“I’ve never seen such an amazing display of pedophilic child fetishism on tv!”

Why are you reading into it so much? It’s just a dance competition.

If you’re so easily upset by stuff like that maybe you shouldn’t be blogging about Japan.

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wow, with a name like ‘Japan Probe’ I would think that you would AT LEAST understand a bit about Japanese culture. I guess you’re just a wapanese-yellow-fevered-white guy living outside Japan looking in.

Its is NOT suprising to find this on TV when they openly sell DVDs of 8 yr olds wearing thongs that outsell older girls doing the same thing.

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I watch a lot of TV here. 12 year-old bikini idols like Saya Irie and an obsession with teenage girls is one thing, but having 7 year-old girls hold an erotic dance competition is the creepiest thing I’ve seen on tv here. This isn’t a DVD on sale at a store, this is a network television program endorsed by major celebrities. Maybe I don’t watch the same shows you do?

I guess since I don’t find 6 year-olds performing erotic dances in skimpy bunny costumes to be acceptable, I am “wapanese-yellow-fevered-white guy living outside Japan looking in”.

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I want to come to your defense James, but these two comments are just so bad they don’t even deserve a rebuttal. Most anyone could look at your site and then these comments and know what the real issue is.

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i think you are preaching too much, all i see are cute kids having a great time on stage, if it has any pedophilic undertones, it’s in our own minds. besides, they only do what their role models on tv do, if we should change anything, it’s our own behavior.

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Oh my god. In the second video, near the end, the announcer asks one of the 7 year old girls what she wants to be when she grows up. She answers “a masseuse.”

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I do agree with Kiri’s comment.
I think it’s just a normal dance contest for kids.
I’m sure this sort of competiion also happened in some other
Asian countries, including Thailand, my country.

But when you guys, most western viewers, watched such a this kind of show, it seem to be unusual or paedophilic for you because you may observe Asian cultures from your own Western glasses which I can understand.

You can see Japanese parents support their kids to do so, it can convey that it’s a usual thing for Japan.

Due to we grew up from a different cultural background, one normal event in one country could be an exotic show for person
from other countries.I hope I’m not preaching too much.

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For all the folks who don’t see the pedophilia angle: This contest is called the ちびっ子エロかわダンス選手権. It’s got エロ right there in the title.

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moe~!

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Yeah James, you have no understanding of Japan. Erotic dance competitions for prepubescent girls are completely normal and there is no such thing as “rorikon”.

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Just to agree with randomcommenter, the title is “Chibikko Ero-Kawa Dance Championship” (why did I start in Japanese and end up in English?) “Chibikko” is roughly “Wee kids” and “Ero-Kawa” is “Erotic-Cute” (my handy dictionary suggests “erotic; pornographic; risque” as the translation of “Eroi”).

It was the titling of the show, I think, rather than the contents (although I must admit I haven’t actually watched them yet…) that offended me more personally.

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“Ero-Kawa Dance” is just a Koda-Kumi style dance. not kids themselves.

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I thought Koda Kumi’s dance type was more “Ero-kakkoii”, as in “erotic + cool”.
“Ero” + “kawaii” + “chibi” = is more like making cute children erotic. It might be fun for the little girls to dance, but that doesn’t change the fact that it is f’cked up.

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Contrary to what you wrote, the daughters of these kids are already collective objects of sexual fetishism in Japan. I think that it’s better to have them represented by dancing on TV than on hentai-lolicon at a convenience store near you.

Personally I find your sarcastic comments rather amusing, it’s what makes this blog a fun read. In this case though, I think that yes, you are preaching too much. Please remember that your own Western culture exported Madonna, The Spice Girls, Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears, Jessica Simpson, Jennifer Lopez and most recently, the walking plague known as Paris Hilton. In Asia, there’s Boa, Ayu, Hyori, etc.

“wacky aek” wrote that it’s normal in Thailand. It’s also normal here in the Philippines. These kids just want to have fun and follow the people they see on TV. You just might want to petition your government to stop letting Western celebrities appear “ero” (sexy?) in public before bashing mainstream Japanese TV. Oh and I’m female.

- A Japanese citizen in the Philippines

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The sexualization is very clearly acknowledged right there in the title of the program as has been pointed out.

While I’d agree that across the world the age at which children lose their innocence is getting younger, this is unfortunately making a gross effort to push it even further down the line. Most of these girls are too young to have any understanding of the sexuality their dances are implying, but this is by no means normal. Compare this to say the “Powerful Angels” on Gorie’s show, and you can see that it’s a world of difference.

To Wacky Aek, not to pick on your country or anything, but to say something like this is normal in Thailand –one of the most problematic countries in the world as far as dealing with child prostitution is concerned– is not a very good defense. To say that people have become used to it does not make it acceptable.

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While I also have problems with these types of TV shows, I think it is even worse that you would film it, and then put it on the Internet. Are you really trying to contribute to a debate about social issues? You say “can you stomach to watch them all??” and add your own interpretations such as “sexy” – I doubt your intentions very much.

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HMM:

I’m not adding my own interpretations such as “sexy”: they clearly say that word a lot during the program, and they use other words such as “erotic”.

I recorded and uploaded this videos because I thought it was something uniquely bizarre that was worth sharing with the internet community. I also wanted to see the kind of reaction it would get. It seems that a majority of people posting comments have no problem at all with the video, which is quite interesting.

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Well, if you cared about the children at all, you would not post the videos on the Internet.

Child Rights Information Network has several alarming reports about sexual abuse of children in Asia, including the following:

More than ten million children are sexually abused by adults all over the world. The number of victims of child rape, child prostitution and child pornography is increasing. Every year more than a million new children are being kidnapped, bought or forced to take part in the sex-market in one way or another. The children are getting younger and younger. As a consequence more and more children are being infected with the Aids virus.

