[jasonbvr]

It isn't just the girls. The guys are more comfortable in their own skin too and more affectionate than what qualifies as the norm in the States or Australia.

Take for example these two guys who I am friends with. They are both 25, seniors in university. We're out drinking and talking about movies. One asks if I like the Terminator movies. Then he asks, "You know how when Arnold comes to the past he is naked? Look at this." He sits there scrolling through his keitai for like five minutes to find a picture of him and eight other guys. "See we are all naked like the Terminator. So and so (the other guy at the bar) took the picture for us." Not homosexaul, I promise. I've met a few gay Japanese guys, and they are far more open about it.

This kind of behavior can be fairly normal. A girlfriend of mine, everytime she goes to the onsen, can't help to describe to me some lady's breast. Trust me, it isn't really sexual just a more open society.