Japan’s Unexpected Heartthrob: A Handsome Gorilla Who Women Swoon Over
South Korea is known for its affinity for the lovable and adorable panda Fu Bao.
@nextshark South Korea bid an emotional goodbye to Fu Bao, the first panda cub born in South Korea due to natural breeding. 🐼Learn more in the full article on our website in our linkinbio #news #southkorea #panda #fubao
On the other hand, Japan is known for its unique love for a gorilla, Shabani, “a male western lowland gorilla, born at the Apenheul Primate Park in the Netherlands, raised in Australia, and currently residing at the Higashiyama Zoo in Nagoya, Japan.” He first gained recognition at Higashiyama Zoo when he was just ten years old because of his talent for tightrope walking.
Yet, his handsomeness indeed rose him to stardom as fangirls emerged. In 2015 especially, Shabani caught women’s attention, with many describing him as “handsome,” “sexy,” “photogenic,” “hunky,” “heartthrob,” “hot,” and “metrosexual.” He was even compared to Hollywood actors George Clooney and Brad Pitt.
Worldwide media, such as CNN, BBC, The Daily Telegraph, and many more, even reported on Shabani. Shabani allegedly attracted large crowds of female fans, who went so far as to do typical fangirl activities, such as throwing dirty underwear, writing letters, etc. Reportedly, obsessive crowds turned off Shaban from the outdoors, and eventually, the zoo put up signs instructing visitors to stop shouting his name out of consideration for him.
Visitors began posting photos on social media back in March this year, commenting on his brooding good looks.
Since then, Shabani has been a regular in domestic news and social media and the words they have used are interesting.
Ikemen: It’s the Japanese slang for “handsome guy”. The word is a combination of “I-ke” (pronounced “ee-kay”), which is an abbreviation of a word meaning “cool” or just “good”, and “men” derived from the English.
But it was when the zoo said Shabani was a good and responsible dad to his two young children that the other words come in.
Ikumen: Another slang word meaning “a hands-on dad who looks after his children” – “iku” being an abbreviation of the word “iku-ji” which means “raising children”.
Shabani was shaping up in Japanese social media as the perfect role model for the modern Japanese male.
— BBC
@mndiaye_97
A pillow inspired by Shabani even sold well online amid his popularity. It allows the sleeper to rest on the gorilla’s chest with its arm around them.
To each their own?
