The United States of Japan • Hacker News Board

Re: The United States of Japan

#31

Post by coldtea » Sat, May 05, 2018, 5:37 PM UTC

almostApatriot1 wrote: post #25

temp-dude-87844 wrote: post #14

The author's basic premise stands: Japan has undergone a post-industrial transition where the sudden prosperity of post-WWII generations was quickly followed by stagnation of those coming of age later; the shrunken opportunities afforded to the younger cohort leads them towards idle leisure, or anxiety-filled corporate drone work. The nature of consumerism has changed: there's still outward signalling but the goals h…

Yes, Japanese culture has filled a gap. If there were more components to Western Culture outside of America's influence maybe it wouldn't be so prominent. But what, culturally, is coming out of Canada, Europe, Australia, South America, or Asia (outside of Japan)? Not much that is universally appealing.

Clothes fashion and industrial design, for one, come mainly from Europe.

Re: The United States of Japan

#32

Post by [deleted] » Sat, May 05, 2018, 5:37 PM UTC

digi_owl wrote: post #27

panarky wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> will we go through two lost decades? Growth rates in US and Japan are remarkably similar. https://www.google.com/publicdata/explore?ds=d5bncppjof8f9_&... > the crushing amount of debt the US has collectively accumulated The US has far less debt than Japan. https://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/government-debt-t... https://tradingeconomics.com/japan/government-debt-to-gdp

Wrong debt. The problem for Japan is the amount of household debt that was accumulated during the 80s (Most of it, as with USA, Australia, and a bunch of other nations, went into housing). This put a hard clamp on domestic consumption. Only being a strong export nation has alleviated the problem until recent years, where SK and China has undercut Japan.

[deleted]

Re: The United States of Japan

#33

Post by coldtea » Sat, May 05, 2018, 5:38 PM UTC

wafflebear wrote: post #16

aerophilic wrote: post #3

It is an interesting thing to contemplate, how there really are “leading” and “trailing” cultural activities. I noticed this in Australia how culturally, they were about a decade behind the US (this is not a snipe, just an observation on cultural norms). It is interesting to think that the US is culturally behind Japan. It leads me to wonder if that really will be our future as well, will we go through two lost decad…

Can you give some examples of how Australia is culturally 10 years behind the US?

Only 10? Culturally it's a hinterland judging from its output.

Re: The United States of Japan

#34

Post by Larrikin » Sat, May 05, 2018, 5:41 PM UTC

LMYahooTFY wrote: post #22

temp-dude-87844 wrote: post #14

The author's basic premise stands: Japan has undergone a post-industrial transition where the sudden prosperity of post-WWII generations was quickly followed by stagnation of those coming of age later; the shrunken opportunities afforded to the younger cohort leads them towards idle leisure, or anxiety-filled corporate drone work. The nature of consumerism has changed: there's still outward signalling but the goals h…

I'm not sure I understand the dichotomy you propose at the end; that if Nintendo didn't market to children, no other large publisher would?

Do you view games that aren't ultra violent as childish? Nintendo fills a popular space and no one has been able to get anywhere close to their success in their area.

Re: The United States of Japan

#35

Post by SmellyGeekBoy » Sat, May 05, 2018, 5:57 PM UTC

almostApatriot1 wrote: post #25

temp-dude-87844 wrote: post #14

The author's basic premise stands: Japan has undergone a post-industrial transition where the sudden prosperity of post-WWII generations was quickly followed by stagnation of those coming of age later; the shrunken opportunities afforded to the younger cohort leads them towards idle leisure, or anxiety-filled corporate drone work. The nature of consumerism has changed: there's still outward signalling but the goals h…

Yes, Japanese culture has filled a gap. If there were more components to Western Culture outside of America's influence maybe it wouldn't be so prominent. But what, culturally, is coming out of Canada, Europe, Australia, South America, or Asia (outside of Japan)? Not much that is universally appealing.

British music and TV spring to mind as examples of cultural exports that pinch well above their weight.

