Originally posted by Mareket Also Women's rights in Japan are generally regarded as being pretty poor compared to Europe and the USA. A big expensive FF DSLR is a sign of wealth and success, something that women are most likely not encouraged to reach for in Japan. This might make women feel uncomfortable with the idea of using equipment like this (as well as because of the physical size and weight of it, which makes anyone uncomfortable), as the remnants of an age-old patriarchy may make them feel like that. If someone could comment further on the state of Women's rights in Japan it'd be very interesting.
Mirrorless cameras are less bulky and less of an over-bearing symbol of status and wealth. They deliver fantastic results without making such a fuss, and perhaps this is an attitude that Women are made to feel more at ease with in Japan.
Note: To clarify, I have no idea what the state of Women's rights is in Japan, but I've heard from friends and relatives that it's pretty poor.
Well, you definitely sound like you don't know anything about Japan. If women have so little rights in Japan, than men have even less. Men's role in Japanese society is to earn money, work all day and night and hand over the money to the women. The women will go out for coffee with her friends do a bit of shopping and do dinner for the man when he gets home around 11pm and then falls asleep on the sofa. Not to mention he smokes 2 packs of cigs a day to cope with the stress.
Women have a lot of rights in Japan, more so than men. If the women walks away with the kids and she doesn't want you to see them, it's her right and the men have no say about it. In the background women hold lots of power and they are not as helpless as the western media and some individuals would like to portray them.
I'm speaking here from experience, I've a Japanese gf, lots of Japanese friends who are married couples and also expats who were married and divorced with Japanese women. The law is most often on the women's side.
As for cameras, about 75% or more shops cater towards women, since they are the ones who spend money. If a camera manufacturer wants to sell large quantity of cameras in Japan, they will cater to women. Considering that Japanese women are quiet short with average height of 155cm and weight anywhere between 42-47kg, they will not want a camera and lens that weights more than 5% of their body weight hanging from their neck. I guess it would be equivalent of me having a 5kg (11lbs) camera hanging from my neck. Mirrorless cameras just make sense over there, since they are the ones which will get used.