I'm alive and in Japan

[comradekingu]

A man by the oriental name of Tim Rogers, moves to japan, complains about a change in culture.

Their workplace is important, because until recently, thats where they spent their entire lives, that was the meaning of the nation.

Every industrial food-product has by-products of animals and/or something non-edible in it. That was us/US. Stop buying junk. Stop buying european bottled water in japan, stop being european in japan full stop.

When im abroad i try to be a part of the culture i visit, or in the case i dont like it, i stay home. My hometown has lots of japanese tourists, and they are _always_ nice.

If its something i like about japan its the part that doesnt include me, because i have no place there. Im the Tim Rogers of the world, and i have ruined enough things.

 

[ekianjo]

When im abroad i try to be a part of the culture i visit, or in the case i dont like it, i stay home. My hometown has lots of japanese tourists, and they are _always_ nice.

So what , you make opinions  about cultures based on a few japanese tourists you see in your town ? That's sample bias at best. Most Japanese never get out of Japan, so that's not very representative of anything. Plus, you don't behave the same way at home and outside of home anyway. 

Stayed mostly in Kurashiki.....had very nice historic area with canal running through it...

Kurshiki is very nice indeed. I go there a few times every year. It's relaxing.  

 

[ekianjo]

I always hear buddhism is a big thing in Japan (although all I ever knew were agnostic or shintoistic) and buddhists are imho supposed to be vegetarian, how come that everything in Japan has animal in it?

Just to elaborate a little, Japanese are NOT religious people. Seriously. They have no concept of religion in their daily lives, (and whether you think its a good thing or not is irrelevant). Their religious activities are limited to going to temples once in a while to wish for some stuff (better health, finding bf/gf and this kind of shit), clapping hands and that's it. The extreme large majority of people have no idea what their religion is about, do not know about the buddhist scriptures or anything buddhist related for that matter, and even the buddhists go and pray in shinto temples, failing to see that it's a different religion, because it's all mixed up for them.

The only time where they "care" about religion is when they die, then they spent tons of money for lavish funerals, buddhist way - I have seen it once and it's hard to describe.  "Caring" is probably too strong, they just spend tons of money because "that's what you are supposed to do", that's "common sense", and the priests get extremely rich this way. They come in Mercedes or BMW when they visit. 

Buddhists monks in Japan have no vow of poverty. They are the opposite of the actual Buddha, their goal in this life is to get rich and richer, and they charge a ton of money for every service they give. It's a family business as well, so the "rent" from the temple goes to the son and so on forever. And the flow of money to them is neverending. And don't expect any kind of charity from them, they are extremely selfish and only think about their own interests. Their God is Money. 

So, while it may have been different in Ancient Japan, nowadays religion is total BS in Japan, even more since they seem completely incapable of recognizing how BS it is for themselves. 

 

[EssoAir]

A man by the oriental name of Tim Rogers, moves to japan, complains about a change in culture.

Their workplace is important, because until recently, thats where they spent their entire lives, that was the meaning of the nation.

Every industrial food-product has by-products of animals and/or something non-edible in it. That was us/US. Stop buying junk. Stop buying european bottled water in japan, stop being european in japan full stop.

When im abroad i try to be a part of the culture i visit, or in the case i dont like it, i stay home. My hometown has lots of japanese tourists, and they are _always_ nice.

If its something i like about japan its the part that doesnt include me, because i have no place there. Im the Tim Rogers of the world, and i have ruined enough things.

Are you talking about the same Trondheim i visited back in 07? The one with the rotating restaurant inside a tower? If so it must have changed significantly since I was last there.

 

[EssoAir]

I always hear buddhism is a big thing in Japan (although all I ever knew were agnostic or shintoistic) and buddhists are imho supposed to be vegetarian, how come that everything in Japan has animal in it?

