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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 Japanes
by 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 agoYeah 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 agoOr, 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 agoAs 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).