And there is more:

Child trade is a lucrative business. Brothels in Thailand buy thousands of Cambodian girls for about 150 dollar each every year. Japanese middlemen buy thousands of Thai girls from child traders for about 14.000 dollar each. The girls are resold to Japanese brothels for up to 80.000 dollars. The girls have to pay back this ‘investment’ themselves. This is an impossible task. For this reason about 70.000 Thai ‘hostesses’ work as sex slaves with no rights whatsoever in Japanese bars controlled by ‘Yakuza gangsters’.

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HMM:

Thanks for the mind-blowingly boring comment with quotes about sexual abuse of children in Asia. I obviously did not know that children are sexually abused in Asia. You have shattered my image of this region as a place where no bad things ever happen.

I apologize for furthering the trafficking of Thai prostitutes into Japan by posting these videos of little Japanese girls dancing on an English language site. The next time I see some ‘Yakuza gansters’, I will be sure to let them know that the internet knows they are doing bad things.

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I myself do not find anything wrong with some of those dances that the children were doing above. I agree with you on that some of those dances young girls should not be doing. But the worst one was the five year old, I couldn’t believe that her mother would let her do that kind of dance. But then again, you must understand that almost most of the reality shows in japan are sexually based even the game shows and animes.

Parents teach their children about sex young, especially about sexual predators since they have to walk and ride the train to commute from school and stores. Children in Japan are much more mature about these things than the children of America where everything is practically sensored even some children shows if they say the wrong word that would offend someone. They do not worry about that in Japan, there fore leading to a lot of shows that Americans and some other places would most likely never allowed in their own country. But then again, there should be limits to some of this, the reason you could see above in the the vids.

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First of all…all of you people who are criticizing the person who wrote things underneath the vids need to understand that he is not trying to insult Japan or their TV shows… JUST THIS ONE… which is absolutely disgusting to watch and anyone that disagrees with that OR thinks that it is ok for 2-12 year olds to be dancing this way (on any TV show or at all) is a sick monster! All you people out there, no matter where you live or how “appropriate” it is in the culture, should not condone this type of behavior in such young girls. Nor should anyone be praising them for popping their stuff on TV. Japan will soon be a pedophile capital if programs like this continue. And if it wasn’t for the internet we would never know that the innocence of childhood was being taken from these young children in Japan!!!(hence we don’t all have access to Japanese TV programming everyday)…..oh and I am a female … MOTHER!!!!!!!!!!!

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Koda Kumi isn’t for kids. Some of the dances weren’t so bad. The worst being entry #4 and #1. I think that the other girls need on some clothing, seriously. It was quite shocking and the kind of thing that could only happen in Japan.

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Very interesting piece here; it certainly caught my attention. I’ve caught a few episodes of Utawara in the past, but I never thought they’d air something like this.
As for alternates to YouTube, have you considered Rapidshare, MegaUpload, YouSentIt, or even BitTorrent?

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I have nieces of my own and I am appalled at them trying to do sexy dances in the living room, sure they are fully clothed but they are made up as harlots. I am from Australia, the influence is not from Japan but from America. It really amazes me that America can be so puritanical yet as others have mentioned have beauty contests (which is the highest form of fetishism IMHO) and export the likes of Madonna etc as another poster said.

I have been to festivals in Japan and have seen a similar display of Salsa dancers at a one such matsuri. Although I have already stated that I would not like to see my nieces doing this sort of thing I accept that there are cultural divides. Sure this probably just fuels already sick minds but for the most part I think if the children are having fun doing it then it is there choice. As also mentioned children in Japan are a little more aware of sexuality than children of the predominantly Christian countries where they try to tell you that your body is evil. Mind these are the same countries where the guardians or morality are the ones that are molesting the children.

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And so the birth of child porn begins……………… WTF are they thinking? Stupid stupid japan people that need to get educated in the “real world” How many pervs are ja**cking to this? ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Sick and wrong. But what upsets me most is that I should be more shocked and yet I’m not. Koda Kumi looks as though she’s positively vacant and devoid of all thought process when dancing with that 2 yr old. She has convinced young girls to grossly confuse (her brand of) female empowerment with being the objects of the already-rampant pedophilia craze in Japan. Those videos make me sick to watch, but the sickest of all is the mothers and fathers who exploit their children to such an extent. Shame on them, shame on Kumi, and shame on Japanese television for broadcasting this abomination.

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http://mixi.jp/view_diary.pl?id=188971175&owner_id=2276310

A response from what appears to be the mother of a girl in Entry group 3. She doesn’t understand why anyone would consider these dances pedo or draw any similarities to child porn..

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James,
Have you tried DropShots as a YouTube alternate?

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Obviously you have no understanding of Japanese culture. They think there is nothing wrong with this. Neither did JonBonet’s mother. Women are nothing more than objects in Japanese culture.

Do you know what a Geisha girl is? Aren’t you aware that bath houses with free sex flourish in Japan?

Probably the worst abuse is in China, where half the baby girls are murdered every year because boys are more important to their work force. They say in 10 years, AIDS will be rampant in China becaus ethree-quarters of the people will be men.

Then you have your Muslims. By law, they can kill their women anytime they want. Sex abuse? They rape them at all ages, then stone them for being sinners.

These videos are nothing except fodder for Puritanics.

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Erica:

Is your post sarcasm? It’s so poorly written that I can’t really tell.

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That’s their culture..I personaly thought entry number four was hilariously cute. Anyone who thinks that was appalling really needs to come of the closet with their pedophilism. You shouldn’t be looking at little girls in that way in the first place….nonetheless insult those who do.

A little girl dancing like that isn’t shameful… it’s cute to see such a little girl trying to be sexy XD. Some people really need to get their heads out of the gutter. I was aware of sex at age three… not that I knew much about it though.

