How should I know how I would be if I were born Japanese? Although I personally think the U.S. could stand to adapt more of the Japanese (or any other honor-shame societies now or in history) for the reason that " In a guilt culture, honor is not as important and indeed we sometimes try to turn what others regard as shameful into something we can be proud of because we are "different"." (See "Honor and Shame" at http://www.tektonics.org/nutshell/nutshellhub.html for quote, info, and references). Indeed, this might cut down on things like those homosexual rallies that are blatantly shameful even to those who think homosexuality is ok. And perhaps, the U.S. church would get a boost if what one Chinese commentator says is true that, " the collectivist, honor-shame mindset was crucial to making the Chinese church I grew up in look a lot more like the one seen in Acts rather than the dead, formal service churches are popularly made out to be." http://www.tektonics.org/tsr/tillstill7-5.html~Natsumi Lam~ wrote:If you were Japanese and lived in Japan... what would be different from how you are now and would you view anime differently?
Where in Japan would you live?
Could you handle the difference in school strictness and pressure?
And would you want to be a Jpop star or an ordinary business man?
The reason i ask this: I have met and have a few Japanese friend that were born and raised in Japan ... they wish they were from America because they had so much family pressure and school pressure that they didnt like living. They also didnt really care about mainstream anime... not until they were older. One of them was a quiet girl who wanted to be more americanized in her femininity[sp?], another guy looked like a sameri guy with long hair... kinda like onizuka from GTO live drama and he liked anime only since he was 30, he also hated family pressure and honor.... and another guy i met on the bus to Phx and he looked like a business man,,, he hated school. So i want to know if americans want to be Japanese ... just like my Japanese friends want to be in the american main stream.. Also all three liked dressing differently than in Japan.
Personally, i would get my hands on all the JDM cars and car parts, i would view all the new video games, i would buy up all the new personal electronics that were "hot off the press".... and i would definately get me one of those cool paper walled houses in the country.hahah ... oh yea i would definately be thinner than how i am now and die my black hair all different colors. I would not be able to handle the social system and the family pressure for sure!
~NL~
I'd say it drives some people to suicide anyway.Hoshika wrote:Japanese culture is different but I wouldn't say it drives people to suicide.
That is some of what I was saying anyway, as humility is not the only component. Its not as if Japan is a bulwark against sin, and I strongly suspect ashfire's examples of "honesty" stem from not from good will towards the person in question, but instead likely the desire to avoid being shamed in their actions. Indeed, the downside of an honor-shame system is that one will not feel anything about comitting misdeeds until they are caught, which can be psuedo-offset by the addition a personal rather than collective conscience, but is better offset by the fear of YHWH and His plan for justice.Hoshika wrote:Things can get stressful no matter where you were born and raised and especially if your mind set dosn't go wit the the flow.
Lika already pointed out by GhostontheNet it would do America some good to adopt a sense of humility. This country is just too accepting of sin and even worse promote it as a good thing.
ashfire wrote:One thing I just seen on CBS Sunday Morning Show was how honest the Japanese people are. If they find somthing that does not belong to them on the street they will turn it in to the police. If you left your key in a door or in your car or motorcycle it will not be messed with.
Kokoro Daisuke wrote:To start off my answer - I am half Japanese (half Chinese) and I've always been a bit annoyed by the "I wish I were Asian" thing that a lot of anime fans have going on. I'm Asian, and quite frankly I don't feel any cooler/smarter/prettier/etc. than anyone else. Maybe I take a more active interest in my own culture and heritage and strive for a better understanding than most people in the US, but that's about it. That being said, well, I can't really answer "What would you be like if you were Japanese?" because, well...I am.
But would I want to live in Japan or do I wish I was born in Japan? The way I am now, I'd answer "no" to both these questions. Japan isn't a terrible place by any stretch, and at times may seem a little more suited to my personality than the town I live in. However, 1) the idea of added school pressures etc. does not appeal to me, therefore I am quite glad I have to put up with the stereotypical "you must do well in school or you shame your family" thing only half the time instead of all the time. Yeah, I'm lazy. 2) As for living/moving to Japan, no I'm not going to say I have any desire to do that as well. I'd LOVE to visit, maybe stay a month there and see the country, however I'm at the point in my life where I'm trying to let God's will dictate my descisions, and I haven't heard him calling me to Japan quite yet. ^^
Forgive me if I'm being niave, but it seems to me in general the bloodlines of my fellow Americans are extremely mixed, indeed, "the great melting pot" they call out country. Chances are high some fraction of many people's blood is Irish.mitsuki lover wrote:I can understand how you feel a bit as I am part Irish and on St.Patrick's
Day every year all of a sudden everyone in the U.S. WANTS to be or
CLAIMS to be Irish even if they're not.It can get a bit rankling at times.
On the other hand no better way to try and understand another culture than by imagining what it's like to belong to it.
USSRGirl wrote:>.< No. Because I say it tastes of evil. And everyone is entitled to my opinion.
Ultra Magnus wrote:Hey Natsumi, this may be a bit off-topic, but have you tried searching for the origins of your last name on websites such as ancestry.com? Sometimes they can tell you more about where your ancestors may have lived, etc.
Cheers.
Kokoro Daisuke wrote:I don't look badly on anyone, I simply think that a lot of people hold the "I wish I was asian" sentiment because they want to be the number one otaku and know everything about anime and speak Japanese, blah blah blah. I have absolutely nothing against respect for another culture, what annoys me are malinformed or juvenille statements like that made by wannabe "otakus" who know nothing about the countries they idolize except for the fact that they eat sushi and make anime.
Well said, to sum it up as J.P. Holding said of Biblical culture, "We put the individual first while they put the group first. People did not go out to "find themselves" because they found identity in the group they were in: Family, religion, friends." (same linK) Ultimately people around here have little identidy outside of what they invent, and if they feel that becomes dubious they have something of an identidy crisis. If one were to try to draw their identidy from external sources, they have few options that will work. Perhaps some might try a grounding in the Republic and its values. I generally draw mine from my affiliation with the universal Catholic, not simply Roman Catholic, but in the old terminology the universal Church and its project.~Natsumi Lam~ wrote:part of the reason some white people look to or rather want to be of a different culture[or marry into another culture] is because [like myself] i have no family history that has deep rooted culture that my family clings to. We made our own culture... i have no favorite food of my ansestors, i have no culturally sound clothing.... i have no special language.... i have no special art. All i can look to are my grandparents and they dont know what they are made up of. I am part german[ i think], part Native American [ 1/36th], irish [i think]..... i am made of a whole bunch of different white cultures.
SO it is likely for me to desire to have a past that extends more than two generations with special foods, ceremonies, clothing....
in anime they pray to their dead family, have special clothing, talking of their last name [or rather first] as something of pride or defeat. I for one only have that name out of passage... so for me to want to stay in my culture and of my culture is pointless because i have only culture as far as my arm extends.
So dont look badly upon those who say " i wish i was asian, or i wish i was this or that... because some of us dont even have this or that to look at...
~Natsumi Lam~
But I think it's sad what has come to white people (I also hate the term white--it has a nebulous meaning and can also refer to individuals [of certain minorities] that liberals hate). Any culture around the world can celebrate its heritage, but for any given white ethnic group to do the same (except maybe the Irish) is considered 'racism.' I guess that's at least one reason I'm glad I'm not white. That may be one reason why most whites think that "whiteness" is an achromatic (to borrow from Marc Miyake) trait, that it merely waters down someone else's ethnicity rather than add to it.
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