Japanese Culture

[Tactics]

Originally Posted by Brother Coa

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

I already wrote it ...

Originally Posted by Tactics

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.

Of course compare to British (another island nation) and other nations you listed they are completely different from Japan as IIRC British and countries you listed were once conquered by different cultures and/or had a multitude of cultures around them.

For Chinese their view about foreigners stems from their history with invaders (which is the reason why there is something called The Great Wall in China), later it turned into nationalism (combined with some propaganda that other countries are 'enemies', is what I've heard from a foreigners who lived in Chinese for long time).

So its more about history and culture affect development ...

[kuroishinigami]

Originally Posted by Magin

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.

This is quite wrong. I used to have two Japanese friends during my exchange student time, one of them is taiwanese descendant(both of his parent is from taiwan but he was born and spend his whole life in Japan) while the other one is "pure" Japanese. I always considered both of them as Japanese, so I was really shocked when my "pure" Japanese friend doesn't consider the other friend as nihonjin, but as taiwanese.

I think korean immigrant and chinese immigrant has the same problem in Japan. No matter even if they were born and raised in Japan, to the "Japanese" they will never be nihonjin.

[Marcus H.]

That has always been the problem with the Japanese, really.
I don't think that even the law restricting hate speech is gonna help.

[kuroishinigami]

Well, to be fair, it happens everywhere, not only Japan, just that it's a little worse in Japan in that they don't consider immigrant descendant as Japanese at all compared to other country where they stil consider the descendant as "not pureblood" local people

[KiraYamatoFan]

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.

Still, what I don't like is the concept that people associate laptops/computers with nerds. I mean: what is wrong with those people? I don't see how you can be "less of a nerd" when doing stuff on a mobile phone.

[Magin]

Probably has to do with how you're more likely to watch anime, or even go so far as playing dating sims (or even eroge) if you have a computer than mobile phone. Which all of the above are associated with nerds. I should mentioned that I'm still just assuming on all this stuff.

[Kafriel]

Probably has to do with how you're more likely to watch anime, or even go so far as playing dating sims (or even eroge) if you have a computer than mobile phone.

Ironically enough, I've done all three on my mobile phone :P

I don't think we can figure it out if we don't experience it. Every society works differently, the world "nerd" has another kind of impact in Japan than it does in America.

What is wrong with those people? I don't see how you can be "less of a nerd" when doing stuff on a mobile phone.

Everyone's doing it. Get on a train and see how many people are texting on their cell phones. The minority uses laptops, so they are pointed at...I think.

Well, to be fair, it happens everywhere, not only Japan, just that it's a little worse in Japan in that they don't consider immigrant descendant as Japanese at all compared to other country where they still consider the descendant as "not pureblood" local people

It doesn't matter how you view people, but what you do about it; as long as this sort of behaviour doesn't result in discrimination against immigrants, it's all the same.

[TwilightsCall]

The problem there I suppose would be that it does result in embarrassingly huge amounts of discrimination.

But hey, the Japanese have a history of discriminating against other Japanese people, so its not like its anything especially new. It all just comes down to, if you're in the 'out' group, stay outside.

[AnimeFan188]

After a looooong decline, Japan is having more babies:

"Japan’s fertility rate has reached a 20-year high, according to data
released today (May 23). That said, Japan’s average of 1.46 births per
woman last year is still pretty low in the international rankings.

Around 2,000 more babies were born in Japan last year than the year
before, but that just means that 2015 was the second-lowest annual
total in the post-war era. This isn’t enough to stabilize its population,
which is projected to shrink to 80 million people by the end of the
century, from 127 million today."

See:

http://qz.com/690431/after-a-looooon...g-more-babies/

[Ridwan]

I wonder if this is the right place to ask, but...

Do melonbooks and toranoana accept works from non-Japanese authors from outside Japan? How is their general policy about the products that they sell?

Also while I know melonbooks also sell doujins in the form of digital files, does toranoana do that as well or do they only deal with hard copies?

[MrTerrorist]

[Cosmic Eagle]

Originally Posted by Ridwan

I wonder if this is the right place to ask, but...

Do melonbooks and toranoana accept works from non-Japanese authors from outside Japan? How is their general policy about the products that they sell?

Also while I know melonbooks also sell doujins in the form of digital files, does toranoana do that as well or do they only deal with hard copies?

They normally bulk purchase from Comiket and Comiket does have a lot of foreign circles participating so....


As for Tora no Ana DL store....unfortunately it ended last year

http://www.toranoana.jp/sorry/151215...ose/index.html

[Ridwan]

Originally Posted by Cosmic Eagle

They normally bulk purchase from Comiket and Comiket does have a lot of foreign circles participating so....


