Are people really so harsh to non-drinkers? That's sad. What about people who don't drink for religious purposes? Are they better tolerated?
Huh. Suddenly, I wonder much more about what life is like for Ruby's Matz.
Japan: It's Not Funny Anymore
51–60 of 179 posts
Re: Japan: It's Not Funny Anymore
#52Tim Rogers is a nutjob. But he's got a few interesting points buried in there regarding language.
Only barely. English has plenty of similarly complicated words that are used frequently without people understanding their meaning. Learning about those meanings puts a bit of a shade on what people are actually saying, until you realize people don't actually mean it that way. It's the same way with irrashaimase ; it's a self-deprecating phrase (and Japanese does indeed have a lot of them), but it's a stock phrase, a…
Wait, your example from English is completely unrelated to Tim's point, which is that they use words with some meaning that may not apply to the current circumstances. Tim's argument is that that imposes a subliminal message, which, repeated often and widely enough, has a negative effect on the society. Maybe you have some argument against that, but you didn't make it in this comment.
Re: Japan: It's Not Funny Anymore
#53Anime is awesome.
Re: Japan: It's Not Funny Anymore
#54So, a list of problems some dude has with a country. You can come up with a similar list for every country on earth, especially if you're suffering from culture shock. Everywhere has its pros and cons.
Re: Japan: It's Not Funny Anymore
#55I'm not sure who's funnier - the author or the people he's criticizing. It's like a mobius strip of confusion.
Re: Japan: It's Not Funny Anymore
#56Re: Japan: It's Not Funny Anymore
#57 Completely agree that had it been short, it'd be much more interesting as there are a lot of people who have interest in Japan, and they would love to read about those experiences you have.
I doubt that the author is in any of the 'cultural shock' phases, as he starts the article by saying " I've lived in Japan for a long time ". Nevertheless, anybody living in foreign country with a different culture faces the trade-off between preserving their previous 'ways-of-doing' (cultural values, ways of behaving under various circumstances, etc.) and adjusting to the new culture (thus, changing yourself to some extent). So the office culture of Japan only seems to be one of these instances in the case of the author, and it also confirms what I've known about Japan.
"Why not "Tim-san"? I'm required to put "san" on the end of their names. "
From what I've heard (I've never been to Japan), Japanese don't attach '-san' to foreigners names'. But I have to say, I liked this :) - " - ... This is just how we do things in Japan, Tim. - Well, [Name-removed]-san, you can try putting 'san' on the end of my fucking name from now on, then, you know, as practice. "
Re: Japan: It's Not Funny Anymore
#58I am really disappointed in the HN commentary on this one. A quarter of the commenters seem to have stopped reading when they saw the anime criticism. Half came in here to say that the guy sounds boring. And the remainder is split between talking about patio11 (what the fuck is that?) and how long the article was. Most of the criticism here seems to boil down to the same "you're not Japanese" bullshit the author mentions in the piece itself. Is that really the best we can do? This is probably the worst-commented article I've seen since I started at HN.
I agree with others that the anime point is probably off-target. Nostalgia is a big component of thinking things used to be better than they are.
The insights into Japanese company-culture are fascinating. American corporations do make people do some incredible bullshit, but nothing on the level of the official greeting he mentioned. The standing around on the street thing and yelling is entirely odd.
I also liked some of the points about the subliminal impact of self-deprecating language. From what I've read, and from the few movies I've seen that deal with Japanese culture, it _does_ seem like there's something about it that forces an distance between people that is hard to bridge. The host clubs and the separate master bedrooms are a fascinating symptom of this problem.
Re: Japan: It's Not Funny Anymore
#59Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yeah, that was 20,000 words of relentless positivity.
You are completely justified in complaining about the article's negativity. It's not like he announced in the title or the first paragraph what it was going to be about.
It's not a complaint, it's a joke.
Re: Japan: It's Not Funny Anymore
#60I am really disappointed in the HN commentary on this one. A quarter of the commenters seem to have stopped reading when they saw the anime criticism. Half came in here to say that the guy sounds boring. And the remainder is split between talking about patio11 (what the fuck is that?) and how long the article was. Most of the criticism here seems to boil down to the same "you're not Japanese" bullshit the author ment…
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