Quote:
Originally Posted by Nyororin
Wow, that is one that I find surprising. I don`t know anyone in Japan who knows those sort of stereotypes - they seem to be limited to the US... Although I assume your teacher had probably lived in the US for a while (if not forever) and picked it up there.
In regards to the actual topic...
I DO think that a LOT of users on here have a very distorted view of Japan, but not in the way that the original poster implied. Those are "common" misconceptions, and are known well enough that someone who has never been to Japan (Like the OP I presume) can find countless bits of information about them.
It`s the other, more subtle things that seem to be muddled a lot more. It`s people`s beliefs about what they can accomplish in Japan, about the ease of hopping to another country to live, etc that are the real "distortions" obvious on this board. Another big glaring one (on this board) has to do with fashion, as the "Japanese fashion styles" so adored pretty much exist only in the minds of other foreign "fans". In real Japan, it`s dress up time in one or two TINY locations, and nothing near a way of life or accepted. It`s sort of like going to a costume party and making the assumption that everyone can get away with that in everyday life. In other words, so far from reality that it`s laughable.
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exactly, and it's easily to side with the OP on this issue if you look at a lot of the threads/posts here. But, it's also easy to realize a lot of these posters are young and still very ambitious. I also wish to move to Japan to stay/live/work and I know it's going to be very HARD. A lot harder then the USA to work at a company. Much overtime work, lot more expectations and the like. Rightfully so, because if I'm not going to do it, I'm sure there's someone else in line behind me that can and will. These things are natural when entering the real world (not lolita-goth-anime-whatever world that people dream of) in Japan.
I'm also a fan of Japanese fashion, but like what you posted...not that Harajuku/Lolita/Goth/Maid stuff that is weekend fantasy wear. Real Japanese fashion is very nice, I love 'oshare' looks and different styles of hair (another thing they seem to think is everyone has their favorite J-Rocker/VisualKei haircut). The fact of the matter is, none of these styles would get the wearer a normal job at any normal company and is purely fantasy and only a minority when it comes to Japan and fashion. I don't mean to be negative on this issue, but it sometimes bothers me too...as we see a lot of it here.
I'm sure once they visit real Japan (outside of Tokyo) I'm sure they'd understand what we're talking about.
