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

  1. #101
    Twirling dragon Maciamo's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Qutiepie View Post
    Japanese typically do not discuss their country's politics with foreigners,same as whites rarely do with Asians and others in Ameirca.
    Let's not get carried away. This thread is NOT "Japanese people are superficial when talking to foreigners", but "in general when talking with other Japanese". There are debates about society, politics and/or culture almost everyday on the main French and Belgian TV channels (see thread), yet I have never seen anything like that in Japan. Likewise they are documentaries about history, nature, world cultures, or some at biographical character (e.g. reviewing a politican's career) on TV in almost every country in Western Europe, but they are comparartively very rare in Japan. TV (I mean here, the main few channels that everybody gets) is one of the best reflection of a country's society and interests. It is the reflection of the common mind, of the culture.

    Quote Originally Posted by Elizabeth View Post
    And what about chefs and other world renouned cuisine experts ? Are they the most superficial of all for not spouting their views on politics and literature in every public statement ? This is such a load of illogical baloney it isn't even worth the two minutes it took me to respond this time.
    Don't be ridiculous. They talk about their job if they are interviewed. It's normal. What I care about is what people do during their free time, what they discuss with their family and friends, what they watch on TV...
    Last edited by Maciamo; Dec 6, 2006 at 17:07. Reason: Automerged Doublepost

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  2. #102
    Twirling dragon Maciamo's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Sukotto View Post
    in the US, at least where I live, people of often talk about "the weather". Seems a bit more superficial to me than food. Or "How 'bout dem Packers".
    You almost cannot get away from either one
    That is very big in Japan too. But I don't mind if it is just 5min to start a conversation. It becomes superficial if all you can talk about for hours is the weather, except if you are doing detailed research on climate change on something. What is amazing in Japan is that you cannot turn on the TV without stumbling on at least one of the 7 main channels where people are talking about food - at any time of the day ! You cannot go out with a group of Japanese people without them talking about food (and not just 5 minutes !). It would be alright if it was compensated by more serious discussions, but it is not.

    -clothes. In the US there is this too. I thought in "the land of the free" you could wear any clothes you wanted. But social rules are pretty strong -especially in parts of the country. Then there are so many uniforms (for work) in the "land of individuality", both official and unofficial: see social rules.
    Do you mean that people will respect you because you wear a suit, and they will look down on you if you wears shorts and tshirts ? I didn't see the US like this. In fact the US is one of the rare country where even big companies allow their staff to wear casual clothes in the office.

    The Japanese are also uniform fetishists. In Western countries you wouldn't expect all female office workers at a company to wear the same uniform. In Japan it is the norm. In the West shop attendants (e.g. in a department store) are usually free to come to work in their own clothes. In Japan, they must wear a uniform. All inividuality is stiffled for the sake of comformity and uniformity. This in itself doesn't make them superficial. What does is that if you are not wearing the clothes of your function, you will not be respected. That is what I mean by "the clothes make the man". A young successful Japanese entrepreneur (Horie-san) who was often on TV was constantly criticised by the media and by other company executives because he liked dressing in a more casual way. After all he was the CEO, so people would think that he was free to do what he wanted. Why would other companies' CEO's have to criticise him for that ?

  3. #103
    Twirling dragon Maciamo's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ewok85 View Post
    Intellectual doesn't have to be the meaning of life. Talking about food can be interesting and thought provoking.
    I agree with you. Let's say that the Japanese way of talking about food is all but thought-provoking. It's more like "ah, kore oishii ne !" or "oishii mono tabetai na !". The Japanese TV programmes about food that I criticise are rarely cooking, but just showing some dishes and have people try them and invriably say "oishiiii !" or "amaiii !" or "yawarakaiiiiii !". Always the same. No comment longer than one word. No discussion.

