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Japanese women’s magazine takes the average of 500 desirable guys, comes up with one strange list

Casey Baseel Aug 7, 2015
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As in most countries, magazines aimed at young adults in Japan spend a lot of time talking about the opposite sex. Just as publications aimed at men often wax poetic about their image of the ideal woman, so too do women’s magazines write up collections of traits of desirable guys.

But one recent list has Japanese Internet users scratching their heads over its oddly specific list that includes such minutiae as foot size and social media preference.

The magazine’s methodology is a bit cryptic. Its staff approached some 500 fashionable men on the streets of Tokyo and Osaka, then asked them a series of questions about themselves while also collecting bits of hard data such as height and weight. From the responses, the magazine compiled what it says is the “average” version of a desirable guy.

https://twitter.com/hana_14187/status/628214748882931712

As shared in the above tweet by Twitter user Hana-chan, the listed items start with:

1. Hairstyle: Loose, soft, and mashed
2. Height: 173 centimeters (68 inches)
3. Weight: 62 kilograms (136 pounds)

Okay, so far these all seem like pretty common things that people look at when judging a person’s attractiveness.

4. Skin quality: A mixture of oily and dry skin
5. College department: Arts and humanities
6. Item he always has on him: Smartphone charger

Hmm…not sure how you’re supposed to mix two types of skin conditions, but yeah, all else equal, guys who major in more artistic subjects tend to be more popular with the ladies than those who major in dryer disciplines.

7. How does he organize his schedule?: With a paper day planner
8. Social media preference: Uses Instagram more often than Twitter
9. Best dish when cooking: Fried rice (makes the most delicious in the world)

Seems a little odd that the guy who can’t leave the house without his smartphone charger keeps track of his appointments with a pen and paper, but hey, maybe there’s an old-school appeal there. What’s more confusing is how the multiple baseline fashionable guys on the planet are all supposed to be making the world’s most delicious fried rice.

10. No girlfriend
11. At drinking parties, he goes home on the last train.
12. Recent worry: Finding a job
13. Relatively strong desire: To date actress Satomi Ishihara
14. Regular date plan: Watching a movie
15. Shoe size: 26.5 centimeters (U.S. 8.5)

But while the magazine claims these were the average responses from the hundreds of sharp-looking men it talked to, the Japanese Internet isn’t so impressed. Starting with Hana-chan, who tweeted “The more I look at this, the more I realize I couldn’t deal with this type of guy,” online comments included:

“He looks like a relaxed otaku.”
“Dude, it’s L [from Death Note]!.”
“All I’m seeing is a bird’s nest on top of his head.”
“He seems like a broke college student.”
“Uses Instagram more often than Twitter ← Retweet this”
“Well of course you’re going to be popular if you can make the world’s best fried rice.”
“Wait, he’s got no girlfriend, but he has a regular date plan?”

We’re a little confused ourselves, but hey, when you try to be 500 guys all at once, things are bound to get a little strange.

Source: Jin, Twitter/@hana_14187