Just to elaborate a little, Japanese are NOT religious people. Seriously. They have no concept of religion in their daily lives, (and whether you think its a good thing or not is irrelevant). Their religious activities are limited to going to temples once in a while to wish for some stuff (better health, finding bf/gf and this kind of shit), clapping hands and that's it. The extreme large majority of people have no idea what their religion is about, do not know about the buddhist scriptures or anything buddhist related for that matter, and even the buddhists go and pray in shinto temples, failing to see that it's a different religion, because it's all mixed up for them.

The only time where they "care" about religion is when they die, then they spent tons of money for lavish funerals, buddhist way - I have seen it once and it's hard to describe.  "Caring" is probably too strong, they just spend tons of money because "that's what you are supposed to do", that's "common sense", and the priests get extremely rich this way. They come in Mercedes or BMW when they visit. 

Buddhists monks in Japan have no vow of poverty. They are the opposite of the actual Buddha, their goal in this life is to get rich and richer, and they charge a ton of money for every service they give. It's a family business as well, so the "rent" from the temple goes to the son and so on forever. And the flow of money to them is neverending. And don't expect any kind of charity from them, they are extremely selfish and only think about their own interests. Their God is Money. 

So, while it may have been different in Ancient Japan, nowadays religion is total BS in Japan, even more since they seem completely incapable of recognizing how BS it is for themselves. 

I was absolutely struck when I visited the local temple. I had researched the steps of hand washing, clapping, bowing, etc and I go there and there are instructions on how to do it in Japanese!!! I was like "Shouldnt they know how to do it already? If anything it should be written in Chinese/Korean/English for the tourists." It was very surprising

 

[Null]

and the priests get extremely rich this way. They come in Mercedes or BMW when they visit.

 

[EssoAir]

I spend most of my time studying. I have lots of books and I use basic sites like this http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:1000_Japanese_basic_words 

I have a blog if anyone is interested. http://hellocharleybarley.tumblr.com

 

[comradekingu]

The japanese tourists go to tromsø. http://www.openstreetmap.org/node/20910629#map=6/66.818/14.447

If all europeans were more like those people when they went to japan i think i would be less ashamed and the japanese would like foreigners more.

Its not that they blend in, they are just respectful. They dont come to have it their way.

 

[Nintendo]

Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō is bs.

 

[ArchiMark]

I always hear buddhism is a big thing in Japan (although all I ever knew were agnostic or shintoistic) and buddhists are imho supposed to be vegetarian, how come that everything in Japan has animal in it?

Just to elaborate a little, Japanese are NOT religious people. Seriously. They have no concept of religion in their daily lives, (and whether you think its a good thing or not is irrelevant). Their religious activities are limited to going to temples once in a while to wish for some stuff (better health, finding bf/gf and this kind of shit), clapping hands and that's it. The extreme large majority of people have no idea what their religion is about, do not know about the buddhist scriptures or anything buddhist related for that matter, and even the buddhists go and pray in shinto temples, failing to see that it's a different religion, because it's all mixed up for them.

The only time where they "care" about religion is when they die, then they spent tons of money for lavish funerals, buddhist way - I have seen it once and it's hard to describe.  "Caring" is probably too strong, they just spend tons of money because "that's what you are supposed to do", that's "common sense", and the priests get extremely rich this way. They come in Mercedes or BMW when they visit. 

Buddhists monks in Japan have no vow of poverty. They are the opposite of the actual Buddha, their goal in this life is to get rich and richer, and they charge a ton of money for every service they give. It's a family business as well, so the "rent" from the temple goes to the son and so on forever. And the flow of money to them is neverending. And don't expect any kind of charity from them, they are extremely selfish and only think about their own interests. Their God is Money. 

So, while it may have been different in Ancient Japan, nowadays religion is total BS in Japan, even more since they seem completely incapable of recognizing how BS it is for themselves. 

Agree with you....that's impression I had.....

Recall my friend that I stayed with in Japan, told me there's a Japanese saying, something like this:

- Born with Shinto ritual....

- Married in Western style ritual....

- Die with Buddhist rituals....

I may have the rituals mixed up, but it was something like that.....at least at the time....

So, please correct me.....

