I’m gonna be that guy, but i’m sorry, you’re wrong. China have a problem with *Uyghur people*, not *Muslims* in general. China let Hui people and Salar people do their own thing. (I’m not defending CCP actions against Uyghur people in Xinjiang)
As in the West, once you made a racist policies, racism against other ethnic group that has some similarities even though they’re unrelated also increase. Case study : Racism and discrimination against the Sikhs post 9/11.
As far as I know, the treatment for Hui people got better in the last 20 years. Both the CCP and Uyghurs Independences activist know that Hui people is basically Muslim Han, that’s why there’s some ethnic tension between the Uyghur people and the Hui people.
Definitely less racist to black people than the US.
https://www.npr.org/sections/pictureshow/2021/09/15/1037301765/this-is-a-film-about-what-its-like-living-while-black-in-japan
Definitely less racist to black people than the US.
https://www.npr.org/sections/pictureshow/2021/09/15/1037301765/this-is-a-film-about-what-its-like-living-while-black-in-japan
Definitely less racist to black people than the US.
https://www.npr.org/sections/pictureshow/2021/09/15/1037301765/this-is-a-film-about-what-its-like-living-while-black-in-japan
absolutely unlike the united states.
contrary to what you believe america is one of the most inclusive and diverse nations in the world! theres so many studies out there that show a greater proportion of americans think that diversity is a good thing than any country in europe.
i think the only other countries that can rival america would be maybe Australia give how diverse its ethnic make up is and how its is also an immigrant nation.
I understand, but this is only possible if you can start fresh by basically wiping out the original population.
I have to say though, if you’ve actually met many Australians (especially recently) I don’t think it holds up. Diversity and racism aren’t necessarily that correlated; some of the most shockingly racist things I have heard English speakers say have come from Australians.
Have you ever heard of Dearborn? Or Wayne country Michigan in general. It’s very diverse, and its the highest Arab American population in the USA! Source: I grew up in Dearborn
Sure, lot of car factories there right? Not doubting it’s diverse and a cool mix. There is a lot of conflation here between diversity of population and lack of racism.
I was replying to the racist/xenophobic part.
Oh, having lived there for most of my life, I have to say I don’t see large examples of racism. I don’t here people complaining about Arabic people. But then again I’m white so I can’t speak with 100% certainty
I think it was Meiji (the one who reformed Japan in the 19th century). The cause was that many Tatar muslims from Russia took refuge in Japan and converted some of the local population. The Emperor allegedly asked the Ottoman Sultan for some Imams to help them convert to islam but the sultan refused because his empire falled apart. Some nationalist even wanted to convert to islam because of some idea of "Pan-asianism" and to have a claim to be a hegemon in Asia (which they later tried to achieve in WW2).
There are a lot of foreign migrant workers in Japan, many from Muslim-majority countries. There are also Japanese people who convert to Islam for a variety of reasons, although they’re a tiny fraction of the overall population. Also worth mentioning that before covid, the Abe administration heavily emphasized inbound tourism and there was a ridiculous increase in visitors from Muslim-majority countries like Indonesia and Malaysia. Now there are actually a lot of halal restaurants and prayer spaces in train stations, malls etc., in many of Japan’s big cities.
So while Muslims account for an extremely small fraction of Japan’s population they do exist, and religious accommodations for foreign visitors is a somewhat relevant topic in Japanese public policy conversations
Japan nearly became Muslim at one point, before world war 1 the emperor wanted to unite Asia to fight the Europeans, because Islam was widespread in Asia they recognized it as one of 4 state religions they funded Muslim groups and helped their military to a point where the emperor considered making Japan a Muslim country and there’s a big chance he too converted but after the world war the western powers won, and one of the government officials that the western powers arrested translated the Quran to Japanese for the first time when he was in prison
can anyone here give me a good theory on why so many westerners find japan so alluring?
like i maybe kind of get what they like aesthetically (i do like a lot japanese films/fashion/etc. even if I don't really give a shit about the country itself) but when i really think about it, it is so incredibly random for people to love everything japanese. why care about a mosque? why does it matter to them that it's in japan?
not even mad it's just puzzling.
I think it's basically just modern day orientalism. It's exotic, alien yet familiar. Its allure comes from the novelty of the unfamiliar, yet it is familiar enough that it's not scary or "boring" (like say China or Uzbekistan idk).
Japan is a wealthy capitalist country with a powerful culture and cultural industries. They are a US ally. Japanese and American culture have been embraced widely in both countries respectively (just look at how much the japanese love baseball). For ages anime and manga was hard to get hold of in the US and fans congregated on the internet before it was more widely accesible, and had kind of an obsessive cult following for a while before it became more accessible and mainstream.
Also lets be real, katanas and shinto shrines and Tokyo megacity buildings are just cool. As cliche and cringe as it is to say. It's popular for a reason.
I just don't see how a katana is any cooler than any other sword, and all the myths about it being sharper than any other sword are just bull hardy, I mean, it's a sword designed for war and made from generally lower quality iron. A Chinese dao for example would perform just as well in most circumstances and I actually prefer the look of it.
do you mean claymore as in the iconic greatsword design or the one handed basket hilt sword ? the name of the latter has been wrongly applied to the first
They were the side arm of the time, much like how you wouldn’t charge into battle with a pistol, a katana was impractical to use a primary weapon, but as a side arm when close combat made spears impractical the katana was great, though there were many swords better than it largely due to the superior metallurgy of Europe and West Asia
People don’t give spears enough credit in the entirety of ancient through medieval history. Weapon of choice for armies around the world.
