Japanese Culture

[aohige]

I'm not sure what "systemized propaganda" you're talking about, or the media hype, as none of those are what I was talking about.
If you want to elaborate on that, go right ahead. It's not what I was talking about, but it's interesting nontheless.
My (long deceased) grandmother's side is Korean, and I have seen some very nasty "hate" ridden teachers and classes, mind you.
I'm not talking about some media-hype propaganda on portrayal of Japan, the words I used was "advocating hatred" in sentiments.

Don't throw words in my mouth, with an off-tangent assumption, Kang.

Edit: Vexx, it wasn't aimed at you, or anyone in particular for that matter.

[Kang Seung Jae]

Originally Posted by aohige

I'm not sure what "systemized propaganda" you're talking about, or the media hype, as none of those are what I was talking about.
If you want to elaborate on that, go right ahead. It's not what I was talking about, but it's interesting nontheless.

Well, I understood this part to mean "systemized propaganda":

Originally Posted by aohige

South Korean media and educational institutes advocating hatred is just as much of a problem fueling the tention as Japanese cultural arrogance.

Would you please tell us what you meant by that phrase?

[aohige]

Originally Posted by Kang Seung Jae

Would you please tell us what you meant by that phrase?

It means exactly what it says. And this is not the thread for this, let's end it before it gets out of hands...

[Kang Seung Jae]

Originally Posted by aohige

It means exactly what it says. And this is not the thread for this.

Well, I'll say this as my final words: There is no advocation for hatred among South Korean media and educational institutes.


Next topic, please.

[NoSanninWa]

Kang Seung Jae and aohige have already hashed this out. As they said, it doesn't really belong in the thread so they finished the discussion quickly. Please follow their lead and move along so that I won't have to delete any more posts.

[Yaoi_Daisuki]

hey guys, i often see people in anime splashing water on the floor from a bucket? any idea what is that for? thanks =)

[Vexx]

eh? .... which floor? where? whats going on at the time?

If you mean in a bath/ofuro .... then sometimes a bucket is used to rinse the floor after scrubbing up under the shower? or some ofuro prep areas... a bucket is used rather than a shower to rinse?

If you mean in an onsen.... well, again the bucket is used to keep the stone floors clean.

I guess we need more context before answering.

[Kyuusai]

If it's outside, it's a common practice in many places to keep the dust down. In some circumstances, the evaporation can help keep an area cool.

[ApostleOfGod]

I couldn't find anything answering this, so sorry if someone asked but...

In certain animes, I sometimes see a situation in which a cousin or the cousins like each other / fall in love with one another (in Kanon, Yuuichi's cousin likes him, in Honey and Clover, Hanamoto likes his cousin or niece (not sure) Hagu, etc. etc.) and it's sometimes very misleading.

Things like yuri or yaoi, that's more for the show itself and not really representative of the society there. I can make out that much. However, when these themes recur often from what I see, I start to lean towards it. I mean in some cases even, siblings have something for each other, and it can even go beyond "complexes", which I just say "That can't be true..". And since my understanding is that Anime is a huge thing in Japan, I begin to wonder if it would reflect any small aspect of the reality present there.

I know it doesn't always Japanese culture, but is there anything like School festivals and Sports festivals, and stuff like Haunted Houses and Cafes? Sorry for being ignorant or blunt... Trip man, it's so confusing. Any of these things answered would be great.

Thanks in advance,
A.K.

[Klashikari]

Originally Posted by ApostleOfGod

In certain animes, I sometimes see a situation in which a cousin or the cousins like each other / fall in love with one another (in Kanon, Yuuichi's cousin likes him, in Honey and Clover, Hanamoto likes his cousin or niece (not sure) Hagu, etc. etc.) and it's sometimes very misleading.

Such relationship is legal in Japan, as long as you aren't 1st cousins. (I believe Vexx would have a much better answer than this anyway )

Things like yuri or yaoi, that's more for the show itself and not really representative of the society there. I can make out that much. However, when these themes recur often from what I see, I start to lean towards it. I mean in some cases even, siblings have something for each other, and it can even go beyond "complexes", which I just say "That can't be true..". And since my understanding is that Anime is a huge thing in Japan, I begin to wonder if it would reflect any small aspect of the reality present there.

