¤ï¤¿¤·¤¬Û¤·¤¿ÄФ¿¤Á (Watashi ga ai shita otokotachi, ¡°Men I loved¡°) used to be a favorite ßL¿¯ÕI (²õ³ó¨±°ì²¹²Ô²õ³ó¾±, weekly magazine) topic at the end of every year. Ginza ¥Û¥¹¥Æ¥¹ (hosutesu, hostesses) and prominent media ladies like the Ò¶Š—Ãà (Kan¨­ shimai, Kano sisters) would be interviewed (discreetly) about old lovers and affairs. Reading these somehow seemed like an apt way to wrap up the year.

Sadly, that Æó»­ (kikaku, topic) has gone out of style, but this year, I¡¯d like to revive it ¡ª albeit in a nonpersonal way, because 2015 was the year the ÈÕ±¾ÄЃ¹ (Nihon danji, Japanese male) came through for us.

Normally, in December, the women of Japan can be found huddled around cafe and ¾Ó¾ÆÎÝ (izakaya, pub) tables, wondering aloud why our fellow countrymen are so unlovable, undateable and impossible to live with for longer than five years without losing our minds. But things changed in 2015. Here are five fine specimens that serve as evidence of that trend.