# My Opinion of Japanese People **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 18, 2011, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-opinion-of-japanese-people/575091 "2011-03-18T00:34:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-opinion-of-japanese-people/575091/21 "2011-03-18T06:28:22Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > What exactly did they do in WWII that was so disgusting that the U.S. has never done? Get nuked? [Unit 731](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unit_731) ---
**Author:** ![Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f08c70/32.png) [@Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crowbar_of_Irony_3)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-opinion-of-japanese-people/575091/22 "2011-03-18T08:02:29Z")
> [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](#): > > If you asked me many years ago, I’d say they were a disgusting people based on their WWII record. > > But now, having faced a tripple disaster worse than anything I’ve witnessed in the news, I just have to admire them. > > They are so calm and disciplined in the face of this disaster. > > Victims wait in line for food and water in an orderly fashion > > Where’s the looting you read about in virtually every other disaster ? > > Workers taking huge risks on behalf of their people. Real heros > > Simply incredible. [This article](http://www.slate.com/id/2288514/pagenum/all/#p2) attempts to sum up why. It’s more of cultural and mindset. ---
**Author:** ![xoferew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/e9a140/32.png) [@xoferew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xoferew)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 10:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-opinion-of-japanese-people/575091/23 "2011-03-18T10:22:19Z")
> [@shijinn](#): > > the children in the US don’t do that? who does it then? When I worked in a Japanese middle school the kids waxed the floors of the school. It took weeks of careful planning and logistics to make sure that each kid had roughly the same few square feet of school to wax. It took hundreds of buckets. The kids also did work like incinerating trash, cleaning the male teachers’ ashtrays, and washing the outside of second story windows by standing on chairs and leaning carefully. And of course they cleaned the floors with rags every day. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-opinion-of-japanese-people/575091/24 "2011-03-18T11:03:48Z")
> [@xoferew](#): > > When I worked in a Japanese middle school the kids waxed the floors of the school. It took weeks of careful planning and logistics to make sure that each kid had roughly the same few square feet of school to wax. It took hundreds of buckets. The kids also did work like incinerating trash, cleaning the male teachers’ ashtrays, and washing the outside of second story windows by standing on chairs and leaning carefully. And of course they cleaned the floors with rags every day. Women don’t get to smoke in Japanese schools? ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-opinion-of-japanese-people/575091/25 "2011-03-18T11:33:37Z")
> [@xoferew](#): > > When I worked in a Japanese middle school the kids waxed the floors of the school. Well, that explains their dominance in the field of karate. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-opinion-of-japanese-people/575091/26 "2011-03-18T11:56:11Z")
I’m boggled at the notion that people are still judging the Japanese by what happened in World War II. It’s apparently not just the OP - oh, rape of Nanking, Unit 731, and they never apologized! Aside from the fact they have apologized, Jesus Christ, guys; what country doesn’t have skeletons in its closet? The U.S. enslaved much of its own populace, massacred Filipino citizens by the thousand, annihilated Indian tribes. The British have even more blood on their hands. France’s history is drenched in blood. Hell, even Belgium has a lot of cruelty and murder in its history. Let’s not even get into Germany or Russia. Why is Japan getting picked out? Why are they different? Oh… oh, right. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-opinion-of-japanese-people/575091/27 "2011-03-18T12:09:54Z")
Here’s another article on the positive impressiojn the Japanese have made; I liked it. [Restoring Japan’s confidence and its people’s big dreams](http://globalpublicsquare.blogs.cnn.com/2011/03/16/restoring-japan-confidence-and-its-peoples-big-dreams/?hpt=Sbin) > [@RickJay](#): > > Let’s not even get into Germany or Russia. If only Hitler had listened to you! ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-opinion-of-japanese-people/575091/28 "2011-03-18T12:17:51Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > I’m boggled at the notion that people are still judging the Japanese by what happened in World War II. It’s apparently not just the OP - oh, rape of Nanking, Unit 731, and they never apologized! > > Aside from the fact they have apologized, Jesus Christ, guys; what country doesn’t have skeletons in its closet? The U.S. enslaved much of its own populace, massacred Filipino citizens by the thousand, annihilated Indian tribes. The British have even more blood on their hands. France’s history is drenched in blood. Hell, even Belgium has a lot of cruelty and murder in its history. Let’s not even get into Germany or Russia. > > Why is Japan getting picked out? Why are they different? Oh… oh, right. Because the topic is about the Japanese? Going on about Naziism would just be an off-topic invocation of Godwin’s Law. And I haven’t heard Japan’s misdeeds in WWII get dragged out in general any more than I have those of Germany, Russia, or the US during the same war. Rather less than those of Germany, obviously. For what its worth, the Japanese were also ultimately responsible for providing haven for tens of thousands of Jews during the Holocaust, due to both official actions and individual government agents working independently. You might be interested in reading about Chiune Sugihara and the Shanghai Ghetto (two different topics, actually) ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-opinion-of-japanese-people/575091/29 "2011-03-18T13:30:08Z")
