Slashdot Mirror
Japan's Empire of Cool
The Wicked Priest writes "The Washington Post is reporting that culture is among Japan's leading exports." Talks about Anime, Manga, Music, Video Games and so forth. Interesting reading.
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How about going outside and interacting with the other carbon-based life units you see around you? They are called "people".
Bahahah First Post!!! Much cooler than any thing the Japanese could come up with
...every year? I think it's the result of reporters on vacation at the end of the year, doing a cut-and-paste on the date, and hoping the editor doesn't catch the dupe.
He's a failed American football player, and he's some massive icon there. What's up with that?
There's one thing that Japan has over the United States when it comes to the export of culture, though; that's Hentai. :)
*
troll blacklist. Please mo
... but most people who embrace japanese culture do it only because they are too rejected from their own culture.
xeno_gearz is a known troll who is using the anti-slash.org post database to improve his karma so that he can later troll
Yes, I admit, I am amazed by that Wondergirl of all wondergirls, Hello Kitty!
She is cute, sweet, and attractive. If she were running for senate, I'd vote for her. Alas, since she isn't a U.S. citizen, she's not eligable.
I'm planning to write my congressman in hopes that he'll work on an amendment to let her run! If Hello Kitty is in office, we'll all be better off. Hello Kitty in 2004!
She's such a pretty kitty!
Japan totally gets all it's cool from the United States, and our beloved Governor of California!
Here's proof!
Execute? [Y/N] _
n/t
I, for one, welcome our new Japanese overl-
oh, screw it.
We durn got all our culture right down here in Texas! We got more culture than a Petri dish!
Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
Look at everything that us Canadians have exported to the world!
-Jim Carrey
-Mike Myers
-Alanis Morrisette
-Basketball (yes, we did invent basketball)
-Hockey
-Telephone (a la Alexander Graham Bell)
-Maple Syrup
-Canadian peacekeepers
but most importantly:
-Mad Cow Disease and SARS!!
O Canada, terre de nos aieux,
Ton front est ceint de fleurons glorieux.
Car ton bras sait porter l'epee,
Il sait porter la croix.
Ton histoire est une epopee
Des plus brillants exploits.
Et ta valeur, de foi trempee,
Protegera nos foyers et nos droits.
O Canada! Our home and native land!
True patriot love in all thy sons command.
With glowing hearts we see thee rise,
The True North strong and free!
From far and wide, O Canada,
We stand on guard for thee.
God keep our land glorious and free!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
I think it's important to note that cultural symbols are not akin to culture itself. Japan can export all the anime it likes but that isn't representative of it's entire culture nor will it affect other cultures enough to make them resemble Japanese culture in something other than a superficial way. For example, Japanese corporate structure and the loyalty given to your company (a structural phenomenon) is unlikely to get passed along through its cultural symbols. Just like American structural phenomenon are unlikely to get passed along through our blockbuster movie exports.
In the end, reality is highly individualized and rarely is a culture made up solely of a selective portion of its symbols.
only kiddie-fiddlers like that anime tentacle rape shit
That since Japan opened itself up to the west it's been a maniac for other cultures. With the exception of the years before and during ww2, Japan has long been a rabid consumer for American culture, along with european culture.
Just take a walk throughout Shibuya, Shinjuku, Ueno or Akihabara. You'll find a massive number of japanese teenagers (and adults) wearing shirts with "engrish" on them. Music is often sprinkled with a hearty dose of engrish as well. Try watching their TV programs sometime, you'll find plenty of american culture. Of course, they like to take it and modify it to their own means and that's exactly what Japan has been doing forever.
This brings up an interesting question: Why are the Japanese so keen to take, modify and integrate other cultures to suit their needs, yet they're still incredibly racist of other cultures? If you doubt their racism, ask why they still have stores and places of business that advertise "Japanese Only"? Of course, for Americans it is a bit hard to understand the concept of being a distinct civilization since we've long been a melting pot, a nation made up of other nations.
But I'm getting off the point. This article is nothing new. The reason why collectables are so expensive overseas is that it's so damned expensive in Japan! Whenever you feel like complaining about the price of dvds, remember that they charge around 40-60$ per dvd, and usually it has half as much as a dvd here in America.
"They told me it was impossible. I replied with maniacal laughter." http://www.mydailyrant.com/
Sheila: Time's have changed
Our kids are kids are getting worse
They wont obey their parents
They just want to fart and curse!
Sharon: Should we blame the government?
Liane: Or blame society?
Dads: Or should we blame the images on TV?
Sheila: No, blame Canada
Everyone: Blame Canada
Sheila: With all their beady little eyes
And flappin heads so full of lies
Everyone: Blame Canada
Blame Canada
Sheila: We need to form a full assault
Everyone: It's Canadas fault!
Sharon: Don't blame me
For my son Stan
He saw the darn cartoon
And now he's off to join the Klan!
Liane: And my boy Eric once
Had my picture on his shelf
But now when I see him he tells me to fuck myself!
Sheila: Well, blame Canada
Everyone: Blame Canada
It seems that everythings gone wrong
Since Canada came along
Everyone: Blame Canada
Blame Canada
Copy Guy: There not even a real country anyway
Ms. McCormick: My son could've been a doctor or a lawyer rich and true
Instead he burned up like a piggy on a barbecue
Everyone: Should we blame the matches?
Should we blame the fire?
Or the doctors who allowed him to expire?
Sheila: Heck no!
Everyone: Blame Canada
Blame Canada
Sheila: With all their hockey hubbabaloo
Liane: And that bitch Anne Murray too
Everyone: Blame Canada
Shame on Canada
The smut we must stop
The trash we must smash
Laughter and fun
must all be undone
We must blame them and cause a fuss
Before someone thinks of blaming uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuus
Throughout history war has been one of, if not the most efficient, conduit for the export of culture. Japan imported American culture after WWII. Japanese culture was and remains strong having been developed as an island culture.
