4 ms·

I am wondering: why so many news about Japan on this site? Do many readers live here? There are changes in every society in the world right now, yet I have the

by Iv 7y ago

I am wondering: why so many news about Japan on this site? Do many readers live here? There are changes in every society in the world right now, yet I have the impression that Japan gets a big part of coverage while having little relevance to the rest of the world...

krzat 7y ago
Japan is the closest (for westerners) to alien civilization, that's why it's so interesting.
- jhanschoo 7y ago
  Not really, it's just the one with a reputation of being alien. There are just as alien societies but without the reputation. I'd say several things contribute to that reputation. It's historically remote (hence exotic and alien), it was never so consistently powerful as to be a great power and share in what is considered normal (like China is), yet not weak neither and experienced modernization very early, hence contributing to its influence and thus reputation.
tnzk 7y ago
I feel this a little too. Living in Japan, I don't think that much people read HN here (relative to other countries) , even in the software industry.
jacobush 7y ago
It's so different. To me it's a constant reminder that many things I take for granted, actually don't have to be like that at all. It serves to me a similar role as sci-fi for me, in reminding me of that.
- karl_schlagenfu 7y ago
  Except Toto toilets and the Shinkansen (which other countries like China now have) it’s not so different. And the banking system is ass backwards compared to the rest of the world.
  - aikinai 7y ago
    The “country of the future” trope is not actually very accurate, but the structure of society has many major differences from any other country I’m aware of. The shūkatsu system is one decent example of that.
  - nervousvarun 7y ago
    All anyone said in this thread was it is different. There was no implication of superiority. Why assume otherwise?
    - karl_schlagenfu 7y ago
      Who said anything about superiority? I merely stated the main differences I have seen since living here. Japan isn't much different from the rest of the world, yet people here on HN seem to treat it as some kind of exotic alien world.
garganzol 7y ago
Japan has deep philosophical and business traditions that appeal to the rest of industrial world. Personally I adore Japan. It is surely a country from the future. It has so many lessons to give for the rest of us.
- fiblye 7y ago
  Had a good laugh at this. Japan is firmly stuck in the 80s. The only major change is now most people here have smartphones. Japan does some things very right, and some things horribly wrong. Not too different from most other developed countries.
  - throwaway2048 7y ago
    What really matters is that they do things differently, with different successes (and failures). "Genetic diversity" of ideas is an important part of making the world a better place.
  - mikekchar 7y ago
    I honestly believe that Japan is stuck in the 50's if you want to use that kind of imagery. It's like "Leave it to Beaver" here. Of course that's a gross over-simplification and there are a lot of things that contradict it, but it's the way I feel. When people think they want to retreat to a simpler kind of lifestyle where things are more cut and dried -- that's really like Japan. Of course I live in the country side which is very different than living in Tokyo, Osaka or Kyoto.
  - Freak_NL 7y ago
    As a foreigner to Japan you'll pick up on lots of things, habits, and systems that work really well and could serve as examples for other countries. But study the country more in-depth or live there for a longer period of time, and you'll see the parts that make you wish Japan would adopt some things many of us take for granted. In Europe having five weeks of paid vacation is pretty much standard. Employers are well aware that holidays benefit both employer and employee, because a well-rested and refreshed employee soon has those missing hours made up for in inspiration, efficiency, and a much lower sick-rate. In Japan this is unachievable not because the government doesn't desire it (on the contrary) but because of inertia in the workplace. As a Japanese friend recently explained to me: you can't take off many more days beyond the public holidays like in the golden week, because your senior colleagues didn't get to do that when they were younger either. With the strict hierarchy of seniority in Japanese companies and institutions, that basically means the end of that discussion until the desire for change becomes so great that it happens on a national scale. On the other hand, they have warm 缶コーヒー from vendingmachines, so they are living in the future. At least a bit.
pjc50 7y ago
The site is hugely US-focused to start with; I wouldn't say there was "many" news articles about Japan. There are a few high-profile posters who live there such as Patio11. > little relevance to the rest of the world That's .. an opinion.
yskchu 7y ago
HN community in Japan is quite big, there's also some good meetups e.g. HN Kansai and HN Tokyo
hrktb 7y ago
Is it disproportionate ? There are still a overwhelming number of US centric news, on subject that arguably would be more thought provoking if it was on other countries (that is arguably not that interesting, even to a US reader (I am thinking about the plastics piece by NPR on the front page for instance, it's a decent article, but would be much more interesting if it was about plastics in China for instance)

by Iv 7y ago

krzat 7y ago

Japan is the closest (for westerners) to alien civilization, that's why it's so interesting.

