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by Anonymous User on 01:35 PM May 30th, 2005 EST (#1)
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We have someting similar here in the U.S. when dealing with a nagging chatterbox of a woman.
It's much simpler than a box. It's just a good ol' fashion gag in her mouth!
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by zenpriest on 06:04 PM May 30th, 2005 EST (#2)
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I have owned Yamaha motorcycles, musical instruments, and stereo equipment. I just sent an email informing that I have purchased my last item with the Yamaha brand on it, and so has everyone else I can manage to convince to avoid the brand.
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by Anonymous User on 08:07 PM May 30th, 2005 EST (#3)
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The average Tokyo apartment is 600-square feet.
Roughly the size of an average American master bedroom in an upscale surburban tract house.
If a Japanese man gets a 10 x 6 box as his sanctuary, that's got to seem spacious.
Most Japanese men go to the bars until the wee hours and often never make the long train ride home.
Japan's fertility rate is now so low that the nation cannot possibly replace its aging population.
If Japanese men have been placed in a "box," the country as a whole has been boxed out of its future.
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by HombreVIII on 09:10 PM May 30th, 2005 EST (#4)
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If you don't want to be in it with me, hit the road bitch!
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by Dittohd on 10:50 PM May 30th, 2005 EST (#5)
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I'm not sure that Yamaha is the company to be angry at. I kinda doubt Yamaha is marketing this room in the same way that this idiot, totally misandrist newspaper writer did in the article. After all, who is going to be paying for the room? Certainly not the woman!
I would love my own room where my wife couldn't get in or even be heard knocking on the door, especially when I'm watching one of my favorite programs on TV. After years and years, she still doesn't know (after being told time and time again) to not try to start a conversation while I'm watching one of my favorite programs. At least wait for one of the damn commercials! God knows she would never have to wait very long the way commercials are spaced these days! Totally inconsiderate and disrespectful! And I totally suspect there are many other women just like my wife and many men would love their own room away from their wives.
I wonder if it locks from the inside?
After it happened again today, I've decided to come out of retirement and get a job again so I can pay for my own separate apartment. Maybe then I can even find and pay for a new wife (or girlfriend) and leave this one in the dust forever.
I've totally had it! Shit-fire! To hell with her!
Dittohd
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by Anonymous User on 03:04 AM May 31st, 2005 EST (#6)
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I agree that the anger is misplaced. The misandric distortion and spin is coming from the reporter IMO (as is usually the case when Western reporters write about Japan through a Western PC lens, sneering at a culture they hardly understand the real workings of at all).
I live in Japan in a small apartment myself. My Japanese wife is not hen-pecking at all, but the fact remains that due to the smallness of the apartment I can't have much privacy or my own space, and have to be very careful about noise late at night (just out of courtesy). Even after she goes to sleep it is in the very next room with only a thin sliding door separating the rooms.
I would love to have a soundproof room like that. How utterly relaxing. I could watch TV without headphones on after my wife goes to sleep (as I have to do now) and have my own private time and space whenever I wanted it. This is nothing against my wife, it's just that the tiny nature of most Japanese apartments forces a situation where it is almost impossible to be guaranteed of a chance to have time for yourself, let your hair down, make a bit of noise, etc without having to worry about disturbing others or being disturbed.
They may be small, but as most Japanese houses and apartments are too they would be considered roomy enough and the soundproofing aspect is fantastic as most Japanese buildings have thin walls - sometimes with only thin sliding doors separating rooms. It's not like the situation in a typical Western house, where such a box in the corner of the spacious living room of a huge house would be an insult.
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by Anonymous User on 01:53 PM June 3rd, 2005 EST (#16)
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Plus it would give you somewhere to hide when Godzilla shows up! :P
Thundercloud.
"Hoka hey!"
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by Nambla on 03:16 AM May 31st, 2005 EST (#7)
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Does the box come internet ready?
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by Kyo on 10:20 AM May 31st, 2005 EST (#8)
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I have to agree with the sentiments of the Anonymous User above -- the writer of the article seems like the real misandrist, filling the paragraphs with gratuitous swipes at the hard-working Japanese father who finally reaches retirement age, only to find that his wofe doesn't want him around anymore.
Still, though, Japanese men don't exactly get a fair shake in life. Forced to work unholy hours, paying for the family's expenses as his primarily-stay-at-home wife doesn't go back to serious work even when the kids are old enough to take care of themselves... and his reward for all this is to be called things like sodai gomi (large-sized garbage) by his own wife!
