# 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:** 16\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![shijinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@shijinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shijinn)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2011, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-opinion-of-japanese-people/575091/81 "2011-03-20T07:07:35Z")
> [@HazelNutCoffee](#): > > Teachers and staff. (Although in third grade the students did clean the blackboards as a reward - for some reason everyone wanted the privilege. And the 6-7th graders did hall monitor duty.) > > When I first started school in Korea I was horrified to learn that the students were expected to sweep and mop the floors themselves. In American schools you have janitors for that. in Singapore we have janitors but the students are expected to clean up after themselves, especially their classrooms. > [@Colophon](#): > > Well, that explains their dominance in the field of karate. ipad. wet. do you know how often i have to clean the screen? ---
**Author:** ![rekkah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ee59a6/32.png) [@rekkah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rekkah)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2011, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-opinion-of-japanese-people/575091/82 "2011-03-20T21:09:02Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > Yes, because torturing 399 people vs 780,000 people is exactly the same on the scale of evil acts. :rolleyes: Talk about magical thinking… What is the minimum number of victims used for the definition of evil acts? Is there some kind of internationally-recognised unit of evil-measurement? ---
**Author:** ![may\_be\_ignorant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c5a1d2/32.png) [@may\_be\_ignorant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/may_be_ignorant)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2011, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-opinion-of-japanese-people/575091/83 "2011-03-20T21:55:07Z")
[quote=“Rigamarole, post:35, topic:575091”] The very foundation of our country was based on rape and murder.QUOTE] I don’t know if I would take it that far, but we’ve done some bad stuff, yeah. ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2011, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-opinion-of-japanese-people/575091/84 "2011-03-20T23:20:54Z")
> [@China\_Guy](#): > > Well, actually, based on my experience in Japan, the younger folk were indoctrinated from a young age to buy the Hiroshima/Nagasaki victim card hook line and sinker. YMMV. But that also doesn’t mean that younger Japanese are responsible for WW2 either. > > Talk about irony, but the Mazda factory in China is located in Nanjing. The Japanese I knew there were treated with the respect. I know plenty of Chinese who won’t buy Japanese. It’s not a black and white issue. > > As I said earlier, my father is a WW2 and Korean war combat vet, as well as a protestant minister for his career. Having both a partially Japanese daughter in law and a Chinese daughter in law, and grandkids that speak Chinese better than English, made for a lot of self examination. And he loves his daughter’s in law and the passel of grandkids unconditionally. But I grew up with “nip” and “gook” as being his go to words. Yet he used “negro” like his mother because that was enlightened instead of “n_gg_r.” And he had American Japanese Nisei close friends of whom he showed the utmost respect. So, this shit is complicated, especially if you’re 60 or 70 or 80 years old. I don’t think “negro” is inherently racist-its still on the census forms as an option along with “African-American” and “black”. > [@rekkah](#): > > What is the minimum number of victims used for the definition of evil acts? Is there some kind of internationally-recognised unit of evil-measurement? No but would you say Gadaffi and Hitler are equally evil? ---
**Author:** ![rekkah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ee59a6/32.png) [@rekkah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rekkah)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2011, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-opinion-of-japanese-people/575091/85 "2011-03-21T00:22:48Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > No but would you say Gadaffi and Hitler are equally evil? Is that a useful comparison? Are we letting off everyone who can be judged to be less evil than Hitler? Or should we perhaps accept that all humanity is at times capable of acting wrongly, that some wrongs are worse than others, but that the actions of one person or a group of people don’t necessarily define a whole country? ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2011, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-opinion-of-japanese-people/575091/86 "2011-03-21T01:48:46Z")
By the way, for the past week, the only thing I’ve heard here in Korea from Koreans of all sectors of society is not “Japan deserved it,” but rather, “How can we help?” I like that. I also hope some others (like those folks in the “facebook meme” idiocy) will learn something from that. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2011, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-opinion-of-japanese-people/575091/87 "2011-03-21T02:32:50Z")