But that’s where I stand.

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Wait wait wait, so you’re saying the parents of little children and others on this board who think caking little girls in makeup and having them gyrate while exposing their stomachs and legs is appalling are the pedophiles? I’m not sure where that logic comes from, so I’m hoping that you’re joking. The title of the competition is Chibi-Ero Dance…Ero means sex. It’s not that we were looking at little girls acting normally and thinking it was appalling, we are looking at little girls dressed like hookers performing stripper moves in a competition that even advertises itself as being sexual.

The problem here does not lie in the interpretation of the material as sexual or not, since it is clearly advertised as sexual. It lies in the reaction, and pretending to be overly-forgiving or understanding of it as acceptable or “part of Japanese culture,” is a horrible injustice to these girls who have been exploited by their parents. Exploited by being forced into it, or just failed by their parents, who are supposed to protect their innocence, not combine it with sex and fulfull a twisted fantasy.

Don’t pretend you don’t know this is wrong, and if you still think it is “ok,” then please never procreate.

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Here’s some interesting imformation I found About Koda Kumi; where the word ero in the Japanese language actually refers to Sexy.

Sexy singer Koda Kumi (23) is the new face of Diet Coke. The singer, whose look has popularized the phrase “ero-kakkoii” (sexy-cool), will play a dancing flight attendant and show plenty of cleavage as usual in the new TV commercial due to air from April 3. The corresponding ad for regular Coke will feature Yokoyama Ken, singer of the Crazy Ken Band, on location in Hawaii.

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Damian:

While the translator of that page may have translated “ero” as “sexy”, it isn’t exactly accurate. The word “sekkushi” already exists in katakana as a word for “sexy”. “Ero”, as my Seiko electronic dictionary says, is an adjective meaning “erotic, porno(graphic), eroticism”. An example usage would be “ero hon”, which means porno magazine.

Maybe you haven’t seen a lot of Koda Kumi’s dancing, but they often show clips on TV where she is doing dances at concerts that simulate doggy-style fucking and giving head to male dancers. I think that’s a little bit up on the scale from “sexy”.

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I’m japanese pastor and now doctor course in foreign country, since 2004 not in Japan. Very astonished with such a programm on tv! That’s unreasonable for some Japanese. I assume, this current wave is soonly disapeared by police.

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that was not a new
that kind of show already exsisted from 70′

most ppl in japan feel ther are just cute.
i worry about foreigners because they feel them object of Sex

i thought it is scary

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i hate this whole ero-kakkoi fad/trend that koda kumi has made popular in japan. she’s basically the japanese equivalent of spears or aguilera and is now the role model for young girls. how i miss the days where cuteness and innocence were the prime ingredients and image of idol culture, instead now we have waves of sluttastic crap like this becoming the mainstay.

here’s hoping koda fades from popularity/stardom soon and idol culture is able to cure recover from this STD.

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While this is hilarious, I think the post better illustrates Western hangups about sex and children.

I grew up in the same Western culture, so I can understand the poster’s horror enough to laugh; but it really is his problem that’s on display here.

You should see some videos of Japanese women practicing “raggae” dance. They have no idea that the women in those Jamaican rap videos are all whores! It’s hilarious. They just think the dance moves look cool.

Watching those videos, though, I started to question my own preconceptions about raggae dancing. The dance moves really do look cool. Who am I to think a woman is a whore just because she does cool dance moves?

These “ero-kawa” videos can be viewed the same way. At issue is whether you think it’s a good and honorable thing for young girls to want to be like Koda Kumi. The initial gut reaction for most Westerners, I think, is that those girls are going to grow up to be whores–or they’re being turned into whores right now. Not only conservative types would feel this way, but also liberal feminists (who are Puritans in their own right). But a Japanese viewer might see nothing wrong with girls wanting to be and being feminine. [1]

The really shocking thing is that we don’t get this reaction–or the opportunity for self-reflection–from Britney Spears videos. Something distances us from the reality of what we are seeing. We know that Western culture sells these images to girls, but we can’t actually see them dancing like Britney Spears on the TV screen in front of us.

Is the problem that we have Mickey Mouse Club stars teaching young girls how to be feminine, or is the problem that we don’t embrace this and fess up to our gender differences [2]? It’s probably a little bit of both, but there is no way it could be so one-sided as to hold up the Japanese as objects of ridicule while holding the Western mind that reacts to the program blameless.

I mean, just ask yourself. Is this a realistic expectation (that Japan is an entire nation of pedophiles)? Could the Japanese be so different from us? Rather than imagine a complete 180 turn, it’s more realistic to imagine that you are misinterpreting or missing some crucial similarity.

I view Japanese television as unintentional satire of American television.

1 – Note that there’s a difference between being feminine and being a whore. Shocking, I know.

2 – Gender differences imply sex. The two parts go together. The feminine receives the masculine. We can’t all be sexless automatons; we’re human beings.

I guarantee you most Westerners reading that above paragraph would freak out. They’d think I was promoting sex with children, old ladies, and Home Shopping Network hostesses. There is a difference, though, between recognizing gender differences and having lecherous thoughts. In Western society today, I’m not even supposed to say “hostess”–it’s “host” for both male and female. I think the reason for this taboo is that to recognize gender difference is to recognize at least the possibility of sex. And the ultimate breaking of this taboo is to feminize little girls, even though they are in reality female.

Another way to put this: Think of an alcoholic. Alcoholics have a serious problem with alcohol. They can’t control themselves! So they keep all alcohol away. No drinking at all. No drinks even within their house. No going to places where people drink. It’s an irrational excess of alcohol aversion, whereas most people can just not drink or drink in moderation.

Americans, when it comes to sex, are like alcoholics. They can’t handle even the subtlest hint of sex–the recognition of gender differences–for fear of breaking down and committing all sorts of lecherous acts against women and children.

