Yamato Nadeshiko: Difference between revisions

[[File:Kimono Girl Sitting.jpg|right|frame|A 'traditional' upper/middle-class Japanese girl (artistic license taken).]]

 

 

A complicated Japanese aesthetic and cultural concept. Breaking the expression down: "Yamato" is one of the older (and thus fancier) names for Japan and the Japanese culture; "Nadeshiko" is Japanese for ''Dianthus superbus'', otherwise known as the carnation, a wildflower native to the Japanese highlands.

 

 

 

A poorly done ''Yamato Nadeshiko'' will turn out like an [[Extreme Doormat]]. They are silent and submissive without the inner strength of a true ''Yamato Nadeshiko''. This is a common stereotype of East Asian women in Western fiction and is often referred to derisively as the [[wikipedia:Stereotypes of East Asians in the Western world#.22China doll.22 stereotype|China Doll]] stereotype.

Compare [[Proper Lady]], [[Silk Hiding Steel]], [[Spirited Young Lady]], [[Princess Classic]], [[Southern Belle]], [[The Ingenue]].

 

'''Note''': This trope is for the Japanese Ideal in particular, or Eastern Asian Ideal in general. For the western/European ideal see [[Proper Lady]]. For a general 'proper on the outside, powerful on the inside' woman use [[Silk Hiding Steel]]. For tropes describing homemakers and housewives in general, use [[Housewife]]. To describe 'innocence' or 'gentleness' use [[The Ingenue]]. Polite or friendliness can be covered by [[Nice Girl]].

 

{{examples}}

== Advertising ==

* This is the standard portrayal of the [[OS-tan]] version of Windows 3.1.

 

* Shizuka Minamoto from ''[[Doraemon]]'' is the prime example for Japanese's anime & manga society. She's a soft spoken, nature loving, and caring girly girl who addresses the [[Failure Hero]] Nobita using honorific. She's shown to be pretty good at almost everything except [[Dreadful Musician|violin.]]

* Belldandy in ''[[Ah! My Goddess]]'', which pretty much standardizes [[Kikuko Inoue]]'s typecasting. Though the in story reason for her being a ''yamato nadeshiko'' is that if she wasn't, [[Beware the Nice Ones|the universe would be in serious danger]]. She presents an interesting case in that she so deliberately invokes this [[Trope]] personality-wise but actually doesn't fit many of the above-defined physical descriptions, not to mention the fact that she's a ''Norse goddess'' who would have no reason to have ever even ''heard'' of Japan, let alone, take on their ideal of femininity. [[Kikuko Inoue]] count: 1

** An older version is Queen Chuukin, the sovereign of the kingdom of Sai. Her ''kirin'' Sairin fits in quite well, too.

* Setsuna Sakurazaki of ''[[Mahou Sensei Negima]]'' was once described as this by [[Weasel Mascot]] Chamo for being quiet and fair-skinned with raven-black hair (at least [[Cultural Translation|in the original translation]]). Keep in mind, however, that once we actually get to know her, she drops this façade and instead becomes a [[Badass]] [[Implausible Fencing Powers|sword-slinging]] [[Samurai]]-type. Meanwhile, [[Repetitive Name|Konoka Konoe]], being a [[Ojou|Princess]] formerly living in a [[Big Fancy House|Big Fancy Temple Complex]] and heiress to an ancient family who leads a prominent [[The Magocracy|Magical Organization]] seems to approach this quite effectively, especially during her [[Arranged Marriage|Omiai]]s when she wears a kimono. More noticable when she [[Overnight Age-Up|eats the magical aging pills]].

** [[Tall, Dark and Bishoujo|Akira]] [[Cool Big Sis|Okochi]] fits in as well. She's been getting her ''yamato nadeshiko'' points up recently, what with her sisterly concern for her friend Ako Izumi's feelings for Negi {{spoiler|or more exactly, his "alter ego" Nagi}}

* Sango of ''[[Inuyasha]]'' is an interesting version of the trope, a willowy dark-haired pretty-not-beautiful girl who follows her family tradition... by being a [[Action Girl|demon-slayer.]] Her existence is testament to the idea that the traditional family girl can still be handy to have around in a tight spot.

* Depending on which series you are watching and [[Alternate Character Interpretation|how you watch it]] a decent number of the cast of ''[[Tenchi Muyo!]]'' characters fall in this category. Sasami, Ayeka and Kiyone all can be considered this, although the last two often fall out of this [[Executive Meddling|due to]] [[Writer on Board|excessive]] [[Flanderization]]. Interestingly, the same influences often cause Sasami to become ''more'' of one.

