Japanophiles and the Internet

[Vohn_exel]

Part of me wonders if what you think is a Japanophile is really just someone who likes a few anime series. I like anime, I like some Japanese music. I enjoy learning about their religion and their cultural norms and their interesting history.

But I also really love what the French are doing with contemporary animation, and what Norwegians do with metal, and what the British bring to electronic music. I also love reading about the almost ten thousand year history of India. Probably the most interesting country historically, IMO.

I like things that interest me, no matter where they come from, even if it's Japan. I think you see more anime because it's semi-mainstream and, most importantly, it's a huge industry. To ignore it is like ignoring Hollywood. So much stuff comes out of it, and some of that stuff is good.

Don't get me wrong, I'd love to discuss the Secret of Kells (a wonderful animated film from Belgium) but no one else seems to have seen it.

This. I enjoy Greek Mythology as much as I enjoy stories about the feudal error of Japan and how Nobunaga almost took over the country by being a demon. I think that was how it happened .

But no seriously, I'm the same way. I like what I like, no matter where it's from. I don't like things because "they're cool," or because someone else told me to. I had a friend that used to call me a Japanophile all the time, but she never noticed that I equally spoke of my own country's history, once about medieval times in Europe, and all different kinds of things. I watch alot of anime and my friends do too, so that subject comes up alot, and it might appear that's the only thing I like.

 

[Maveroid]

Play fair.

A huge chunk of the young adult population grew up with Nintendo. Kids a year or two younger grew up with Nintendo and Sega. A few years younger, they grew up with Nintendo, Sega, and Sony. It wasn't until the previous generation of consoles, in the 2000's, that America had its foot in the door, unless you want to count the PC master race, but again, play fair: PC's have never been as accessible as consoles (especially in terms of their cost), and that's just now beginning to change.

A person enjoying Japanese subcultures and LIKING the things that come out of Japan is not a 'Japanophile'. What OP means are the people that are like "OMG JAPAN I WANT TO GO THERE EVERYTHING IS JUST LIKE IN ANIMES AND I WILL WEAR A SCHOOL DRESS AND I WILL TALK JAPANESE WITH THE OTHERS". You know, the people ignoring everything that comes out of other countries and saying that Japan is the best?

I respect France for example. I loved my vaccation there, I love Ubisoft and I like the stereotypically romantic setting. Its great and all and I do want to learn french someday, but I am not going to go around talking French to Americans to show my devotion and dress only in french clothing (... that's actually near impossible I believe... Isn't everything from france? I have no idea about fashion) and put posters of ONLY FRENCH cartoon and video game characters there and make myself part of some french-fan-group and and and and.

That sort of stuff.

 

[beniki]

I think it's because they only get to see the cool, colourful and flashy parts of Japanese culture. I used to be crazy about the place until I went to teach there. Bored the hell out of me. The students were nice and hard working, but just so... dull. They take in what you say without any feedback or questioning. That's great, it just doesn't make for a satisfying work day.

It gave me a much deeper understanding of anime though. I could really appreciate the better works as more of a cry of help against the culture... and I've developed a special loathing for the low grade stuff. Those represent the worst of Japanese culture, churning out the same old crap because it worked in the past, without really looking at why it worked in the first place. The sweet stuff became sweeter, the bitter, more bitter. Balance I guess.

It's a pleasant place to visit, but you need to be a special kind of person to want to stay there. I couldn't do it. I simply can't live in a bubble any more, and that's what Japan is. A convenient, relatively safe bubble.

 

[Mr.Squishy]

I have no idea. I used to be a pretty serious weeaboo myself, then I took a reality to the knee. Now all I can remember is a faint haze of badly-written anime and hambeast cosplayers.

 

[Chocomint]

My guess is anime/manga are a readily available form of escapism, most of the series are free to view online, and it seems exotic and therefore cool.

I think anime fans are one of the more friendly communities, so for someone who wants to be into something different from their peers at school but also be part of a like minded group, it's a perfect outlet.

