CARNAL NATION

Young men in Japan are redefining traditional notions of what it is to be a man in that staunchly patriarchal country. Reuters reports that growing disillusionment with the economy and conventional lifestyles has led young men in their twenties and thirties to reject stereotypically masculine interests and goals like corporate careers, marriage, raising a family, and even dating. These 'herbivorous boys,' as they've been labelled by the media, instead focus their time and attention on their appearance and the Internet. "Since I was a child, I hated people telling me, 'Behave like a man.' I don't think my parents' way of life is for me," said Roshinante, a 31-year-old hotel worker who moderates an online forum on herbivores. He adds, "I still struggle between the traditional notion of how men should be and how I am."

In a survey conducted by a Japanese market research firm, nearly half of the 1,000 men aged 20 to 34 polled identified themselves as herbivores, which carries the connotation of either avoiding 'the flesh' or 'being passive' with regard to women. Conventional wisdom suggests that this increasingly prevalent way of life is a reaction to the conspicuous consumption that marked Japanese culture during the economic boom of the go-go 1980s. After the economic downturn, young people could not expect and, in some cases, rejected the lifestyles of their parents' generation. "Herbivorous men always existed," says newspaper columnist Maki Fukasawa, who is credited with coining the term 'herbivorous boys.' "But the bursting of the bubble and the collapse of lifetime employment contributed to their increase." Indeed, Roshinante and his peers feel somewhat at a loss with regard to both their present circumstances and their future. The marketing survey has indicated that these young men lack self-esteem and spend much of their time alone. "While [herbivores] don't want to follow the traditional model, they don't know what to do," said Roshinante.

Though the herbivores may be resigned to grazing their way through life, big business smells blood. "We cannot ignore herbivorous boys because they are almost a majority," said Shigeru Sakai, a marketing researcher. Marketing experts are now scrambling to determine how to make money off these underemployed, ambivalent, and apathetic boys. Of course, they are.