"Academicians are more likely to share each other's toothbrush than each other's nomenclature."
Cohen
Scat porn and bukkake.
I haven't been paying attention to the Billboard top 100 recently, but are there some Japanese rock bands that i don't know about ?
-- You see, there would be these conclusions that you could jump to
They make some of the coolest stuff in the world. At the same time, they also make some of the weirdest.
;)
Tentacle sex, anyone?
The Unfolding Project
We all know that the Japanese places heavy emphasis on education and scholarly conduct. Therefore, it surprises no one that even their entertainment (anime, pr0n) is infused with advanced studies of marine biology (tentacles)
There are a huge number of yeast infections in this county. Probably because we're downriver from the bread factory.
almost forgot that one.
-Jim Carrey
-Mike Myers
Oh no! How sad and depressing. And don't forget Tom Green.
-Alanis Morrisette
Next time, maybe you can include Neil Young and and Joni Mitchel if you want to show off Canadian talent.
-Basketball (yes, we did invent basketball)
Was Springfield, Massachusetts, the birthplace of basketball, once part of Canada?
-Telephone (a la Alexander Graham Bell)
Was Boston, the place where the telephone was invented, once part of Canada?
Obviously. Japanese manga, anime, etc are really good. I make it a point to watch Ruroni Kenshin every Saturday on Cartoon Network (OT, but does anyone have the English version of the song "Freckles" that they play in the opening title? I can't find it anywhere...)
The thing I like about Japanese anime is that it makes you think. It's not blind violence or meaningless love. Everything has a well crafted story behind it. Just yesterday I was in Barnes and Noble, and was going to read "love hina" but got sidetracked by the new Star Wars book, The Unifying Force.
The greatest thing though, it's a two way street. We get stuff like Ruroni Kenshin, Pokemon, etc, and the Japanese get McDonalds, Coke, etc.
Although the one interesting bit of Japanese culture that's taking over like crazy is manga. If you look at Border's or Barnes, you'll see five or six shelves of Manga, and American comics have been pushed into one small shelf at the end. It's apparently the "in" thing for youngsters, much like Fear Street books were the "in" thing back when I was in school.
Food for thought...
What pansies.
What good does this asshole think any "security measures on the ground" will do when the ragheads are willing to fly the planes into buildings??!
The significance of anime
/.'s search function? It always times out on me for the past two weeks or so, and I have to keep resorting to using Google search (which is not really a hardship, since Google beats out /.'s search function easily, but still, I'd like to at least access it.)
Anime And The Tech Lifestyle
Movie Review: Princess Mononoke
An Extensive History of Anime
This story is not exactly a dupe, but much of it is discussed in these earlier topics.
OT, but has anyone had any success in loading
I think basically what the West is beginning to realise is that Japan is an entire culture which, while being easily as technologically advanced as America (and in many ways more so), is totally different from America. It's new, it's unusual, it's different, and a lot of it is stuff that Westerners have never even contemplated before, let alone seen.
Kids are insane over Dragonball Z because super-kung-fu-firing-fireballs-from-fingertips-fly ing-about-kicking-people-through-mountains genre just doesn't exist in America. Sure, it's an appalling series on many levels, but it brings something new to the table and for them, that (combined with its testosterone content) makes it worth watching.
qntm.org
Well im big on animation and off the top of my head I can only name a few US made animated shows with anything resembling plot and that dont make copious use of the history eraser button, not to mention the "think of the children beat you over the head with a moral lesson" crap so prevalent in US toons. So I predict I and many many others are going to be watching anime for a long time to come.
No offence to any Japanese people, but Japan is actually a major importer of culture. Their strength lays in taking in good things from other people, and improve on them, making them better. Other than anime, the modern Japanese absorbed a lot from western countries.
In the ancient time, most of its cultural customs came from China around the Tang dynasty. Examples include Kimono, Buddhism (which in turn came from India), original style of Samurai sword (the difference been in the straight edge of the blade instead of curved), the ancient form of Japanese language itself, and so on. The things about Japan is while they took on these things as their own and retained them as time went forth, China continoued to change through out various dynasties.
"Anime, Manga, Music,"
Please take that stuff back! Sure it may appeal to a portion of geeks and small children, but by far the majority of the US despises Anime with a passion. Anime is the lowest level of cartooning, it either uses crappy animation, or uses animation that is so far away from traditional animation that it shouldn't be considered as such. Fortently traditional cartoons seam to be making a come back on networks like cartoon network, I think Adult swim only has 2 anime's, still to many.
Mod me down all you want, but someone had to say it. I'm sure I'm not the only person who comes here and see's something on anime on slashdot and ask why oh why is that on here, it just re-enforces stereotypes.
Highly likely the manga they're talking about Ghost in the Shell (recent coverage)
Founder of Mirror Moon - Tsukihime Game Trans
We computer geeks and AI mindmakers thrive on cultural exports from the historical Japan, especially Samurai movies such as Lone Wolf With Child.
The Japanese are very clever at making world-class humanoid robots and pet dog robots such as the Sony Aibo. However, the conformist Japanese society and the misfit-intolerant Japanese educational system do not make for the wild-eyed, visionary code warrior necessary to create artificial AI Minds for robots, such as the Aibo Kennel Club Artificial Mind designed and released into the webwilds by ahem, yours truly :-)
One form of Japanese "culture" that Japan ought to suffer universal condemnation for exporting is Japanese military troops being sent to aid and abet the Bushie White House gangsters who are busy stealing the petroleum oil of the Iraqi people. Sheesh! Doesn't the world remember the Japanese "Rape of Nanking" in China in 1937? Anybody remember Pearl Harbor? It is wrong, dead WRONG for Japan to send troops to Iraq. Until the Japanese troops are withdrawn from the sovereign country of Iraq (now under illegal U.S. occupation for oil-thievery), BOYCOTT Japan, Japanese culture, and Japanese exports.