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“Ero” has large and various concept in japan.
For the case, it doesn’t mean porno or sex, naturally.
Its very light means of complex of sexy/smart/pretty/cute.
I don’t understand why many people think it looks pornografic.
For me, responce of amerikaner looks a kind of a mental disease.

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Japonaliya:

Clearly you have over reacted to the post about the “geisha” thing, it was clearly meant to be sarcastic.

If you think there are no streetwalkers in Japan, you’ve obvioulsy never walked around in Shibuya after the last train stops.

There might not be a lot of murder of violent crime in Japan, but rape certainly exists. Rape is a crime that is rarely reported, and in a country like Japan where 1) there are few 24-hour rape hotlines or help centers, 2) police handle rape reports with scepticism, 3) feeling of shame and embarassment prevent women from reporting the crimes. Please read:

http://www.aic.gov.au/publications/proceedings/27/dussich.html
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/09/02/world/main571280.shtml

The true number of rapes in Japan is unknown, but judging from conversations with Japanese girls and various posts on forums and other sites, it appears to be much higher than the number reported to police. Most Japanese girls I know are smart enough to never walk alone at night in areas that are not crowded. Almost all of them have had the experience of being touched on a train or seeing a man expose himself/masturbate in public. A few of them have even been raped (although when they tell the story, they don’t think of it as rape, as their perception is somehow skewed. When a man physically forces a woman who does not want her to have sex with him to have sex, despite her saying no and physically resisting, it is rape. The girls blamed themselves for getting into that kind of situation. The belief is that most men are obsessed with sex, and putting yourself in a situation where he forces you to have sex makes it your fault, not his).

I’m not saying that Japan is a crime-ridden danger zone, or that the rape rate is higher than in the USA (there is no way to actually prove the number of rapes). However, when it comes to sexual criimes, it is definately not the super low crime safety land that a lot of people make it out to be.

After several child abductions/rape/murders in the last few months, almost every elementary school in Japan has neighborhood patrols. Kids are being educated to avoid strangers and to travel in groups. In my town, dozens of neighborhood volunteers stand at locations along the route children walk home to protect them from the kind of abductions that have happened only a few towns away from here. Japanese people are increasingly concerned about what they see as an increase in crimes against children. Some news reports have dared to link preteen sex comics and little girl erotica to sex crimes, as several of the criminals were big fans of that kind of stuff.

It’s ok if you think that videos of 10 year olds doing sexy dances is ok, that’s simply a matter of opinion. I don’t claim to fully “understand” modern Japan. Are you some great expert who knows all there is to know about the grand topic of modern Japan? You sure seem to know a lot about U-15 idol groups, maybe you could make a blog and talk about how great they are, and write about how you love child sexuality. Just don’t claim that virtually no rape exists in Japan.

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Oh, and another note:

The claim that most of the customers of child prostitutes are American is false. As Mainichi, a Japanese newspaper, says:

“Most perpetrators of child sex crimes in Asia are Asian. ”
Source: http://mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp/features/archive/news/2006/03/20060311p2g00m0fe023000c.html

Seems like your comments stink of anti-Americanism and Japanophilia.

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This is so not porn, these kids are adorable! The first act was a bit over-sexy but on a whole it wasn’t any worse than any chidrens cheer competition i’ve seen lately here in the USA. I actually caught myself stealing the six-year-old’s dance moves the other day. sad but true lol. What can I say, they were good!

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Japonaliya:
Your claim that “ALL reported cases” of crimes against children recently have been committed by foreigners is the height of stupidity. You obviously haven’t watched a single Japanese news program, because I’ve seen quite a few in recent months about Japanese people raping and/or killing small children(for example this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CYHVsKzSow). One such case was a peruvian national of Japanese descent, but the rest were Japanese. Your lame “truth hurts” comment is such bullshit that I’m not even going to bother responding to your further comments.

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Japonalyia:

Don’t bother writing any more comments, the last three you wrote are never going to see the light of day. Not only did you fail to see that the video I posted mentioned sex crimes commited by Japanese, but you continued making moronic comments about how my interpretation of a single program about children imitating erotic dances is somehow linked to the vast American conspiracy of hating people and starting wars. I’ll be deleting any comments you make in the future, so don’t even bother writing them. This site doesn’t need moronic commenters like you.

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I actually enjoyed the competition ^_^ If you look at it with a clean mind, its fine, although I know theres some sick guy out there lusting over those kids, but you know, they’re everywhere.

The only one I thought was a little too much was entry 4. She was popping a little too much O.o And the skirts on entry 1 could’ve been longer, but for the most part, I thought it was just cute and sexy (In a cute way XD).

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Koda Kumi you rock my world!! (Actually used to date a girl who looked a little like her – but wasn’t! I digress…)

A compelling read! But the most inaccurate comment (rather than the reactionary, repressed, confused, etc. ones) was surely the one about “bath houses offering free sex”! Free? Now that would be a miracle….

If the parents are involved – and they all were – then responsibility falls to them.
Pros – some great routines from kids who clearly enjoy entertaining. Cons – fairly obvious (alongside the heavy scent of mums (re)living their childhoods vicariously through their children, possibly with unfulfilling marriages. No, probably).
Ok – group hug everyone.

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I agree with you, yashi. I’m also from the Philippines and for me, there’s nothing wrong with that. And for the child prostitution, child harassment and child trading thing. GUESS WHO STARTED THAT? ITS THE WESTERNERS OF COURSE, MAINLY THE AMERICAN SOLDIERS THAT ESTABLISH A BASE HERE IN THE PHILIPPINES IN OLONGAPO. YOU KNOW HOW VULGAR THE PROSTITUTION IN THAT PLACE BEFORE, AND ALSO THE ONES THAT INTRODUCES AIDS HERE IN THE PHILIPPINES.

