Regionalism and Stereotypes in Japan

[canadian_kor]

Hello everyone,

From a very long hiatus I decided to come back and join this forum again. I see that this forum hasn't died out since my last post here. Well for my returning post I have a question for those interested: does anyone have any extensive knowledge regarding the regional rivalries and stereotypes that exist within Japan?

I know that the most common regional rivalry in Japan is between the people of the Kansai region (Kobe-Kyoto -Osaka) with people from the Kanto region (Yokohama, Chiba, Tokyo). I know that both groups don't particularly like each other: the former having more a crude, direct, and down-to-earth mentality, while the latter consider themselves more sophisticated, formal, and reserved. As you know, South Korea also has regional rivalries of their own (e.g., the Southwest province vs. the Southeast province). Does anyone also have any more information regarding this phenomenon in Japan?

 

[Dogen Z]

NY vs LA

I have to put it in American terms since I'm a Yank. The rivalry nowadays is no more than the rivalry between New York and L. A. Some people may want to hide their dialect, others not.

 

[Tokugawa Ieyasu]

On the Honshu island, I've heard that the biggest rivalry is between Tokyo-Osaka-Nagoya. Tokyo and Osaka are home to the big banks/brokerage firms, Nagoya is the heartland of Japan's auto industry and home to Toyota.

I remember watching a Japanese TV series as child, and the characters talked about stereotypes people from Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya had of each other; Tokyoites thought people Nagoyans had funny rural accents and were "unsophisticated" for lack of a people term; on the other hand, people from Nagoya thought their Tokyo and Osaka brethren were "greedy and pretentious" urbanites.