Erotic, grotesque, nonsense - Eroguronansensu

Ero is short for erotic and grotesque, and refers to the decadent customs that reached their peak in 1930-31 (Showa 5-6). During this period, social unrest was growing and many people turned to momentary pleasures. The popular song "Hey, hey, please love me" became a hit, erotic and bizarre books were published one after another, and cafes and bars offering erotic services lined the streets. In revue venues, dancers would raise their legs and drop their panties provocatively. At one point, the Metropolitan Police Department issued a notice banning the wearing of panties that were less than 2 sun (about 6 centimeters) long or were flesh-colored, and the movement of shaking one's hips back and forth and side to side. The level of exposure was trivial compared to today's pornographic customs, but against the backdrop of a severe recession, financial panic, successive bankruptcies, rising unemployment, the suicides of entire farming families and the selling of daughters into prostitution due to poor harvests, and the complete arrest of left-wing thinkers and activists, there was a dark despair and emptiness with no way out, and the authorities went easy on the crackdown, thinking it was better than letting the nation turn left-wing. With the rise of militarism after the Manchurian Incident in 1931, this escapist trend disappeared.

[Moriwaki Itsuo]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

エロはエロティック、グロはグロテスクの略で、1930～31年（昭和5～6）を頂点とする退廃的風俗をいう。この時期社会不安が深刻化して多くの人々は刹那(せつな)的享楽に走った。「ねえねえ愛して頂戴(ちょうだい)ね」という流行歌がヒットし、エロ物・怪奇物の出版が相次ぎ、盛り場ではエロサービスを売り物にしたカフェーやバーが軒を並べた。レビュー小屋では踊り子が脚を振り上げ、扇情的にズロースを落としてみせた。警視庁が、股下(またした)2寸（約6センチメートル）未満あるいは肉色のズロース着用や、腰を前後左右に振る動作の禁止を通達する一幕もあった。昨今のポルノ風俗に比べればその露出度はたわいもないが、ひどい不況、金融恐慌、倒産の続出、失業の増加、凶作による農村の一家心中や娘の身売り、左翼思想家、運動家の徹底的検挙など出口のない暗い絶望と虚無感が背景にあり、当局の取締りは、国民の左翼化よりはましということで手加減された。31年の満州事変以後の軍国主義台頭でこの逃避的流行は消された。

［森脇逸男］

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