Ask John: Why is There So Much Drinking in Anime?

Question:
I have noticed that in some anime series I’ve seen drinking seem to be a habit. Sometimes for fun, sometimes an everyday thing. I have also notice that drinking can be found in even young ages like junior high. (I am referring to Kimagure Orange Road for example. I am sure there are much more animation that are similar). Is drinking such a habit in Japan? What age is it ok to drink? Well, at least according to Japanese anime?

Answer:
The legal drinking age in Japan is 20, although only the Japanese code of social etiquette prevents youngsters from sampling alcohol from unmonitored sake vending machines. Drinking is traditionally a significant aspect of Japanese culture and a valued past-time. How many anime fans haven’t seen a samurai anime in which the hero has a fondness for alcohol? During the feudal Japanese era, when farming was largely dominated by growing rice rather that grain, because rice needs much less open space to grow than wheat, sake (rice wine) became the common Japanese alcohol instead of beer. But the popularity of alcohol is far older than just the feudal era. The Chinese historical work Wei Zhi mentions a fondness for alcohol among the inhabitants of Yamatai (ancient Japan) dating back to at least the third century AD. A form of rice wine, the ancestor of sake, apparently dates back to the Nara Period (710-794). At least as early as the 1300s, sake was an important part of Japanese ceremonies and festivals including weddings, funerals, and holiday celebrations.

In contemporary times, alcohol is held in high esteem because it provides a socially approved and accepted opportunity for the Japanese to disregard the etiquette, social conventions and polite rules of Japanese social interaction. An employee is excused for complaining about work while intoxicated at an after-hours drinking party, although disparaging the boss during work hours or while sober would be strictly taboo. Expressing attraction to a co-worker while drunk is also forgiven the next morning, “because (s)he was drunk.” Anime including Momoiro Sisters and Kacho Ohjii include sequences based on common Japanese life in which employees with a hang-over are applauded for their previous night’s exuberant over-indulgence rather than scolded for coming to work drunk. The Japanese tradition of “Ohanami,” or cherry blossom viewing, seen in anime including You’re Under Arrest Second Season, Di-Gi-Charat, and Mainichi Ga Nichiyobi, is little more than a socially approved annual ritual for getting drunk with friends.

In a society that stresses conformity and formality, drinking and being drunk allow for an opportunity to be informal and wholeheartedly honest. But all things are good in moderation. Especially in anime, characters who drink too much, or who become alcoholic, are rarely presented in a singularly positive light. Especially athletic coaches, for some reason, who appear to be drunken has-beens but secretly still possess tremendous coaching and motivational talent, are still social flotsam, ejected from their former peers for excess drinking. In effect, anime mirrors the general sentiment of contemporary Japanese culture: it’s okay to drink in moderation, and being drunk in certain circumstances is actually ideal, but getting carried away or drinking too much is irresponsible.

Thanks to Michiko Ito for her assistance with historical details.