It’s been a few weeks since we broke the controversy over the Red Cross’s Uzaki-chan poster. But even now, the topic continues to roil Japanese Twitter. And, as happens online, the conversation has taken several unexpected twists. One Japanese clothing maker found that out the hard way when it found itself unwillingly dragged into the controversy.
Defending the Right to 乳袋 (Chichi-Bukuro)
As I mentioned in my previous write-up, one of the lines that defenders of the poster are using is that objecting to the poster is “discrimination against large-breasted women.” In their eyes, there’s nothing erotic about the Uzaki-chan poster except that the character happens to sport large breasts.
Women and others on Twitter tore into this rationalization. As one commentator put it\:
“Feminists who criticize the blood donation poster discriminate against women with big busts! These poor big-busted women! We’re big bust allies!’”
…these guys say, but when actual women with large breasts raise the red flag over these pictures, these men won’t listen at all. At aaaaaaallll.
Additionally, people pointed out that what was in dispute were not “large breasts” per se, but what’s known in Japanese as 乳袋 (chichibukuro). The kanji for chichibukuro literally mean “breast bags.” The more prosaic definition, according to the Daijisen Japanese Dictionary, is “Clothing, in manga or animation, that unnaturally clings to women’s breasts so as to emphasize them.” (For lack of an official-ish English translation, I translate chichibukuro as “comic-boob clothes.” However, for most of this article, I’ll just say chichibukuro, as saying “comic-boob clothes” makes these arguments sound even more ridiculous than they already are.)
Chichibukuro, in other words, is designed explicitly to increase a female character’s sexual appeal to heterosexual men. (In the case of Uzaki-chan, I can’t help but note that the manga often depicts the character wearing a shirt that reads “Sugoi Dekai,” or “super-huge.”)
But that didn’t deter the otakus of Twitter. They set out to prove that chichibukuro actually exists in the real world. In other words, people who object to Uzaki-chan’s chichibukuro are mocking real-world women with large breasts.
And this is where poor retailer overE comes in.
An Official Disavowal
overE is an online fashion retailer that, in its own words, specializes in clothing for women with large chests. The company got its start in 2016 when it was a semi-finalist in the Tokyo Startup Gateway competition. overE is the brainchild of founder Wada Mayuko (和田真由子), and is the brand name of Wada’s company, Esteem Inc. Wada has made it her mission to create clothing that wears well on women of “irregular” sizes. In the case of women with large chests, that means more than making tops that fit comfortably. It also means including extra features, such as an additional button on a blouse to prevent visible gaps. In Wada’s own words, “Our company’s name is Esteem, from the word ‘self-esteem”. … overE implements the idea of creating clothing you were destined to wear, clothing that lets you live proud.”
Unfortunately, it wasn’t long until one of the Red Cross poster’s defenders found overE. overE, they insisted, proved that “comic-boob clothing” was real, and that woman wore it in their everyday lives. Twitter user shugai referred to overE as “a lady’s brand that makes clothes for chichibukuro women.”
overE, however, wasn’t having any of it. In response to the above tweet, an overE staff member gave the company’s official response:
Thanks for introducing us! However, we would appreciate if you keep in mind that we do not make clothing that fits the description of “chichibukuro.” We look forward to your continued cooperation.
Naturally, this statement from the company itself didn’t satiate Japanese otaku. They still insisted that “comic-boob clothing” was a thing. So the company released a second tweet eight days later stating that “our clothing is made with a goal that differs from the expression ‘chichibukuro.'” The continued campaign to “chichibukuro“-ize overE drew backlash from Twitter users such as Nobi, who urged the chichibukuro crowd to “quit destroying all the care that overE has put into developing campaigns that won’t make women uneasy.”
Hopefully, the attention ends up being net positive for overE and its mission. In the meantime, the debate continues on Twitter, proving that Japan’s attitudes towards how women are depicted in public are still evolving.
