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

[GaijinPunch]

I'll throw out my two yen based on 7 years of research.

- their favourite topic of conversation is food

well... when that's all that's on TV, can you blame them?

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

I'd completely disagree here. When my wife and I go anywhere, even a city where we have friends live, she will spend almost no time with them, and about 90% of her time doing touristy crap... almost none of it food. Also after living in Hawaii, I see hundreds of Japanese monthly getting their pictures taken in front of the statue of the old King, which is miles from Waikiki mind you.

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

This one is news to me. I think the fact that most Japanese are part of the seniority based system, there's not much mystery as to who makes what, thus not as taboo to talk about. About the sex thing... if you're talking about men... well.. .what do you think American men talk about?

- The proverbs "money doesn't buy happiness/love" or "don't judge a book by its cover" have no significance in Japan

I hate to admit it, but I think the money one is kind of misleading. It doesn't buy happiness, but it definitely makes many aspects of life a lot easier.

- people indeed do not get treated the same way (be it in a shop, by government officials, by the police or whatever) depending on how well they dress and look.

This is very true. I was in a wreck w/o a license. The police man called his chief to ask what to do. He said, "I think he's okay. He looks like he makes money!". My jaw dropped.

- they think an opuent and expensive wedding is necessary for appearances' sake (even if that is way above their means)

Americans share this obsession I'm afraid.

- however Japanese language is so deficient in vocabulary and acurate expressions that it has to borrow thousands of new words from other languages every year

How do you think English came about? Japanese are just late to the game.

- the structure of Japanese language is so inflexible and clumsy (no relative sentences, few tenses, few nuances) that Japanese people end up speaking with isolated words (often adjectives, see below) rather than making full sentences.

You should be thankful for this one though --- means it's easier to learn, yeah?

- they can't debate and dislike serious intellectual discussions (probably due to the language issues mentioned above)

Believe me, they can -- they just don't... at least not when you're around. I used to share these thoughts, but eventually learned I was wrong. Their langauge is FULLY capable of conveying such meanings... most foreigners learning it, however, are not.

- there are very few intellectual programmes on TV (documentaries, debates, political analysis, social phenomenons, literary discussions...), due to a general lack of interest of the population

Again... is this unique to Japan? No way! In fact, America is 1000x worse! When I left the states for Japan, the X-Files & Seinfeld were at the top of the ratings. Both fiction, but you still at least had to think to some extent. Now it's American Idol and reality shows about fat people.

- 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.")

Do you have Japanese girlfriend? When will you get married?, etc.

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

Yeah, but in my stint, the 4 worst people I knew about this, two of whom screwed around on their wives were western (1 british, 3 American). Don't get me wrong, the Japanese guys were dogs too, but not on a regular basis.

- they have a computer but don't know much how to use even quite simple functions, due to a lack of interest for technology

Same on this side of the pond. How do you think IT get such good jobs all around the world?

- they throw away a dysfunctuning electronic equipment (e.g. computer) or machine, rather than try to repair it

My theory on this is that it would actually cost to much money getting it to the repair shop. Not everyone has a car... I never did. If I had to pay 3000-4000 yen each way to take a TV in a taxi to the repair shop... well... I'm 8000 yen into a new TV. Throw in the repair bill, maybe 28,000... for an OLD TV? I'd spend the extra 10,000 and get a new one too.

- they call an plumber, electrician or carpenter to repair things in their house, because they are not interested in DIY (Japan is a service country par excellence, due to people's lack of knowledge or interest in a wide array of things)

Guilty as charged. If you work 60+ hours a week, your time generally becomes extremely expensive. If it were between 20,000 yen or 3-4 (maybe a lot more) hours of me fumbling through a DIY book + the time it takes to buy the parts + the money it takes to buy the parts, I'd take the 20,000 yen any day, and go hang out in the park.

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

What about convenience store literature in other countries? I can't imagine a gas station with nothing but business magazines.

- there are virtually no magazines that test and rate products such as electronics,

www.kakaku.com I've never seen an English mag either though -- but why bother when you have the net?

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

Uh... no comment (should be obvious).

Just a hunch, but I think the better your Japanese gets, and the longer you live there (and of course, the more Japanese people you meet) your views will start skewing a bit more to the "Japan isn't as extreme as it comes off". Happened w/ me.

