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This is somewhat adjacent for which I apologize, but being a Japan Fan of the travelling variety I have noticed a trend on HN toward Japan related articles. My

by ehnto 4y ago

This is somewhat adjacent for which I apologize, but being a Japan Fan of the travelling variety I have noticed a trend on HN toward Japan related articles. My understanding is HN has no user-specific algorithmic feed changes, so is this just a natural increase in interest toward Japan in general I'm seeing since the borders opened up? Most of the articles aren't even travel related, just about Japanese culture or people from Japan.

wingely 4y ago
Nerds love Japan
- barking_biscuit 4y ago
  Can confirm.
rizzaxc 4y ago
you'll find that almost every major corner of the internet is obsessed with Japan
joenot443 4y ago
Japan’s just a fascinating place. There’s no place quite like it in the world and as cultures exchange and evolve and become more connected, it’s unlikely there ever will be.
- publicola1990 4y ago
  But Japan seems less "fundamental" than many other cultures including the Greeks, Persians and Chinese for example who all lay claim to thousands of years of cultural significance. Is there a Japanese equivalent of Budha or Aristotle or Confucius.
  - khuey 4y ago
    Does it matter? The distinctiveness is what attracts people, not the age.
  - workingdog 4y ago
    It's fair to say the culture is younger, but they have a very complete Shinto deity mythos that's just as lavish and nuanced as the Greek gods. The isolation provided by being an hard to reach island has, in my opinion, made their culture quite differentiated and useful to contrast my own culture with. For example, I learned from the Japanese that children are much more capable than my own culture thinks they are. So I don't coddle them as much as my peers do.
    - Vt71fcAqt7 4y ago
      >The isolation provided by being an hard to reach island has, in my opinion, made their culture quite differentiated and useful to contrast my own culture with. Not really. Vast portions of pre-modern Japanese culture was borrowed from China. From fashion and art to language, philosophy and religion. Even the "very complete Shinto deity mythos" is not what you claim: >Even among experts, there are no settled theories on what Shinto is or how far it should be included, and there are no settled theories on where the history of Shinto begins[0] And true Shintoism has been dead for centuries. >I learned from the Japanese that children are much more capable than my own culture thinks they are. It's actualy the opposite. Modern childhood innocence, to the extent that it is a new development*, is a western export that has it's roots in romanticism. It isn't really unique to Japan to not have it to the same extent. People like Japan because of anime, which does have it's roots in Japanese art, although it has become somewhat overstated and in any event was borrowed from Chinese. What it is in my opinion is that Japan was the first of the east asian countries to become rich. So people who like east asian culture "found" Japan first, then came up with all this Japanese exceptionalism. Which is really shockingly ignorant being that China was the culture for almost an entire millennium. Chinese silk, jade, tea, and what else, fine china were found in all royal palaces around the world. You can even see it's effect on fashion in some 16-17th century english art. None of this is to say thag Japan doesn't have a unique culture, but it is heavily overstated in the last two decades. It was also used to explain Japan's economic rise in 1980. Now that Taiwan and Korea have done the same that element has been conveniently forgotten. [0]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Shinto https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Shinto *That is, to the extent that it didn't already exist before. High childhood mortality prevented the concept childhood innocence as it exists and is manifested today (such as coddling).
OJFord 4y ago
I wouldn't say it's recent, I've long noticed that about HN. I learnt recently that there's a long history of Japanese influence on/immigration to San Francisco; so I think it's largely a symptom of SF-skew, and that influence rubbing off on others of course.
Klonoar 4y ago
I’ve actually had a running joke with a friend over this, the tech industry has a fetish for the place that they don’t like to acknowledge.
missedthecue 4y ago
Weebs

by ehnto 4y ago

wingely 4y ago

Nerds love Japan

barking_biscuit 4y ago
Can confirm.

rizzaxc 4y ago

you'll find that almost every major corner of the internet is obsessed with Japan

joenot443 4y ago

Japan’s just a fascinating place. There’s no place quite like it in the world and as cultures exchange and evolve and become more connected, it’s unlikely there ever will be.

publicola1990 4y ago
But Japan seems less "fundamental" than many other cultures including the Greeks, Persians and Chinese for example who all lay claim to thousands of years of cultural significance. Is there a Japanese equivalent of Budha or Aristotle or Confucius.
- khuey 4y ago
  Does it matter? The distinctiveness is what attracts people, not the age.
- workingdog 4y ago
  It's fair to say the culture is younger, but they have a very complete Shinto deity mythos that's just as lavish and nuanced as the Greek gods. The isolation provided by being an hard to reach island has, in my opinion, made their culture quite differentiated and useful to contrast my own culture with. For example, I learned from the Japanese that children are much more capable than my own culture thinks they are. So I don't coddle them as much as my peers do.
  - Vt71fcAqt7 4y ago
    >The isolation provided by being an hard to reach island has, in my opinion, made their culture quite differentiated and useful to contrast my own culture with. Not really. Vast portions of pre-modern Japanese culture was borrowed from China. From fashion and art to language, philosophy and religion. Even the "very complete Shinto deity mythos" is not what you claim: >Even among experts, there are no settled theories on what Shinto is or how far it should be included, and there are no settled theories on where the history of Shinto begins[0] And true Shintoism has been dead for centuries. >I learned from the Japanese that children are much more capable than my own culture thinks they are. It's actualy the opposite. Modern childhood innocence, to the extent that it is a new development*, is a western export that has it's roots in romanticism. It isn't really unique to Japan to not have it to the same extent. People like Japan because of anime, which does have it's roots in Japanese art, although it has become somewhat overstated and in any event was borrowed from Chinese. What it is in my opinion is that Japan was the first of the east asian countries to become rich. So people who like east asian culture "found" Japan first, then came up with all this Japanese exceptionalism. Which is really shockingly ignorant being that China was the culture for almost an entire millennium. Chinese silk, jade, tea, and what else, fine china were found in all royal palaces around the world. You can even see it's effect on fashion in some 16-17th century english art. None of this is to say thag Japan doesn't have a unique culture, but it is heavily overstated in the last two decades. It was also used to explain Japan's economic rise in 1980. Now that Taiwan and Korea have done the same that element has been conveniently forgotten. [0]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Shinto https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Shinto *That is, to the extent that it didn't already exist before. High childhood mortality prevented the concept childhood innocence as it exists and is manifested today (such as coddling).

OJFord 4y ago

I wouldn't say it's recent, I've long noticed that about HN. I learnt recently that there's a long history of Japanese influence on/immigration to San Francisco; so I think it's largely a symptom of SF-skew, and that influence rubbing off on others of course.

Klonoar 4y ago

I’ve actually had a running joke with a friend over this, the tech industry has a fetish for the place that they don’t like to acknowledge.

missedthecue 4y ago

Weebs