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What manga has taught me about Japanese culture...

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An F to judge M!
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10:17 am, Jan 14 2013
Posts: 386


There is no such thing as fraternal twins in Japan. If you happen to be a pair of boy/girl "twins", your "brother/sister" is NOT a sibling, but a perfect clone of you had you been born a different gender.



Due to certain treaties, Japan is not allowed to possess nuclear weaponry (somewhat). This can be quite the problem since Japan is constantly being harassed by building-sized, bipedal, humanoid beings with unclear motives.

Solution: Building-sized, bipedal, semi-sentient, humanoid ROBOT loaded with melee weapons that release more energy than they should physically be allowed to carry.

It's pilot? A high-schooler, obviously. Because of <omitted>, Japan doesn't yet possess the technology to allow a stable-minded adult to pilot the ¥43430984809238409238409238409 robot. CAN'T. BE. DONE.



If you're male and, by accident or otherwise, see a naked girl who doesn't mind being seen - SCREAM. Scream as loud as you possibly can whilst shielding your eyes. Make sure she knows that her nakedness is a problem, and that you seeing her naked is THE END OF THE FUCKING WORLD.

Last edited by Badkarma at 2:50 am, Jan 18 2014

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11:17 am, Jan 14 2013
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LOL Hilarious biggrin I was just raging about this to my sister (who doesn't read any manga) and she completely didn't understand why it made me go all "rawr"... Well, I plan to remember all this if I ever go to Japan...I guess.

- Girls have to wear a lot of make-up and fake eyelashes because without all that crap they are not human

- I learnt how should I behave as a European... My life(I am European) till now was a lie.(I guess I don't kiss and hug people enough)

- Girl always confesses to a guy (and I am not a highschooler anymore, awww there goes my plan to try this...sigh)

- Karaoke...karaoke, anyone? I don't sing but, karaoke? I have to practise.
- Amusement park anyone? Amusement park? At least Japanese girls seem to be obsessed.

- I have to avoid rain at all times, because few drops without umbrella above me and here goes my plan to confess to a guy who is the most popular person in the world (or Japan, or high school in Japan) because of a stupid stupid cold. Oh wait! He comes to nurse me back to health, so it's ok.


- Japanese like to bathe in public naked with other ppl of the same gender - well or whatever is that spa place they always show you where they are together...or in general take a bath naked with other person, since it's ok if they are of same gender... (I am ashamed to admit that I've never done this before... I make a terrible European...)

- Japanese are anaemic(mostly girls), but for an unknown reason they get these raging nosebleeds a lot when they see a cool guy (in case of a girl) or boobs(in case of a guy)

- It is such a BIG BIG BIG deal to call someone you like by their first name for the first time. All normal Japanese stutter when they try it (well of course except perverts. They behave as if they lived in Europe for few years at least.)

- If you are a girl and try to go somewhere alone at night with this kinda zombie-ish look in your eyes, you are getting gang-banged if your crush is not miraculously around. And trust me, he is, since he is your hero. Thus - no gang-bangs in shoujo.

Oh boy, I wanted to write only a sentence at first lol

Edit: Realized another thing. It's normal for teenagers to live all by themselves, even when they are still highschoolers... and when a kid doesn't have parents but lives with his/her older sibling and when these siblings die (or get kidnapped or run away or simply disappear) the kid continues to live all alone and social workers don't exist or just don't give a #&>k.

Last edited by weronique at 3:12 am, Jan 15 2013

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Not-BlackOrion
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2:04 am, Jan 20 2013
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I think i actually learned that the social pressure and mind setting is completely different, making an escene is worst than dying, and that is not an exaggeration since so many people would clearly ignore a problem just to not be in the spot light.
Exams are such a big deal that failing can leave a terrible emotional scare and a feeling of failure for life, money is even more important than here (in Occident i meant), "It's everyone else fault" is a pretty popular form of escapism and life hold little value when you feel like an object, a simple gear that keep the world of those on top moving, so that's pretty much the reason for the crazy amount of suicides.
I also learn that a person actually hopes to start and end his working life in the same company, getting fired or losing that job is similar to dying (i confirmed that this a mental set there outside manga too with legit anthropogenic articles)


And basically living in Japan can be a soul shattering experience.

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3:22 am, Jan 20 2013
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Nothing really. Besides something about the social structure of workplaces. I don't count the moe culture. Naturally every -dere etc thing ever would be counted into that and there's a lot to that too,
but it is only a very little niche in knowledge. Can't say anyone knows anything without being to the place and even then one needs to spend time all around the place and for a long time.

Post #584642 - Reply to (#584622) by Mamsmilk
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Not-BlackOrion
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7:57 am, Jan 20 2013
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Quote from Mamsmilk
Nothing really. Besides something about the social structure of workplaces. I don't count the moe culture. Naturally every -dere etc thing ever would be counted into that and there's a lot to that too,
but it is only a very little niche in knowledge. Can't say anyone knows anything without being to ...


