PG-rated : 40 reasons to think that the Japanese are superficial

[raco]

You're not a Luddite too, are you?

Don't get me wrong. I am a progressist on many subjects (for example, I'd like gay people to be able to marry) and I love many aspects of the modern life. But things do not necessarily improve over the time (or we should just go on and be patient for the world to tend to perfection). Thanks for giving me the occasion to learn a new English word .

things usually don't revert back, and I wouldn't want to live in a society with a rigid 'caste' system as the old Japan was

Some people would want to live in such a society, and some wouldn't. The 6 billion people on earth can't want the same thing. You may know that some Japanese people wish they could revert back to the old Japan. I can't say for sure what I'd prefer because my knowledge of Japan's history is quite shallow. What I know for sure is that I'm fed up with the post-1968's individualism, and that considering this, Japan may be a very good country for me. I can't think of one western country where individualism would be below my acceptable level. Oh, the new french president says he wants to put an end to the heritage of may 68, but I don't think he'll succeed.

So the point was that, in my opinion, Japan is very likely to become another western country with prevailing individualism. And I don't consider that it is necessarily a good thing. If I'd want that, I would better stay at home because I already have it.

[gaijinalways]

Interesting take on that, individualism. Perhaps it is not the individualism but the competitveness that often accompanies it that you dislike. Competition in Japan is waged in a different way, you might find you don't like it any better. Individualism is expressed here, it just often is not encouraged and in some cases it is quickly trod on. People instead often compete via consumerism and name dropping, and the latter tends to lead to elitist behaviour, with status items used to reinforce those differences. The old Japan is still here, but some of the old values are being transformed, but in one sense, power is still shared by only a few.