why is that white ppl if they are into asian culture are usu

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joewong
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why is that white ppl if they are into asian culture are usu

Post by joewong » Jan 24th, '09, 23:49

why is that white ppl if they are into asian culture are ususally into japanese culture. they all want to learn japanese, go to japan, the white guys want a specifically a japanese gf. like my ex co worker who tells us how he wants a japanese gf, even when i told him i have email addy of a flip girl i knew who was single i could give to him. i knew a couple of white guys too, they specifically want a japanese gf and if not a korean.
he even said he prefers japanese girl and if not korean, but japanese. he doesn't even want chinese gf.
you never hear of white ppl wanting to learn viet or tagalog or even want to go to visit vietmam, phillipness. and the ones who do are usually old white guys who want to find a wife . same goes with thailand. how many white ppl really want to learn thai or if htey go they just for one reason-lol.

if a white person wants to learn a language its usually chinese or japanese, but i think mainly japanese.

i think its b/c japan is so developed country and rich. they create manga, anime comics, tv shows anime, the technology and fashion is so uphead of us, that ppl want to learn from them.

heard of the term japaophile. its like a non asian person obessed with anything japanese. hehe they are out there. i met a few, and this one girl from the net not too long ago.

docipain
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Post by docipain » Jan 25th, '09, 00:22

I think it's because no other east asian country ever integrated that much in other countries with technology and yes I would also say Anime / Manga.
If I think of it I know Animes from TV since I was a little child..though I didn't know that they are Animes back then.
It's the way which image has a country in another country.

For Germany example...Viets are living here for ages but they didn't contribute that much to our country than Japan world wide does.
And for Chinese..of course there are a lot chinese products here as well..but years ago if you saw: "Made in China" you always thought: "Oh now...it's cheap and will get damaged soon~" Of course that changes slowly now because China is getting more powerful with every day and also their economy. Japan is also one of the G8 states which I think makes it even more popular and powerful I guess.

But you shouldn't compare asian with asians when it comes to girlfriends. It's exactly the same if I had a chinese buddy who wants an french girlfriend and I tell him: "Oh yeah I know a german friend who is single." I would never even say that I have a german friend instead because it's not the same at all. Of course it's still european but it's different.
And also a reason why many white people like the japanese culture because you get to know about the japanese culture the most even if you don't want to. It's shown a lot on tv but there are rarely documentations about thailand or vietnam on tv. And those docutmentations are always from the view of white people. And most of the white people have a high standard. It will take a long time until those old images of the other east asien countries blow away.

And speaking of the languages. It's not only japanese or chinese anymore. I think white people (at least many females) also like to learn korean..even more than chinese I think.

nankasento
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Post by nankasento » Jan 26th, '09, 14:51

I think for some of the male interests, it's because of the economy as well. Japan used to have a quite solid stable and profitable market, if you want to export products to Asia, getting it on the Japanese market was a good place to start and branch out to other Asian countries, because a lot of the money was / is there. Although I ain't 100% sure of that since finance and economy are not my subjects of choice.

Fields also matter whether people would choose to learn Japanese, Chinese or Korean language to learn, especially in the current state of the economy.

For example for my field, which is software (games), Japanese is a very handy language to learn, I doubt I have to explain why, however Korean language, especially current times, is also a very good language for me to learn since Korea is becoming more prominent in games, especially since their government is heavily funding that field. Chinese is also very handy to learn for various reasons for development, some things can be done faster and cheaper in China then in other countries at the moment.

But I also have to agree with some of your assessment that a lot of western males want Asian girlfriends, specifically Japanese, because of media influence.
The media is quite notorious for that, along with time they can change the view on something quite drastically.

However I doubt selecting spouse / girl- or boyfriend on race is a good thing to do, it's more sensible to select one on their experiences, capabilities, traits, character and the interaction between you and whomever you might be selecting.

noisia
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Post by noisia » Jan 26th, '09, 15:19

I think it's because Japan culture is much more integrated into Western society than any other Asian country and therefore Westerners know Japanese culture the best and can relate to their culture and subsequently the Japanese women more than any other Asian type.

imo, Korean girls are clearly the best looking.

Erisadesu
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Post by Erisadesu » Jan 26th, '09, 15:21

the last few years there is a big rise of Japan's funs in my country.
I believe that the anime, the music, Japan’s culture, fashion
technology, pc games makes Japan more open to the Western world

the truth is that around here everybody is learning Chinese nowadays
because this is the language of the future, compared to those who learn Chinese
those who learn Japanese are really few. Usually those who learn Japanese
afterwards want to learn Korean but I guess that has to do with the fact
that to our ears Japanese and Korean language is easier to repeat it.

Let's face it Japan was more open to the western world than
other countries, lot of western countries were "afraid" of China
and China only the last few years has been more open to the west.
In any case it is true that the resent years more and more European countries
embrace the culture of Japan as far as music, anime, manga and games,
history and ancient culture is concerned.

All this stories of novels samurai has also played a big role on that I presume.

