Japanese CM: Decidely Non-Traditional...?

One of the first aspects of Japanese culture I was exposed to was commercials.

On my first trip in 1984, I was watching Sunday television at 10AM and a most unusual commercial came on. Three topless women were washing themselves with soap. They were not hiding anything for the purpose of being overtly sexual yet their breasts were plainly visible. Now, in the US, that sort of thing would have been grounds for a slew of FBI investigations and several people would now be in Leavenworth doing hard time, just because three women were washing themselves on television.

There are many contradictions about Japanese life, but in one moment I realized that living in the US has even greater and more ridiculous contradictions that get glossed over on a daily basis. Instead of a culture of violence and thuggery, I'd rather have my children learning what I saw that day instead of what they get now. I'll take naked breasts over body counts any day of the week. One affirms our connection with humanity; the other makes us colder and more inhumane.

The collection of commercials you see here is just a sample of how Japanese people see themselves. It is also a mirror into how they see us and what they choose to emulate from American society.

From vitamins and constipation-figthing supplement drinks, to sublime roadside encounters with "safe steel" and Demi Moore's power breasts, take a wide-ranging tour of the unique aspects of Japanese society which are reflected in their mass-media culture