4 ms·

The obsession with Japanese uniqueness (biological, cultural, linguistic, geographic, sociological, psychological, etc.) became quite a cottage industry in post

by Steko 11y ago

The obsession with Japanese uniqueness (biological, cultural, linguistic, geographic, sociological, psychological, etc.) became quite a cottage industry in postwar Japan and is collectively referred to as nihonjinron [1]. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nihonjinron https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nihonjinron You'll find plenty of grains of truth in these works but also some really bonkers pseudoscience ("Japanese are descended from a different set of primates"). It's not a monolithic movement so much as a strain of thought that can color mainstream works to varying degrees as well as popular opinion due to decades of being bombarded with these factoids by Japanese media.

gohrt 11y ago
It's also a very scary and dangerous phenomenon -- that was one of the major historical lessons of the German side in WWII.
deleted 11y ago
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deleted 11y ago
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hangonhn 11y ago
A friend of mine, who's Caucasian, was living in Japan and had to go to the hospital once. The doctor asked him what the normal body temperature was for a white person. The doctor didn't really believe him when he said it's the same as the Japanese.
- glandium 11y ago
  That's because it's not the same. When my japanese wife has the same body temperature as mine, she has a (slight) fever. Edit: Conversely, my body temperature when I have a slight fever would be considered serious.
  - greggman 11y ago
    You sure that's because she's Japanese? I'm not Japanese and my body temp is lower on average.
    - delinka 11y ago
      Same here. I'm a white dude and normal for me is about one degree (F) below "average" - 97.5
    - glandium 11y ago
      Take it with a grain of salt because this is from a pharmaceutical group, but this page claims the average body temperature of the Japanese was 36.89°C 50 years ago and that it was 36.20°C as of 2009. http://www.sawai.co.jp/kenko-suishinka/illness/200909-02.html http://www.sawai.co.jp/kenko-suishinka/illness/200909-02.htm... Edit: although, that might as well be due to the aging population. That said, I have been told that my average (by France standards) temperature was "a little high".
    - song 11y ago
      I wonder if there's a diet component. When I lived in Japan, after a while my temperature was an average 0.3 degrees lower than it used to be before. It returned back to what it used to be before after leaving Japan and switching to a different diet
  - snarfy 11y ago
    Women have lower body temperatures. http://io9.com/why-do-womens-bodies-run-colder-than-mens-836827770 http://io9.com/why-do-womens-bodies-run-colder-than-mens-836...
  - maaku 11y ago
    Body temp is a range and everyone is different and there is no discernable difference between Japanese and non-japanese on average.
- deciplex 11y ago
  Before drugs developed outside Japan are approved for use in Japan, as part of the approval process they will test the drugs on Japanese using "foreigners" as a control. And it doesn't really matter where the foreigner is from, either. Like you could have a drug developed in Germany and they'll happily grab a random Aussie for the trial. Years ago I knew a guy who made extra money every few months doing this.
mc32 11y ago
I used to hear a story, not sure if it was made up or not about Japan objecting to rossignol skis because, it was claimed, Japanese snow was not like European snow. And apparently it was true[1]. It was claimed by an industry go up [Consumer Product Safety Association]. Some other equally comical claims was that Japanese stomachs were too small to consume American oranges... [1]http://archive.fortune.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/1986/11/24/68360/index.htm http://archive.fortune.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive...
- colanderman 11y ago
  I've also heard that while foreign strawberries are "suturaberi", Japanese strawberries, despite being the same species, are "ichigo".
  - deciplex 11y ago
    To be fair, Japanese strawberries are heaps better since they actually allow the damn things to ripen before they try to sell them. Same goes for tomatoes. Most tomatoes and strawberries sold in the US taste like cold diarrhea in comparison.
    - wisty 11y ago
      That's not Japan being unique. The Anglosphere is a bit special, when it comes to fruit and vegetables in supermarkets. Go to Italy, China, France, any country with a reputation for good food, and you'll get plenty of good tomatoes.
      - elevenfist 11y ago
        Tomatoes are allowed to ripen (instead of being ripened using ethylene gas) in India as well. Most U.S. supermarkets don't sell ripe bell peppers as well, and most veggies are tasteless, when they shouldn't be if they were grown properly.
        11y ago

by Steko 11y ago

gohrt 11y ago

It's also a very scary and dangerous phenomenon -- that was one of the major historical lessons of the German side in WWII.