** What might be oddest is in that in one or two spots, this looks like what ''Ryoko'' wants to be. For someone whose personality seems to be a laundry list of what a ''yamato nadeshiko'' is ''not''...

** Also, Kaede was a Yandere in the ''anime''. The original games have her as a more or less normal ''yamato nadeshiko''... though one of the sequels, which sheds more light on her past, has a few touches from the anime.

* Inverted with Sumire Kanou from ''[[Toradora!]]''. She is described as having the looks and elegance of a ''yamato nadeshiko'', and [[Tall, Dark and Bishoujo|is]] the [[Student Council President]]. [[Badass Normal|However, don't judge a book by its cover.]] Has black hair in the light novels, but [[You Gotta Have Blue Hair|has blue hair in the anime]].

* To the public eye, Yukimura Tokine from ''[[Kekkaishi]]'' is a picture-perfect embodiment of this trope. However, those who know of her secret work as a kekkaishi know that she is a scarily competent and rather ruthless [[Action Girl]] who not only has the tendency to hit allies who annoy her over the head and [[Silk Hiding Steel|but also cold-heartedly executes enemies.]]

** Regarding cooking (or in this case baking), Yoshimori is more proficient than her...

* Anezaki Mamori of ''[[Eyeshield 21]]'' is a girl with loyalty, domestic ability, wisdom, maturity, and humility... and is ''definitely'' [[Plucky Girl|a force to be reckoned with]], [[Mama Bear|protecting her surrogate siblings and standing up to badass football players]]. This only seems to ''elevate'' her standing in the eyes of other characters.

** Also, played with in regards to Karin Koizumi. The best quarterback in the whole country is... a sweet girl who adores piano playing and shoujo manga and was pretty much forcefully recruited by the Teikoku Alexanders.

* ''[[Axis Powers Hetalia]]'' plays with the trope quite a bit:

** '''Japan''' is the character who [[Zig-Zagging Trope|plays with this trope the most]], to such an extent that it's not completely clear if he's more of a straight than subverted/parodic example or the other way around. On one hand, he's polite, soft-spoken, humble, mature (especially when compared to the rest of the cast), usually wears a kimono or yukata, is shown to have domestic abilities (and not to mention he puts on a female kimono ''and'' apron when he plays house), ''and'' [[Word of God]] actually uses the term "Yamato Nadeshiko" to describe what he would have been like as a female. On the other hand, he's also a [[Hikikomori|socially awkward]] [[Inscrutable Oriental]] who [[Kick the Dog|once turned against his family]] (which is his political commentary), and his YN traits are used for humor/parody as often as they're played straight (e.g. he can be too polite for his own good or doesn't let his politeness get in the way of him being a touch passive-aggressive). Possibly the best way to describe him is as a blend of ''both'' [[Inscrutable Oriental]] and ''yamato nadeshiko'', with the latter being more obvious when he's with people/nations he feels comfortable around.

*** Subverted very discreetly, however, seeing as in the manga and CD drama ("The World's Pervert Ambassador") Japan lays bare his [[Otaku]] side and proudly proclaims that ''everybody'' should turn to the 2D "Moe" universe because it wouldn't soil the body (although it will soil the heart, just a tiny bit). This prompted the fandom (speculated to be made mostly of fangirls) to assume that Japan spends his free time reading/drawing manga, doujinshi, and snapping pictures of the Hetalia pairings during the World Meetings (referring to his tendency to always carry a camera while touring other countries). The Japanese fandom is the most affected - doujinshis that depict fanon (or practically canon, in Hetalia's case) pairings sometimes have Japan going out of his way to get them together so he would have more material to sell to Hungary-san/his own doujinshi works. YN's of either gender are definitely not allowed to reveal their carnal desires, especially of the fujoshi variety...

*** A good example of the above would be the fan game "JOKER" (Jones/Kirkland...we already know what we're getting into) where Japan is usually his normal composed, mature self. As the game goes on, and numerous elements of affection between America and England get more explicit by the scene (and also as they continue to meet various past selves of England throughout the game), his calm demeanor breaks down even more frequently. In several scenes he is even shown actually ''working'' on a doujinshi. The other characters have by now gotten over the shock of having a potential pedobear/voyeur among their midst, and ridicule him in appropriate times (when chibi!England is around), although Hong Kong has recently taken up the habit of knocking Japan unconscious if his ramblings venture into dangerous waters for the rating.

