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Here's a different perspective: Psychologically, it's got to be Japan. Island mentality, in conflict with neighboring continent, repressed emotions, inability to relate to strangers, dislike for spontaneity and surprising or unexpected situations, emphasis on form and presentation, active if symbolic monarchy, bicameral parliamentary system.
Excuse me but the UK's world dominant pop culture begs to differ!! I certainly don't have 'repressed emotions, an 'inability to relate to strangers' (unless their French) and I certainly don't have a 'dislike for spontaneity or surprising or unexpected situations', I get on particularly well with Australians because they are VERY British in their outlook on life.
Here's a different perspective: Psychologically, it's got to be Japan. Island mentality, in conflict with neighboring continent, repressed emotions, inability to relate to strangers, dislike for spontaneity and surprising or unexpected situations, emphasis on form and presentation, active if symbolic monarchy, bicameral parliamentary system.
Here's a different perspective: Psychologically, it's got to be Japan. Island mentality, in conflict with neighboring continent, repressed emotions, inability to relate to strangers, dislike for spontaneity and surprising or unexpected situations, emphasis on form and presentation, active if symbolic monarchy, bicameral parliamentary system.
Nah. Complete bollox.
Inability to relate to strangers?!! Dislike for spontaneity etc? Repressed emotions? Been watching too much Downton Abbey or something?!
Try spending some time here, and in Japan for that matter...
I did come across an online comment that the Japanese feel an affinity for Britain.
I don't know if the British feel an affinity for Japan.
I love Japan mostly because it's so alien and interesting to me! Aside from both being roughly equal-sized island nations, there are far more differences than similarities.
Lol so because no one else agrees with you & Australia is winning in the poll it is unrealistic & naive
And of course every single Brit you have ever met says Australia is nothing like the UK & everyone thinks it's just like America, sorry but that is just totally unrealistic & naive lol...
Aussies & Brits are like two peas in a pod
Why did I think Summer Heights was from New Zealand? This is going to bug me for a long time now
I love Japan mostly because it's so alien and interesting to me! Aside from both being roughly equal-sized island nations, there are far more differences than similarities.
I agree. But none of the points I raised (e.g., traditional, ceremonial, monarchical, formal, parliamentary) have yet been addressed in this thread. My Japanese colleagues -- I have lived and worked there several times, the last extended period being 2010-2013 -- were especially adamant about the perceived relationship that both Japan and the UK have with their continental neighbors, separated as they are by the Japan Sea and the English Channel, respectively. The alienation from and subtle sense of superiority to "continentals" is pronounced, and has profoundly influenced the character of both nations, most recently exemplified by the Brexit vote.
I share your feeling about Japan. It is a lovable, if eccentric country. As an American, I have a similar affection for the UK. I have a sense, though, that it is much less complicated to be a visitor to the two island nations, than a citizen. Being Japanese in Japan seems quite difficult. My experience with British people, and the complex linguistic, cultural, and social rules they (usually) observe, make me think that similar difficulties exist for native-born Britishers. It is a rare American who can successfully decipher things like the subtle and ironic British sense of humor, the lack of numbers on houses, and the social and communicative minefields that crop up when two British people are introduced for the first time -- not unlike the similarly uncomfortable aspects of Japanese introductions engineered by an innocent, well-meaning Yank...
I agree. But none of the points I raised (e.g., traditional, ceremonial, monarchical, formal, parliamentary) have yet been addressed in this thread. My Japanese colleagues -- I have lived and worked there several times, the last extended period being 2010-2013 -- were especially adamant about the perceived relationship that both Japan and the UK have with their continental neighbors, separated as they are by the Japan Sea and the English Channel, respectively. The alienation from and subtle sense of superiority to "continentals" is pronounced, and has profoundly influenced the character of both nations, most recently exemplified by the Brexit vote.
I share your feeling about Japan. It is a lovable, if eccentric country. As an American, I have a similar affection for the UK. I have a sense, though, that it is much less complicated to be a visitor to the two island nations, than a citizen. Being Japanese in Japan seems quite difficult. My experience with British people, and the complex linguistic, cultural, and social rules they (usually) observe, make me think that similar difficulties exist for native-born Britishers. It is a rare American who can successfully decipher things like the subtle and ironic British sense of humor, the lack of numbers on houses, and the social and communicative minefields that crop up when two British people are introduced for the first time -- not unlike the similarly uncomfortable aspects of Japanese introductions engineered by an innocent, well-meaning Yank...
Hence my original post in this thread. Cheers!
Ok fair enough, I'd taken your initial post as a kind of dig, but clearly you're well-informed
I do think historically though Japan has been far more isolated and until the mid-nineteenth century, pretty much kept itself to itself. On the other hand Britain was doing the opposite!
Ok fair enough, I'd taken your initial post as a kind of dig, but clearly you're well-informed
I do think historically though Japan has been far more isolated and until the mid-nineteenth century, pretty much kept itself to itself. On the other hand Britain was doing the opposite!
You're certainly right there. Japan's isolation from the world was absolute for centuries. Her entry onto the world stage was indeed late. Her tardy attempt to emulate British and European imperialism failed utterly and brought misery to her neighbors, though it hastened the end of the British and French (and American) colonial system in Asia.
Location: New Albany, Indiana (Greater Louisville)
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USA is a large, diverse place. I think parts of the American South have a strong British feel because most Whites have British ancestry. The horse farm country around Lexington Kentucky looks a lot like the English countryside.
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