About the underaged bars and strip clubs? WESTERNERS! And what about underaged porn and underaged cybersex dens? WESTERNERS!

So, dont judge a country simply because they have different standards of morality and ethics than your country! HYPHOCRITE!

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baboy1200:

Could you please give me a link to some evidence that proves your claim that prostitution did not exist in the phillipines until westerners created it? Could you also provide evidence that most aids cases are introduced by westerners? Do you have evidence that American soldiers established child prostitution and child trading?

Even if your claims are true, and certain bad westerners are responsible for those things, it doesn’t somehow make it wrong for me to find these videos disturbing. WESTERNERS INTRODUCED ALL EVIL TO THE PHILIPPINES: THAT MAKES THE OPINION OF ONE WESTERNER ABOUT A VIDEO OF SOME 10 YEAR OLDS HUMPING THE AIR INVALID.

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Hi baboy1200!

First of all, your caps lock is broken.

Secondly, are you trying to tell me that there are no Filipinos that partake in local prostitution? And are you trying to say that Westerners started these prostitution business rings? How interesting, I’d love to see a source for that. Who is it, exactly, that offers up your young and innocent? Filipinos, isn’t it? Maybe you guys should do something about that, no?

And third, maybe you and your people should fix your worthless and corrupt country, so you don’t have to send your children to be whored out to filthy Filipino slavelords. Oh I forgot, you aren’t capable of doing that because you blame the West for all your problems. Keep it up pal! I’m sure it will do you a lot of good! Surely the failure of your country isn’t due to your inept, backwards and corrupt population!

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Well, I will comment on this for YOU TO UNDERSTAND:

1) You and your country is a bunch of hyphocrites
2) Your country and your citizens are THE MOST RACIST AND YOUR CITIZENS ARE ALWAYS DISCRIMINATE OTHER PEOPLE
3) Your country is the most hated country in the whole world especially in the middle east.
4) Your country always cause wars to other countries

Oh, I’m sorry. We’re discussing about the topic, right? OK.

There’s only one reason why there are pedophiles in our country, WESTERN FOREIGNERS.

I explain FOR YOU TO UNDERSTAND:

1) Most filipinos are NOT PEDOPHILES
2) Most americans are PEDOPHILES
3) Western foreigners(especially americans) here sponsor or promotor’s of underaged cybersex dens in our country. Proof? Have you even seen the local news lately regarding underaged cybersex dens?
4) Whores here in the Philippines prefers western foreigners(mostly americans) because they have lots of money. Filipinos dont have lots of money. And western foreigners(mostly americans) likes underaged whores. Again, consult the local news.
5) Even for a white slavery and human trafficking, the main costumers are actually western foreigners(mostly americans). Again, consult the local news.

SOLUTION? YOUR PEDOPHILE FRIENDS SHOULD STAY AWAY FROM OUR COUNTRY! Maybe these underaged women could have an option to make money than selling their body, but as dangerous as becoming whores…

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Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!

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nah… Sorry, but prostitution was actually in here since the beginning but prostitution become rampant today. I’m sorry, james, I’ve never read your post before. I’m reading rip’s. Anyway, prostitution actually become rampant in Olongapo just as like strip clubs in Ermita before. American soldiers even said that Ermita was the Disneyland of the Philippines because of many bars in there. Anyway, we’re talking about prostitution here. Its actually true, when the U.S. established a base here in the Philippines and they’re staring to live in Olongapo. There’s even a saying by filipinas here before Yo Joe, when they’ve seen american soldiers.

There’s even children in Olongapo thats actually the childrens of U.S. soldiers that they abandoned because they live-in with the filipinas here. I cant show any links here today but if you have a chance and if you understands tagalog, you can read a novel Gapo by Luwalhati Bautista. Anyway, the military bases in Olongapo was over, but the prostitution especially with americans still continues…

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If anyone is a hypocrite, it’s you. You’re more racist than any American I know. Use your brain and stop being so emotional like a little girl.

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You guys can rationalize this all you want as just normal Japanese culture. My wife is Japanese and she thought it was way out of control and in bad taste, and she is fairly liberal.

If the JonBenet style shows in America were over the top, this is worse. At least those shows were called Baby Beauty Pageants or something and not Preteen Sexy Dancers.

And if you don’t think every pedophile this side of NAMBLA isn’t downloading this for their twisted enjoyment, then you are quite foolish.

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Wow, so funny. I live in New York, in the Queens Boro and in my area lately there have been a large amount of Japanese coming here to move. There is this small shop near my home and they sell all the latest foods from Japan and tapes of TV shows, just last week my friend and I watched this (not all the way through but a bit of it because we heard the theme to the Cutey Honey Movie). It’s so funny that it was a bunch of kids! See I wasn’t there to hear the voices, I could’ve sworn they were backup dancers XD!

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I agree with Yuffie2006. It was a great competition and I enjoyed it. I didn`t really like all the popping and stuff from those young girls especially from the 5 yr. old. And it was kinda sad to see that they have a 2 yr. old in that competition even though she didn`t really do anything but try to sing. But the outfits were cute and I loved the dance moves especially the acrobatic dance moves. I`d love to be flexible like that. Also, it`s not like they did this to be slutty or mean or anything. And the girls didn`t go over the top. It`s all in good fun.

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relax people its just a bunch of cute girls having fun

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the videos no longer work.

