Now, I'm not particularly fond of the guy, I think he carries a huge chip on his shoulder, but I signed petitions for him.
He's not in it for notoriety. That's a totally negative term anyway. He wants to right wrongs, and one way to get noticed is to be loud and in one's face. He's good at that.Isn't he the guy that deliberately goes way out of his way to look for trouble in order to gain notoriety and profit?
everyone has their faults, and in turn, every country has its faults, so constructive criticism, and satire is ok. Just saying something sucks is rude
Criticism is good only then when it's effective. In Japan, 2 bombs were needed to wake them up. How the hell will our criticism change anything, maybe aside of helping us staying sane?
Criticism is good only then when it's effective. In Japan, 2 bombs were needed to wake them up. How the hell will our criticism change anything, maybe aside of helping us staying sane?
The matter of the fact is that we are such an insignificant percentage of the population (and by "we" i mean westerners and possibly southern Asians) that we virtually don't exist. For past 10 years of my life in Japan i was asking myself one question. Why the f... are they so anal? Well they like it, apparently, all the karoshi culture and tiny flats, tuna fish size cars and JR trains packed with indifferent mute stressed androids. We are the psychological thorn in the foot. For them, still, world evolves around Japan. They are happy in their cocoon, and do not want to explore. Sad for us, ﾋ??窶牢窶佚ｦﾋ?ｪ for them.
I am aware of the fact that there are Japanese that are different, but they usually emigrate.
ryuurui,
Your views are absolutely ridiculous. But I'm assuming you have similar gripes about most countries/people though since despite all these remarks you are still calling Japan your home. Otherwise why would you stay for so long? Why have you and your fellow Japanese misfits not also emigrated?
When I lived in Japan, I spent half my life there so I know, what ryuurui, among others, is talking about. It's just how they present themselves that confuse others and make them say, "Then why don't you just leave?"
Once the novelty of Japan wears off, the frustration begins to set in and one develops a love/hate relationship with the country and people. After a while you begin to ignore, and then accept, the things that frustrate you because you can never hope to effect change, and you enjoy the parts that make living there unique and enjoyable. So you stay because the positive far outweighs the negative and you accept it.
Yes, one can feel as ryuurui does and still enjoy living there. I did, as well as more than a few other members presently living there and on this board. One can make a compromise and have an enjoyable life in Japan as long as you KNOW you can never change it and that the Japanese will change at their own pace no matter how much we may disagree with it. After all, it's not our country and we are not Japanese. We may offer our opinion, but it doesn't mean they have to accept it and one should learn to live with that.
There are more than a few things I don't like about where I am presently living here in Tennessee and I do b*tch about it, but it is still enjoyable to an extent and I have stayed here for 20 years because of it just as I did when in Japan. If the negatives outweighed the positives I would have left. The same probably holds true for anyone living anywhere as I don't believe anyone enjoys where they are living 100% and has something to complain about. One must vent frustration now and then to remain sane.
The dangerous part comes when a person truly despises the people and place where they are living, but only stay because they are afraid to make a change or have lived there too long and feel they are too old to make a change, or they stay just for the money. They live miserable lives, forever frustrated, and never fail to let anyone, who will lend an ear, know just how they feel. These people I used to just ignore when I lived in Japan as they are to be pitied more for their fear of making a change for their own betterment. Instead they just bemoan how much they hate their life, Japan, the people, the customs, the food, the housing, etc. without ever really attempting to seriously study the language, culture and people.
I can't stand the westerners who come here and can't lose their western biases, conceit, and arrogance, then proceed to make pronouncements based on limited, fragmented knowledge of Japan, which are supplemented with grossly erroneous assumptions. A lot of them are racist. They've been coming here for over a 100 years and the Japanese are kind of used to them and ignore them.
But they should remember: There are no happy endings in life, so you should at least live where you're comfortable.
Part of the reason they cannot lose their biased is because I imagine many of them are not here long enough.. 1 maybe 2 years (enough time to discover the things/issues they don't like, but not enough time to get over them, or to gain a full understanding of them). ...and some people just like to b*tch and will find fault with anything.
I recall many more things seemed to get on my nerves in my early years here, but not so much anymore, either because I got over it or my perspective changed through experience.
If you must criticize,
Praise first, then criticize.
After criticizing, suggestions for improvement.
Otherwise, what you say doesn't matter. Then don't say it!