Well many a sociologist study statistics to determine standard conduct patrons, it's even more effective than actually living there for some things, since you could only see a little fraction of the place either way, i understand your point, but you can actually learn much of a culture from data, and regardless of the little relevance of the data in a manga, it IS writing by a native, so many reactions you would not see remarked (or specially pointed out in any way, positive or negative) could be interpreted as normal if seen often enough in the same kind of contrast.

There is no better way to understand someone's mind than reading something he wrote, (of-course with this i'm hardly saying that it's a good way, just that is by far more effective than talking with him) maybe someone a bit more educated in classic music or other forms of art might say otherwise tough.

Post #584833 - Reply to (#584642) by BlackOrion
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9:07 am, Jan 22 2013
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Assuming the said author is a specialist in Japanese culture. There's no common Japanese culture. Thus it is impossible to act as a mediator just because of your ethnic background. There are regional differences. Data is gathered by people living there. You practically just read the stuff someone else went and experienced. Manga is hardly realistic. It makes monetarily more sense to pander the otaku instead of reviewing the country, so the writer might choose to write what sells.

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11:16 am, Jan 22 2013
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Don't claim any to be 100% true, but are the case for most of what I've seen.

1) If you've lived somewhere all your life, your only friends are childhood friends. Everyone else are acquaintances.

2) Despite how warm/cold the area's climate may be, snow is a rarity. It is awe-inspiring, not a nuisance to drivers in any way, shape, or form.

3) You're one of the few weird people out there if you believe in ghosts, but ki and other supernatural powers are perfectly normal.

4) The girl's bathroom is the unicorn of Japanese culture. Few men have ever set foot inside, and those who do never return to tell the tale. And janitors don't exist.

5) More people have sex in the park than in their own beds.

Post #584899 - Reply to (#584833) by Mamsmilk
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Not-BlackOrion
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1:08 am, Jan 23 2013
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Quote from Mamsmilk
Assuming the said author is a specialist in Japanese culture. There's no common Japanese culture. Thus it is impossible to act as a mediator just because of your ethnic background. There are regional differences. Data is gathered by people living there. You practically just read the stuff someone el ...



It matters little what the writer wants to "write", it's what it is whiting the pages that can tell you something, as i said, if you paid attention to the things that have no resonance with the history, be it positive resonance or negative, you are seeing the things the author consider normal, it does not matter if the guy wanted to write that Godzilla eats breakfast with him every morning, it's about what it's actually taken as daily, what's you can see as a background and not as part of the history, that's what's interesting.
and ultimately, i doesn't matter if he is "specialist in Japanese culture" you said your self that you consider "living" there as the best way to acquire knowledge, taking data from several persons that had liven all their life should be beneficial with that in mind right?

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2:21 am, Jan 23 2013
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People can't give truthful answers regarding their own culture. They're exposed to
propaganda of themselves. You can't ask someone living the culture
to specify it, just like you can't give get a truthful view of how you look
when you walk from yourself. You have to be out of something to perceive it
properly and still close enough to see it. People accustomed to something
can't give an unbiased view as they can't see the pieces.

So you're saying history is not a part of the culture?
If you'd leave your mumbo-jumbo out of it, you'd make more sense.

Post #584908 - Reply to (#584904) by Mamsmilk
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Not-BlackOrion
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2:56 am, Jan 23 2013
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Quote from Mamsmilk
People can't give truthful answers regarding their own culture. They're exposed to
propaganda of themselves. You can't ask someone living the culture
to specify it, just like you can't give get a truthful view of how you look
when you walk from yourself. You have to be out of something to perceive i ...



Well, I'm making more sense than you. I simply said that regardless of what the author might be writing as the focus of the history, the details that go unnoticed and form the background contains his/her ideologies and compression of the world, been that he/she is Japanese you are actually learning something about Japan, even if you don't want to believe it, and this is not just me rambling, reading within the book is actually quite a common thing, then at least understand that since he/she is Japanese you just learned something about Japan, even if it is that one Japanese person has a certain ideology.
Ultimately, by comparing several manga, you can come to an Hypothesis not different to any other hypothesis you could come out by actually seeing it in the same amount of sources

If you found that hard to understand then i don't known how to explain you.

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3:08 am, Jan 23 2013
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Analyzing manga authors for culture is cherry picking and can't be used as a basis for anything. You only have data of generic traits of manga authors by inspecting them. You can't make a conclusion with that, meaning it is worthless data as long as there's nothing to add to it.

Resonating history, compression of the world and all lines of this kind that have no definitive meaning make no sense whatsoever. They're not clear and require interpretation, which leads to nowhere. We're trying to figure out what your point is instead of reading your poetry. Do you want people to understand what you say or clap?
I've got a feeling you're trying to impress people by feigning complex thinking, but it is really just hurting your point if not completely making it vanish. It's extremely hard to figure out what you're trying to say when there's so much unnecessary noise.

Last edited by Mamsmilk at 3:15 am, Jan 23 2013

Post #584912 - Reply to (#584910) by Mamsmilk
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Not-BlackOrion
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3:30 am, Jan 23 2013
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Quote from Mamsmilk
Analyzing manga authors for culture is cherry picking and can't be used as a basis for anything. You only have data of generic traits of manga authors by inspecting them. You can't make a conclusion with that, meaning it is worthless data as long as there's nothing to add to it.