Japanese culture blows.
That's french for:
"I Am Soup"
-Basketball (yes, we did invent basketball)
Was Springfield, Massachusetts, the birthplace of basketball, once part of Canada?
No, but the man who invented it in Springfield, Massachusettes was Canadian.
-Telephone (a la Alexander Graham Bell)
Was Boston, the place where the telephone was invented, once part of Canada?
The telephone was invented in Canada by Alexander Graham Bell. When there were no investors who saw any potential in Canada, he took it to Boston for its first display in the USA. That's when most Americans think it was invented.
How many hot girls do you know that love manga, anime and videogames ?
And please, no anecdotes about "my wife does!"...I'm talking in the general case. Walk into a bar on the Upper West Side talking about Castle in the Sky to the 6'0 Brazilian supermodel and she'll stare at you blankly while planning her escape.
Japan has a niche with a certain segment (nerdy people) but their culture doesn't have broad appeal to the masses. Sure, videogames pull in a lot of money but they're typically bought by young men.
The readers of this site will love the article because it will affirm something they want to believe in, but it doesn't really make it true.
-- You see, there would be these conclusions that you could jump to
They turned us all japanese. I really think so.
-Basketball (yes, we did invent basketball)
Was Springfield, Massachusetts, the birthplace of basketball, once part of Canada?
James Naismith was Canadian.
-Telephone (a la Alexander Graham Bell)
Was Boston, the place where the telephone was invented, once part of Canada?
Alexander Graham Bell was Canadian.
So Canada has Jim Carrey, Mike Myers, Alanis Morrisette, Basketball, Hockey, Telephone, Maple Syrup and Canadian peacekeepers
Big deal! We've got the best beers in the world, the best chocolate and plenty of hot chicks.
I believe the accidental First Call was in Boston ("Watson come here, it burns! Fsck fsck fsck!"). The actual invention took place in Ontario.
>> And don't forget Tom Green.
We are trying to forget him. Please don't remind us.
>> Next time, maybe you can include Neil Young
>> and and Joni Mitchel if you want to show off
>> Canadian talent.
Hey, if you like Neil Young, please take him.
>>-Basketball (yes, we did invent basketball)
>>Was Springfield, Massachusetts, the birthplace
>>of basketball, once part of Canada?
James Naismith was the Canadian physical education instructor who invented basketball in 1891. James Naismith was born in Almonte, Ontario and educated at McGill University and Presbyterian Cllege in Montreal. He was a Canadian, regardless of where he invented it. If he invented it on the moon, it would have still been invented by a Canadian.
>> Was Boston, the place where the telephone was
>> invented, once part of Canada?
Alexander Graham Bell is most well known for
inventing the telephone. He came to the U.S as
a teacher of the deaf, and conceived the idea
of "electronic speech" while visiting his
hearing-impaired mother in Canada.
The idea was born in Canada, and he himself is not an American, he is from Scotland.
"Screw manufacturing, lets instead focus on blobs with cute smiles and half-naked cartoon characters."
"Boss, you are a genius!"
Table-ized A.I.
Because it's Slashdot, but that isn't really what it's about it. It's more about Japan taking American (and other cultures), adapting it for Asians, and then shipping it back out to the rest of Asia. For example, they cut their jeans differently for their different body shapes, thus making their jeans popular in places like South Korea. Japan is essentially a cultural filter from Non-Asia to Asia.
Both FFXI and FFX-2 both rock!
The problem is that US Comics are fixated on "Superheros", which are interesting and cool, but you get bored with it after a while.
You were mistaken. Which is odd, since memory shouldn't be a problem for you
He's considered to be a big, stupid gruff. If you have ever seen "blazing saddles", you might remember the character named Mongo, and Bob serves exactly the same comic relief. Big, stupid and monkey-like. Unfortunate, but true.
I thought that belonged to the Germans.
More like an empire of wannabe whorelets. It wasn't up until a few years ago that OLD Oyajis legally engaged with underage whorelets. Well, to be fair their tech side is still good, but to think that the cultural exports are something to exalt is silly, utterly silly. Next you know they (/.) will be telling us that japan has a penchant for pink and white knickers.
all your culture are belong to us.
Switzerland, but your clock must be broken.
karma karma karma karma karma chameleon, you come and go, you come and go.
Other than the "ricer" car culture, Japanese culture isn't popular among the "cool" kids. It's just that now-a-days a teenage geek is into anime and manga rather than superhero comics and Star Trek.
I met the hottest 18-year old girl when I was 26. She was drunk, told me I was cute, grabbed my balls and said that she wanted to have sex with me. I turned her down because she was drunk. I told her that "I don't want to take advantage of her because you're not in control of yourself". Let's just say that she wasn't very happy with my response and I was thrown out of the party...
Goddammit people! Meet and have sex with as many women as you can. That's the real meaning of life.
The idea was born in Canada, and he himself is not an American, he is from Scotland. While we can be reasonably sure he was from Scotland; it would be quite presumptuous that he is still a Scot. I will continue to presume he is dead.
That is a very good point.
My kids are into Japanese animation and I've grown really worried about the how alien it is.
Even though the episodes are mostly about "good vs. evil", I don't recognize the good. Instead of turning the other cheek, every argument is fought out.
