A Japanese person could go to any small U.S. town in the mid-west or the south, take a walk around town, and I will guarantee you he will be stared at.
A Japanese person could go to any small U.S. town in the mid-west or the south, take a walk around town, and I will guarantee you he will be stared at.
Not to divert attention, but good point you make, Leroy.
I know this from experience, and I was often mistaken as a Japanese around school. So combining my two experiences, it is quite safe to say that a real Japanese in the middle of US will get a real sweating experience.
Not to turn this into a mutual bashing competition, I think the analogy can be found in the chameleon reflexes. They only notice movement, and given that stimulus, the tongue just shoots out without even thinking. Sentries' long hours of night duty works the same way, and so does a good part of the digital image compression technology that we are using right now, and also the compression/encoding of cellular phone signals works the same way.
Wait, it wasn't chameleons; it was the frogs. My bad. @_@
Z: The fish in the water are happy.
H: How do you know ? You're not fish.
Z: How do you know I don't ? You're not me.
H: True I am not you, and I cannot know. Likewise, I know you're not, therefore I know you don't.
Z: You asked me how I knew implying you knew I knew. In fact I saw some fish, strolling down by the Hao River, all jolly and gay.
--Zhuangzi
Well that what happens when you're not exposed to the outside world that often. If you lived in a small community all your life and have never seen a foreigner before in your life (except on television or whatever) it's easy to be supsicous or just simply very clueless. I mean, to me. When you're stared at are even gawked at I think it's only because people simpy don't know anything. Am I saying it's just a display of ignorance? Yes.
"Persons attempting to find a motive in this narrative will be prosecuted; persons attempting to find a moral in it will be banished; persons attempting to find a plot in it will be shot."
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
by Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)
You raise three very important key ideas here, MaCherie. 1) isloation 2) ignorance 3) gawking. Let me add a fourth, 4) responding to gawking.Originally Posted by Ma Cherie
Well that what happens when you're not exposed to the outside world that often. If you lived in a small community all your life and have never seen a foreigner before in your life (except on television or whatever) it's easy to be supsicous or just simply very clueless. I mean, to me. When you're stared at are even gawked at I think it's only because people simpy don't know anything. Am I saying it's just a display of ignorance? Yes.
1) isolation & 2) ignorance: Geographyand history are in the past and cannot be helped. But is it seen as a problem as such or an obstacle to be hurdled depends on how one thinks about isolation and ignorance. Are the Japanese viewing these as something positive, something negative but without any possibility of improving, or something that can be fixed by planning and work. It seems that some people are disappointed with the complacency the Japanese are expressing. It is a legitimate question to ask, why not do something about it ?
3) gawking: As a natural result of isolation and ignorance, gawking at novel sights is understandable. Even if the British appropriateness is applied, and somehow people refrain from gawking, is it much better ? A little maybe ?
4) response to gawking: One can choose to accept the situation, and not take offense whenever seen with uncomfortable gazes. or become ever more sensitive and reactionary by the strange treatment. This is also a cultural matter that is similar to problems resulting from 1) and 2). Why can it not be helped ?
Going back to the problem of ignorance, it's not inherently bad to be ignorant. A lot will depend on how one goes about "ignorance." Some thing's gotta give to meet on middle ground, but as long as 2) ignorance and 4) reaction refuse to change and improve upon their past, not much will happen. Do the two have any mutual respect for each other ? Neither party would easily admit to being in the wrong; aren't humans all like that wherever you go ?
There is ignorance and "display of one's ignorance". I'd say that 90% of the people in developed countries are quite ignorant (regarding general knowledge, not specific knowledge related to one's occupation) by my standards, and this comes close to 100% in not so developed countries (except maybe India).
In my experience, the Japanese don't seem to be much ashamed by their own ignorance (maybe because knowledge is less valued than in Europe) in the way they ask some questions (eg "Is there McDonald in America ?") or their readiness to display their ignorance (eg. "Is Argentina in Europe ?", "Is Uganda a country ?"). Does the ignorant part of the USA also behave like this ? I think they tend to keep it between them, and the people who don't know don't really want to know anyway.
What startles me in Japan is that many people want to know and ask lots of questions to foreigners, but are ignorant anyway. My question is, if they are so interested in learning about "other countries" (gaikoku), why don't they just open an encyclopedia or atlas and start learning by themselves (like I have always done since my childhood) ? If they do, they must have serious memory problems (so I can only assume they do not, and the interest they show when meeting foreigners is just hypocritical politeness in most cases).
Visit Japan for free with Wa-pedia
See what's new on the forum ?
Eupedia : Europe Guide & Genetics
Maciamo & Eupedia on Twitter
"What is the use of living, if it be not to strive for noble causes and to make this muddled world a better place for those who will live in it after we are gone?", Winston Churchill.
Thank you for mentioning that. Maybe that is because many Americans habe never travelled abroad (I mean, not Canada, but some place more different), while I personally don't know anybody in my relatives or friends in Europe that has never travelled at least to a few countries. Poorer people might not have travelled outside Europe, but most middle-class or above will usually have been outside Europe (about 1/3 of English university students take a 'gap year' to travel around the world, have I read, and so did I).
However, the Japanese are known for travelling a lot, maybe not as long as Europeans, but surely as often (except older generations, which is a big difference with Europe, where many pensioners spend their time travelling).
Interesting. I wonder why that happens in the States, while it doesn't in (the countryside where I grew up) in Europe. Not only are they no Japanese or Asian tourists or residents where my family lives, but when I introduced my wife to my extended family (cousins, uncles, aunts..), not a single one of them (not even the children) asked any stupid question about Japan or Japanese people. At the supermarket, the cashier didn't address her differently from locals (no weird looks, confusion, change of language or whatever).
Actually, I have travelled with my wife to about 15 European countries , and the attitude of people on this matter varied little from country to country (except maybe in Italy and Spain, where they tend to see Japanese people as "people with too much money and easy to cheat").
While discussing on this forum I am also learning a lot about the USA. And I have to say, as a European, I find quite a lot of similarities between the US and Japan regarding their attitude to foreigners and the rest of the world.
Not in this southern (very)small town. My husband is just like anyone else. Of course, that might be because his company is here. When his family comes this summer, I'm sure everyone in this town will just assume they're with one of the three Japanese people from the company. I can pretty much guarantee they won't be stared at. We're fortunate that the people around here have been extremely laid back and accepting. Probably not very common.
i carry your heart with me(i carry it in my heart)
So the division is not just city vs country, but maybe depends just on how common it is for locals to see non-Caucasian people.
That would be an exception and not the rule. People in such towns appreciate the jobs that the Japanese companies provide and might try not to offend anyone otherwise the company might leave town.
It's different in a town that's all or almost all white. I went to college in a small town. I once went to a strip bar with a friend, a student from The Gambia in West Africa. People in the bar were staring at HIM more than at the topless dancer!!!!
Yes, thank very much for pointing that out Maciamo. It's the display of ignorance is what I've been trying to get at. And you asked if the ignorant part of the US bahaves like this. Maybe not to that exent, I would say. But then again, maybe they don't know that they're displaying their ignorance.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks