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Nampa
What is in this Section
Introduction
Especially at night, the rooftop is filled with guys trying to gain the attention of the girls through Nampa, drawing attention from its users as
"ナンパスポット"
While Nampa occurs in other places in Shibuya, especially around Centergai and around Scrambled Crossing, the Nampa in Miyashita Park functions differently as it is not only used to achieve the goal of dating with girls, but also to formulate one's identity through having fun interacting with other youth in a space that they claim their own. Bounded by the shared activity of new kinds of Nampa, these young Nampa turn the field of Miyashita Park into a place where Nampa is tolerated and welcomed, through which they exclude adults and other youth who do not share the same idea of being fun. In turn, through the shared activity of Nampa, youth in Miyashita Park engage with other youth to turn Miyashita Park into a place where such activity is tolerated, constructing their identity through being part of a certain group. → Learn more about how youth engage in Nampa to distinguish themselves from other generation in the section Consumption of Space
Goals of Nampa
1. Date
Many men are seen doing Nampa toward young women in Centergai and Scrambled Crossing, praising one woman after another and asking for their contact to find a person to date with. Although a minority, some young guys in Miyashita Park are also engaging in this traditional type of Nampa toward young girls, asking girls after girls for their contact.
2. Have Fun / Talk
A group of high school girls are being talked to by a group of guys who seem to be around the age of university. Specifically, one girl is being asked by a guy to exchange Instagram while the other group members join each side indirectly, laughing to enhance the mood of the atmosphere. He does this action over and over for at least three times with his friends saying “お前もうやめろってー(just stop finally)” with them trying to stop the guy from approaching the girl, when they are also not really trying to actually end the situation. The girl is also laughing as the guy engages in proposal-like action, not knowing what exactly to do but to look back at her friends and laugh all together. The guy fails at getting the girl’s Instagram but they all enjoy the situation, laughing does not know to cease.
Rather than it being about getting a girl to date with, this type of Nampa aims to simply talk with other youth to enjoy the situation. Although they approach the girl just like the traditional types of Nampa by getting her contact as well as acting in a flirty way, these actions are only a cover for them to approach other youth to enjoy the situation all together. In the situation above, the guys enjoy the self-deprecating joke done by his friend while the girls enjoy watching such jokes and how the targeted girl gets embarrassed from that situation. While the traditional Nampa is usually done by an individual toward an individual, here, it is not unusual to see groups of youth (usually in pairs) approaching groups of girls (also usually in pairs). Majority of Nampa seen in Miyashita Park aim to talk with other girls rather than to gain the date, signaling that there is a new kind of Nampa present in Miyashita Park.
On the other hand, unsuccessful Nampa in both cases is when they are being rejected, not being able to make any conversation, thus unable to achieve their goals. There are two ways of rejection undertaken by girls.
Ignoring
Abrupt Response
A guy is standing in the park center, asking out almost every girl who passes by the street, always being rejected with girls proceeding without even looking at him. The guy continues doing the same action over and over.
In this instance, the guy is not targeting specific persons, but also clearly intruding the optimal interpersonal distance by going near them suddenly.
Simmel (2002) claims that urbanites turn to blasé attitude to cope with the abundant stimuli in the city and to avoid the risk of being interfered with by strangers. This situation shows how girls also engage in the blasé attitude when the guys do not approach the girls in the right way.
Through the interview as well as the observation, it also became clear that girls also respond abruptly to get rid of the guys (適当にあしらった) when they do not want to be bothered by them.
Karp (2015) claims that people try to maintain their “noninteractive bubble” (p. 105) when their state of noninterference is challenged through strangers interacting with them. This situation describes how the girls try to maintain their noninteractive bubble through abrupt responses when the guys do not approach them with the right strategy at the right timing.
Response to Nampa
Youth create their own place within Miyashita Park through engaging in the new types of Nampa. In order for the new types of Nampa to take place, not only the management of the techniques but also the response of girls toward the Nampa need to be considered.
2. Unsuccessful Nampa
1. Successful Nampa
Just as there are two different types of Nampa, what is considered a success is also different depending on their goals. While being able to catch a girl they want is the success for the first type of Nampa, being able to make conversation, where both parties enjoying the situation can be considered a success for the new type of Nampa.