At least there are still women in Japan who appreciate men's sacrifices. It always gives me a chuckle to see western women try to convince Japanese women that they're oppressed because they have to make tea or speak in high voices or whatever. The Japanese reply that they have it much better than their husbands, who work until they collapse and are virtual slaves to the company, and the westerners just can't get their heads around the idea that women might not be the only oppressed people in the world.
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by Anonymous User on 04:40 PM May 31st, 2005 EST (#9)
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I'd be very interested to read any comments from US males who have lived and worked in Japan.
I've been considering a move there.
But when I read about the spatial congestion ( I am claustrophobic...) and the general slavishness of Japanese men, I wonder if it would be a good idea.
If you grew up in the US, how can you adapt to living in what amounts to a very expensive hamster habitrail?
How do the Japanese do it?
If you subjected Americans to this environment, you would expect a huge spike in aggression and violence....
We can survive daily congested rush hours, even road rage, but NOT to go home to a 600 sq. ft. bunker with thin walls and no personal space whatsoever.
My impression of modern Japan is that it has become an urban "ant farm..."
Experienced commentators, can you shed any light?
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by Dittohd on 08:35 PM May 31st, 2005 EST (#10)
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I don't know what kind of work you do or how independent you are, but it's possible to get a job working on a military base as a civilian and live on-base in American-style government quarters which are similar to regular housing here in the U.S. There are several military bases in Japan, including Air Force, Army, Marine, and Navy, so you'd have a lot of jobs, I suspect, to choose from. In many instances, though, local Japanese get preference for jobs. If quality of housing is important to you, I've always heard that Air Force is generally the best of the four.
I kinda liked living off-base in the smaller quarters, but on-base was definitely nicer. No comparison. I was both single and married during the times I lived off-base and lived with my girlfriend or wife in each case, so anything would have been great, if you know what I mean. I did the same thing when single and stationed in Thailand. As far as I'm concerned, if the woman is good, a guy can put up with an awful lot. Not much else really matters. On the flip side, of course, if it's bad, just about everything can become a royal pain in the butt! Ha! ha! :-)
Dittohd
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by Dittohd on 10:34 PM May 31st, 2005 EST (#11)
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By the way, if you're interested in Japan and not particularly picky about going to the mainland, Okinawa is also a possibility, as they have a large Air Force base there too, although not much on-base housing.
I lived there off-base with my wife, son, and a medium sized dog for three years in a house the size of a small American house... two bedrooms, a living room, kitchen, and small enclosed porch in the back. I estimate it at about 1100 square feet. The walls were made of cement to withstand the heavy storms that came through during monsoon season. No thin paper-like walls inside like on the mainland. Even had wooden shutters attached to the outside windows that could be slid over them for protection from high winds. Never had any big problems there and never felt cramped.
I found that it was good to have a dog. Both houses on either side of me were broken into at some time but mine never was... no doubt because of my dog. A great dog, too. Smart and friendly. My son could pull its hair and ears and the dog never did a thing. She just took it all like it was nothing. I even have a picture of my son, asleep, using the dog as a pillow. Great memories!
Dittohd
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by Kyo on 10:42 AM June 1st, 2005 EST (#12)
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Hey Dittohd, my father served in Kadena. What a coincidence -- I didn't think there were all that many people stationed in Okinawa.
(I don't live in Okinawa, though; I live in a big, ugly mainland city.)
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by Dittohd on 11:14 AM June 1st, 2005 EST (#13)
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I was there between 1978-81. Worked in Accounting and Finance.
What did your father do and when was he stationed there?
>I live in a big, ugly mainland city
Big, ugly mainland city? I didn't think any existed in Japan. What do you consider to be ugly about it?
Dittohd
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by Kyo on 09:31 AM June 2nd, 2005 EST (#14)
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Dittohd, my father was drafted into the army and served there from around 1970-72. He seemed to like it there but doesn't speak Japanese well anymore.
What do I consider to be ugly about mainland cities? Well... the power lines, the concrete and asphalt everywhere, the ubiquitous construction, the lack of greenery, the near-complete absence of taste when laying out neighborhoods, the fact that what few pre-war buildings are left are rapidly being knocked down in favor of ugly concrete boxes... Japan *could* be the world's most beautiful country, if they put some effort into it.
And (to stay on topic) I asked some people I know if they'd ever heard of these boxes. No one had -- I'm guessing that this story is just being pushed as (along with the misandry) another of those zany things they have out in faraway Japan.
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Tirryb writes "