浮気します / uwakishimasu - to cheat     バレない / barenai - not leak/not be revealed, ~ to not get caught

So reveals a recent piece in a publication we’ve leafed through before, Menjoy; a magazine aimed at women to help make fun for their men (their words translated into English by us). The headline reads, 

彼女に絶対バレないんだったら浮気しちゃう？」意外すぎる結果…

‘If she definitely wouldn’t find out, would you cheat?’ Unexpected results ...

Let’s get straight to it then.

The creators of this particular piece took to the streets of Ikebukuro, Shibuya, and Shinjuku, posing the following question to 50 guys; If it definitely wouldn’t come out, would you cheat on your girlfriend?.

Actually, the piece dangles a little reason vs passion teaser in front of its female readers in the form of actor Sakaguchi Kentaro (坂口健太郎), positing that if the chance arose many people would be thinking it to be OK, wouldn’t they?. Oh, stop it you!!

Would cheat: 32 people (64%)

So 64%. Is that higher or lower than you thought?

Some of the reasoning …

“Because we only live once. We’re saying it won’t come out, but even if it did a little, I’d still cheat. I’ll say it again; we only live once.”  

“When it comes to weighing up the ‘risk’ of not cheating and that of cheating, if I’m not married, the risk of not doing it is bigger. I mean, there’s the possibility of missing out on a relationship that could lead to marriage.”   

“If I’m with a girl who I feel I don’t want to cheat on, then I won’t. At that time, I’ll get married.”

(26 yrs, Aquarius, Blood type A)

“For now, I would do it (grins). If there’s such delicious food in front of you, you have no choice but to eat it, right? If you’re not going to be caught out, you’re not going to get ‘scratched’, I get to feel good, there’s no problem, right? It’s a win-win situation. No?! (grins) 

(24 yrs, Taurus, blood type B)

Won’t cheat: 18 people (36%)

As it says in the piece; there are a small group who are fighting the good fight. But why? …

“Cheating, well … , it’s such a hassle. I want to put that time to better use. To whatever extent you don’t get caught, you’ll have that feeling of having done something wrong. It drains the energy.”

“Instead of cheating, I think it’s better to put your time to working, studying, doing useful things. Then, when it comes to spending time with your girlfriend, you can do something even better, can’t you? That’s much nicer.”

(29 yrs, Pisces, blood type A)

“Even if you don’t get caught, it doesn’t change the fact that it’s wrong to lie to your girlfriend. It’s definitely a bad thing. Anytime, about anything, I want to be honest. If not, there’s no meaning to a relationship.”

(31 yrs, Libra, blood type B)

So there you have it.

I guess the first thing to address, is why are we bringing this kind of ‘news’ to you, when we dare say it might be considered ‘trash’? Well, for one, we’re trying to provide access to all kinds of perspectives, ideas, and mindsets. Menjoy is real, people read it, and some may be influenced by the content. It’s also interesting to note that the writer has included the respondent’s blood types. Although they’re both A and B on either side, so I’m not sure what that’s supposed to tell us. That it’s nonsense, perhaps?!!

But also, at the core of this is something serious - attitudes towards cheating. One wonders what the results of a similar kind of ‘survey’ might have been in another land. Would it have changed? Is it the mindset of the male the world over to think it’s OK to cheat? No, of course not, but how would the stats look where you come from?  

A further note should probably be made about the locations in which this survey was carried out. Shinjuku, Ikebukuro, and Shibuya. On the one hand, all of these areas are verging on saturation point with ‘industry’ aimed at getting people to cheat. On the other hand though, they could just have been chosen as the 3 busiest areas of Tokyo. I mean, you’re not likely to carry out a survey like this in say, Sugamo!

Anyway, not one to let the tone slide, Menjoy ends with this delightful line; They (the respondents who said they wouldn’t cheat) seem to have such a strong will that even if presented with Ishihara Satomi (石原さとみ) in a thong, they still wouldn’t break.  

Classy!

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NB* We've done our best to translate the comments and original source as accurately as we can.  This is not an official translation though.  Please see the original article.

Source: Menjoy

Image (cropped): frankieleon Flickr License