[Maciamo]

I'd completely disagree here. When my wife and I go anywhere, even a city where we have friends live, she will spend almost no time with them, and about 90% of her time doing touristy crap... almost none of it food. Also after living in Hawaii, I see hundreds of Japanese monthly getting their pictures taken in front of the statue of the old King, which is miles from Waikiki mind you.

I think we just have very different ideas of what the word "culture" means. What I meant is that they don't learn about the country's history, mentality, society, arts, religion, customs, or any other interesting you'd find on a site like JREF about Japan or a Lonely PLanet guidebook or even better a 'Blue Guide'. I know they don't because I checked all the popular guidebooks my wife bought when we were travelling (chikyu no arukikata, etc.), and double-checked my local Maruzen and BookFirst bookshops and Japanese guidebooks have like 30 pages about food in introduction (+ pictures of food in the actual travel section) and almost nothing about the 'culture' I mentioned above. That is why I wrote to Lonely Planet to explain the situation and urge them to translate their books into Japanese. About one year later, the first LP in Japanese was published. Don't know if I influenced that or not, but anyway there was a lack on the market.

About the sex thing... if you're talking about men... well.. .what do you think American men talk about?

To tell you frankly, I don't know. But I never talk sex with any other men. What's the point ? And what can you actually want to say about it ?

I hate to admit it, but I think the money one is kind of misleading. It doesn't buy happiness, but it definitely makes many aspects of life a lot easier.

Yes, but that is not the point. Many Japanese think that money is happiness. It's a purpose in itself for them, not a means. When I ask them about their dream, it's always about being rich. When I asked dozens of them what happiness meant for them, the answer was always "having a lot of money" (or things that could be bought with money). No a single one mentioned love, raise one's children, self-improvement, learning, artistic accomplishment, being able to do something very well (eg playing an instrument or speaking a foreign language). With all the Japanese I have met, it was always limited to money and material possessions.

How do you think English came about? Japanese are just late to the game.

Good point actually. But the grammar and pronuciation of English also improved considerably with time.

Believe me, they can -- they just don't... at least not when you're around. I used to share these thoughts, but eventually learned I was wrong. Their langauge is FULLY capable of conveying such meanings... most foreigners learning it, however, are not.

I think they are not good at it because they don't like disagreeing. Avoiding conflicts (and therefore arguments) is deeply rooted in the culture. I didn't say they were better at debating in English, even those with very advanced English skills.

Again... is this unique to Japan? No way! In fact, America is 1000x worse! When I left the states for Japan, the X-Files & Seinfeld were at the top of the ratings. Both fiction, but you still at least had to think to some extent. Now it's American Idol and reality shows about fat people.

Sorry, I failed to mention that superficiality is partly shared by a sizeable portion of the American population. But again my point is not that such programmes exist (as they do everywhere), but that they make up a much bigger percentage of the total broadcasting time than on European channels. What is more, the US has hundreds of TV channels, so it's always possible to find some more intellectual stuff on History Channel, Discovery Channel, etc. In Japan, such channels do exist, but only because they are those American channels (and nothing else that I know of, without satelite).

I think it is easier to compare Japan with some European countries, because the number of channels available is more similar, and because of tax-financed channels like NHK, BBC, or their equivalent in other countries. The worst TV programmes in Europe, at the same level as Japanese TV, are the Italian ones. At the extreme opposite, once again, is the UK, with more documentaries, political debate, social analysis, etc. than one could wish for.

Same on this side of the pond. How do you think IT get such good jobs all around the world?

That's unusual where I come from. What I meant is that there are people who can't even use the control panel of Windows or don't know how to use MS Word. There is no need to take any lesson for that. If you don't know everything is explained in the help (although I never use it as I am pretty intuitive, but I understand that no everybody is good with computers). I was shocked to see the number of "Pasokon school" that tought how to use Excel or Word, the how popular it was. I browsed job ads on Japanese sites that had options for being able to use Windows (and they even specified the version) or Word in the "qualification" section. But who can't ? Are they going to ask whether they can read and write too, or if they are able to use an alarm clock to get up the morning, or if they know how to take the train to the office ?

