Ouendan – where a foreigner can learn about Japanese manliness
September 1st, 2009 by James
On Friday, Takeshi Kitano hosted a TV show focusing on how young men in Japan are apparently not as manly as previous generations. The show spent a lot of time discussing the traits of Japan’s so-called “herbivore men” and panelists talked about how much cooler Japanese men were back in the old days.
One segment of the program looked a student from Zimbabwe who was learning about old fashioned Japanese manliness through participation in Nodai’s ouendan (“cheering squad“).
Viewers are left with the impression that the manly ideals embodied in the ouendan’s grueling training regimen are disappearing among Japan’s youth.
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Hmm, Great segment, makes me want to get out of this castle and go dance with Daikon!
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There is interesting sound at 7:25.
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So, is becoming cheerleader more manly than joining the rugby team, judo team…or even the baseball team?
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You wouldn’t think so, but it is – perhaps in the same way being a cheerleader in the West is more girly than playing netball or something. To be a rude about it, the rugger men know they are men; the chickenhawks jumping up and down on the sidelines need to prove it.
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Even more than “proving it,” cheering squads tend to be much more traditional and regimented than sports teams, in some cases carrying on traditions from over a century ago, when, for example Waseda and Keio’s baseball cheering squads were brawl-leaders as much as cheerleaders.
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Bankara ouendan
mizusawa high, Iwate
http://images.google.co.jp/images?hl=ja&q=%E3%83%90%E3%83%B3%E3%82%AB%E3%83%A9%E5%BF%9C%E6%8F%B4%E5%9B%A3%E3%80%80%E5%B2%A9%E6%89%8B%E3%80%80%E6%B0%B4%E6%B2%A2%E9%AB%98%E6%A0%A1&lr=&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wi
Morioka high
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7C8JuwjAsXU&feature=related
Fukuoka high
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JR7n1oegUKE&feature=related
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I tend to disagree with the last part,
“To be a rude about it, the rugger men know they are men; the chickenhawks jumping up and down on the sidelines need to prove it.”
Because I am not a “Chickenhawk”, I could have played and been a star player on the rugby team, Karate or even Judo squad. I chose the “sidelines” because that is where there was the greatest challenge for me as a foreign student in Japan.
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Actually it is, in the Cheerleading squad we train thrice as hard as any other sports team and work more than twice as any other squad, be it rugby, judo or anything else.
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クダさん、頑張ってね！
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That guy is awesome.
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That sound at 7:25 was a man taking a manly poop!
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Why is it that some people always look for the most negative and discouraging area to focus their energies on, often these areas which are centers of criticism are of the most insignificant relevance.
Please assist with answers!!!
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I think he should have just joined a good martial arts dojo. That would have toughened him up.
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I have been doing martial arts for more than 10yrs, ever since I was 6years old. I have a black belt in Kyokushin Karate. There was just no more challenge for in Karate. By the way I did not join the cheerleading club to toughen up, I already bench press 150kg.
I joined the club because I wanted to do something that I could only do in Japan. OUENDAN is something that you can only do in Japan.
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“…and panelists talked about how much cooler Japanese men were back in the old days”
That Hideki Tōjō sure was a sexy fucker alright…
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ouendan respects even enemy
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Being a man is being fearless in the face of adversity, being capable of looking after and providing for yourself, maintaining a certain level of strength and fitness, showing respect and grace to those around you, being balanced in your judgements, being graceful in defeat, never giving up, seeking constant self-improvement, protecting those you love from harm, and providing to those in need.
It isn’t encouraging a poor African chap to sign up to a military-esque shoutathon.
Japan, as ever = MASSIVE FAIL.
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Whose arse did this list come from?
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A puckered and chafed one sir!
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I did not quite get you, can you please rephrase your comment. It sounds like something profound though. Looking forward to your post.
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Metrosexuality is the new AIDS. That’s what’s killing ‘Men’ off.
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Those ouendan are quasi-cults and the training sessions are borderline hazing rituals.
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PACIFIST CONSTITUTION – what the hell do they expect?
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Yes, cheerleading is so manly…
Most of the Ouendan squads I’ve seen look like Gackt backup singers.
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Might have something to do with the manly men being the most likely to get killed off in several generations of wars, especially given Japan’s ‘no surrender’ policy. So what sort of men survive to continue their bloodline?
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whatever manliness is, it doesn’t include being a lemming in my book.
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Western countries are cutting off their balls too. Manly behavior, even something like self-defense, is seen as barbaric and morally wrong.
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Hey I would’ve done that before had I been in Japan, Ouendan is really impressive and full of tamashii! （^ω^） Plus they get an awesome long gakuran!
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