  4. #104
    Twirling dragon Maciamo's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Han Chan View Post
    I do appreciate that many countries in the west have very nice cuisines. I have been dining in most european and north american countries and because I try to avoid junk food I have had many nice experiences. My point is that even though the consumers there easily could choose nice food they often eat very low quality food.
    But wouldn't everyday Japanese food qualify as "fast-food" ? When you look at what working people are eating for lunch, it is things like bento, donburi (katsudon, gyuudon, tendon...), ramen or things like that. I don't think that the omnipresent convenience store food or fast-food chains like Hokka Hokka Tei, Origin Bento, Matsuya, Yoshinoya or Tenya or even are so much healthier than common fastfood eaten in Europe like Italian or Chinese food. Did you know that there were more McDonalds per capita in Japan than in any European country (4.5x more than in Belgium). Let us not forget all the American-style Japanese fastfood chains like Mos Burger, Freshburger, etc., and all the other real American fastfood like KFC, Jonathan's, Denny's. I have never seen these American "family restaurants" (Jonathan's, Denny's) in Europe.
    Frankly, do you think that all this is healthier than French or Italian food, or the new European fastfood like Pret-a-Manger from the UK, or Exki from Belgium ?
    Though you like to call me (and anyone else who have slightly different points of view from you) ignorant, I do not have any problems praising belgian cuisine - actually one of my favorite restaurants is Chez Leon in Bruxelles (they serve nive oysters and mussels!).
    Chez Leon is the closest type of Belgian restaurant which I would call "fastfood" (at least tourist food). Next time try Comme Chez Soi, Bruneau, Villa Lorraine or the like. This is real food.
    May I say: Oishi - without beeing blamed for beeing superficial?
    As long as you don't pronounce that word more than 20x in a single day...

  5. #105
    japá‚Ž vagyok undrentide's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Maciamo View Post
    The Japanese are also uniform fetishists.
    Can't you use better word to describe that wearing uniform is very common in Japan?

    Quote Originally Posted by Maciamo View Post
    In Western countries you wouldn't expect all female office workers at a company to wear the same uniform. In Japan it is the norm. In the West shop attendants (e.g. in a department store) are usually free to come to work in their own clothes. In Japan, they must wear a uniform. All inividuality is stiffled for the sake of comformity and uniformity.
    It is not norm in all companies or shops.
    It varies depending on the company/shop.
    Many companies abolished uniform quite a long time ago.
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  6. #106
    Twirling dragon Maciamo's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by undrentide View Post
    It is not norm in all companies or shops.
    It varies depending on the company/shop.
    Many companies abolished uniform quite a long time ago.
    A European like me still finds it very common, as it is almost inexistent here.

  7. #107
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    Quote Originally Posted by Maciamo View Post

    This thread is NOT "Japanese people are superficial when talking to foreigners", but "in general when talking with other Japanese". There are debates about society, politics and/or culture almost everyday on the main French and Belgian TV channels yet I have never seen anything like that in Japan.


    Political issues are divisive,Japanese culture's core value is harmony.

  8. #108
    Danshaku Elizabeth's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Qutiepie View Post
    Political issues are divisive,Japanese culture's core value is harmony.
    There are certainly talk-show style debates with politicians and commentators on Sunday mornings (NHK?) plus the round table discussions among pundits, television personalities etc on every morning news show and occasional prime time broadcast forums with specialists on specialized topics (the environment, health issues, energy use etc).

    I don't pretend to have watched enough of those to judge the quality but especially the Sunday ones go into as much depth on the issues of the week as what you find in America. Of course having no idea what the European standard reference would be....

  9. #109
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    Quote Originally Posted by undrentide View Post
    Can't you use better word to describe that wearing uniform is very common in Japan?
    I work in a Japanese office - I never meet clients or customers, they never come into our office, yet we all wear suits. In Australia people in those situations either wear casual formal or casual. Even when I worked in a customer facing position (managing the front desk for an ISP) we still had casual days on a regular basis and would simply put a sign out saying "We are going casual for a cause - money raised going to so-and-so charity". We pay $2, charity gets some money and we get to have fun. I've never, ever, ever seen that here before.
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  10. #110
    Twirling dragon Maciamo's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Qutiepie View Post
    Political issues are divisive,Japanese culture's core value is harmony.
    Harmony for what they want. Certainly not for architecture when you look at the cityscape in Tokyo. Certainly not harmony with their neighbours. Ceratinly not harmony with foreign residents...

