# Weeaboos for countries other than Japan? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 15, 2014, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weeaboos-for-countries-other-than-japan/701407 "2014-10-15T16:08:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2014, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weeaboos-for-countries-other-than-japan/701407/41 "2014-10-17T18:19:17Z")
A somewhat-reverse case is a bizzare phenominon I read about (can’t claim I know the truth about it, but it seemed well-documented) of a popular subject at one time in Japan of - believing in the worst European stereotypes concerning Jews (of whom there are few in Japan), but with a twist: finding those stereotypes admirable. 😃 Apparently, at one time, there were articles in Japan with titles like “what we can learn from those clever Jews”, and citing all sorts of stereotypes about how the Jews secretly controlled everything. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2014, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weeaboos-for-countries-other-than-japan/701407/42 "2014-10-17T18:20:36Z")
[Maybe they got the idea from this guy.](http://www.theonion.com/articles/affable-antisemite-thinks-the-jews-are-doing-super,3007/) ---
**Author:** ![LC\_Strawhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e19adc/32.png) [@LC\_Strawhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LC_Strawhouse)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2014, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weeaboos-for-countries-other-than-japan/701407/43 "2014-10-17T23:01:07Z")
There are lots of Germans who are fanatics about [Native American Indians](http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/12/travel/12iht-12karl.7479952.html?pagewanted=all). When I was first in Germany I was **very** surprised and distracted to see cliche Native Indian stuff everywhere on a daily basis (like replica headdresses for sale at country kiosks, or records with titles like “Horst Meissner sings Native Indian Love Songs” in shop windows), but apparently this is so familiar as to be beneath comment. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2014, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weeaboos-for-countries-other-than-japan/701407/44 "2014-10-18T01:22:57Z")
> [@Malthus](#): > > A somewhat-reverse case is a bizzare phenominon I read about (can’t claim I know the truth about it, but it seemed well-documented) of a popular subject at one time in Japan of - believing in the worst European stereotypes concerning Jews (of whom there are few in Japan), but with a twist: finding those stereotypes admirable. 😃 > > Apparently, at one time, there were articles in Japan with titles like “what we can learn from those clever Jews”, and citing all sorts of stereotypes about how the Jews secretly controlled everything. It’s not so much that the Japanese _admired_ the stereotypical Jew as that they figured that if the Jews controlled the Western economies, were plotting to secretly take over the world, etc., then it would be wise for Japan to stay on their good side. This was back before and during WWII, and it was particularly hoped that American Jews would be able to use their influence to help Japan. You can read more about this on Wikipedia: [Jewish settlement in the Japanese Empire](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_settlement_in_the_Japanese_Empire) ---
**Author:** ![palacheck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a88e57/32.png) [@palacheck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/palacheck)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2014, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weeaboos-for-countries-other-than-japan/701407/45 "2014-10-18T01:56:33Z")
Hungary has a large number of people into the whole Rockabilly subculture. Sweden too, if I remember correctly. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2014, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weeaboos-for-countries-other-than-japan/701407/46 "2014-10-18T02:56:42Z")
There are a lot of Thailand-o-philes out there. And they’re usually annoying gits when they come here. > [@LC\_Strawhouse](#): > > There are lots of Germans who are fanatics about [Native American Indians](http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/12/travel/12iht-12karl.7479952.html?pagewanted=all). When I was first in Germany I was **very** surprised and distracted to see cliche Native Indian stuff everywhere on a daily basis (like replica headdresses for sale at country kiosks, or records with titles like “Horst Meissner sings Native Indian Love Songs” in shop windows), but apparently this is so familiar as to be beneath comment. When I lived in Albuquerque, it often seemed to me like you could not swing a cat by the tail anywhere in the Southwest without hitting a German. They love it there. ---
