Japan's self-image

[Bender]

I live in Australia and I sometimes watch the TV program "Iron Chef". The new Iron Chef Japanese who was just appointed used to work in New York, USA. On the back of his uniform is an American flag, and all his Japanese dishes have some US influence (like little Statues of Liberty etc.).

Now, why oh why are the Japanese so obsessed with Americans and want to imitate everything the Americans do? The US:
(1) killed about 250,000 Japanese citizens in Hiroshima and Nagasaki with a nuclear weapons TEST that was totally unneccessary.
(2) is a crime-ridden country that has never been OUT of wars.
(3) believe that the entire world is US property.
(4) was attacked by terrorists because of their foolish one-sided support for Israel, but they tell other nations this is a global problem and ask other countries to supply soldiers to fight their wars.
(5) destroyed the world economy with their own greed, then ask all other governments to pour truckloads of money into the economy to fix it.

The Japanese are such nice people! You don't need to imitate Americans, or think that they are somehow better than you are. Please don't give up your own culture and traditions, because you are so much nicer than them. If Iron Chef Japanese insists on wearing a flag on the back of his uniform, he should be proud to wear the Japanese flag.

[MMM]

Chef Morimoto is a rebel. He is (or at least was) the main chef at Nobu in Manhattan. There is nothing wrong with adding an American influence to his cooking, just as an American chef living in France would likely be influenced by French style and cuisine, despite the two countries not always having the best relationships politically.

Your five "points" are not only factually inaccurate, but are schoolyard taunts that I am not going to even get into.

[Uriko]

what if mister Iron Chef Japanese is also of American descent? :]

[MMM]

From Wikipedia:

Masaharu Morimoto (森本 正治 Morimoto Masaharu?, born May 26, 1955 in Hiroshima, Japan) is a well-known Japanese chef, best-known as the third Iron Chef Japanese on the TV cooking show Iron Chef, and an Iron Chef on its spinoff, Iron Chef America. Morimoto's costume on Iron Chef is silver with red trim and a picture on the back of Japanese and American flags tied together in a sheaf, while on Iron Chef America he dons the standard blue Iron Chef outfit with white trim and a patch of the Japanese flag on his sleeve (the other Iron Chefs America have an American flag).

[Hatredcopter]

Your blind hatred for America is really indicative of the petty individual that you are. My impressions of the Australian people that I've made friends with here in Japan were that they were open-minded, friendly, and easy to get along with. You, clearly, don't fall into the same categories.

Japan is a very homogeneous country. As such, many Japanese are curious to learn about foreign countries/cultures, whether it be their food, architecture, language, or whatever. If you think they imitate America only, come to Japan and see how many Italian, French, and Indian food restaurants there are here.

Originally Posted by Bender

(1) killed about 250,000 Japanese citizens in Hiroshima and Nagasaki with a nuclear weapons TEST that was totally unneccessary.

If you're really going to bring that up, please look at both sides of what happened during that period in time:

Nanking Massacre - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Unit 731 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Ronin4hire]

Originally Posted by Bender

Now, why oh why are the Japanese so obsessed with Americans and want to imitate everything the Americans do?

Where do you get that idea from?

The only really American thing that Japanese society in general does in my opinion is like baseball....

[Ronin4hire]

Originally Posted by Hatredcopter

If you're really going to bring that up, please look at both sides of what happened during that period in time:

Nanking Massacre - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Unit 731 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

While I'm not trying to side with the OP....

I hope you're not suggesting that 2 (or more) wrongs make a right.

[Nyororin]

Sorry, but I see this thread heading in a very bad direction.

Let`s not bash countries, okay? I think the original post is already on the edge... So I am closing this topic. Japanese history has been discussed elsewhere, and information about the US can be found pretty much anywhere on the net. With a bit of research, I also think it would be found that Japan doesn`t really worship the US these days at all.