Maryvel
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Post by Maryvel » Jan 26th, '09, 16:24

Is that true? I'm half-greek and I always wondered why there are no japanese things in greek stores. I saw a few videogame shops here and there, but no manga and hardly any anime.
Are there manga translated into greek now? Where can I find those? :lol

aimlesswanderer
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Post by aimlesswanderer » Jan 29th, '09, 13:00

I think it's a combination of the fact that Japan is the most developed country in Asia and is famous/infamous for lots of crazy stuff - anime, manga, inventions, and general weirdness. Awareness of Chinese and Korean culture is growing, but the Japanese are streets ahead in that regard. The media has its part to play as well, and also the Allied occupation of Japan after WWII meant that lots of young men were stationed there, and, naturally, got to know the local ladies. Once they got back home and they started telling stories....

Guys with "Yellow Fever", oh dear, it is sad but it happens all too often. Hopefully most of them get over it, eventually. :unsure:

Niji-Rach
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Post by Niji-Rach » Jan 30th, '09, 13:13

I think its quite sad if they only wanna date Japanese girls. Because they miss a lot. Just look around, there are so many beautiful white woman out there. And the chance that they really do get a Japanese girlfriend is oh-so little.
I also think that its because linking 'Japanese-stuff' is becomming 'cool'. It used to be something for the 'underdog' something that was concidered 'weird'. At least, in Holland it was. But since a year or two (I suppose it happened world-wide when Gwen Stefani introduced the Harayuku girls in her video-clips), that it suddenly became 'cool'.

Ah the same with 'Western' girls who only fall head over heels for Asian guys. Or ONLY listen to Japanese bands BECAUSE they are Japanese. I call it a wannabe-fever, because you have to like something because you like it. And not because its Japanese.
And they should get into other Asian cultures, because Japanese might be the most famous one, Chineze and Korean are very interesting too.

nankasento
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Post by nankasento » Jan 30th, '09, 17:13

Niji-Rach wrote:I think its quite sad if they only wanna date Japanese girls. Because they miss a lot. Just look around, there are so many beautiful white woman out there. And the chance that they really do get a Japanese girlfriend is oh-so little.
I also think that its because linking 'Japanese-stuff' is becomming 'cool'. It used to be something for the 'underdog' something that was considered 'weird'. At least, in Holland it was. But since a year or two (I suppose it happened world-wide when Gwen Stefani introduced the Harayuku girls in her video-clips), that it suddenly became 'cool'.

Ah the same with 'Western' girls who only fall head over heels for Asian guys. Or ONLY listen to Japanese bands BECAUSE they are Japanese. I call it a wannabe-fever, because you have to like something because you like it. And not because its Japanese.
And they should get into other Asian cultures, because Japanese might be the most famous one, Chinese and Korean are very interesting too.
Indeed, I agree that selecting your girl- or boyfriend just on race and a specific one at that is not a sensible thing to do, but you can always aim for it, that's up to whom is aiming for it, if you look at it from another perspective it could also mean less competition, lol.

However The Netherlands has had a "special" relationship with Japan for a long time since the Dutch were allowed to have a permanent trading post on the island of Deshima in the Nagasaki Bay in 1607, that's over 4 centuries of trade between the Dutch and the Japanese.

There was a small Anime boom at the end of the 80s and begin 90s but it went underground again quite fast, during that small period you could actually get your hands on quite some stuff, I still have loads from that time period.

A nice example would be Alfred J. Kwak which is a joined Dutch-Japanese production as well as stuff from Space Battleship Yamato, GitS and Akira.

It's a good thing that nowadays you can get some Korean games and some Korean animation and I hope it will increase even more, I'm not really worried about the Chinese import because the Chinese economy is doing quite well and there is already quite a lot of Chinese stuff you can get your hands on very easy, it's just not as popular as Japanese stuff at the moment.

aNToK
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Post by aNToK » Feb 4th, '09, 03:33

The guy probably watched a few too much Japanese AV and thinks all Japanese girls are freaky......

Geiko-san Kikuyo
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Post by Geiko-san Kikuyo » Feb 7th, '09, 15:44

I'm white (but female, lol) and I'm interested in all Asian countries and cultures. I would love to go to Tibet, or Laos, Bhutan, or Vietnam, the countries that people seem to have "less interest in". But, I also want to see China and Thailand and Korea and Japan. I want to see all of Asia, really, and hopefully live there one day.

It's obvious that Japan has such appeal to Americans and Westerners because of the commercialization anime, manga, technology, clothing, music) and tales brought back of the women from WW2. I'm sure if WW2 was fought with say, China, that guys would be wanting Chinese girlfriends. I'm not trying to blame this on WW2, I'm just saying that it was America's first in-depth encounter with Asia. Japan is also known for being highly developed, which would make Westerners feel more comfortable with being there as we're used to certain standards of living or devices (Western-style toilets for example, and Western-style beds).

katsukare
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Post by katsukare » Feb 7th, '09, 15:52

I think it's because in western (white) people's minds, Japan values and morals are more likely to match. For instance, I know about some cases where people married a Chinese woman and suddenly she disappeared to China and there was no way of contacting her again.