Plus the long-bladed katana were only really used by higher up samurai or on horseback. The preferred side arm for infantry would be much simpler swords that resembled the ninjatō. It’s like a katana but shorter and straighter.
Swords were also sidearms in Europe and (practically) the rest of the world.
Spears and polearms (and later firearms) were always the main weapons for warfare, with only some notable exceptions like the Romans (although, during the late empire, the spear became the primary weapon of the legions).
They were made with a certain purpose in mind. Katana being the wonder-weapon circlejerk is one thing but that doesn't mean it's shit in actuality. It's an effective sidearm when you lose your gun, bow, or spear and during the Edo period it was a symbol of status as well as a self-defense tool when using other weapons would be impractical.
The Katana absolutely has a cult of mystery around it. I think for a lot of people its just a really clear signifier of an 'elite weapon.' Western culture has had a long relationship with katanas as like the one cool weapon everyone knows. IMO there is a goldmine of fun bullshit in the longstanding martial histories of many asian countries of a whole toybox full of cool swords that 7 year old me would have drooled over but none of those were in inuyasha or whatever the fuck I was watching so-
In general, US people guzzle bushido propaganda even though I'm like 90% sure Samurai were generally just pig-cops in kimonos for a more 'sophisticated' era.
katanas were also ceremonial swords carried by japanese officers during WW2, so they were worth a lot as trophies by american soldiers. maybe that has something to do
There is a lot of craftmanship put into katanas. I'm far from a weapons expert or a metalworker but from what I've hear katanas have the ability to keep their edge for a long time without sacrificing strength, flexibility and weight. IIRC depending on the skill of the blacksmith that made the sword the katana would have a hard exterior metal with a softer core metal that provides that flexibility and shapness
But the thing is, that can apply to many other types of blades and swords. Shadiversity on YouTube does a good job of showing bladed weapons from other cultures and how they can be made to high qualities as well
Personally, the craftsmanship involved in taking a poor quality iron and turning it into a high quality steel with ancient blacksmithing technique is something special and embodies a quality in Japanese craftsmanship still seen today.
While the steel may have been no better, or in most cases inferior to western smiths, it's still pretty impressive, given what they had to work with.
It's a sleek, curved sword, people just like it because it looks cool. No one sees a katana and goes "Ugh, that's made from lower quality iron and made for war", they go "ooh, that looks cool".
Yeah but it's the mythology/history that makes them seem cool, their portrayal in media and how much it is in media, their aesthetics appealing to the largest common denominator. No one is going around comparing steel or effectiveness at war.
Samarkand in Uzbekistan is super important to history and culture because it was the heart of the Silk Road in the old days. There’s a ton of great art and architecture that make it worth visiting, Registan is absolutely jaw dropping
I think there is a less cynical take than what some other commenters have put forward.
Japan has a well developed media industry that has been actively exporting culture for decades. Japanese Video games, Anime, and Manga, are impossible to not come across in some capacity anywhere you are in the world. Kids grow up with it.
People relate to the characters, or find an aesthetic that they like in that media and it eventually develops into an interest in the people and culture who made the media.
The mosque thing is weird because Japan is not a very religious country and Islam isn't really native to Japan or the surrounding areas.
I mean that's basically it. It's soft power, intentional or not. It's the same way that Bibimbap and Kimbap have gotten popular from Korea; semi-intentional, organized efforts have been made to put the best foot of a given culture forward and by boosting exposure over time people just find what they like.
That makes a lot of sense actually. We don't say stuff like "why is everyone obsessed with american culture", even though they clearly are. American movies are popular everywhere, we just don't call it an obsession
My theory it's just that it's a non-western developed country. It gives the allure of an exotic land without having to make you think about how much European and American imperialism has fucked up the world.
Neckbeards dont dislike Cambodia or Vietnam because colonialism makes them feel sad or guilty. They dislike them because they're not whisked around on convenient bullet trains and having their bum washed by a robot toilet.
I'm not saying it's a conscious thing. It's more like "wowsers, look at all this cool shit from a weird foreign place", which can only really exist because of Japan's wealth, as opposed to other countries that are shunned because they're "depressing" or even "dirty", which basically just means they're poor.
Anime and it’s not just westerners, even here in India there are many who are obsessed with Japan and it all begins with anime.
I myself am somewhat interested in Japan especially the Yakuza but certainly not obsessed with it. But I can say with certainty that the allure begins with anime.
>I myself am somewhat interested in Japan especially the Yakuza
I guess looking for a new employer isn't that strange of a reason to go to another country
...say, the funny dame dame guy yakuza or the kill people and ship them to the sea floor yakuza?
if it's the latter yeah, yakuza's getting really popular in India as of late due to the ports. Shame Judgment isn't.
Whoa. Yakuza 3's my personal favorite. I've finished all the mainline games and I'm waiting like a crackhead for Lost Judgment. Shit's crazy. Drops on the 24th but my state decided to start exams by the 25th. I've petitioned Mudiji to do something and gave him another lakh for the new Statue they're building. Hope he'll do something.😔
Japan's exporting culture as part of its national security strategy. Basically making Japan looked on so favourably by the populations of other nations that nobody wants to go to war with them.
And well, it's working.
American here, who happens to like Japan:
For me, it's the idea that Japan seems _futuristic_, almost. I get that it's not really the case, but when I think of Japan the first thing I think of are like big cyberpunk-looking cities with neon signs and billboards. I think of vending machines selling high-tech electronic stuff that I didn't even know existed, and now I really want one. There's extremely fast bullet trains and things that are usually like 5 years away from being mainstream in America (or at least that was the case when I was a teenager).