This is rather an attempt to attract "otaku" than anything else. Such fantasies are sure rampant, but hardly representative to the straight looking japanese culture in fact.

I know it doesn't always Japanese culture, but is there anything like School festivals and Sports festivals, and stuff like Haunted Houses and Cafes? Sorry for being ignorant or blunt... Trip man, it's so confusing. Any of these things answered would be great.

These are quite the cookie cutter events you see here and there. of course, such festivals aren't that crazy/expended in real life, but it is quite present in most schools.

[Vexx]

Klash answered most of these but I'll tag anyway ...
Yaoi/Yuri --- very rarely acknowledged in real Japan (basically 'forbidden love' fantasy). The public in Japan is about 20 years lagging from the US in accepting homosexuality, though they'll tolerate oddness in their celebrities.

cousin relationships -- legal, even first cousin. About 4 in 1000 marriages in Japan are 1st cousin. About 20% of the world's marriages are 1st cousin. It is legal in over half the United States. The taboo against 'cousin marriage' is strictly descended from a "lets make fun of the rural people" mindset that began during the immigration of country folk to the cities in the early 20th Century. Rural people, by definition, are more likely to be somewhat related to each other. The Hobbit family trees in LOTR were Tolkien's representation of very real life in rural England. Assuming a romance leads to procreation (interesting how people automatically assume that) -- first cousin procreation chances of genetic problems is barely noise level higher than random strangers -- smoking and drinking, poor health/diet are much more likely to cause problems.

brother/sister relationships -- they're ACTUALLY only very rarely blood-related in anime/manga fiction (step-sister, adopted, etc) but still are almost exclusively "forbidden love fantasy" memes - not a real life scenario.

School and sports festivals are a time-honored tradition in almost all Japanese schools (actually it used to be quite common in American schools until the "slash the budget 1990s"). I remember running haunted houses and cafe stands in middle school in Houston Texas in the early 70s, and sports festivals in high school.
However, the trend may be dying off or coming back in Japan depending on who you talk to. Their biggest problem right now is more "Manabi Straight" -- there simply aren't enough children being born.

Town festivals (shinto matsuri) are still very popular (even if the sales opportunities are more of a driver now).

You might find the Japanese Culture thread under General Chat a good read (excluding the idiot posts of course).
(edit: the thread this was posted in was merged with the appropriate thread)

[LiberLibri]

Vexx exactly explained. For additional information, I introduce the marriage taboo provided in the Civil Code.

- ones in a direct line (mother-son, grandfather-granddaughter. Including in-law relation)
- ones within three degrees of relationship (uncle-niece, siblings)
- an adopted child(A) and an adoptive parent(B). "A's decendant and B's ascendant" is also prohibited.

Marriage between cousins is not prohibited. Before 19C, cousin-couple was welcomed and even encouraged because it was considered to be a good idea to avoid dispersing the Family property.

Marriage between an adopted child and a child of the adoptive parents (i.e. non-biological siblings) is explicitly permitted. Once only son could inherit the Family name, therefore parents having only daughters often adopted a male child and made him marry the eldest daughter to keep the Family. Some fantasies exploit this legacy system.

[technomo12]

QUESTION

IS A KIGURUMI A SUB-Culture of japan??

i happen to stumble some of them in the net and well it is kinda cfreepy and cute at the same time

pls answer this in a normal way

[LiberLibri]

Originally Posted by technomo12

QUESTION
IS A KIGURUMI A SUB-Culture of japan??

You can find basic description in Wikipedia.

Strictly speaking, you cannot call kigurumi a "sub-culture", nor "of japan". Some authors think that modern kigurumi is a descendant of western fursuits like Disney mascots. Kigurumi culture in Otaku context has its origin both in SpFX movies and in TV shows for kindergarten children.

[i8o]

Kigurumi which was specialized by Japanese
http://seriaya.hp.infoseek.co.jp/

[ApostleOfGod]

Question:

What types of characters do Japanese use for writing? I'm hearing all these unfarmiliar words like Katikana, Hirigana, and Kanji. How do you mix these different types of characters into one sentence or simply, writing? From what I know, the Chinese use the Kanji character system, but...

Ahh it's so confusing -_-

Thanks in advance,
A.K.

[tripperazn]

Katakana: The rarest of the three usually, used for emphasis on certain words and on loan words
Hiragana: The basic alphabet, usually used for grammar/transitions like "and", "but", "then"
Kanji: Chinese characters that usually are used to write out specific words.