 

[Klumpen]

I always hear buddhism is a big thing in Japan (although all I ever knew were agnostic or shintoistic) and buddhists are imho supposed to be vegetarian, how come that everything in Japan has animal in it?

Just to elaborate a little, Japanese are NOT religious people. Seriously. They have no concept of religion in their daily lives, (and whether you think its a good thing or not is irrelevant). Their religious activities are limited to going to temples once in a while to wish for some stuff (better health, finding bf/gf and this kind of shit), clapping hands and that's it. The extreme large majority of people have no idea what their religion is about, do not know about the buddhist scriptures or anything buddhist related for that matter, and even the buddhists go and pray in shinto temples, failing to see that it's a different religion, because it's all mixed up for them.

The only time where they "care" about religion is when they die, then they spent tons of money for lavish funerals, buddhist way - I have seen it once and it's hard to describe.  "Caring" is probably too strong, they just spend tons of money because "that's what you are supposed to do", that's "common sense", and the priests get extremely rich this way. They come in Mercedes or BMW when they visit. 

Buddhists monks in Japan have no vow of poverty. They are the opposite of the actual Buddha, their goal in this life is to get rich and richer, and they charge a ton of money for every service they give. It's a family business as well, so the "rent" from the temple goes to the son and so on forever. And the flow of money to them is neverending. And don't expect any kind of charity from them, they are extremely selfish and only think about their own interests. Their God is Money. 

So, while it may have been different in Ancient Japan, nowadays religion is total BS in Japan, even more since they seem completely incapable of recognizing how BS it is for themselves.

Not so different from what people here use from Christian and Pagan rituals without knowing anything about it or living after any ancient codex.

I only knew it's this extreme bollock from city folks in Japan, didn't know it's the same in the countryside too. At least you told it like it was the same everywhere.

Well, no wonder that all Japanese people I knew were are happy not to live there and only went to Japan on vacation sometimes if at all.

There is a lot stuff I don't get in modern Japanese culture, but what I really despise is this whole casual lying, inconsistency and social hardcore bondage (business parties, family hypocrisy, etc...).

It's a completely different definition of honour (for example "honesty", anyone?) and freedom than mine as it seems.

Not even being able to to with your free time whatever you want is just really bad. Chains everywhere.

A few days ago I read an article about current family life in Japan where it was about the fact, that in 2012 more diapers for old people were sold than for babys because young people there don't have families and in very many cases not even partners or sex anymore. They made surveys and a bloody lot of the young Japanese people didn't want a relationship because it will compromise their business relationships / career and not even wanted to have sex (including an astonishing high number of men although not yet the majority) because there is a "danger" of becoming emotionally involved. What the fuck? Living for work... that's just a bee hive and not human anymore

 

[ekianjo]

A few days ago I read an article about current family life in Japan where it was about the fact, that in 2012 more diapers for old people were sold than for babys because young people there don't have families and in very many cases not even partners or sex anymore. They made surveys and a bloody lot of the young Japanese people didn't want a relationship because it will compromise their business relationships / career and not even wanted to have sex (including an astonishing high number of men although not yet the majority) because there is a "danger" of becoming emotionally involved. What the fuck? Living for work... that's just a bee hive and not human anymore

 

I'd take this kind of report with a BIG grain of salt. For a number of reasons.

More diapers for old people than babies ? Well, that makes sense when you have baby boomers reaching retirement and getting older, and few babies in new generations. Nothing particularly shocking in that, but that's especially true because companies in Japan have made good efforts to make adult diapers almost invisible and comfortable to wear. That removes a lot of the stigma associated with it. 

For the sexual habits kind of survey, I'd say it's bullshit because if you ask directly people they won't tell you they have a lot of sex because of social pressure, and the fact that Japanese usually do not boast about these kind of things to people they don't know. Asking about what's happening in bed in usually NOT reliable in many cultures in terms of what kind of data you get.

So whoever conducted that survey and arrived to this conclusions probably has no clue about the cultural aspects of the questions they asked, and it's not because Japanese have less babies than they have less sex, it's probably rather the opposite actually. 

