Common Japanese misconceptions regarding foreigners

[nurizeko]

reading the article and having said it somewhere before, i really think the japanese school system needs to change, and instead of creating drones for bussinesses, they should try and actually do a good job as educators and instill a love of learning.

in the west i think its unacceptable for a child to go through school, and yet be allowed to retain ignorance.

but apart from my personal opinion that the education system betrays the ideals of teaching and actually enlightening, and focuses more on simply churning out good little drones like a factory, most of japans problems are simply examples of what can be found in any western country, britain itself, my home country, has a group of individuals refered to as chav's, neds, the non-working class, it infuriates me no end how not only are these people ignorant, they seem perfectly happy to retain their ignorance, call me a snob, but i just feel that its impossible from my point of view how anyone would want to stay so ignorant of the world and themselves, it just boggles my mind...anyway i rant on...

its up to the enlightened japanese who do take interest in the world otuside, to try and see that the education system in japan is reformed, because its good at churning out workers, but not very good at churning out educated thoughtful individuals, and being the snob i am, i think thats unacceptable lol, sorry, i just love learning, you dont need to be a rocket scientist, but just have SOME interest in knowing the world outside your own little bubble.

[Maciamo]

reading the article and having said it somewhere before, i really think the japanese school system needs to change, and instead of creating drones for bussinesses, they should try and actually do a good job as educators and instill a love of learning.

Totally agree.

in the west i think its unacceptable for a child to go through school, and yet be allowed to retain ignorance.

After lots of debating with forum members, I think this is more of a European thing rather than really "Western". In the US it depends a lot on how lucky you are with your school and teachers rather than a national consciousness that education should give the desire to learn by oneself and know the basics common knowledge (history, geography, sciences, maths, languages...) even if it doesn't serve you for your job. At least you won't look stupid in an internation community ! As for the UK, in regard to your next remark, one's views on the importance of knowledge depends very much on one's social class (maybe in France too, to a lesser extend). Because of this image of lower class people who are by definition ignorant (as class are not fixed, and anybody born working-class who becomes well-educated and cultivated automatically changes class), it is only natural that the Brits (and some other Europeans) see ignorant people as lower-class. Well, manners can partly make up for it, which helps the Japanese look middle-class, but not the average American.

its up to the enlightened japanese who do take interest in the world otuside, to try and see that the education system in japan is reformed, because its good at churning out workers, but not very good at churning out educated thoughtful individuals, and being the snob i am, i think thats unacceptable lol, sorry, i just love learning, you dont need to be a rocket scientist, but just have SOME interest in knowing the world outside your own little bubble.

In my experience, a Japanese is more easily offended if told that Japan looks poor or that Japan's seasons are not different from most other countries, than if told that he/she personally is stupid ("baka", which isn't much of an insult in Japan) or ignorant (translated as "mugaku" or "mukyoiku", but not very common words in Japanese, as people don't really care anyway). It is almost difficult to imagine a Japanese getting really offended for being told they are stupid or ignorant, but they surely will if you say they dress like homeless or their bag "looks" cheap. I am pretty sure that most European wouldn't care much about being told that they or their country looks poor or whatever, but would be offended to be called stupid or ignorant if they are well-educated (sometimes even if they are not).