Child Exploitation in Japanese Television?

[bellpickle]

[SIZE=1]Taken from [URL=http://randomc.animeblogger.net/][U]Random Curiosity[/U][/URL]:

"[I]This past Sunday, the popular music and variety show Utawara, hosted by Matsumoto Jun and Matsuura Aya, had a two hour summer special that featured Arashi, KAT-TUN, and Koda Kumi. What I?m writing about today is the segment that featured Koda Kumi: it was called the Chibikko Erokawa Dance Senshuken... Basically, each group does a dance to a Koda Kumi song, and they get judged by Wada Akiko, Tomochika Tsuyako, and Machamacha.

What?s so wrong about this is that the girls they get are aged 2-12. Yes that?s right, they even had a two year old. Basically, this segment qualifies for every loli-pedo fetish, particularly since Koda Kumi dances aren?t exactly known to be chaste. Keep in mind, the title of the competition includes the word erokawa, which means cute but sexy. In the end, a group called ?Princess Barbie? (all six year olds) won for their dance to the Butterfly song.[/I]"

You can see the entire post and the accompanying videos of the performances [URL=http://randomc.animeblogger.net/2006/08/03/utawara-summer-special-chibikko-erokawa-dance-championship/][U]here[/U][/URL].

This brings to mind an American Idol spin-off a few years back, where the competitors were all young children. I remember the audition episodes showed parents putting incredible amounts of pressure on their children and screaming at them when they failed to qualify. I'm guessing it's the same situation here, except that promoting kids this way seems more socially accepted in Japan; after all, there are girl bands such as Berryz Koubou, which was primarily made up of 10-12 year olds when it was first formed. Then there are the stories of child stars who were pulled out of the spotlight and were never able to recover...

Not to mention the sexual implications. It could be said that this is just harmless fun, but when little six-year olds flaunt themselves in revealing two-piece outfits, it's not at all cute. When you take into consideration Japan's problems with child porn, it's becomes outright dangerous.[/SIZE]

[AzureWolf]

[COLOR=maroon]Bloody hell, did you see that outside kick at the beginning of entry #1?! I'm not even going to say how long it took me to make mine look that good. I'm jealous. >_<

I tend to be against everything in modern culture, so yeah, this stuff irks me and I think it's stupid, but I don't think it's any different from the rest of our ####-up culture. Kids have always tried to imitate adults. They always try to be big little boys and girls. Obviously, big boys and girls now are much more perverse and dance much nastier, and so it's not surprising to find kids trying to imitate that now.

So yeah, I'm against it, but I say the blame isn't about pedophilia or anything of the sort. It's just the current culture that permeates through all modern countries. I guess when you see yourself (not you, bellpickle, just "you" in general) in the eyes of a child, the truth becomes that much clearer.[/COLOR]

[bellpickle]

[quote name='AzureWolf][COLOR=maroon']Kids have always tried to imitate adults. They always try to be big little boys and girls. Obviously, big boys and girls now are much more perverse and dance much nastier, and so it's not surprising to find kids trying to imitate that now.[/COLOR][/quote]

[SIZE=1]For the older kids I'd have to agree, but I can't honestly bring myself to believe that the younger 2 through 6-year old kids are dressing and dancing that way because they honestly want to; it's probably more a case of parents egging their kids to do this because it's "cute" when it's really just irresponsible.[/SIZE]

[eleanor]

[color=dimgray] Modern pop-culture in both Korea and Japan are sort of the same. Innocence is considered a turn-off for a lot of guys, and young girls are innocent. Ever wonder why anime has lot of loli-con and girls in middle school with giant boobs flashing their underwear? Yeah.

To Japan it's cute. I'm sure there are people there who are also against the whole thing, but there's also a fair share of people who think it's normal. Very irritating to me. A lot of Asian girls will act innocent and bubbly and if you hit them slightly they'll pretend to be mortally wounded and fall over.