Furthermore, by engaging in the new type of Nampa and exhibiting that genuine conversation is possible, these youth attempt to claim their space in Miyashita Park, creating an atmosphere that this kind of activities is tolerated and even welcomed in Miyashita Park. At the same time, the created rule for youth excludes adults who are not aware of such rules, making Miyashita Park an even more youth specific place, where youth can form their own identity through their community.
Immediacy cues are defined as the nonverbal communication strategies employed to signal one’s openness for communication and it includes things, such as proximity, eye contact and direct body orientation (Mehrabian, 1972 as cited in Sundstrom & Altman, 1976, p. 53). Nampa uses these three techniques of complementarity to approach girls successfully.
3. Immediacy Cues
Body Orientation
Proximity
Eye Contact
On the bench in the Park Center, two girls are sitting with two guys squatting next to them, guys constantly talking and maintaining eye contact with the girls as they respond. Through the way they talk, the guys capture the girls’ attention and they eventually sit together on the same bench with one of the guys spreading his arms to her back. The girl does not reject it and keeps talking for over an hour.
Dialogue 1
Guys: タバコ吸うの？(Do you guys smoke?)
Girls: うん (Yeah)
Guys: え、こんなに可愛いのに意外！(What you guys are so cute it’s unbelievable!)
Dialogue 2
Girls: ２軒行った (We went to two places)
Guys: え、俺らも二軒いった (Really? We also went to two places as well)
In the situation above, the guys gradually close the distance between the girls, rather than approaching the girls at close distance from the get go. In the meantime, the guys continue talking to the girls with careful language use and eye contact to make them look more approachable for the girls. Through these techniques, the guys enhanced their image toward the girls and shortened the optimal interpersonal distance, which enabled them to approach girls in a much closer distance without them making the girls feel uncomfortable.
Another example of two guys gradually closing the distance between two girls. Asking if it is acceptable that the four of them will all sit on three-person chair, the guys make it seem like they are taking more distance when just only one guy sits, even though their distance is definitely getting closer by allowing even just one of the guys to sit.
As the guys try to close the gaps between the girls, they also observe and act depending on the girls’ reaction. Sundstrom and Altman (1976) identifies the term "compensatory reactions" (p. 59) to signify the type of response used by people when their optimal interpersonal distance is broken. These reactions include “indirect body orientation, use of barriers such as arms to block out others, employment of objects to create boundaries between the self and other, and increases in distance” (p.59). The similar idea is also suggested by Karp (2015), who claims that people try to go back to their state of being non-involved when it is challenged by strangers talking to them (p. 105).
In the picture, the guy keeps the distance with the girl as the girl shows compensatory reaction by leaning backward and using her hand as object to avoid direct eye contact with the guy.
Just as the above mentioned scenarios illustrate, the guys maintain eye contact with the girls to let them know that they are being listened to, giving a good impression while also making the girls want to talk more. In this way, the guys prolong the conversation with the girls and reach intimacy with them, consequently making it easier for them to close the physical distance with the girls.
The direct body orientation, meaning face-to-face situation, is more intimate than the side-by-side indirect body orientation (Sundstrom & Altman, 1976). In order not to invade the optimal interpersonal distance, the guys won’t start talking in direct body orientation, but they try to sit slightly looking towards the girls so that they can make sure to show them that they are listening to the conversation.
In these pictures, for example, the guy who is sitting on the side of the girls tilt his body so that he is facing a little toward the girls while the other guy is sitting in front of them, yet making sure to tilt his body so that he is not directly in front of them. By sitting in this way, the guys achieve the optimal interpersonal distance, while also making sure to let the girls know that they are listening to the conversation by putting themselves in the position where they are capable of making eye contact.
Sundstrom and Altman (1976) suggests that maintaining the "optimal range of distance" (p. 54), which is the distance between persons that is not-too-close but not-too-far, is crucial in achieving a comfortable conversation and that this distance can be shortened when a person like the other and vice versa, claiming that “liking leads to a closer range of comfortable distances, but deviations from comfortable range may result in dissatisfaction” (p. 55). In other words, the success of Nampa largely depends on the maintenance of the optimal interpersonal distance.
Strategies of Nampa
Just as it is explained in the previous section, the Nampa in Miyashita Park takes a different form than what is seen in other parts of Shibuya. In this sense, looking at the strategies young guys use to engage in this new type of Nampa is to see how youth have invented and turned Miyashita Park into a place where such new type of Nampa can take place. Glass (2012) claims that “the establishment and maintenance of this scene influenced the establishment and maintenance of identity” (p. 712), revealing the direct tie between the spatial construction and identity formation. In short, youth in Miyashita Park engage in the new type of Nampa using various techniques, claiming Miyashita Park as their place, through which they construct their identity.