Example Sentence:

おい(1)、マリア(2)、学校(3)に(1)行(3)くよ(1)。 (oi, Maria, gakkou ni ikuyo.) [This is something Nagi might say in Hayate no Gotoku]

1=hiragana 2=katakana 3=kanji

(Hey, Maria, I'm going to school.)

Maria is a foreign name, spelled with katakana. School is a name/word, written in kanji. "oi" is like "hey" a very informal slang term, along with "yo" at the end, which denotes the fact that this person is informing Maria of something, are spelled out with hiragana.

Wrong thread though, should be in the "Learning Japanese" thread.

[technomo12]

OHH

tnx now i know a bit hehehe

ARIGATO!

[ApostleOfGod]

Originally Posted by tripperazn

Katakana: The rarest of the three usually, used for emphasis on certain words and on loan words
Hiragana: The basic alphabet, usually used for grammar/transitions like "and", "but", "then"
Kanji: Chinese characters that usually are used to write out specific words.

Example Sentence:

おい(1)、マリア(2)、学校(3)に(1)行(3)くよ(1)。 (oi, Maria, gakkou ni ikuyo.) [This is something Nagi might say in Hayate no Gotoku]

1=hiragana 2=katakana 3=kanji

(Hey, Maria, I'm going to school.)

Maria is a foreign name, spelled with katakana. School is a name/word, written in kanji. "oi" is like "hey" a very informal slang term, along with "yo" at the end, which denotes the fact that this person is informing Maria of something, are spelled out with hiragana.

Wrong thread though, should be in the "Learning Japanese" thread.

Thanks.
And yeah, there is the more specific Learning Japanese thread, but then again last time I checked, Language is part of Culture .

Another question: In Japanese, I see a lot of honorifics on the names, but I can never guess which one is the "first name" and which is the "surname". Korean is a little different I think, so I can't really grasp how it all works.
So when you call someone "First Name-kun/chan" or whatever, does that mean you're closer to the person? Or is it the other way around? From what I can guess, I'd say that calling someone by their surname with an honorific = more respectful term, but even this I'm not sure of. Also, sometimes I see (in anime of course) people calling the others by their "First name" only? Like to use Clannad as an example..
Okazaki's full name = Tomoyo Okazaki (Right? -_-)
Hence, surname = Tomoyo (?)
Thus, "First Name" (of course, in English terms, because English flips the name around) = Okazaki (?). (Need confirmation on these if possible)
And so if someone calls Okazaki simply Okazaki, does that mean they are closer to him?
And if someone calls him just Tomoyo without honorifics, what does that mean? Actually, can you even do that?

Thanks in advance,
A.K.

[Kang Seung Jae]

Originally Posted by ApostleOfGod

Thanks.
And yeah, there is the more specific Learning Japanese thread, but then again last time I checked, Language is part of Culture .

Another question: In Japanese, I see a lot of honorifics on the names, but I can never guess which one is the "first name" and which is the "surname". Korean is a little different I think, so I can't really grasp how it all works.
So when you call someone "First Name-kun/chan" or whatever, does that mean you're closer to the person? Or is it the other way around? From what I can guess, I'd say that calling someone by their surname with an honorific = more respectful term, but even this I'm not sure of. Also, sometimes I see (in anime of course) people calling the others by their "First name" only? Like to use Clannad as an example..
Okazaki's full name = Tomoyo Okazaki (Right? -_-)
Hence, surname = Tomoyo (?)
Thus, "First Name" (of course, in English terms, because English flips the name around) = Okazaki (?). (Need confirmation on these if possible)
And so if someone calls Okazaki simply Okazaki, does that mean they are closer to him?
And if someone calls him just Tomoyo without honorifics, what does that mean? Actually, can you even do that?

Thanks in advance,
A.K.

First, it's Okazaki Tomoya, with Okazaki being the family name.


The use of -kun is pretty similar to Korean, where you can use it for both surnames and personal names. It is used by persons of senior status in addressing those of junior status, by males of roughly the same age and status when addressing each other, and by anyone in addressing male children.


On the other hand, -chan is a diminutive suffix, an informal version of san used to address children and female family members. Unlike -kun, however, it is rarely used in connection with surnames.