**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:** [October 18, 2014, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weeaboos-for-countries-other-than-japan/701407/47 "2014-10-18T03:31:42Z")
> [@Claverhouse](#): > > So they met French people. Big deal. Reread what I wrote, they have this over-idealized version of France, and discover that it’s completely wrong. > [@DrDeth](#): > > They are wrong, and are back-defining the word. “Tidal wave” has always been a huge wave caused by a earthquake, etc. See the line “Tidal wave was used in earlier times to describe what we now call a tsunami.” The US Geological Survey (my link) is wrong and you are right? Why don’t you drop them an email, I’m sure they would love to be corrected by some random guy on the Internet. > [@](#): > > They started using “Tsunami” as they were 'weeaboos". Why? Well, “because the waves are not caused by tides”. Sure. No one thought they were. “Tidal” in this case meant “in the sea, in a area that has tides”. The is simply BS. The number of people crazy about Japan is an extremely small part of the population. “Tsunami” really started to be used after the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami. > [@BigT](#): > > The reason I have a problem with weaboos is that they’re kinda (unintentionally) racist. I’m not sure that’s the case with other -ophiles. I think so. At the least, it’s derogatory where “Japanophilies” is neutral. > [@Marley23](#): > > The second one. The idea is that their expectations are so totally unrealistic that the city itself becomes a crushing disappointment. I didn’t explain it well, but this is close. It has to do with the people’s extreme disappointment with the French people and culture. I actually dated a woman who was like that. She was an artist and loved French art, so she went over to study French for six months, thinking that she was going off to live in some sort of fantasy land. > [@](#): > > In other words, nobody’s working from the wrong definition. An insult for a specific type of person got applied to a much bigger group of people. Quoting from the OP, someone who is “fanatic about all things Japanese. Anime, food, social norms, whatever.” probably isn’t just going off of stereotypes or fiction. They sound pretty well-informed about the country. Which apparently is bad if you’re white I agree with this mostly, but I think that most people who are completely into Japanese culture aren’t really that well informed. They’re not in lala land like some, but they really haven’t lived there, and have not experienced it day in and day out. I don’t know if I ever knew anyone who had lived in Japan for more than a few months who still had stars in their eyes. The reverse is also true. Japanese get an image of the US from movies and such, and you don’t get the entire picture until you experience a culture yourself. Many, if not most people don’t realize how many negative parts there are about a culture which are intrinsically connected to the good parts. The Japanese love for quality is wonderful, until you’re an American manufacturer trying to sell into that market. Asian “family values” means that there are a hell of a lot of daughter-in-laws biting their tongues. You can say that for any culture. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2014, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weeaboos-for-countries-other-than-japan/701407/48 "2014-10-20T14:21:32Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > It’s not so much that the Japanese _admired_ the stereotypical Jew as that they figured that if the Jews controlled the Western economies, were plotting to secretly take over the world, etc., then it would be wise for Japan to stay on their good side. This was back before and during WWII, and it was particularly hoped that American Jews would be able to use their influence to help Japan. > > You can read more about this on Wikipedia: [Jewish settlement in the Japanese Empire](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_settlement_in_the_Japanese_Empire) Reading various bits in Wikipedia, it seems a complex mix: some Japanese conspiracy-theory authors admired the Jews (even going so far as to claim Jewish ancestry for the Japanese), others were more typical anti-Semites. The Japanese invented a very appropriate name for this form of literature: > [@](#): > > At the end of 20th century, many books about Japanese-Jewish common ancestry theory were sold. Numerous theories and explanations for the alleged Jewish control of the world were circulated. These books, called tondemo-bon (outrageous or preposterous books), contained elements of the occult and tabloid-style speculation. ---
**Author:** ![jovan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/0ea827/32.png) [@jovan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jovan)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2014, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weeaboos-for-countries-other-than-japan/701407/49 "2014-10-20T15:02:11Z")
In a great coincidence, there was a segment on the local (Japan) television tonight about Japanese who are over-the-top crazy about other cultures. It was variety television so there was no deep insight to be had, but it did feature some of the more stereotypical obsessions. Dreadlocked reggae dudes. The young housewife obsessed with Italy. The baby-boomer dandy with the Union Jack umbrella. The baby-boomer couple that styled their house like a 1950s diner. The baby-boomer cowboy. The baby-boomer western guy… ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2014, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weeaboos-for-countries-other-than-japan/701407/50 "2014-10-20T15:13:20Z")
> [@TokyoBayer](#): > > Tsunami" really started to be used after the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami. It’s the agreed upon scientific term for that particular phenomenon, with “tidal wave” being more of a pop-culture term, and “seismic sea wave” being a more recent term to describe the same thing. [http://wcatwc.arh.noaa.gov/?page=tsunami\_science](http://wcatwc.arh.noaa.gov/?page=tsunami_science) Prior to the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunamis, there just wasn’t ANY mention of the things at all, weeaboos or not. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2014, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weeaboos-for-countries-other-than-japan/701407/51 "2014-10-20T15:24:57Z")