Is this a good example to our kids?
Um, last I checked the only Americans that considered anime, JPop and video games to be cool were UNCOOL NERDS.
Japanese culture:cool culture::They Might Be Giants:pop music
And SARS was created by creative Chinese chicken traders.
Wankers like you claim that every invention comes from your country and you don't hestitate to spread lies and counterfaits.
Such fucking cultural imperialists like you are the reason why everyone hates Canada.
Owner of a Mensa membership card.
Over the past few years all things Asian have been building up popularity here in L.A. As witnessed by the growth of such new magazines as "Giant Robot". Perhaps we're moving towards Blade Runner world.
I for one am all for it. The Asian design since from Hong Kong and Japan is quite good, and it's time for them to stop regurgitating western culture and come into there own. There also seems to be a ground swell of radical art coming out of Japan. I read this as retaliation against a conformist culture. It's very exciting, I think we are in for ride the equivalent of America in the 60s.
fireAnime is for KIDS
I like Japan. It rocks. The food's good, people are respectful of each other, and you can buy beer in vending machines. However, I feel compelled to tell you all that I hate anime. Lots of Japanese people hate it as well. (Similarly, many Americans hate Hollywood films, network television, etc.)
I feel that American anime fanboys like anime mostly because it is different. To be a fan of anime makes them feel special (because ordinary American people are not very familiar with anime apart from Pokemon et al.)
Lastly, what I hate even more than anime are anime-themed RPGs. Thank you for letting me vent. No offense intended.
*cough* If that is culture...
I should learn more Japanese than "Dozo, ichi biru! Hai! Domo arigato" and the names of assorted foodstuffs. Even Largo knows more than that, wakarimasu ka?
-- I Am Not A Terrorist.
Ah, Disney animation Lion King TOO resembles Japanese anime in 60's? Why?
For those people who can't be bothered to read the article, one of the main points was that:
A record 3 million people around the world are now studying the Japanese language, compared with only 127,000 in 1997, according to the Japan Foundation and Tokyo's Marubeni Research Institute.
So, in other words, there is a measurable increase in the cultural cachet of Japan, it's not just a static, ongoing event. And it's not just about manga and anime, but food (sushi restaurants are now ubiquitous in any large city), and jrock/jpop, the prime examples of which are Glay, KinKi Kids, Puffy (known in the US as Puffy AmiYumi so as to avoid confusion with a certain hiphop impresario), Hamasaki Ayumi, the New York born Utada Hikaru and Morning Musume, a group of currently 15 girls that form the most well known part of a pop empire.
Furthermore, even anime seems to be taking up an ever larger bite of the US Cartoon Network's schedule and the traditional Saturday Morning/after-school children's fare. It's even made a few recent ventures into wide release cinema in the US.
However, one could argue, I think persuasively, that's Japan's cultural upswing is part of a larger trend in the Asia-fication of Western culture. What started with egg foo yung and chop suey has now branched out to shabu-shabu and kimchi. What began with Speed Racer and Godzilla has developed into Princess Mononoke, cosplay and Shaolin Soccer.
There are two kinds of people: 1) those who start arrays with one and 1) those who start them with zero.
I really don't find this suprising at all. I mean were do you think this reality TV crap came from? I'll give you a hint its not American inspired. I believe it came from Japan.
Then look At Anime more specificly the Non-Dubbed stuff, and you will more often than not find a story that rivals any Movie or American TV series that has a good level of Conanuity. Unfortunaly Anime when it goes to the American Dubbing mills looses massive amounts of quality, all in the name of ameicanising the Anime to make it easyer for (Baka) Americans in general to understand..
Look at music.... well enough said, I'd rather listen to a song with good music (and words I dont understand) than 90% of the noise that come out of the USA..
All in all when you know the culture and the people Japan's not that great a place. But its cultureal exports are really good.
Japan's a nice place to visit, and have some stuff from, but thats about it. Japans one of the most competitive countries in the world. but With all good things theres a heap of bad stuff that we all try to ignore..
I thought their leading export was Bukkake.
With the exception of the years before and during ww2, Japan has long been a rabid consumer for American culture, along with european culture.
One word: Baseball.
Ok, I'm not sure if the inclusion of that American game into the set of Japanese National Pastimes counts as "rabid" consumption, but it did happen decades before WWII. But if by "rabid" you mean "popular," then it was rabid.
This isn't completely new. Remember the Impressionists? They were quite into their "japonaise" (I forgot the exact term...). There are quite a few paintings of European women dressed in kimono, and collecting trinkets from Japan was all the rage, not just among the artsy crowd. I think the reasons are still similar.
Now, however, I think a lot of their exports (anime/manga/video esp) have loads of Western influence anyway. Aside from Inu-Yasha and Rurouni Kenshin (the latter of which is set in the Meiji - a major Westernizing period - anyway), I can't think of very many mainstream titles that involve something purely Japanese. But it's blended with their own culture, which is still different enough to be new and interesting for others.
The floggings will stop when morale improves.
Is evidenced by today's Something Awful Link of the Day. (Not Safe For Work)
[PowerPoint] is a tool for capitalist presentation
The rise of J-Pop documented in the article is really the success of American pop. Just as black rock & roll took over American pop culture when played by whites, American pop culture (boy bands, fast food, comic books, slutty schoolgirls, top 40 music with unintelligible lyrics) is bigger in Asia with an Asian face.
This is a really encouraging phenomenon. Global culture flows bring us all together, giving us something in common. When we want to dance with each other, watch each other's movies, eat each other's food, we want to live together and talk about it. Only Hollywood sees the culture market as nationalistically competitive, because in Hollywood, culture is property is power, not to be shared, except at a self-perpetuating price. When people spread culture among ourselves, rather than from the centralized minaret of Hollywood, their power disappears. C'mon everybody, get down tonight!