I find them a bit scary though because of the vocal minority that are batshit insane. A girl at my high school who called herself an otaku and insisted that everyone call her by her Japanese name (as well as throwing fits, scrawling notes in what was probably badly written Japanese, and other minor but irritating day-to-day habits) would follow me around and try to lick my face and tackle-hug me. After that I distanced myself from the fandom and don't reveal that I'm still somewhat interested in anime and manga unless the question specifically comes up.

 

[JesterRaiin]

Can someone explain to me why?

People presented much better arguments, but i'll add my 5 cents if i may.
There is this special part of Japan that deals with "what if..."s or "let's..."es. Someone said it before - people may become enamored with something staying as far from the mainstream as common politician from honesty, yet it is and it is there.

We live in very hypocritical world that offers no easy answers for things considered taboo. We suppress freedom of mind, we don't venture into dark alleys of subconsciousness, we tend to stay away from demons that hide in shadows.

As an example...
There was this topic here on The Escapist - not long ago, someone was curious about Alan Moore's comix. It wasn't very perverse thing, but it was enough to draw forth commentaries like "man, that's sick".
On the other side of this spectrum you have Japan, with plethora of weirdest stuff one could think about.

We don't live there. We don't know how life in Japan really is, but i guess we can call Nippon the land that isn't afraid to express its creativity and not only ask questions we're afraid to ask, but even go further and provide answers.

Some people simply don't fit into our society, full of "no"es and "don't"s that are there without any plausible explanation. "Just don't" won't do. Some people need to walk some less taken paths. Japan delivers. Simple as that.

On the side note : am i mistaking or there's some amount of admiration over medieval Germany in Japan works of fiction ?

 

[Soviet Heavy]

A person enjoying Japanese subcultures and LIKING the things that come out of Japan is not a 'Japanophile'. What OP means are the people that are like "OMG JAPAN I WANT TO GO THERE EVERYTHING IS JUST LIKE IN ANIMES AND I WILL WEAR A SCHOOL DRESS AND I WILL TALK JAPANESE WITH THE OTHERS". You know, the people ignoring everything that comes out of other countries and saying that Japan is the best?

You seem to have misunderstood my original sentiment. I am not talking about Weeaboos, I was talking about those who have a deep fascination with the nation on a cultural level that goes beyond merely being obsessed with anime.

 

[Adeptus Aspartem]

Alot of internet-goers are geeks/nerds. Those tend to like Anime. And bam that's it.

I'm also japanophile. Not because of animes/manga but they brought me into contact with the japanese culture.

The imo most beautiful sounding language (chinese on the other hand sounds terrible to me, like stranglin' a cat), the most amazing balance between tradion and techonolgy in any culture i know and their standing on beliefs/religion (specially other peoples beliefs).

That basically sums it up for me.

 

[370999]

snip

Look, I'm kinda ignorant about Japan but are you really suggesting Japan has no cultural prohabitions? Like at all? That seems impossible to me. Different ones from the west? Obviosuly, but none? I would need a lot of proof to be convinced.

I like anime OP. Mind you I always prefered China. Still do. China's more interesting IMHO. Whatever.

To answer your question it's partly because people look at anime and assume the whole culture must be like that, that japan is a mecca for nerds. From what I've heard it's not. But some people don't ever really think that deep, just imagine that once they move to a far off country they will be so popular, girls will love them and all their problems will disapper. There wrong and have created a fatasy country but whatever.

 

[JesterRaiin]

snip

Look, I'm kinda ignorant about Japan but are you really suggesting Japan has no cultural prohabitions? Like at all? That seems impossible to me. Different ones from the west? Obviosuly, but none? I would need a lot of proof to be convinced.

Nope.
Japan has its own taboos but it approaches some of ours in a little different way.
Some is the keyword here.

 

[Hiname]

Well then, let's have a look at this..