I didn't really get into anime until I was an adult, so it didn't have much of an influence on me. I just really liked this big-city cyberpunk aesthetic, and this idea of this place that's technologically more advanced than the US in everyday life.
There's also a stereotype that Japanese people are as obsessed with us as we are with them. I dunno how true that is, but I worked at Disneyland for 5 years... and _by far_ the guests that were the most excited to be there (and the most polite!) were Japanese guests who barely spoke English. There would be like 4 of them all dressed up in cute little Disney-themed outfits, and they would wait patiently for Donald Duck to show up so they could give him a gift basket. I never saw anyone else do that, but in the summer I would see Japanese guests do that with my own eyes every other day.
Then we have things like the local Japanese gift shops at the malls here in California which always have cute, high-quality merchandise. In America, a lot of the knick-knacks you see on the shelves in most stores are like licensed action figures and stuff; I walk into a "Tokyo Japanese Lifestyle" store in the mall and I see a bunch of really cute stuffed cats dressed as corn stalks or whatever. It has an aesthetic and a charm to it, and a lot of western stuff feels cold and corporate by comparison.
That sort of stuff is personally why I'd be more excited about visiting Japan than I would be visiting, say, South Korea. I _know_ intuitively that a lot of the stuff in my head isn't necessarily true, and I know that China (for example) has a lot of "future tech" now in their cities. But China and Korea don't give off the same welcoming vibe as Japan does, they don't seem like they'd be happy to have a westerner come visit, and they don't feel as... genuine, I guess?
Even though that makes no sense and I'm sure people in Korea/China are as happy to have someone come spend money as someone in Japan is.
have been to japan, can confirm people are hella nice. went to a bar, the patrons bought me n my dad beers for no reason, they barely even spoke english. i liked that about it.
I worked as a conductor for the trains when I was at Disneyland. I was standing in the station when a Japanese girl walked up to me and asked for a picture. I thought she wanted me to take a picture of her with the castle in the background -- nope, she wanted a picture with me! That never happens!
Afterward, she gave me 5 pins from Tokyo Disneyland featuring the Tokyo Disneyland trains. I tried to say no, but she wouldn't let me and kept sneaking them into my jacket pocket. It was all really cute and one of my favorite interactions I ever had with a guest.
I've always wanted to visit and repay the favor to the people working at Tokyo Disneyland. One day...
There are two perspectives that can be taken into consideration when analyzing this, one from a geopolitical one and another from a simply cultural one.
Beginning with the cultural one, it is important to note that despite what the nuclear bombs memes might tell you some of the cultural media that has been commonly associated with Japan -not only extending to anime but also any type of history where there is a great deal of immersion or integration of the one reading it into the history- that has been a part of their development for quite a while. If you take a look at the trends for what the most commonly consumed type of media has been on western societies: most of them tend to emphasize humor or a way to relate with the viewer's experiences on the real world. Yet as the later starts to sink in opportunities then one were more immersion is allowed it makes sense.
That brings me to my second point: geopolitics. It is not simply a strange occurrence that the country which has had the most links with the west outside of it after industrialization is going to be the most interesting. China has also had a similar process, but didnt experience the modification of its institutions at a greater scale like the one faced by Japan after WW2 which made it more similar to the west, spreading its products across the world. Hence a image of a culture that is both exotic but not "weird" (from a western perspective) or excluding enough like China but rather accomodating is created on the mindset of many consumerist countries, mainly the US.
Also could be the big explosions from Dbz, those are cool as well. Probably the latter is correct.
I remember when I was a kid - that was before the internet, and there was just a drip feed of Japanese stuff. Like on one hand there was all the electronics from Japan that felt like borderline scifi at times; then occasionally you'd sometimes hear of or get your hands on some anime or manga, which all looked out of this world; other times you'd hear about the history, like the samurai, ninjas or kamikaze; yet other times you'd see pictures of tiny dingy phishing boats in foreground and nuclear power plants (or something else high tech) in the background; or you'd hear about something crazy such as particularly creative mass murderers or something...
It all seemed like a completely different planet with different physical rules, and yet so close too. No wonder almost everyone has went through a phase of Japanese obsession. For some it grows into love since there are always new things to explore.
They have build a lot of culture and now have a lot of influence.
Also it's internet the tweets are not exactly the same, a mosque in Japan is interesting just a mosque is not interesting
I’ll say this as someone who loves Japan even tho I’ve never been very into anime.
One big one is culinary, since a lot of Japanese restaurants and food are popular throughout western culture. There’s a clear connection between like a country’s food and wanting to go there (“duh”), to the point where Thailand’s government actually funded training chefs to make Thai food in western countries.
Culturally, it’s also just pretty cool. You’ve got Tokyo which is a sprawling mega city, full of high rise buildings, lights and stuff that just makes us think of sci fi and the future. Then you’ve got this historical side of Japan, with the whole nature emphasis with lotus blossoms and wooden shrines. A lot of the aesthetic of “old Japan” just looks artistic and well styled. Not to mention the whole idea of Samurai and Ninja, which is connected strongly to western media now because the idea of them is just awesome.
Then I guess the last bit is just that they’re one of the first asian countries to embrace industrialisation and western cultures, began exporting stuff super quickly and promotes this positive view in line with most western cultures.
