So... how do YOU deal with Japan obessessed maniacs?

I think we have all seen them, and some of you out there ARE what I'm referring to even! The classic Japan obessessed maniac. They have never been to Japan, know 5 words in Japanese and the kanji for the numbers up to "3", and have little to no clue about the culture or most social aspects about the country. However, this doesn't stop them from declaring Japan to be the best country in the world, with superior EVERYTHING, anime is half their life, and J-Pop bands are the other half. They may even dress in what they think is a fashion style from Harajuku, but is in fact just a bunch of worn out, half moth eaten, garb from the 1930's. Even though they may not even KNOW any Japanese people, they have already decided they will marry a Japanese man/woman, will move to Japan and live in paradise. Maybe in their spare time they will learn martial arts so they can kill all the ninjas and yakuza in the town and become a hero, while they mostly focus on their main job of teaching "hot Japanese highschoolers" random English phrases and spreading their wondrous knowledge.

So... how do you handle people like this? How do you look at those who behavior in this childish and naive manner? Have you ever seen this obessive behavior in regards to other countries? (Japan somehow seems to top the list of obessive whackos who idolize yet know nothing about the country).

Now, don't get my wrong. I'm quite interested in the country myself, and it is my main study of focus in college. I have a strong interest in Japan as well, although quite a bit more "down to earth" than what I described above. What I am referring to is the those who tend to fit the more extreme behavior mold, the naive, obsessive, and ignorant.

The answer might be obvious, but how do you deal with these people? I'm curious on the different views.

Ignore/mock them. They don't annoy me, especially those that actually display some desire to learn more about the country in some aspect, but I feel like they HAVE to be mocked sometimes...everyone does.

I truly think that generally speaking, this stage of Japan craziness is just that; it's a phase that some people go through before they either GO to Japan and see that not everything is sunshine and lollipops or move on to the next greatest thing. If they never progress out of this stage, well, then I just find it sad. If you have such passion for a country and what you perceive to be its culture, I'd think a trip wouldn't be out of the question. An extended stay is a great way to "de-romanticize" Japan, especially if you're going to school or working in an area that isn't completely dominated by foreigners. Get out there and see the real thing, then make a judgment.

Perhaps the funniest example of Japanophiles was at Narita following the conclusion of my semester abroad. I saw a number of young American men and women wearing those baggy schoolgirl socks with their regular clothes. Regardless of whether they were being ironic or not, it was classic.

Of course your description is comically generalized, but at some point I have probably heard various self-declared "otaku" make at least one the statements you mention. Personally, I've found that talking sense into them is pretty much a lost cause, so I either ignore them or try to provide the best advice I can without being too overtly sarcastic. A high percentage of them will never visit Japan anyways.

What I find to be a more interesting question than "what do you say to these people" would be "why is it that Japan seems to have so many people obsessed with it?" Is it second or third-hand experience from someone who's friend's brother went there to teach English and had a great time? All those crazy products available on sites like j-list? The fantasy built up and reinforced by such media outlets as Anime, Manga and J-pop? The culture of cute? A short vacation that turned out well? What makes Japan so appealing, so enthralling, but just far enough out of reach that people spend a good portion of their adolescence and perhaps their whole lives dreaming about it?

I hesitate to post on a thread that may be flaming over half the population of this forum haha, however I think I should point out that America (not any particular state, just "America") is on top of this list, Japan has many fans from those of western countries, perhaps a sense of rivalry within you somewhere makes them seem to stand out more? The fact is that the whole world is still infatuated with America though, if we're talking globally.

However, during my time translating anime I did come across many people who declared "otaku" status like it made them a hero. Back them I laughed them off, but tried to correct them that an otaku isn't exactly a good thing, but now I understand that a lot may be misunderstanding the term "otaku", and just thinking it means a very avid fan of anime and games. Those of us more informed are aware this is untrue, but it doesn't stop the fact that what they intended to say is that they are huge fans of things associated with the culture, hehe.

But what do I know, I'm a Japanophile myself ;P hahaha

I hope they make it to Japan someday.

When you find life around you depressingly boring, it is nice to have a "dream" place to escape to. It's been 35 years since I was last in Japan, and I'm still in love with the country and it's people. I will confess, after 2 years there, I had enough and wanted to come home. BUT...I also know it was the best 2 years of my life so far, and I will go to my grave with many many fond memories of my time there and the friends I made there. No mater how crazy some posts here are by members who have not yet made the trip, I wish them the best on making it to Japan someday , so they have a chance to see if it measures up to their dreams. I think if the JREF members stay here long enough and read most of the posts, hopefully they will pick up reality based facts to go with their "dream" Japan. Far be it for me to stomp on their happy thoughts.

