Japan & England. Water & Oil.

[yukio_michael]

I've been to England 10 times or so, maybe 11, you forget after so many times. The country has sarcasm down 100%, it's a British forte'.

I'm into episode 3 of "Japanorama", (the name makes me cringe, really), a 6 part BBC documentary about The Republic of Tongo... er, you thought I was going to say Japan, didn't you. Well, yes, it's about Japan... more or less.

The series is a Japan (read, Tokyo and major cities), primer for anyone who has been sleeping in a coma for the last 20 years. It flies under the tried and true BBC methodology of "shock & titilate"... This isn't the first BBC series on Japan, Adam & Joe go Tokyo was much more expansive, less rote, and had less the feel of the typical Beeb "Shocked, yet slightly aroused" motif.

In BBC Japan, Japan is one city... MegaCity, there is no such thing as small cities, there is no such thing as really anything outside of Tokyo. Customs old or new are looked at moreso for "oh, isn't that weird" value, rather than a cultural value. Eroticism is put to the forefront, and suddenly everyone becomes Ecchi... When people watch something like this they get the idea that EVERYONE in Japan drinks and sleeps hentai/hello kitty/and Ultraman.

It's a pretty horrible documentary, and really, from the BBC, they should have known a bit better. Normally, they are quite good at producing watchable informative television, that manages to entertain... It's just this thing, this idea of Japan, I think what it is, is that people just ascribe Japan whatever values they can best understand or whatever values they really want it to have... they try to make sense of it all by making it seem 'seperate but equal' to their own cultures... Anyone who's met anyone from Japan will know that this just isn't so, but neither are people from Japan simply from a world that we can't possibly fathom. Just like any culture, it takes more time than a poorly produced shockumentary can give.

~yUKIO. .(oO^)

 

[RockLee]

I've been to England 10 times or so, maybe 11, you forget after so many times. The country has sarcasm down 100%, it's a British forte'.

I'm into episode 3 of "Japanorama", (the name makes me cringe, really), a 6 part BBC documentary about The Republic of Tongo... er, you thought I was going to say Japan, didn't you. Well, yes, it's about Japan... more or less.

The series is a Japan (read, Tokyo and major cities), primer for anyone who has been sleeping in a coma for the last 20 years. It flies under the tried and true BBC methodology of "shock & titilate"... This isn't the first BBC series on Japan, Adam & Joe go Tokyo was much more expansive, less rote, and had less the feel of the typical Beeb "Shocked, yet slightly aroused" motif.

In BBC Japan, Japan is one city... MegaCity, there is no such thing as small cities, there is no such thing as really anything outside of Tokyo. Customs old or new are looked at moreso for "oh, isn't that weird" value, rather than a cultural value. Eroticism is put to the forefront, and suddenly everyone becomes Ecchi... When people watch something like this they get the idea that EVERYONE in Japan drinks and sleeps hentai/hello kitty/and Ultraman.

It's a pretty horrible documentary, and really, from the BBC, they should have known a bit better. Normally, they are quite good at producing watchable informative television, that manages to entertain... It's just this thing, this idea of Japan, I think what it is, is that people just ascribe Japan whatever values they can best understand or whatever values they really want it to have... they try to make sense of it all by making it seem 'seperate but equal' to their own cultures... Anyone who's met anyone from Japan will know that this just isn't so, but neither are people from Japan simply from a world that we can't possibly fathom. Just like any culture, it takes more time than a poorly produced shockumentary can give.

~yUKIO. .(oO^)

The Brits just like being critical ahout just anything.They put Japan in the perfect stereotype they would like the viewers to see.It's just generalizing..."give the people what they want!" that's their motto.
Those louzy documentaries are good for nothing, and they give the viewer a total wrong image of Japan and the other countries, they like to put only the famous and BAD things in it.

 

[MajideSaiaku]

as a british national i take offense to being called sarcastic and critical >=(

i prefer witty and thoughtful =P

as for the BBC your better off watching channel 4, despite foreign belief, we do have other television stations apart from the BBC which only survives by making us pay a license fee to watch TV.

alot of people also have digital television.

as for the documentry, i would rather considor it an opinioentry if thats even a word, believe it or not, not all television is impartial =o

 

[PaulTB]

It's a pretty horrible documentary, and really, from the BBC, they should have known a bit better.

*cough*Fox TV Network*cough*

 

[yukio_michael]

*cough*Fox TV Network*cough*

Piffle! I don't even watch broadcast television, let alone Fox! Besides, I think FOX is stuck too far up it's own arse to realise that there are other countries besides thee US of A.

