The most dangerous generalizations about Japan for a visitor to believe.

[Emoni]

After over half a decade on this forum I've noticed all sorts of generalizations, stereotypes, and just plain prejudiced statements related to Japan. They range in degree, as does everything, but some more than others can lead to very negative results.

What are the WORST generalizations about Japan, its culture, its society, people, and other matters related to the country? What aspects are oversimplified, generalized, or based on stereotypical thought that would tend to get a person in to a very sticky situation?


Why? In what way? Examples?

Two generalizations to start off with.


1: The uneducated idea that Anime reflects aspects of Japanese society. This is one of the larger pet peeves of mine, so maybe it is difficult to view unemotionally. Simply put, Anime does not reflect Japanese society, any more than you can say Batman reflects society in the United States in a realistic manner.

Can entertainment be viewed as a source of understanding the mindset of a culture and society? Yes, to some degree. It often takes a great deal of understanding of the society to pick the fantasy from the social commentary apart, often by those who are already very aware of society flows already.

Can a guy/gal who knows very little about Japan (aka, next to nothing) and almost no Japanese language use a large amount of anime as a social rubric of expectations and typical behavior. Absolutely not.
Why? Simply because the knowledge that is required to make these distinctions and judgments is lacking. Therefore you are left with sporadic bits of social commentary and outlines for social etiquette mixed in with extremist fantasy with no basis to distinguish either other than an uneducated guess.

There is plenty to learn from everything, but making a generalization about a country based off fantasy entertainment will lead to all sorts of disappointment and trouble.



2: The belief that Japanese Girls are subservient little Geisha Girls/(insert popular image here)

This generalization comes from all over the place, and as it has to do with women, is potentially lethal for you. I can't stress enough how the phrase, "Don't judge a book by its cover" applies here.

Common sense tells you that each person is different, no matter the societal pressure to conform. Generalizations, or worse, applying your personal fantasies to another person is a disaster waiting to happen. I can't count the number of times I've seen some guy looking for someone who represents the sort of fictional character they have created in their mind from popular media, fantasy stories, Japanese porn, and who knows what else. Usually the next event is finding some girl who seems to represent one aspect and generalizing the rest must be accurate. Then, bam, they turn out to be human!



Feel free to add or expand on this. Post your own and explain why. I'm curious to hear everyone else's thoughts, especially those who have been in Japan and had long term exposure.





(Disclaimer: While I'm personally concerned with with generalizations being listed. I am clearly open to other posts related to the topic being mentioned as well. Details, critiques, example stories of psychology behind generalizations, what defines it, etc. I'm very aware that the topic can be expanded on. )

 

[alantin]

I think japanese anime does give some hints about the society. Although more about it's supressed side. Often the anime characters behave in manners that seems to be exact opposite to the expected social norms. Ie. behave loudly or rudely, dress in a flashy manner, are way more independent that a japanese person normally would be, etc, etc.
So could it be that in anime some things, that people usually have to suppress, can be expressed. Thus it's popularity.


One thing that many people interested in Japan seem to have is a really romantic image of Japan as a perfect country with no flaws.
Might just be the first stage of culture shock though.

 

[Emoni]

One thing that many people interested in Japan seem to have is a really romantic image of Japan as a perfect country with no flaws.
Might just be the first stage of culture shock though.

True, that could easily be expanded into another generalization, that Japan is a superior land where everything is perfect and "better." Every country has the good and bad (degree is a factor of course), but I have seen a lot of people who have either not been to Japan or been there for a few weeks laud Japan for how perfect of a country it is... unaware of numerous glaring issues that they simply aren't aware of or exposed to initially.

 

[anomouse]

Well, I see more negative generalizations than positive ones.
Any mentioning of good aspects of the society is attacked with "you don't know anything about Japan" "You can't generalize like that", but anything bad about Japan, any single bad incident is seen as a representative of the society, and the discussion continues on and on, how serious the problem is. People can't admit anything good in another culture. So sad.

Negative generalizations lead to disdain of the people and the society.
Good generalizations are less harmless, in my opinion. (Whether the good generalization is accurate or not, people will tell you it's not true, anyway)

 

[Emoni]

That is something I didn't consider, negative generalizations vs. positive ones. Could you expand and give a few examples of what you mean?

 

[JimmySeal]

That is something I didn't consider, negative generalizations vs. positive ones. Could you expand and give a few examples of what you mean?

What he means is that if you make absurd generalizations about Japanese being terrific parents and Japanese children being perfect little angels, people who have actually spent time around Japanese children and parents will contradict you.

 

[anomouse]

Jimmyseal. No one has said Japanese children are perfect little angels, the article was about discipline differences between the US and Japan, and how two groups of children regulate their behaviors differently. There are statistics for that. Unless you prove it wrong with another statistics, you have nothing to add to the thread.

You reacted with childish negative stereotypes, which are only representatives of minority parents in Japan. That's so sad....

 

[Emoni]

Whoa there, I think there is a misunderstanding here.

 

[Otenba]

Some stereotypes are indeed made by brain-amputees and inaccurate, but some root in Japan itself and please don't complain when people think you are what you look like when you look like it way too blatantly.