Uncle Frank

☝

Once upon a time, Adam and his sweetheart lived in a paradise, ignorant and innocent like children. Then they ate the fruit of knowledge and thus replaced the paradise with the sad, bitter, cold and realistic Earth.

I say,let the children grow up, and make their choice-to eat the fruit of knowledge, or to live with a dream. I chose the fruit of knowledge, and ...unfortunately it was too late for a second choise.

I don't really see that there's a problem with 'Japan obsessed maniacs'. Like Uncle Frank says

it is nice to have a "dream" place to escape to

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Sure some people are perhaps naive, obsessive, and ignorant but naive and ignorant is not exclusively to these people. Some people spend years in Japan and the same could be said for them. It's got nothing to do with linguistics, I have known people who speak Japanese well, yet they never really understood the culture. It's more a state of mind thing than ability and experience.

You speak of some things as if they don't actually happen. In the days I lived in the big cities - I did martial arts in my spare time, was taught by a serving Yakuza and learnt a few tricks that wouldn't look out of place in a ninja film, my main job of teaching was not "hot Japanese highschoolers" but hot flight attendants in pink jump suits at the airport, I sang in a J rock band, I used to go into shops with nothing but manga and anime as far as you can see. To quote from MeAndroo's post - it basically was "all sunshine and lollipops."

If someone madly loves the popular culture of Japan, then perhaps Japan would be paradise for them. I like the enthusiasm of people like that.

I've also found that trying to talk any sort of sense into them seems totally futile, just as NiceGaijin has found. Even the basic concept of "Don't you think you at least have BEEN to the country and know more than just a few anime character names before you declare it a utopian paradise?" doesn't seem to click with those I have run into.

I know quite a few people who are interested in Japan, and it doesn't seem to be a "phase" for everyone. Yes, many people, including myself, try to learn as much as possible and have a strong interest, but it is grounded by rational thought not cult like obsession. When I was in Japan on a study abroad trip for a year, it was the students who had the "fantasy version" of Japan in their mind and fit the stereotype above (more or less) that had the most difficulty and returned to America ASAP. It always seemed that they just couldn't accept that the fantasy wasn't reality, and were not even remotely prepared for Japan at all. There are a few who have actually gone to Japan for a short time, and of course this only fuels the obsession because they are only seeing the touristy side for a couple weeks.

I do wonder if other countries have such a "cult following" as Japan does. I'm not sure how it started, I'll just guess maybe in the early 1990's with Japanese pop culture and anime starting to become main stream, thus creating a reconstructed fantasy image not based on reality of a very interesting country. This of course is totally over simplifying the issue and only a guess.

I try not to mock them, but I admit I've made commits before due to behavior I've seen that is simply outlandish and absolutely idiotic. I mostly aim for just ignoring them and letting them make a fool out of themselves, while at the same time feeling a small bit of pity for them knowing that each person I've seen go over to Japan that is like this stereotype having a near mental break down when their fantasy implodes. Every once in a while, I'll try to get them to realize how near delusional their fantasy of Japan is, and that they need to base their knowledge on something, but each time that is wasted effort.

I do wonder though, what does it look like to a Japanese native if you see someone behaving and obsessed with a fantasy of your country? I've never run into that with people wanting to come to the United States, so I can't really image. I just always hope that sort of behavior of those who might be nearby me isn't associated with me.

I quess its similar problem in Japan too, there are many people in Japan too who are "kinda like" obsessed to another foreign country. though its not anime or manga, but kawaii kawaii still.

Mrjones said:

I quess its similar problem in Japan too, there are many people in Japan too who are "kinda like" obsessed to another foreign country. though its not anime or manga, but kawaii kawaii still.

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An example to this is that there are a lot of Japanese who LOVE France, and paris, and think it is the end of the world.

but then comes the the Paris syndrome.

I have never met anyone who was obsessed with all things Japanese. I think I would be flattered. Where I live, there are more Chinese, Filipino, and Laotian people.

Paris Syndrome almost sounds like a joke... never know about that at all. In some ways I have to say that does seem to be similar to the Japan freaks.

Sorry to say, but the article was a bit funny to me

The only place I encounter them is online, and you've seen how I deal with them.

Mike Cash said:

The only place I encounter them is online, and you've seen how I deal with them.

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You're lucky then. Meeting them in person is even more frightening.

think we have all seen them, and some of you out there ARE what I'm referring to even! The classic Japan obessessed maniac. They have never been to Japan, know 5 words in Japanese and the kanji for the numbers up to "3", and have little to no clue about the culture or most social aspects about the country. However, this doesn't stop them from declaring Japan to be the best country in the world, with superior EVERYTHING, anime is half their life, and J-Pop bands are the other half.....