--
make install -not war
Watch any Japanese music video program these days, and you'll see loads of teenage female pop stars who all dance and sing equally as well as their American counterparts (britney spears, christina aguilera, etc).
Now, go back 10 years and see how well they did the same thing, and you'll see a big gap in talent.
What's happened recently? Well, the Japanese recording labels basically have hit a point of critical mass in income, and can now afford to hire the real stars: the professionals who train the American pop stars.
These pros make all the difference in the world, and now that the Japanese recording companies have taken the plunge to hire them, it's paying off big time.
-nt-
Got it?
We can't think for ourselves!
Notice the streets of bagdad and afganistan are being westernised? Wanna know why they don't like that and why alqueda calls america the great satan? If you've read some of the stuff bin laden has written about the USA you'll agree with (some of) his ideology, not his methodology. He says the USA is spreading lies and deciet, which it does do and has been doing although it's people don't agree with this one bit. I noticed a picture up on BBC of afganistan children being given presents from santa this year, and if you understand the psychology of christmas you'll be frightened from that. Christmas such of a fucked up holiday it isn't even funny, as is easter. We celebrate these holidays not because we're supposed to or because it satisfies some deep religous meaning like Hanukkah , we celebrate them because corperations, the goverment, and christian churches wanted them to be celebrated that way. Notice how crazy it's gotten?
Notice the best buy catologe that comes in the mail every year with the star of david on the tree replaced with the star of best buy and the entire tree decorated with consumer electronics? Notice how all the packaging mysteriously has christmas branding on them? How Saint Nick appears in every window and every store front advertising one thing or another?
In our culture, we eat poisoned food, use poisoned stuff (cosmetics, soaps, playstations, cell phones) and buy crap we don't need fulfill some lifestyle obsession gone wrong that is even more poisonous so that crazy people at the top of the ladder can feel powerful. Japanese culture is even more poisonous imo, they tend to mimic ours and run with it as far and as fast as possible. Infact, our number 1 export to japan after ww2 was our poisonous culture.
Our number 1 export to the rest of the world is poisonous culture, and to whoever resists that without force enough to fight it off, we'll kill the parents and teach the kids our ways like we're doing in afganistan. Afterall, there's a reason we warehouse our old off into care homes near the ends of their life; so the ones that know what's wrong can't teach their kids and grandkids what's realy wrong.
Candy-Coated Knowledge
especially with kids. When I was a kid, it was godzilla and kaiju movies, now it's anime and dragonball z and so forth.
... well, there are bukakke fans, but I'm not going to touch that (yechh).
Other than with children, I don't see Japanese stuff being that popular
english too!!!
They still impose heavy tarrifs on American goods.
You should see how much a Mustang GT goes for!
Even though you may speak the language you will never be excepted. You are forever a Gaijin.
We have been exposed to Japanese culture/anime since the 60's, Speed Racer is a classic example.
I aggree with some of the posts above. America is a leader in cultural entertainment.
The Japanesse and the Koreans improve on exsisting ideas, American cars for example.
We(USA) can't make cars worth a shit anymore.
How is it that a country with no natural resources is able to make cars cheaper and better than America who have all the natural resources at our doorstep.
Really?
Hey, here's an interesting website website that has an interesting take on japanese culture & women. it's the most misogynistic thing i've read in quite some time.
This is just a repost of this comment.
Japanese culture in the US is popular, but mostly in specific entertainment areas. Pokemon, dragonball, etc.
Having come back from Japan it seems they import much more american culture. The movie theaters are mostly Hollywood movies, fashion is very american *mmmm land of women in miniskirts*.
The "cool" thing is to have "American words" to sell your product. its always funny to see a baby dressed in a little beanie with the letters F-U-C-K stitched into it, or a guy with a sticker on his truck that says "optomistic fucker"
I was going to flame you, thinking an American had said that, but then I saw that you were Belgian (or close enough). It's all about McChouffe beer.
My God! you forgot about Mounties!
... PUROFITO!!!
To recap:
- Basketball is Canadian and not American, because it was invented by a Canadian in America.
- The Telephone is Canadian, not Scottish, because it was invented by a Scotsman, who once lived in Canada, in America
Those two are contradictory. Is it the person or the place which determins an invention's "nationality"?
That said, you people still have dibs on "eh" after every sentence and Rick Moranis.
cheers
ForeignPolicy.com has a slightly older article (2001) that discusses this same phenomenon.
Well most of them are on the outside of bath houses, massage parlours and other such establishments. To put it bluntly... the Japanese salarymen don't want the Harlem Globetrotters all up in their favorite bar girls... "tearing shit up".
Another big import in Japan is GIRLS... they bring them from all over.... South America, Canada, Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe for some good-old fashioned Japanese molestation and defiling. As Yakoov Smirnov would say... "what a country!"
. SLASHDOT: Home of the vicious nerd.
err... I think he was refering to Australia, or at least NZ.
Surely you are not that thick?!
Want to know why American culture is so popular? Survival of the fittest. Many other cultures are stagnant and unchanging, but American culture embraces change. Thus, by default, it is much more interesting than most other cultures.
Japanese culture is another big mover. Do I feel threatened or jealous about its recent popularity? Naw. Embrace and extend, that's our motto. We take the best parts of other cultures, integrate and expand on it, and then export it right back at them. Mind you, everyone else is welcome (nay, encouraged) to do the same.
Our culture is no more "poisonous" than anybody else's. It's just more awesome.
[PowerPoint] is a tool for capitalist presentation
Disney owns them. It's a long story, and we don't talk about it.