My theory on this is that it would actually cost to much money getting it to the repair shop. Not everyone has a car... I never did. If I had to pay 3000-4000 yen each way to take a TV in a taxi to the repair shop... well... I'm 8000 yen into a new TV. Throw in the repair bill, maybe 28,000... for an OLD TV? I'd spend the extra 10,000 and get a new one too.

I didn't say that they should take it back to the shop. I know many Japanese that buy a new computer because theirs is "too slow" or because their HD is full. When I asked whether they had tried to uninstall some programmes, defrag the disk, install a RAM booster or even buy more RAM or a new CPU, they had no idea of what any of these things were. And I am not even talking about the old grandma that don't know what a PC is, but (young) business people who use computer everyday at work. Rather than even wonder at how to solve the problem, or make a quick internet search, they just throw it away and buy a new one (and it should be a brand like NEC, Sony or Fujitsu, because brand is status - but only when not combined with stupidity).

Guilty as charged. If you work 60+ hours a week, your time generally becomes extremely expensive. If it were between 20,000 yen or 3-4 (maybe a lot more) hours of me fumbling through a DIY book + the time it takes to buy the parts + the money it takes to buy the parts, I'd take the 20,000 yen any day, and go hang out in the park.

I know very few people who work 60h/week. 9 to 5 (or 6 or 7) jobs are still the most common in Japan. That is true for 90% of the people I know, and they are almost all salarymen and OL working in central Tokyo (Nihombashi, Otemachi or Marunouchi for most).

What about convenience store literature in other countries? I can't imagine a gas station with nothing but business magazines.

I went back home the 2 first weeks of January, I was surprised to see that any newsagent (even in train stations or at the airport) had such a variety of magazines (you know like the Japanese magazines you find at Maruzen or other bookshops), with all kinds of things like cars, history, travel, sports, cooking, gardenning, classical music, pop music, cinema, fashion, health, beauty, electronics, investment, real estate, archeology, celebrities, games, comics, porn, computers, TV programmes, news, economy, and always foreign magazines too. I have never seen a Japanese combini having even a third of this variety. But again, I am not sure about the US.

[GaijinPunch]

I know I'm late on this, but...

I think we just have very different ideas of what the word "culture" means. What I meant is that they don't learn about the country's history, mentality, society, arts, religion, customs,

No, that's what I think of when I think of culture. Maybe my wife is the bad apple, but all I do is follow her through her Japanese tourist books which take you to places in whatever country, and talks about all the things you listed.

I know they don't because I checked all the popular guidebooks my wife bought when we were travelling (chikyu no arukikata, etc.),

Maybe your missus is just buying the wrong books?

[quote]To tell you frankly, I don't know. But I never talk sex with any other men. What's the point ?[/quote[

Didn't say there was one, nor was I defending it... just saying it's not unique to Japanese by a stretch.

Yes, but that is not the point. Many Japanese think that money is happiness.

Again, I'd say no. I don't think I've ever talked $$ with any of my Japanese friends. I only knew one that wanted to be a pop star to be "remembered" he said... not rich, and not famous.

but that they make up a much bigger percentage of the total broadcasting time than on European channels.

There's no way I'll defend Japanese TV. It sucks... I've just never lived anywhere where it's any better.

What I meant is that there are people who can't even use the control panel of Windows or don't know how to use MS Word.

There's millions of them... all over the world. And as an engineer who makes his bread & butter b/c of such people, I say kanpai!

I know very few people who work 60h/week. 9 to 5 (or 6 or 7) jobs are still the most common in Japan.

Are these the same people that want to be rich? Yeah, those are the "hours" but you wind up working more. Trust me... I worked in metropolitan Tokyo for the entire time I was in the country. There are people leaving office buildings well into the night. Office buildings don't even close the front doors usually until midnight. Here in the states? My building is a ghost town at 18:00.

One last thing:
For those under the illusion that Japanese is limited -- you need to study more. Of course it's limited if you're thinking in another language. There's tons of stuff you can't exactly translate from English to Japanese. There's only a million or so onomotopeai's (sp?) in Japanese that I dare so most people here would not fathom. If you come from an English speaking country you're probably more likely to have been exposed to different types of English, which cause for more flexibility. I'll give you that.... but that's about it.