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Central Standard

University Of Kansas Researcher Looks Into Romance-For-Sale In Contemporary Japan

KU researcher AkikoTakeyama has been studying "the host" in Japanese society. The host is the male equivalent of the geisha, and became part of the Japanese economy with the decline of the seniority system and a shift from a manufacturing economy to a service economy. Changing gender roles, and expectations that Japanese women be "superwomen," demand that some tasks be outsourced; romance, an imported western concept according to Takeyama, is among them.

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People don't make cameos in news stories; the human story is the story, with characters affected by news events, not defined by them. As a columnist and podcaster, I want to acknowledge what it feels like to live through this time in Kansas City, one vantage point at a time. Together, these weekly vignettes form a collage of daily life in Kansas City as it changes in some ways, and stubbornly resists change in others. You can follow me on Twitter @GinaKCUR or email me at gina@kcur.org.
Matthew Long-Middleton has been a talk-show producer, community producer, Media Training Manager and now the Community Engagement Manager at KCUR. You can reach him at Matthew@kcur.org, or on Twitter @MLMIndustries.