Lesley Downer on the “true nature of Japanese society”

With practically no new information emerging in the case of Nova teacher Lindsay Hawker’s murder in Japan, the British press are no doubt struggling to find new materials they can use to continue their coverage of the crime. The Telegraph has filled some page space with an editorial today by Lesley Downer, author of ‘Geisha: The Secret History of a Vanishing World’ and ”Madame Sadayakko: The Geisha Who Seduced the West.’ In response to concerns being rasied about the safety of Japan, Downer thinks that most peopel in Britain “just don’t understand the true nature of Japanese society.” What are some of the things she feels they need to know about Japan?

On Tokyo’s trains: “what most people in Britain don’t realise is that the Tokyo subway system is also air-conditioned and the stations all have loos. Spotless, naturally.” I can’t say every bathroom I’ve seen in the Tokyo subway system has been spotless, or even most of them. I guess Downer was pretty lucky in her station bathroom experiences.

On the Japanese police: “Each policeman knows his patch. He knocks on doors, drop in for cups of tea – and if young Jiro feels like misbehaving, he knows the next knock will be on his front door.” Policemen coming over for tea? I’ve heard about that kind of stuff happening in the countryside, but not much in the cities.

On otaku: “The latest trend is moe otaku, who collect images of underage girls, sometimes, though not usually, engaged in overtly sexual activities.” Quite an oversimplification, to say the least.

In addition to the oversimplified fantasy views Downer teaches us as truth in her article, she also spends some time describing her experiences as a geisha. I got the feeling the article was just attempt to increase her visibility and sell more copies of her geisha books, especially since most of the things she wrote in the article was so lacking in substance or relation to the safety of Japan. And she titled the article “Lost in translation.” Ugh.