Mariko Aoki phenomenon
The series of processes through which being in a bookstore leads to an awareness of a defecation urge is something that cannot be explained from a medical perspective as a single pathological concept, at least at present.
According to a number of discussions on the topic, even if it can be sufficiently found that this phenomenon actually exists, it is a concept that would be difficult to be deemed a specific pathological entity (such as a "Mariko Aoki disease", for example).
[3]: 2–15 [4] Possible theories behind the phenomenon include the smell of paper or ink having a laxative effect,[4] the association with reading on the toilet at home,[4] and the posture of browsing making bowel movement easier.
[5] The psychological hypothesis that the effect arises from feelings of nervous tension in the face of all the information represented on the bookshelves is supported by certain literary figures.
[citation needed] Research into the phenomenon remains inconclusive, with no definitive scientific explanation for why some individuals experience this sudden urge.
One known mention in Japan dating back many decades regarding a relationship between bookstores and the defecation urge is in Junnosuke Yoshiyuki's Amidst the Hustle and Bustle (1957),[6] and similar mentions can be found in works by Jō Toyoda (in 1972's The Emperor and the Lieutenant) or Nejime Shōichi (in 1981's Words, Too, Can Sweat—Literally), but it is uncertain from exactly what point in time the phenomenon first began to be a topic of discussion.
For example, the magazine Common Man Weekly (August 31, 1984, issue) records television newscaster Tetsuo Suda talking about a similar experience.
[8] Also, the radio program Young Paradise (on Nippon Broadcasting System from 1983 to 1990) had a segment for sharing bowel movement related episodes, and one time the defecation urge felt in bookstores was discussed by being referred to as the "Yoshiko Yamada syndrome".
"[11] The magazine's publisher, Meguro, has recalled that, at the time "Chief editor Makoto Shiina included the letter because he thought it was amusing.
[19] Book Magazine publisher Meguro believed that one of the reasons that the reaction was so considerable was that it was an ordinary, young woman who had divulged this concern regarding the delicate topic of her own defecation urge.
[21] While there has at times been a tendency to view the connection between bookstores and the defecation urge as a preposterous urban legend,[22] specialists have also appeared who have added detailed insight into the topic, such that in the latter half of the 1990s it came to be accepted as an actually existing phenomenon.
[31][32] In 2002, an Internet search using the keywords "bookstore, defecation urge" in Japanese produced links to dozens of websites discussing the phenomenon.
[33] Another factor that increased its visibility was when, in 2003, the weekly magazine Aera (November 17, 2003, edition; The Asahi Shimbun Co.) compiled a comprehensive report on the phenomenon.
[38] While the phrase "Mariko Aoki phenomenon" is not one generally used in fields such as medicine or biology,[39] due to its history of being a topic of interest such as in the examples set out above, it is even sometimes introduced as being standard nomenclature.
[44] No epidemiological research regarding people with a book bowel tendency had been reported as of 2012, nor do any statistics exist regarding a detailed morbidity rate or the like.
[49] According to a Japanese online survey that was targeted at working women between the ages of 22 and 33, the number of responses answering "Yes" to the question "Have you ever felt a defecation urge when in a bookstore?"
The classic clinical picture can be defined based on Aoki's original letter as follows: All variations of the phenomenon are expressed in the form of the symptom of "an inexplicable defecation urge related to bookstores".
(1970, Chikuma Shobo), Yoshio Kawakita asserted that "illness is actually not a scientific concept but is a pragmatic concept based on an understanding between the patient side and the physician side", and this assertion was borrowed by clinical psychologist Toshio Kasahara (2010), who stated that, since most of the people who experience the Mariko Aoki phenomenon do not seek medical attention at hospitals or medical clinics, he does not consider it an illness.
[64] Psychiatrist Takashi Sumioka (1997), meanwhile, has noted the possibility that hidden behind the symptom of "wanting to go to the bathroom" may be a condition such as irritable bowel syndrome or anxiety disorder.
[62] According to Aoki, the symptoms can develop in such situations regardless of the type of book, whether "when cradling a high-brow literary tome" or "when standing to browse-read a manga comic".
"[84] Regarding the threat of incontinence, the thinker Uchida has expressed it as "in the worst case scenario, entailing a traumatic scene from which it would be difficult to restore one's honor as an adult member of society".
[99] The author Junichiro Uemae has commented that, at first glance, there appears to be no common thread, in a manner akin to the hypothetical concept of "the flap of a butterfly's wings in Brazil setting off a tornado in Texas".
