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Please, can you give some details about this "infantilization"? I can't be the only one who can't think of anything other than Hello Kitty.

astrange 10y ago
Nuclear bombs and then Hello Kitty? This thread is about as up to date as my grandparents.
reflexive 10y ago
The original "Gojira" (Godzilla) in 1954 has been regarded as an expression of the impotence and powerlessness felt by many Japanese after being forced to surrender to the Allies in WW2, and the subsequent American occupation. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/10788996/Godzilla-why-the-Japanese-original-is-no-joke.html http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/10788996/Godzilla-wh...
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
- honkhonkpants 10y ago
  Interesting perspective. Defeat was the consequence of having started the war in the first place. Nobody in America was sitting around in 1941 thinking up ways to vaporize Japanese people. As they say on the Internet: play stupid games, win stupid prizes.
  - krapp 10y ago
    It wouldn't surprise me if some Japanese viewed the atomic bombings as an unwarranted act of unprovoked aggression - and they may not be entirely unjustified if they do. From their point of view, it probably seemed as if the US had already won and just decided to spike the football.
    - Implicated 10y ago
      > From their point of view, it probably seemed as if the US had already won and just decided to spike the football. That wouldn't be far from the truth? If I remember, and it was reported correctly, the US govt deemed the nuclear bomb to be the lesser of two evils; the other being a long drawn out deescalation due to Japanese pride.
      - jbicha 10y ago
        Yes, that's what's taught in US schools, but there's significant controversy among historians over whether the Japanese may have been about to surrender in the late summer of 1945 anyway. It's mentioned in the (rather "left") book and Showtime series https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Stone%27s_Untold_History_of_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Stone%27s_Untold_Histor... I don't think it's a stretch at all to believe that the US did not need to drop the second bomb. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surrender_of_Japan https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surrender_of_Japan
    - honkhonkpants 10y ago
      Yeah, unprovoked? That belies a lack of historical perspective. Japan killed tens of millions of Chinese and intended to occupy the entire western Pacific, killing or enslaving all the people who lived there. The entire nation, all of its labor and industry, was bent toward this goal. It was a nation of profound evil.
      - seanmcdirmid 10y ago
        It's not like China didn't do that in its past either, probably as recently as qianlong. But they don't go around calling China a nation of profound evil at the time.
        honkhonkpants 10y ago
        Right, the historical anomaly of Japan and Nazi Germany was they tried to kill everybody and take all of their land well after that kind of thing had passed out of style.
benjohnson 10y ago
There's a corollary theory here in America where the people who lived through the horrors of WWII reacted by raising the next generation to be free spirits interested in enjoying life while they could.
eternalban 10y ago
We were discussing various topics, fashion, film, and graphic arts, and of course, Godzilla: http://www.oneikathetraveller.com/tokyo-style-and-infantilization.html http://www.oneikathetraveller.com/tokyo-style-and-infantiliz... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_manga#After_World_War_II https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_manga#After_World_W... http://motherboard.vice.com/blog/godzilla-is-our-never-ending-nuclear-nightmare http://motherboard.vice.com/blog/godzilla-is-our-never-endin... -- [p.s. edit: this thread got me surfing around and landed on the topic of Kawaii Ambassadors [below], which prompts the thought that another component of this very visible trend in post WWII Japanese culture may be a desire to present a non-threatening global image.] http://web-japan.org/trends/09_culture/pop090827.html http://web-japan.org/trends/09_culture/pop090827.html http://www.japannewbie.com/2010/01/14/state-sponsored-cute-kawaii-ambassadors/ http://www.japannewbie.com/2010/01/14/state-sponsored-cute-k... https://youtu.be/qAc3xXEx7lo https://youtu.be/qAc3xXEx7lo
tasty_freeze 10y ago
I'm not expert on Japanese culture. This comment comes from my experience 20 years ago I spent about six weeks in Japan, four of them working in an office in Kyoto and doing the daily commute on the train (the real reason I was there). One thing that jumped out at me was what appeared to be a widespread fetish where the ideal woman looked like a cupie doll type school girl, almost like a living anime character. There were also a lot of free "manga" around (anime magazines) and not only where these schoolgirl characters everywhere, raping them was a common theme. I loved my short stay in Japan, and I had a lot of positive experiences there, but that aspect of the culture was downright creepy.

