When the cute-as-a-button Aki Hoshino tried to enter a casino in Macau the other day, she suddenly found herself forbidden from doing so by the staff. The reason was supposedly that they thought the famous gravure idol — that’s a made-in-Japan French word which means a model in a sexy bikini — was under the age of 18 and thus forbidden from entering the casino premises by law, so they blocked the door to keep her out. It seems hard to believe that a 32-year-old woman could be mistaken for a minor, but I’m inclined to believe it. I remember shopping in America with a former student who was 24 at the time, and when she pulled out her credit card to make a purchase, the clerk said, “Sorry little girl, you can’t use a credit card here.” It seemed that to his eyes, this average Japanese girl in her 20s seemed no older than a teenager. The phenomenon of being unable to accurately assess age between East and West goes both ways, and my wife will often snort with laughter at actors portraying high school-age students on TV, yet who look to her eyes like they’re in their mid 30’s or higher.
She can come into my casino any time.
