On Nicholson St in Carlton.
I love the heritage of some of these signs. They have an earnest artlessness that imparts a real sense of place and time. Artlessness isn’t something that goes much with marketing, where the awareness and associations tend to be managed to the nth degree. Even seeming artlessness is often highly staged, such as RACV’s Jason call centre ads or iinet’s BOB. I reckon there’s a case for preserving as much true, authentic artlessness as you can find in a heritage brand. Where people have become wary of agency schmick and having their psychology over-understood, artlessness is a refreshing reminder of a different meaning for consumer orientation.

When I saw this by the roadside in Izu, I thought, “Gee, that’s a kinda fastidiously sculptural, and large, piece of topiary for a roadside in the Middle of Nowhere. Those Japanese really do like sculpting their plants.”

Just saw an ad for Taiwan Tourism showing women picking tea in the fields. It’s almost certainly a tea plantation! Case dismissed.

More recently I was reading the most disturbing article in the June 2010 edition of The Monthly on “gendercide“. To be blunt, the issue’s what it sounds like: baby girls being killed one way or another, because they’re girls. The extent of it is breathtaking: according to economist Amartya Sen, in 1990, distortions in the reported gender imbalances of Asian countries suggested the number of missing girls/women was approximately 100 million. The article reports that the overall male:female birth rate in China from 2000 – 2005 was 123:100. Where couples are permitted to have a second or third child, the ratio can balloon as high as 275:100. Baby girls are routinely dumped: either left to die or, for the “lucky” ones, placed in overcrowded and abusive orphanages.

There have been so many other instances, almost on a daily basis I have noticed something. One example in recent press has been moves by members of the Anglican communion to marginalise women in senior leadership roles in the church. I suppose this is not entirely unexpected given religion’s traditional nexus with patriarchy, but I guess I was blown away by how blatant it was. Another example today was reading people’s moronic sexual comments on Youtube clips featuring women. Even when it’s fully covered meat, it seems, it’s still the meat’s fault.

My final exhibit is Jon La Joie, whose astonishing complicit critique “Show Me Your Genitals” popped up in my Twitter feed this week. La Joie decodes misogyny and male insecurity perfectly – but I wonder how many of his adolescent audience take him completely literally, despite the obviously goofy dance moves, clothing, rhyme schemes and cinematography?

I’m interested in people’s thoughts about this. How does it affect you as a woman? Are there cultures that have moved away from this successfully? What are the ways we can change cultures so that women are, in every respect, first class citizens?

I don’t know how popular Izu is today, but very little of the tourist infrastructure looks built in the last 20 years, suggesting its popularity is waning. Along the coast, hulking slabs of 1960s hotel loom from the cliff faces. The style is part 1960s Austrian bath-cure resort, part Honolulu coast, and all Japan. Their rhythmic edifices remind me a bit of honeycomb – the same hotel room, 300 or 400 times. Many are in disrepair, some seemingly in disuse.

I drove along a toll road called the Skyline, which may win the prize for the worst signposted tourist road in the world. It is extremely popular with groups of motorcycle enthusiasts, but that’s about it. The route is winding, scenic and green.

Along the road, abandoned tourist pavilions sit derelict, weeds bulging through the cracks in the concrete. Decrepit third-rate restaurants crank out a meagre trade on passing desperation. I suspect the dilapidated golden-era tourist infrastructure speaks of a day when people still aspired to have holidays near home and foreign travel was not entirely democratic.

I stayed at a minshuku in Shimoda. Minshuku are B&Bs, Japanese style, except you usually have the evening meal too. In this case, an elaborate, delicious ten course banquet that I felt embarrassed for not being able to eat more of. There are only 10 guestrooms and they are traditional Japanese style with tatami and futons. The minshuku is a little dated, and is not glamorous, but it is comfortable and absolutely spotless.

The hospitality is generous and warmhearted. The Japanese word for hospitality is omotenashi which is very different from what people mean in the West when they say “I work in hospitality.” Working in hospitality is a sprinkling of customer service jargon over self-hatred and boredom. Omotenashi is commitment to, and pride in, your unfailing attention to the needs of the guest. If you get a chance to stay at a minshuku I would recommend it.
At night I went to the onsen of the Kanaya ryokan, also in Shimoda. It is a super-traditional wooden building with a simple large open wooden bath (possibly hinoki) and a rotenburo (open air bath.) A delightfully authentic experience. It is not far from Daitenji station.

Shimoda itself is a tourist oddity, highly recommended if standing on the place where milk was first drunk by humans in Japan is your idea of a good time. There is a strip of historic houses preserved by the canal which is quaint. I suspect there is a nice beach around but it was cold and miserable at the time so I didn’t get down there.