1. Targeting
One strategy the guys use to succeed in achieving their goals is to target a specific kind of girl.
The following are ways guys choose their target.
Appearance
Age
Group vs. Individuals
There is a tendency that fashionable girls are chosen as a target for Nampa. Fashionable here are various kinds, however, generally speaking, girls targeted by Nampa usually incorporate some kind of bold / trendy elements to their outfit, such as platform shoes, cropped tops and mini skirts. From the observation, I found out that hippy guys specifically tend to choose girly girls who wear skirts and appear “cute.”
In addition to clothing, hairstyle also signals whether one is fashionable or not, depending on whether it is set properly using hair iron or with creative hairstyles like braids.
While guys engage in Nampa toward younger or older women in other parts of Shibuya, the Nampa in Miyashita Park happens between the same-age group. Iachini et al. (2016) claim that "interpersonal space tends to increase with age: young adults prefer a larger space with elderly people than children and young people of the same age" (p. 162), revealing how it is easier for youth to interact with other youth in the same-age or those who are younger than them. In this sense, as Miyashita Park is dominated by youth around the age of high school to university, this situation makes it easier for guys to engage in Nampa, targeting girls of the same age. This also explains why some youth engage in traditional Nampa in Miyashita Park rather than in other places in Shibuya as it makes it easier for them to practice doing Nampa toward girls within the same-age group.
One of the most unique features of Nampa that takes place in Miyashita Park is its abundance of group Nampa that cannot be seen in other parts of Shibuya (Group Nampa here suggests that the girls who are being talked to are in groups rather than the guys who are engaging in Nampa are in groups). Just as those who try to induce cooperation targets groups rather than individuals (see Cooperation), the young guys who engage in the new type of Nampa also target girls in groups to lower the possibility of them being rejected. Karp (2015) claims that one of the reasons why people avoid interacting with others is due to the fear of their identity being rejected by others. In this sense, targeting groups rather than individuals can be thought of as a risk-reduction mechanism.
2. Language Use
In order to gain entry into the conversation as well as to prolong the conversation with the girls, the guys choose their tone as well as the way they respond carefully to close the distance between them. While the proximity has to do with physical distance, the distance here refers to the mental distance, which eventually enables them to approach the girls easily.
Girls to guys: みたことある顔してる笑 (I feel like I have seen you before lol)
Guys to girls: じゃあ会ったことあるよ多分 (Then we probably have met)
大人っぽいね〜陰ながら好かれてるの？モテててるの？(You look very mature. Are you secretly being liked by a lot of guys? )
Guys: タバコ吸うの？(Do you guys smoke?)
Girls: うん (Yeah)
Guys: え、こんなに可愛いのに意外！(What you guys are so cute it’s unbelievable!)
Guys use casual language rather than formal language to start a conversation with the girls. They do not use endings like -desu -masu and they approach the girls as if they are friends. By appearing friendly, the guys make themselves look approachable to the girls. Although youth who try to induce cooperation from others also use casual language, the definition of casual is different as Nampa use even more broken and slang casual tone → Learn more about the language use when asking for cooperation in the section Cooperation
Destiny
Casual Tone
Praising
Just as the quote above shows, guys also praise girls, often for their appearance by saying things like “かわいい (cute)” or “大人っぽい (look mature),” making them feel good so that they would relax more and respond to them. Although this is a type of flirting used by the traditional Nampa, praise here is used as an initial step to close the distance between the girls so that they can go about talking with them.
Empathizing with the girls serves the purpose of making it sound like a destiny as the guys repeat what the girls have said, highlighting the similarities that exist between them.
The guy can also choose to make their encounter sounds like a destiny more directly, thus highlighting the similarities to close the gap with the girls.
In the dialogue, the guys extend the imaginary scene of their encounter into reality by saying that they have met before, creating the sense of destiny to achieve a closer distance with the girls.
Immediacy cues are defined as the nonverbal communication strategies employed to signal one’s openness for communication and it includes things, such as proximity, eye contact and direct body orientation (Mehrabian, 1972 as cited in Sundstrom & Altman, 1976, p. 53). Nampa uses these three techniques of complementarity to approach girls successfully.