    France is also a country that values harmony, but more in the arts, in the lifestyle, or in family relationships. That doesn't prevent them from being extremely argumentative when debating serious issues. I think that being tough when necessary and kind the rest of the time is also part of harmony. Japanese harmony is one-sided, unbalanced...

    Quote Originally Posted by Elizabeth View Post
    There are certainly talk-show style debates with politicians and commentators on Sunday mornings (NHK?) plus the round table discussions among pundits, television personalities etc on every morning news show and occasional prime time broadcast forums with specialists on specialized topics (the environment, health issues, energy use etc).
    Ah yes, you mean the stuck up people who awkwardly read their notes or try to remember their monologue in front of the camera. That's not what I call a debate.
    Last edited by Maciamo; Dec 7, 2006 at 18:06. Reason: Automerged Doublepost

  11. #111
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    Hmmm, interesting.
    Seems strange to me to hear that Japanese people talk about food so much. But if that's what they're interested in, why not? It would seem, in that case, that food is a more common "hobby" in their culture, and fair enough. I mean, in the UK football is very popular, a lot of people spend time sitting around talking about football for quite a long time.. usually in a way that seems "mindless" rather than "intellectual" ( ), but who cares? It's just a thing you do with friends.. (although of course some enthusiasts do talk about it in more depth and "intelligence" )

    Regarding clothes... I don't know much about the rest of Europe, but in the UK it is still common for people working in stores to wear a uniform. Not even in posh department stores necessarily, but in little local supermarkets... usually they are expected to wear the company tabard with their own clothes in certain colours underneath, usually plain black trousers and white shirt... and in many shops this kind of dress code is common, if not an actual uniform, then some kind of colour-coordination, usually black and white, and in a smart style. For instance in my hairdressers which is renowned for creativity, the stylists are allowed to wear their own clothes and accessories in any style they want (one of the most "liberal" allowances ^^) but still it has to be black and white to give the impression of consistency. More "menial" sorts of places like supermarket, cleaning company, in fact mainly lower-paid workplaces, they usually have a basic tabard uniform (sometimes you can wear your own clothes underneath, sometimes not); other places like bank and building society (and some stores and supermarkets) will have an entire company uniform; more upmarket stores like jewellers and posh hairdressers will have a "dress code" that allows a little bit more freedom, but the workers are still expected to adhere to certain conceptions of "good taste" and a certain "look".

    I suppose what I'm trying to get at is that uniforms for work aren't uncommon in all of Europe, at least not in the UK.

    As far as the office environment goes, in office work where you're not dealing directly with the public... it's true you aren't expected to wear a suit necessarily, although it's still expected for certain meetings, events etc. in a way that you get to judge after working for a while with a company. But unquestionably people still judge you on your appearance, in a work context, and on the way you dress! O_O It might seem more "casual" because you're not compelled to wear a suit every day, but believe me, those judgements (and prejudices) are still there.

  12. #112
    Danshaku Elizabeth's Avatar
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    That doesn't prevent them from being extremely argumentative when debating serious issues. I think that being tough when necessary and kind the rest of the time is also part of harmony.
    Like the European, particularly French, tour groups that stick out as so stuck up and awkward in Japan as the romp obviously around Tokyo speaking 10 x as loudly as everyone around them in their native tongue. I'll make a particular point next visit of asking what they are talking about and how much Japanese they really know....