I was biorn and grew up in the place before moving to germany to study, and thanks to the interwebs, I have friends pretty much all over the globe. So when I talk to them about this specific topic, I cannot help but notice a few things that are generally the same. I tend to put them in a row of different boxed stages, so to say. And while I understand that generalisation is a very bad thing, for me its sad reality.

Stage 1: The weeabo.
Clearly the worst kind by a far, far reach. The kind of person obsessed with anime/manga and videogames hat knows little to nothign about japan at all and goes totally apeshit if you try tot ell thema few bitter truths about the place.
try tot ell them that there is a certain politician these days that managed to ban a big chunk of games and mangas from Tokio. The reactions are priceless, really.

Stage 2: The semi-informed fanboy/girl
More pleasently tot alk with, yet still mostly annoying. At least they know bits about what you are talking about and are willing to consider a few bad things as a needed evil. They would still give both arms and one leg for a japanese partner and are generally rather obsessed with everything about the culture. Mentioning culture, mostly only informed about that what you see in media.

Stage 3: The cultural fan
A joy to talk with about the topic. They tend to know about the place and can acctually tell the difference between dramatisation in entertaining media and how the real thing works, know about tradition and modern social things and are generally interested in things yout ell them that are otherwise ahrd to come by unless you have been there.
Thinks get icky though if you bring the topic about how things were better "a few years ago" when the mental picture of japan starts cracking.

Stage 4: The Pro
Currently only two people I ever met fit into this category. Both have been to japan for many years and decided to getf amiliar with the ups and downs of the place. Only one of them understands some satiric jokes about these things though.


That one thing all of these have in common tough is a general admiration for our school system. Guess that is where we shine the brightest...
At leats until you have acctually gone through there.
Thats one cruel, cruel world. x_x

 

[370999]

snip

Look, I'm kinda ignorant about Japan but are you really suggesting Japan has no cultural prohabitions? Like at all? That seems impossible to me. Different ones from the west? Obviosuly, but none? I would need a lot of proof to be convinced.

Nope.
Japan has its own taboos but it approaches some of ours in a little different way.
Some is the keyword here.

Ah gottcha. It just seemed you were suggesting Japan to be Rapture, i.e without any form of morality then different morality. I will say though that Saudi Arabia approaches things different to the West but doesn't have the same appeal so I think what you are saying does indeed have validity, it's part of something else.

 

[JesterRaiin]

Ah gottcha. It just seemed you were suggesting Japan to be Rapture, i.e without any form of morality then different morality. I will say though that Saudi Arabia approaches things different to the West but doesn't have the same appeal so I think what you are saying does indeed have validity, it's part of something else.

Oh this is your simply West vs East. We share some things and some divide us. Japan, India, Arabic countries - differences are unavoidable.

 

[Sebass]

That one thing all of these have in common tough is a general admiration for our school system. Guess that is where we shine the brightest...
At leats until you have acctually gone through there.
Thats one cruel, cruel world. x_x

It pays of though

http://sq.4mg.com/NationIQ.htm

Though I have no idea why anyone has admiration for the Japanese school system apart from the cutesy uniforms .. Everything I know about it (which isn't much) is either from anime, where students seem to be buried in mountains of homework, and an article which featured a photograph of elementary schoolkids having a tug-of-war competition outside. In the winter. In their bare chests ..

 

[Tsukuyomi]

Speaking as someone who went through that phase and came out the other side a bit, I think it's simply the mystique of the place and it's culture, especially compared to the cultures we live in. For example the 'other people before myself' notion that is often portrayed as commonplace is incredibly refreshing to someone like myself who lives in America where the rule seems to be "be a jerk, get ahead by any means required, and if you step on someone in the process? who cares? They're not YOU so they don't count."

Obviously, that's not everyone in the U.S., like many things that's just a facet of the nation and the culture, just as how the positive aspects Japan-fans see in the culture are simply a facet. As I understand it there's a fair amount of borderline-xenophobia that happens in the country as well as other related downsides that either would make you shake your head in disbelief, laugh until you fell off your chair, or both.