And for Western culture. Eh. It's not as public and it's not seen as an attractive thing, but there are plenty of elementary/middle schoolers who go around wearing mini-skirts and slinky halters. Like I'm sure it is in Japan and Korea, there are people who hate it and people who think it's ok.

But trust me, whenever you think American culture is being superficial, look to Japan and Korea. They will top anything the US does.

As I always say, Japan continues to weird me the f-ck out.

...

Truthfully the weirding out sentiment stopped a [i]long[/i] time ago and now I just find these things funny in a deranged sort of way.

[strike](Damn some of those girls could dance.)[/strike][/color]

[Whiteblaze]

These kids were taught these dances. But even then, they don't fully understand what they are doing; at least I wouldn't think so. For instance, the little five-year-old in entry #4, do you think she understands the way she is dancing? Even if people think it?s cute and not wrong in any way, it?s in a way messing with her head.

I don't really think it's about exploitation; I'm more on the side of kids shouldn't do things that are beyond their social development.

[QUOTE=AzureWolf][COLOR=maroon]
I tend to be against everything in modern culture, so yeah, this stuff irks me and I think it's stupid, but I don't think it's any different from the rest of our ####-up culture. Kids have always tried to imitate adults. They always try to be big little boys and girls. Obviously, big boys and girls now are much more perverse and dance much nastier, and so it's not surprising to find kids trying to imitate that now.[/COLOR][/QUOTE]

Are you over looking the fact that children naturally imitate those older than them to begin with? Basically children learn by imitation, but that doesn't mean they fully comprehend what they imitate.

[Fyxe]

[size=1][color=slategray]Are you kidding me? I thought those were adorable. Plus, most of their outfits kicked ***.

I don't really see what the problem is, I've gone to dance recitals around my home town and they have worse stuff than this, hell, they hardly wear anything.

I think it's just over-reaction. Besides, they wouldn't be doing it if they didn't want to.[/color][/size]

[Whiteblaze]

[quote name='Bláse][size=1][color=slategray]I don't really see what the problem is, I've gone to dance recitals around my home town and they have [B][I]worse stuff than this[/I][/B], hell, they hardly wear anything.[/color'][/size][/quote]

So basically you [B][I]are[/I][/B] saying it does little girls no good? Thanks for agreeing. :)

[bellpickle]

[quote name='Bláse][size=1][color=slategray]Besides, they wouldn't be doing it if they didn't want to.[/color'][/size][/quote]
[SIZE=1]For the older children I might agree, but I don't think you can put it in such simplistic terms concerning the younger ones, considering just how easily pressured/influenced young children are. Personally, I know of a few kids who took up instruments or other hobbies at a very young age not necessarily because they liked it, but because their parents and relatives pressured or forced them to (as was demonstrated by the little two-year old participant, who certainly didn't have any say in the matter).

In a way, they [I]are[/I] being forced to do this against their will; like others have stated, I doubt some of these kids even fully comprehend exactly what it is they're doing, and without that knowledge, those kids can't determine whether they truly enjoy it or not.[/SIZE]

[Fyxe]

[size=1][color=slategray]So... you're saying that kids aren't smart enough to know what they enjoy or not? Haha, sorry, I don't buy it. People initially have the same mind-set throughout their whole life. They know if they want to do something or not, no matter what their age. If I was five, and someone told me to go dance, I'd tell them if I wanted to or not. It's not as if they don't have the power to say no.

Sure, some of the moves were a tad suggestive, but so what? It's not like it's porn. People are taking things far too seriously. Wait, no... Americans are, because we are perverts, and automatically take those things the wrong way.

