Japanese Culture

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by SeijiSensei

Sounds like a good dissertation project in comparative politics: how a country's "lucky number" affects the speed of bureaucratic processes. I'll be happy to serve on your committee, Saintess!

I am just sayin'! It is more likely that this is a coincidence rather than a conspiracy.

Then again, if it is indeed as planned thenit is one hell of a blessing from the mayor.

[AnimeFan188]

Goodbye To Japan’s Manga King:

"Japan’s beloved one-armed cartoonist, social critic, and war veteran
Shigeru Mizuki, died Nov. 30 of multiple organ failure at a Tokyo hospital.

He was 93. He was most known for his Japanese horror comic books
(manga) about GeGeGe no Kitarō (Spooky Kitarō). The series starred a
traditionally clad Japanese monster boy as the hero, who with his motley
crew of friends—Ratman, Cat-Girl, The Sand-Throwing Hag and other
characters drawn from traditional folklore—protected Japan from
indigenous and foreign evil monsters."

See:

http://www.thedailybeast.com/article...anga-king.html

[SeijiSensei]

Sorry, ladies, but no you cannot keep your name

My first wife kept her name when we got married back in 1973. Why is this even an issue in 2015?

Well I guess the couple could be adopt her name instead of his, but as the article says, the number of such cases is diminishingly small.

I can see this becoming a bigger issue if gay marriage is ever legalized rather than just "certified" in Shibuya.

I wonder if any of the three female justices voted with the majority?

[AnimeFan188]

In rapidly aging Japan, dying is big business:

"In Japan, death is an opportunity for growth. Business growth, that is.

In a country with many more deaths than births each year, Japanese
companies are looking to maximize the amount of money people spend
on shuffling off their mortal coil, from preparing “ending notes” and
choosing coffins to arranging to have their ashes blasted into space or
turned into diamonds."


"Japan has the fastest-aging population in the world. Slightly more
than one-quarter of the population is 65 or older, and the Health
Ministry forecasts that the proportion will hit 40 percent by 2060."

See:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world...588_story.html

[AnimeFan188]

The Yakuza Are Running Japan’s Hollywood:

"Japan’s entertainment industry is infested with organized crime and
despite crackdowns on “yakuza Hollywood” nothing much seems to
change. For example, last month 10 comedians from the colossal
Yoshimoto Kogyo talent agency were caught up (innocently, they said) in
a yakuza insurance fraud scheme involving, ahem, free massages. The
scam reportedly netted over a million dollars. Who will be prosecuted
remains murky. And that’s business as usual.

What is unusual is for a yakuza boss to break the code of silence and
discuss how the talent agency he worked for intimidated its stars and the
media, even using other yakuza to get the job done."

See:

http://www.thedailybeast.com/article...hollywood.html

[TinyRedLeaf]

Roses are red, elbows are blue: Japan's women fight for their Valentines

Tokyo (Feb 13, Sat): Elbowing each other in the stampede to buy Valentine's Day chocolate for the men in their lives, Japanese women brought stores to a standstill on Saturday.

In Japan, the menfolk do sweet nothing on Feb 14, while the women do battle in heaving aisles, loading up on confectionery treats for the object of their desire.

If they are lucky, the guys will reciprocate on White Day in March, when traditionally they give a white gift, from sweets to lingerie.

"My feet hurt, my arms hurt, and my head hurts!" said Kana Shimizu, clutching two dainty bags of Belgian chocolate that cost more than 10,000 yen (US$90) at a plush store in Tokyo's Ginza district.

"This one is for my boyfriend, the other one is for me. I don't want him having all the fun."

Having splurged on "honmei" (true love) chocolate, the 27-year-old hair stylist raced off to find somewhere less upmarket to buy "giri" (obligation) treats for her male work colleagues.

"They can make do with cheap chocolate," she laughed. "No, seriously. It's such a pain every year."

Entire floors of Japan's cavernous department stores are dedicated to Valentine's Day, showcases brimming with heart-shaped goodies by international chocolatiers.

"I'm here with my wife," said 42-year-old architect Riki Taniguchi. "I've got my eye on the Belgian chocolate but I'm not sure she thinks I deserve it."

Valentine's Day first appeared in Japan in the late 1950s as the economy picked up steam after the devastation of World War II, and Western products were highly prized as the country acquired a taste for sophistication and luxury.

AFP

[TinyRedLeaf]

Twitter user posts drawings to show difference between schoolgirl uniforms in major cities

Tokyo (Feb 16, Tue): Japanese high school uniforms are so entrenched in anime and manga culture they've become almost as well-known as the characters who wear them.

While the blue-and-white sailor suit-style outfit has become a fixture of countless storylines, in reality there's a huge number of variations on the type of skirts, shirts, jackets, coats, neckties and accessories that a student might wear.

Even a girl's socks can reveal details about local trends and the area in which she lives.

Highlighting this point is Twitter user @tmato30kcal, who recently shared a cute, original illustration online, featuring nine different girls from some of Japan’s major cities.