Why are they so prevalent on the internet? because realistically it's the best, easiest, and sometimes only way to get their fix. For example I'm a Kamen Rider/Super Sentai fan. I can't really get those serieses here in the U.S. (Or at least not in any form I'm willing to watch these days. Saban needs to be cursed to watch their own shit endlessly for a hundred years.) So I use the internet to find/do stuff related to it. Is it my only interest? Heavens no. I like it alot, but I also enjoy Marvel and DC comics, American movies and TV, games from many cultures, etc. But many of the other things I enjoy I can merely go to a brick-and-mortar store and get. My Japan fix? no such luck outside the internet.

If you have trouble dealing with them, especially the Weeaboos, just ignore them. Their constant use of honoriffics and whatever Japanese word they've learned this week in normal English makes everyone cringe, especially other, more-mature-about-it fans and enthusiasts. I often want to smack someone who uses an honoriffic in normal speech when I know they genuinely think it's cool to do so.

Bottom line is that it's easier and sometimes only possible to get your fix of Japanese stuff here on the internet. You just gotta learn to live with it and, like anything around here, shut out the morons.

 

[DoomyMcDoom]

then there are people interested in warrior culture throughout the ages, and study many countries, like me... MY ancestry is almost entirely celtic, with a few rough nordic edges on it, but I like to read about other cultures as well, especially wars, the different changes and adaptations various cultures have made to deal with the buildup preceding war, war itself and what happens after...

Like it or not, conflict is what drives the majority of our progress and being that war is by it's nature the essence of conflict blown up into a multinationally inclusive event, it causes change and development in different areas depending on those involved, and is always interesting to learn about.

That being said japan has a really really rich history of war within and without, their entire culture revolved entirely around war, or war preparedness for a long long long time, yes long to the power of 3.

so I find it interesting to study, then again there's tons of conflict in the middle east, and always has been, every century there seems to be some sort of bloodbath going on somewhere in that clusterfuck...

And don't even get me started on europe and the universal "warboner" condition they had going on throughout history, especially germans and the tribes germany was build by, goddamn they were psycho...

Just that a lot of people aren't as interested in war in general, see japanese warrior culture as this over the top, glorious thing.
Really, anyone completely dedicated to war, and all that it entails tends to be a bit skilled, oh and the ninja, people glorify those sneaky murderers so much it's insane, no, they weren't magical, they weren't the ultimate warriors, most of the killing they did was not in direct combat, it was using poison, or other underhanded tactics to dispose of people seen troublesome enough to send ninja after. officials, military leaders, or just that guy accross the way who insulted you, providing you have the cash. Just saying...

 

[Bassik]

Whenever I see anime stuff on the internet, or another nut who thinks Katanas are the best thing ever or something, I just write it off as weeaboo bullshit and get on with my internets. There's probably a Star Trek or Doctor Who thing I have to obsess about anyway.

 

[Strain42]

The only reason it bothers me is because of the "One of us..." mentality that it seems to bring about.

For example. I love the Megami Tensei franchise. I have since I first played one of their games, I've bought and enjoyed every game since then. I am a fan of the franchise.

However...that's about it. I'm not a big anime watcher (there are a few series I like here and there) and I don't really play any other JRPG titles.

Yet for some reason, me being a fan of the MegaTen franchise seems to imply otherwise.

 

[omega 616]

I think it's kind of creepy but I have a suspicion it's 'cos everything is so cute and adorable.

Like all there anime and cosplay stuff. Japan is known for it's weirdness, like phones that translate a dogs bark or there crazy game shows.

 

[MammothBlade]

Well, I consider myself a moderate Japanophile, in a respectful way. Learning Japanese, interested in Japanese culture whilst being into my own country's culture and history just as much. My interest in Japan certainly started with anime. Though I took to learning the language because it itself is very different, and rewarding to learn. I'm rather repulsed by people who will watch or read or play something just because it's Japanese, or who shun and denounce all western media. That makes you a tool, not a cultural appreciator.