Han Chan
先輩
- 14 Mar 2006
- 402
- 16
- 28
Even people who have lived in Japan are affected by the culture at different levels, so I wouldn't say that everyone is a reliable source. Some people make no effort to get out of their foriegn circle of life.
I find that the insight of people who stayed in Japan is more dependent on how they lived there than how long. Some stay in the country for long periods, but primarily stick to other "gaijin", and they tend to maintain many of the usual stereotypes, because they are "outside looking in".
Those of us who live "inside" the culture, speaking the language and interacting with japanese friends or collegues, or like myself: married with a japanese, tend to have quite different perspective on things.