Don't cry over spilt milk. It's not a big deal.[/color][/size]

[bellpickle]

[quote name='Bláse][size=1][color=slategray]So... you're saying that kids aren't smart enough to know what they enjoy or not?[/color'][/size][/quote]
[SIZE=1]No, I'm saying that children are [I]easily influenced[/I] into doing things they don't necessarily like. Kids are fully aware when they don't immediately enjoy something, but they might do it anyway because they don't want to make their parents angry or they don't want to be yelled at. My 7-year old cousin, for example, is currently enrolling in piano lessons because a couple distant relatives pressured her and her parents to, since "it's good to start at a young age." Judging by how reluctant my cousin was towards this, which these relatives didn't seem to notice at all, I could tell that she didn't really want to learn piano, and yet she said she wanted to because it was expected of her at the time. (This could very well be the case with many of these girls, as Japanese society as a whole is known to put an [I]enormous[/I] amount of pressure on their youth.)

As for my second point, those six-year olds barely even know right from wrong. Certainly they can't have formed their own individual opinions on the morality of their dancing; it's the opinions of the adults around them whom they're following. That's what I meant by "comprehension."

(I know that at this point, I'm merely nitpicking, and I apologize, but I just want to get my views across clearly.)

As for your brief point on us dirty-minded Americans, I'm actually inclined to be believe that Japan is far more perverted than we are. As I stated earlier, Japan [I]does[/I] have a big problem with child porn, and things like this [I]do [/I]add fuel to the fire, if only just a little.[/SIZE]

[Momiji Love]

[COLOR=DarkSlateBlue][SIZE=1][FONT=Verdana]Some of it was a little...shocking (little Mizuse Kanaru-chan, age 5 was doing things I cannot even do at age 15) but overall, I am thinking it was meant to be a cute thing.Young girls showing that they have some sort of talent.

I know from experience that most young children, if they don't want to do something (i.e. dance in front of an audience with costumes on) they are likely to pitch a fit. They were willingly taught the dances,and willingly performed them on stage.

And as for the costumes, would the effect be the same if they were in potato sacks? No.
I hope to God that the girls had some say in their outfits. You really aren't fit to be a parent if you force your children to dress like that.
(Does that make sense?)[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR]

[Fyxe]

[size=1][color=slategray]I realize that children can be easily influenced. But who's to say they didn't want to do participate in the competition? It's a whole new story with the girl as young as two, though. Because obviously [I]that[/I] wasn't her choice. And I know that Japan puts a ridiculous amount of pressure on their youth. That's why the teenage suicide rate is so high over there. If you don't do well in school, that's pretty much saying you'll be a failure. And I definitely sympathize.

And, yeah, the kids that are younger, they aren't going to think, "Wow, I'm a skank." Because they more than likely don't know what that means yet. Yet, they might think that's it's cool. It really all depends on the person that was watching it, too. Some people might find it extremely suggestive... and others may not find much wrong with it. Like me, when I first saw it, I thought it was adorable and was like, "Damn, I wish I was that coordinated and had those boots." XD
But, again, that is just my personal reaction.

And I don't mind if you want to make yourself clear, I'm enjoying this conversation. It's not often I get so in depth about my views in a topic. :)

Oh, yes... haha. You do have to admit, though. Americans are perverts.
And, yeah. There is a lot of child porn and human trafficking in Europe and Asia. Those are the things that make me furious. The way people treat those kids is just inhumane. It makes me sick, and I think more people should be focused on uncovering the crimals that do [I]that[/I].
When you look at those issues, some of those dance competition's moves are nothing. But I do understand where you are coming from. Even subtle things like those moves can warp a kid's mind, if only slightly, as the grow up.

Argh, someone needs to clean the world up. >>
Let's call the Sailor Scouts.[/color][/size]

[2010DigitalBoy]

Even if a whole bunch of greasy old pedophiles are watching this and wacking off... I don't see what harm that's doing. People who want to see little girls do suggestive things will find a way anywho... in fact it may be better to have things like this so those crazy pedos are watching this instead of finding girls on the street and stuff. Anywho, I do think it is a bit messedup to put a 2 year old without her own opinions into this sort of thing...