Youth violence has Japan struggling for answers

It is most definitly a case of culture shock.

I went through it too when I was living in China. You'll have your ups and downs. Moments where you love the culture and moments in which it'll seem the most repugnant place on earth.
 
culture shock implies that there is something wrong with me, but the article shows you that there is something going pretty wrong here, doesnt it?
 
Culture shock does not imply there is anything wrong with you. Culture shock is typical for Westerners in closed tight societies- like the Nothern European nations or Japan and others in the Orient. These societies are nearly a 180 degree turn around from what we in the West call home.

There is something wrong with even healthy societies- and we do not doubt you have much insight into what is dysfunctional about Japan. But within their own value system, there is also much good.

munk
 
Truthfully Danny, what is wrong and what is right is a subjective matter based solely around opinion.

Their society obviously works for them, otherwise you'd be seeing a massive social revolution.

There's good and bad with every culture and every society.
 
I think the Japanese society are just having to pay the price of being
a developed modern country( yes there are prices to be paid). Columbine did happen ( along with other events here in the states), the fact that japanese are working more now ( both parents ) and are not there to guide children throught the brainwashing popular culture/ problem of adsolence...etc is probably true as well. There was an outbreak of violence here in the states, but instead of realizing what caused the problem and trying to fix it, they want to blame the americans, why not it's an easy answer with no real work or effort involved..... . Now here in the states, I think people have learn to be a bit more sensitive to kids who's behavior
is getting " a bit odd" as a direct result of the shooting incidences here. that is a good thing. Not exactly the best answer in my opinion but it seem to be working at this point. It is odd that popular cultural is not considered as contributing to the problem. It was certainly questioned here.

yeap , its pretty weird.....

I have got to wonder, Why hasn't it happens in Europe, they have more time off there to address problems with children? Could that be it? Or maybe they make sure there children do more constructive things than watching nonstop violence? What's different?
 
And when these things happen in the US we blame, television, music, movies and video games.

It's a simple case of people looking for something to blame in a situation where the only thing they can blame is themselves.

It has nothing to do with one culture being superior to another.
 
Wrongfriend- I saw a map of the World with Japanese writing- looked like area codes or something.



munk
 
And here's a hint, In China, maps are in Chinese, In Russia, Maps are in Russian!

Imagine that? Maps written in the language people speak!
 
I'm editing this post. For the most part, I am in agreement with Danny.
But, at the same time, I don't want to be judgemental about an entire culture.

Cabbit, in many cases (next post), they are right.
 
And ya know what, in other countries they say that Americans are self-centered, ethnocentric and racist...
 
Hee, hee.

Nobody got this??

What country is closest to the center of the map WrongFriend posted?

Unique to Japan, probably not.

But imagine such a map with Chile at the center.

I'll admit any country close to the equator has a better chance of showing up near the center, though.
 
Actually, every country does this.

That's because maps of the world are drawn to show other countries' geographical locations in relation to the country where the map was drafted.
 
derived Japanese of variety of thought as well as free speech!

That is ...
No Alfred Wegener to find the theory of plate tectonics.
No Columbus to name West Indian Islands correctlly, which should locate in the west, not the east. Hey, USA is not Far East anyways.
 
LOL,

Reach a certain point, and it just gets silly...

The equator is the equator.

Granted, the prime meridian could be anywhere, but it would be pretty useless if nobody could agree where.

Is this what they call a "circular argument"??
 
You know, when someone says "Society is to blame!" in the USA, we cluck our tongues and shake our heads. But in Japan's case, we agree with it.
I do agree that not all cultures are created equal, and Japan's is having an especially hard time adjusting to modernity. But so is America's, in different ways. We have violent youth as well, but we don't generalize and blame society. Personal responsibility is always the final arbiter.
In the end, I'll say that the American ideal of "rugged individuality" is better than the groupthink of some other societies. It has its own issues, but I'll take it over groupthink any day of the week...
 
"Personal responsibility is always the final arbiter."


Oh man! You just hit a nerve! That is not so here in Japan.
There is no personal responsibility over here. The group, the group, the group!

When people cross a street, they dont look to see if a car is coming. they know they wont get hit because the law says that the car driver will be responsible if he hits you, so there is no need to look both ways before crossing. They just cross.
 
I'm not sure the term "culture shock" is exactly correct, but I'll go with it since I don't have a better term. I experienced something like this just living in a somewhat different part of the country for college.

It's a rather sophisticated school (there's a negative sense for that term -- "sophist") and most folks there thought there were all that. They had never actually spent time west of the Hudson, couldn't tell the difference between Kansas and Kentucky and Arkansas, but they didn't think that really mattered.

I think that what it really was, I expected more out of these folks. Yeah, they were bright, but they were also, uh, poopy heads in their own way. I had some perspective that let me see their own flavor of stupidity and hypocrisy. Of course, they couldn't see that.

Eventually I quit beating myself up. Screw 'em. I stop caring what they thought, didn't want to worry about letting them know there are other places in the US besides NYC, Boston, and LA, and just focused on my studies and being done with them.

I think you had your expectations too high, Danny. The Japanese are probably, on average no more or no less of Richard Noggins than Americans. It's just that you can see it. Don't take it personally. Don't try to change them -- you can't. I'd suggest either thinking screw 'em, or else pretend to be an anthropologist and be amused by them.
 
well, i may screw some of them...

ganguro1.jpg


and just be amused by others...
08.jpg


Chinese soccer fans burn a Japanese national flag outside the Workers' Stadium.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top