The Oyaji's Guide to Ramen and Soba
OyajiLife.com

What is Oyaji?

Submitted by Taisho on Thu, 08/04/2005 - 1:20am.
What is an Oyajii? According to the Wikipedia entry:

"In the Japanese language, oyaji (親父, おやじ, オヤジ) roughly means "daddy." It is a juvenile linguistic corruption of chichi-oya (父親, ちちおや), which means "father-parent" or simply "father." In Japanese art and character design, oyaji is a cultural ideal of masculine men who are old enough to be experienced fathers or grandfathers, or to at least seem like them. This takes the form of an aesthetic appeal and personal appeal, emphasizing matured looks and experienced behavior. All of these factors can actually make oyaji seem attractive and vigorous, qualities more often associated with youth than with age. Part of this may be because of the frequent association of oyaji with hard work, capable leadership, and well-borne longsufferings, not unlike the expectations a young child has for a father or grandfather figure.

The floor age for oyaji is typically in the 30s, but oyaji characters can be as young as their 20s if they still look the part—this is more likely if the man has more facial hair, body hair, body mass, and smoking a cigarette. Older male characters don't as often need these things to look like oyaji.

Capitalizing on the already venerable nature of oyaji as experienced role models, much (though not all) popular oyaji actually emphasizes the often humorous quirks and faux pas of oyaji behavior, which would be considered flaws by some, and endearments by others, such as the "old fart" paradigm or perverted yet ultimately harmless behavior in many Japanese comedies.

Sometimes this is elevated to a sex symbol or even a fetish, not entirely unlike the rustic appeal of Sean Connery or Nick Nolte in the Western World."