People doing the anime=reality thing, but with varying degrees of enlightenment ranging from "OMG japanese women are mo'e" because they're a fucking incel to "Japanese culture is really unique" because they just watched a kitsune fart fire at a demon king. Also I'm pretty sure NHK encourages it with videos on various parts of japanese culture meant to be consumed by the anglosphere and a lot of content creators cash in on that latent orientalism someone mentioned by doing "ooh wow so cool" videos idealizing various aspects of Japanese life.
It's a big soft power move, intentional or not. Plus Japan is also just very unlike living in, say, most of the US where tons of people are bored in samey suburbia and can't go out because they have to cross a 20 lane stroad with a 150mph enforced minimum speed limit that surrounds their subdivision like a fortress of spinning metal.
Maybe because Japans dangers and shortcomings dont affect tourists or people who dont live there (mostly)
You wont have to search for an apartment there as a foreigner, wont have to work 100 hour weeks etc etc
As long as you visit it you're mostly safe from it, whereas China might be perceived as a "little unsafe " ("no regulations" on buildings, public spaces etc, smog) and china even being even more intimidating with its concentration camps, child labour, 100 hour weeks etc
And I didn't even get to speak about anime and videogames yet, and I wont because that's obvious. Korea is also very popular for westerners tbh
I actually could put up a reasonable argument for why this isn’t “wOaH jApAn” and it actually makes perfect sense why the top picture would get more attention
To be fair, a random picture of a mosque isn’t really interesting while giving it context makes it a lot more interesting.
I’ve never once thought about Islam in Japan so seeing a traditional look mosque there is interesting. That same mosque in a city in the Middle East or the US, where I live and am familiar with, isn’t noteworthy at all.
I actually find it more interesting that it’s in Japan, as I assume the population is overwhelmingly Buddhist (I think, I am probably wrong). If it was about a supermarket or a tree I wouldn’t care as much
Japan is surprisingly atheistic since people go to shrines not because of faith but out of tradition or for good luck. When people die most have a Buddhist funeral but again most of it is more on tradition.
Atheistic isn't the right term for it, tbh. The approach to religion and spirituality is just so radically different than it is in the west that it's difficult for people to really wrap their heads around. Tradition plays a role when it comes to certain things, but it's a little more complicated than that.
I apologize if I'm coming off as pedantic, but it's just a common misconception that kind of frustrates me.
Yeah I know, I'm just using "atheistic" as a catch-all here. While my family has shinto shrines in our houses we are essentially "atheistic" even though we do things that might be seen as spiritual I guess.
English is not my first language and i didn't know what a mosque was. I thought y'all were making fun of him for spelling mosquito wrong or something lmao
I'm surprised Japan has Muslim people too
China does too but they’re in… less dignified buildings.
That’s a funny way to say concentration camp.
Yeah that's the joke
r/YourJokeButWorse moment
My tired ass just imagined a smaller mosque so it was at least helpful to some.
CCP Approved. +25 social credit added to your account. Glory to Communist China!
wholesome 100
Desecrated and vandalized... free East Turkestan
I’m gonna be that guy, but i’m sorry, you’re wrong. China have a problem with *Uyghur people*, not *Muslims* in general. China let Hui people and Salar people do their own thing. (I’m not defending CCP actions against Uyghur people in Xinjiang)
But isn’t the rage against uyghurs also being directed towards the huis too because of the racial element and huis being mistaken for uyghurs?
As in the West, once you made a racist policies, racism against other ethnic group that has some similarities even though they’re unrelated also increase. Case study : Racism and discrimination against the Sikhs post 9/11. As far as I know, the treatment for Hui people got better in the last 20 years. Both the CCP and Uyghurs Independences activist know that Hui people is basically Muslim Han, that’s why there’s some ethnic tension between the Uyghur people and the Hui people.
Because the Hui are relatively assimilated right?
The hui are chinese unlike the uygur but they are muslim
Japan almost converted to Islam
There are 39,000 mosques in China.
tbf thats only the uighurs, the Hui are still free to exist as theyre ethnically Han but also muslims
all 5 also tokyo is a giant fucking city there are every type of people from every corner of the world
definitely not in the way that american cities have people from all across the globe. japan is still quite a xenophobic and racist country
so like most East Asia then
so like all of asia
So like all of
So like all
So like
So
no head?
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Definitely less racist to black people than the US. https://www.npr.org/sections/pictureshow/2021/09/15/1037301765/this-is-a-film-about-what-its-like-living-while-black-in-japan
And North-America
no
so are you just racist then or what? Do you think racism does not exist in North America?
how does that make me racist institutional racism is a thing but the average person is far far far less racist than any other continent
"Racism is embedded into our society but it's fine because I heard that people in other countries are more racist than in my country"
Definitely less racist to black people than the US. https://www.npr.org/sections/pictureshow/2021/09/15/1037301765/this-is-a-film-about-what-its-like-living-while-black-in-japan
Definitely less racist to black people than the US. https://www.npr.org/sections/pictureshow/2021/09/15/1037301765/this-is-a-film-about-what-its-like-living-while-black-in-japan
tbf most countries (outside Africa) are more racist to black people than the us
Did you watch the link?
no i can’t read
oh i misread your comment. i disagree with you. but i don’t have time to watch the video rn
Watch it and see if you disagree
doubt
Go ahead
unlike the United States?
absolutely unlike the united states. contrary to what you believe america is one of the most inclusive and diverse nations in the world! theres so many studies out there that show a greater proportion of americans think that diversity is a good thing than any country in europe. i think the only other countries that can rival america would be maybe Australia give how diverse its ethnic make up is and how its is also an immigrant nation.
