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Sorry to pile on (and I usually enjoy Sivers' writing) but... I've met a large number of Japanese people here in San Diego (people who grew up in Japan but cam

Sorry to pile on (and I usually enjoy Sivers' writing) but... I've met a large number of Japanese people here in San Diego (people who grew up in Japan but came here on student visas), and one thing I've learned from them is that almost all of the conventional wisdoms about Japanese culture (like those stated in this article) are mostly a combination between out-of-date and just fully romanticized notions mixed with a tiny bit of reality. Roughly the equivalent of writing a guide about fitting into American culture that is based on what someone saw in 1950s TV shows.

jrs99 13y ago
He's clearly put a LOT of research into this and knows what he's talking about. For example, I do agree with him that everyone in Japan has a job. One of my friends is Japanese and doesn't really have a job and lives in Internet Cafes. But it's definitely because he's been Americanized. For example his name is Kenji, but we called him Ken when he was in the US.
jmadsen 13y ago
Ditto. The 10% or so I found to be "true" would probably be considered polite manners anywhere else in the world. Important to note the author does not seem to have ever set foot in Japan (unless that is hidden somewhere outside of his bio), and is adapting this from a book he read
a_bonobo 13y ago
You're spot-on, this practice of summarizing a "romantic Japan" that doesn't really exist has a name: Nihonjinron. There's a lot of complete bollocks to be found in Western literature that falls under this term (even though it started out as a Japanese thing). Even Oscar Wilde made fun of this trend: >Oscar Wilde has argued that supposed aspects of Japanese culture widely reported in the West take on a life of their own as orientalist clichés long after the phenomena in question have disappeared from the socio-cultural landscape, saying "The actual people who live in Japan are not unlike the general run of English people; that is to say, they are extremely commonplace, and have nothing curious or extraordinary about them." Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nihonjinron#Quotes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nihonjinron#Quotes

jrs99 13y ago

He's clearly put a LOT of research into this and knows what he's talking about. For example, I do agree with him that everyone in Japan has a job. One of my friends is Japanese and doesn't really have a job and lives in Internet Cafes. But it's definitely because he's been Americanized. For example his name is Kenji, but we called him Ken when he was in the US.

jmadsen 13y ago

Ditto. The 10% or so I found to be "true" would probably be considered polite manners anywhere else in the world. Important to note the author does not seem to have ever set foot in Japan (unless that is hidden somewhere outside of his bio), and is adapting this from a book he read

a_bonobo 13y ago

You're spot-on, this practice of summarizing a "romantic Japan" that doesn't really exist has a name: Nihonjinron. There's a lot of complete bollocks to be found in Western literature that falls under this term (even though it started out as a Japanese thing). Even Oscar Wilde made fun of this trend: >Oscar Wilde has argued that supposed aspects of Japanese culture widely reported in the West take on a life of their own as orientalist clichés long after the phenomena in question have disappeared from the socio-cultural landscape, saying "The actual people who live in Japan are not unlike the general run of English people; that is to say, they are extremely commonplace, and have nothing curious or extraordinary about them." Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nihonjinron#Quotes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nihonjinron#Quotes