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

[Cryptnotic]

Most of these things are exactly the same in America, at least for most of the population. People are only interested in money, sex, clothes, cars, food. People don't care about politics, et cetera. Guys spend lots of money at strip clubs (every guy I know has at least been to one, some have dropped hundreds of dollars at a time). Americans are cheating, lying, shallow people. Or maybe it's just that I live in Los Angeles.

[mad pierrot]

- people on TV usualy repeat the same few adjectives all the time (oishii, omoshiroi, hidoi, kirei...) , as if they were linguistically challenged.
- people in everyday life actually do speak like mentioned above

I almost spit out the milk I was drinking when I read this.

Very true, and very funny!

[Suki-Yaki]

hmmm ... I find it rather sad , that only three months for me here , and I'm already noticing much of what you said ......

By I still can't understand your point of " They don't like technology" the technological Japan could not have come from nowhere , right ??

And , is it true that Japanese kids don't study as much as Europeans at schools ?? I heard Japanese exams are one of the most difficult around the world. A difficult exam takes lots of information .... ??

Just for my information , how do you know Japanese people don't mind cheating on their partner , please , elaborate of how you came to this point ??

[Maciamo]

By I still can't understand your point of " They don't like technology" the technological Japan could not have come from nowhere , right ??

I remember Elizabeth telling me something in the same lines, but on a much less friendly tone. The point is that Japan is first and foremost a commercial and practical country (two of its strongest characteristic), and electronics sell well, especially in Japan where there is a high demand for everything that helps make your life more practical or convenient. So the technology (esp. electronics) market is born out of necessity, and out of a liking for practical things. Of course I don't deny that some Japanese who invented or developed such products may be very interested in and talented at technology, but they are just a minority.

And , is it true that Japanese kids don't study as much as Europeans at schools ?? I heard Japanese exams are one of the most difficult around the world. A difficult exam takes lots of information .... ??

Ooh yes. I will never repeat that enough. I have studied in 5 EU countries in total, from primary school to university, and I can tell you that there is a world of difference compared to what I have seen taught (and tested) in Japan.

Just for my information , how do you know Japanese people don't mind cheating on their partner , please , elaborate of how you came to this point ??

For men it's just common knowledge. The sex industry in Japan is one of the most developed in the world, and soaplands, massage parlours, voluntary teenage prositution (known as 'enjo kosai'), etc. are mostly frequented by (middle aged or old) married men.

As for women, well, just have a look at all the women working for the above men, and count how many have a boyfriend or are married.

But I have also read many studies and surveys about it (in addition to stories heard from Japanese I met). This thread says a lot

[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.

[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.

[Elizabeth]

I almost spit out the milk I was drinking when I read this.

Very true, and very funny!

Hontou ? I feel more bored than humoured, the same point(s) has or have been made and argued so many gazillions of times in so many threads already....But just to recap, looking through any kanji dictionary clarifies that there is no inherant deficiency in vocabularly, the total number of words, particularly compounds and probably all adjectives I would guess is much greater than in English. (うっとり and ややこしい for instance are more advanced but still fairly common, although I may use the latter more regularly than a native speaker).

The quantity used in daily conversation may be less given the deeply held values of the people which dictate interacting positively with the people around rather than showing how smart you are or playing some sort of intellectual game. Sorry this is such an obvious point....and not that the people should be faulted for any 'deficiencies' in their language.
Finally, what precisely have you been wanting to say but have been unable to, Maciamo ?

[mad pierrot]

The quantity used in daily conversation may be less given the deeply held values of the people which dictate interacting positively with the people around rather than showing how smart you are or playing some sort of intellectual game. Sorry this is such an obvious point....and not that the people should be faulted for any 'deficiencies' in their language.

Whoah. I'm sorry if in anyway I gave the impression that Japanese people are inferior in some kind of intellectual game...



Not too long ago I was watching some TV with some Japanese friends and marveling how many times they said "kawaii" in the span of about 5 minutes. My own girlfriend has laughed at the fact of how often she uses that word. Then I logged onto Jref and read Maciamo's post. I thought it was funny. Where's the harm? I guess should be clear on all the details of why I found it funny.

[Elizabeth]

Whoah. I'm sorry if in anyway I gave the impression that Japanese people are inferior in some kind of intellectual game...



Not too long ago I was watching some TV with some Japanese friends and marveling how many times they said "kawaii" in the span of about 5 minutes. My own girlfriend has laughed at the fact of how often she uses that word. Then I logged onto Jref and read Maciamo's post. I thought it was funny. Where's the harm? I guess should be clear on all the details of why I found it funny.

Ashikarazu.... I've been in similar predicaments talking with Japanese men embarrassed in front of a foreigner by how many times their wives friends revert to "kawaii" or "sugoii." I think the people as a whole value intellectual competence and personal dignity much more than Americans....it's just a much more complicated situation than Maciamo made out in his original post....I honestly didn't intend to lash out at anyone in particular.

[kirei_na_me]

Ashikarazu.... I've been in similar predicaments talking with Japanese men embarrassed in front of a foreigner by how many times their wives friends revert to "kawaii" or "sugoii." I think the people as a whole value intellectual competence and personal dignity much more than Americans....it's just a much more complicated situation than Maciamo made out in his original post....I honestly didn't intend to lash out at anyone in particular.

I couldn't count the number of times my husband has walked away from a conversation, shaking his head and mumbling "stupid", after the Japanese people he was talking to had shrieked those expressions time and time again. Of course, he's been known to be just as superficial.

[Maciamo]

Most of these things are exactly the same in America, at least for most of the population. People are only interested in money, sex, clothes, cars, food. People don't care about politics, et cetera.

I don't think so. The US is so diverse, so big, and with such a variety of people from all backgrounds, ethnicities, beliefs and interests, that what you mention is certainly more based on your personal experience (I am sure that other Amereican members have a completely different story). There is already such a big difference in life style depending on the social class (not everyone is a millionaire or a Hollywood star), and whether people live in big coastal cities or the deep country. But Japan is easy as it is very homogenous (especially the education, mindset and values), and people even ask foreigners the exact same questions whether they come from Fukuoka, Wakayama, Tokyo or Akita. So the US is never a good benchmark for any cultural comparison.

Guys spend lots of money at strip clubs (every guy I know has at least been to one, some have dropped hundreds of dollars at a time). Americans are cheating, lying, shallow people.

Wow. In Europe, I'd say (I am a specialist on the matter) that stripclubs are mostly limited to Soho in London and Pigalle in Paris. I don't know what people find so fun there (except if they can't find a real girlfriend), and I also don't know anybody who has been to one (or admitted it). But while watching the esxellent American series "Friends" (all 10 seasons), I realised that going to stripclubs was much more normal in the States (and not just for Joey) than in Europe.

[kirei_na_me]

Americans are cheating, lying, shallow people. Or maybe it's just that I live in Los Angeles.

Well, there are those kinds of people everywhere, but yeah, I would say living in LA has a lot to do with that opinion.

[cicatriz esp]

Well, there are those kinds of people everywhere, but yeah, I would say living in LA has a lot to do with that opinion.

I would just throw in my two cents here that the majority of the population of LA are not, in fact, American citizens.

[JoeMomma]

I would just throw in my two cents here that the majority of the population of LA are not, in fact, American citizens.

This is 100% not true. Perhaps in SOME neighborhoods. But this is a complete falsehood that should not be perpetuated.

Joe