A question for Americans/Canadians...

Post Reply New Topic

My friend is writing a paper for her school in Japan. She is an exchange student here in America, and she is about to return to Japan. She has to write an essay concerning... basically anything. She has chosen to write about how Americans feel about Japan and Japanese people, and vice versa. She is asking her Japanese friends how they feel about the US, but she needs help in the area of how Americans feel about Japan.

So, I decided to ask some people, and I figured this site might be a good way to get a variety of opinions (different ages, different locations in the US, etc.) I haven't really seen anything in the rules about this sort of thread being prohibited, and I have seen other threads like this for academic purposes, so I figured I would give it a shot, at least.


The point:
How do you feel about Japan and the Japanese people... culture... language? It can be negative or positive; both types of opinions are welcomed. You won't be named in the paper (you will remain anonymous.) I'll pass on the info to my friend. She has a couple of weeks to get this paper done, so if you're reading this thread on May 17th or something, your opinion is still relevant.

Thread can be moved, but I really want it to stay here.

Lalalla... That's about all.

Thanks in advance for any replies~!

I have no clue where to start. Their culture is a lot stricter (in a broad sense) then American culture.

Thats all Captain Obvious has to say today. So long.

BTW, I wonder if they're still pissed about us bombing the hell out of them...

I'm jealous of them for having a real sense of culture whereas America doesn't really. Also their food is better and they are more attractive as a people overall as their food is not as fatty as American food is.

Japan is neat, but I have no real interest in it. I love the food and architecture, but the language is too convoluted--especially with the levels of formality--for me to want to pursue it.

Apart from that, I don't have a strong opinion on the place. .__.;

I don't think that's fair to say. America does have a sense of culture, it's just that it contains numerous cultures--due to the waves of immigration in the past and present--rather than one concrete culture. Granted, Japan's isn't really concrete, since there are always numerous cultures within a given country, but there's more of a sense of sameness.

Please. The only sense of culture America has is that every social event has to focus on food.

BTW, Japanese Education is better than American education. Just saying.

Jazz, Mark Twain, Harper Lee, Mary Cassatt, Norman Rockwell, Frank Lloyd Wright, and Edgar Allan Poe don't count as culture? What's this now? Also, I think you need to define "culture" a little more clearly.



I can agree to that, since our educational system is pretty screwy.

I am referring to culture that is apart of the average American's daily lives. Those names you listed up there don't matter to most Americans as a lot of us don't read that much anymore.

Getting rid of the big quote block...

I don't think we (humans) have ever been, on average, big readers. There's always been some distraction or restriction of privileges. That aside, there is culture in our daily lives. It's hard to tell because--assuming you're American--it's your default culture. ^_^; It's hard to notice something when you're immersed in it. This page lists a number of aspects of American culture. A country's culture as a whole is so broad that it's hard to notice until you go to another one.

I have always loved Japanese people and their culture. I find Japanese culture to be exotic and fascinating because it is so different from American culture. I think that Japanese people are very beautiful due to their facial features and their dark hair color. I also think that their language is beautiful and I enjoy listening to Japanese music because of the way it sounds, even if I can't understand it very well. I like all kinds of Japanese fashion, from kimonos to Lolita to kogal and all the other different kinds you can find in fashion districts such as Harajuku. I wish Americans were as bold with their fashion statements as the Japanese are. Another thing I like about Japan is that it has a rich history of visual arts, from ukiyo-e and calligraphy to anime and manga. I think it is beautiful and I have tried to emulate it in my own artwork.

Thanks for all of the responses so far! Even if we have digressed a bit.
Speaking of...

I agree with Arisa. You really don't notice until you're somewhere different. Even if there is someone with different ways around you, you still don't really, truly, wholeheartedly notice until you're out on your own in a completely different culture. (You have to have a brain, too. And be fairly observant and open.) This is when you find yourself valuing the 4th of July, baseball, and your country's historical figures and accomplishments the most.

Unless you're one of those irksome have-to-blend-in people.

That's why I like to think of America as a salad. So many different aspects have made it what it is, today, as a whole. The "aspects" being a bit of other countries' cultures.
But there's still the typical "default" American culture, typically associated with white people (like myself), before there were so many immigrants.

Other peoples opinions on Japan may be more applicable here than mine; I lived in Japan for three years when I was in second, third, and fourth grade.

The simplest way I can summarize what Americans know about Japan is... largely ignorance.

On one hand you have the people that associate Japan with everything far-east--largely China--they group all Asians together. Oh the Midwest.

On the opposite end of the spectrum you have these people who adore Japanese "Culture" and think what they see on the news and the internet accurately depicts a nation. That scares me a bit.

Concerning Japan having a culture and America being a "melting pot", to use a trope, of cultures, you have to realize that a lot of Japanese culture is borrowed--Tea from China--Buddhism from the continent [although Shinto is decidedly Japanese]--That's all I can think of right now historically. Recently Americana is permeating/taking over Japanese culture as well.

Not sure how much I answered your question--feel free to PM me if you have any specific questions--I do better answering something specific than something general!

And good luck!

--David

Oh. Saying the Japanese school system is better than ours is a painfully ignorant generalization. It's different. Aspects of it could be considered better, and aspects of it are much worse.

You're asking Americans for our opinions on other cultures? Surely this must be some sort of joke. 95% of Americans can't even find their own country on a globe, what makes you think we know anything about Japan?

This comment is so ignorant, I think we'll just omit it from the discussion.
If you know little, just say that. Don't make generalizations. You know little, after all.

Next!

Last edited by jmnixon95 on 11 May 2011, 4:26 pm, edited 2 times in total.

*raised eyebrow*

OP, I love Japanese culture. Some of it is way out there, though. lol

I like the kimonos that both the men and the women wear and the fans that they carry.

I grew up in a home where there was considerable prejudice against Japan dating from the World War II era. Nonetheless I grew to love traditional Japanese art, architecture, landscaping and music; in fact, I think it's the best that humans have ever produced. Of contemporary Japanese culture I know nothing, nor have much desire to know, so I wonder if I haven't just inherited my parents' prejudices in a subtler form.