I leave this connection you can find several sites.
http://javimoya.com/blog/youtube_en.php
http://javimoya.com/blog/youtube_jp.php

Another alternative is to share in PANDO.
http://www.pando.com/
is to easy.

or share in MEGAUPLOAD
http://www.megaupload.com/es/

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A man asked a surgeon to cut his leg of because he thought it, would make him more sexually attractive. Surgeon was sued for satisfying this mans request, however he was left free after presenting following argument: “If cutting male sexual organ for the purpose of changing sex (which is meant to improve person’s perception of himself as sexually attractive ) is legal and normal, then there is nothing wrong with my actions”. Its all about what we mean by “sexually”, “sexuality “ like tattoos all over body, piercing, wearing few or no clothes e.t.c can be perceived as sexual or disgusting or usual or whatever really. It depends. For me this video did not possess anything possibly sexual, but for someone it will.
P.S.I should however mention that there are a lot of pedophiles, rapist and predators in Japan, and numbers do increase.

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Why would someone air on television such a perverted idea……children under the age of 18 shouldn’t be doing anything sexy…especially from age 2-12…whatever than we wonder why are kids are all fucked up…IDIOTS!!!!

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James,
I’m with you on this. The dances themselves weren’t so bad, but the idea behind the show, the pop idol who was being held up for young girls to imitiate, and the comments made were all out of line.
I also think it’s bizarre of people to suggest that pretty much anything is OK in the name of cultural differences. Since when does mainstream Japanese culture condone the exploitation of children? Does it exist? Of course. Is it more widespread, or at least more noticeable here than in the West? Absolutely. Do most Japanese adults think it’s OK? A definitive NO. Of course they don’t.

Some of the assertions above were just plain funny. OK, first, Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera were in their late teens when they became pop stars. Anyone who doesn’t think there’s a world of difference between 17 and 9 has his head up his ass. Madonna was in her twenties when she hit it big. To the Australian aunt up there who claims that somehow American pop music and its starlets are responsible for her nieces sexy dancing, how about Australian pop stars like Kylie Minogue.

There’s a disconnect here. Adult pop stars, or even those still in their late teens, know what they’re doing. It’s a business. They can, one hopes, decide what they’re comfortable with and what they’re willing to do in the name of performance and publicity. This in no way makes it acceptable for children.
Parents and adults in a community are supposed to watch out for kids, keep them on the straight and narrow. I drink whiskey, I like it. I think there’s nothing wrong with drinking whiskey in moderation. But I would never even consider giving it to a ten-year-old.
There are things that are OK for adults that are not OK for children. If adult women want to encourage other adult women to be sexy, great. Leave the kids alone, though. If the kids want to dance and have fun, that’s great, too. Adults should not be making comments like, “Oh, that’s sexy!” though. That’s creepy.

Just because some middle-aged men fuck preteen girls and buy DVDs and magazines with preteen girls running around in thongs, that doesn’t mean it’s acceptable.
Do we look at child labor and say, “Oh, that’s just that society,”? No, of course not; because it’s WRONG.

So, to recap, little girls dancing? Fine. Adults setting little girls up in an erotic dance contest? Not fine.

As for the other, unrelated comments, what the hell does American soldiers setting up brothels have to do with those videos? And isn’t it possible for both to be wrong? In fact, wouldn’t it make more sense for both to be wrong?

If some Americans exploit children, does that mean other Americans can’t say the exploitation of children is wrong? Where’s the logic in that?
How does it make sense that because one American has molested a child another American can’t say a Filipino or Japanese molesting a child is bad? That’s nutty.

As for the puritanical comments, that’s such a cliche. Yes, America is more conservative than most of Western Europe. Yes, in some ways, America is more conservative than Japan. However, there are many ways in which America is a lot more open about sex than pretty much anywhere in East Asia. Why is the focus here always on pornography? How about the study of human sexuality? How about art, such as the photographs of Robert Mapplethorpe? How about literature? In all of these areas, America is markedly more open than anywhere in East Asia.

I also noticed that a lot of commenters here accuse Americans of basically being whoremongering pedophiles who are also Puritanical about sex. Huh?

Americans are by no stretch of the imagination even close to being in the top ranks of johns for child prostitutes. The average age of an American prostitute is 15, it’s 11 in Thailand and 13 in Japan. I don’t have info at hand for oher countries at the moment.
The assertion that an invading force anywhere ever introduced prostitution is patently absurd. The Philippines had sex and money long before there was any notion of The Philippines. To say that prositution or lusting after teenagers was introduced by Westerners is either extreme self-imposed ignorance or a bald lie. To say on top of that that it was introduced by the Americans, who arrived in the late 19th cnetury after centuries of Spanish control of the country, makes even less sense.

Did American soldiers have illegitimate children in the Philippines and elsewhere that they then abandoned? Yep. Is there a country in the world that does not have such men? Nope.

Does that have anything at all to do with little girls dancing on a TV show in Japan? Thankfully, no.

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this is so morally wrong.

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This reminds me of the South Park episodes that criticised the impact of Paris Hilton on teens. . . Koda Kumi’s influence is just as bad as Paris Hilton. I can’t believe these kids parent’s are allowing this?!

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Have you heard, dear Japaneses and “philles” about the natural right? Is something which the Romans, long time ago, have understood.I guess Japanese men are not Romans.Obviously, they just dont care about the rest of the World.So, all the chit chat about them is just crap.Because they refused always to sign the Child Right Act issued by UN.They said that law will ruin a large part of their economy.Any problems with the videos?

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I’ve been living in Japan for the last 2 years, what I saw here not only amazed me but freaked me out. I saw a man beating his wife on the street, i saw girls that were only 16 years old and were having children. These ppl r not normal, how can u let u 6 years old kid to dance like and to think it’s funny. I used to have a friend, and she brought her daughter to Japan. She was working as a hostess, so she started taking the kid to the bar, ( not having a baby sitter), guess what? That girl is a hooker now…….Probably thx to her mom who thought it’s cool if her 7 years old doughter is dancing on the “kanta” and she can also make more money……Children learn from parents, and if you as a parent don’t know how to educate your child, and u think a sexy dance is ok, can’t be wrong, don’t be surprised if ur 15 years old daughter will come home and tell you : Mom, dad I’m pregnant! Still think that dance is ok?

