Why Japanese make themselves similar to Americans?

Mansoor · 24 Mar 2016

Excuse me for this critique but as I see, a group of Japanese try to look like Americans! It seems they have forgotten themselves and their own culture and traditions and like to be similar to an blond American!
Some of these Japanese dyed their black hair and eyebrows golden to become blond and also use blue eye lens to look like Americans!
They talk English and follow American musics and singers, wish to be tall. Apparently they are not happy that have Japanese nationality and almond- shaped eyes!
The state of these Japanese make me sad, and I say, why somebodies forget themselves and wish to be something else that damage their real identity.
In my opinion, It is not important that you are black, white, short, almond-shaped eyes or black hair, but what is important it is your real character, real identity and humanity.
An American never can change his shape to a Japanese and a Japanese can't do that also, but their souls and spirits are similar and can move toward the perfection of humanity and commendable morality that is just for mankind.

RolandtheHeadless · 24 Mar 2016

From what I've seen, most Japanese are content with their race and nationality. Some young people always try to look and act differently. There are Japanese obsessed with things American, and there are Americans who are obsessed with things Japanese.

lanthas · 24 Mar 2016

There are worse things than Japanese who identify as being American. Here's a Norwegian girl who identifies as being a cat:

Sucrose · 25 Mar 2016

I think Japanese people always subconsciously aspire to look more Western looking (such as whitening their skin/wearing blue eye contacts, getting blonde hair). I think Japanese people want to Westernize themselves (not just Americans) because people always want to be what they're not. We get excited when Hawaiian pancakes or NY cupcakes come to Japan, but I agree it's not the major population that want to look American.

Mansoor · 25 Mar 2016

Also, I saw a group of Japanese boys (men) in a show that behaved very fine like women! They were between a group of girls and supposed they were some girls as well!
They had shaved all their beards and mustaches, made up their faces and wore dresses similar to those girl and had feminine behaviors.
I asked myself, why these boys are not aware that they are male and are not female? Why they don't feel any difference between themselves and those girls and behave like them? Why they hate to have hair on their face and made up their eyebrows like women?!
I believe, a man is a man and has his own attributes and behaviors and a woman is a woman and has her own natural characteristic and feature and it must be a boundary and separation between these two sort of humans.

Grandpa Frank · 25 Mar 2016

What we believe is right and wrong has a lot to do with where we are bought up and living. We are taught what to believe is right and wrong by our teachers , our religious leaders , and people around us , and the media. If you live in a country where the government controls your freedom and tells you what to think , you tend to believe what they say is correct. If you live in a country with a great deal of freedom to think what you want and behave the way you want and people around you don't condemn you for being different , you get people who seem a bit strange. The culture we grow up in has a strong influence on how we think. If a person has a chance to travel and experience many different cultures , usually they become more open in their thinking .Religion has very strong influence on how we think about what is right and wrong. If you grow up being told you will rot in hell for eternity if you do certain things , you tend to think those things are evil where in another country they are considered OK. If all of us were more tolerant of other people and cultures, there would probably be less war and terrorism in todays world.

WonkoTheSane · 25 Mar 2016

Anyone can find fault with anyone else if they're looking for faults.

I prefer to spend my time looking for the good things in people so I can become friends with them and start learning to understand the parts I don't agree with.

Majestic · 25 Mar 2016

Sucrose said:
I think Japanese people always subconsciously aspire to look more Western looking (such as whitening their skin

This wouldn't be an aspiration to look Western. Pale skin is/was a sign of refinement well before Japan was ever exposed to the west. If I'm not mistaken, this was the case throughout Asia. Sun-tanned complexions were associated with field labor, peasants. Pale skin was associated with nobility (the leisure class, if you like). So I think it would be a mistake to assume Asian ladies are trying to emulate the look of a caucasian. Pale skin was always considered an indication that the woman did not have to be out in the sun all day, and that was an indication of femininity and desirability.

Mansoor · 25 Mar 2016

Uncle Frank said:
What we believe is right and wrong has a lot to do with where we are bought up and living. We are taught what to believe is right and wrong by our teachers , our religious leaders , and people around us , and the media. If you live in a country where the government controls your freedom and tells you what to think , you tend to believe what they say is correct. If you live in a country with a great deal of freedom to think what you want and behave the way you want and people around you don't condemn you for being different , you get people who seem a bit strange. The culture we grow up in has a strong influence on how we think. If a person has a chance to travel and experience many different cultures , usually they become more open in their thinking...

I dependent on my own thought, not on what I have learned from my teachers absolutely. Also I trust in my eyes that show me what is correct and what is wrong.

I haven't travel aboard, but I can recognize the issues and information in a society from eyes of the cameras and the news that I read or hear. I think, when you read a historical book, you do the same that I do. For example, you have never been in Europe 300 years ago, but you are informed about this mainland, its societies, the type of its governments, its famous characters and the events that took place there, by that historical book!
What I told was not religious and was not connected to religion, but I discussed from my own personal opinions and perspective.

