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America: "Japanese culture is just so weird! ...Here are the top 9 weirdest Japan things!" I think its become a meme at this point, perpetuated by blogs that l

America: "Japanese culture is just so weird! ...Here are the top 9 weirdest Japan things!" I think its become a meme at this point, perpetuated by blogs that lack original content.

Mediterraneo10 5y ago
Japan itself has a homegrown industry of claiming it is utterly different from all other nations. This has led Japanese academics to e.g. claim that the Japanese cannot eat imported rice because only local rice is compatible with their anatomy. Or another example (common through the 1970s, less found today with the larger amount of immigrant labour): foreigners should be taught only a simplified and artificial form of Japanese, because no way could foreign brains ever grasp the real Japanese language. So, when foreigners speak of Japan as weird, this only plays into Japanese own attitude.
- duxup 5y ago
  Yeah the weirdness of Japan thing is very much a meme sort of thing that I think can be pushed by folks on the inside, but the nature of Japanese society (not necessarily all individuals) still seems somewhat closed / walled off and that IMO is probably the origin / feeds / fed the meme.
- Cyberdog 5y ago
  > Japan itself has a homegrown industry of claiming it is utterly different from all other nations. Pretty much all countries have this sort of narrative about themselves, at least among each country's patriots.
- sib 5y ago
  Or, as Dan Carlin, the creator of the Hardcore History podcast says, "The Japanese are like everyone else, only more so." https://www.dancarlin.com/hardcore-history-series/ https://www.dancarlin.com/hardcore-history-series/
  - smogcutter 5y ago
    As long as we’re talking about exceptionalism, worth noting that this is originally a quote about the Jews which Carlin adapted (Carlin himself is clear about this).
ksm1717 5y ago
The same kind of folks who didn’t/wouldn’t care to know a thing about anything outside of America before the “information” age now have the luxury of getting the most simplistic representation piped into their heads via clickbait and mass media.

America: "Japanese culture is just so weird! ...Here are the top 9 weirdest Japan things!" I think its become a meme at this point, perpetuated by blogs that lack original content.

Mediterraneo10 5y ago

Japan itself has a homegrown industry of claiming it is utterly different from all other nations. This has led Japanese academics to e.g. claim that the Japanese cannot eat imported rice because only local rice is compatible with their anatomy. Or another example (common through the 1970s, less found today with the larger amount of immigrant labour): foreigners should be taught only a simplified and artificial form of Japanese, because no way could foreign brains ever grasp the real Japanese language. So, when foreigners speak of Japan as weird, this only plays into Japanese own attitude.

duxup 5y ago
Yeah the weirdness of Japan thing is very much a meme sort of thing that I think can be pushed by folks on the inside, but the nature of Japanese society (not necessarily all individuals) still seems somewhat closed / walled off and that IMO is probably the origin / feeds / fed the meme.
Cyberdog 5y ago
> Japan itself has a homegrown industry of claiming it is utterly different from all other nations. Pretty much all countries have this sort of narrative about themselves, at least among each country's patriots.
sib 5y ago
Or, as Dan Carlin, the creator of the Hardcore History podcast says, "The Japanese are like everyone else, only more so." https://www.dancarlin.com/hardcore-history-series/ https://www.dancarlin.com/hardcore-history-series/
- smogcutter 5y ago
  As long as we’re talking about exceptionalism, worth noting that this is originally a quote about the Jews which Carlin adapted (Carlin himself is clear about this).

ksm1717 5y ago

The same kind of folks who didn’t/wouldn’t care to know a thing about anything outside of America before the “information” age now have the luxury of getting the most simplistic representation piped into their heads via clickbait and mass media.