4 ms·

I was there on vacation not too long ago - it is a very interesting place. Most of the "weird" things we associate with Japan as outsiders are usually very prac

I was there on vacation not too long ago - it is a very interesting place. Most of the "weird" things we associate with Japan as outsiders are usually very practical and sensible solutions to local problems. I think it's definitely true that Japan is a leading nation in many ways - not just technologically, but also socially and both in the good and bad aspects. But because Japan is a fairly unique place the local solutions don't translate 1:1 to the outside world, so you have to and disentangle their solutions with their particular environment to get a true sense of what's coming. Smartphones are a good example - everything they do today (and more, TV for example) existed in Japan years before, but it was in local format. I take is that it was easier for Apple and Google to implement similar technologies rather than for Japanese companies to translate their technologies to a different mindset.

orthoganol 11y ago
> Japan is a leading nation in many ways - not just technologically, but also socially and both in the good and bad aspects I lived in Japan. Most expats (granted, not engineers) are in agreement that Japan feels like 2050 for technology but 1950 socially. There is zero PC-sensibility, zilch, doesn't exist in their culture. It's also a man's society, women are expected to give up their careers after marriage. Race is deeply ingrained in their world view in a way that would anger PC-conscious Americans. There is also zero culture of accepting integration from people who are not Japanese by blood. Go to your Japanese girlfriend's family's get together and listen to them mention how the Japanese are a superior race to Westerners (maybe that was a fluke but I doubt it from swapping stories). Mention that it's relatively accepted that the Japanese descended from the Koreans and watch how people react. Listen to seemingly progressive 20-something at bars talk about how Chinese people are unclean. After all, they believed their political leader was divine until the end of WWII and they built an empire based on their hierarchy of races up until the end of WWII, much like NSDAP's 'project' but without receiving the same kind of international backlash (a wave of pacifism yes, but backlash for the racial elements not so much). They have a culture of friendliness towards foreigners which is awesome, unlike say China, so you don't fully see this side of Japan until you live there. I really do love Japan, I have zero ill will towards the country or it's people, but it's simply wrong to claim it's socially progressive in almost any way by Western standards.
- chaostheory 11y ago
  > Race is deeply ingrained in their world view in a way that would anger PC-conscious Americans. What's worse is that it's not even only about race. There's Japanese prejudice towards occupations (anything related to death, meat prep, and so on) and even about places where people are born and where they live
- hugh4 11y ago
  "Progressive" is such a stupid word. Who gets to decide what is, and isn't, progress?
raverbashing 11y ago
> Most of the "weird" things we associate with Japan as outsiders are usually very practical and sensible solutions to local problems. Care to elaborate?

orthoganol 11y ago

> Japan is a leading nation in many ways - not just technologically, but also socially and both in the good and bad aspects I lived in Japan. Most expats (granted, not engineers) are in agreement that Japan feels like 2050 for technology but 1950 socially. There is zero PC-sensibility, zilch, doesn't exist in their culture. It's also a man's society, women are expected to give up their careers after marriage. Race is deeply ingrained in their world view in a way that would anger PC-conscious Americans. There is also zero culture of accepting integration from people who are not Japanese by blood. Go to your Japanese girlfriend's family's get together and listen to them mention how the Japanese are a superior race to Westerners (maybe that was a fluke but I doubt it from swapping stories). Mention that it's relatively accepted that the Japanese descended from the Koreans and watch how people react. Listen to seemingly progressive 20-something at bars talk about how Chinese people are unclean. After all, they believed their political leader was divine until the end of WWII and they built an empire based on their hierarchy of races up until the end of WWII, much like NSDAP's 'project' but without receiving the same kind of international backlash (a wave of pacifism yes, but backlash for the racial elements not so much). They have a culture of friendliness towards foreigners which is awesome, unlike say China, so you don't fully see this side of Japan until you live there. I really do love Japan, I have zero ill will towards the country or it's people, but it's simply wrong to claim it's socially progressive in almost any way by Western standards.

chaostheory 11y ago
> Race is deeply ingrained in their world view in a way that would anger PC-conscious Americans. What's worse is that it's not even only about race. There's Japanese prejudice towards occupations (anything related to death, meat prep, and so on) and even about places where people are born and where they live
hugh4 11y ago
"Progressive" is such a stupid word. Who gets to decide what is, and isn't, progress?

raverbashing 11y ago

> Most of the "weird" things we associate with Japan as outsiders are usually very practical and sensible solutions to local problems. Care to elaborate?