Mansoor · 25 Mar 2016

WonkoTheSane said:
Anyone can find fault with anyone else if they're looking for faults.

I prefer to spend my time looking for the good things in people so I can become friends with them and start learning to understand the parts I don't agree with.

My purpose was not to find some faults in a society, but I hinted to the faults that are changing the culture and traditions of Japaneses.

My words could be a motivation in the mind of Japanese to think about what is going in their society and prevent them by going back to their own culture and native customs.

I also apologized you in the beginning for my critiques.

Azarashi · 25 Mar 2016

Mars said:
My purpose was not to find some faults in a society, but I hinted to the faults that are changing the culture and traditions of Japaneses.

My words could be a motivation in the mind of Japanese to think about what is going in their society and prevent them by going back to their own culture and native customs.

I also apologized you in the beginning for my critiques.

Just because someone has born as Japanese doesn't mean that that person has to honor Japanese culture, and trying to prevent someone from exploring different cultures and make them stay to "their own" is stupid.
Only reason we have cultures is because at some point "core" culture of just surviving and reproducing changed to something different and slowly grew in all of the cultures we have now and thousands of those that we have forgotten.
And if we stop those Cultures from evolving we get stuck, for example if western culture would have stopped at 1900s woman are just there to please man and little before that black people are slaves worth 1/8 of a white man.

nice gaijin · 26 Mar 2016

Mars said:
Also, I saw a group of Japanese boys (men) in a show that behaved very fine like women! They were between a group of girls and supposed they were some girls as well!
They had shaved all their beards and mustaches, made up their faces and wore dresses similar to those girl and had feminine behaviors.
I asked myself, why these boys are not aware that they are male and are not female? Why they don't feel any difference between themselves and those girls and behave like them? Why they hate to have hair on their face and made up their eyebrows like women?!
I believe, a man is a man and has his own attributes and behaviors and a woman is a woman and has her own natural characteristic and feature and it must be a boundary and separation between these two sort of humans.

Have you ever noticed yourself judging others? Oftentimes, our judgment of other people is more reflective of ourselves than anything to do with them.

If you're asking "why would they do that?" in the context of "I would never do that/I don't approve," then you can thank your lucky stars that you aren't them, and that it's really none of your business how they decide to act or dress. If you insist on asking "why," I recommend trying to empathize and actually understand where they're coming from, rather than using the question as a platform to voice your disapproval of their lifestyle.

WonkoTheSane · 26 Mar 2016

Mars said:
My purpose was not to find some faults in a society, but I hinted to the faults that are changing the culture and traditions of Japanese.

But you did find fault. In fact the only thing you did is find fault.

My words could be a motivation in the mind of Japanese to think about what is going in their society and prevent them by going back to their own culture and native customs.

What makes you think they want motivation or agree with your opinion or even care about it?

Perhaps you should spend more time examining your own country for problems before being concerned about other countries.

I also apologized you in the beginning for my critiques.

If you knew you needed to apologize then you knew you were wrong.

Mansoor · 26 Mar 2016

Wonko Thesane. What caused that I join to this forum was a news in the Yahoo news agency that I considered it as an offend to Japanese. The news made me sad and angry and I decided to find a Japanese forum, support Japaneses and express my respect to them, in respond to the malicious publishers of the news. Sadly I noticed some officials of Japan played a role in the plan that its goal was to humiliate Japanese and damage their humanity character!
So I recommend you Japaneses to be aware! Some malicious politicians in the world try to humiliate Japanese ( via indirect and crawling propaganda ) and change their real identity. They have influenced in your native culture and traditions like viruses and are destroying them.
When I tell you, a group of Japanese youths dyed their hairs and eyebrows golden and follow the western culture and training, or when I hint that some Japanese men make up themselves like ladies and sing western songs, and dance ( with western- style) among girls, it will be as an alarm that alert you that some social disasters are happening in the Japan society, and some character and identity transformations are taking place in the society.
The plan of the malicious politicians is that, first destroy the identity and character of a nation and then dominate on their land easily.

Yes, I sometimes find social faults but not for annoying others. My purpose of finding social faults is that to help others! I wish they can find their intangible faults in their own society and remove them.

WonkoTheSane · 26 Mar 2016

Mars said:
When I tell you, a group of Japanese youths dyed their hairs and eyebrows golden and follow the western culture and training, or when I hint that some Japanese men make up themselves like ladies and sing western songs, and dance ( with western- style) among girls, it will be as an alarm that alert you that some social disasters are happening in the Japan society, and some character and identity transformations are taking place in the society.

These are not social disasters.

These are people acting in a free society.

It says on your profile you live in Iran, is this correct?

I do not know any Japanese people who would want to live in a society like Iran, but I don't know any Japanese people who would be so rude as to try to find Iranians and tell them how awful their society and country are.

Azarashi · 26 Mar 2016

WonkoTheSane said:
These are not social disasters.

These are people acting in a free society.

It says on your profile you live in Iran, is this correct?