As for Tora no Ana DL store....unfortunately it ended last year

http://www.toranoana.jp/sorry/151215...ose/index.html

I see.

Then how about foreign circles and artists that haven't yet entered comiket?

Also while at it, I would like to also ask about DLSite.com. Specifically, about how the products being sold there being promoted by their authors and publishers or being spread virally in general. Are there blogs other then nekora.co.jp doing the same thing? Are there other ways?

[Cosmic Eagle]

Originally Posted by Ridwan

I see.

Then how about foreign circles and artists that haven't yet entered comiket?

Also while at it, I would like to also ask about DLSite.com. Specifically, about how the products being sold there being promoted by their authors and publishers or being spread virally in general. Are there blogs other then nekora.co.jp doing the same thing? Are there other ways?

Not familiar with DLSite.


For the first point, it's not likely but you can try searching on their webstore. It should technically be possible to sell stuff with them as long as you can settle the finance aspect

[AnimeFan188]

Japan's first naked restaurant to ban overweight
diners and those over 60 years old:

"Japan's first naked restaurant will open its doors next month (July
2016) but not everyone will be able to savour the culinary delights on
offer as, apparently, there are very strict entry rules.

The restaurant, called The Amrita - the Sanskrit for immortality - will
weigh prospective diners who look a tad on the overweight side. If they
are deemed too heavy, entry will be denied. And guests who have paid in
advance, through online booking, will not be refunded."


"In addition, mobile phones and cameras will have to be locked away in
a table-top box provided. In addition to weight and age scanning, those
with tattoos will automatically be disqualified from entry. Diners are
also told that they should not 'cause a nuisance to other guests' by
either touching or talking to fellow diners."

See:

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/japans-firs...rs-old-1565268

[SeijiSensei]

Cute Bento and Womens' Roles

The moms in Maruo's class say they don't do it every day, but on mornings they make kyaraben, they block out as much as 90 minutes to make lunch. And not every Japanese parent wants to do this — but the cultural pressure is high, because it's hard to be the parent whose kid has a lame lunch.

How Japanese women are spending their time is a hot topic these days, as the government attempts to push more women into its shrinking workforce. Japanese women are highly educated, boasting bigger numbers of college grads than men. But nearly 70 percent of them quit working after having a baby. That's compared to one third of moms in the U.S. Moms cite a combination of Japan's long work hours, lack of daycare, and cultural pressures as reasons they're staying home.

[LeoXiao]

Stay-at-home moms provide better quality of life to those around them than if you "empowered" them by sticking them in an office career. I hope Japan doesn't give into the pressure and instead provides more welfare incentives to have two or more children. That being said, Japan is sort of overpopulated so maybe the resources would be better spent caring for the existing old people before they pass on, then re-invested into keeping the population at a stable 70-100 million.

[AnimeFan188]

Japanese Musicians Screw Their Fans For Cash
(And I'm A Fan):

"If you threw Hot Topic and a Renaissance fair into a blender and fed the
resulting slurry to Ziggy Stardust, you'd get "Visual Kei." Visual Kei is a
Japanese genre of music that ... actually, that's not right. It's not so
much a genre as it is a set of aesthetics that ... no, that's not right,
either. Visual Kei is ... okay, what the hell is Visual Kei? Let's start there.
We asked "Sonya," a hardcore fan who follows a Visual Kei band around
on tour, like somebody adapted Phish into an anime."

See:

http://www.cracked.com/personal-expe...etal-band.html

[SeijiSensei]

The SMAP breakup made the front page of tonight's New York Times.

The news has dominated newspaper headlines and television talk shows since the band’s announcement this month. Even the mayor of Tokyo and two members of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s cabinet have weighed in. One said he was worried about the effect on the Japanese economy, the world’s third-largest.

Is the Japanese economy is teetering on the edge after this announcement? What if it had been AKB48?

Oh, well, it just presents an opening for the boys in B-Project.

[IceHism]

Originally Posted by SeijiSensei

The SMAP breakup made the front page of tonight's New York Times.



Is the Japanese economy is teetering on the edge after this announcement? What if it had been AKB48?

Oh, well, it just presents an opening for the boys in B-Project.

Of course it's not. It's not like smap is just disappearing either. They are still under Johnny's and they will continue doing their individual activities. Their music sales, while still good, are nowhere near the top. Some other artist will replace them fine. Like you know.. Arashi.

Also it's funny to see Abe worry about Cool Japan when it's not really a secret that the project performed under-expectations and they are just redirecting the money for other purposes by now