  13. #113
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    maciamo, reading this all [starting from your original post up till here] was indeed very interesting, and pointed out well most of things i noticed when being in japan as well >.> yet i never [ever... and i worked with people, basically talking to them, as i was a waitress in a quite noisy club] noticed the 'food money sex' topics you've mentioned. sex- it happened to pop out in a conversation a couple of times, money never. salary man talk about their work thou [yeah like they have other topics, while their job is their essence of life, why would they tlak about anything else..] i never talked about food, except for when my landlords invited me to the restaurant- short talk basically about my likes and dislikes and differences between food here and in my country. that's what i'd call normal actually.
    you mentioned weather >.> i also think it is for them a way to start a conversation, but i noticed that also it makes up for a short nice talk between neighbours or people who are somehow related but not too much. at tenis court where i have been using internet, the -only- topic of conversation between the adults was 'atsui desu ne..' 'neeeee...' or 'suzushiiii' when entering etc. [what actually surprised me once, was that when the temperature dropped like 3 degrees they suddenly started saying 'samui desu yo ne...' X-x; queer.]
    as for the rest- agreed fully. i think i understand your point about saying things that they cannot be praised for once. when i went to japan i of course wanted to see how great it was, but mostly because of what japanese culture scholars keep saying about the country, i wanted to point out the bad things instead. most of those from my university after 2nd year become japanophiles and see it as a pure paradise and the japanese as almost divine, everything best. quite annoying after four years. i wanted to see for myself that they are only human and also like everyone else have failures so i made an anthropology of my own study on japanese this summer

    i also would like to ask you a couple of things myself, i think they fit in the thread-
    firstly, how about club culture making their shalowness stronger? it shocked me to see how two guys i recognised as friends once ended. they were coming with other friends to the club every saturday, and every time they were getting drunk, also used to fall asleep inside. and once the more rational guy, who never got that drunk and never felt asleep in the club, decided to leave earlier, without his friend- we couldn't wake him up anyhow. so he called for a call-girl [and a boy, who was her bodyguard or whatever, i don't know] to guide him home when he awakes. i was shocked, what a friend does that... i can't imagine anything like that happening in my country, not all europe- maybe in france it could happen, but definately not my area.
    even more shocked i was when they both showed up like nothing ever happened next saturday, while on that night the guy who was left behind had a breakdown and cried later [also probably % made it easier for him...].

    second thing, maybe not about the shalowness- the bodies... you know the party people sleeping on the sidewalks? or in the park... when i first saw a guy sleeping half in the bushes half on the sidewalk in front of yoshinoya, i thought he was dead... nearly jumped of my skin... but he snored >.>;;
    also it's not only party people- some high ranked ceo, and one of them who was my aqquaintance, share the same habit of sleeping on the sidewalk, even if their house is like 10 minutes away. whyyy? x_x; it is obvious that they absolutely don't care... is it the stress? the ceo's do reaaaally weird things when stressing out. is it maybe one of them?

  14. #114
    Cute and Furry Ewok85's Avatar
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    Reading that post above there's something interesting, there's allot of things I see daily that disturb me on some level, one was from 3 weeks ago when I was riding the busy keihin-tohoku line back from Tokyo after going to Disney (with mouse ears on head and bags full of junk), I noticed a man leaning on the next doors along was having trouble standing, fell down then the people around him suddenly moved away from him - I commented to my girlfriend (who is a nurse) that I thought the guy has thrown up, which is why everyone moved back and she agreed.

    So you have a very packed train and at the next stop usually about a quarter of the people get off (including me), so we pushed our way over to the man and asked if he was ok, and carried him off. During this time noone near the doors asked if he was ok, wanted help, or helped him off (it was his stop too).

    Its not the first time either, I've seen men, women, foreigners faint, passout, fallover and rarely is help given.

  15. #115
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ewok85 View Post
    Reading that post above there's something interesting, there's allot of things I see daily that disturb me on some level, one was from 3 weeks ago when I was riding the busy keihin-tohoku line back from Tokyo after going to Disney (with mouse ears on head and bags full of junk), I noticed a man leaning on the next doors along was having trouble standing, fell down then the people around him suddenly moved away from him - I commented to my girlfriend (who is a nurse) that I thought the guy has thrown up, which is why everyone moved back and she agreed.