3. Immediacy Cues
Body Orientation
Proximity
Eye Contact
On the bench in the Park Center, two girls are sitting with two guys squatting next to them, guys constantly talking and maintaining eye contact with the girls as they respond. Through the way they talk, the guys capture the girls’ attention and they eventually sit together on the same bench with one of the guys spreading his arms to her back. The girl does not reject it and keeps talking for over an hour.
Dialogue 1
Guys: タバコ吸うの？(Do you guys smoke?)
Girls: うん (Yeah)
Guys: え、こんなに可愛いのに意外！(What you guys are so cute it’s unbelievable!)
Dialogue 2
Girls: ２軒行った (We went to two places)
Guys: え、俺らも二軒いった (Really? We also went to two places as well)
In the situation above, the guys gradually close the distance between the girls, rather than approaching the girls at close distance from the get go. In the meantime, the guys continue talking to the girls with careful language use and eye contact to make them look more approachable for the girls. Through these techniques, the guys enhanced their image toward the girls and shortened the optimal interpersonal distance, which enabled them to approach girls in a much closer distance without them making the girls feel uncomfortable.
Another example of guys gradually closing the distance between the girls. Asking that they will all sit on three-person chair, the guys make it seem like they are taking more distance when just only one guy sits, even though their distance is definitely getting closer by allowing even one person to sit.
At first, two guys are both standing around the girls who are sitting. The guys ask girls “３個の椅子を４人で分けるってのはどう？(what if we sit with the four of us on three-person chair?)” asking if they can sit all together. Eventually, one of the guys start to sit next to the girls, closing the distance between them.
As the guys try to close the gaps between the girls, they also observe and act depending on the girls’ reaction. Sundstrom and Altman (1976) identifies the term "compensatory reactions" (p. 59) to signify the type of response used by people when their optimal interpersonal distance is broken. These reactions include “indirect body orientation, use of barriers such as arms to block out others, employment of objects to create boundaries between the self and other, and increases in distance” (p.59). The similar idea is also suggested by Karp (2015), who claims that people try to go back to their state of being non-involved when it is challenged by strangers talking to them (p. 105).
In the picture, the guy keeps the distance with the girl as the girl shows compensatory reaction by leaning backward and using her hand as object to avoid direct eye contact with the guy.
Just as the above mentioned scenarios illustrate, the guys maintain eye contact with the girls to let them know that they are being listened to, giving a good impression while also making the girls want to talk more. In this way, the guys prolong the conversation with the girls and reach intimacy with them, consequently making it easier for them to close the physical distance with the girls.
The direct body orientation, meaning face-to-face situation, is more intimate than the side-by-side indirect body orientation (Sundstrom & Altman, 1976). In order not to invade the optimal interpersonal distance, the guys won’t start talking in direct body orientation, but they try to sit slightly looking towards the girls so that they can make sure to show them that they are listening to the conversation.
In these pictures, for example, the guy who is sitting on the side of the girls tilt his body so that he is facing a little toward the girls while the other guy is sitting in front of them, yet making sure to tilt his body so that he is not directly in front of them. By sitting in this way, the guys achieve the optimal interpersonal distance, while also making sure to let the girls know that they are listening to the conversation by putting themselves in the position where they are capable of making eye contact.
Sundstrom and Altman (1976) suggests that maintaining the "optimal range of distance" (p. 54), which is the distance between persons that is not-too-close but not-too-far, is crucial in achieving a comfortable conversation and that this distance can be shortened when a person like the other and vice versa, claiming that “liking leads to a closer range of comfortable distances, but deviations from comfortable range may result in dissatisfaction” (p. 55). In other words, the success of Nampa largely depends on the maintenance of the optimal interpersonal distance.
Conclusion
Youth engage in two different types of Nampa, challenging the general norms of non-involvement to maximize sociality and to form their identity. Guys engage in Nampa by utilizing multiple strategies to manage the right distance, timing and situation while the girls respond to that situation, also managing their personal space considering how the guys approach them. While some youth engage in traditional Nampa, a large part of the Nampa is a new kind with guys trying to catch girls to genuinely have a fun time talking. Being in an ambiguous social position between children and adults, these youth create their own way of Nampa to have control over their own reality and to claim Miyashita Park as their own, excluding adults from the scene, making Miyashita Park even more so for youth.