 

[lv426]

Yeah woah wait a second, isnt Japanorama the series that was done by Johnathon Ross. He is crazy about Japan so it seems a little odd he would do a series as you have described, I've been trying to see this for a while. Adam and Joe's series in Japan was excellent, I wish they could do a second one as it was so good.
As for fox we have recently been studying it in media, it is probaly one of the most shocking channels for news. I'm glad they were taken to court for their slogan, fair and equal news since when has tell the news crew to cut a guys mic been fair and equal! Anyway as most people know its the concervative mans channel, still slightly worring its catching up with CNN interms of veiwing figures. (spelling) Er bit off topic but we spent like a week or two studying it!

 

[dadako]

channel? theres about 20 BBC channels

I think it's the crass nature of television to summerise things, but thats what it's best at. To show a more in depth view of Japan would take longer, be pretty boring to 99% of viewers and do BBC no justice (It would be like watching NHK1 all day). I agree that it's not suitable for the BBC to portray Japan in this way, but thats all that people are interested in seeing.

Also this is entirely open to user interpretation, so if you feel angered by what you see, that's just a reflection of your values.

 

[yukio_michael]

Yeah woah wait a second, isnt Japanorama the series that was done by Johnathon Ross.

Yes, it was Johnathan Ross, apparently he does have something for Japanese culture, cinema etc, as I understand it... still infused it with the same sort of dry british mocking sarcasm though... that whole 'all in good fun' thing that doesn't translate very well to the Japanese.

Adam and Joe I thought was great, except for the bits where they tried to 'get famous', I don't really like to see another culture used for some form of entertainment... just like I don't like 'candid camera' like shows... I'm not overly sensitive, just hate 'culture clash' as entertainment.

Japanorama had lots and lots of sex, a sort of Anime primer, your ultraman, maybe Spirited Away, (I don't think so though...), that sort of thing, I found it really boring, maybe because I found none of it news, and what I did find news, was wrapt in some sexual connotation.

Adam & Joe had HALCALI, Plus-Tech Squeezebox, Guitar Wolf, Polysics, Battle Royal, etc etc... just a much more interesting and less 'shocking' array of topics.

When Ross pronounces 窶堋ｵ窶堙? as "shyte", you know that he probably is doing it for laughs. It's out there on the internet, if you're interested.

 

[FireyRei]

I'm English and am happy to be called sarcastic, it's a skill that many cannot use, can be good and bad.

Now watch a typical Japanese documentary about England and see the stereotypes. Most Japanese people I've met in Japan have no idea about the real England.

 

[lv426]

Pft... I still gotta find Japanorama, but from how you describe it I kinda see what you getting at. And yeah if you have no idear of the Japanese phonic system 窶堋ｵ窶堙 can be very funny, but it would be stupid to give people the impression that thats how Japanese people pronounce it. I guess for the vast majority of people who think of japan as pokemon and tagamochi the culture shock thing is entertaining, I did not mind it quite as much with Adam and Joe as I though they were mainly laugthing at them selves. Especialy when the the went out with the two famous sisters, forget their names now but lol. Lol I'm trying to imagin JR speaking Japanese, thats gonna be hard to understand!

Now watch a typical Japanese documentary about England and see the stereotypes. Most Japanese people I've met in Japan have no idea about the real England.

Awh man where can I see one of these, I'd love to see how they think of us. Lol even if it is wrong, yeah sarcastic remarks are great if you use them right

 

[Spaceghost]

Japanorama was made when the 2002 World Cup was happening, Johnathon Ross does love Japan, he got married there in the Hello Kitty theme park as you see Japanorama was purely looking at the Japanese pop culture in an entertaining and amusing way. I would not even consider it to be a documentary, it is more akin to an entertainment programme. Anyone who actually takes it seriously and thinks Japan is like that (although it depends which part you visit!) needs their head examined.

 

[okaeri_man]

british people talking about the weather:

"lovely weather we're having innit?"
"yeah. won't last though."

 

[FireyRei]

Typical documentaries I've seen depict the English in their gardens and having tea at four. We also carry umbrella's everywhere, are all Gentlemen & Ladies, and are very kind people. We also love 'queueing'... The picture is nearly always 'lovely'.

Lovely. <-- Sarcasm.

I grew up in a well rough area with streets 'owned' by families whose permission you needed to enter or you'd get beat-down or stones/rocks thrown at cars. We also had a lovely bi-yearly North vs South of the area huge gang fight, no weapons of course. I've signed-on on three occasions, and the welfare line is no pretty picture, England is a rough place for many. Violence is some kind of national pride, crime the norm. And none of that is on Japanese TV.

How often do Japanese people rob others at knife-point? Go to England and perhaps you'll get it like I did, and my friends and family too.

It's not a complete picture of England at all, but it is there for real and avoided at all costs on Japanese documentaries.

Just like ****** documentaries of Japan, completely avoiding the bad side of here.

 

[lv426]

Yeah, sounds like a tipical English town. Although it does depend on the town, but I'm not much of a town person anyway (hate proper townies, their arse holes). Can you give me that name of any of thouse documentarys, I might try and find one on the net as they sound intresting!