Resonating history, ...


To make it clearer since it seems that you won't accept shit due to pride, i will give an easy example; If you see in several manga with setting in Japan how a person takes the train at peak hours and it's rather crowded, with out the main or side characters pointing this out or being affected too much by it, then you can come up with the idea that "The train is crowded at peak hour" or "This Person, who is Japanese thinks so"

Later one after 100 examples, you can make an Hypothesis that says either "The train is crowded at peak hour" or "Mangakas think that trains are crowded at peak hour", clearly common sense can be applied in this case, but i'm trying to make a generic reference.
Now, with a 100 examples your Hypothesis is as valid as seeing the train 100 times crowded at that time, this is due to the fact that even tough you might think it is "clear" that's the case after seeing it first hand 100 times your hypothesis could still be fake and just caused by several coincidences, even tough of how unlikely that might sound, all because of the lack of the possibility of reaching certainty in any hypothesis a person can ever come up with.

With this I'm obviously trying to imply that regardless of how the method the hypothesis won't be "correct" but rather more plausible the more evidence pointing in that direction is collected.


Of-course, there is also the Nylism view that says that even if you "see" something that evidence is as believable as you want it to be since our "senses" are just as believable as you believe them to be, whit this i'm trying to say that you could be refuted on the basis that just because you are in direct contact you actually can understand anything with out it being biased.

So i hope that makes clear why i think it's rather stupid to consider the evidence i could subtract of the manga invalid
If after all this you will just stick with the same argument, and you will, then i have nothing else to add, feel free to swim in negation for all i care.

Abandon the thread!

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As final touch, i said "You CAN learn thing about Japan from Manga, and it's easy to prove in a logical level you can, since even learning that a Japanese person made this manga is ultimately something about Japan, again using easy examples"

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4:13 am, Jan 23 2013
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Trains being crowded has nothing to do with culture. Trains are crowded all around the world in cities with a lot of people. They're designed for optimal expenses when it comes to the cars of the train and the rail as well as paying attention to how much boarding space the station itself has. This limits how long and wide the cars can be as well as how many you can have in a train. The whole Japanese culture is made of Japanese people, but the Japanese people are not made of the whole Japanese culture. Thus they are not a better source of data than anything that has ever spent time in Japan. Not to forget that manga authors are skewed towards being otaku themselves and living in densely populated regions, doing nerd stuff. They don't know what goes on in Yamagata or any other region that has no economical interest, which are essential to search to know what the Japanese culture is like. In metropolitan areas, you see western culture. A person like that hardly knows anything about the country s/he lives in. It's a place far too vast. You don't make a point, you just assume things. Just by pointing I don't take shit due to pride proves that you expect people to do what you want. You're a narcissist. Your hubristic views prevent you from making a point. You assume to know what I am going to do and think. It's hot air, not a sound argument.

Last edited by Mamsmilk at 4:18 am, Jan 23 2013

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Nice desu ne
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6:12 pm, Jan 24 2013
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Ecchi, where you can expect girls to have exaggerated bodily proportions and if you are a female with large eyes and aforementioned endowments; you can expect ample opportunity to fall on the mc's face with your crotch. This is also a praised genre. (I'm sure this has been touched on thoroughly, yet I still can't get over how obsessed the Japanese seem to be with chests)

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Post #585609 - Reply to (#584914) by Mamsmilk
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1:34 pm, Jan 29 2013
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Quote from Mamsmilk
Trains being crowded has nothing to do with culture. Trains are crowded all around the world in cities with a lot of people. They're designed for optimal expenses when it comes to the cars of the train and the rail as well as paying attention to how much boarding space the station itself has. This l ...


...well, another example. How often did you see someone saying "thanks for the food" or "I'm leaving" in Manga or heard it in Japanese in Anime-("gochisousama" and "ittekimasu").
Or "yoroshiku onegaitashimasu"- often translated as "please take care of me".
So we can assume from Manga (with it's setting in reality) that japanese people bow and say "yoroshiku onegaitashimasu" when they meet each other the first time. We also know that it's common to take off your shoes when going into the house...or to pay a shrine visit on new year, to pray to a dead relatives picture...to call big siblings oniisan/oneesan...and so on
I think such things can be considered as culture.
And like it was said before: a person living in Japan knows how things are there best. Even if you go to Japan there are this tiny little things that make the japanese everyday life a foreigner can hardly experience and japanese people won't notice because it's normal. And these are the things you can learn from manga.

By the way, I think we're only discussing the topics title...sorry for that.
I really love this topic biggrin there are a few clicheés I wasn't even aware of and it was hilarious to read all the posts.
So here a few more:
-when a couple-to-be goes on a festival the geta's strap snaps and the girl has to be carried- not that she could walk barefoot...
-japanese english-teachers are unable to cope with persons good or fluently in english
-if i'd come into another dimension I could most definitely speak with it's inhabitants perfectly

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