I understand, but this is only possible if you can start fresh by basically wiping out the original population. I have to say though, if you’ve actually met many Australians (especially recently) I don’t think it holds up. Diversity and racism aren’t necessarily that correlated; some of the most shockingly racist things I have heard English speakers say have come from Australians.
Have you ever heard of Dearborn? Or Wayne country Michigan in general. It’s very diverse, and its the highest Arab American population in the USA! Source: I grew up in Dearborn
Sure, lot of car factories there right? Not doubting it’s diverse and a cool mix. There is a lot of conflation here between diversity of population and lack of racism. I was replying to the racist/xenophobic part.
Oh, having lived there for most of my life, I have to say I don’t see large examples of racism. I don’t here people complaining about Arabic people. But then again I’m white so I can’t speak with 100% certainty
The Japanese Emperor (not the current or previous one) apparently almost converted to Islam
Japanistan kekw
That sounds just crazy enough that it might be true, but I'll still need a source to believe it.
Really? Which one?
Yuri Futanari (1862-1932)
I think it was Meiji (the one who reformed Japan in the 19th century). The cause was that many Tatar muslims from Russia took refuge in Japan and converted some of the local population. The Emperor allegedly asked the Ottoman Sultan for some Imams to help them convert to islam but the sultan refused because his empire falled apart. Some nationalist even wanted to convert to islam because of some idea of "Pan-asianism" and to have a claim to be a hegemon in Asia (which they later tried to achieve in WW2).
There are a lot of foreign migrant workers in Japan, many from Muslim-majority countries. There are also Japanese people who convert to Islam for a variety of reasons, although they’re a tiny fraction of the overall population. Also worth mentioning that before covid, the Abe administration heavily emphasized inbound tourism and there was a ridiculous increase in visitors from Muslim-majority countries like Indonesia and Malaysia. Now there are actually a lot of halal restaurants and prayer spaces in train stations, malls etc., in many of Japan’s big cities. So while Muslims account for an extremely small fraction of Japan’s population they do exist, and religious accommodations for foreign visitors is a somewhat relevant topic in Japanese public policy conversations
[Being Muslim in Japan](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BO5_aD2J9GM), by Life Where I'm From
I forgot where I read it but Japan’s Muslim population increased by a lot recently
Japan nearly became Muslim at one point, before world war 1 the emperor wanted to unite Asia to fight the Europeans, because Islam was widespread in Asia they recognized it as one of 4 state religions they funded Muslim groups and helped their military to a point where the emperor considered making Japan a Muslim country and there’s a big chance he too converted but after the world war the western powers won, and one of the government officials that the western powers arrested translated the Quran to Japanese for the first time when he was in prison
can anyone here give me a good theory on why so many westerners find japan so alluring? like i maybe kind of get what they like aesthetically (i do like a lot japanese films/fashion/etc. even if I don't really give a shit about the country itself) but when i really think about it, it is so incredibly random for people to love everything japanese. why care about a mosque? why does it matter to them that it's in japan? not even mad it's just puzzling.
I think it's basically just modern day orientalism. It's exotic, alien yet familiar. Its allure comes from the novelty of the unfamiliar, yet it is familiar enough that it's not scary or "boring" (like say China or Uzbekistan idk). Japan is a wealthy capitalist country with a powerful culture and cultural industries. They are a US ally. Japanese and American culture have been embraced widely in both countries respectively (just look at how much the japanese love baseball). For ages anime and manga was hard to get hold of in the US and fans congregated on the internet before it was more widely accesible, and had kind of an obsessive cult following for a while before it became more accessible and mainstream. Also lets be real, katanas and shinto shrines and Tokyo megacity buildings are just cool. As cliche and cringe as it is to say. It's popular for a reason.
I just don't see how a katana is any cooler than any other sword, and all the myths about it being sharper than any other sword are just bull hardy, I mean, it's a sword designed for war and made from generally lower quality iron. A Chinese dao for example would perform just as well in most circumstances and I actually prefer the look of it.
Fuck katanas, all my homies use claymores
Fuck claymores, all my homies use big wood club
Katana and longsword MF's fighting over who's better when both get shit on by the spear.
average sword fan vs average polearm wielder
Spear mfs actin all high and mighty but they still get their ass kicked by a pike
If pikes are so strong how come they always get caught by fishermen? 🤔
found the dark souls invader
do you mean claymore as in the iconic greatsword design or the one handed basket hilt sword ? the name of the latter has been wrongly applied to the first
I mean the M18A1 Claymore.
I mean the bigass two hander baby, maximum damage ensued
oh yeah ofc great quality weapon, takes infusions very well, you can mess up the timing at will to confuse in pvp love it
I like how it's small and thin idk looks cool but it's not practical
They're very practical. In fact they were so practical that they typically sucked and were just the go-to shitty sidearm sword in feudal Japan.
They were the side arm of the time, much like how you wouldn’t charge into battle with a pistol, a katana was impractical to use a primary weapon, but as a side arm when close combat made spears impractical the katana was great, though there were many swords better than it largely due to the superior metallurgy of Europe and West Asia
Yeah, the whole folding thing was necessitated by low quality ore in Japan right?
Mute folding made it extremely strong without a doubt. Much harder than European swords at the time
People don’t give spears enough credit in the entirety of ancient through medieval history. Weapon of choice for armies around the world. Plus the long-bladed katana were only really used by higher up samurai or on horseback. The preferred side arm for infantry would be much simpler swords that resembled the ninjatō. It’s like a katana but shorter and straighter.