*** [[It Runs in The Family]], considering her [[Hot Mom]] Momoko.

* Francoise/003, and {{spoiler|Lina the Psychic Assassin (when off-duty, that is)}} in ''[[Cyborg 009]]''.

** Also Romeo's [[Hot Mom]], Portia. Juliet's best friend Cordelia is a borderline case, though towards {{spoiler|her later-husband Benvolio}} she's a bit of a Type B [[Tsundere]].

* Sakura-chan's four older sisters from ''[[Pokémon (anime)|Pokémon]]''. Satsuki (Jolteon), Sumomo (Vaporeon), Tamao (Umbreon) and Koume (Flareon) can wear fancy headgear and kimonos gracefully, serve you the most delicious green tea, play the shamisen beautifully and arrange flowers like pros... and kick your ass [[Lady of War|in style]] with their Mons. Little Sakura is still too young to fully qualify, but she and her Eevee/Espeon are definitely getting there.

* Ruka Souen from ''[[Vampire Knight]]''. There's also a ''villainous'' example in Shizuka Hio.

* Sara from [[Shokojo Sera]] is one in training. She was voiced by, [[Sumi Shimamoto|well...]]

* Very cruelly deconstructed in ''[[Sakura Gari]]''. When Masataka stops by Dr. Katsuragi's house, he meets his beautiful, polite and soft-spoken wife Asayo, who seems to be the perfect example of the trope. Then, Masataka notices [[Domestic Abuse|the bruises on her neck and wrists]], and the deal becomes [[Stepford Smiler|a LOT more unsettling.]] [[It Gets Worse]] later, when one of the servants rubs medicinal ointments on [[Good Scars, Evil Scars|Asayo's horrible bruises]] and [[The Woobie|she]] quietly and softly says [[Tear Jerker|it's her own fault for upsetting him.]] {{spoiler|And where's Katsuragi, you'll ask? He's too busy raping and torturing Masataka to care.}}

* Mu-Yoen of ''[[Pig Bride]]'' is very much the Korean equivalent of this trope.

* Manami, the eldest Kasuga twin in ''[[Kimagure Orange Road]]''. In her gentlest moments, the [[Tsundere]] Madoka strongly resembles one too.

* ''[[Kazemakase Tsukikage Ran]]'', being a show about [[Ronin]] in Japan, has a few of these. One of them in particular is a lord's mistress: she's kind, gentle, family / house oriented, looks the part with a fancy kimono and {{spoiler|has enough inner iron to save her infant son via [[Heroic Sacrifice]].}}

* Cruelly played with in an episode of ''[[Hell Girl]]''. An beautiful orphan girl named Inori seems to be the very incarnation of this ideal, and is offered a nice marriage prospect with the handsome son of the sponsor of her [[Orphanage of Love]]. Except that there's a catch: {{spoiler|her mother in law, Mrs. Kyokotsu, only wants Inori to be pretty much a "living prop" who will spend her life quietly sitting around in a corner, watching like pass by in front of her - like the dolls that the family makes for a living. Completely alone since her [[Jerkass]] husband takes his mom's side, Inori tries to endure this [[Domestic Abuse]]... but she ends up snapping and, despite Hajime's warnings, she sends the old woman to Hell.}}

* Yumi, Mayu's mother in ''[[Morita-san wa Mukuchi]]'', personifies this—aside from her fits of jealousy against her husband.

* Rey of ''[[Saint Beast]]'' is a male example. He's the most typically feminine and domestic member of the team but is perfectly competent in a fight and stronger than he seems.

* Yukari from ''[[Family Compo]]'' fits this trope pretty well.

* Hinako Aikawa from ''[[Bitter Virgin]]'' definitely has a lot of the traits associated with this archetype - she's sweet, humble, and outwardly extremely vulnerable, but she shows plenty of unexpected courage in confronting those who harm her or people she cares about (albeit, understandably, [[Does Not Like Men|usually only if they're female]], [[The Woobie|due to]] [[Rape as Drama|her personal trauma]]).