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Hahahahaha…. morons. While I do not personally believe that “anything is justifiable in the name of cultural differences”, when we watch these movies and pronounce them generally disgusting, disturbing, oh my GOD, how could these children’s parents?!, Any person who DOESN’T share my viewpoint is an imbecile and a pedophile and disgusting etc. etc. etc, we must consider the fact that, as somebody said earlier, Japan’s children are much more mature. I personally agree with all the things criticizing Westerners and Americans. I myself am American, but perhaps, even for a child, I have a little more insight and understanding than you adamant, protective morons who go around promoting your religion, join my cult of people who think this is morally wrong, blah blah blah…

As far as the definition of “ero” is concerned, have you ever considered the fact that not all words, and not all connotations and denotations of words that are listed, are in the dictionary? “Ero” at least means “Sexy, sexually provocative(erotic, which is where the word derives from,) and things involving erotic material(including “ero hon”, as James said, porn magazine.) So much time and energy is put into protecting our children these days from anything that could possibly ever go wrong. I believe it is the fault of the parents that they HAVE to (or feel they have to) spend so much time buying elbow pads, knee pads, helmets, etc, for their child’s first time skateboarding, coding their television so that when the child is channel-surfing it does not run into anything that could possibly be remotely linked to sex or the outside world, etc… It is a lack of parenting. We have this problem, increasing exponentially with the number of parents, because parents do not spend enough time with their children. Perhaps if from an earlier age people actually talked about THINGS, the outside world, hell, sex once in a while *omygod, I’m such a pedophile, I’m actually thinking about discussing sex with a minor?!?!?!?!?!!?!? it isn’t as if the concept of sex is shoved into children’s faces every single gorram day, is it?!?!?!?!?!* then literacy would increase in America. Interest among children in anything at all other than following in my father’s footsteps and working on a plantation for minimum wage would increase. The thing that the stereotypical Mexican illegal immigrants’ children, as well as an increasing number of our own caucasian, black, etc etc etc *so as to be politically correct and not exclude anybody, right?* do not really connect with, realize, nor care about, is the world around them. It doesn’t really occur to the average American child that a bomb could fall on their head any day now and that would be the end of it. Isn’t that…scary?

In order for us to become more efficient people, and to instill in our children a reason to try to further the American civilization for longer than the 200 years or so, they need to actually move up in the world. Westerners are SO hypocritical. Is it really that awful for your 7-year-old to know about sex? That’s when I learned. And if it’s so awful for them to know about sex, then try not expecting them to be a miniature adult who is 10x as polite and quiet as you are yourself. Children should be children, and it angers me when I read articles about children being pursuited by sexual predators and about “child intolerance” in restaurants and things like that, and then people talk about these children being robbed of their innocence of childhood? Reality check here. Tell me. When was the last time you read to your child in bed? And if you don’t want them seeing and doing things like this, that is your prerogative, and you should take action! I don’t mean installing censors on the television and “firewalls” and “child protection” on computers and all that crap (because believe me, I as a child growing up in the 21st Century have discovered that they actually don’t work. I’ve accidentally run across at least 10 pornography sites while browsing at my school, where I board, and they have one of the best firewalls around. St. Bernard. Check it out. Oh, and keep in mind that there are at least 10 people exploiting your child even with all this protective security crap. I think it’s just fodder to keep the economy going.

If you think this is horrible, consider the amount of children dying in Iraq these days because of our own god damn military. Consider Alizee, who began her career before she turned 13.

I am fifteen, by the way, and smart enough to use an internet alias. Try teaching your child security things. Follow in the footsteps of the Dutch, and when teaching your child to “not drink, not smoke, and not go out and have sex with that hot boy/girl that you know that she/he has been ogling for the past year”, teach them healthy alternatives to sex. Teach them that reading books is fun and rewarding. Oh, and teach them that they have a right to not be perfect molds of yourself.

On a note more relative to the story, I can’t see the videos. Haha. But I know enough about the Japanese market to say that all sexual connotations are most likely solely present in the minds of the viewers themselves. Try stepping into the shoes of someone who doesn’t think that everything involving 7-year-olds gyrating their hips when at almost any time, your own 3-year-old could be channel-surfing and become fascinated with a pornography with a beastiality focus. Am I horrible for suggesting such a preposterous notion? Try looking inside yourself and wondering whether your child really is safer from death and illness when they’re 80 pounds overweight.

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If I may say something. Prostitutes have been around everywhere since sometime B.C.. It’s no present countries fault.

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I think you all that complain are sick. What is wrong they are just kids…
if you think it is distrubing it is because you are havind disturbing thoughts and THAT is distrubing

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Wow… quite a derived discussion we have here. I am not at all surprised that people have resorted to name calling and generalizations of nationalities. You have the anonymity of the internet after all. But seriously, who is going to take an arguement littered with insults as valid? Take a chill pill and give some honest opinion without thinking you have it all figured out… none of us do. I am sure not even a native of a country knows all what is going on there.

I’m from the USA and I surely do not know all the goods and bads about the MANY cultures that are here, but I am positive it’s impossible to generalize the people of this country with anything. There are many people of almost any type or mix of types you can imagine here. However, Japan has the same thing. I have met and talked to way too many Japanese in the casual and business world that I could simply generalize them as any one thing. I’d be careful when defending anything bad said about Japan and pointing it right back at foreigners. Of course, for those who read too much into stuff, the same thing goes for foreign countries.

In any case, here’s my two cents about the vids…
The dances were pretty cool. The girls are quite talented and can perform well on stage. The costumes were cute, however it may be a little to revealing or suggestive taking Japanese sexual culture into mind. I am sure that connection was purposeful (it was ero after all). It was definately provocative and seemed to promote the dancers as erotic as well as young. It’s the title that might be a little too much. If I ignored the title, it was really no different than the dances girls do all the time in America. Yeah… even the costumes.

