RResidents in Japan

What’s with all the statues of naked women and children?

You know the ones that seemingly every city in Japan likes to decorate their parks, community centers, streets, and schools with.

No matter which shit town in Japan you go to, there always seems to be a few bronze statues of gratuitously topless women, or of kids running around in various states in undress.

I’m not judging or outraged by them in any way, just curious why they are so ubiquitous in Japanese town design.

I doubt they were a pre-war thing, and I also doubt new ones would be that welcome in today’s society.

Was there a brief period in Japan when it was all the rage to erect naked art in public places?

Did some LDP bigwig in the 60s and 70s have ties to a company churning out these things in the thousands?

37 comments

  2. It desensitizes. I reckon you are from the US? The puritans did a lot of damage there.

  5. This is merely European-inspired art. In the past, people considered it classy. Many statues like that adorn city parks across Europe.

  6. Those are everywhere in europe. They are just a fact of life here. I assume it’s the same in Japan, it’s an old country with an equally as long art history. Nudity in sculpture and art in general isn’t an issue or a topic at all, be it naked man, women or child (especially if they are mythological characters).

  7. The Kyoto Prefectural Botanical Garden is also dominated by naked lady statues.

    The sheer number was amusing at first, but I got used to it fairly quickly.

  8. Ahh yes, Americans… Reminds me of earlier this year, when Florida banned images of Michelangelo’s David from being shown at school because it’s “pornography”.

  11. Have you heard of onsens or sento?

    Everyone in Japan sees naked bodies all the time growing up. It’s not gratuitous. We all have them. It’s all normal. If anything, I think it should be more normalized in the US (where I grew up).

  12. Japanese attitudes towards nudity pre WW2 and even immediately after the war was pretty relaxed and it was still possible to find mixed sex onsens or bathhouses in the 60’s.

    It’s really the influences of Islam and Christianity that made nudity taboo.

  13. Interesting observation. This was actually discussed in a Japanese NHK show some time back. It basically comes from the European school of nude art which considers the nude as the most expressive way to depict a human body due to the contours and textures that are naturally present. However, Japan’s interpretation was a bit more casual in that it simply linked western art to nudes, not necessarily to the inherent beauty of the human body. Nude statues became trendy, particularly in post-war Japan when military statues were quickly replaced with artsy ones

  14. Hey there uneducated and uncultured friend. Hope you enjoy art in the future. Takes some time, but I think the Renaissance did help quite a bit. You know, back then.

  18. This could have been an interesting topic for discussion but OP chose and worded their question very poorly. Oh well, another day at jlife

  19. Outside a certain “child consultation center” there is a bronze statue of a nubile yet clearly underage girl with her skirt being lifted up by the wind….

  21. In Okayama there are statues of Momotaro (peach boy) and his animal friends all over town. It’s pretty funny if you don’t understand why there are so many naked baby statues

  24. What it is….is art. The human form is, to many people, beautiful. The female form is graceful as well. I was at Isezaki Mall in Yokohama yesterday and there is a bronze of a semi-nude young woman. There is also a sign asking people NOT to take photos. I don’t know the reason but please take my advice and just admire or at least consider the art in front of you…without judgment.

  27. You guys ought to have seen the comments on YouTube under a Shimajiro toilet training video for toddlers. It depicted a happy smiling poop. Americans were outraged and disgusted, suggesting the Japanese were all perverts and child molesters.

  31. Good thing you don’t watch TV, you might be offended when you see Goku’s penis too.

  32. American here and don’t give a shit about the statues. I guess the big question is why are you sexualizing children?

  37. God the puritans messed up the new world. I bet OP wouldn’t care if the statues had guns instead of being naked.

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