 

== Comic Books ==

* Since ''[[Yoko Tsuno]]'' is the daughter of a very traditional Japanese family, her mother Masako is a ''yamato nadeshiko''. The trope ''might'' have been invoked in "The Devil's Organ", when Yoko shows up to a formal party in Germany in a ''kimono'' and [[Kimono Fanservice|leaves everyone starstruck]]... then she quickly subverts it by pointing the Moebius with a rifle {{spoiler|when Vic is accidentally shot and almost killed.}}

 

 

== Film ==

** For the record, Audrey even got a namesake in ''[[Gundam Unicorn]]'' - "Audrey Burne" {{spoiler|aka Princess Minerva Lao Zabi.}}

* [[Damsel in Distress|Tomoe]], the female [[Love Interest|romantic lead]] from ''[[The Twilight Samurai]]'' aka ''[[The Twilight Samurai|Tasogare Seibei]]''. Since the film is set in [[Jidai Geki|nineteenth century Japan]], the [[Justified Trope|trope doesn't seem out of place]]; if anything, [[Plucky Girl|Tomoe is the most "modern" major character in the film]]. Nevertheless, she's a convincing if not outright iconic ''yamato nadeshiko''.

* Played completely straight by Xiao Qiao in ''[[Red Cliff]]'', the reason why [[Germans Love David Hasselhoff|Japanese Love Lin Chiling]] (a Taiwanese model-and-first-time actress, known for exhibiting this behavior even in [[Real Life]]).

** In some form of distaff [[Hilarious in Hindsight]] karma, trailers for Lin Chiling's new movie ''Treasure Hunter'' have her wielding a [[Blade on a Stick]] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_At5enQ6q8 in her first major fight scene].

* Taka in ''[[The Last Samurai]]''

* [[Invoked Trope|Invoked]] in ''[[Mulan]]'': ''"Men want girls with good taste, calm, obedient, who work fast-paced. With good breeding and a tiny waist."''

* Leah in ''A Stranger Among Us''

* Not so much deconstructed as utterly destroyed in ''[[Audition]]''. Asami Yamazaki appears at first to be the sort of beautiful, demure woman that every Japanese man would love to have for a wife. However, in the last third, we discover that {{spoiler|due to horrific abuse (among other things)}} her core of steel is made of razor wire and needles, and ''she's a complete psycho''.

* A rare male example in the film ''Gohatto''. The protagonist is a quiet, demure [[Bishonen]] who even wears his hair in a [[Hime Cut]]. {{spoiler|However, he's also a ruthless killer who behaves more like a [[Woman in Black]].}}

 

== Literature ==

* ''Sisterhood'' series by [[Fern Michaels]]: Despite Yoko Akia referring to herself as Chinese in ''Weekend Warriors'', ''Free Fall'' establishes her as Japanese, so she is definitely this trope. She is mostly polite and soft-spoken. However, make no mistake, this 4 feet 8 inches tall, 90-pound woman can and will engage in ''major'' [[Waif Fu]] if the situation calls for it. In fact, she has never lost a fight (at least that has been shown or told about in this series), and she pinned her future husband Harry Wong to the ground in a sparring match. It is quite telling, because Harry can flatten just about anybody in a fight, and he states afterwards that that was the first time in his life that he had ever been pinned to the ground.

 

* Swan Shiratori, [[Super Sentai|Tokusou Sentai Dekaranger]]'s mechanic, fits this description perfectly, though not being as tall or long-haired as most anime examples.

** The following season ''[[Mahou Sentai Magiranger]]'' yields a better example, Ozu Miyuki, literally the mother of the core 5 Rangers. Even her superhero identity is named Magi''Mother''. MagiBlue, Urara is an example-in-training and tall, long-haired, sweet [[Team Dad]] Makito has elements of a male version.

* Park Myeong-yi, the mother to the main character in [[Dae Jang Geum]], and her husband live as lower caste commoners but she is a wonderful cook for her family as well as very calm but strict with her daughter.

* Alyssa Enrile/White Tiger Ranger ''[[Power Rangers Wild Force]]''. Princess Shayla leans more toward [[Silk Hiding Steel]].

 

== Music ==

* mc chris has a [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikcuhMQYAe4 song] from his album ''Part Six: Part Two'' called "[[Meido|Japanese Maid]]" about a Japanese [[Me Love You Long Time|mail-order bride]] who, in his words, is [[Extreme Doormat|"[his] wife and [his] slave"]] who "[[Magical Girlfriend|does everything right]]" and is "[[Japanese Politeness|oh so polite]]". Her role, like a good Japanese wife per Confucian ideals, is to keep house and fuck (which she does flawlessly), to the delight of mc chris:

* The [[Deep Purple]] song "Woman From Tokyo".

