Does Japanese society believe in the dominant-male?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feminism_in_Japan

Probably a good place to start.

Androgyny is very fashionable in Japan, at least among the younger set. Socially, men are still dominant, and young people are expected to eventually settle into the norm as salarymen/housewives. Essentially, judging the popular look among J-pop bands by Western standards of masculinity gives absolutely no insight into contemporary Japanese gender roles.

You see a lot of women walking 6 feet behind their husbands, which I had read was common place. My favorite was a couple with the woman walking behind and giving her spouse what-for about something, at the top of her voice.. She was certainly having her say!

I’d suggest that the Western construct of the “alpha male” is just not an applicable category in Japan.

It’s a very male-oriented (indeed -dominated) society, but the Western idea of an assertive, physically large (and intimidating?) individual is anathema to the Confucian ideals of humility, obedience to authority and serious deference to one’s elders.