If it comes to Philippine or Thai people, it's a lot of social pressure in western countries to not be seen with them, because, as you also said, it's usually the very creepy white guys who cannot get a girlfriend who "buy" a Philippine wife from a catalog, but really are not interested in the person. These people are looked down upon in western societies.

nankasento
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Post by nankasento » Feb 7th, '09, 17:24

katsukare wrote:I think it's because in western (white) people's minds, Japan values and morals are more likely to match. For instance, I know about some cases where people married a Chinese woman and suddenly she disappeared to China and there was no way of contacting her again.

If it comes to Philippine or Thai people, it's a lot of social pressure in western countries to not be seen with them, because, as you also said, it's usually the very creepy white guys who cannot get a girlfriend who "buy" a Philippine wife from a catalog, but really are not interested in the person. These people are looked down upon in western societies.
I agree and even when it's not the case ("bought") they still frown about it because they don't know if it is and they judge just by appearance.

There's still plenty of taboo on that case which I find should really get broken, it's just another form of arranged marriage, when families arrange a marriage there's more than just money involved, usually social status and political influences and a lot more of that crap, and the ones getting married usually have no say in it at all or at least not much, same for the catalog one, they could refuse but they usually don't since their current situation doesn't allow it.

And it's not always a bad thing, I know of cases where it has worked out quite nicely.

rokku
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Post by rokku » Feb 7th, '09, 19:27

I'm a white guy so I'll give you my perspective :-P. So obviously I like Asian culture. It started with Anime, then whent to Jpop, also Kung Fu movies and so on till now I'm here watching Jdrama and Kdrama.

That's not all there is to me. Some people assume I'm just an otaku obessed with Japanese stuff or asian stuff. But I watch movies from Europe, music from Italy, the UK and Australia. What ever I like I like.

Sure, I'm attracted to Japanese girl's, but that's not exclusive. If anything I'm more attracted to Korean girl's because of life experiences which affect what I like more than media. But I really can't say I prefer anything over anything else. I'm not dating a race or culture, I'm dating a person. I know how different I am from the typical white male or what ever to know that I can't say "I don't like such and such girls because they're too {x}".

I don't actually know any guy who is specific about Japanese girls, though I did have an Indonesian friend who used to say he wanted a Japanese girlfriend. He's now happily married to a white woman. So if there are guys who are turning away girl's because they are not Japanese I would say they have lost touch with reality. They have gotten lost in a fantasy that the media helps with. I can't speak for WWII stories, but Jdrama's make me wish I had a Japanese girlfriend like the woman in the show at times, but I don't get lost in that fantasy. Some guys looked at Britney Spears or what ever pop star is popular now and thought the same thing. I'm sure there are guys outside of the US who see our movies and music videos and want to come to the US to meet hot girls like they see on TV.

And the idea that someone wouldn't date a Philipino or Thai girl because of some kind of pressure from society seems ridiculous to me. Sure I can understand a white family putting pressure on a someone to not date outside of their race, but to be so specific seems weird to me.

Take what I say how you will, I'm not spokesperson for white guys with yellow fever or some kind of Japanese girl fantasy thing. It's extreemly culturally diverse where I live and I never felt any pressure from society on who I could or couldn't date and I don't know anyone who's ordered a wife from overseas. I just live life as I want to, and never forget that people are individuals not types.

dubd2dp
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Post by dubd2dp » Feb 7th, '09, 19:46

Lets face it we all like things from other countries and cultures.
Here in the US alot of ppl like anime, manga, jdrams and kdramas and not to mention the car culture.
Goto asia and people like things from US and europe.
I never heard the term "yellow fever" for things asian but my friends and I caqme up with ABC (Asian Booty Chaser) for those you like asians also hamachi (yellow tail ).
Lets face it AZN rocks.

aimlesswanderer
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Post by aimlesswanderer » Feb 8th, '09, 04:51

katsukare wrote:I think it's because in western (white) people's minds, Japan values and morals are more likely to match. For instance, I know about some cases where people married a Chinese woman and suddenly she disappeared to China and there was no way of contacting her again.
That is all well and good, but note that if you are a foreigner trying to navigate the Japanese legal system, and especially if you are trying to see your kids after your Japanese spouse has taken (kidnapped) them to Japan, you are basically stuffed... there are all too many cases of that happening.

Zealousy
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Post by Zealousy » Feb 8th, '09, 05:23

lolwut.
Asian = Japanese?

hikkichan
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Post by hikkichan » Feb 8th, '09, 05:28

Image

There's a big difference between AZN and Asian.

Anyhows, it's just how people are, I guess... especially if they have no real contact with Asian societies. I know TONS of people that would/are going to pack up and settle in places like the Phillipines or Thailand once they're done working...

A lot of those people just have an idealistic view of Japan in their minds and will have their souls crushed once they head to Japan and find the country and people aren't quite what they expected.

Pretty much a weeaboo... or whatever the term is. It's as narrowminded as my post is all over the place.