In my humble personal opinion…. it’s pretty easy to see that Japan has a notable part of its culture involving sexual fantasies with considerably young people. And there are several who are against it in Japan too. I really cannot say that’s one of the better aspects of Japan, but I surely will not say that Japanese are pedophiles. Are some? Definately. In America too? Yup. Are most? No idea… However, I’ve never had discussions about my preferences or sexual fantasies about youth in America. In Japan, I’ve had a few. This is with coworkers and random people who want to talk to me and find that I can speak decent Japanese. From my experiences, Japan is way more open about this stuff. It’s liberating yet very strange that I can talk about this stuff so openly with them. In the US, it’s a lot more taboo, but I am not saying that it’s any more or less of an issue here. It’s really impossible to tell.

Now, some people have started to raise the issue of “This is Japan. That’s the way they are. Dont go there and disagree with aspects of their culture.” While I realize this is not saying that we should agree and simply accept everything about Japan, it is saying that we shouldn’t have a negative opinion about an entire country. Again this is generalization and just doesn’t work.

I don’t think I can really get an disagreement by stating that Japan’s ideas of sexuality are pretty different that from Western countries. I am always amazed at the vast variety of porn you can find there, as are my Japanese friends that see them too. (note: No, I havent watched any of them, but they are pretty easy to see in any large city.) However, I can’t really say whether or not this is a good or bad thing for the health of the nation. Even children (students I’ve had during my stay) have openly talked about sex (mostly jokingly) with adults around. They are for the most part ignored as it isnt too big a deal. I havent seen this in America.

And soooo… in recap I think people shouldn’t express anger in debate or discussion, it goes nowhere. No country does not have it’s flaws, in fact they probably have as many as each other, just differently… if that made any sense. American and Japan are both large and varied, countries (ESP America) so please stop generalizing them. The show was kewl, but the name is a little too much for my “western” tastes as well as some of my Japanese friends’. However, some didnt think too much into it and thought it was just what they saw, a dance show with children.

NOTE: I am in no way bashing Japan or considering this video a representation of what Japan is. Just a personal opinion that I am holding no grudges for. I may sound like I am picking on Japan, but that’s probably because I am talking about the general topic at hand, Japan. When I refer to America or US, I am talking mostly about where I live in Texas. By no means is that a representation of the US as a whole.

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If you don’t like it don’t watch it it’s there tv shows you have boring american tv to worry about

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The autor of this article is pedophile himself.
“Koda Kumi’s Pedo Dance Extravaganza!”, What an absurd thing to say!
You started this thing naming an article this way.
Half of these people or even more wouldn’t think of it as ‘pedophilic’ if the article would be named in the correct way.

These girls were training very hard to perform in this show.
(entry No3) everyday for 1 to 4 hours of training. It is tough, see the Koda Kumi’s expression at the end of video.

It’s just a competition. It’s a good thing that children train ealier because their bodies can be ‘polished’ before it’s to late and joints are too stiff. They are imitating pop star (or whatever). Come on, guys, where do you see child abuse? If you think that way, probably, you will call every parent in the world a ‘pedophile’ because he/she gives a bath to their own children.

Scaring kids almost to death it’s another thing (entry No8).

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These dances are too sexy, I think. And I’m 23 years old! We have our own share of filth in the U.S. with Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, etc. that influences young girls in a negative way regarding body image and self-worth. There’s nothing wrong with sophisticated dancing for young children, but if the moves and costumes look like they’re straight from an MTV music video, it’s not right.

That being said, I’m very sure this is a world-wide phenomenon of provocative child pageantry, and not an isolated issue. Just because it’s ubiquitous doesn’t mean it’s OK by default.

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There are, I suspect, no shortage of adults who sexualize underage boys. Now, imagine that, instead of the performers in the videos showed here being underage girls, they’re boys. Boys performing stereotypically sexual adult male roles, replete with macho posturing and pelvic thrusts — the exact equivalent of the female stereotypes that the little girls pictured here seek to replicate.

Now, how many of we adults would be scandalized by 12 or 7 or even 2 year-old boys imitating Elvis or Mick Jagger or P Diddy, with pelvic thrusts or whatever? I suspect none of us would take it seriously, much less cry “pedophilia”. So why are so many up in arms about those of the other gender? I suspect that it’s because we Westerners presume that anyone under the magic (and utterly arbitrary) age of 18 who appears to have a sexual identity is either a temptress or a victim of sexual abuse. In our infinite wisdom (read: cultural bias), we can only see things in this binary mode.

Humans are sexual beings, as much as bonobos or dogs are. We also like play-acting, from the earliest age. We’re suggestible by not only the evil child molester with his lollipop, but the mother, the TV producer and our peers. Toss these factors together and you get videos like these. But to those who claim a cause-effect relationship between such exhibitions and child abuse/molestation, consider this: America doesn’t have any public displays quite like these, and yet child abuse/molestation is far more common than in Japan, where these videos were made and aired. Curious, no?

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Has anyone of you guys watched Little Ms. Sunshine?

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Sorry dude but this kind of thing goes on in America all the time. We just don’t televise the child beauty pageants, that’s the difference. Aren’t you being a bit sensationalist with this (especially with the title)? They think it’s kawaii, not ecchi. Ah well orientalism at it’s finest.

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Videos 1-4 are “no longer available.” Were they flagged as objectionable or was it a copyright issue?

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It’s just a dance competition. You agree that the kids are sexually attractive (you say some are sexy – which is not to say you want sex with them, just that they’re sexually attractive to other people), so why shouldn’t they do a sexy dance? What bothers me is the video with the single kid in it – she was clearly being exploited by her mother, who should be charged with child abuse.

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