Thread 50264563

the final level of japanophilia is developing an interest in other cultures
most Japanese people are curious about the cultures of other countries, so if you're truly spiritually japanese, then you will be too

There's basically three kinds of Japanese people (in terms of attitudes toward the outside world):
-The cosmopolitan nihonjin who is fascinated with the wide world outside of Japan and turns the perfectionist attitude of Japanese creative arts towards producing works that blend foreign and native influence. When they feature foreign cultures in their works, it's often with an impressive attention to the minutiae. Ex: Jojo's Bizarre Adventure with it's infamous "travelogue-esque" segments in Parts 3 and 5 extoling the local sights and culture of various parts of Central Asia, Egypt, and Italy.
-The plebian nihonjin who has little intellectual curiosity towards the outside world, but will happily consume media produced by both of the other groups. If they do feature foreign cultures in their works, they'll likely try to ape the cosmopolitan, but will get key details wrong and display clear Japanese biases, or else restrict themselves to a few "exotic" token characters. Ex: Bleach, which has Chad the quarter-Hispanic giant and uses a lot of Spanish for purely stylistic reasons.
-The Ultranationalist nihonjin who views the world outside of Japan as inherently and categorically inferior. These people almost never make content that isn't focused on Japan or a fantasy world that has strongly Japanese ethics, and are generally not particularly popular outside of Japan if their personal views seep into their work. Ex: GATE, which portrays the JSDF as, essentially, the world's best military, pretends the Japanese government literally doesn't even know what war crimes ARE, and features such amazing plot twists as "We know these spec ops soldiers are American because one of them's black."

>>50264602
very nice analysis anon, I agree with everything you've written
I think a lot of rookie weebs fall into the ultranationalist category, but don't realize that their views would make 90% of Japanese people very uncomfortable

>>50264619
The many are ill constituted everywhere. This is an otaku board, why would anyone care what 90% of Japanese think?

>>50264602
Uh you're thinking of Japanese Otaku based on what you see on the internet and in media, not Japanese people in general. There's a difference between openness to consumerism and being passively nationalistic in mindset, like one would from just focusing on what's going on around in their actual daily life. In the kind of way that, if you don't look Oriental enough, "even" the cosmopolitan Japanese first seeing you in Japan will always assume you're an English Language Only tourist that's about to leave within a month. Foreign mannerisms taken at face value would just make them feel awkward about the situation and you making them anxious because they'd feel like their social competency is subtly tested like always, except in unprecedented ways.
They're just people, y'know. GATE's writer wouldn't beat you to death on sight.

>>50264602
Your taxonomy is capeshit. Quit trying to puff yourself up by categorizing.

>>50264807
it was pretty cool don't get mad

>>50264788
>This is an otaku board, why would anyone care what 90% of Japanese think?
Are you seriously asking this?

>>50264861
Yes. Would you be willing to answer.

>>50264892
It would be difficult to fully understand a subculture without also understanding the society in which it is ensconced.

>>50264914
Pedantic and time wasting response

>>50264925
dumb retard

don't fight frens

>>50264814
If you focus so much on what you think people are, then you'll lose sight of what they could be. It would be more palatable if it had been confined to types of narrative rather than people. Whenever I engage in such caricatures, I feel dirty after. Rightly so, because this kind of flattening down is just nasty. Sociologists categorize to improve society by testing hypotheses that might serve that end eventually. What end is this kind of taxonomy supposed to serve? It's just saying your inferiors are worth nothing and if they want to be better, then they should be more like somebody else. Even if it's true, how does dwelling on it or living your life with it knocking around in your skull make you happy or better off?
That old saying "All models are wrong, but some models are useful" is accurate.
"This guy is currently being an asshole who believes in fake bullshit"
"This amorphous group believes in fake bullshit"
Note the differences. One acknowledges the ephemerality of human belief and encourages the ebb and flow of passion. When there is disagreement, it is almost familial in its concern. The prodigal son returning. The other ossifies your viewpoint and makes you think of yourself as standing above a teeming mass of inferiors who might get smaller or more palatable by degrees, but will, for probably your entire lifetime, be flab on your mind. A person can get better. A group can't. You use the former strategy when you want friendship, and the latter when you want to foment hatred.

Sorry, this was pretty stream of consciousness. I've just had something subconsciously bugging anytime someone did what you just did right there, and I just had to put it to words.