TofuQueen
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Post by TofuQueen » Feb 8th, '09, 05:53

One thing no one has mentioned - and maybe I'm just a freak for thinking about it :lol - is that Japan has the reputation of being a very safe country to visit.

My views may well have been skewed by what is (and also of course what is *not*) reported in the newspapers I read, but my impression is that Japan is about the safest Asian country to visit in terms of personal safety (not getting mugged), health (food safety, hygiene, diseases like malaria, etc.), and low chance of being thrown in jail indefinitely for saying the wrong thing to the wrong person.

My focus has been on Japan, because my main "Asian culture" interest is manga, and to read manga, the Japanese language is the most useful. I have read some manhwa, but unlike manga, I haven't found any that I absolutely LOVE enough to want to be able to read them in the original language (and really, learning one whole new language & writing system is about all I can handle!). I watch any dorama that catches my interest, regardless of the country of origin, and I would never choose someone to date based on race...though I can see the appeal of having a boyfriend I could practice my Japanese with... :roll

xxemz19xx
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Post by xxemz19xx » Feb 9th, '09, 22:11

My View (white girl) I feel because of anime/manga getting popular people especially boys, they see Japan as this cool place they want to go, because it'll be like in an anime.... Which it so obviously isn't. I have male friends who are totally obssessed with Japan which to be honest is a little sad. But I'd imagine there are guys out there that like the culture/language. I just don't know any.

For myself I'm going to be studying Korean at Uni in September so I'd say asian culture is something different from what I'm used to, it's something I have a strong interest in (I wouldn't be spending 4 years of my life doing it if I wasn't serious) As for my interest in asian men I'd say men are the same the world over, I have a preference for dark men i.e. dark hair and dark eyes But I'm under no illusions about asian men, I would definately NOT pick my boyfriend based on race.

BrownBoy
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Post by BrownBoy » Feb 9th, '09, 22:56

My View (white girl) I feel because of anime/manga getting popular people especially boys, they see Japan as this cool place they want to go, because it'll be like in an anime....
I totally agree. I have many friends who want to go to Japan just because they have watched anime or have read manga. To a degree I agree with them because when I was in Japan I had a really fun time but in general I find all of Asian countries to be very interesting. Of course my start was like many others with anime/manga from Japan so I used to carry the same stereotype that Japanese women are amazing but after traveling through Asia and being immersed in their culture I found that all of the countries are equally as fascinating and carry a great heritage.

As for looks... well I think they are all pretty even, I've seen beautiful women from many different racial backgrounds. I don't think I can say one race is hotter than another. And I'd never base who I would date on their race.

In my opinion usually the mixed chicks are the hottest, you can get the best of both races.

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Post by Archaenon » Feb 9th, '09, 23:13

I used to want to know more about japan , then I went there ( I've been there a few times now , god bless paid vacations ) . Found out it's not really all that exciting. Each country has something unique about it , and it was interesting , but It's not a "omg" exciting country. I also have a bunch of problems with the country and some of it's national image. I'm not big at all into thier animal rights laws , it's some of the worst I've seen in Japan , esp in the topic of Illegal Whaling and fish hunting. The Gloss of what what people assume about Japan mainly from Anime/Manga wears off pretty quick and slaps you in the face. I didn't think that it was like the manga , because if that was the case the US is constantly getting nuked and everyone is stuck in the 50s if you go by comics. There is so much to love , but there is so much to hate at the same time. You take the good with the bad , and you go to Japan with a realistic view of it's culture and people and you will love it. I mainly went because I wanted to see that Beautil Rakugo house they use in like every show , and I was impressed. I also wanted to see where my college friends lived ( who hate the fact they are Japanese actually , most of them are moving away asap ) . Being there you also see the reality of how hard it is for Teens, I understand why thier suicide rate is so high. I saw a girl literally cry about not getting an A how her dad was going to kick her out of the house. I was like "Jesus" . Survival of the fittest I guess. Standards of Living are also outrageous anywhere near a major city. You also run into alot of racism in the most bizzare spots randomly.

It's like every other country , Just in another language , good and bad , and just as Western as they want to be.

I'm not sure why people are so obsessed with it. I would love to visit China , I've been to Korea ( South ) and loved it. I think a have an appreciation for the Korean language more then I do Japanere. I have so many friends who are obsessed with Japan , and I don't get why.

Who knows , maybe it's all the host clubs/fuzoku in Osaka that draw them in. =p I dunno , everyone will be interested in each country for whatever reason , it just seems that honestly that Japan is more well known and more accessible then most of the other Asian countries. I would say that India is probably behind Japan in that Aspect ( I would die to be able to visit India and Tehran and alot of the middle east ).

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Re: why is that white ppl if they are into asian culture are

Post by wangbu » Feb 9th, '09, 23:47

When you referred to white people, do you mean all of them? Because surely I've had white people friends who actually hated Japanese. :unsure:

Being a Filipino, I see there were also lots of white people here in the Philippines, not only Americans but Norwegians, Germans and Brazilians. However, the interest is not in manga, anime or Japanese stuff--they're interested here for whatever the Philippines could offer, I believe.

