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

[ragedaddy]

- when travelling abroad, they care little about the local culture except food

At least the Japanese have an interest in the foods of these places, not only does the typical American not care about the culture, you can see a bunch of them trying to find the nearest Mc Donalds. They also expect everyone they come in contact with to be able to speak English.

- they have casual sex with several partners without protection and don't worry about STD's

Is this not a worldwide phenomenon, turn on the TV in the US, and you can see "Hi, I'm pregnant at 13 yrs old," as a theme.

- when they do not talk about food, they talk about money or sex

If you are talking about Americans the ranking of subjects for conversation goes Sex, money, TV/ Movies, Alcohol/drugs A.K.A. partying....

- they tend of lack sexual morals and don't mind cheating "as long as their partner doesn't know"

There's many Westerners who really don't have any remorse for cheating even when their partner knows about it and confronts them.

[Maciamo]

At least the Japanese have an interest in the foods of these places, not only does the typical American not care about the culture, you can see a bunch of them trying to find the nearest Mc Donalds. They also expect everyone they come in contact with to be able to speak English.

Americans are rarely praised as the respectful, culturally motivated traveller.

Is this not a worldwide phenomenon, turn on the TV in the US, and you can see "Hi, I'm pregnant at 13 yrs old," as a theme.

Err, no sorry, but where I come from this is extremely rare, like one person out of 10,000. I'd call them extreme cases...

If you are talking about Americans the ranking of subjects for conversation goes Sex, money, TV/ Movies, Alcohol/drugs A.K.A. partying....

Money apart, does that count for Harvard graduates too ? Is it what comes up before Bible talk at the White House ? Is it the general idea most scientists would have of a "interesting conversation", would that motivate Wall Street business people to burn themselves out ? I mean, there is still a part of the American population that are not rednecks or LA surfers right ? And they have more to discuss than food, sex and money. But what do Japanese businessmen and politicians do after work ? They mostly go drinking in hostess bars to talk about sex, food or money. What do they do when they have free time ? Porn, soaplands, eat, talk about food or watch people on TV talk about food or money (or marriage and infidelity sometimes).

There's many Westerners who really don't have any remorse for cheating even when their partner knows about it and confronts them.

For many I think so, because remorse is part of the Judeo-Christian mentality, even for those who do not follow these religions. The Japanese just don't have in mind the conept of "evil" as something that you could be judged for by an omniscient power (that some call god). I don't believe in god, but I still feel a strong sense of morality. I wouldn't mind too much promiscuity if there weren't any STD's. But Japanese are too naive on this regard. This is one sense is immoral (as they could kill people with their naive recklessness).

[okaeri_man]

i found myself nodding to most of the things mentioned, but here's my 2 cents on a few of them:

- when travelling abroad, they care little about the local culture except food

perhaps not, but BEFORE they travel abroad they talk about the food (see point 1!).

- they ask the same routine dumb questions to foreigners ("can you use chopsticks; can you eat sushi, is there 4 seasons in your country, etc.")

lol, this is very true. isn't it common knowledge that their are 4 seasons (in all places on earth)? or do they just think the seasons in japan are more clear-cut than any other country, and therefore foreigners haven't really "experienced" the changing of the seasons?

- manga, porn and fashion magazines account for over 90% of convenience stores' literature.

nothing wrong with that! who wants "other" magazines when you rightly stated:

- there are virtually no magazines that test and rate products such as electronics, books, movies, games, etc. They only introduce these products without critical commentary (because the makers/sellers would sue them for being critical !)

this did tick me off a bit. the japanese makers/sellers are criticised overseas (in say a gaming mag) all the time. i remember the doraemon games for N64 got given less than 2 out of 10 by australian reviewers!

- politicians are corrupted and inefficient beyond redemption, because they only care about themselves, and not the nation's welfare.

umm, isn't this the same everywhere???

- many Japanese are convinced that their nation is "unique for being unique" (i.e. they think that all the world is a big melting-pot, but Japan is the only country that is 'pure' and homogenous, which makes it unique, and they are the only nation to enjoy such uniqueness.).

yeah... not that theres anything wrong with this... but it gives many the idea that racism/discrimination is ok.

[happilyengaged]

lol, this is very true. isn't it common knowledge that their are 4 seasons (in all places on earth)? or do they just think the seasons in japan are more clear-cut than any other country, and therefore foreigners haven't really "experienced" the changing of the seasons?

actually, all places on earth do not have four seasons as would be defined in Japan or in many similarly situated regions. Many places define their seasons by other climate changes that are more significant, many have more clearly defined seasons than four, others have less, and still others have seasons drastically different in numerous other ways.

It is a very diverse world...


It is a pretty silly question though....if I weren't an American I might make some comments about it being an excuse for not knowing geography...but...lol, we Americans are surely no better on average...

[Maciamo]

Actually there has been a well-documented downward trend in teenage pregnancy/abortion/births for at least the last decade, according to this source since1991. Figures may not be available for the current administration -- although no news has come in of a national reversal that I'm aware of.

http://www.cwfa.org/articledisplay.a...egoryid=family

What is that supposed to mean :

The 2002 birth rate of 42.9 births per 1000 for females aged 15-19 is 31 percent lower than the 1991 rate, and the rate of 72.7 percent for females aged 18-19 indicates a 23 percent decline,

72% of women between 18 and 19 get pregnant in the States ?? Even per mille seems so high (7 people out of 100). 19 is still teenage and I have never heard of anyone of that age getting pregnant among my European acquaintances. However in Japan I have (and many times).

[TwistedMac]

because remorse is part of the Judeo-Christian mentality, even for those who do not follow these religions.

very true. I'm an atheist, yet I look at some of the things said in the bible and I live by them as much as any religious person would.

"do unto others as you would have done unto yourself" or some such sentence is in there somewhere.. It makes perfect sense.
If everyone lives by it (and many do) we can keep the people hurt at a minimum.. and as long as it's at a minimum, tho odds of me being hurt are minimal.

I guess thinking about things like that makes us able to put ourselves in someone else's position and think "how would I feel if the tables were turned?". If we realize it wouldn't feel good, most of us feel regret. sympathy for the other person and the knowledge that I did that to him/her.

I'm not saying this is something the Japanese are incapable of or even bad at. I wouldn't know. I'm just trying to agree with the part of Maci's post I quoted.