What do you think is best to protect Japan Culture, or any culture?

[Sapphire]

I don't really understand the whole sun dying out hypothetical, I mean if the sun died out everyone would die pretty fast because all of our crops would die and we wouldn't have any food, especially in counties that rely on rice and stuff like that for main crops. And even in the more civilized countries solar energy is a big source of energy, so that would help a collapse of civilization. Also darker people don't need the sun (as much as you claim) to survive, they aren't flowers, the higher melanin content merely protects the skin from UV rays, giving them a lesser chance of skin cancer. The only thing that would happen is we would get less Vitamin D and we would have to get it from another source, assuming our crops aren't dead and we haven't been incinerated from the explosion of the sun...?

And assuming we somehow all survive from there being no sun, then our skin would just adapt through microevolution, over years and generations to be paler and more susceptible to some sort of sunlight from some other place, we wouldn't die. D: Besides last time I checked skin color didn't have THAT much effect on heat, and with all the dead crops can't people just make leaf clothing? (And isn't the theory that darker colors -attract- heat and lighter colors deflect it?)(Melanin, not melatonin reacts to light/radiation, not heat)

PS - If the sun moved close enough to the earth that all the white people ended up dying of skin cancer, then I'm sure it would end up with all of the darker colored people dying too because darker skin only means more resistance, not exactly much better protection. lol and if a disease manages to kill most of the world, I would bet it is airborne and doesn't care about your race if it's going to kill you, being as all humans are 99.99 genetically the same anyway. (Unless it is somehow a melanin targeting virus, which I find to be unlikely and would kill everyone anyway because everyone has melanin)

[Sapphire]

I'm looking at the site, it's hilarious

[Kraco]

And what is that claim based on? As far as I know, Japan isn't the cheapest place to buy a trip to, at least not from here. That alone tells anybody going there must be willing to invest a good amount of money and effort. Going to some thirteen-in-a-dozen beach resort would be a lot cheaper, not to mention they wouldn't need to worry nearly as much about "surviving" there because there's only so much you can do between sleeping and drinking at your hotel and walking to the beach.

I don't know that many people who have travelled to Japan but those that I do loved the place. I haven't met anybody who would have first paid a lot to go there and then came back with nothing but complaints.

I think your whole attitude is somehow garbled. You want to preserve your precious ideal Japan that exists nowhere but in your own mind and only for yourself and thus think everybody else somehow misunderstand Japan, or are suspicious of it, or even unfairly hate it or some aspects of it. Do a reality check, man. People always complain about something because most people like to complain and often even like to listen to complaining if they think likewise. It doesn't mean they didn't generally enjoy their stay.

You really should know better because obviously you have been there multiple times.

Besides, I read Gaijinsmash a long time ago, but I didn't get the impression he didn't like Japan. I got the impression he just wanted to amuse the site visitors, thus writing like he did.

[Animeniax]

How much money you spend doesn't equate to how much enjoyment you'll get. People become interested in Japan for superficial reasons, mostly anime, ninjas, cars, and cuteness. Then they travel to Japan and find it's pretty much like any other Asian culture, complete with yellow people who seem cold and unfriendly and don't speak their language. They also get used to English subtitles in their anime, so when they get lost in Japan without any signs in English or anyone who speaks English to help them, they get upset at the people for being so foreign.

Being from Finland, I don't imagine you've met too many people who've been to Japan period. You sound like a friend of mine who quipped that working in Germany would be a blast because neither of us have ever heard anyone say it sucked. And how many people have we ever talked to who has worked in Germany period? Two. Pretty silly reasoning if you ask me.

I know my attitude has developed from experience and research about the subject. I don't know if this is all new to you, but I've been interested in it for a while, since I plan to move to Japan in the future. I've talked to people, read accounts, and experienced firsthand the "Japan Wonderland" mentality and subsequent backlash when they find it's not what they thought. I'll even admit to feeling some of the same feelings the first time I visited. Besides which, it's not just a Japanese thing. Pretty much any westerner who encounters east Asian culture might have a hard time adjusting. Even in the states, taking white friends to an Asian restaurant resulted in a lot of awkwardness. They hate when you slurp noodles.

I skimmed through the archive and saw some interesting titles. I'll probably read through it. My fault for assuming it was another blog about "foreign guy in Japan". Some of what he writes is more "weird Japan".

[Kraco]

Being from Finland, I don't imagine you've met too many people who've been to Japan period. You sound like a friend of mine who quipped that working in Germany would be a blast because neither of us have ever heard anyone say it sucked. And how many people have we ever talked to who has worked in Germany period? Two. Pretty silly reasoning if you ask me.

Really, now? Aren't you falling victim to your own reasoning in that paragraph? You don't know the first thing about Finland, do you? It's true I haven't met that many people who have visited Japan (as opposed to you obviously, though I count it my pleasure since you apparently only meet people who didn't like the country), but I do know more than a few. And that's not even counting my cousin who's married to a genuine Japanese (nor obviously the Japanese people themselves whom I've met; they have "visited" Japan inherently so no use counting them).

