Happy Kiss Day from Japan! Tomorrow, May 23, has been designated as キスの日 or Kiss Day, because it was on this back in 1946 that the first kiss scene was shown in a Japanese film (called Hatachi no Seishun). This moment is seen as a turning point for Japan as the country became more liberal and open-minded in depicting sex and relationships in pop culture as it modernized in the postwar era. As anime fans, I’m sure we’ve all got our favorite anime kiss scene. What’s yours?
An anime kiss scene is a perfect culmination to a story that’s taken time to develop the relationship between two characters, a wonderful crescendo that gives viewers a much more meaningful shot of “emotional fan service” than pantyshots ever could. I think many of us remember our first anime kiss scene fondly, because it was an indication that anime was a different medium than anything we’d seen before, with stories about battles and personal growth and spaceships and mecha, but with the willingness to show people falling in love, and resolving those stories in realistic ways.
What’s the history of kissing in Japan? 口吸い kuchi-sui or “mouth-sucking” has always existed as a sexual act and is depicted in shunga, the erotic art of the Edo Period. But the modern idea of lovers kissing is somewhat new, and the Japanese are still quite reserved about it, never showing affection in public. Lovers kiss, but after the passionate years of fiery romantic love known as 恋 koi give way to the deeper love of many years known as 愛 ai, it seems to become rare, reserved for really special occasions (according to the married staff of J-List).
In comparison, Westerners are thought to be much more romantic, and when we got married my wife got many comments along the lines of “I’m sure he kisses you every day before he goes off to work” from her envious friends. And in fact, I do, but she usually groans when I do it.
Judging from anime, the Japanese are highly suspicious of the European practice of cheek kissing as a greeting, and secretly suspect that any Westerner they meet on the street is likely to kiss them without warning, even in countries where this isn’t a thing, like Britain.
So, what’s your favorite anime kiss scene? Tell us on Twitter!
Every month J-List releases awesome #JLISTBOX boxes, two snack boxes (a standard and “deluxe” edition) with up to 19 different hand-picked Japanese snacks and drinks for you to sample, plus our famous “ero” J-List Box with awesome products to relieve your stress. And now we’ve got the new boxes for June up for preorder. Order your J-List Box now!
