[throwaway47861]

Off-tangent incoming:

In my observations (and some bias; I am openly admitting it) which were sometimes reinforced by meeting real Japanese people, most Japanese are xenophobes, racists and very easily collectively agree not to speak about stuff they dislike / feel threatens some imaginary dominance / endanger their prejudices.

For all the glorification the country and its people get around the globe, and for all the romantic blemish their fatalistic and stoic philosophy receives, the Japanese I've encountered and observed remotely are pretty ordinary people with a lot of prejudice and hostility towards foreigners attached.

Not impressed. And this news comes as no surprise as well.

Guess people just love to glorify stuff that's very different from their own, with zero thought if that's actually a good thing?

[corey_moncure]

You're not wrong. I believe the effect comes from living in a racially and culturally homogeneous society.

I lived in Japan for several years on and off. Near the end of one of my longest stretches, I clearly remember walking by the glass window of a storefront in Osaka. I saw someone in the reflection that had an absolutely startling appearance, and gasped aloud. Taller, with different hair, eyes, and skin than anyone I'd seen in months. It was me.

The experience of returning to the USA was particularly jarring that time, too. I remember feeling surprised at how fat everyone in the airport was, how there were people with different skin colors everywhere, how loud and lacking in politeness social interactions were. I was born and raised in the USA but there I was, experiencing fight or flight response in completely ordinary situations.

I learned to forgive the Japanese after these experiences.

[throwaway47861]

On point, thank you. And pretty good evidence of neural network [re-]training, too.

You know, I couldn't give two shits about xenophobic and racist people like them, really. Let them do that and be happy.

As we say in my country however: "be stupid but get the fuck off the road".

Bad influences on young people from old and prejudiced (and bitter?) people is never good. We need a world with more open-minded people and societies like the Japanese aren't helping matters at all. But to be as objective as possible -- not sure our societies help matters either.

[icanhackit]

> xenophobes, racists and very easily collectively agree not to speak about stuff they dislike / feel threatens some imaginary dominance / endanger their prejudices

You've just described most groups of people, particularly in the older age brackets. People are afraid of what they don't understand and generally dislike change and unpredictability.

That's not to say that xenophobes/prejudiced people can't produce anything interesting or worthy of admiration. Isolation in many ways has led to interesting solutions to problems, and the preservation of culture can have benefits just as it has disadvantages.

[throwaway47861]

Agreed with every word. Thank you for the very good comment, much appreciated.

Related: have you seen Japanese wood joinery? Gods, that thing is next level!