Re: The United States of Japan

#36

Post by literallycancer » Sat, May 05, 2018, 6:02 PM UTC

knuththetruth wrote: post #10

jonathanyc wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What empire in decline is Japan (or the US) a far flung outpost of, exactly? Japan has about the same population as Britain and France combined, and America has twice that. I’m also not sure how Britain is relevant here. I think you have might have an interesting point but I can’t see it right now.

Japan is a far flung outpost of the American empire and has been so for its entire post-War history. The occupation forces arrived at a tacit agreement with the former imperial rulers that they could remain in power, so long as they served American interests in the region. This is why Japan received favored status politically and economically over Korea (who were indeed even forced to purchase goods and services from…

I don't really know that guy or care about him, but the page doesn't look very well written. There are grammar mistakes and opinions presented as a fact in more than a few places.

Re: The United States of Japan

#37

Post by jbrambleDC » Sat, May 05, 2018, 6:07 PM UTC

Maybe I am wrong, but I have always perceived that the influence of Japanese culture on America is no longer as strong as it was in the 90s and early 00s. That could be my childhood bias though.

Re: The United States of Japan

#38

Post by Nadya » Sat, May 05, 2018, 6:08 PM UTC

>Tellingly, the Japanese have a slang term for people like this: otaku. Literally meaning “one’s home,” the word emerged in the early eighties as slang for young adults who eschewed normal relationships in favor of the virtual worlds of manga, anime, and early video games.

It's hard taking an article seriously when it's wrong on such a basic fact like this. It comes off as someone who has no idea what they're talking about trying to make connections between things to sound informed and enlightening on a subject. Especially when all you need to do is read the wiki article [0]. The word is closer to "geek". How would 銃オタク (gun otaku) fit under the media umbrella of manga, anime, or video games?

[0] https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%81%8A%E3%81%9F%E3%81%8F

Re: The United States of Japan

#39

Post by jogjayr » Sat, May 05, 2018, 6:13 PM UTC

almostApatriot1 wrote: post #25

temp-dude-87844 wrote: post #14

The author's basic premise stands: Japan has undergone a post-industrial transition where the sudden prosperity of post-WWII generations was quickly followed by stagnation of those coming of age later; the shrunken opportunities afforded to the younger cohort leads them towards idle leisure, or anxiety-filled corporate drone work. The nature of consumerism has changed: there's still outward signalling but the goals h…

Yes, Japanese culture has filled a gap. If there were more components to Western Culture outside of America's influence maybe it wouldn't be so prominent. But what, culturally, is coming out of Canada, Europe, Australia, South America, or Asia (outside of Japan)? Not much that is universally appealing.

Canada's done all right in terms of music exports. I don't even know Western popular music all that well and I can name Bryan Adams, Shania Twain, Celine Dion, Justin Bieber, and Drake - I'm sure there's many more.

Hollywood and American TV has a ton of Canadian actors, which reminds me of the Canadian brain drain article from yesterday - maybe that's not restricted to tech :-)

"Asia (outside of Japan)" I can only speak to India. I'd say yoga and various forms of meditation (TM and some others) are pretty big in the West, as is Indian cuisine. People typecast Bollywood as this exotic industry that churns out musicals with no kissing scenes (both outdated info) but its exports are reasonably influential in the Middle East and parts of Africa. But yes relative to its size, India hasn't had much cultural influence upon the world in the 20th and 21st centuries.

Re: The United States of Japan

#40

Post by seanmcdirmid » Sat, May 05, 2018, 6:16 PM UTC

dragontamer wrote: post #5

The USA and Japan have a very strange relationship. As far as Asian countries are concerned, Japan has fewer immigrants to the USA than Philippines, China, Vietnam, Korea, and India. But Japan sticks out despite the relatively low migration rate. * The USA in general does have a sense of "the importance of the foreigner" or outsider. Foreigners invite new thought, new culture, and new experiences. * Japan seems to ma…

Japan has a lot of immigration, if not emigration. Within the country, it is a lot easier to see what is imported into (e.g. Indian food) than exported from Japan.