Waiting in line out of a need doesn’t impress me at all, what does is people having running water putting a sign in front of their house advertising it and welcoming people in to fill water bottles. When ones compassion for their fellow man overpowers the fear of one’s fellow man real progress has been made. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-opinion-of-japanese-people/575091/30 "2011-03-18T13:46:52Z")
> [@rhubarbarin](#): > > LOL ‘a disgusting people’. What an ignorant way to think. But unfortunately not all that uncommon. > [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](#): > > Victims wait in line for food and water in an orderly fashion OK - there I have to disagree. When it comes to the ultimate ability to stand in line in an orderly fashion you need to go back to the Soviet Union circa 1960s to 80s. Forget food and water, people there would stand in line having no idea what the line was for. Not _that_ is impressive. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-opinion-of-japanese-people/575091/31 "2011-03-18T14:02:24Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > Rape of Nanking, anyone? Plus the Japanese are unrepentent while the US and Germans have shown apology for their previous evil-ie their imperialist revanchism over Dokdo. Your moral equivalence of the US and Japan is disgusting. Would you like a list of American atrocities the US hasn’t apologized for? We could start with Hiroshima and Nagasaki. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-opinion-of-japanese-people/575091/32 "2011-03-18T14:08:35Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > [Unit 731](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unit_731) You think the US hasn’t done similar shit? Ever heard of the Tuskegee experiement? Did you know we gave Saddam chemical wepaons to hose the Kurds with? It’s asinine to suggest that one nationlity of people can somehow be more evil or more “disgusting” than any other group. That’s magical thinking. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-opinion-of-japanese-people/575091/33 "2011-03-18T14:12:09Z")
> [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](#): > > If you asked me many years ago, I’d say they were a disgusting people based on their WWII record. > [@RickJay](#): > > I’m boggled at the notion that people are still judging the Japanese by what happened in World War II. It’s apparently not just the OP… You and many others simply can’t read. I was expressing an attitude I had over 40 years ago implying a past tense twice for my attitude. That was an attitude that was reflected by a majority of North Americans at that time for a generation that existed during the war. In other words, I’m **not** still judging the Japanese people by what happened in WWII. The purpose of my post was to reflect on the differences of the generation of WWII and the present generation with respect to their humanity. To me, it is simply amazing. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-opinion-of-japanese-people/575091/34 "2011-03-18T15:00:28Z")
Two words: **tentacle rape**. This post mandated by _ **Rule 34, subsection iv: Posts concerning Japan** _. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-opinion-of-japanese-people/575091/35 "2011-03-18T15:21:31Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > Rape of Nanking, anyone? Plus the Japanese are unrepentent while the US and Germans have shown apology for their previous evil-ie their imperialist revanchism over Dokdo. Your moral equivalence of the US and Japan is disgusting. The very foundation of our country was based on rape and murder. Remember all those Native Americans that used to live here? Yeah. > [@squeegee](#): > > I don’t think the US (or Canada for that matter) has done anything (at least in the last 100 years) as, um, unfortunate as [the rape of Nanking](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanking_Massacre), which is controversial to this day in Japan and there is denial in some quarters that it ever happened. Even if you want to limit yourself to the last 100 years (which is a little bit arbitrary), it’s not like U.S. soldiers have never raped, murdered, or used biological weapons. Maybe not as many all at once, but the point that we have no claim to overall moral superiority remains. Canadians though, I dunno. They do have free healthcare. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-opinion-of-japanese-people/575091/36 "2011-03-18T16:00:40Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > Did you know we gave Saddam chemical wepaons to hose the Kurds with? Let’s see a cite _for this specific claim_. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-opinion-of-japanese-people/575091/37 "2011-03-18T16:10:08Z")
What about all the Japanese people who are still engaging in nefarious acts, Dutchman? Do they get whitewashed by this the same way that Japanese people who never did anything bad or harmful were tarred by the Rape of Nanking? ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-opinion-of-japanese-people/575091/38 "2011-03-18T17:02:58Z")
> [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](#): > > You and many others simply can’t read. I was expressing an attitude I had over 40 years ago implying a past tense twice for my attitude. Speaking of atrocities 40 years ago, the day before your OP was the 43rd anniversary of the [My Lai Massacre](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Lai). . ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-opinion-of-japanese-people/575091/39 "2011-03-18T17:12:14Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > Well, that explains their dominance in the field of karate. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-opinion-of-japanese-people/575091/40 "2011-03-18T17:23:26Z")
> [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](#): > > The purpose of my post was to reflect on the differences of the generation of WWII and the present generation with respect to their humanity. To me, it is simply amazing. I would suggest that your fallacy is in believing that there is any significant difference in the ‘humanity’ of the Japanese people then and now. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-opinion-of-japanese-people/575091.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-opinion-of-japanese-people/575091.md?page=3)