    So you have a very packed train and at the next stop usually about a quarter of the people get off (including me), so we pushed our way over to the man and asked if he was ok, and carried him off. During this time noone near the doors asked if he was ok, wanted help, or helped him off (it was his stop too).

    Its not the first time either, I've seen men, women, foreigners faint, passout, fallover and rarely is help given.
    It may definitely seem shocking at first to those of us who are educated outside of Japan. The fact is Japan has had a long history of determining what is their own and what is not their own. They will defend their own without mercy, yet they won't bother to care about others. The sakoku Edo period was just that -- there was Japan and their island nation, then there was the world for which they did not care. Japan was their own business whereas the entire world was 'their' business. They only started to adopt similar policies by foreign powers in those days (such as imperialism and modernisation) simply because they wanted to protect what is their's, and what they think should've been their's. Similarly, the old man in the train was somebody's own business so even if he were to faint, it wasn't anyone's responsibility to help him but himself... or so they think.

    On a side note, I do think that Japanese are superficial somewhat especially in saying things that they do not mean. Many times the native Japanese and I would share contact info after a lengthy chat. It seems to me that those who say "I will definitely contact you" are the ones who are nowhere to be found later. To me, it would've been better for the person to not have said that, since at least the person would've appeared less insincere.

  16. #116
    Deus Ex Machina Dr. J. M.'s Avatar
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    Maybe a little bit offtopic, but still....

    Hi there! My first post and it's not a pleasant one... Sorry in advance, I might sound quite harsh but these posts just struck a nerve...
    Quote Originally Posted by Nicholas0016 View Post
    If you look at English and German, they are frightenly identical to each other.
    Is that so? Bother to back that up? I assume that you are fluent in both languages, or what makes you so sure about your claim?
    Since German and English are, as you put it "frightenly identical to each other", it surely poses no problem to the average German speaker to read and speak English as well? Or more interestingly vice versa? I have, of course, met oh so many Americans and Britons who speak perfectly German, you know... And guess what? Swedish is also "frightenly identical [to German]" that's why I can easily read anything in Swedish, even though I don't speak it at all. Why do I bother replying in English, btw?
    Vielleicht sollte ich auf Deutsch umsatteln, es sollte dir und allen anderen Leuten die Englisch sprechen sicher keine großartigen Probleme bereiten, nicht wahr?
    Quote Originally Posted by Nicholas0016 View Post
    hehe
    one two three four five six seven eight nine ten
    ein zwei drei vier fünf sechs sieben acht neun zehn
    I talk about food, every single living organizim eats it.
    Wow, you can count in English and in German! (Oh, well, it's "Eins", btw. And, I don't know if it's the forum or just me, the umlaut isn't displayed, so just avoid it by spelling it with 'ue', but I bet you are well aware of this, right?) Now you've proved everything! Tell you what, let's count in French, as well!
    un, deux, trois, quatre, cinq, six, sept, huit, neuf, dix
    oh my gosh! Don't you see the pattern? Like with "one" and "un"?! This can be no coincidence, they are too similar to each other, therefore we can safely conclude, that French is identical to German and English and Swedish? Maybe even Spanish and Italian? I guess there is only one language in Europe, since by your standards they are all identical! Hooray!

  17. #117
    Regular Member loquela's Avatar
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    "Research" - Warning I'm a bit riled

    I apologise n advance for the tome of this post. There just seems to be a lot of this nonesense about. What is it?

    The comments you make are extremely typical of westerners who make brief, superficial visits to japan. Or those who stay longer but never really assimilate: spend their free time in roppongi with other gaijin talking about how crap the Japanese are.

    I think the results of your 'study' are extremely ironic. In fact the whole premise is one big irony (maybe that was your intention - I'll come back to this). You claim to assess the nation's uniqueness by focusing solely on your perception of Japanese pettiness. And where does 50% come from? You interviewed about 60 million Japanese did you? Of course not, you just made assumptions from your own tiny sphere of experience - no doubt you consulted some of your western friends to get a balanced view?

