Ask John: Why Does Anime Include So Much Glomping?

Question:
What’s up with all of the glompage in anime? I mean most of the anime I watch has several glomp scenes in amost every episode. What’s up with that?

Answer:
To be honest, we either watch different anime, or scenes of characters suddenly affectionately grabbing or hugging other characters – which the American fan community refers to as “glomping,” named for the imaginary sucking sound this sudden vacuum-like grasp creates – has become such a familiar sight to me that I don’t consciously notice it in many anime. I know that it does occur occasionally in certain anime, but at least in the anime I commonly watch, I wouldn’t say that it occurs repeatedly in nearly every episode. But regardless, scenes of sudden, unexpected hugging or grabbing hold or others in anime may have some background explanation within Japanese culture.

A commonly perceived impression of Japanese society, in the eyes of Westerners, is that even mild public intimacy or sweeping physical gestures are considered taboo, impolite, or even threatening to Japanese residents. Maybe at some time in the past the social etiquete of Japanese society justified this perception, but social interaction in today’s Japan is little different from any developed nation in the world. One doesn’t expect to see romance-movie-esque grandiose exhibitions of physical affection in public in any city. Tokyo or Osaka are no different in that respect than New York or Paris. But as Japan has modernized and become more influenced by the West, many traditional Japanese inhibitions have been allowed to naturally expire.

The Japanese concept of “skinship,” seems to have first appeared in 1971. Originally referring to the affection between a mother and child developed through the touch of bare skin during breast feeding and holding a baby, the concept has involved into a broader sense of bonding through physical contact. In the recent anime television series Kanokon, Chizuru commonly refers to her “skinship” with boyfriend Kouta, which she maintains by frequently hugging and molesting him.

American culture may not have quite the emphasis on machismo prevelant in, for example, Spanish and Italian cultures, but modern mainstream America is somewhat homophobic, and so thoroughly indoctrinated to superficially respect sexual, racial, and civil equality that physical touching is only socially acceptable in particular circumstances. For example, an American man touching another man’s butt is absolutely taboo except when the men are playing football, at which time a pat on the butt becomes a preferred method of communication. Similarly, the Kodomo no Jikan anime series depicts frequent physical contact between an elementary school girl and her adult male teacher. Even the innocent contact depicted in Kodomo no Jikan would be strictly forbidden in America, by law, and because of the the fear of allegations of sexual or physical abuse.

For better or worse, Japan isn’t quite as obsessed with and bound by “political correctness” as America. As a result, in anime, and even in real Japanese society, boys may sometimes throw an arm around a companion or squeeze an especially cute youngster. Especially elementary school age Japanese children don’t hesitate to hug or cling to friends. Suddenly hugging an especially cute friend, to Japanese children, isn’t perceived as an invasion of personal boundaries or a sign of latent homosexuality; it’s the exertion of a natural instinct akin to petting with a cute kitten or playing with an excited puppy. Anime, of course, exaggerates real situations for stylistic and dramatic effect, but anime can’t stray too far from familiar behaviors lest it alienate and confuse viewers. Girls squeezing other girls’ breasts, pinching cheeks, sudden tight hugs, hard slaps on the back and other similar physical gestures common within anime aren’t especially common in real daily Japanese life, but if these actions were totally unfamiliar to Japanese people, such actions wouldn’t appear in Japanese animation.