4 ms·

I think a lot of the confusion around Japan's culture often stems from the fact that from the outside, to casual observers, they seem so culturally integrated w

I think a lot of the confusion around Japan's culture often stems from the fact that from the outside, to casual observers, they seem so culturally integrated with the rest of the world; yet don't seem to have assimilated many (if any) of its social norms. The reality is, Japan is a net cultural exporter, and seems to have gone out of its way to prevent contaminating its social identity with foreign imports. Needless to say, the country has been heavily influenced by the brands it's imported, and the processes of technological/financial exchange abroad. But the nation itself has broadly kept its interactions with the outside world professional, or one-sided. Attempting to measure the nation (honestly most east-asian nations) with the metrics of progress we would we would use for more culturally integrated countries will always be confounding. They represent a parallel civilization that refuses to be subsumed by western thought in the way many less geographically defensible/isolated and technologically developed societies inevitably have been. As a result, their social development will never quite adhere to the broad trends that more westernized societies seem destined to follow.

AareyBaba 8y ago
That a convoluted way of saying: "The Japanese have a unique culture and have adapted western ideas without giving up their Japanese identity". The same could be said about Indians, Thai or Nigerians.
- crocodiletears 8y ago
  True, but I like to qualify my assertions when making statements like that. People often unpack complex claims in such a way that they make the wrong assumptions about the reasoning behind them. I believe that the assertion is Moreso true for Japan than it is for just about any other culture on earth, given their heavy cultural influence and integration into the global economy. I also believe their practices are far more hygenic than those in other non-western States. It's much harder to pick out the western footprint in Japanese culture because western influences are so heavilly mutated during their transition to Japanese society, and more of them just don't map onto it. The same is harder to say for many other countries that more often emulate than dissect and adapt. Western elements in other societies tend to stick out like sore thumbs, and remain relatively unchanged from their sources. India is also a good example.
- peteretep 8y ago
  > Thai If you include Thailand in countries that have maintained their unique culture free of Western ideas, I think you have to include virtually all countries. I’ve lived around half my life in Thailand, and like any country it has its specialties, but particular resistance to Western ideas is not one of them. It’s a country that has previously prided itself on integration of Western ideals (cf Rama V), and continues to wholeheartedly embrace fusion with certain cultures (Chinese, Western, Japanese) while strongly pushing back on others (Indian, for example).
eloisant 8y ago
As someone who lived in Japan for about 5 years, most of the confusion comes from taking an isolated phenomenon from Japan and assuming it's something common that most Japanese people do every day. Imagine a "Florida man" news making the buzz in Japan, and them assuming most Americans wrestle a gator every day before breakfast. Now back to the zombie squid, it certainly exists but I'm sure most Japanese have never eat that dish, probably even never hears about it. Just like most French people have never eaten an ortolan (something I consider much more shocking than the squid video - and I'm French.)

AareyBaba 8y ago

That a convoluted way of saying: "The Japanese have a unique culture and have adapted western ideas without giving up their Japanese identity". The same could be said about Indians, Thai or Nigerians.

crocodiletears 8y ago
True, but I like to qualify my assertions when making statements like that. People often unpack complex claims in such a way that they make the wrong assumptions about the reasoning behind them. I believe that the assertion is Moreso true for Japan than it is for just about any other culture on earth, given their heavy cultural influence and integration into the global economy. I also believe their practices are far more hygenic than those in other non-western States. It's much harder to pick out the western footprint in Japanese culture because western influences are so heavilly mutated during their transition to Japanese society, and more of them just don't map onto it. The same is harder to say for many other countries that more often emulate than dissect and adapt. Western elements in other societies tend to stick out like sore thumbs, and remain relatively unchanged from their sources. India is also a good example.
peteretep 8y ago
> Thai If you include Thailand in countries that have maintained their unique culture free of Western ideas, I think you have to include virtually all countries. I’ve lived around half my life in Thailand, and like any country it has its specialties, but particular resistance to Western ideas is not one of them. It’s a country that has previously prided itself on integration of Western ideals (cf Rama V), and continues to wholeheartedly embrace fusion with certain cultures (Chinese, Western, Japanese) while strongly pushing back on others (Indian, for example).

eloisant 8y ago

As someone who lived in Japan for about 5 years, most of the confusion comes from taking an isolated phenomenon from Japan and assuming it's something common that most Japanese people do every day. Imagine a "Florida man" news making the buzz in Japan, and them assuming most Americans wrestle a gator every day before breakfast. Now back to the zombie squid, it certainly exists but I'm sure most Japanese have never eat that dish, probably even never hears about it. Just like most French people have never eaten an ortolan (something I consider much more shocking than the squid video - and I'm French.)