Twitter users weighed in, retweeting the image more than 5,000 times and leaving comments like:

"This is totally true for Kobe!"

"Nagoya girls now wear their skirts much shorter than this."

"I've never seen a schoolgirl in thigh-highs before."

ROCKETNEWS24

[judasmartel]

Originally Posted by AnimeFan188

The Yakuza Are Running Japan’s Hollywood:

"Japan’s entertainment industry is infested with organized crime and
despite crackdowns on “yakuza Hollywood” nothing much seems to
change. For example, last month 10 comedians from the colossal
Yoshimoto Kogyo talent agency were caught up (innocently, they said) in
a yakuza insurance fraud scheme involving, ahem, free massages. The
scam reportedly netted over a million dollars. Who will be prosecuted
remains murky. And that’s business as usual.

What is unusual is for a yakuza boss to break the code of silence and
discuss how the talent agency he worked for intimidated its stars and the
media, even using other yakuza to get the job done."

See:

http://www.thedailybeast.com/article...hollywood.html

Wait, what? So the yakuza are basically the reason why the Japanese seiyuu industry is more lucrative than the Japanese live acting industry nowadays?

[judasmartel]

Originally Posted by TinyRedLeaf

Twitter user posts drawings to show difference between schoolgirl uniforms in major cities

- Hokkaido schoolgirls sure like music, don't know how they could walk with those boots on though.

- I find Osaka pretty weird for Anime!Japan (the skirt length is normal here in our country though [/mad]), but it does suit their stereotypical goofy personality.

- Fukushima = Absolute Territory FTW! *goes to Fukushima, activates PERVERT MODE, does evil laugh*

- Heave ho! Okinawa Sailors! YAAHR!

- Fukuoka definitely screams the countryside.

- For some reason, I find Nagoya pretty bland.

- Tokyo is the polar opposite of Fukuoka, it just screams "I'm in the city!"

- I like how modest the schoolgirls are in Kobe. Are there a lot of Christian schools there, by any chance?

- Wow, Niigata skirts are too short they look like they're not wearing anything underneath!~

Best Uniforms
Fukushima (#FukushimaSchoolGirlsMasterRace)
Tokyo (Welcome to the City!)
Hokkaido

Special Honors
Okinawa (Sailors!)
Kobe (Catholic School Girls FTW)
Fukuoka (Definitely Country)

Worst Uniforms
Nagoya (looks bland IMO)
Niigata (the skirt is too short, pardon my bad taste)
Osaka (the model pisses me off for some reason)

Comments

- Damn, I really envy Japanese HS girls. They can wear really cute uniforms like that in school but our school girls can only wear the Osaka, Kobe, and Nagoya type uniforms because 1) we don't want to piss off the Catholic clergy, 2) we don't want to piss off the parents, and 3) we don't want our girls to get raped in the streets for wearing Japanese-style uniforms (you think Japanese girls have it bad, ours have it 10x worse!)

- In relation to above, I do see more schools in our country (at least in Manila) adapting similar uniforms from the Japanese ones, but it's usually limited to the lower-tier colleges and universities, the higher-tier schools don't have uniforms as skimpy as the Japanese ones, but in state colleges and universities you can wear pretty much whatever you like as long as it doesn't really offend anybody.

- Does any Filipino AS forumer find it ironic that Japanese schoolgirls wear thigh-length skirts under the freezing cold of winter while Filipino schoolgirls wear knee-to-ankle-length skirts under the scorching heat of the sun?

[Marcus H.]

Does any Filipino AS forumer find it ironic that Japanese schoolgirls wear thigh-length skirts under the freezing cold of winter while Filipino schoolgirls wear knee-to-ankle-length skirts under the scorching heat of the sun?

We don't have that much of a diverse selection of legwear for schoolgirls, though. For starters, nobody would be seen wearing thighhighs. Apparently, thighhighs are warm enough to compensate for cold weather, and helps in addition to one's natural tolerance to temperatures.

[judasmartel]

Originally Posted by Marcus H.

We don't have that much of a diverse selection of legwear for schoolgirls, though. For starters, nobody would be seen wearing thighhighs. Apparently, thighhighs are warm enough to compensate for cold weather, and helps in addition to one's natural tolerance to temperatures.

I see, so that's why Japanese schoolgirls wear thigh high socks in winter!

OT: There is one school in front of LRT 2 train station where the female students do wear knee to thigh length socks with their anime style uniforms (white puffy sleeved dress under a black vest, teal ribbons, thinly checkered thigh length skirt, thigh high socks seem to be optional, but I see a lot of female students from that school wearing those when I pass through the train station).

[Marcus H.]

I've also seen a handful, but that's in an anime convention and who knows if they are actually in uniform and not dressing to the occasion.

[judasmartel]

Originally Posted by Marcus H.

I've also seen a handful, but that's in an anime convention and who knows if they are actually in uniform and not dressing to the occasion.

