Resources on herbivore men?

October 26, 2009 2:07 PM

What are the best online or print resources in English language about lifestyle and individuality of soshoku-danshi (grass-eating/herbivore men)? Not looking for news articles, thanks!
posted by parmanparman to Grab Bag (5 answers total)

I couldn't find it on their site, but the preeminent English-language website (that is, the best writing) on current trends in Japan would have to be Neojaponisme. You could also try Googling "metrosexual", which is actually the best way to translate "soshoku-danshi".
posted by KokuRyu at 2:20 PM on October 26, 2009

I think "soushoku-danshi" is the more common transliteration, so you might try Googling that as well.

What are you looking for? Websites and forums for guys who self-identify as soushoku-danshi?
posted by Sidhedevil at 2:28 PM on October 26, 2009

Jean Snow may have the answers.
posted by KokuRyu at 2:56 PM on October 26, 2009

There's some discussion on this Neojaponisme Meta blog post, but considering that this "phenomenon" was basically created by the media (read: Dentsu) within the past few years, and only this year made it on to the radars of non-Japanese media sources, I would be extremely surprised to find any decent, English-language analyses of them as a group.

If you're curious, here's the (apparent) first article on Nikkei Business Online where the term was first used. It's in Japanese, but even a Google translation should give you the gist.
posted by armage at 6:24 PM on October 26, 2009

Response by poster: I was basically attempting to personally ascertain if this was a genuine phenomenon or, as I suspected, something of an inside joke among a handful of men. Thanks, everyone.
posted by parmanparman at 2:51 AM on October 27, 2009