A Strange Japanese Euphemism for Menstruation, Explained

While racking my brain trying to think of ideas for things to publish on Vocal this month, I started writing a list of euphemisms for menstruation that are used around the world. I thought it would make an interesting, quirky little article. The only problem was: I didn't have much original commentary to add to most of them...Except for one.

Did you know, that a euphemism sometimes used to refer to menstruation in Japan is: ペリー来航 (read as "Peri raikou), which translates to the "Matthew Perry's Arrival"?

Now, if you're like me, you probably read that and went "HUH?!" What did Chandler do to earn this title? Is there some kind of reference to the TV show, Friends, that I'm missing?

Although Friends does have a following in Japan, this euphemism is not in reference to the late Matthew Perry. It is actually in reference to Commodore Matthew Calbraith Perry, an American naval officer. You're probably wondering: Why would Japanese women name their periods after an American man? Well, once you know the history, it starts to make a little more sense.

Did you ever wonder why Japan is so unique, and has so many micro-traditions that aren't really upheld by the rest of Asia? That is thanks mostly in part to the Edo (sometimes also referred to as, "Tokugawa") period in Japan's history. This was an over 200 year period starting in 1603 and ending in 1868, where Japan had very isolationist foreign policies. Basically, no foreigners were allowed into the country, and there was no ally ship or relations with any other countries.

In 1853, Commodore Matthew Perry arrived in Edo (now Tokyo) with a squadron to force Japan into initiating trade with America. He threatened to open fire if the Japanese did not cooperate, and demonstrated his seriousness by firing at (and destroying) several buildings among the harbor. Much to the anger of the shogunate and many Japanese civilians, Perry had forced himself (and a slew of other foreign influences) into Japan and foreign trade--disrupting the flow of the Japanese way of living.

With the help of Townsend Harris, an American merchant and politician, Japan was then convinced to sign the Treaty of Amity and Commerce--which laid out some pretty unfair conditions for those who called Japan home. Such examples in the treaty include:

-Edo, Kobe, Niigata, Nagasaki, and Yokohama being opened as foreign trade ports.

-US Citizens must be allowed to live and trade at will in those ports.

-Foreign residents are only subject to to the laws of their own consular courts--rather than Japanese law.

With uncontrolled foreign influence running amok, Japan was plummeted into crisis. Inflation went up, unemployment went up, incidents between foreigners and Japanese went up. The sudden influx of foreign entities brought cholera to Japan, which resulted in the death rate also going up. Eventually, this led to the collapse of the shogunate, the end of the Edo period, and the start of the Meiji Restoration which brought the power of Japan back to the Japanese people.

So why do women in Japan call their periods "Matthew Perry's Arrival"? Well, like the real Commodore Matthew Perry, a period definitely shows up uninvited, throws your hormonal balance into turmoil, and tries to take control of your life for the time that it is there. Perry is a well-known figure in Japanese history, and about 90% of Japanese students can name him on sight. Despite disrupting the flow of Japan's economy and bringing a slew of horrible side effects with it, Perry has a monument erected on the harbor he arrived in, near a park named after him. I do not know why this is, but I'm not Japanese, so perhaps it isn't my place to try and figure it out.

So there you go. One of the best euphemisms for menstruation that I've ever heard, also serves as a history lesson. Who knew euphemisms could go so deep?