Japanese men have it in the bag. Their refined approach eliminates the “butch” factor and focuses more on the traditional role of being dependable, intelligent and successful. Throw in their dedication to family and you have modern men who don’t necessarily have to chug a beer or drive a big truck to prove their manhood. Speaking of trucks, some luxuries men like to “show off” in the Western world are limited or completely absent in Tokyo due to the bite-size lifestyle (such as homes, fancy cars and the biggest TVs). So what’s the alternative?
Joshua Weeks, project director to iconic Japanese artist, Takashi Murakami, says, “Fashion is a way for Japanese men to not only express themselves, but also to indicate economic status.” Ultimately, the roots of good, old-fashioned presentation are not compromised and, simply put, raised awareness about personal appearance. “In America, men have less fashion-minded means of proving their income, so Japanese use style to compensate. It’s acceptable to wear T-shirts and ripped shorts in the summer here, but I would feel embarrassed wearing this in Japan.” In Tokyo, the “metrosexual” movement isn’t a phase but the standard — especially if you’re trying to impress and maintain social responsibility as a successful male (and most are).
Impeccable grooming and fashion aren’t the only measures taken to ensure a masculine statement. And while in general Asia keeps getting whitewashed by Western cultures, don’t expect American trademark testosterone levels (think sports marathons or beer can crunching) to become common place here. In the Land of the Rising Sun, masculinity is defined by the male’s conviction to family. If a male can support his family, making it his top priority, he is regarded as masculine and represents — by society’s standards — the ideal man. As long as family is first, he can get away with wearing makeup all he wants. And he just might, considering that it’s acceptable for him to shop, spa and style just as much as women.
Hygiene is important to both sexes and men visit the salon almost as frequently as women. It’s fine for a male to get his hair permed (more prominent in older generations), and eyebrow-trimming kits are sold in convenience stores. This is not to say that society plays a part in the gender role. Guys with beards and unkempt appearances aren’t completely trusted in a professional atmosphere, and the general rule of thumb is that proper grooming (the more elaborate and tweaked the better) will guide an individual to a stronger work ethic (from the outside in). “There’s always been an emphasis on appearance in Japan,” says Weeks. “From the elaborate makeup on geisha girls and Kabuki performers to flourishing kimono styles among merchants in the Edo period... it’s part of the culture.” So don’t be surprised to find males on trains looking at themselves in hand mirrors, or teenagers with Mickey Mouse dolls clipped to their backpacks. It’s totally acceptable!
Thanks to major league baseball imports like Hideo Nomo and Ichiro Suzuki, America has embraced Japanese men in a more mainstream masculine role. But both Nomo and Suzuki know where they come from, and if we take a close look under their fingernails and their roles in their families, other worldly citizens will realize they were never “gay” in the first place.
WHERE TO STAY
It’s no secret that boys like their toys — no matter how “feminine” they are — and Peninsula Tokyo in the burgeoning Marunouchi district is the perfect crash pad for the sophisticated, luxury-minded male traveler. With 314 guestrooms (including 47 suites), the hotel offers accommodations in a completely new freestanding building built from the bottom up. Peninsula is the only hotel company with its own research and development facilities to design and customize equipment to conveniently serve guests. What should you expect? A trademark bedside control panel with remote control capabilities to adjust the environment at the touch of a button, humidity control buttons, 42-inch plasma TVs with CD/DVD player, mood lighting, personal cell phones, black-out screens on wall-size windows (adjusting at the touch of a button) and modern Japanese toilet with control pad. Peninsula.com JIMMY IM
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