General Japanese Culture Thread

I drank Boss coffee from the machine outside of the school. Royal Milk Tea was okay, but a bit too sweet for regular consumption.

Boss is OK — but, I found it oddly caramelised in a way I don't like with coffee. Both with the normal and the caffeineless. Hence, when needing a punch of caffeine, I'd go large, mean and green.

And, I learned never to play roulette with Pocari machines — the risk of Sweat is way too great. xP

I've only been here for a little while, and sencha is still a little too strong for me, I think. For especially bitter tea I feel like I need to cut it with a sweet snack or something.

Okay, so apparently discrimination against people with burakumin ancestry is still a thing in the western half of the country.... does any one have any articles with information on this? Its kind of new info to me since its not something I ever experienced both due to being in the wrong areas of the country for most of my life, and the brief time I was, not exactly being any one in the targeted group.....

So like, I am kind of curious about it now.... sorry.

Here's something, it's about a law meant to fight the discrimination.

It's pretty ugly.

edited 8th Apr '18 3:09:28 AM by TerminusEst

I understand that in Japan, ones ancestry is a matter of public record. Thus, everyone knows where your family came from. If true, must make "starting fresh" rather hard.

To a degree. Not entirely sure how public those records are, but due to the discrimination of the burakumin privacy simply hasn't been extended to them.

I did a quick reading. Why are undertakers and tanners considered to be part of the burakumin group?

edited 8th Apr '18 7:04:51 AM by Quag15

Corpses and body fluids are impure in Shinto-Buddhist culture. They're entire existence is therefore a metaphysical anathema.

edited 8th Apr '18 7:24:15 AM by TerminusEst

You mentioned that burakumin discrimination is only a thing in certain parts of Japan. Why is that? Are they some areas where they simply don't care?

From what I understand, these are regions where there were significant communities and old prejudices die hard. Burakumin were a bigger thing in a more urbanised setting as well.

I think there's also correlation between the poorest areas in Tokyo (northeast) and the old burakumin areas. Go figure.

edited 11th Apr '18 6:53:38 AM by TerminusEst

https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20180420_07/

IHA has officially announced that English-speaking tour guides will conduct tours on the Imperial Palace by next month due to massive requests.

How does fan-creator relationship is viewed in Japan? Based on my relationship with various singers in the doujin scene, it appeared that while fans can voice their opinions, whether they have a say in creators' decisions is another matter. Also, they dislike burning bridges with fans unless they have been pushed to.

I wondered if my observation does not hold true outside of the doujin music scene....

Dunno

I’d imagine it’d be the same for any other creator anywhere, you want a healthy fan relationship

Japan does seem really friendly to fan works so I guess that’s specific

The general feeling I get from it is... not a healthy one, honestly. Fans in industries like the idol industry or anime industries have an overwhelming sense of entitlement, and you see some truly horrific shit happening to idols who break their "trust" (by doing things as awful as having a boyfriend), or to voice actresses. There were death threats sent to a voice actress on Darling In The FRANXX for doing her job and voicing a character.

. . . So basically incels are relatively accepted in Japan?

Now don't get me wrong, I'm just saying that the whole reason why incels as they are known to be exist in the West to begin with is because the Internet is a safe haven for them to congregate and share their beliefs which otherwise would land them in serious trouble if they expressed them in public. In Japan, that extent of male entitlement wouldn't be able to be as overt as it is without some sort of cultural apathy towards it.

I'm once again going to bring up the time a bunch of Kannagi fans went apeshit when they found out the female lead character had a boyfriend in her past.

edited 3rd May '18 9:31:30 AM by M84

To be "fair" western ones have do the same too.

Japan has a very, very strange relationship with its masculine norms. Books upon books have been written about them. I'm actually about to head to bed so I can't sum up in too much detail, but one of the big cultural boogeymen back when I was in grad school was the 'vegetarian male' (採食男性), who is passive, unattractive to women, and completely resigned (or completely okay with) not pursuing sexual relationships at all.

It's... complicated.

The "Fake and Failed Straight Male" Boogeyman, we are meeting it overseas too

I think i've heard of this one; "herbivores", right?

I think I heard somewhere that lot of people in Japan aren't interested in relationships anymore, is that related to that or something even older?

And why is it considered a boogeyman anyway?

The relationship issue is more of a youth backlash against traditionally conservative culture and oppressive work life. There's some genuine confusion in the older generations regarding it and with Japan's ever looming population problem held over their heads, the issue is not going anywhere anytime soon.

Of course, these things tend to mix up in unexpected ways.

edited 3rd May '18 12:30:27 PM by TerminusEst

No where even close to the same extent, Idols have to sign purity contracts, and voice actors have literally been stabbed over preceved infedelity to fans.

Even with the problems with the west, it at least pays lip service to womens agency.

Its pretty much non existent, the reality is that most people just don't have the time for relationships with the work culture, that leaves both men and women exausted and not interested in doing any thing after work....

Yet even with that, the birth rate is the same as most of Europeans, better then germany's and korea's..... the only reason it poses a problem is the that our country is so closed to outsiders.

But aren't very manly men a gay stereotype in Japan? How does that coincide with the "vegetarian male"?