As one might suspect due to the overwhelming amount of Japanese pornography available on the internet (or so I’ve heard), sexual imagery is everywhere in Japan. From skin mags displayed in convenience store windows to advertisements depicting alluring women in revealing attire to TV game shows in which bikini-clad models compete in physical challenges, one is constantly exposed to titillating and suggestive images.

In fact, not a day goes by when I am not confronted with the sight of nearly-naked women.

But I digress. . . this post is not about my love life. (Thank you, folks! I’ll be here all week.)

The reason that I bring this up (aside from the fact that I’m a lecherous sleaze) is that last night Judy told me about something she witnessed yesterday that I thought I would share.

For those of you who don’t know, Judy is a preschool teacher at an international school here in Tokyo. One of her class’ daily activities is a walk to a nearby park for outdoor playtime, and yesterday was no different. However, when she and her students arrived at the park, she was surprised to see two youngish-looking girls dressed in schoolgirl outfits, surrounded by several photographers. The girls were playing on the slide, the swings and the monkey bars, all the while coyly flashing their panties for the cameras.

As you might imagine, the children responded to this sight with great curiosity and repeated askings of “What are they doing?”. Thankfully, due to their ignorance and naiveté (bless them), Judy was able to quell their inquisitiveness by saying, “Oh nothing, just taking pictures. Now, let’s go play over there.”

While she was naturally appalled that those managing the photo shoot would carry out such an activity in the middle of the day in a location where children were bound to be playing, she was perhaps even more disturbed by the sheer nonchalance of the other people in the park, who seemed to take no notice of the risqué goings-on just feet away.

Perhaps their impassivity was a cultural thing, or maybe repeated exposure to these sorts of occurrences simply causes one to become indifferent. Who knows? But what I do know is that if I ever happen to witness such an event, I’ll be sure to try to obtain photographic evidence.
For, um, sociological research purposes, that is.