Aout Japanese women: you may be right, never judge a book by its cover and not every Japanese woman is a submissive easy girl, but I've seen too many dressed like *****, way more than in any other country I've been to. Hot pants, miniminimini skirts, bottocks visible, bare shoulders, 1-pound-fingernails etc.
You don't need anime for some generalizations, way too many Japanese women between 18 and 30 that I've seen take care of that themselves. You can't really blame a man for thinking he's in the land of easy girls, walk through Shibuya at any time of day or night and you might just feel like you're in one hugeass red light district.
Dressing up pretty is one thing, but showing THAT much skin in all the wrong places, is still largely understood as offering some of that skin to the first dude who asks. Acting "kawaii" doesn't help things, on the contrary (though I personally find all that squealing and squirming and acting weak and fragile, repulsive). Frankly, everytime I went to a club or a more trendy district like Shibuya or Amemura, even Bukuro, I felt like I was surrounded by ******. In the other 12 counties I've been to, mostly hookers dress that way. And only one of those countries has women wear veils. All the other countries allow women to dress like that, but most just don't, because they don't want to be mistaken for hookers.
I try to be realistic and reject stereotypes most of the time, but a) stereotypes can't exist without some truth to feed on, b) THIS stereotype can't really be blamed on foreign misconceptions. When I see a woman clad just enough to cover her nipples and vagina, that is either in a bikini near some kind of swimming facility, or if on the street, I can't help but think she does it for cash. Don't blame me, blame her "fashion sense". And unfortunately, that fashion sense doesn't seem so unusual in many areas of Japan.

With due respect to the Japanese people, if you dress up like "it", don't complain when people think you are "it".

About positive stereotypes... well, many people seem to think all Asian/Japanese girls are pretty. Frankly, I found this largely confirmed, most of them girls up to 40 years are gorgeous but when they're overweight or have akne, they have it baaaaaaaaad Not to mention the yamanbas... gawd.

Ofcourse, there's also the stereotype that the Japanese are always friendly. I have received glares and stares that made me want to disappear into thin air. I mostly didn't do anything wrong, except maybe miss one of those direction arrows or boarding marks at metro platforms and stood or walked on the wrong side. I admit it deserves public execution. Cut me up. Now. I deserve to die.

Another one may be that looking effin weird is widely accepted but judging from the looks some lone cosplayers or bleached-yellow-fat-dudes-in-pink-and-white-tuxedo-and-cowboy-boots-and-lots-of-blingbling receive, it's still better to take it to Yoyogi parc.

OH! And don't think that just because of some fan service of VK stars and all the yaoi manga, homosexuals are so very loved in Japan. I've heard crowds cheer at the DJ's words: "Okamayaro bukkorose!"...

And Japan is the safest country in the world. Japanese gentlemen keep taking me as close to my hotel as possible saying they won't feel good if they let me walk home alone, let alone many people don't care to put their damn dog on a leash (dogs don't only bite, they cause accidents when running in front of cars and bikes). Oh and the bicycles on the sidewalk! And the "Chikan gochuui"/"Beware of perverts" signs are also very, very reassuring... People have taken me for insane for walking through Ikebukuro's alleys alone in the dark. What's out there?
I don't think Japan is any less safe than any other country, mind you. I even think it might be a LITTLE safer than eg. Belgium. I just don't believe in the gut-wrenching tales of it being uber-safe and risk-free. To be honest, I do feel safe about sleeping in the street with my purse in plain view thinking "This is Japan!", but at the same time, I realize that's not being smart. I just trust my scary face to keep attackers at arm's length.

 

[Emoni]

Thanks Otenba. Just to add to the clothing comment, when I was helping with Japanese students from Waseda coming to my college, one of the things we consistently had to mention is how to dress. We said it fairly directly, if you dress like that you'll be seen as promiscuous and possibly trying to get sex. Don't do it.

 

[alantin]

Clothing becoming an issue with japanese students sounds just too ironic!
They have school uniforms in japan (Not in daigaku though, I guess) and should be used to dressing properly, for heaven sakes!

 

[epigene]

My apologies for all members posting in this thread, including those who have written honest-to-goodness opinions in between, but I think all of you have enough fun on the issue.

The thread will be open to issues related to the title but may be closed down and thrown out if similar continues.

Thank you in advance.

 

[orochi]

Why throw out a whole thread?
If a post is found that is deemed inappropriate for the site, delete it.

 

[FrustratedDave]

Some stereotypes are indeed made by brain-amputees and inaccurate,

Looks like the brain amputees olympics right now...

 

[KirinMan]

My apologies for all members posting in this thread, including those who have written honest-to-goodness opinions in between, but I think all of you have enough fun on the issue.
The thread will be open to issues related to the title but may be closed down and thrown out if similar continues.
Thank you in advance.

You know what, there was no reason for you to delete any of it, and it bothers me a bit that you did.

The admin here should have the capability of undeleting the posts as they still are around until they choose to get rid of them.

Lastly the following fora is for off topic posts, there were some pretty funny posts that you deleted and since you deleted them I sincerely submit to you that you are being selective in your choice of threads and topics to hack apart. There are plenty of other threads that you have missed.

Off Topic Fora

Now I know why things have become a ghost town here it's a shame too!

 

[Emoni]

I was wondering why half the thread just disappeared... I guess I should be glad another one of my threads isn't locked away again?

Oh well...

 

[theAlphaDuck]

hmmm....

perhaps it was ME...

NOT aloud to talk about HOW to get girls,

but worry not...in about a week i will start a thread on the correct part of the forum ;-)

as for dangerous generalisations...

never mistake kindness for weakness

thats universal

 

[Roboto-sama]

Well this sucks. . .

I was really looking forward to reading more generalizations. . .