> [@spark240](#): > > **RickJay** and others who have come down hard on **Dutchman** –do you not believe that nations, cultures, peoples can _have_ characters? That at any given time, some are in a better (by whatever standards) place than others? > > I don’t see why it should be _categorically inadmissible_ that the Japanese (by which I mean the citizens of the nation of Japan, not people of Japanese ethnicity) are a better people today than they were 70 years ago. (Substitute any nationality and any time period here–my point isn’t about Japan in particular, but about the general concept of judging “a people.”) Because any such generalization is, by its nature, invidious. How do you react to generalizations about your country? Assuming you’re American, how many of those generalizations (loud, unwilling to learn foreign languages, imperialistic, insular, xenophobic, etc. etc.) are you willing to take on as meaningful regarding you? The point is that Japan is and always has been, as every country or group is and always has been, a collection of individuals. “The people of Japan” is an abstract concept, which cannot, by its nature, have a “character” of the type being discussed here. Only the individuals in the group have characteristics of that sort. Some Japanese are petty, or criminal, or vicious, or out for what they can get. Some may have characters bordering on sainthood. And all the range of whatever you can think of in between. I have known a lot of Japanese people in my life, and I am not comfortable making generalizations about them. I have known even more Americans, and I don’t make generalizations about them either. “A people” is just a bunch of people. They may share cultural or physical similarities. Beyond that it makes no sense to discuss generalizations. Roddy ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2011, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-opinion-of-japanese-people/575091/88 "2011-03-21T02:35:13Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > By the way, for the past week, the only thing I’ve heard here in Korea from Koreans of all sectors of society is not “Japan deserved it,” but rather, “How can we help?” I like that. I also hope some others (like those folks in the “facebook meme” idiocy) will learn something from that. I am impressed. When I was there on a brief visit in 1987, the tour guide shared a lot of bitterness about the Japanese occupation (from 1905 to 1945, I think). She led us to believe that everyone thought that way. I am glad to see that there are counter-examples. Roddy ---
**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 21, 2011, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-opinion-of-japanese-people/575091/89 "2011-03-21T02:47:10Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > Because any such generalization is, by its nature, invidious. How do you react to generalizations about your country? Assuming you’re American, how many of those generalizations (loud, unwilling to learn foreign languages, imperialistic, insular, xenophobic, etc. etc.) are you willing to take on as meaningful regarding you? > > The point is that Japan is and always has been, as every country or group is and always has been, a collection of individuals. “The people of Japan” is an abstract concept, which cannot, by its nature, have a “character” of the type being discussed here. Only the individuals in the group have characteristics of that sort. Some Japanese are petty, or criminal, or vicious, or out for what they can get. Some may have characters bordering on sainthood. And all the range of whatever you can think of in between. I have known a lot of Japanese people in my life, and I am not comfortable making generalizations about them. I have known even more Americans, and I don’t make generalizations about them either. > > “A people” is just a bunch of people. They may share cultural or physical similarities. Beyond that it makes no sense to discuss generalizations. > Roddy For many years I’ve understood that the American deep south had a general negative character with respect to attitudes towards black people. I never thought it was neccessary to only consider members of the KKK with the charge of bigotry. It doesn’t take rocket science to be aware that any culture is not made up of unanamously minded individuals, but when a particularly negative expression of a collective society predominates, that society, the people, can and should be subject to criticism. ---
**Author:** ![Mosier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ea924/32.png) [@Mosier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mosier)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2011, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-opinion-of-japanese-people/575091/90 "2011-03-21T03:45:55Z")
> [@dhkendall](#): > > No judgment calls, just checking. Bull. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2011, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-opinion-of-japanese-people/575091/91 "2011-03-21T08:18:59Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > Because they are still revanchist over their former imperial territories. You don’t see Germany calling for East Prussia back despite it having been German for centuries as compared to Dokdo which Japan annexed only in the last century. There are a number of disputed territories, mostly historically uninhabited, in the Pacific, including the Spratly Islands which are claimed by the Philippines, China, Taiwan, Vietnam, etc., and the Sengoku islands, claimed by Japan and China. To equate disputed territories to East Prussia does not help your cause. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2011, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-opinion-of-japanese-people/575091/92 "2011-03-21T20:36:28Z")
