Japanese women long ago mastered the art of coquetry, giving it—as could be expected—a subtlety and refinement typical of Japanese behavior. The essence of its subtlety is its apparent naivete and innocence. This is particularly attractive to most American men who, because of lack of experience with really clever women, tend to be gullible. The Japanese girl does not even have to be good at coquetry as long as she projects an image of utter innocence—and at this Japanese girls have no peers.
One of the special attractions of Japan's red-light districts, defunct as of 1957, was that the girls generally behaved like paragons of virtue and innocence. Visiting one of the higher-class places was like being entertained in a wealthy home by the exquisitely well behaved, well trained daughters of the house. One doesn't need much imagination to visualize how well this type of behavior goes over with the American visitor lucky enough to wind up in the boudoir of an attractive Japanese girl, whether or not she is a professional.
The Japanese girl knows from experience that men frequently like to act infantile. She enthusiastically encourages this impulse when it comes. She also knows that men are especially attracted to women who behave in an infantile manner. She knows this type of behavior is particularly effective on men who are unsure of their virility, and that even virile men get a kick out of it if it isn't carried too far. As a result, she instinctively develops the ability to combine acting like a baby with performing like a professional.
Many Japanese girls have been conditioned to the point where they naturally act infantile in any personal dealings with men, including members of their own family. These girls tend to be very popular with foreign men at first because such behavior is usually a novelty and because the Western man immediately presumes the girls are pushovers. After a while, however, this type of behavior begins to lose its appeal for Westerners. Sensing this, Japanese girls who associate with really masculine foreign men usually give up the practice within a year or so.
Westerners are also attracted to the voices of Japanese girls. As part of their overall femininity, girls are conditioned to speak in soft, sweet, harmonious tones—which, unfortunately, don't usually carry over into English. This manner of speaking includes special word endings and vocabulary that are feminine by nature and use. Girls are also taught to raise the pitch of their voices, since speaking' in a high voice has traditionally connoted femininity, passivity and inferiority—all characteristics men considered ideal in women.
The girl-watcher in Japan who gets into the nest with his quarry may find that nobody can act as helpless, as forlorn, or as sad as a disappointed Japanese girl. Being extraordinarily sensitive and as emotional as jelly, it doesn't take much to break her up. She is most likely to fall apart when the man in her life does something that displeases her or fails to do something she wants him to do. On these occasions she often threatens suicide. The Japanese male is able to withstand this emotional assault because he has a certain amount of built-in immunity. But not so the average American or European. He tries to comfort the girl and quickly finds himself tangled in her web.
The girl-watcher exposed to this kind of behavior for the first time is apt to find it attractive and perhaps irresistible. It arouses his compassion, his protective instincts, his ego, and finally his libido. With all these aroused, all the girl usually has to do if she wants him is reel him in.
One of the most important factors in the good reputation Japanese girls have among Western men is the willingness of young girls to consort with middle-aged and older men. For centuries throughout most of the Orient it has been the prerogative of men of means, who were generally the older men in the community, to enjoy the favors of many women. Most of these men chose young girls as their concubines, mistresses, and playthings not only because they were usually the most attractive but also because they were generally the only ones available to staff the large number of drinking establishments and sex houses that have been traditional in the Orient. Over the centuries it therefore became an accepted custom for older men to enjoy themselves with younger women.
Older men in present-day Japan no longer have the field to themselves. Teenage boys have generous allowances from affluent parents, and young salaried men now also compete with their elders for the time and favors of girls in their own age group. But it is still generally true that because of the old sanctified custom of young girls serving older men, middle-aged and older men in Japan are able to make out with girls in their teens and early twenties to a degree unmatched in Western countries.
The ofuro or "honorable bath" is a Japanese institution. It is an institution because it has played an important role in the daily life of the Japanese since the dawn of Japan's history and there are numerous customs, practically amounting to a mystique, surrounding its use. One of the main characteristics of the ofuro is that until recently men and women, boys and girls, all bathed together. Now large baths operated for use by the general public are required by law to segregate the sexes. Those operated privately by inns, hot-spring spas, and hotels do not come under this law, and still offer mixed bathing facilities to their guests. Kazoku furo or "family baths," designed-to be used by small groups, are especially popular in homes as well as in hotels and inns.
Like the yukata, the contribution baths make to male-female relations in Japan is immeasurable. Mixed bathing is a special type of physical intimacy that brings a man and a woman together in a way not possible by any other means. Western men who participate in the practice with Japanese girls find the stimulation they receive a new experience which thereafter colors their opinions of all women.
In addition to providing Japanese women with an unique opportunity to attract and stimulate men, the custom of Japanese-style bathing gives them another advantage that many Western women tend to ignore or underestimate, and that is the lustrative effect of water and its subsequent influence on their love life. The Japanese have long used water for both spiritual and sensual purposes, keeping themselves cleansed of sin as well as more sexually attractive. They learned early that there is something especially exciting about a woman who is freshly bathed, that she seems to have been miraculously returned to a virginal state, like a blossoming morning flower covered with dew.
As a rule, Japanese women do not censure men for drinking. On the contrary, they are more apt to encourage men to drink. Drinking has traditionally been an integral part of religious and social life in Japan. No formal function of any kind is complete without it. On these occasions, drinking is more of a duty than a privilege. Only a person who cannot drink because of some physical condition or illness is normally excused without a great deal of pressure. This attitude toward drinking is partly a result of the distinctive social etiquette of Japan which prevents the Japanese from being informal and frank with each other except when they are under the influence of alcohol. They believe it is impossible to really get to know a person without drinking with him—because the sober person will always hold back and not reveal his true character.
The Japanese feel ill-at-ease with anyone who refuses to drink with them at a party or outing, unless the person has an acceptable excuse. They feel