 

[ekianjo]

I only knew it's this extreme bollock from city folks in Japan, didn't know it's the same in the countryside too. At least you told it like it was the same everywhere.

Yeah, pretty much true everywhere, as far as I know. Maybe a little less in Kyoto where Buddhism is rampant and I suspect people know A LITTLE MORE about it than in other places.  

 

[Klumpen]

So whoever conducted that survey and arrived to this conclusions probably has no clue about the cultural aspects of the questions they asked, and it's not because Japanese have less babies than they have less sex, it's probably rather the opposite actually.

I read it in the Guardian:

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/20/young-people-japan-stopped-having-sex

 

[ekianjo]

Born with Shinto ritual....   - Married in Western style ritual....   - Die with Buddhist rituals....     I may have the rituals mixed up, but it was something like that.....at least at the time....   So, please correct me.....

Haha, the wedding part is not really correct though..

They may think it looks a bit like "western wedding", but it's all fake and all for the show. They usually hire a fake gaijin priest to make it look like the wedding they see in the movies, and they say "amen" and get married in fake chapels inside hotels - you marry, eat dinner and sleep in the same place. And if it were cheap, maybe that would make sense, but that's extremely expensive because the whole wedding stuff is an industry in Japan and they are always advertising every single day on TV, press, subway and trains that you should get married and spend tons of cash when you do so to have the wedding of your dreams.

It's a big joke.  

So whoever conducted that survey and arrived to this conclusions probably has no clue about the cultural aspects of the questions they asked, and it's not because Japanese have less babies than they have less sex, it's probably rather the opposite actually.

I read it in the Guardian:

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/20/young-people-japan-stopped-having-sex

The Guardian is not always right. They publish a lot of BS too. I used to see the Guardian as a tabloid before, they have improved a bit, but they still feature tabloid (Bild-level) articles, too. 

 

[EssoAir]

Born with Shinto ritual....   - Married in Western style ritual....   - Die with Buddhist rituals....     I may have the rituals mixed up, but it was something like that.....at least at the time....   So, please correct me.....

Haha, the wedding part is not really correct though..

They may think it looks a bit like "western wedding", but it's all fake and all for the show. They usually hire a fake gaijin priest to make it look like the wedding they see in the movies, and they say "amen" and get married in fake chapels inside hotels - you marry, eat dinner and sleep in the same place. And if it were cheap, maybe that would make sense, but that's extremely expensive because the whole wedding stuff is an industry in Japan and they are always advertising every single day on TV, press, subway and trains that you should get married and spend tons of cash when you do so to have the wedding of your dreams.

It's a big joke.  

So whoever conducted that survey and arrived to this conclusions probably has no clue about the cultural aspects of the questions they asked, and it's not because Japanese have less babies than they have less sex, it's probably rather the opposite actually.

I read it in the Guardian:

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/20/young-people-japan-stopped-having-sex

The Guardian is not always right. They publish a lot of BS too. I used to see the Guardian as a tabloid before, they have improved a bit, but they still feature tabloid (Bild-level) articles, too. 

I better start walking if Im going to make it to your house before I die

 

[Null]

social hardcore bondage

brb airport

 

[Fzero]

I'd like to visit, to check out those serious gaming shops in the city.

Also to visit some of the abandoned parks like Nara Dreamland. Looks a great day out

http://www.tofugu.com/2011/08/17/japans-abandoned-amusement-parks-creepy/

Spoiler

 

[klapse]

I wonder if a year is long enough for your experiences to turn sour.

http://kotaku.com/5484581/japan-its-not-funny-anymore

Kotaku is usually shitty in terms of contents but that article is right about many things.

How was fitting-into this somewhat insane culture for you?  Do you work a 9-to-5 job there?  Do you also have the obligatory company events?

 

[rygD]

social hardcore bondage

brb airport

It probably isn't what you think.  If that is your thing there are probably people that are more than willing to use guilt to manipulate you in the area in which you live.