[jackorange]

I agree with your points. I dont know why some people are creepily obsessed with Japan. Many people seem to develop their idealized version of a society in their head and then project that image onto Japan and Japanese people whereas it is far from reality.

[rsj_hn]

Japan is very interesting for a lot of reasons.

1. An incredibly stable society which is at the same time fantastically, amazingly creative. And not just in the traditional arts, which have been wowing Europeans since they first saw Japanese woodcuts in the 19th Century, but in literature, video games, film, fashion, and modern arts as well. Just explosions of creativity with Japan represented as among the best in each area.

2. A society that very strongly values quality, responsibility, safety, nature, and beautiful spaces. I very much wish we were able to build livable cities that were as clean, human-scaled, walkable, and safe as in Japan.

3. Fascinating economy in which massive government deficit spending shows no signs of raising interest rates or inflation. Basically the opposite of what most modern economists expect, as well as the opposite of how most western nations behave. This could be in part due to the strong cultural premium on safety and security by individual households.

4. Historically, the first non-Western nation to industrialize, and to have done so relatively early along its own unique development path.

5. The best restaurants in the world, and Japanese cuisine is wildly popular.

6. Zen Buddhism is popular in the West.

7. A lot of people are fans of Japanese manufacturing and design.

[jackorange]

This romanticized view doesn't look at the problems of Japan:

- high suicide and depression rates - excessive work culture - irrational fear of foreigners - widespread addictions: gambling, alcohol, anime, games - "best restaurants in the world" and being "creative" are just your opinions

[rsj_hn]

First, it's not a romanticized view.

Second, it's odd that you feel the need to say negative things about Japan to "counter" someone who points out Japanese achievements. Like, what exactly is your problem with Japan that you are bothered when someone says something positive about it? Has Japan hurt you somehow?

If someone points out the achievements of say, France, do you also feel the need to jump in and point out negative things about France and to minimize their achievements? They also have great cuisine, a great history of excellence in the arts and sciences. Does that statement need to be "countered" with something?

[dang]

Could you please not post in the flamewar style to HN? We ban accounts that do that.

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

[jackorange]

It's odd that you are so aggressively defending Japan.

How is you having an opinion that they have "the best restaurants in the world" an achievement of Japan?

Secondly, if you read the original comment I made, I am agreeing with someone who states that many people develop an idealized concept in their mind and project this image onto Japan.

This appears to be exactly what you have done and my "negative things" I have said are facts well-known I listed to show your points are not conclusive.

Edit: I am amused you edited your comment to try to paint this as an ethnic debate. You are clearly arguing in bad faith and I will not waste my time further.

[dang]

Could you please not post in the flamewar style to HN? We ban accounts that do that.

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

[DanBC]

> high suicide [...] rates

Where are you getting your data about suicide in Japan from?