The Philippines may not have the fashion, technology, etc. than Japan has, but we have other things to offer that foreigners would also want to look into. The Philippines' ability to speak English as if its second nature has always been a choice of many foreign businessmen to invest in the country.


joewong wrote:why is that white ppl if they are into asian culture are ususally into japanese culture. they all want to learn japanese, go to japan, the white guys want a specifically a japanese gf. like my ex co worker who tells us how he wants a japanese gf, even when i told him i have email addy of a flip girl i knew who was single i could give to him. i knew a couple of white guys too, they specifically want a japanese gf and if not a korean.
he even said he prefers japanese girl and if not korean, but japanese. he doesn't even want chinese gf.
you never hear of white ppl wanting to learn viet or tagalog or even want to go to visit vietmam, phillipness. and the ones who do are usually old white guys who want to find a wife . same goes with thailand. how many white ppl really want to learn thai or if htey go they just for one reason-lol.

if a white person wants to learn a language its usually chinese or japanese, but i think mainly japanese.

i think its b/c japan is so developed country and rich. they create manga, anime comics, tv shows anime, the technology and fashion is so uphead of us, that ppl want to learn from them.

heard of the term japaophile. its like a non asian person obessed with anything japanese. hehe they are out there. i met a few, and this one girl from the net not too long ago.

birainyamapise7en
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Post by birainyamapise7en » Feb 10th, '09, 00:13

As a White Male I have no illusions about the Asian culture. I like to watch some of their dramas and listen to a few of their bands, but not just Japanese. I like Korean and Chinese/Taiwanese stuff too. As for wanting to visit any country in Asia, it's not something i desperately want to do. I mean if i go then i go. It's not a necessity for me. I can enjoy their culture from the comfort of Canada via youtube and other streaming websites.

As for wanting to date someone from Asia, I wouldn't be opposed to doing so. There are people from every nationality and skin color that are good looking, Asian women are not necessarily the most attractive. Each nationality has its own unique features that makes them attractive. If I went to any country in Asia most likely it would be Thailand to teach English.

I am happy though that stars from Asia are trying to break big into North America, stars like Se7en, Boa, and even Rain whose supposed to be making an English album later this year and has been in one released North American movie with the possibility of another one to come out soon. Then there are Asian Americans who are already big, people like Wang Lee Hom, Utada Hikaru and Vanness Wu along with the somewhat disgraced Edison Chen. Of course I am naming mostly singers but there are actors as well.

Would I consider myself as a person obsessed with Asia and all things Asian? No I wouldn't. It just sort of looks that way. I am happy living in Canada and love North American culture as well as European culture having a partial if not very small European background. But yes there are many North American men and women who you could call obsessed.

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Post by «minah» » Feb 10th, '09, 01:21

Well, um... it's not really a "white thing" since it's pretty dumb to say that <i>only</i> white people are obsessed with Japan if they claim to be into Asia. Just to let everyone know, maybe it's a Western thing. It just kinda bothers me to really think like that. At my college, all the obsessed anime dorks (well, I like anime too, but um... I don't limit myself to comics and to Japan) are from different backgrounds and races. Just making that clear.

But it's just some peoples' minds get stuck at anime/manga and can't go past that and think Japan is just some super awesome place because it makes such great stories. And it's sad at my college, because we have this project (I was part of it too) called "When East Meets West" where we collaborate with Korean students from Jeon-Ju and work on a project, and while we go to S. Korea, we also go to Japan (are own separate trip) and half of the group only joined the project just to go to Japan, and it made me upset. They weren't really interested about S. Korea and only talked about Japan the whoooole entire trip! Obsessed anime/manga fans just want to either ignore or not believe Japan could be anything bad (and like any other nation, they did things that weren't good) but gr..... kinda ranting, but it's even worse when people are obsessed with Japan for its manga/anime only, and don't want to learn about the Japan's history... and not even about other Asian countries too! But yup

msles59130
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Post by msles59130 » Feb 10th, '09, 01:30

Because the Japanese seem more open and accepting of other cultures and races. Just watch the dramas. I have watched Korean and Taiwanese dramas for about a year now, and the first time I saw any non-Asians as a part of the scenery really was Japanese dramas. JMHO.

MPNiea
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Post by MPNiea » Feb 10th, '09, 02:02

I think you are looking at the problem the wrong way. To "white" people, or the western world generally, Japan has become a homogeneous term that has replaced Asia or asian. However, even what they know is merely the regurgitation of what has been highlighted in the media (news, tech-news, anime, manga). In other words, these individuals have fabricated a utopian universe that is all asian or pseudo-asian and merely deluded themselves into calling it Japanese. And to top it off, this phenomenon must be categorized as a fad. Rarely do these individuals consistently engulf themselves in the real culture, and when they take a moment to visit the real Japan, that is both through docu-media or travel, their fantasies unravel and they become disinterested or even hostile. This is why 80% of student teachers that choose to go to Japan for training come back early or with a negative attitude. It's not because of the culture-shock. Instead, it's disillusionment.

birainyamapise7en
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Post by birainyamapise7en » Feb 10th, '09, 06:08

For the record I didn't state that it was a white thing, not saying anyone accused me of that, just making it clear. I said North American men and women, now there are many cultures in the North America that aren't "white", you also got people of Spanish descent and African Americans.