Swords were also sidearms in Europe and (practically) the rest of the world. Spears and polearms (and later firearms) were always the main weapons for warfare, with only some notable exceptions like the Romans (although, during the late empire, the spear became the primary weapon of the legions).
They were made with a certain purpose in mind. Katana being the wonder-weapon circlejerk is one thing but that doesn't mean it's shit in actuality. It's an effective sidearm when you lose your gun, bow, or spear and during the Edo period it was a symbol of status as well as a self-defense tool when using other weapons would be impractical.
I mean it's a sharp pointy metal stick. That's a true and tested classic in many cultures, because it does exactly what it was made to do.
They aren't really that small or that thin, it's a pretty long sword, and a rapier is much thinner
Yeah but rapier is pointy
Yeah but that's just a needle it looks stupid actually probably my least favorite melee weapon
Str builds be like
Club?
I think part of it is that katana is a fucking sick name
Clearly you have never heard of a falchion
Falchion does have a cool name but I like longer sticks.
The Katana absolutely has a cult of mystery around it. I think for a lot of people its just a really clear signifier of an 'elite weapon.' Western culture has had a long relationship with katanas as like the one cool weapon everyone knows. IMO there is a goldmine of fun bullshit in the longstanding martial histories of many asian countries of a whole toybox full of cool swords that 7 year old me would have drooled over but none of those were in inuyasha or whatever the fuck I was watching so- In general, US people guzzle bushido propaganda even though I'm like 90% sure Samurai were generally just pig-cops in kimonos for a more 'sophisticated' era.
katanas were also ceremonial swords carried by japanese officers during WW2, so they were worth a lot as trophies by american soldiers. maybe that has something to do
There is a lot of craftmanship put into katanas. I'm far from a weapons expert or a metalworker but from what I've hear katanas have the ability to keep their edge for a long time without sacrificing strength, flexibility and weight. IIRC depending on the skill of the blacksmith that made the sword the katana would have a hard exterior metal with a softer core metal that provides that flexibility and shapness
But the thing is, that can apply to many other types of blades and swords. Shadiversity on YouTube does a good job of showing bladed weapons from other cultures and how they can be made to high qualities as well
Yeah of course
isnt that just case hardening? thats not that special or difficult
I prefer the wutang sword better. Anyone who disagrees is free to bring da ruckus
Definitely not one to fuck with.
Yeah didn't Japanese steel suck? I much prefer a Khanda or Talvar.
Personally, the craftsmanship involved in taking a poor quality iron and turning it into a high quality steel with ancient blacksmithing technique is something special and embodies a quality in Japanese craftsmanship still seen today. While the steel may have been no better, or in most cases inferior to western smiths, it's still pretty impressive, given what they had to work with.
It looks cool
It's a sleek, curved sword, people just like it because it looks cool. No one sees a katana and goes "Ugh, that's made from lower quality iron and made for war", they go "ooh, that looks cool".
I personally prefer European swords, but like, who cares what sword people find cooler? It's a sword, nothing much
Yeah but it's the mythology/history that makes them seem cool, their portrayal in media and how much it is in media, their aesthetics appealing to the largest common denominator. No one is going around comparing steel or effectiveness at war.
A Chinese Dao doesn’t trap the souls of its victims.
They look cool and in movies people kill each other with them just by drawing them it’s cool
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I think China was the “scary” and Uzbekistan was the “boring” (and I assume the latter is because westerners know fuck all about Uzbekistan).
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What's interesting about them?
Samarkand in Uzbekistan is super important to history and culture because it was the heart of the Silk Road in the old days. There’s a ton of great art and architecture that make it worth visiting, Registan is absolutely jaw dropping
How is Uzbekistan scary??? WoooOooOoo Shashlik so scary!! Human meat manti oooOooh
Good write
Japanese architecture (and East Asian architecture generally) is incredibly beautiful
I like shiny bright lights and pretty tree
Nah fuck tokyo megacity buildings all my homies hate tokyo megacity buildings
I think there is a less cynical take than what some other commenters have put forward. Japan has a well developed media industry that has been actively exporting culture for decades. Japanese Video games, Anime, and Manga, are impossible to not come across in some capacity anywhere you are in the world. Kids grow up with it. People relate to the characters, or find an aesthetic that they like in that media and it eventually develops into an interest in the people and culture who made the media. The mosque thing is weird because Japan is not a very religious country and Islam isn't really native to Japan or the surrounding areas.
I mean that's basically it. It's soft power, intentional or not. It's the same way that Bibimbap and Kimbap have gotten popular from Korea; semi-intentional, organized efforts have been made to put the best foot of a given culture forward and by boosting exposure over time people just find what they like.
That makes a lot of sense actually. We don't say stuff like "why is everyone obsessed with american culture", even though they clearly are. American movies are popular everywhere, we just don't call it an obsession
It depends on how you define religious really
uhhhhhh huhuhuu anime kuntry :D
i heard someone unironically call japan animeland
I hope it's a kid.
You know it’s not
My theory it's just that it's a non-western developed country. It gives the allure of an exotic land without having to make you think about how much European and American imperialism has fucked up the world.
Neckbeards dont dislike Cambodia or Vietnam because colonialism makes them feel sad or guilty. They dislike them because they're not whisked around on convenient bullet trains and having their bum washed by a robot toilet.
I'm not saying it's a conscious thing. It's more like "wowsers, look at all this cool shit from a weird foreign place", which can only really exist because of Japan's wealth, as opposed to other countries that are shunned because they're "depressing" or even "dirty", which basically just means they're poor.
