Japanese Culture

[Mushi]

Something a little different. Autumn scenes across Japan. A nice collection of photos.

http://mdn.mainichi.jp/photospecials/graph/autumn/

Too bad they don't have hi-rez versions.

[npcomplete]

^ lovely! I tend to forget the wild expanses of nature when thinking of Japan now.. I can almost feel the crisp air in my lungs and the leafy fragrances after seeing those pics

[bhl88]

Lol I always forget the nature aspect of Japan

[Autumn Demon]

Snippet from an article on being foreign on Earth today.

Originally Posted by The Economist

The most generally satisfying experience of foreignness—complete bafflement, but with no sense of rejection—probably comes still from time spent in Japan. To the foreigner Japan appears as a Disneyland-like nation in which everyone has a well-defined role to play, including the foreigner, whose job it is to be foreign. Everything works to facilitate this role-playing, including a towering language barrier. The Japanese believe their language to be so difficult that it counts as something of an impertinence for a foreigner to speak it. Religion and morality appear to be reassuringly far from the Christian, Islamic or Judaic norms. Worries that Japan might Westernise, culturally as well as economically, have been allayed by the growing influence of China. It is going to get more Asian, not less.

http://www.economist.com/world/inter...ry_id=15108690

[Mystique]

Originally Posted by Autumn Demon

Snippet from an article on being foreign on Earth today.



http://www.economist.com/world/inter...ry_id=15108690

Japan only counts for 2 paragraphs out of the 30 or so in that article though...

Even in Japan, however, foreigners have ceased to function as objects of veneration, study and occasionally consumption. Once upon a time, in the ancient and medieval worlds, to count as properly foreign you had to seek out a life among peoples of a different skin colour or religion. They were probably an impossibly long distance away, they might well kill you when you got there, and if you went too far you might fall off the edge of the world.

By 'properly foreign' sounds like a term which is invalid in my opinion.
You either are or you're not.
It's simply an object of subject which is unknown to you, including humans.
(Eg: Mexicans are foreign to me, first time I saw one (a family tbh) was in Georgia, which was an object of fascination to me)
As for Japan, well they got a long way to go still, but I guess things improve little by little over the years?

[Vexx]

That Economist article... sounded so... "white boy writes" Hilarious...

[Vexx]

Different sub-topic - here's an interesting article on japanese pop culture about Mamoru Oshii, the film maker who did "Ghost in the Shell" and other flicks. He has an interesting new title out called "Assault Girls" which sounds like it might be appealing entertainment for japanese action fans and gamers.

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-b...0091218r1.html

[ZephyrLeanne]

Originally Posted by Vexx

Different sub-topic - here's an interesting article on japanese pop culture about Mamoru Oshii, the film maker who did "Ghost in the Shell" and other flicks. He has an interesting new title out called "Assault Girls" which sounds like it might be appealing entertainment for japanese action fans and gamers.

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-b...0091218r1.html

Ah GitS guy is back... it's been a long time...

Anyways, it's the Emperor's Birthday. He should wish for the longevity of the monarchy, as the LDP has always been supporting the monarchy, but with the DPJ, he could see his descendants being thrown out of Chiyoda soon enough. I hope it happens. It's been too long, and for a descendant of Zainichi like us, we feel that it's ridiculous that he's still there in Chiyoda.

[cheyannew]

"The Japanese believe their language to be so difficult that it counts as something of an impertinence for a foreigner to speak it."

Is that true?" When I started trying to teach myself so's to talk to my mother in law better, I NEVER used Japanese around her, other than teaching the cubs to call her "Obachan", which she was absolutely tickled by. he said just me making the effort would mean a lot to her.

I mean I want my son to learn it, seeing as he wants to go into robotics engineering and IMO Japan's the place to go (plus he's 1/4 japanese ffs), but is it really viewed as an affront for non-japanese to speak it?

While we're on the subject, are half-breeds and the like (aka my hubby and kids) still looked down on?

[Mystique]

Originally Posted by cheyannew

"The Japanese believe their language to be so difficult that it counts as something of an impertinence for a foreigner to speak it."

Is that true?" When I started trying to teach myself so's to talk to my mother in law better, I NEVER used Japanese around her, other than teaching the cubs to call her "Obachan", which she was absolutely tickled by. he said just me making the effort would mean a lot to her.

Yes it is.
A foreigner can speak one word of Japanese and get the auto response of;
'nihongo wa jouzu desu ne?'
No matter where you're at in the country, you'll hear it. At some point, it begins to feel patronising.
They also beleive that we cannot use chopsticks or eat any of their food (well there's a few common items that gaijin tend to hate)
- If you've lived there for less than a year or just visit as a tourist and pull off basic convo sentences, they cannot mentally comprehend why we can speak the language without having lived in the country for at least 5 years.

It's their own language complex with English working against them at the end of the day.

I mean I want my son to learn it, seeing as he wants to go into robotics engineering and IMO Japan's the place to go (plus he's 1/4 japanese ffs), but is it really viewed as an affront for non-japanese to speak it?

While we're on the subject, are half-breeds and the like (aka my hubby and kids) still looked down on?