It's not a fad for me, true i like to watch anime like Deathnote and Bleach and play games such as Warriors Orochi and Dynasty Warriors. I am actually interested in the history and cultures of most Asian countries, not just Japan. I also dislike the fact that when people say stuff about Asia and it all gets grouped in and called Japanese, when in fact there are many other countries in Asia.

I will however one day make my way to Asia and check out some of it's countries like South Korea, Taiwan, China and Japan. That way I can get a proper respect of these countries and their cultures.

I mean i know people from Korea, Japan, China and the Philippines but most of them were born in North America but have visited these countries with their families. I can learn from them but then it wouldn't exactly be from personal experience and my view of the countries would still be somewhat biased.

groink
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Post by groink » Feb 10th, '09, 06:41

It probably has to do with history.

Living in Hawaii all my life, Japanese culture has been the dominant Eastern Asian culture. This is because the Okinawans and other Japanese made the trip to Hawaii - as well as the mainland U.S., to work in agriculture or industry, and later developed some of the biggest companies in Hawaii (Central Pacific Bank, among others.) The interaction between American and Japan goes back even before the Meiji Restoration, when the black ships appeared out of the blue.

Seriously, no other Eastern Asian culture is as well known in America as the Japanese - even for people who have absolutely no interest in things Japanese. If you go to Wyoming or Idaho and walk into a barber shop, I guarantee you someone there will know how to say "Hello!" or "Goodbye!" in Japanese. Someone will know what a kimono is. Someone will know what sumo is. Someone in there will say he tried sushi. And, someone in there will bring up Speed Racer when asked about Japanese cartoons. As a bonus, if someone mentioned the TV show "Pink Lady & Jeff", he should get free haircuts for life!

Other ways Japanese culture affected America over the last 150 years or so....

- A Japanese song was #1 in the Billboard charts. This was in the 1960s - barely 20 years after the Japanese surrendered in WWII. And the song was sung in Japanese. Many emotional wounds still haven't healed by this time.
- Plays have been written about Japanese culture. Madame Butterfly (1904) is probably the most popular one. And that play was even written by an Italian.
- Pink Lady & Jeff (1979). Think about it - two gals who know absolutely no English whatsoever, is given a prime-time TV variety show. Although it was a total failure, just the idea alone is so incredible and absolutely impossible to pull off today.

For the other Eastern Asian cultures, for most Americans the only links to them include:

- Chinese of any flavor: Bruce Lee, Crouching Tiger, Jackie Chan, James Hong, the comedian from Georgia who sounds southern.
- Korean: M*A*S*H, Margaret Cho, Soon-Tek Oh (the guy who tortured Chuck Norris in Missing in Action 2)

As a matter of fact, a number of Americans would probably think all the above are Japanese. When they say that all Eastern Asians look alike, not only do they believe it but they'll think the person's Japanese. For a lot of people, Japanese is the default Asian thought that comes to mind (much like Jennifer Lopes' ass whenever someone brings up J.Lo.)

--- groink

birainyamapise7en
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Post by birainyamapise7en » Feb 10th, '09, 07:22

I would have to agree with alot of what Groink said. It somewhat has to do with history. I think most interaction North America has had with Asia has been with Japan.

«minah»
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Post by «minah» » Feb 10th, '09, 15:55

birainyamapise7en wrote:For the record I didn't state that it was a white thing, not saying anyone accused me of that, just making it clear. I said North American men and women, now there are many cultures in the North America that aren't "white", you also got people of Spanish descent and African Americans.

It's not a fad for me, true i like to watch anime like Deathnote and Bleach and play games such as Warriors Orochi and Dynasty Warriors. I am actually interested in the history and cultures of most Asian countries, not just Japan. I also dislike the fact that when people say stuff about Asia and it all gets grouped in and called Japanese, when in fact there are many other countries in Asia.

I will however one day make my way to Asia and check out some of it's countries like South Korea, Taiwan, China and Japan. That way I can get a proper respect of these countries and their cultures.

I mean i know people from Korea, Japan, China and the Philippines but most of them were born in North America but have visited these countries with their families. I can learn from them but then it wouldn't exactly be from personal experience and my view of the countries would still be somewhat biased.
I never meant you when I said.. it was actually for the original poster hehe...

But oooh! I know where I live people just think all Asian are just Chinese, and that all Asians speak the same (doing that fake-sounding Chinese that pisses me off grrr)

TofuQueen
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Post by TofuQueen » Feb 10th, '09, 17:44

«minah» wrote:But oooh! I know where I live people just think all Asian are just Chinese, and that all Asians speak the same (doing that fake-sounding Chinese that pisses me off grrr)
:blink Wow. That's just...weird.... Just by looking at someone who is Asian, I have no idea *which* Asian country they originated from, so I would never assume that they're from any specific country, let alone that there is only one country they could be from. (This is not to say "all Asians look alike" by any means; I have no problem differentiating individual Asian people.)