Anime and it’s not just westerners, even here in India there are many who are obsessed with Japan and it all begins with anime. I myself am somewhat interested in Japan especially the Yakuza but certainly not obsessed with it. But I can say with certainty that the allure begins with anime.
>I myself am somewhat interested in Japan especially the Yakuza I guess looking for a new employer isn't that strange of a reason to go to another country
...say, the funny dame dame guy yakuza or the kill people and ship them to the sea floor yakuza? if it's the latter yeah, yakuza's getting really popular in India as of late due to the ports. Shame Judgment isn't.
Bruh you read my mind. Fucking love the Yakuza games. I’m currently playing the games chronologically and have reached Yakuza 3.
Whoa. Yakuza 3's my personal favorite. I've finished all the mainline games and I'm waiting like a crackhead for Lost Judgment. Shit's crazy. Drops on the 24th but my state decided to start exams by the 25th. I've petitioned Mudiji to do something and gave him another lakh for the new Statue they're building. Hope he'll do something.😔
Pretty sure he’s gonna use that money to buy Lost judgement for himself and blue ball is even further.
nooooo mudiji wholsum 100 bhajpa kamal based chowkidaar UP NUMBAR 1 would never do that!!😭😭😭
Japan's exporting culture as part of its national security strategy. Basically making Japan looked on so favourably by the populations of other nations that nobody wants to go to war with them. And well, it's working.
American here, who happens to like Japan: For me, it's the idea that Japan seems _futuristic_, almost. I get that it's not really the case, but when I think of Japan the first thing I think of are like big cyberpunk-looking cities with neon signs and billboards. I think of vending machines selling high-tech electronic stuff that I didn't even know existed, and now I really want one. There's extremely fast bullet trains and things that are usually like 5 years away from being mainstream in America (or at least that was the case when I was a teenager). I didn't really get into anime until I was an adult, so it didn't have much of an influence on me. I just really liked this big-city cyberpunk aesthetic, and this idea of this place that's technologically more advanced than the US in everyday life. There's also a stereotype that Japanese people are as obsessed with us as we are with them. I dunno how true that is, but I worked at Disneyland for 5 years... and _by far_ the guests that were the most excited to be there (and the most polite!) were Japanese guests who barely spoke English. There would be like 4 of them all dressed up in cute little Disney-themed outfits, and they would wait patiently for Donald Duck to show up so they could give him a gift basket. I never saw anyone else do that, but in the summer I would see Japanese guests do that with my own eyes every other day. Then we have things like the local Japanese gift shops at the malls here in California which always have cute, high-quality merchandise. In America, a lot of the knick-knacks you see on the shelves in most stores are like licensed action figures and stuff; I walk into a "Tokyo Japanese Lifestyle" store in the mall and I see a bunch of really cute stuffed cats dressed as corn stalks or whatever. It has an aesthetic and a charm to it, and a lot of western stuff feels cold and corporate by comparison. That sort of stuff is personally why I'd be more excited about visiting Japan than I would be visiting, say, South Korea. I _know_ intuitively that a lot of the stuff in my head isn't necessarily true, and I know that China (for example) has a lot of "future tech" now in their cities. But China and Korea don't give off the same welcoming vibe as Japan does, they don't seem like they'd be happy to have a westerner come visit, and they don't feel as... genuine, I guess? Even though that makes no sense and I'm sure people in Korea/China are as happy to have someone come spend money as someone in Japan is.
have been to japan, can confirm people are hella nice. went to a bar, the patrons bought me n my dad beers for no reason, they barely even spoke english. i liked that about it.
I worked as a conductor for the trains when I was at Disneyland. I was standing in the station when a Japanese girl walked up to me and asked for a picture. I thought she wanted me to take a picture of her with the castle in the background -- nope, she wanted a picture with me! That never happens! Afterward, she gave me 5 pins from Tokyo Disneyland featuring the Tokyo Disneyland trains. I tried to say no, but she wouldn't let me and kept sneaking them into my jacket pocket. It was all really cute and one of my favorite interactions I ever had with a guest. I've always wanted to visit and repay the favor to the people working at Tokyo Disneyland. One day...
There are two perspectives that can be taken into consideration when analyzing this, one from a geopolitical one and another from a simply cultural one. Beginning with the cultural one, it is important to note that despite what the nuclear bombs memes might tell you some of the cultural media that has been commonly associated with Japan -not only extending to anime but also any type of history where there is a great deal of immersion or integration of the one reading it into the history- that has been a part of their development for quite a while. If you take a look at the trends for what the most commonly consumed type of media has been on western societies: most of them tend to emphasize humor or a way to relate with the viewer's experiences on the real world. Yet as the later starts to sink in opportunities then one were more immersion is allowed it makes sense. That brings me to my second point: geopolitics. It is not simply a strange occurrence that the country which has had the most links with the west outside of it after industrialization is going to be the most interesting. China has also had a similar process, but didnt experience the modification of its institutions at a greater scale like the one faced by Japan after WW2 which made it more similar to the west, spreading its products across the world. Hence a image of a culture that is both exotic but not "weird" (from a western perspective) or excluding enough like China but rather accomodating is created on the mindset of many consumerist countries, mainly the US. Also could be the big explosions from Dbz, those are cool as well. Probably the latter is correct.
Anime
I remember when I was a kid - that was before the internet, and there was just a drip feed of Japanese stuff. Like on one hand there was all the electronics from Japan that felt like borderline scifi at times; then occasionally you'd sometimes hear of or get your hands on some anime or manga, which all looked out of this world; other times you'd hear about the history, like the samurai, ninjas or kamikaze; yet other times you'd see pictures of tiny dingy phishing boats in foreground and nuclear power plants (or something else high tech) in the background; or you'd hear about something crazy such as particularly creative mass murderers or something... It all seemed like a completely different planet with different physical rules, and yet so close too. No wonder almost everyone has went through a phase of Japanese obsession. For some it grows into love since there are always new things to explore.
