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What is with the Japanese fascination with cats?

I also love cats.

Cats are much better for me. To me, cats are much cleaner than dogs. They don't drool everywhere, they won't relieve themselves all over the floor. They're also less sporatic and more independent, which I find much more appealing in a pet. They are also very smart. You can't really train them due to their independence and stubborness, but they're certainly not dummies.

I love my 20 pound tabby with all my heart!

(Sorry, I get a little carried away when talking about cats.)

I have my share of manekineko in my house too...
 
By the way, if you like both cats and Japanese history, look for the novel _Fudoki_ by Kij Johnson. It's a wonderful fantasy of sorts set in a magical version of Heian Japan. I highly recommend it.
 
wintersweet said:
By the way, if you like both cats and Japanese history, look for the novel _Fudoki_ by Kij Johnson. It's a wonderful fantasy of sorts set in a magical version of Heian Japan. I highly recommend it.
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Yeah, that sounds fun, or one could just go and get a life.............
 
wintersweet said:
By the way, if you like both cats and Japanese history, look for the novel _Fudoki_ by Kij Johnson. It's a wonderful fantasy of sorts set in a magical version of Heian Japan. I highly recommend it.
Click to expand...
I don't like cats in real life, but that's my stigma.
Hmmm...maybe Fudoki will cure me in the fantasy world of Heian!
 
wintersweet said:
By the way, if you like both cats and Japanese history, look for the novel _Fudoki_ by Kij Johnson. It's a wonderful fantasy of sorts set in a magical version of Heian Japan. I highly recommend it.
Click to expand...

Is it written in English or is there an English version?
 
Now That Comment.........

Duo said:
Yeah, that sounds fun, or one could just go and get a life.............
Click to expand...

is what gets you negative rep! Were you hung over or just had a bad day???
I can't believe you said that!! It seems way out of character for YOU???

Frank

:bikkuri: :?
 
wintersweet said:
Why on earth are you insulting me for recommending a book? :?
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oh by no means, it just that it sounded a bit funny, magic and cats, i guess the dark side took over me
i'm sure it's a very good book,

@ frank, what can i say, sometimes we all stray away from the light, but i'm bak now and thx for being straight up with me
 
Actually the real reason is pretty disturbing.

There is a parasite called T.gondii which has it's full life cycle inside a cat, where it reproduces and produces up to 500 million cysts every six years or so. These can live up to 18 months in soil and infect every mammal that injests a cyst. Which means if you eat their not cooked properly flesh you get infected too. The runoff from soil also means many mammals in the sea are also infected with the parasite, I don't know if this includes fish. (probably does)

Recently they've found out this parasite previously believed to have been harmless to instead have links to many mental illnesses, like depression, bipolar, schizophrenia, adhd, as well as shorter concentration spans and slower reaction times.

But more disturbingly there's evidence in mice that that supports, it affects personality. A tendency for increased masculine behavior in men (increased introversion for introverts) and increased feminine behavior in women. Which includes greater sex drives.

And seeing as the parasite has this ability. And possessing the gene for producing dopamine and as such being able to connect itself to the reward pathways of the brain. It also probably makes cats appear cuter and more desireable. Cat cults in ancient egypt? T.Gondii infestation. Same thing with Japan. Rates of infection are highest in the tropics where the cysts have a longer lifespan, but the rate for infection in japan is probably quite high given their taste for raw fish. (The french also have a high rate of infection at 45% due their taste for rare meat)

Also at least in mice, the parasite can be transmitted by sperm. So probably the same for humans.

All this is pretty new and very disturbing since this is only ONE parasite. Humans may be infected with many behavior influencing parasites. Which may tell us why jews do so well. Judaism outlaws the eating of raw flesh, has strict and elaborate rules on meat preperation and bans the eating of pork. All that means the jews no doubt have the least parasites in them than anyone else in the world.
 
Japanese love cats because cats have parasites? You revived a thread that died TEN YEARS AGO to add that nonsense?
 
It seems they joined the forum and revived a decade old thread just to make that post. lol

that said, the revelations of toxoplasmosis are quite interesting. Language warning, some swearing

taken to the next logical leap, the internet itself is made of cats

The bit about Jews at the end and the pontificating about one group's likelihood of T. Gondii infection make me question the poster's motives though.
 
So cat sh*t seems to have been the secret source of the "Ever So Much More So" in the old Homer Price book I read as a child, according to the necroposter....
 
