In Japan, 'Herbivore' Boys Subvert Ideas Of Manhood

[Bonobo]

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=120696816

The sensitive New Age man has finally arrived in the land of the salaryman. But there is a catch — a particularly important one in Japan, where the declining birthrate has caused alarm: The new Japanese man doesn't appear to be interested in women or sex.

In Tokyo on the weekends, the trendy area of Harajuku is a melting pot of urban tribes: Lolita goths bat their fake eyelashes, while the punks glower.

Away from the strutting are the retiring wallflowers, a quiet army of sweet young men with floppy hair and skinny jeans. These young men are becoming known as Japan's "herbivores" — from the Japanese phrase for "grass-eating boys" — guys who are heterosexual but who say they aren't really interested in matters of the flesh.

They are drawn to a quieter, less competitive life, focusing on family and friends — and eschewing the macho ways of the traditional Japanese male.

[lumberjack_jeff]

1. these guys are analagous to "loners" in the US.

The know they lack the resources to attract and support a woman, so they reject the expected paradigm. In Japan; it's casual work and anime. In the US, it's guns and Nascar.

[IDFbunny]

2. pot porn playstation

[Mammone]

3. Men going their own way

Guys are checking out here to. Does not seem as far along as Japan but the trend is there.

[bemildred]

4. Generally, it is women that determine reproductive rates, not men.

Esp. in the modern world where birth control for women is legal and effective. So the notion that these "quitters" are responsible for the low birth rate is wrong.

These guys just decided the game is not worth the effort; given that what is offered them is only the role of worker-drone, they have a point.