And Alanis. Isn't it ironic?
It's unfortunate that this guy is racking up some Troll and Flamebait mods since he's making a good point, albeit a bit inelegantly. There's a now-infamous poll that was given to Americans in 1995 which asked "Name a Famous Japanese Person". The results? #1: (Chinese martial artist) Bruce Lee. #2: (American-born) Yoko Ono. #3: Godzilla. I'm not kidding! I wish a good link to give you but if you're interested a bit of goolging will help you find people referring to this study.
Okay, so that was back in 1995. Ancient history, right? Give me a break. I bet if you give this question to 'the man on the street' again you'd get pretty much the same result. Obviously Japanese has made some incredible contributions to world culture. But until the day you can show the average American a photo of some famous Japanese celebrity and they can instantly recognize them, we should probably use a word other than "empire" to describe their impact in America.
GMD
watch this
i can't live without them ;)
1 I, although once translated back.. I for 1, Japanese where we are new is welcomed
Example:
In anime, there are many themes which are repeated throughout various series. They are MUCH different than most Western themes. This is because of their culture in Japan, and the way their society works. What we see is only the end product. We do not see why a character might feel a certain way about a situation, because we do not understand the cultural differences. Thus, all we see is the final product, which might seem quite alien/exotic to us, however we never really learn the true cultural knowledge behind it.
Buy Steampunk Clothing Online!
Only uncool nerds like JPop and Video Games. (Video games coolness is changing VERY rapidly though.) It is, however, very cool to like Anime, it just isn't cool to know what the word Anime means. Especialy among the younger generation (highschool and younger) the Animes that hit Cartoon Network are extremly cool shows.
Little Brother, watching the watchers
Well as one that lives here for 2 years....
they aint so ht as this article describes...
actually the culture that does grow here is of general stupidity and ignorance as well as duplicating dumb magazine posters....ever seen 150 kg whale-girl wear a sexy mini hehehe
and most of this manga...well it sucks..only the good ones get translated to english and most is completely un-original as well as the anime.
I find Anime, as compared with other cartoons made in America, to have a much different focus.
American cartoons:
Futurama
Family Guy
Simpsons
Japanese cartoons:
Inuyasha
Naruto
etc.
Now, for a comparison and contrast:
American cartoons, generally in 30-minute less commercials segments, are mostly humorous, and completely unconnected. No bridged eps - you can sit down and watch one show isolated and know exactly what's going on.
Japanese cartoons are generally seeming to be started as a series -- if you come in half way, you'll be lost, and have to pick up what's going on as you go.
Japanese ones also tend to address more mature themes than American ones do. (Mature meaning, high-school-level as opposed to middle school...nothing "deep" but "deeper")
I watch both kinds, and all sorts of non-anmiated shows too...anything to entertain. And, different stuff is entertaining to different people, so it all works out in the end.
....culture would be the movie, Vulcano High.
Mac OS X and Windows XP working side by side to fight back the night.
OK, long-time /. reader, first time poster .. be gentle CowboyNeal! :-P
In the early-to-mid 1980's, for some reason, the Australian commercial-free public TV station (the ABC) broadcast a number of Japanese shows - anime shows Astroboy, Kimba the White Lion, and live-action show Monkey.
Both of those anime are from the god of manga, Osamu Tezuka
These shows got me interested in Japan - at age 8, I wanted to be a ninja..
I studied Japanese at high school and ended up doing it at university too. Now I'm pretty fluent - and guess what, I learned quite a bit from reading manga,watching anime and Japanese movies..
Some people here have mentioned Engrish/Japlish T-shirts in Japan - well, I've seen plenty of Australians wearing shirts with Japanese characters that say, for example, "strange foreigner", "winter", "fire" and "water"..
Why do people wear shirts (and get tattoos) with languages they don't understand? Because they think they look cool!
Creamed corn and chicken soup has lost its innocence.
Use ISO 8601 dates [YYYY-MM-DD]
Well, just judging from the content of the article, the reporter hopped off the plane at Narita, took the train to Ueno, hopped onto the Yamanote to Shibuya (totally ignoring Akihabara, of course, only nerds would want to go there).
Then he walked across the street, right past, and completely ignoring the infamous 109 shopping mall, the very heart of popular fashion and culture in all of Japan! But he was busy looking for an anime store! No time to find popular culture, he had popular culture to write about!
Then he went down the street to Mandarake, kibbitzed with the owner for a few minutes, turned around, ignored 109 again (although he apparently did notice the big screen on HMV, and probably the one on Tower Records too)...and went right back home again.
Oh, and he thinks Glay is a boy band. That's pretty funny. That's a bit like calling Insane Clown Posse a boy band.
When I read newspaper articles about things I know about, I honestly wonder why I believe anything I read about things I don't know about.
umm Volcano High is a South Korean movie.
Simple. Losers are finding out, that no matter how fucked up, retarded, anti-social, smelly or idiotic they are in USA, when they go over to Japan and they happen to be white or black they are the center of all the attention, and every girl wants to fuck them, something they will never get to have if they stayed in their home country. The losers became the winners in Japan, just because of their color, and not because of any personality traits. In fact they are became bigger assholes because of the sudden popularity they get when they get there.(A bit exaggerating, but very close to truth)
.This slashdot news, is no news, it is obvious some "JApanPhile" who works for slashdot who tries to rationalize and justify why he likes anime so he doesnt feel so much like a loser but "in front of the new frontier!! Before the rest come in."
