For some context i’m a half Japanese and Half Canadian male, grew up and currently living in Canada right now but has spent several times staying there with family, went to public school in Japan, and has a legitimate understanding of Language, culture, and norms. Yet something that has always bothered me is the way people see Japan…
It isn’t when people bring up WW2 or anything like that. It’s when absolutely clueless people talk about Japan. Something about that just makes me kinda irritated.
The people who make Japan some aesthetic or vibe while thinking “Tokyo is a country where they speak Mandarin” or something obnoxious like that. It’s annoying on so many levels because you have people pretending to be Japanese, saying they want to live in Tokyo when there older, saying that Japanese women are the peak of all women, and even some hardcore Red Pill or Conservative losers saying that Japan is the best country for women and lifestyle.
Which leads to “Passport Bros” which is a whole other degenerate group of people who want to go to places like Asia or Eastern Europe seeking for a more “traditional” women. Even though most of these people are just people who are too lazy to seek someone of that quality in there own country.
They deliberately ignore bad society norms, falling economy, falling birthrate, bad average mental health, life time employment, and so many other issues.
I saw a video that went through the “self fetishization” of East Asia and it was relatable to the frustration i had over people who know nothing about Japan and think Japan is some quirky anime and holy haven.
Concepts in Japanese media presented in places like America and even Canada are deliberately “De-japanized”. Prime example being anime.
It leads to having such unrealistic thoughts and views on Japan, leading idiots to go Japan (Such as Adin Ross, Johnny Somali, and Logan Paul)
The westernized cultural views of Japan and even other Places like South Korea leads to weird foreigners and people who idolize a supposedly “perfect country” and people who openly fetishize people from those countries.
And just to get it it the way, no, i’m not some Anti Foreigner Nationalist or anything of that type. I’m just trying to say, it’s annoying as hell when people are obnoxiously obsessive over Japan because they think it’s “kawaii”, quirky, aesthetic, perfect, or something like that.
And if you aren’t Japanese and took time to learn the Japanese language and learn the culture i genuinely respect you a ton!
Wondering if anyone else who is Japanese or has a genuine grasp on Japanese life or culture via living there or something agrees with this…
https://www.reddit.com/r/japan/comments/14ir80i/im_japanese_i_hate_when_people_bring_up_japan/
9 comments
>And just to get it it the way, no, i’m not some Anti Foreigner Nationalist or anything of that type.
Probably for the best, as natives here wouldn’t consider you actually Japanese. Overseas hafus tend to get that Naomi Osaka treatment (“well, she’s not REALLY Japanese, etc.). Blood is not enough; without full cultural immersion they’ll treat even hafus with citizenship as foreigners.
The Asian fetish is nothing new, unfortunately. It was a huge problem during the US occupation of Japan, Korean war, Vietnam war, etc., and never really went away. Feminists have made entire careers out of analyzing and deconstructing the ‘white male asian female’ disparity in interracial couples and such.
This is part of a phenomenon called [orientalism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orientalism) and it’s been around for a long time. I don’t envy you having to endure that crap.
Japanese here. I agree there are people who gets Japan wrong on so many levels. I live in Norway, so the vast majority of the population are well educated and seek out Japan’s good and bad. The most important part is that they are curious to learn.
And I look at our friends across the sea, the USA and UK to some extent and even Australia. It baffles me a bit how they fetishise Japanese (and Asian culture generally). There are great gap between people who really know what they are talking about and people who have skewed image.
Now, I blame a lot on Japan’s poor self-image propagated by poor diplomacy and conservative forces in Japan. Japan literally sucks at promoting itself and fighting stereotypes, because much of the Japanese leadership and diplomatic strategy still project and confirm everyone’s skewed belief about Japan in a way.
And yeah, those so called influencers are just idiots.
Now f off. I’ve been learning Japanese for years, along with the culture of course, and I’m still fond of Japan, “kawaii”, aesthetics, cultural norms and shit. Now go hate me. Particularly as I’m totally aware about your own Japanese fetishizing the hell out of other countries, including mine.
Literally if you live in america and think your life will be so much better in Japan…. you re one of those people. Like it or not, the people who live in the states are the most richest people in the world by WORLD STANDARDS.
Your life is not gonna get better in Japan, unless youre a weeb. Admit you are one of those.
You are too online. Most people are not YouTubers or influencers and don’t act like them.
Off-topic, regarding the “Passport bros” part, I met my then-girlfriend-now-wife at work and I did want a traditional woman as a partner for life, not because its easier, but I wanted to be with someone objectively smarter, and more importantly, more respectful than the women I’ve met in my life back in the US. I swear, since the early 2000’s, the extreme feminists have been so abusive and disrespectful of men that I was one of those who left for better pastures. Don’t get me wrong, Japanese women are no pushovers. The house is *their* kingdom, but holy hell they run their kingdoms like how military leaders keep their garrisons. I’m saying that as a damn good thing. Sure, it gets hard, but holy hell, way better than the women I’ve met who’ve openly been disrespecting men who don’t meet their absurd criteria. Gotta be 6’ft tall, gotta have a 7 figure salary, gotta have to pay for her BBL, facelifts, Gucci bags, etc…, yet they don’t even have the decency to put in the effort to cook a meal for you after a day at work.
My wife challenges my ideals in a sense that she wants me to be more pragmatic, fair, and reasonable, but she never stopped me from pursuing my goals and having my back, and I got hers. She’s a teammate for life, and honestly, a lot of Japanese women I’ve met are more likely to be team players, which is a good thing. It means playing off of each other’s strengths, holding each other accountable, and its something from the old days that’re long gone in most parts of the world.
On-topic, you’re bang on. Got a cousin who visited and he’s… oh my fucking god, everything like what you mentioned in a bad way. The worst part, his friends were with him and they’re just like that minus being influencers. Hell, regarding influencers, a lot of them use Japan as an example to push for agendas they support but have no idea of what they’re supporting, let alone have any real idea about Japan other than what they see and have experienced, but never took the time to question or dissect why and how things go in Japan.
I don’t think this behaviour really occurs in other countries other than North American Countries.
Either that or in Australia it’s kept on the down low. I see people go to Japan and the first thing they say when they come back is comment on the public transport and how much better it is.