    As Gaijin Punch pointed out most of your observations are either inaccurate, incorrect or represent no real example of Japanese 'uniqueness' at all. I therefore find your list somewhat pointless, not a little futile and of little interest to anybody with a more than superficial experience of Japan and its population.

    To be fair you did invite readers to take your 'research' with a pinch of salt and a good sense of humour. That would be fine if your observations were a little sharper, contained more wit and perhaps a touch of satire. It would then at least have been entertaining.

    On the other hand, you may be cleverer than I think you are and in fact your irony was actually in exposing the ignorance and superficial nature of westerners when broaching the Japan theme. The problem with this however is that you have also managed to exposed the pettiness and simplicity of those who have posted hearty messages of concurrence with your findings.

    It's a shame 'cos you must have spent ages writing that (if not so much time actually thinking about it). Given you are cited as 'spiritual leader to all' I would have thought your time would be much better spent making useful or even just funny observations.

    I suppose there will be a scramble for my respect meter now...
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    is this supposed to be funny? i think it is, but only because it's so hypocritical. i'm not japanese, nor have a ever lived in japan, but i was doing research for fun on japanese inventions and all i could find are incredibly rude and ignorant parodies bringing up silly japanese inventions to disparage them.

    if you want to talk about how much anyone is focused on food and sex go look at the aids rates in america and the obesity.

    ridiculous.

  19. #119
    Deus Ex Machina Dr. J. M.'s Avatar
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    [Note: I do not personally think that the Japanese are superficial and/or shallow. This is mainly due to the fact that saying "the Japanese" is a gross generalization and apart from that an oversimplification.]
    if you want to talk about how much anyone is focused on food and sex go look at the aids rates in america and the obesity.
    ridiculous.
    Your logic does not follow. Just because the US of A is in this regard even more superficial and/or shallow, it does not mean that Japan is not.

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    that's not my point anyway; in context, the post makes it seem as if though anyone should be surprised; yes, most mammals like food and sex. but i guess japanese people do better when it comes to being honest about liking food?

  21. #121
    Deus Ex Machina Dr. J. M.'s Avatar
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    You see, I don't know if Japanese people are superficial or not, nor do I think so at all (as I stated before, since the term "the Japanese" has no meaning.). I just wanted to point out your logical fallacy. However, if someone's only interests revolve around food and sex then they are shallow. Regardless of nationality.
    Thus it depends on your very interests whether you're shallow or not.

  22. #122
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    @Ferin...obesity is not a form of being superficial or shallow. It's main cause is poverty. America is one of the few countries that our poor don't suffer starvation they suffer obesity because the only food they can afford is cheap, high fat, fast food. As for AIDS I think you should check the statistics of African countries and other Asian countries before making your statements, you might be suprised.

    I don't think Japanese culture is any more or less superficial than any other country. Every culture has their own ideas and opinions on what is superficial. Personally I like talking about food. I find that you can learn a lot about people by what they eat.
    I hope life isn't a big joke, because I don't get it. ~Jack Handey

  23. #123
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    Here is the thing. There are real-life characteristics to Japanese people, to any group of people who share a common set of mores & social obligations, social expectations, whatever you want to call it, that people track and try to diagnose.

    They've built an entire array of occupations around the concept, mainly marketing, figuring out what are marketable trends, and advertising, selling those trends (even if it is a hamburger) in a way that will appeal to the specific person being advertised to.

    Cultures are different, people are different, but naturally, people in one culture are sometimes more similar than dissimilar. I think Japan is particularly notable for this type of similarity due to it's own choice throughout many many years of being an insular, isolated nation. Some periods of time of course, being more insular than others.

    Nobody likes to think in terms of stereotypes, but that's how we can ever hope to grasp loose concepts about ourselves. Saying things like "everybody is different", though true, ignores the fact that a vast majority of the people in society whom we will call "socialized", share common social characteristics.

    I don't like to use the term "shallow" to describe a group of people, I don't think that's a positive way to look at anyone, but I think if you look at media, and trends, then a good portion of what Maciamo has said can be seen as true.

    Quote Originally Posted by loquela View Post
    I apologise n advance for the tome of this post. There just seems to be a lot of this nonesense about. What is it?
    Loquela, (learn to use the quote feature) you're challenging someone's assertions based on the fact that they've been to Japan less time than you. If you look at Maciamo's profile, I'm guessing this is who you are quoting because you didn't directly quote them, you'll see that he's at the very least been there 3 years, possibly 4... Are you saying that in 3 to 4 years there's no way to ascertain a certain group characteristic of indigenous people?

    I live in a college town, and I can tell you that in one week alone I discovered that they're noisy, brash, histrionic, and borderline alcoholic... Of course not all of them are, but it's very easy in a short period of time to see how people act, and react to you. You disregard Maciamo as some green gaijin, fresh off the boat, with all the knowledge that your twenty odd posts on this forum have gained you.

    I'm glad you've met people who don't follow all of those stereotypes, but guess what, we all have... In a word, you can't see the forest for the trees.

    People living and working in Japan, Japanese people are themselves, very interested in these types of things. This is how manga gets written, this is how movies get made, this is how clothing is manufactured and marketed, this is how television shows, japanese idols, and all manner of electronic goods are sold to people in Japan...

    It's called lowest common denominator... Look into it. Not everyone is interested in the same things, there are always outliers, but take a look at the list of best sellers in say the United States, and see if you can find any literary greats.

    Shallow sells, everything else is for the literati, but even the smartest minds sometimes crave junk-food. If people really knew all there was to know about a culture or society, there wouldn't be these discussions, and there would be no need for people to try to figure it out, and this is what people, everyday people, professional people, seem to be attempting to do every day.
    Last edited by yukio_michael; Feb 18, 2007 at 14:50.
    (flickr: pgh, japan & korea, santa cruz ) (blog: eyesonthewires) (j-rock)

    Our greatest pretenses are built up not to hide the evil and the ugly in us, but our emptiness. The hardest thing to hide is something that is not there.
    -Eric Hoffer.

  24. #124
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    i didnt brush upon the ridiculous notion that 127 million of any group of people are all alike, because it's patently idiotic and not worth anyone's breath.

    yeah, and the aids rate in "asia" doesn't matter, the simple truth is that china/japan/korea have the lowest rates of stds period.

    "obesity is not a form of being superficial or shallow. It's main cause is poverty."

    i live in america, i sit down at restaurants and see other people eat way more than they should even in one of the richest areas in the world (dc-metro) and the people here really do love their food. but yes i don't think it's something shallow or superficial rather something that's perfectly legitimate and cultured, but if "japanese people" talk more about food than anyone else then im guessing that's coming from the perspective of someone who hangs around people who dont stop snarfing down burgers long enough to take a breath of air (much less talk about anything at all).

  25. #125
    Danshaku Elizabeth's Avatar
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    "obesity is not a form of being superficial or shallow. It's main cause is poverty."
    i live in america, i sit down at restaurants and see other people eat way more than they should even in one of the richest areas in the world (dc-metro) and the people here really do love their food. but yes i don't think it's something shallow or superficial rather something that's perfectly legitimate and cultured, but if "japanese people" talk more about food than anyone else then im guessing that's coming from the perspective of someone who hangs around people who dont stop snarfing down burgers long enough to take a breath of air (much less talk about anything at all).
    Maciamo himself talked more about food in his posts than any other gaijin I've witnessed here. The listed reasons are so exaggerated ("All they talk about is food" Using words like "oishii" 40-50 times a day) or have been outright invalidated and his bias/perspective/agenda, however you prefer to refer to it, so petulant and childish I can't believe it still has this many serious discussants...

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