What do the Japanese think of Europeans?

[yukio_michael]

I didn't know that the Japanese looked down on the French and Italians. My impression was rather the opposite, when we see the real cult given to Latin brand names (Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Hermes, Dior, Gucci, Prada, Armani...) and the number of Japanese learning French, Italian and Spanish or visiting France and Italy and Spain.

If the number of Louis Vuitton bags are any indication, they at least love the fashion.

After WWII, a prominant Japanese writer, Shiga Naoya conjectured about some of the failings of the language during the war, he concluded the article, (if only in slight jest), "Japan might as well, at this juncture, adopt French as her national language."

It was rather a quip at the language than an actual suggestion, but there were still quite a few people at that time who believed that within ten years the language would be phased out for a European one. This is more linguistics than cultural, but it does say something about what people were thinking as far as foreign cultures go.