astrange 10y ago

Nuclear bombs and then Hello Kitty? This thread is about as up to date as my grandparents.

reflexive 10y ago

The original "Gojira" (Godzilla) in 1954 has been regarded as an expression of the impotence and powerlessness felt by many Japanese after being forced to surrender to the Allies in WW2, and the subsequent American occupation. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/10788996/Godzilla-why-the-Japanese-original-is-no-joke.html http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/10788996/Godzilla-wh...

deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
honkhonkpants 10y ago
Interesting perspective. Defeat was the consequence of having started the war in the first place. Nobody in America was sitting around in 1941 thinking up ways to vaporize Japanese people. As they say on the Internet: play stupid games, win stupid prizes.
- krapp 10y ago
  It wouldn't surprise me if some Japanese viewed the atomic bombings as an unwarranted act of unprovoked aggression - and they may not be entirely unjustified if they do. From their point of view, it probably seemed as if the US had already won and just decided to spike the football.
  - Implicated 10y ago
    > From their point of view, it probably seemed as if the US had already won and just decided to spike the football. That wouldn't be far from the truth? If I remember, and it was reported correctly, the US govt deemed the nuclear bomb to be the lesser of two evils; the other being a long drawn out deescalation due to Japanese pride.
    - jbicha 10y ago
      Yes, that's what's taught in US schools, but there's significant controversy among historians over whether the Japanese may have been about to surrender in the late summer of 1945 anyway. It's mentioned in the (rather "left") book and Showtime series https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Stone%27s_Untold_History_of_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Stone%27s_Untold_Histor... I don't think it's a stretch at all to believe that the US did not need to drop the second bomb. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surrender_of_Japan https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surrender_of_Japan
  - honkhonkpants 10y ago
    Yeah, unprovoked? That belies a lack of historical perspective. Japan killed tens of millions of Chinese and intended to occupy the entire western Pacific, killing or enslaving all the people who lived there. The entire nation, all of its labor and industry, was bent toward this goal. It was a nation of profound evil.
    - seanmcdirmid 10y ago
      It's not like China didn't do that in its past either, probably as recently as qianlong. But they don't go around calling China a nation of profound evil at the time.
      - honkhonkpants 10y ago
        Right, the historical anomaly of Japan and Nazi Germany was they tried to kill everybody and take all of their land well after that kind of thing had passed out of style.

benjohnson 10y ago

There's a corollary theory here in America where the people who lived through the horrors of WWII reacted by raising the next generation to be free spirits interested in enjoying life while they could.

eternalban 10y ago

We were discussing various topics, fashion, film, and graphic arts, and of course, Godzilla: http://www.oneikathetraveller.com/tokyo-style-and-infantilization.html http://www.oneikathetraveller.com/tokyo-style-and-infantiliz... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_manga#After_World_War_II https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_manga#After_World_W... http://motherboard.vice.com/blog/godzilla-is-our-never-ending-nuclear-nightmare http://motherboard.vice.com/blog/godzilla-is-our-never-endin... -- [p.s. edit: this thread got me surfing around and landed on the topic of Kawaii Ambassadors [below], which prompts the thought that another component of this very visible trend in post WWII Japanese culture may be a desire to present a non-threatening global image.] http://web-japan.org/trends/09_culture/pop090827.html http://web-japan.org/trends/09_culture/pop090827.html http://www.japannewbie.com/2010/01/14/state-sponsored-cute-kawaii-ambassadors/ http://www.japannewbie.com/2010/01/14/state-sponsored-cute-k... https://youtu.be/qAc3xXEx7lo https://youtu.be/qAc3xXEx7lo

tasty_freeze 10y ago

I'm not expert on Japanese culture. This comment comes from my experience 20 years ago I spent about six weeks in Japan, four of them working in an office in Kyoto and doing the daily commute on the train (the real reason I was there). One thing that jumped out at me was what appeared to be a widespread fetish where the ideal woman looked like a cupie doll type school girl, almost like a living anime character. There were also a lot of free "manga" around (anime magazines) and not only where these schoolgirl characters everywhere, raping them was a common theme. I loved my short stay in Japan, and I had a lot of positive experiences there, but that aspect of the culture was downright creepy.