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01) First I do not like J-Pop (United States leads the world in great music !, why go somewhere else, except maybe classical music)

02) Second I try to understand the social and culture of Japan. Modern Japan and old Japan

Here is my case. I have lived NIGERIA (9 months), FINLAND (5-6 weeks summer). and two years in MALAYSIA/SINGAPORE/THAILAND. I have never been to Japan. Career, a second college degree in night school (masters degree), marriage and several children have kept me pretty busy. I live in the Southeast United States, which is physically far from Japan. Airline ticket prices are higher than say Vancouver-Canada.


But I was always fascinated with Japan, people and the culture. Japan is the only place to give the world the following; geisha's, and samurai culture. I am a big World War-II buff, and war buff in general. Japan's story of creating a modern country after suffering such incredible devastation (which they brought on themselves!), is something unique. I read any new story that deals with Japan, the people or culture or politics (depressing usually, such weak politicians).


I also see the weakness's of their culture, in today's modern world. Every country and culture has problems !

.

Doesn't bother me whether or not someone's had actual in-country experience to draw from. Free discussion is exactly that... free to anyone and everyone. Problems arise when certain individuals try to forcefeed the community with their skewed opinions and biases as fact without having any kind of validity to back it up with. An interest has to sprout from somewhere I suppose, whether it be something so mundane as anime/manga, etc.

This was my case way back in the day getting hooked on Godzilla and Robotech as an adolescent. That spawned an interest in more things J-related and so on and so forth. Everybody has a different perspective and we can always hope to learn some new insight from each other regardless of their background/prior experiences. Besides, most of us who have been on these boards for awhile know whose opinion carries legitimate weight anyways.

Let them dream! My advice to them: Come to Japan, go way upstream where they've never seen a gainjin before, declare yourself a God, and ye shall prosper!

...

For some reason, I associate the Japanophiles Emoni is talking about (havn't been to japan yet and want to live here forever) as either the type that:

1. Needs to prove that they are the sh**
2. Talks way too much (usually goes hand in hand with 1)
3. Doesn't go out enough

I didn't come accross too many in America that were the quiet type, although there probably were some of those, my radar didn't go off.

I usually just smile and nod when they talk to me because eventually the conversation will move to something about japan...

I started to write a bit about my own initial involvement in Japanese culture, but this got long and wordy. Suffice it to say that my initial experience with Japanese culture was more along the lines of Tokion, Mangajin, the Spoozys, the Plastics, & Pizzacato Five, rather than anime etcetera... I was lucky enough in 2000 to move next to the girl who would be my first Japanese crush... she taught me a lot about Japanese culture, and the language, I met a friend who stayed with me briefly in the states, then later with another roommate of his, whom I would later visit with my girlfriend in Shibuya... It was gratifying to not only get there, but to visit with friends I had made from the States...

There's a name on the internet for the types of people that this thread is talking about, it used to be "wapanese", then, "weeaboo", and now, simply, "wee bee"... As Mike mentioned, I think you'll encounter these people most of all on the internet, it's sort of a safe zone for them, where they can make their grandiose ill-informed ramblings known without fear of getting a follow-up punch in the face.

Perhaps, instead of talking about how most of us already feel about a group of people who want to make a place they've never been to their permanent home, I'll list some warning signs...

A) Basing your ideals of Japanese manhood on Oshare Kei band members, using this to make statements such as "I looooove Japanese men, Myavi is teh love!"

B) Owning any sort of resin ball-jointed doll, like a Dolfie... Dressing your Dolfie up like a J-Rocker earns you additional negative points... Being in a relationship with your Dolfie, having your Dolfie in a relationship with another Dolfie... etc etc...

C) Eating copious amounts of Pocky, Poccari Sweat, Calips, or any other food generally consumed by Japanese 8 year olds because this makes you feel as if you are integrating into Japanese culture

D) Using what sparse Japanese you know in inappropriate ways, such as speaking to a non-Japanese... random interjections, nonsense... If you use the word kawaii in the middle of an English sentence "Oh, that Super dolfie is soooh Kawaii, I must have it!", you may qualify here...

E) You describe Japanese street culture as either "Gothic Lolita", or "Harajuku Girls"...

F) Regardless of any other opinion, you choose to use any and all things of Japanese origin because they are obviously of superior quality----

G) You re-qualify your own feelings of pedophilia, and simply label them as "lolicon"... If you have ever refered to a member of a Japanese fan-service idol group (Chase, Berryz, C-ute, Sweets et al...) as "pedolicious", you qualify 188%. If you explain these actions simply because you feel that this is just part of "Japanese culture", subtract some more points...

H) If the majority of bands you listen to have some sort of absurd French sounding name whos members air guitar, & pretend to be bishounen, you just may be....

I) If you have ever typed: ^_______________^ or some equivalent thereof, while being completely earnest....