I do not know any Japanese people who would want to live in a society like Iran, but I don't know any Japanese people who would be so rude as to try to find Iranians and tell them how awful their society and country are.

I'm pretty sure he is trolling, and if he isn't it's pointless to argue.

WonkoTheSane · 26 Mar 2016

Azarashi said:
I'm pretty sure he is trolling, and if he isn't it's pointless to argue.

Why would you think he's trolling? His views are held by a significant population (that westernization and sexual freedom are bad).

If he's not, why not engage in discussion? Even if he doesn't connect, it's best to not leave a thread like this without another point of view in my opinion.

Besides, it's my time to use. Perhaps it's a waste, perhaps not, but either way it's my time and energy.

madphysicist · 26 Mar 2016

Azarashi said:
I'm pretty sure he is trolling, and if he isn't it's pointless to argue.

I think you underestimate conservatism, not just in Iran but in the world... I've come across people from western countries who think similar things, perhaps less fervently but still in a "men must act like men! traditional culture must be respected and preserved at all costs!" kind of way.

I agree though I have not yet found an effective way to convince such people to live and let live, at least not without months of interaction with them, gradually exposing them to more points of view. So I'll just say there's nothing I like more than a nice feminine-looking Japanese man, especially if he's dancing provocatively to Western-style music : 9 bring on the breakdown of Japanese society!

Lothor · 26 Mar 2016

Mars said:
When I tell you, a group of Japanese youths dyed their hairs and eyebrows golden and follow the western culture and training, or when I hint that some Japanese men make up themselves like ladies and sing western songs, and dance ( with western- style) among girls, it will be as an alarm that alert you that some social disasters are happening in the Japan society, and some character and identity transformations are taking place in the society.
.

Japan has been absorbing ideas, technologies, culture and fashions from the west since the start of the Meiji Restoration over 150 years ago, yet remains a country with a very strong self-identity.
Your worries are groundless.

Azarashi · 26 Mar 2016

WonkoTheSane said:
Why would you think he's trolling? His views are held by a significant population (that westernization and sexual freedom are bad).

If he's not, why not engage in discussion? Even if he doesn't connect, it's best to not leave a thread like this without another point of view in my opinion.

Besides, it's my time to use. Perhaps it's a waste, perhaps not, but either way it's my time and energy.

I think that he is troll not because of hes views but because he is arguing those views on Japanese forum.
Just saying that because I have had bunch of pointless arguments about similar stuff that doesn't go anywhere, and so the sentence would be more aesthetically pleasing then just ,"I think that he is troll".

Azarashi · 26 Mar 2016

madphysicist said:
I think you underestimate conservatism, not just in Iran but in the world... I've come across people from western countries who think similar things, perhaps less fervently but still in a "men must act like men! traditional culture must be respected and preserved at all costs!" kind of way.

I agree though I have not yet found an effective way to convince such people to live and let live, at least not without months of interaction with them, gradually exposing them to more points of view. So I'll just say there's nothing I like more than a nice feminine-looking Japanese man, especially if he's dancing provocatively to Western-style music : 9 bring on the breakdown of Japanese society!

I haven't met single openly gay person where I live, because Latvia as country is very homophobic and racist, so I have pretty good idea how people can be.

madphysicist · 26 Mar 2016

Azarashi said:
I haven't met single openly gay person where I live, because Latvia as country is very homophobic and racist, so I have pretty good idea how people can be.

So you CAN believe the OP's views are sincerely held? I thought you were trying to say there was no point in discussing this because no one would think the way the OP does (that is what I understood by you saying "troll").

I don't see what's a waste of time about engaging in this discussion as long as there are people who would sincerely agree with the OP's view. If there is one person (even if it's not the OP) who is enlightened by reading the valid points made by other members, it's worth talking about.

And even some people who are not that conservative can tend towards an attitude of "it's such a pity the Japanese (or whichever country) are so keen to copy western culture, why can't they preserve their own traditions?" That's an attitude worth tackling I think. Japan has done a good job of balancing imported and local culture, but even if they hadn't, is it up to us to disparage them for wanting to emulate another culture? It's not like it's being imposed on them.

Lomaster · 27 Mar 2016

Why Iranians make themselves similar to Americans? Iran leaps into worldâs top 10 countries performing plastic surgery | The National Apparently they are not happy that have Iranian nationality and hooked noses!
In my opinion it is not important whether your nose is hooked, droopy, roman, snub or upturned what important is whether you can afford rhinoplasty or not.

Mansoor · 28 Mar 2016

Hi, Lomaster, if you are Russian you should know that you are considered as our step brother so why you try to find a fault about us? LOL.
Of course those who perform plastic surgery want to be more beautiful, not to become more similar to Americans

Mansoor · 28 Mar 2016

Also it is good you know, We live under cool shadow of independence and one breath in this freedom is better than 1000 years living under ominous shadow of colonialism and dependence.

We have prepared thousands school and universities for our youths and have prepared every scientific facilities for them as far as possible, but we don't allow the harmful cultures to touch them and hurt them.

Why Japanese make themselves similar to Americans?

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