Several people have mentioned that Japan gets more exposure, and I agree that that's a big part of it. If the first Asian culture a person has much exposure to is Japan's & that person starts to learn the language etc., it's not so likely that they'll switch their focus to a different country, start learning a different language, etc. even if they find that culture interesting as well.

I'd been interested in Japan to the point of working on learning the language for several years before I had much exposure to other Asian cultures, and while I find a lot of things about Korea (for example) fascinating, I'm not about to drop everything I've learned about Japan/Japanese and embark on a whole different culture/language. Theoretically I could learn about multiple cultures & languages at once (and I do pick up bits & pieces from manhwa, dramas, etc.), but in actuality, focusing on one at a time is about all I can handle.

Some posters have been rather dismissive of people who become interested in Japan only/originally because of manga/anime/dorama. Would you feel the same way about someone who, after seeing a series of French films or reading a Russian novel, became interested to the point of wanting to learn the language so they could watch/read the original without depending on a translator? IMO manga & anime (not so much dorama) get a bad rap because they're currently seen as faddish (at least in my part of the US). Of course there are idiot-otakus out there, and yep, they're irritating as hell, and they DO tend to be pretty darn visible, but that's only one group & not necessarily representative of the majority of people who are interested enough in the Japanese language & culture to really study them.

nankasento
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Post by nankasento » Feb 10th, '09, 18:46

TofuQueen wrote:IMO manga & anime (not so much dorama) get a bad rap because they're currently seen as faddish (at least in my part of the US). Of course there are idiot-otakus out there, and yep, they're irritating as hell, and they DO tend to be pretty darn visible, but that's only one group & not necessarily representative of the majority of people who are interested enough in the Japanese language & culture to really study them.
I agree, anime and manga are also becoming more mainstream that adds to the visibility a lot, when I was living in Toronto about half the cartoons on TV where animes, when I was young I was lucky to get one or two and mostly that was for a short period and that was in Europe.

I also think a lot of people over look the fact another major influence why the Japanese are much more in the picture then other Asian cultures, which are computer games, my interest in Japanese culture, language etc. stems from my interest in games, sure now I watch quite a lot of anime, read and own a couple of manga's and some of the other "otaku" stuff like figurines but mostly it's more the games I'm interested in than anything else, my console collecting I've heard is insane, I own over 8 NES & 12 PS, they ain't broken they all work, and have every console after that and usually double, I just need a couple of handhelds and a dreamcast that work and the latest generation of consoles and I'm up to date, my games collection is just as insane because I bought all those consoles for cheap with a bunch of games, if I recall correctly I have 12 x duck hunt with Mario Bros and the gun, lol and I still play on those consoles and the old games, often at work.

Speaking of Mario I'm also quite sure that almost everyone knows a Mario Bros game, doesn't matter what version, not that you need to learn Japanese for it, you can play it, you know off it and the chance that you know it's a Japanese game is probably very high as well.

Since my interest and now work field is in games for a business point of view knowing Japanese is a very handy trait so I'm learning that still. At current times Japan is still a leading force in games with many strong companies but for the last couple of years the Koreans have been developing at an extremely fast pace and I can see it continue for quite a few years to come so I've started to learn that as well to get it to business level. I've came into contact with Koreans and their culture (from afar) when I was younger and actively playing Starcraft, which is a game from the 1998 and currently still the number 1 game in Korea, at least foreign game, Linage a Korean game by NCsoft is probably the most popular game in Korea.

Even though I know some words and standard phrases in Korean at that age it was at those times more important for me to learn Japanese than Korean because of the major difference in force for the game industry, the industry I wanted to get into.

Actually Chinese would even be much better to learn at current time because the Chinese market is skyrocketing at the moment and outsourcing to China for many sectors has been going on for couple of years now at an insanely rate, even the Japanese are outsourcing to China and Korea for anime and games but since the company already has a Chinese guy on the force that priority for me is much lower, although I'm planning to learn it after Korean and Japanese since I have Chinese blood but we lost contact with that side of the family before I was born so that connection wasn't so obvious except for all the martial art movies I watched at my parents and thus never have been a more obvious for me to learn Chinese over Korean or Japanese.

As for learning languages, Japanese and Korean are my 6th and 7th languages knowing already so many languages it comes quite naturally for me to learn a new one, the only real problem is actively using it at a constant rate so it sticks better and I can switch more between languages. I find it becomes easier when you know more languages because your able to make more connections to the same object or concept, like an apple, I know how it tastes, how it smells, how to write and pronounce it in 7 different languages and the more connections you have to something the better you are able to recall it, 7 ways to write and pronounce it is a lot more than 1 or 2.

birainyamapise7en
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Post by birainyamapise7en » Feb 10th, '09, 19:31

I know you weren't talking about me specifically Minah. I was just stating for the record cause i didn't want to get bunched in as someone who is somewhat ignorant.

I guess every part of North America is different, most of the Asian people around where I live are Korean and we also get a lot of Chinese exchange students.

