How do you handle people who are Japanese worshipers

[gaijinalways]

I was reading through the anti-Japanese thread and felt some of the comments would pertain to people that worship everything Japanese (food, customs, technology, etc) in such a one sided fashion, they have become deviants in the opposite direction.

How do you deal with them?

 

[ikkoikki]

Same way that you deal with anyone who is overly devoted to anything to anything, be it a country, a faith, a soccer team, a political affiliation; ignore them, parody them or present all your evidence clearly and hope you will convince them to reconsider (but always remember that chances may be slim since there's probably few people who like to be proven wrong).

 

[Hezam]

I was reading through the anti-Japanese thread and felt some of the comments would pertain to people that worship everything Japanese (food, customs, technology, etc) in such a one sided fashion, they have become deviants in the opposite direction.
How do you deal with them?

That's because Japan is the best example for the modern life,people are so kind,always smile at you,respect you,they work hard to stay alive,they dont do crimes,peaceful beautiful country..etc ! i think this is enough for someone to love Japan & Japanese people.
How beautiful you are Japan-san/chan.

 

[nice gaijin]

That's because Japan is the best example for the modern life,people are so kind,always smile at you,respect you,they work hard to stay alive,they dont do crimes,peaceful beautiful country..etc ! i think this is enough for someone to love Japan & Japanese people.
How beautiful you are Japan-san/chan.

I hope that was written with at least a hint of satire in mind...

 

[Elizabeth]

I was reading through the anti-Japanese thread and felt some of the comments would pertain to people that worship everything Japanese (food, customs, technology, etc) in such a one sided fashion, they have become deviants in the opposite direction.
How do you deal with them?

This is a thread about otakus, right, always online ? You start by assuming they've never visited before getting to the question of whether they've actually even talked to a real-live Japanese person...

 

[nice gaijin]

I think people are perfectly capable of deluding themselves or seeing things without objectivity, regardless of how many Japanese people they've met or how many times they've been to Japan (though it gets harder as those numbers go up). I find it interesting how people build up this sort of fantasy in their heads, to the point of speaking superlatively about a country they may have never been to.

How do I deal with someone that talks this way? I suppose it would be the same if the person were illogically Japanophobic; I try to set them straight. If their delusions are resilient, there's no point in wasting any more energy, and I'll either change the subject or walk away.

 

[EdZiomek]

Speech and cultural disparity, and thank you for sharing

gajinalways... I never met anyone, anywhere, who worshipped any society, for any reason. But the world is big, right?

It's a cultural phenomena, and I was talking to my wife about a similar irony, how comedy can work in one country, but doesn't translate necessarily into another culture. The statements have different timing, the punch lines are considered silly, and my wife can't change the channel quick enough.

I can't speak for all of Americans on this topic, for example, but typically we don't care about anything.

Any zealous expressions in any directions, like "I really love AAAAA", or "I really hate BBBBB", anything or anybody that asks me to care in one direction or the other is usually considered obnoxious or fake, or having "issues", one to be avoided.

But most of all, anybody who tries to impose some value judgement on myself or most people I've met, is immediately suspect, especially if it is lousy gossip. If it involves sex, then we will give you two extra seconds of interest, but otherwise we give the ...
"And????"... thinking to ourselves "You actually spent brain cells on such a useless question, OR, what is the game plan here?"

True, some people do, and it's a cultural red flag that... "This guy/girl has no life or is a fake, my time is being wasted for some reason, what does this person want from me?"

Try "the forgotten classic scenes of "Heat" 1 of 2" on youtube.

Maybe it is a deep question, I'll save this one.

 

[Elizabeth]

I think people are perfectly capable of deluding themselves or seeing things without objectivity, regardless of how many Japanese people they've met or how many times they've been to Japan (though it gets harder as those numbers go up). I find it interesting how people build up this sort of fantasy in their heads, to the point of speaking superlatively about a country they may have never been to.

How do I deal with someone that talks this way? I suppose it would be the same if the person were illogically Japanophobic; I try to set them straight. If their delusions are resilient, there's no point in wasting any more energy, and I'll either change the subject or walk away.

Yeah, well first hand knowledge is explosive. If their relationship with Japan is direct and ongoing, I'm not concerned. Those cases are only a matter of time.

 

[bakaKanadajin]

This may sound elitist but if the person has never been to Japan their opinion isn't worth hearing, end of story.

So, onto the people who live here.

Ironically, people who live here sometimes have just as uninformed an opinion about Japan as the people I dismissed in the first paragraph. But those are usually the people who just got here. As Elizabeth said, we can just wait for them to smarten up, or as ikkoikki said, set them straight whenever they're factually wrong. I was like that before too of course. The Japanese could do no wrong in my eyes. I think that in many cases though (not to defend myself necessarily) that it comes from an honest desire to see the good here because hey it is a beautiful country with a very interesting culture.

After reality sets in and you've delved deeper into things, lived here a little longer, you see it for what it is. And actually some fall victim to 'the dark side' and begin to hate Japan as a result. They feel betrayed, victimized, etc. But really, this is just a side-effect of having seen things with such rose-tinted glasses in the first place; putting Japan or anything for that matter on such a tall pedestal can only result in that kind of unrequited love.

For the most part, Japan worshipers are in my eyes much less of a problem (not based on numbers but just comparatively) than Japan haters and flat-out ignoramuses. I mean you can be rest assured that a person who thinks so highly of Japan will most likely do their best not to screw up and try to fall in-line to a certain degree. At the very least, the Japanese around them will find them enjoyable and non-abrasive in public settings. It's really only from our point of view that it starts to grate on the nerves isn't it? And thusly from the Japanese point of view what is it precisely we're sour on anyway? I love seeing newcomers and immigrants wrapped in Canadian flags, appreciating the country that took them in.

To that end, do we want these worshipers to see things the way we see them? Do we envy their seemingly virgin-like naivety about this place, a spot to which we can never return? Maybe it's to reinforce our confidence in our own opinions, to validate the fact that we ourselves harbor a little bitterness stemming from those sure-to-exist experience we've all had. For me personally I don't think I'd really be bothered too much by a Japan-worshiper, it's the ones who give us all a bad name that concern me more.