Haha. Let's take this elsewhere to avoid getting off-topic. Sounds like a fun discussion. I'll PM you if you like.

[MrTerrorist]

So Japan is far behind in the West in Computer literacy

[Brother Coa]

I have a question:

Is Japan's xenophobia result of their policy of isolation they have until 1855?

I for one find it fascinating that they are a nation that has 98% ethical population in modern times.

edit: now that I looked other Asian countries I found them similar to Japan - each having around 90% of their ethical population.

So it's something common to the region then?

[KiraYamatoFan]

Originally Posted by MrTerrorist

So Japan is far behind in the West in Computer literacy

They invest so much money in developing cell phone networks, home entertainment and even high-speed internet, and yet they can't find a way to sell the pros of having a computer/laptop. How sad.

[Kafriel]

That article is just playing with semantics; the majority of students do whatever they need through their mobile phones, so it's more like they don't have a need for a laptop or desktop. They got mobile games, text editors, pdf readers, apps for all kinds of things, including chat programs and web browsers, so calling them computer illiterate just because their choice of medium differs is going a bit too far.

[Magin]

Originally Posted by Brother Coa

I have a question:

Is Japan's xenophobia result of their policy of isolation they have until 1855?

I for one find it fascinating that they are a nation that has 98% ethical population in modern times.

edit: now that I looked other Asian countries I found them similar to Japan - each having around 90% of their ethical population.

So it's something common to the region then?

I'm admittedly far from the best expert on this (being an American), but from what I understand about Japan and China (can't comment so much on Korea), both countries have their people all be considered "one" in their respective country- in other words, all Japanese consider themselves Japanese; there's no version of say African American, Hispanic/Latino, etc. that is part of the American population. It's sort of a harsh way to look at it, but either you're Japanese or you're not (this is probably horrible phrasing).

As for China, what I understand there is that although technically there are other ethnicities, the Chinese basically all consider themselves to be of the Han. This one though I'm far less certain about.

Originally Posted by Kafriel

That article is just playing with semantics; the majority of students do whatever they need through their mobile phones, so it's more like they don't have a need for a laptop or desktop. They got mobile games, text editors, pdf readers, apps for all kinds of things, including chat programs and web browsers, so calling them computer illiterate just because their choice of medium differs is going a bit too far.

I was going to say... unless it's a Tokyo area thing, I swear I've seen anime show that everyone spends a TON of time doing all that stuff on their phones, making most Americans look like casuals...

[Tactics]

Originally Posted by Brother Coa

I have a question:

Is Japan's xenophobia result of their policy of isolation they have until 1855?

I for one find it fascinating that they are a nation that has 98% ethical population in modern times.

edit: now that I looked other Asian countries I found them similar to Japan - each having around 90% of their ethical population.

So it's something common to the region then?

Err ... No ... Also, saying Japan as xenophobic is kinda exaggerated.

It stems from Japan nature as an island, effectively make isolation simple and convenient. What more, Japan is an islands that always has had a singular dominant culture and a single dominant state, unlike other countries that once conquered or had multitude cultures from the very start. Nowadays, with all the tension surrounding them, surely some of them getting strict when it comes to foreigners.

Japan is not as xenophobic as some make it out to be, most people, even in rural areas, will be welcoming of people--surprised but welcoming all the same; still the usual 'respect them, they'll respect you'.

[Brother Coa]

Originally Posted by Tactics

Err ... No ... Also, saying Japan as xenophobic is kinda exaggerated.

I didn't mean it in any disrespectful way.

I have several friends who were there and all of them were overjoyed with their stay. They described how Japanese are nice, open, helpful people who will accept you nicely.

But they also told me that while Japanese will be glad for you to visit them or maybe even work there for several years but they would be most glad if you decide to not settle and live the rest of your life in Japan. They are very closed nation and xenophobic in a way that they will not tolerate large number of different nationalities moving to live on their island.

And I totally understand that, they are an island and as such much more concentrated about who is living among them.

I mean, just look at Demographics of other nations:
-France has 89.7% French living in France.
-Germany has 80% Germans living in Germany.
-Britain has around 85% British living in Britain.
-Russia has 81% Russians living in Russia.
-even my own country ( Serbia ) has 83% of Serbs living here, the rest 17% are minorities.

And now Japan - 98.5% of Japanese living in Japan. The minorities there are almost all Asians, only 0.1% are non-Asians.

But it's not just Japan:
-China has 91.51% of Han Chinese.
-South Korea has does not have the data at all but rather only the number of foreign nationals on statistic ( around 2 million for nation of 50 million, so also above 90% of South Koreans ).
-Taiwan has 95% Han Chinese living on it;s territory.
- Vietnam is only in area that has less than 90% - 85.7% of Vietnamese living in Vietnam.

I am not counting Philippines because like USA they are mix of a lot different nations.

So is this only solely because they are an island nation? Or is it like Magin said - stronger national unity inside nation itself?