So maybe China and Korea are western as well, since they are in that direction as well.
Jean-Francois said:I know you're kidding. China and Korea are never western.
Gaki said:Neither is Japan.
Golgo_13 said:How about this:
Japan doesn't have to be anything but itself.
Maciamo said:Of course, it all depends on what we call "Western". There are several definitions.
First, the geographical opposition between Europe and Asia, but that alone has turned out to be a too simple definition, as Australia or New Zealand are more East than Asia, but definitely Western. So is it a cultural or ethnic distinction rather purely geographical ?
Secondly, Western used to refer to the Capitalist world during the cold war. The East-West opposition was especially valid for Europe, but on a global point of view, America the NATO countries laid West, while the communist world (not only the USSR, but also China and North Korea) laid East.
Finally (I think), most Europeans consider that a Western country is about the same as an industrialised/developped one.
The 2 latter points, Japan is definitely Western, and I think that's also where most Europeans would place Japan (from the opinions I have heard). Nonetheless, Japanese always stress the opposition between themselves and Westerners (or foreigners in general). They certainly not feel Western, but what if others consider them as such because they have a different definition ?
Before developping more deeply, I let you reflect on this and give your opinions.
OnegaiNL said:i don't seem to get it why they like western countries that much... our countries truly suck ... and the most what i hate is that stupid import into Japan... because thats destroying the Japanese culture
i dont mind if there's anime, manga and more stuff here... but i dont want Japan to change into some stupid western country like USA .
i like Japan how it is / was .... and why do Japanese people always show their t-shirts and stuff with the flag of usa on it... or other countries.. it makes me wanna say.... "ehh i come here for Japan, i don't come here to see stuff from my country"
am i talking the truth or not ?
TwistedMac said:not.
your first question (or rather statement):
"i don't seem to get it why they like western countries that much"
I shall explain with an old saying: the grass is always greener on the other side
how japan "was" depends on what era you're talking so i have no idea what it is you want there.. if you mean the samurai period... sure.. why not bring back a time when only the samurai could have names, everyone else were to only be known by their profession ("hi fisherman!" "well waddayaknow! hi cobbler, haven't seen you in a while, how's horsedungsalesman doing?") and samurai killed people for looking at them the wrong way (not an exaduration) and everyone was just plain false and murderous.. that's a GREAT time to live in.. especially if you're horsedungsalesman's apprentice or something.
copying the good stuff from another countries is a way to evolve as a people.. to reach new technologic advances.. what's the use in re-inventing the wheel?
the "it was better in the old days" mentality is dead wrong.. it WASN'T better in the old days.. everyone remembers the good parts of everything...
it's like when i was in the army... I hated every moment of guard duty.. I also don't have a single real memory from guard duty.. or any other boring or otherwise negative task.. I do however have alot of cool memories.. but if I add them all up they'd probably be something like a week.. I didn't do my services for a week.
the bad parts are always set aside.. so whatever picture you have of old japan is romantisized(?) to a very high degree... just go there and enjoy how it is now.
Glenn said:Well, Japan is not like the US, or any European country, either. If you don't believe me then just look around a bit on this forum, esp. Maciamo's posts.
Also, this was said in the Why Japanese copy everything thread, but copying and assimilating something into your own culture is not the same thing as becoming a clone of another culture. The Japanese are no more American for importing American things than the Americans are Japanese for importing Japanese things.
OnegaiNL said:well first to say... you use "you can't re-invent the wheel" WAY TOO MUCH IN YOUR POSTS
OnegaiNL said:and about the old saying "the grass is always greener on the other side"
it means copycat everyone ... so you rather see Japan look like USA ... instead of having it's own look ...
it also mean's... if you like a celebrity like Britney Spears or whatever ... everyone should look like that?
and by the way... Japan grew trough import and export ... and not by changing their whole culture into some kind of USA fans culture
OnegaiNL said:people don't see and don't read
since i said that Japan is slowly changing into an european country
as it's already so mega cool to have english slogans in your commercials so called to be modern.
OnegaiNL said:do you see any real big changes in US ? not really except for that manga and anime gained popularity (but that's mostly because of fansubs)
OnegaiNL said:Japan whatsoever changed alot ... alot of things from the US can be seen in Japan... import and export is important... but i don't see why Japan is evolving too much...alot of traditions (older one's) are cut off
and no im not talking about the samurai one's ... i'm talking about the normal lifestyle one's in those days. Those were cut off in the last 50 years or so .
OnegaiNL said:Will there be more huge changes? Because if Japan is going to look more like USA ... i could go on vacation to USA instead of Japan... b/c it's cheaper.
OnegaiNL said:another note
technology doesn't always bring good.