* Arguably, the girl described in Luis Miguel's "La Incondicional" ("The Unconditional One").

* The Japanese singer Riyu Kosaka has a song called "Yamato Nadeshiko", which fits the trope pretty well, as you would expect.

 

== Mythology and Religion ==

* [[wikipedia:Kaguya-hime|Kaguya-hime]] of the Japanese folktale ''The Legend of the Bamboo Cutter''. She was sweet, polite, gentle and completely devoted to her adoptive parents. While she ''did'' ask her suitors to do impossible things as the condition to marry any of them (which meant, they all failed and she blew them off), it wasn't because of hate or cruelty, but because {{spoiler|she had to return to the Moon at some point, to become its Queen}}.

 

== Theatre ==

* The [["I Want" Song]] "A Quiet Girl" from ''Wonderful Town'' seems to be about this type.

* Cio-Cio San, the main character in Puccini's opera ''Madama Butterfly''. She converts into Christianity, since it is her husband's religion, never mind that it gets her disowned by her relatives. Then he leaves for America, supposedly while she is still pregnant, and is absent for three years: she waits faithfully, even if the matchmaker and the American consul try to convince her that he has abandoned her and that she should remarry. When he returns with a new American wife, a girl named Kate, she gives her small son to her... [[Spurned Into Suicide|and kills herself]] to [[I Want My Beloved to Be Happy|avoid a scandal]]. Needless to say, the opera has ''huge'' [[Values Dissonance]], probably had already at the time it was written in. The best part? It was [[Based on a True Story]].

 

== [[Video Games]] ==

* The [[Pokémon]] Gardevoir. It looks vaguely like a pretty human female, and it devotes itself to protecting and serving its trainer, to the extent of sacrificing itself for them.

** On that subject, Froslass. She even looks like she's wearing a kimono! Specially considering she's a [[Youkai|Yuki-Onna]].

** And Erika the Gym Leader, including wearing a kimono and practicing ''ikebana'' (floristry).

* In ''[[Street Fighter]]'', Rainbow Mika's tag-team partner is actually [[Meaningful Name|named]] ''yamato nadeshiko'', and she's a short-haired brunette fighter.

* Likely, Guy's fiancèe Rena from [[Final Fight]]. Not only she has the looks, but she also possesses rather polite speech patterns and wears a dark-colored kimono.

 

* Iris from ''[[Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney]]: Trials and Tribulations''. She dresses and acts the part. On the other hand, {{spoiler|her twin sister Dahlia Hawthorne is [[Cute and Psycho]] to the extreme.}}

* ''[[Umineko no Naku Koro ni]]'' has Natsuhi Ushiromiya, who tries her hardest to play this trope straight. It helps that she comes from a family of Shinto priests, and was raised in a very traditional Japanese household. Unfortunately she will often let her pride cloud her judgement, and she has too much of a [[Hair-Trigger Temper]] to truly be a Yamato Nadeshiko. [[Meido|Shannon]] fits the archetype better than Natsuhi does, [[Dojikko|clumsiness aside]]. {{spoiler|As we learn more about who Shannon really is, however, it's clear that she doesn't play this trope straight at all.}}

* Yukari in ''[[Kara no Shoujo]]'' fits this extremely well. She even wears traditional Japanese clothing around the house. However, she's also a slight cloud cuckoolander and has some rather questionable taste, which rather detracts from the impression, or rather puts it in a comical light.

 

 

== Web Original ==

* The YN of [[Contemplating Reiko]] is the mother of the protagonist: Fumiko. She's the demon world version of this trope: a doting mother and [[Housewife]] whose hobbies include flower arranging, caligraphy, tea ceremony, katana wielding, drinking booze, and bounty hunting.

 

** Mai could potentially fill in the ''yamato nadeshiko'' shoes rather well, though she's much more deadpan than the standard.

** Princess Ursa, Zuko's mother, also could pull this rather well. She's softspoken, beautiful, calm and very proper, teaching Zuko about small things in the ways of life and wondering what's wrong with Azula when she's in full [[Creepy Child]] mode. And she shows the core of iron via {{spoiler|actually ''killing her father-in-law'' [[Mama Bear|to protect young Zuko]]}}.

 

== Real Life ==

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Femininity Tropes]]

[[Category:Harem Genre]]

[[Category:Purity Personified]]

[[Category:Wish Fulfillment]]

[[Category:Women Are Delicate]]