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In that respect, most people in the US figure politicians are crooked though and they actually have the means in place to effect change or at least the individual takedowns of politicians. I'd also argue that the ratings for various news shows and the great diversity of views in there seems to point towards Americans being a lot more interested than you believe though this changes from region to region.
Seriously. People like Rush Limbaugh, Jon Stewart, Bill O'Reilly, Stephen Colbert, Glenn Beck, Rachael Maddow, etc etc etc are all massively-paid, hugely-influential political entertainment figures who are household names, and whatever side of the political spectrum they are, they've made their careers off of harsh criticisms of our government... they say things that would get you imprisoned in other countries.
There's nothing wrong with having some national pride - it's healthy. I'm certainly proud to be an American, I wouldn't shy away from saying that... but part of being lucidly proud is being able to address and criticize the social, political, and economic issues that are present in your society and seek to make them better. There's a point where pride can become nationalism, and nationalism IMHO is the province of the weak-minded and weak-spirited; people who are afraid to stand on their own achievements and instead need to tie everything they do into a national identity, and tie their national identity into everything they do.
I might get some flak for saying this but I do think that Japanese people generally are the most genuine people in the entire world.
If they did something that disappointed you, they will not only say sorry to you but also make an effort to make up to you. For instance, there were a couple of occasions where my Japanese friends have to cancel on our outing for some reasons but they apologized and later initiated an outing to make up for it. This is a trait that I have not seen from my other Asian and Caucasian friends.
My Korean and American friends would simply say sorry and keep cancelling on me at times.
So what if my Japanese friends are more reserved and shy than my non-Japanese friends? Action really does speak louder than words, i'd say.
I might get some flak for saying this but I do think that Japanese people generally are the most genuine people in the entire world.
If they did something that disappointed you, they will not only say sorry to you but also make an effort to make up to you. For instance, there were a couple of occasions where my Japanese friends have to cancel on our outing for some reasons but they apologized and later initiated an outing to make up for it. This is a trait that I have not seen from my other Asian and Caucasian friends.
My Korean and American friends would simply say sorry and keep cancelling on me at times.
So what if my Japanese friends are more reserved and shy than my non-Japanese friends? Action really does speak louder than words, i'd say.
Whoa, I do the same thing. Did I just turn Japanese?
Because of anime and some superficial junk like that.
At least in my area, most of the young people my age are only interested in Japan because of that.
I like Japanese food and some aspects of the culture, but I would never want to live there unless I married a Japanese or have very close family over there.
Japan is still a closed society when it comes to outsiders.
I am always amazed when I hear North American and French tourists go on and on how great Japan is and how they wish to live there, not realizing the discrimination they will face if they try to live there.
It will be subtle: Japanese not wishing to sit next to you in the subways or the waiting rooms. Having a hard time getting a credit or debit card unless you have lived in Japan for a really long time (and even then, it will be limited form compared to how Japanese receive one). Police constantly stop for your passport or visa. Realtors will refuse selling a house to foreigners. Children will constantly yell "Gaijin" when seeing you. And you will occasionally get the dirty look from the obasan/ojiisan.
There are some services that cater to foreigners, however, in the big cities....but that speaks a lot in how even the banking systems in Japan want to separate the gaijins (foreigners) from the rest of the Japanese.
On the surface, Japanese act polite but it is merely a facade and there are no better nor worse than any other group of people.
They gossip and can be verbally rude when describing about foreigners, in front of their faces, if they believe they cannot understand them.
Japan's history is very unique. Yes, it has a dark imperialist past, but how it modernized and its waves of losing, (re)discovering, and creating its culture and national identity is fascinating. I recently went to Korea and thought it was a very cool country, but I went to Japan shortly after that and felt that the Japanese had a much more individual, creative identity, and that even things like anime or comics or anything are still a strong reaction to mass culture and shaped Japanese identity. The Japanese imprint in media, fashion, technology, business, etc is very much rooted in how Japan has evolved and dealt with its history as well as modernity, much differently than other Asian nations in my opinion.
Also, walking in Tokyo, I did not, as an American, feel out of place. Japanese people weren't really shocked to see an American (at least with me), but in Korea I felt I had received many more stares.
Still would like to see more of Asia, and hopefully will soon, but Japan does feel special to me...
Yeah, Japan has an interesting culture and has interesting and rich history but so many people are overboard when it comes to Japan. Why do so many people like and idealize Japan so much in comparison to other Asian countries?
Japanese people like the west too, I think.
China etc. have mixed feelings and sometimes being hostile to the west can be the mainstream, in some aspects.
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