You go to any Japanese class, and if you dont pass out from all the stench coming from all the unwashed bodies that occupy the room, you will realize most of the people are someone you wouldnt call "popular" or "cool" and surprise surprise a lot of them computer nerds and WHITE. The school I go to is 45% asian!!! They pretend to act japanese (if u dont know what it is, you are lucky) so you will hear them curse in japanese, wear dumbass shirts "I want japan woman" HD most likely full of anime porn and again...have VERY LITTLE SOCIAL SKILLS! So they know, and it is very much true so, that when they meet a japanese girl in japan, they will became the center of attention, and they will get japanse pussy. Again, something they wouldnt be able to get if they stayed in Japan. When theyget in Japan, they "accent" more how white they are, trying to dress up in "hip-hop" and look like idiots, but japenese eat that shit up! They fuck japanese girls, are popular, everyone wants to listen to what they say (it is in English afterall!! And they all want to learn it too!!)
So now more and more losers find out an easy way to became popular so that is why Japanese "culture" is more popular, but only to the segment of population which is the bottom of the barrel in USA.
I can tell you anecdotal stories about how much white guys get laid in Japan and how kind of fucked up the japanese girls are there now.
And if you say few words in Japanese there, you will get INSTANT admiration, and SHOCK!! you know how to speak Japanese,w ith girls going "SUgggggggggggoiiiiiiiiii John-san!!" (Wow John, you are sooo greaaaaaaaaaat!)
So the japanese culture is not represented by anime/pop music/manga that is just the lowest form of Japanese current trends. Now, if you said Japanese books (BOOKS!!!) newspapers, history is been more studied then I will say yeah! But the article doesnt say that, so it is just like eating sushi. Eating sushi doesnt make Japanese culture more popular, and it doesnt mean you care much abut it, other then "damn, now i was some sushi to eat!" It is like "Texan" way of life is getting a world wide integration as people like to eat huge steaks!
"A record 3 million people around the world are now studying the Japanese language, compared with only 127,000 in 1997, according to the Japan Foundation and Tokyo's Marubeni Research Institute."
Let me tell you about this study, it is an infomercial at most. And those numbers dont mean a thing! An increase in population of age that is willing to uptake foreign language might increase, compare to the previous 3 years, even though the % stayed the same. More people go to college, more colleges open up etc etc etc?Most likely all those kids who watched pokemon think they are learning pokemonian!
Ohh yeah, after a while, most of those people will go to Thailand, because there pussy is much cheaper.
Over 21 and over to prove my point about ugly white man getting asian pussy. Though I dont want to pick on white guys only, I see people from HK, Taiwan just have "Sakura" glasses as well over japanese girls as well, and they pander to them as well. And those losers from J
Seriously, Japan is the world center of bad taste.
Nearly everything Japanese is awful. Movies, music, food, clothes, writing, language, housing, porn, not to mention all the BS mentioned in the top post. The Japanese are only good at one thing, engineering.
The entire nation should commit ritual suicide.
Chop suey is American.
More than mere navel gazing.
(me from Hong Kong) I have been to Japan twice this year, 3 times in past 2 years.... I can observe that the most famous and the more admired star/person/celebrity in Japan is -- David Beckham. You can see his TV ads, posters everywhere.
an excellent program to download japanese music is soulseek, at www.slsknet.org. join the japanese music room and people can let you sample different music if you are interested.
Trolls can make reasonable points. It is surely true that some Japanese cartoons include women incredibly figured (in a cartoon sort of way) simply to sell their product.
And look at the world of today. Doesn't this seem like a more profitable business model than manufacturing in many ways? I'm not saying it is, but clearly the popularity of anime has drawn a lot of business interest.
i know who you are TyrranzzX... If there was a group of ppl watching a gorgeous sunset, filling them with joy and wonder, you'd be the guy whining about how the colors are unnatural and the result of pollution. While it would be true, you'd rather suck the life out of the moment and destroy it for everyone else becuase you are so bitter. You are a cynic of the worst kind, you repress hope in others AND are self righteous about it. Being a moral crusader will not bring you happiness or friends. Have your beliefs and strive for them, but don't share your misery. Relax Grow Up Stop raining on other people's sunny days See the good in people and yourself
Utilizing the synergization of benchmark e-solutions to pre-workaround action items!
As an addendum to a post I made earlier about Kenshin, seriously - what the hell is wrong with the people who make shows like that one and for the love of all that is holy, Trigun? WHY do action shows that could be cool have to have stupid unfunny comedy segments dominating 50% of the show? Seriously, someone who enjoys Trigun, please explain how it is possible for you to not be an idiot.
Seriously - I tried watching this series when they put it on Cartoon Network. Once again, they advertised it like it was just the coolest damn thing - an action filled gunslinging Western cartoon. Hell I love Westerns. Unforgiven was one of my favorite movies of all time. I was ready for some GOD DAMN ACTION when I turned this sucker on.
Sadly it was not meant to be. The show is filled with main character "Vash The Stampede" making all manner of silly faces, including having his face turn into a cat for no apparent reason, having his face get really gigantic, crying giant rivers of tears, and all manner of insane, inhuman expressions. OH WAIT - IS THIS SHOW A COMEDY OR WHAT? I guess I was supposed to laugh at some point.
My next thought was that this show must obviously be for kids. No such luck there - when there actually is violence (FINALLY) in this "action" series, it's brutally violent. The juxtaposition from slapstick hilarity to gut wrenching action was not handled at all well by whoever wrote this piece of trash. I don't think they felt the need at the time.
I tried to watch it a few more times. I wanted to like it because it was drawn really well (when the characters weren't coming off completely cheesy) and the music was awfully cool, and the action scenes were pretty neat. Every single episode, however, was ruined by some fucking dork writer somewhere in Japan who thought he was funny and was miserably, hopelessly mistaken.
I know I'm going to get beat on by some geeks but...