ArmandV said:
"To a dog, you're family; to a cat, you're staff."
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I think people who say stuff like that tend to have an inherent and twisted need to lord over everything and everyone around them. Dogs bend the knee, so dogs are okay. Cats are independent and won't bend the knee, so cats are labeled as selfish and uncaring. And so many of these cat disparaging dog praising souls are much the same with people. So watch out for them. Loads of Americans like that.

You know, there was a cat who was recently credited with saving the life of an baby abandoned outside in the winter by curling up with the baby to keep the baby warm and mewing its little head off until someone took notice. Yeah, those self-centered cats.

And to anyone who will make the counter claim that cats have killed babies, dogs kill and attack loads of kids, and if the media is any guide, dogs do it way more often.

And this is from someone who got the hell scratched out of him by cats when he was a kid. I did not just sit there and sulk and expect the cat to bend to my will. My family would not allow that. They explained to me repeatedly that I was not gentle enough and I was hurting and scaring the much smaller cat. I learned. Dog lovers only know that their dogs have quite a threshold for pain and are therefore less hassle for the dog lover.

As for the obsession with cats in Japan, its important to realize that this is the manga world we are talking about. Hand-drawn cats are easily recognizable, unlike say, an hand-drawn possum.

Real cats are not that well like in Japan. Lots of strays and lots of abused cats. Dogs are revered. But is that a surprise from a nation that conquered all her neighbors and just kept rolling with the domination game? No. I don't think so. However much Japan has not launched wars in 70 years, in some ways they are the same as they were then. They have a sense of superiority, self-importance and think other people's ways are mostly explicative. They still have a strong sense of lording over others, only its now more visible in their corporate culture.
 
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I think the quote that you highlighted is quite funny because it is actually, completely true. If you don't understand that you clearly don't understand cats and dogs. Trying to spin that out further into a commentary on dog lovers "lording over everything and everyone around them" is, what's that word you used? ...... Twisted.

I like both cats and dogs but prefer the latter.

Dogs have been living with and around us humans for thousands of years and the species has actually evolved to adapt to human needs and have changed and adapted in unison with the human species.

They are loyal to their 'family' - i.e. The people they live with. It is in their DNA. Most humans enjoy the company of dogs and treat them well because of this familiarity.
A cat is rarely domesticated in the way a dog is. They remain wild at heart .... Which I appreciate and admire, but the dog is definitely my best friend in the animal kingdom.
 
I've had cats now for almost 20 years (too lazy to walk a dog) and had no problems health wise. They sleep on top of me at night every night , have never scratched anything but their scratching pads and seem perfectly happy to be indoor cats. They use their litter boxes all the time and never miss. No hair ball problems if we groom them once in a while. They let me trim their claws every 3 weeks with no major problems. They make great company for me being home all the time. One's a hug-a-bunny always wanting to be close by or be in my lap. Them seem to know if my wife or I are sick and will lay near by and pay extra attention to us. The sound of them purring is like music to us. If I had to find a complaint , it would be about their medical vet bills which climb higher every year.
 
Sounds like Oscar lives with you...
 
Dotanbatan said:
the species has actually evolved to adapt to human needs
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Its comments like that that see me sticking to what I said.

This is really quite simple, but dogs are pack animals and pack animals have and follow a hierarchy. They put the human on top simply because the human has the consistency of willpower to control.

Cats are not pack animals and are independent. But independent does not mean they look down on you. Those who feel cats are looking down on them just for being independent have weak spirits, the thing that vexes bullies of all kinds.

I am not saying all dog lovers have that problem, but many do. When people love dogs but hate cats, the odds that they have the sort of selfish and weak spirit that vexes bullies goes up considerably.

As for myself I cannot abide a sychophant. Dogs bother me. I don't hate them, but I will have had enough of them in a very short space of time.
 
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I think its also related to the kawaii culture of japan. They just love things that are cute. And in comparison the dogs, cats are more adorable. Just my feeling ^_^
 
Cats are adorable and fascinating creatures, it's not just the Japanese who like them
Maybe the cats chose Japan rather than the other way around? Cats love cleanness and Japan is the cleanest place on earth. They also like to walk on soft surface to conceal the sound of their steps and tatami is the perfect choice. Last but not least, cats are ninjas of the animal kingdom...
 
I guess we're done taking the topic seriously.
 
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