Let him learn it.
They appreciate when they don't have to resort to English, they visibly breathe a major ass sigh of relief when they find out that I can more or less handle daily convo level, it's a huge weight of their mind and they relax better, so learning is all good.
- As for half breeds, it's probably harsher if they hold a Japanese surname, look Asian but were born/raised in the West.
Your kids would be considered American, your hubby may have a harder time with it, but they'd check out his name first before investigating further.

At the least he'd have to deal with preconceptions (well, we all do), but as to what kind, depends on his experience in the future.

[Vexx]

My wife (sansei) plans to have t-shirts made that say "Made in America" in kanji for her visits there. Because they're absolutely going to brainlock when they ask her something in Japanese, *I* answer (the tall scary hagaijin), and she opens up with her Texas drawl.

[ZephyrLeanne]

Originally Posted by Vexx

My wife (sansei) plans to have t-shirts made that say "Made in America" in kanji for her visits there. Because they're absolutely going to brainlock when they ask her something in Japanese, *I* answer (the tall scary hagaijin), and she opens up with her Texas drawl.

That's nothing. Wait till the Nihonjin see a ZAINICHI speaking ENGLISH better than them. They'll faint because Nihonjin think their English is the best in Asia. Of course they're wrong.

[lixuelai]

I don't know why they even bother teaching English. Most people don't get above "crash course in tourist language" level. I've met people with good English though and even then it is like 2/50 college students I met.

As for chopsticks when I was studying abroad all the non-Asian students had the best chopstick etiquette and posture. I was finally determined to fix my chopstick posture.

[Tri-ring]

Originally Posted by ShimatheKat

That's nothing. Wait till the Nihonjin see a ZAINICHI speaking ENGLISH better than them. They'll faint because Nihonjin think their English is the best in Asia. Of course they're wrong.

Oh boy, where did you ever get that notion?
Japanese thinking their English is the best in Asia???
Talk about trolling, as for the Mikado being a descendant of Zainichi?
Again when does a person becomes a Japanese and STOP being a descendant of an immigrant, five, ten, twenty generations?
As for monarchy, the European royal family does not have such thing as a "pure" royal blood line since most intertwined through political marriage between countries during the medieval era which is the same in Japan.

[ZephyrLeanne]

Originally Posted by Tri-ring

Oh boy, where did you ever get that notion?
Japanese thinking their English is the best in Asia???

Obviously, Kansai-jin don't know what the people in Tokyo think. It's terrible there...

Talk about trolling, as for the Mikado being a descendant of Zainichi?

Woh say. I DID not ever say THAT.

Again when does a person becomes a Japanese and STOP being a descendant of an immigrant, five, ten, twenty generations?

I'm talking ethnic Japanese.

As for monarchy, the European royal family does not have such thing as a "pure" royal blood line since most intertwined through political marriage between countries during the medieval era which is the same in Japan.

I know that, more or less. That's the reason cadet families were created.

[2H-Dragon]

Japanese in the business industry seem to speak perfect fluent English. Wayy wayyy back I used to work part time in a souvenir store(hey it beats part timing at McD's). We had a fair share of Japanese visitors. They where either completely incapable of speaking English(we used the Universal language of hand signs) or really good. After talking to the fluent in English about the Japanese English skills. I found out that the people that came to Amsterdam for work are able to speak English fluently. They where also surprised when I told them that most Japanese are bad in English. I also recall talking to quite a few guys about football, who where pretty good in English as well.

[Tri-ring]

Originally Posted by ShimatheKat

Anyways, it's the Emperor's Birthday. He should wish for the longevity of the monarchy, as the LDP has always been supporting the monarchy, but with the DPJ, he could see his descendants being thrown out of Chiyoda soon enough. I hope it happens. It's been too long, and for a descendant of Zainichi like us, we feel that it's ridiculous that he's still there in Chiyoda.

Originally Posted by ShimatheKat

Woh say. I DID not ever say THAT.

Say again.

Originally Posted by ShimatheKat

I'm talking ethnic Japanese.

Me too since at one time or the other people moved into this island 10 years ago or 100,000 years ago., what is the difference?

[ZephyrLeanne]

Originally Posted by Tri-ring

Say again.


Me too since at one time or the other people moved into this island 10 years ago or 100,000 years ago., what is the difference?

Ok, my FIRST comment means that Zainichi like ME (NOT THE EMPEROR) are real surprised that the emperor is still existing today. We thought Gen. MacArthur would just dethrone him. That was the greatest wish of the Zainichi, really. I did not mean to imply that the emperor is a Zainichi.

Me too since at one time or the other people moved into this island 10 years ago or 100,000 years ago., what is the difference?

True...

[Vexx]

Meh, I don't have any problem with the idea of a symbolic head-of-state in tune with cultural heritage. You just need to keep your hyper-nationalist nuts medicated

[SuperShominCar]

I have a theory (based on experience, I studied abroad) that being white in Japan is a lot like being black in an upper-class, mainly white, liberal area of the states (like where I grew up): people are respectful of you, but a bit cautious (mainly of offending you), but the fact of your race is hard to get around.

Being black in Japan is like that only moreso: your race is always an issue, but it's still rarely a negative.