J) If you've ever added chan or tan to the end of someone's name in a way that is abstracted from the Japanese langauge, "Hey we're all going over to Katie-chan's house to play para para paradise, sugoi ne!?"...

K) If somehow you think that every Japanese street kid drives around all night in drifting competitions...

L) If you think that Japan is a "Western" country, that tries to "copy the West"... not so much negative points, but, slightly mis-informed...

M) If you think that the word "otaku" is some sort of cultural badge of honor...

N) If absolutely every single one of your musical interests involves J-pop, or visual Kei... If you make your friends occasionally listen to these bands even though you know that they despise them, or rather, you choose your friends based on the fact that they are the only ones whom you can crank up Gazette with....

O) If you use roumaji to piece together nonsense Japanese phrases to show people your love of the Japanese language, while still having never actually studied it...

...and so on, and so on, and so on.

ps. I'll say that I had to take a break from my Japanese meet-up class prceisely due to some of the over-zealousness of the members... Even people with very good Japanese language skills (but poor pronunciation) doing their best "irashaimasse" shopkeeper impersonation can unhinge even the most patient among us.

Emoni said:

I think we have all seen them, and some of you out there ARE what I'm referring to even! The classic Japan obessessed maniac. They have never been to Japan, know 5 words in Japanese and the kanji for the numbers up to "3", and have little to no clue about the culture or most social aspects about the country. However, this doesn't stop them from declaring Japan to be the best country in the world, with superior EVERYTHING, anime is half their life, and J-Pop bands are the other half. They may even dress in what they think is a fashion style from Harajuku, but is in fact just a bunch of worn out, half moth eaten, garb from the 1930's. Even though they may not even KNOW any Japanese people, they have already decided they will marry a Japanese man/woman, will move to Japan and live in paradise.

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Isn't that just all of the Anime/Jpop section posters?? I went there once and was stunned by the pure shallowness of the posts, opinions and topics. Mainly "OMG HES LIKE SO HAWWWWT LIKE". Etc, et al.

How do I avoid them online? I ignore them. How do I avoid the ones that somehow make it to Japan? This is easier - I don't get much "gaijin" contact in Japan, and the few people I meet aren't Japan obsessed nutjobs, but just people who are living here and getting about with their lives - it just happens to be in Japan.

@Ewok85,

They are not all like that, at least I am not like that and I post in that section. But I do have to say that a lot are like that, for example yesterday I needed to delete 120 posts in 15 pages because of some kids only said I love him I love him, nosebleed, I want him, I love him, He,'s hot, I lovehim, I want him, nosebleed, he's the best etc.

Dutch Baka said:

@Ewok85,
They are not all like that, at least I am not like that and I post in that section. But I do have to say that a lot are like that, for example yesterday I needed to delete 120 posts in 15 pages because of some kids only said I love him I love him, nosebleed, I want him, I love him, He,'s hot, I lovehim, I want him, nosebleed, he's the best etc.

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I'm poking fun Anime is great to watch and I know plenty people who watch it without having to spout (as you know).

Sounds like fun, be it takes up a big chunk of your time to have to do such serious trimming. How about applying some rules as a sticky and enforce some 24hr bans for offenders? Works well on a different board I visit (first strike 24h, second strike 1wk, third strike ban).

They now we are going to me strickt on that area,so all posts like that will be deleted, and yes of course when someone keeps doing that he or she can expect other things than only having their post being deleted.
/
P.s. why is my Signature being showed twice in this thread

yukio_michael said:

Perhaps, instead of talking about how most of us already feel about a group of people who want to make a place they've never been to their permanent home, I'll list some warning signs...
A) Basing your ideals of Japanese manhood on Oshare Kei band members, using this to make statements such as "I looooove Japanese men, Myavi is teh love!"
B) Owning any sort of resin ball-jointed doll, like a Dolfie... Dressing your Dolfie up like a J-Rocker earns you additional negative points... Being in a relationship with your Dolfie, having your Dolfie in a relationship with another Dolfie... etc etc...
C) Eating copious amounts of Pocky, Poccari Sweat, Calips, or any other food generally consumed by Japanese 8 year olds because this makes you feel as if you are integrating into Japanese culture

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Yukio's post could almost be used as a, "You know you're a Wee Bee if..." list.

This thread is actually turning out more interesting than I expected, or at least a nice outlet against the hurricane of stupidity that exists surrounding Japan.

I avoid the pop culture boards as well, both non-Japanese and Japanese scare me on the level of shallowness that can be achieved in that area.

I like talking with them, I picked up my plane ticket yesterday, (since I'm going to Tokyo in a few days, ) a girl told me she had lived in Tokyo for four months and I proceeded to tell her my life story.


Josh