I'm not really trying to oppose your views as such but I'm just wondering why you are so damn negative. But then again, maybe it's because I don't know the American mentality that deeply (and I get the impression it's mostly about the Americans visiting Japan you are talking about). Maybe those Americans I've met weren't like the typical American tourists (whatever those might be like).

[Animeniax]

Sure I do. I've heard the song "Finland" by Monty Python and I know about Teemu Selanne and Saku Koivu.

I think you might be right, we're talking about two different types of tourists here. I've talked to a few Australians and they had nothing but good things to say about their experience in Japan. Of course, they were just there to ski. A JET teacher from Australia had no complaints or cute stories like what gaijinsmash guy posts.

The people I'm talking about are the ones who want to assimilate into Japanese society, but meet resistance or challenges in their efforts. If you're just there to visit to enjoy the scenery and food, it will probably be a great trip.

Growing up yellow among the whites and blacks and browns in America gives me some additional insight into how foreigners will view the Japanese when they visit Japan. It's not really negativity, just a little cynicism.

[Kraco]

Oh, well. Now I understand. We were indeed talking about two different things. I have to confess right away I only know a single person who has travelled there in order to try to integrate into the Japanese society. Now, I can see why you wrote like you did if you know some people who tried to do that with halfassed efforts or unrealistic expectations.

[David75]

Summary:
Visiting is different from Integrating.

Animeniax fears people that would want to integrate Japan society when they are not japanese in the first place, doing harm to the idea he has of Japan.

Japanese Culture doesn't seem to be that threatned by tourists: ie people staying a few weeks at most, for visiting and get a feeling of what the country is.

Japanese Culture may be threatned by other things, not many of them explained in this thread yet.

[Animeniax]

Sort of. I am concerned that foreign people will visit Japan on vacation, grow to love it, then decide to move there, bringing possible bad influences with them, and altering the people that they meet, for better or worse. That's the key, it doesn't necessarily have to be a "bad" change. But what's good for some is bad for others.
This doesn't just apply to the Japanese, but all cultures. We just happen to be talking about the Japanese because of their unique circumstances and influence on the rest of the world that somehow makes people want to go there.

[masamuneehs]

in reply to the topic:

Celebrate your culture! (Parades and festivals are big for a reason!)
Remember your history!
Take pride in your nation/ethnicity/religion/thing!

Like Assertn said, trying to protect a culture is sorta like fighting evolution. There's culture that one tries to protect, and then culture of trying to protect culture. It's going to change and assimilate new things into it, create new things. Excrement is inevitable.

I say people should just try to be themselves, whatever comes naturally to them (that isn't bad/freaky for others) and makes them happy. I think people put too much stock in shallow, self important doctrines and big, airy ideas like "culture". You have a nationality. You have a family. You have a voice. You have an existance.

No one has a culture.

[Animeniax]

I think it's easy to dismiss culture if you come from a place that doesn't have its own strong, well-defined culture (America). But culture and its elements of language, traditions, cuisine, family structure, and practices, defines a people and separates them from other peoples. I think it is a necessary division among people, just like different uniforms are necessary to separate 2 sports teams on the field.

[Chiodos]

In Stockholm, when your going to the City, you usually see fuckin' lolitas everywhere, telling people that your a wannabe of some sort behind your back or through the net.

You know what : )?
(read lolita: some kind of similiraties individual dressed as ... "japanese/vizu kei")

I always wanted to try to smash their bodies, pull their legs to the toilet, dip their head in the hole, and flush X random times. After that I sooooo wanna smash a chair, use it's legg and beat the rest of the crap out of the damn lolita. Later I want to take sharp pieces of glass (toiler window glass!) and cut the shit on the individual.

That would make my day <3!

[Animeniax]

Damn Chiodos, I guess their words strike a chord in you. Are they calling it too close for your liking?

You're a thai guy living in Stockholm? Are the lolis Swedish or also foreigners?

[Chiodos]

Usually lolis swedish, or atleast they have stayed for many years. What I've heard, they have some kind of wierd ...cult (lack for better word) that "attacks" those who do not look japanese (read: clothes/hairstyle).

There was this wierd article just recently in the paper that was about japanese influence and all I can tell, it was mostly a wierd full load of crap. Mostly from a non-sided viewpoint (me).

[Animeniax]

Man you're making me confused. Who's Swedish, who's Japanese, and what are you and are you in Sweden?

[Chiodos]

I am in Sweden. I am not fully Swedish but from Thailand. Maybe 100%. Don't really know.
The "lolitas-whatever" people are usually clean Swedish individuals. They may or may not but have a different backround, I don't really know.
I'm just going to say that their all white considering their covering their faces in white make-up. (usually)

[masamuneehs]

how best to protect the "culture" of this thread?

Move it to the Flame Pit?

or would that be some kind of effort to try to protect the "culture" of General Discussion?

[Sapphire]

Seems fine where it is. FP would just turn it into spam. This is actually a discussion somewhat.

[David75]

I'd rather have this thread cleaned a bit from hatred and remarks regarding cleaning, if possible.

[Turkish-S]

Save culture.? culture itself is a living thing. with daily additions and things removed from your so called "culture". nobody can "protect" a culture. trying to protect it will change it.