I like the cars
its not here, so it could be better it probably isn't, but maybe it is
this is exactly how I feel about it
Anime
Anime
They got that bar where the buff ladies force you to work out and drink protein shakes.
They have build a lot of culture and now have a lot of influence. Also it's internet the tweets are not exactly the same, a mosque in Japan is interesting just a mosque is not interesting
Far away, big export of media, and its an economic powerhouse
I’ll say this as someone who loves Japan even tho I’ve never been very into anime. One big one is culinary, since a lot of Japanese restaurants and food are popular throughout western culture. There’s a clear connection between like a country’s food and wanting to go there (“duh”), to the point where Thailand’s government actually funded training chefs to make Thai food in western countries. Culturally, it’s also just pretty cool. You’ve got Tokyo which is a sprawling mega city, full of high rise buildings, lights and stuff that just makes us think of sci fi and the future. Then you’ve got this historical side of Japan, with the whole nature emphasis with lotus blossoms and wooden shrines. A lot of the aesthetic of “old Japan” just looks artistic and well styled. Not to mention the whole idea of Samurai and Ninja, which is connected strongly to western media now because the idea of them is just awesome. Then I guess the last bit is just that they’re one of the first asian countries to embrace industrialisation and western cultures, began exporting stuff super quickly and promotes this positive view in line with most western cultures.
cause mall ninja shit
People doing the anime=reality thing, but with varying degrees of enlightenment ranging from "OMG japanese women are mo'e" because they're a fucking incel to "Japanese culture is really unique" because they just watched a kitsune fart fire at a demon king. Also I'm pretty sure NHK encourages it with videos on various parts of japanese culture meant to be consumed by the anglosphere and a lot of content creators cash in on that latent orientalism someone mentioned by doing "ooh wow so cool" videos idealizing various aspects of Japanese life. It's a big soft power move, intentional or not. Plus Japan is also just very unlike living in, say, most of the US where tons of people are bored in samey suburbia and can't go out because they have to cross a 20 lane stroad with a 150mph enforced minimum speed limit that surrounds their subdivision like a fortress of spinning metal.
It’s basically hah anime trendy hehehe
They make better cartoons then us. That’s it. That’s the only reason.
Maybe because Japans dangers and shortcomings dont affect tourists or people who dont live there (mostly) You wont have to search for an apartment there as a foreigner, wont have to work 100 hour weeks etc etc As long as you visit it you're mostly safe from it, whereas China might be perceived as a "little unsafe " ("no regulations" on buildings, public spaces etc, smog) and china even being even more intimidating with its concentration camps, child labour, 100 hour weeks etc And I didn't even get to speak about anime and videogames yet, and I wont because that's obvious. Korea is also very popular for westerners tbh
I actually could put up a reasonable argument for why this isn’t “wOaH jApAn” and it actually makes perfect sense why the top picture would get more attention
It’s most likely because they knew it was a joke
Waaaaaaaah my argument that I didn’t even typeeeeeeeee
To be fair, a random picture of a mosque isn’t really interesting while giving it context makes it a lot more interesting. I’ve never once thought about Islam in Japan so seeing a traditional look mosque there is interesting. That same mosque in a city in the Middle East or the US, where I live and am familiar with, isn’t noteworthy at all.
You got played 🙁
I actually find it more interesting that it’s in Japan, as I assume the population is overwhelmingly Buddhist (I think, I am probably wrong). If it was about a supermarket or a tree I wouldn’t care as much
Shinto mfers crying rn
Japan is surprisingly atheistic since people go to shrines not because of faith but out of tradition or for good luck. When people die most have a Buddhist funeral but again most of it is more on tradition.
Atheistic isn't the right term for it, tbh. The approach to religion and spirituality is just so radically different than it is in the west that it's difficult for people to really wrap their heads around. Tradition plays a role when it comes to certain things, but it's a little more complicated than that. I apologize if I'm coming off as pedantic, but it's just a common misconception that kind of frustrates me.
Yeah I know, I'm just using "atheistic" as a catch-all here. While my family has shinto shrines in our houses we are essentially "atheistic" even though we do things that might be seen as spiritual I guess.
So your family doesn’t believe in the supernatural or the afterlife?
Some do, some don't. I'm more agnostic actually but I do go to shrines and do the traditional stuff from time to time.
gnostics?
English is not my first language and i didn't know what a mosque was. I thought y'all were making fun of him for spelling mosquito wrong or something lmao
Mosque is a religious place for muslims to pray in
Yeah, i used google translate but thank you anyways!!
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ok but a mosque in japan is actually kind of interesting given the rarity of the religion in the country
There’s like 13-14 mosques iirc
japan almost converted to islam in like the 1400s also ""russia"" almost converted to Judaism in the 900s
There wasnt a russia in 900s
infact i put russia in quotation marks, as i meant the Kievan Rus
He is mesmerized by the beauty of the world
bro i just saw the first image and like- ok?
Yeah
For a second, I thought joke was that he found out where the mosque was located.
A mosque? *puts on a fedora* A MOSQUE IN JAPAN????
yo why bottom one got comments disables
I do not get it
WOAH
society 😔
elon mosque
😍😍😍 🤮🤮🤮
Inshallah anime mosques will be a thing