jhanschoo 7y ago
Not really, it's just the one with a reputation of being alien. There are just as alien societies but without the reputation. I'd say several things contribute to that reputation. It's historically remote (hence exotic and alien), it was never so consistently powerful as to be a great power and share in what is considered normal (like China is), yet not weak neither and experienced modernization very early, hence contributing to its influence and thus reputation.

tnzk 7y ago

I feel this a little too. Living in Japan, I don't think that much people read HN here (relative to other countries) , even in the software industry.

jacobush 7y ago

It's so different. To me it's a constant reminder that many things I take for granted, actually don't have to be like that at all. It serves to me a similar role as sci-fi for me, in reminding me of that.

karl_schlagenfu 7y ago
Except Toto toilets and the Shinkansen (which other countries like China now have) it’s not so different. And the banking system is ass backwards compared to the rest of the world.
- aikinai 7y ago
  The “country of the future” trope is not actually very accurate, but the structure of society has many major differences from any other country I’m aware of. The shūkatsu system is one decent example of that.
- nervousvarun 7y ago
  All anyone said in this thread was it is different. There was no implication of superiority. Why assume otherwise?
  - karl_schlagenfu 7y ago
    Who said anything about superiority? I merely stated the main differences I have seen since living here. Japan isn't much different from the rest of the world, yet people here on HN seem to treat it as some kind of exotic alien world.

garganzol 7y ago

Japan has deep philosophical and business traditions that appeal to the rest of industrial world. Personally I adore Japan. It is surely a country from the future. It has so many lessons to give for the rest of us.

fiblye 7y ago
Had a good laugh at this. Japan is firmly stuck in the 80s. The only major change is now most people here have smartphones. Japan does some things very right, and some things horribly wrong. Not too different from most other developed countries.
- throwaway2048 7y ago
  What really matters is that they do things differently, with different successes (and failures). "Genetic diversity" of ideas is an important part of making the world a better place.
- mikekchar 7y ago
  I honestly believe that Japan is stuck in the 50's if you want to use that kind of imagery. It's like "Leave it to Beaver" here. Of course that's a gross over-simplification and there are a lot of things that contradict it, but it's the way I feel. When people think they want to retreat to a simpler kind of lifestyle where things are more cut and dried -- that's really like Japan. Of course I live in the country side which is very different than living in Tokyo, Osaka or Kyoto.
- Freak_NL 7y ago
  As a foreigner to Japan you'll pick up on lots of things, habits, and systems that work really well and could serve as examples for other countries. But study the country more in-depth or live there for a longer period of time, and you'll see the parts that make you wish Japan would adopt some things many of us take for granted. In Europe having five weeks of paid vacation is pretty much standard. Employers are well aware that holidays benefit both employer and employee, because a well-rested and refreshed employee soon has those missing hours made up for in inspiration, efficiency, and a much lower sick-rate. In Japan this is unachievable not because the government doesn't desire it (on the contrary) but because of inertia in the workplace. As a Japanese friend recently explained to me: you can't take off many more days beyond the public holidays like in the golden week, because your senior colleagues didn't get to do that when they were younger either. With the strict hierarchy of seniority in Japanese companies and institutions, that basically means the end of that discussion until the desire for change becomes so great that it happens on a national scale. On the other hand, they have warm 缶コーヒー from vendingmachines, so they are living in the future. At least a bit.

pjc50 7y ago

The site is hugely US-focused to start with; I wouldn't say there was "many" news articles about Japan. There are a few high-profile posters who live there such as Patio11. > little relevance to the rest of the world That's .. an opinion.

yskchu 7y ago

HN community in Japan is quite big, there's also some good meetups e.g. HN Kansai and HN Tokyo

hrktb 7y ago

Is it disproportionate ? There are still a overwhelming number of US centric news, on subject that arguably would be more thought provoking if it was on other countries (that is arguably not that interesting, even to a US reader (I am thinking about the plastics piece by NPR on the front page for instance, it's a decent article, but would be much more interesting if it was about plastics in China for instance)