Japanees popular culture reeks of the same kind of cheap, campy sensations of cheap Vegas tourist attractions. Just go off to a Japanees website that wasn't made with Western web surfers in mind and you'll see what I mean.
Dedicated Cthulhu Cultist since 4523 BC.
Do you know where to get J-pop CDs at decent prices in the US? I'm looking for Ayumi Hamasaki CDs, but man, they cost a bomb on Amazon. :)
http://www.flanders.be/public/flanders/economy/ind ex.asp
No, but you are.
If there is one thing the US does well, it's recreate shows rather then import them.
Many films that have been made in the US are simply remakes from some other country.
The Ring being a good example of a foreign movie that never made it to the big screen in the states (at least not in major theatres as far as I know). Hollywood made it in a way that people from the US will be able to accept and ended up doing something that didn't quite live up to the original.
Interestingly enough, the US version probably got more exported thoughtout the world than the japanese version so I think it's a big loss for the global community.
This is not the only instance that can be mentioned. I believe that a US version of the french movie Taxi is currently being produced. Is it really that hard for americains to accept a taxi driver rolling around the small streets of Marseille? Must it really be happening in the streets of some city like New York for the average americain joe to accept it?
Why is it that hollywood has such a great resistance to movies that come from outside the US?
Yes there is the rare occasion where a foreign film will make it in major cinemas but I can't remember much passed Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon (or much before it either).
Since we're talking about anime here I think that if US animation studios took they're shows more seriouly like Hollywood does for it's movies, Japanese animation would never have gotten it's foot in the door here. I've met TV producers of animated shows here and they simply feel that it's best to make the shows as cheap as possible so as to make a quick buck rather than try to make something good.
Mastermind's pretty good. Japanese speed metal, hey that's different. Heh! Careful when searching, there's an older band with the same name. Look for a track called "Back Against the Wall."
Dammit, why didn't someone unearth that clip during the recent Recall election here in California??? Looking at Ah-nold with that utterly crazed, depraved look in his eyes...man, that was scary!
California is going to need more than vitamin drink to perk up after the Governator is done with it, alas.
Knowledge is power. Knowledge shared is power multiplied.
... that's marketing.
Of course, the greatest consumer of it is the US, for which marketed concepts and culture are pretty much interchangeable. After all, they got the idea from us.
"I may be synthetic, but I'm not stupid." -- Bishop 341-B
for liking stuff like x-japan and pizzicatto five...
How is it this world is looking more and more a dumbass imitation of a Gibson's novel?
... y Dios vio que Linux era bueno... Genesis 99.666
Does it look like anyone is into Anime and similar things to pull girls? No? Then why are they into it?
Maybe because they think it's... cool!
I can easily get laid without Anime, so why should I care if that brainded bimbo over there isn't going to approve of my taste in entertainment?
Clever signature text goes here.
Typical USian exceptionalism. It is so stupid it almost hurts.
US culture is popular because it has stronger means of propagation. Cultures that popularized themselves along the millenia have always been associated to large armies and conquerying warlords.
Nowadays a third visible power is economic one and accordingly economic powerhouses have the most influence culutrally around the globe, not suprisingly India anc China, both growing economically and politically are now hot when it comes to cinema and music, this has nothing to do with flexibility but with economic realities.
During the cold war the language most learned in Soviet satellite states was Russian followed by German (due to many scientists going to study there), that had nothing to do with flexibility of the Russian or German culture, but with the fact that you have to deal with those states with large political influence.
The day the US is not a political or economic power US culture will fade giving way to whatever replaces it as the political power to respect.
It amazes me also how some people invoke Darwin's name at the drop of a hat with such careless disregard for the facts: what Darwin discovered is only applied to biology, in the narrow field of evolutionary theory. It can not be applied to full societies or cultures because simply Darwinism does not cover these matters at all, any Darwinist assumption regarding the adoption of cultural practices is completely flawed.
IANAL but write like a drunk one.
McDonald's and Coca-Cola are the cheapest way to fill your belly. They are cheap, thus they sell, nobody cares if the main office is in the US or in Tonga.
The Matrix is unproduceable in any other country. In several countries other movies, locally produced, beat Hollywood exports. Of course US people never get to hear about this.
IANAL but write like a drunk one.
I love the Jap game shows shuch as Takeshis Castle. They are nuts and the people on them don't hold back. So many injuries.
-- Karma Karma Karma Karma, Karma Chameleon - Boy George
This is definitely true, especially for the new reader. However, as you see the same situations, and the same odd reactions, come up over the course of a few different manga/anime, you can start to deduce patterns (Except when things get /really/ strange, as they are wont to do at times.) Eventually, careful readings may even produce a limited cultural understanding.
Not that most fans are willing to put extra time into their entertainment like that, but some do.
Other than the language and the food, being in a major Japanese city feels much like any western city. I went to a couple of the large department stores is Osaka looking for Japanese gifts for my family and had a very difficult time. All the clothes were Burberry, French, or Italian labels and the shoes were Nike, Adidas, or Puma. About the only uniquely Japanese sections of the stores were the Bridal, cooking, and packaging departments. (I found the large print scarves they use for wrapping packages to be some of the most disctinctly Japanese gifts for relatives.)
Restaurants were 50/50 western and Japanese. We interspersed the traditional fare with Italian, Indian, Starbucks, steakhouse, KFC, and even McDonald's. For our first late night system install, we even found a nearby Domino's that would deliver.
While there is some cultural backwash coming this way, the vast majority of the cutlural tide is flowing to Japan.
one word:
"Pocky"
These are my friends, See how they glisten. See this one shine, how he smiles in the light.
Yes, it's a Chinese game originally, but people in the West almost entirely use Japanese terminology to discuss the game.