> [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](#): > > For many years I’ve understood that the American deep south had a general negative character with respect to attitudes towards black people. I never thought it was neccessary to only consider members of the KKK with the charge of bigotry. It doesn’t take rocket science to be aware that any culture is not made up of unanamously minded individuals, but when a particularly negative expression of a collective society predominates, that society, the people, can and should be subject to criticism. I disagree, especially with your concept of “collective society”, which in my opinion is a useless and misleading one. To what end, exactly, would you criticise a society? If you make that judgment and then meet one person from the south, do you treat that person as if they corresponded to your opinion of their place of origin? Or do you legislate so as to punish that society? Do you personally boycott the area? It seems to me that all you get is the personal comfort of pigeon-holing a bunch of people that you don’t know. By all means, criticise any behavior that you find disagreeable. When you see instances of that behavior, point and laugh (or whatever your reaction is). I immediately lose respect for your discourse, however, when you do what you did here, which is to paint a whole society with such a broad brush. Not to mention that I believe that your characterization of the South is wrong and out of date. Roddy ---
**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 22, 2011, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-opinion-of-japanese-people/575091/93 "2011-03-22T03:23:39Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > Not to mention that I believe that your characterization of the South is wrong and out of date. Well I didn’t charracterize the present American south . I did use the past tense. Given that you believe my characterization is out of date, implies it must have been in date at some point, then I must conclude that we are in agreement after all and that you do accept that characterizing a “collective society” (who were you quoting here?) is warranted in some cases. ---
**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 22, 2011, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-opinion-of-japanese-people/575091/94 "2011-03-22T03:55:25Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > Because they still portray themselves as victim due to the atom bombings while the Germans have the decency to accept (with the exception of far-righters) that they have little right to consider themselves victims for Dresden? I hope you do take up a class in logic and learn how hard it is to prove a “For all X, if X is Y, then X is…” statement. Anyway, this is a story I heard from a friend, and hence it is not a first-hand account though to me it’s plausible. A little bit of background: we’re located in a former Japanese-occupied territory. The friend is from a media school and a group of his friends were working on a RTS mod for a project. The theme they chose was the period in WWII when the Japanese invaded the country. So the demo featured primarily Japanese military units, and their acknowledgement voice over was in Japanese. As they were showing off the demo (hooked up to a projector and speakers), as luck would have it, there were a couple of Japanese visitors at the school. When they stopped by to see what was going on, the visitor apologized profusely to my friends for their past actions. Grain of salt and etc. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2011, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-opinion-of-japanese-people/575091/95 "2011-03-22T14:26:17Z")
The question of apologies and responsibilities for actions in WWII is not as easy as it may seem. Japanese, for the most part, are not particularly knowledgeable about the war. The subject gets rushed through in high school history. There haven’t been a push to educate the public about the terrible atrocities which their troops committed. A Japanese friend back in the early 80s was surprised to find out that a elderly Korean woman knew Japanese, and had no idea why. However, there isn’t a really strong feeling of being simply victims of the atomic bombs either. Certainly the people I know who lived through the firebombing knew the hell which that war was for civilians. After the war, the Japanese did a collective, let’s pretend it never happened, which was partially enabled by the American occupying forces who found it convenient to coop the emperor, for example. OTOH, the Chinese have aggressively played the victim of the Japanese during the war, and while while this certainly was the case, the government neglects to mention the even greater number of civilians killed by the policies of Mao after the war. I’ve read that the younger Chinese now are angrier than the generation who lived in the war. While it’s easy to pretend it’s a blank and white issue, the truth is more messy. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2011, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-opinion-of-japanese-people/575091/96 "2011-03-22T15:47:44Z")
> [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](#): > > Well I didn’t charracterize the present American south . I did use the past tense. Given that you believe my characterization is out of date, implies it must have been in date at some point, then I must conclude that we are in agreement after all and that you do accept that characterizing a “collective society” (who were you quoting here?) is warranted in some cases. Yes, I should not have said “out of date” I should have just stuck with “wrong”, because that actually reflects my opinion. I was getting tired of writing at that point so I took a misleading shortcut. Here is what I meant: Even if it were accurate to characterize a society in this way, which it isn’t, your characterization seems to be based on something from the past rather than current conditions. Therefore, for two reasons, it’s wrong. By the way, although you used the word “had” as an indicator of past tense, your syntax is by no means all that clear; you used “I’ve understood” to indicate a present condition. It is, at best, ambiguous. For what it’s worth. Roddy [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-opinion-of-japanese-people/575091.md?page=4)