What with the rise of the strong and professional Japanese woman, it may have escaped your notice. But the nation is currently undergoing a quiet boom in otome (innocent young girl) culture, to which a large number of aforementioned strong professionals are addicted.
Not that this is anything new. The fad has been around for the past 1,000 years or so and is probably stamped on our DNA. We can't escape it. Scratch the surface of most Japanese women and you'll find a wannabe otome buried in there somewhere -- although one hesitates to vouch for Makiko Tanaka.
So what, exactly, is otome culture? Before elaborating, let me set the record straight once and for all: Otome are radically different from the more popular gyaru (gal) and the once popular burriko (playing the innocent when, in fact, hard as nails ), though these three types may on occasion share physical characteristics, such as youth.