deleted 11y ago

[deleted]

deleted 11y ago

[deleted]

hangonhn 11y ago

A friend of mine, who's Caucasian, was living in Japan and had to go to the hospital once. The doctor asked him what the normal body temperature was for a white person. The doctor didn't really believe him when he said it's the same as the Japanese.

glandium 11y ago
That's because it's not the same. When my japanese wife has the same body temperature as mine, she has a (slight) fever. Edit: Conversely, my body temperature when I have a slight fever would be considered serious.
- greggman 11y ago
  You sure that's because she's Japanese? I'm not Japanese and my body temp is lower on average.
  - delinka 11y ago
    Same here. I'm a white dude and normal for me is about one degree (F) below "average" - 97.5
  - glandium 11y ago
    Take it with a grain of salt because this is from a pharmaceutical group, but this page claims the average body temperature of the Japanese was 36.89°C 50 years ago and that it was 36.20°C as of 2009. http://www.sawai.co.jp/kenko-suishinka/illness/200909-02.html http://www.sawai.co.jp/kenko-suishinka/illness/200909-02.htm... Edit: although, that might as well be due to the aging population. That said, I have been told that my average (by France standards) temperature was "a little high".
  - song 11y ago
    I wonder if there's a diet component. When I lived in Japan, after a while my temperature was an average 0.3 degrees lower than it used to be before. It returned back to what it used to be before after leaving Japan and switching to a different diet
- snarfy 11y ago
  Women have lower body temperatures. http://io9.com/why-do-womens-bodies-run-colder-than-mens-836827770 http://io9.com/why-do-womens-bodies-run-colder-than-mens-836...
- maaku 11y ago
  Body temp is a range and everyone is different and there is no discernable difference between Japanese and non-japanese on average.
deciplex 11y ago
Before drugs developed outside Japan are approved for use in Japan, as part of the approval process they will test the drugs on Japanese using "foreigners" as a control. And it doesn't really matter where the foreigner is from, either. Like you could have a drug developed in Germany and they'll happily grab a random Aussie for the trial. Years ago I knew a guy who made extra money every few months doing this.

mc32 11y ago

I used to hear a story, not sure if it was made up or not about Japan objecting to rossignol skis because, it was claimed, Japanese snow was not like European snow. And apparently it was true[1]. It was claimed by an industry go up [Consumer Product Safety Association]. Some other equally comical claims was that Japanese stomachs were too small to consume American oranges... [1]http://archive.fortune.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/1986/11/24/68360/index.htm http://archive.fortune.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive...

colanderman 11y ago
I've also heard that while foreign strawberries are "suturaberi", Japanese strawberries, despite being the same species, are "ichigo".
- deciplex 11y ago
  To be fair, Japanese strawberries are heaps better since they actually allow the damn things to ripen before they try to sell them. Same goes for tomatoes. Most tomatoes and strawberries sold in the US taste like cold diarrhea in comparison.
  - wisty 11y ago
    That's not Japan being unique. The Anglosphere is a bit special, when it comes to fruit and vegetables in supermarkets. Go to Italy, China, France, any country with a reputation for good food, and you'll get plenty of good tomatoes.
    - elevenfist 11y ago
      Tomatoes are allowed to ripen (instead of being ripened using ethylene gas) in India as well. Most U.S. supermarkets don't sell ripe bell peppers as well, and most veggies are tasteless, when they shouldn't be if they were grown properly.
      - 11y ago