The only karaoke I've ever heard of in my area is in bars, not the "karaoke boxes" like I've seen in manga & dorama. I live in a small town in a mostly rural state, though. It took me quite a while to figure out what the heck the "karaoke boxes" were, because I had the mental image that "karaoke = getting up & singing in a bar".

I personally never have used a lot of different facial cleansing stuff (cleanser, facial scrub, lotion, toner, and an occasional mask *at most*, and usually not that much), and none of my friends in high school/college did either, but I'm old, so maybe everyone does now. The only thing I've ever heard of non-Asians gluing to their eyelids are fake eyelashes, and that's usually just for stage makeup or Halloween or something like that. (And yes, fake eyelashes DO feel extremely weird.)

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"[English] not only borrows words from other languages; it has on occasion chased other languages down dark alley-ways, clubbed them unconscious and rifled their pockets for new vocabulary."
-James Nicoll, can.general, March 21, 1992

Dunno much, but all the J- youths here do have the thing to sport that 'bishounen' haircuts, I dont know what that is called really but its something like this. Some of them look shockingly womanish and more often than not wear their hair long. I noticed vietnamese and koreans do that too. I suppose this 'image' of 'male beauty' is spread in those countries



and in pubs in the UK...

Incidentaly, I had a query, do Japanese distinguish is races or know the general temparement of people of different countries and deal differently?.... not offensively or anything..just like - here, where I live, I rarely see Asians mingle with the locals much and tend to stick to their groups while Brazilians though they roam in their crowd but are quite welcome to mingle with Brits and South Africans by far do seem to get along fine with many ...does my question even make sense?..

Last edited by BimboSilly at 10:12 pm, May 28 2008

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Yes-Americans spend a couple of billion dollars on the stuff.
I'll give my household inventory, which I know isn't uncommon:
In my bathroom we've (my brother and I've) got two brands of facial wash, two facial scrubs, acne meds, soap, body wash, and cleansing pads. My mom and grandma have all of that plus toner and purifier and (seems like four or five types each) and even more assorted lotions. And occasional random junk just filters into my house.

I've seen fake eyelashes just be part of a look (usually Asian or ghetto) but often more natural, non feather lashes. Never seen the glue or tape, but I'm sure I can find it if I look hard enough. My brother goes for karaoke all the time (he's the white boy in a group of Asian friends) and it's New York, so we've got boxes.

Last edited by story645 at 11:18 pm, May 28 2008

Is it true that even non-Christian celebrate Christmas in Japan? And from what I saw in mangas and animes there are lots of girls dresses as Santa. Why is that?

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From what i heard before, its not that they celebrate it for the "Religious" meaning, but they give gifts(i think) and then the actual xmas day is just a normal day.

Everything leading up to it is the same tho.

Well, young non Christians celebrate Christmas too, because here (at least in Korea) Christmas is actually more a holiday than a religious celebration.
It's kind of an excuse for people to skip work, and hand out presents, not to mention the whole thing with confessions.
Some girls dress as Santa to promote their part-time job's merchandise, usually in bakeries and such. Christmas cakes, pretty girls in short red skirts, you get it.
Sorry if this is not what you wanted.

So it is all just cultural thing? If that's right then it does makes sense. Then what about temples? Lots of Japanese visit temples on certain days. Is this "religious" or just cultural?

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I would imagine that they go to the temple's for a religious reason, again, could be wrong tho.

that was 1 hot haircut

what r the seasons like in japan
is it pretty mild all year round or is it
HOT summers FREEZING winter kinda thing?

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IS it so selfish to ask for something in this world to be mine and only mine... belonging to no one else. that is what i wish for most

Sounds like the US, minus the confessions. I really don't see Christmas as a religious holiday in the US either - there may be more of a religious element to it, but I know a LOT of people (including my whole family) who "celebrate Christmas" by spending time with family, eating good food, taking time off work, giving presents, etc. without ever going to church.

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"[English] not only borrows words from other languages; it has on occasion chased other languages down dark alley-ways, clubbed them unconscious and rifled their pockets for new vocabulary."
-James Nicoll, can.general, March 21, 1992

I think the temples are largely a traditional thing, though for many Japanese people, it's also very religious. Many Japanese people are still Shinto Buddhists.

Well this is just my reading from textbooks and such, but Japan is very homogeneous and so they are use to people that are the same. I was reading in 'featured column' (page) that a junior high textbook that had just been released that kids would bully the disabled (different) kids.

And yet there's all that yellow blocking on the streets to help the visually impaired on all the big streets. *shrugs* And if a person with a wheelchair took the train, there isn't a ramp that's built into the train, but there will be a train worker that will meet up (or do they travel with them? I don't remember the scene that I saw so clearly anymore) carrying the ramp to let the person off the train, and there's the chair lift next to the stairs to move the person up.

So maybe the people are weary? It could be lumped into racism but then that sounds like something to complain about rather than finding a resolution for the situation.

And regarding Christmas, I've read in several books that it is considered a couple's holiday. And even anime and manga follow this mentally, such as in Kimagure Orange Road, Marmalade Boy, and Lovely Complex just to name some that I know.

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My avatar was Yves Saint Laurent's The Black Evening Dress (with big bow) first shown in 1983, photographed from his 2002 retrospective and final show. [color=#CC0066]Check out some of his collections for free (pre-2008) HERE[/color] courtesy of FirstView.

Christmas in Japan is like Valentine's Day part 2. It's a holiday (not considered a religious one, as most people don't even know who jesus, joseph and mary are, and it's also not included in Japan's list of "official holidays"), mostly marketed for couples. Santa Clause is also popular in Japan, as are Christmas lights and reindeer and all that stuff. Giving presents aren't as prevalent, but some people do. And for some reason, the popular food on Christmas eve are chicken and strawberry cake. XD (Yeah, that's what I ate on my Christmas there too. XD)

People visit temples on New Year's Eve/Day, not on Christmas. And visiting temples is both a mix of tradition and religion. I hope that answered the questions.

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Shinto Buddhists? Er... Aren't Shinto and Buddhism two different religions?

Japanese people joke about having multiple religions. When they are born they are Shinto. In their lifetimes they celebrate Christmas and Valentine's, both Catholic holidays. And when they die they have a Buddhist ceremony. It's not such a big deal to them.

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