Men in Japan just don't get it - respect, that is. As they lose their shine as freshly-suited salarymen and shuffle into the "ojisan" (literally "uncle") category with receding hairlines and rotund beer bellies, they inevitably become the butt of jokes of high school girls.

"We're labelled as dirty, smelly old men, who are long-winded and full of lame jokes," said Mr Takanobu Nishimoto who, at age 50, cuts a slim figure and sports a floppy mop not unlike that of teenage pop idols, albeit streaked with grey strands.