I laugh at the old graphics from old games such as duck hunt and Mario brothers. But you know for the life of me i wish sometimes i could play them again too cause they were kind of fun. I wonder how many people out there actually know that most video games consoles were originally created in Asian countries.

I don't want to start a big discussion on this but who out there has seen that Miley Cyrus picture where she did the slant eyes thing? I would never have seen it if it weren't on TMZ. But as a white person even I was offended by it. I mean i saw the Asian guy in the picture and i wonder if he had a clue what was going on behind him because he was in the front.

z12sz
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Post by z12sz » Feb 19th, '09, 17:38

dont forget about looks. japanese girls look different from other asians. i can usually tell the difference and i also find them more attractive.

Ochibi-san
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Post by Ochibi-san » Feb 19th, '09, 17:49

well at first i only liked japan but now i love taiwan i like the language and i would love to go there and study there :P

it's so weird cause i suddenly changed my mind :P
i also like korea but 1 thing at the time ;P

i still want to go to japan but i don't need a japanese bf xD haha

but i think there will always be people who want an japanese gf or bf :P
actually i think it's a fase and then they discover taiwan and china :P and they fall in love hahahahaha

kittykhatz20
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Post by kittykhatz20 » Feb 20th, '09, 21:05



i think it doesn't matter where the person is from as long as you like them... It would be sad for a person to have second thoughts about liking someone just because of their race, nationality or color...

It's offensive for me to think about the fact that there are people who take Filipinas in general as wives that can be bought on some st$%^ online catalog.

i like watching, Japanese, Korean and sometimes Taiwanese series. I'm also a big fan of a lot of American shows but that doesn't necessarily mean i have a preferred nationality to date or marry someday. i mean I see Korean's everyday close to where I live to study how to speak English properly and they don't exactly all look like the peeps you see on TV. Same with the Japanese, Chinese, Spanish, British, Australian, Italian, French and American people that I work with everyday, they all look like people to me. They just stand out because they look different, well not so on the Japanese and Chinese.

i honestly think that i person is rather thick to be making judgments based on a persons nationality most specially if you have emotions involved.

sariah
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Post by sariah » Feb 20th, '09, 21:43

speaking from a personal perspective, as someone who is a white female, i have to agree that a large part of why japan is so popular compared to other asian countries is simply because it is more accessible. in fact, i would say that for a set number of people, it ends up being a gateway to a number of other asian cultures. i am interested by both korea and india, but that didn't really develop until after i was already interested in japan and realised that i found asia fascinating. like a lot of other people, i was first introduced to japanese things through anime (although i do not like it anymore).

i would like to live in japan more than anywhere else (except my home country, which i am quite satisfied living in), and i typically find japanese things more interesting, but that is because i am 23 now, and i have had an interest in japan since i was 11. i do not expect that i would ever be accepted there as a japanese person, nor do i believe i would even love it as i do my home country, but i think like anything that has been apart of you for so long, you grow an attachment to it that may not be based on rational reasoning. there's really no particular reason for me not to be interested in china or laos or any other number of asian countries, but for whatever reason, i'm just not. it's the same as how i'm interested in spain and portugal, but i have no interest in any other european countries.

as for attraction, i don't think a person should not date someone just because of their race, but i also don't think there's anything wrong in someone wanting to date a particular race or nationality. japanese, for the most part, look different from all other asian nationalities because 1/3 of the population has a DNA strain that is entirely exclusive to japan (certain parts of tibet share a similar DNA, but the japanese strain has mutated from it). so it's not unreasonable for someone to prefer a japanese person compared to persons of other asian ethnicities. i'm attracted to asians and whites, and i personally prefer japanese, chinese and filipinos to other asian nationalities, but it's no different in that i prefer southern europeans compared to other european nationalities.
birainyamapise7en wrote:I said North American men and women, now there are many cultures in the North America that aren't "white", you also got people of Spanish descent and African Americans.
just to clarify, i'm not sure if you were saying otherwise, but spanish people are white. they may be classified as hispanic (for some completely illogical reason), but they are as white as any englishman or swede. what makes hispanics not-white is if they are also of a native american mix.

«minah»
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Post by «minah» » Feb 20th, '09, 22:11

sariah wrote:
birainyamapise7en wrote:I said North American men and women, now there are many cultures in the North America that aren't "white", you also got people of Spanish descent and African Americans.
just to clarify, i'm not sure if you were saying otherwise, but spanish people are white. they may be classified as hispanic (for some completely illogical reason), but they are as white as any englishman or swede. what makes hispanics not-white is if they are also of a native american mix.
Not to go so off-topic of the thread, But "African Americans" aren't "African" (the majority) The people who are mostly from African decent with other European in them (most likely) We're far from being African (in the sub-Sahara section), because well, our culture is American. African-American may seem like a nice term, but it's a term that's not close to any Black Americans whose ancestors were slaves. Same with terms like Hispanic, Latino/a, and it's all so confusing that they shouldn't really matter. It just comes to tell ya, race shouldn't matter when you want to date. So yeah.... who cares all those anime fan guys and girls should just like all types of people instead of just Japanese

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