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I don't know how to describe this, but Japanese enjoy putting a little bit of joy into every thing, like Ronald McDonald, but real.

by ipnon 1y ago

reedf1 1y ago
This probably has a philosophical underpinning in Animism, almost everything is anthropomorphized and given a "soul", personality. This has the affect of humanizing the most utilitarian parts of day-to-day life, commuting, a tax office, etc.
- toyg 1y ago
  I think it's more to do with the fact that the official ethos is all about staunch sacrifice in the face of continuous suffering and inflexible rules. People end up trying to get some relief any way they can, looking for a bit of joy in every corner of society where they won't feel judged harshly.
  - wanderer_79 1y ago
    As the rare Japanese on here who speaks English, the amount of theory-crafting from English-speakers about how and why Japanese do this or that is borderline hilarious. Just shows how different our cultures are. Most people don't realize that the way they view the world is through their own ethnocentric lens.
    - reedf1 1y ago
      And your first comment is shitting on those trying to understand instead of applying your own analysis? Sorry for showing an interest I guess. Hopefully the irony of you own analysis of "English-speakers" isn't lost on you.
    - llmthrow0827 1y ago
      This is prevalent even among foreigners in Japan, who think they understand the Japanese better than the Japanese do, despite living here for 20 years and barely being able to hold a conversation in Japanese for 2 minutes.
    - deleted 1y ago
      [deleted]
- rtpg 1y ago
  All across the western world in the post war period it was common to put faces and personalities to inanimate objects in order to sell things in advertisements. The reduction of similar behavior in Japan to things like animism fails to capture the texture of why these things happen, and how they are reproduced in other places, and how ultimately societies across the world act similarly, but for timing issues. People don’t talk about the Dutch being obsessed with serious work ethic and cleanliness due to protestantism and thus generating De Stijl. I do legit wonder what the history of anthropomorphism on inanimate objects looks like though. Who was the first person to draw a toothpaste tube that smiled and talked?
  - bobthepanda 1y ago
    There is something referred to in the US as the Protestant work ethic https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protestant_work_ethic https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protestant_work_ethic Japan just gets a lot of attention as 1. The earliest Asian developed economy and 2. The earlier bubble-era panic over Japanese economic dominance
    - deleted 1y ago
      [deleted]

I don't know how to describe this, but Japanese enjoy putting a little bit of joy into every thing, like Ronald McDonald, but real.

by ipnon 1y ago

I don't know how to describe this, but Japanese enjoy putting a little bit of joy into every thing, like Ronald McDonald, but real.

reedf1 1y ago

This probably has a philosophical underpinning in Animism, almost everything is anthropomorphized and given a "soul", personality. This has the affect of humanizing the most utilitarian parts of day-to-day life, commuting, a tax office, etc.

toyg 1y ago
I think it's more to do with the fact that the official ethos is all about staunch sacrifice in the face of continuous suffering and inflexible rules. People end up trying to get some relief any way they can, looking for a bit of joy in every corner of society where they won't feel judged harshly.
- wanderer_79 1y ago
  As the rare Japanese on here who speaks English, the amount of theory-crafting from English-speakers about how and why Japanese do this or that is borderline hilarious. Just shows how different our cultures are. Most people don't realize that the way they view the world is through their own ethnocentric lens.
  - reedf1 1y ago
    And your first comment is shitting on those trying to understand instead of applying your own analysis? Sorry for showing an interest I guess. Hopefully the irony of you own analysis of "English-speakers" isn't lost on you.
  - llmthrow0827 1y ago
    This is prevalent even among foreigners in Japan, who think they understand the Japanese better than the Japanese do, despite living here for 20 years and barely being able to hold a conversation in Japanese for 2 minutes.
  - deleted 1y ago
    [deleted]
rtpg 1y ago
All across the western world in the post war period it was common to put faces and personalities to inanimate objects in order to sell things in advertisements. The reduction of similar behavior in Japan to things like animism fails to capture the texture of why these things happen, and how they are reproduced in other places, and how ultimately societies across the world act similarly, but for timing issues. People don’t talk about the Dutch being obsessed with serious work ethic and cleanliness due to protestantism and thus generating De Stijl. I do legit wonder what the history of anthropomorphism on inanimate objects looks like though. Who was the first person to draw a toothpaste tube that smiled and talked?
- bobthepanda 1y ago
  There is something referred to in the US as the Protestant work ethic https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protestant_work_ethic https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protestant_work_ethic Japan just gets a lot of attention as 1. The earliest Asian developed economy and 2. The earlier bubble-era panic over Japanese economic dominance
  - deleted 1y ago
    [deleted]