> [@bump](#): > > It’s the agreed upon scientific term for that particular phenomenon, with “tidal wave” being more of a pop-culture term, and “seismic sea wave” being a more recent term to describe the same thing. > > [U.S. Tsunami Warning Centers](http://wcatwc.arh.noaa.gov/?page=tsunami_science) > > Prior to the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunamis, there just wasn’t ANY mention of the things at all, weeaboos or not. I may be misremembering, but I’m pretty sure I heard of tsunamis when I lived in Hawaii. Earlier there had been a big one that had hit the Big Island, called the [April Fool’s Day tsunami of 1946](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laup%C4%81hoehoe,_Hawaii). ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2014, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weeaboos-for-countries-other-than-japan/701407/52 "2014-10-20T15:47:36Z")
> [@bump](#): > > It’s the agreed upon scientific term for that particular phenomenon, with “tidal wave” being more of a pop-culture term, and “seismic sea wave” being a more recent term to describe the same thing. > > [U.S. Tsunami Warning Centers](http://wcatwc.arh.noaa.gov/?page=tsunami_science) > > Prior to the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunamis, there just wasn’t ANY mention of the things at all, weeaboos or not. Hard to claim “tidal wave” is a “pop-culture term”, since it dates from about 1820 or so. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2014, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weeaboos-for-countries-other-than-japan/701407/53 "2014-10-20T16:18:38Z")
It’s true though that tsunamis are not tidal waves. At least that was drummed into everyone over here after 2004. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2014, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weeaboos-for-countries-other-than-japan/701407/54 "2014-10-20T17:05:57Z")
> [@PookahMacPhellimey](#): > > Ireland has a lot of fans. Both people with (some) Irish ancestry, but I also know plenty of Dutch, Germans and Italians who are crazy about everything Irish or “Celtic”. Especially of the thatched cottage, music and ancient Celtic myths and legend variety. Goes for Scotland too, to a certain extent. I was interest to see how many people who were neither Scottish nor English felt very strongly about Scottish independence and I think a lot of it was about romantic “Braveheart” style ideas they had about the country. Good points. Scottish culture as celebrated in the US among people with some Scottish heritage often tends to be stereotyped to some degree. Many “Scottish” events in the US expect most men to show up in kilts. In Scotland today, kilts are not commonly worn in most venues. A wedding yes, going to a football game or hanging out at the pub with your buddies, no. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2014, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weeaboos-for-countries-other-than-japan/701407/55 "2014-10-20T18:02:21Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Hard to claim “tidal wave” is a “pop-culture term”, since it dates from about 1820 or so. That wasn’t what I meant. What I meant was that in say… 2001, the term “tidal wave” was almost exclusively used in a pop-culture sense, because real scientists and in-the-know people were using the term tsunami, in much the same way that the “Richter Scale” is only used by news drones and other popular sources, since real seismologists and geologists use the Moment magnitude scale (a 1970s replacement for the 1930s era Richter scale). ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2014, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weeaboos-for-countries-other-than-japan/701407/56 "2014-10-20T18:57:44Z")
> [@bump](#): > > That wasn’t what I meant. > > What I meant was that in say… 2001, the term “tidal wave” was almost exclusively used in a pop-culture sense, because real scientists and in-the-know people were using the term tsunami, in much the same way that the “Richter Scale” is only used by news drones and other popular sources, since real seismologists and geologists use the Moment magnitude scale (a 1970s replacement for the 1930s era Richter scale). Thing is, both terms are somewhat misleading. “Tidal waves” have nothing to do with tides (although they often resemble tides) and “tsumamis” are not generated by, or only appear in, harbours (although they often damage harbours). Similarly, the term “seismic sea wave” isn’t always accurate, because they can be caused by things other than seismic activity. Though the term “tsunami” appears to be winning in the vocabulary battle, it isn’t any more or less _inherently_ ‘correct’ than “tidal wave”; it is just an arbitrary choice that has gained favour, I suspect mostly because it _sounds_ more “correct” in English (as English-speakers may typically not be aware it means “harbour wave”). ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2014, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weeaboos-for-countries-other-than-japan/701407/57 "2014-10-20T19:02:36Z")
> [@Malthus](#): > > Thing is, both terms are somewhat misleading. “Tidal waves” have nothing to do with tides (although they often resemble tides) and “tsumamis” are not generated by, or only appear in, harbours (although they often damage harbours). Similarly, the term “seismic sea wave” isn’t always accurate, because they can be caused by things other than seismic activity. > > Though the term “tsunami” appears to be winning in the vocabulary battle, it isn’t any more or less _inherently_ ‘correct’ than “tidal wave”; it is just an arbitrary choice that has gained favour, I suspect mostly because it _sounds_ more “correct” in English (as English-speakers may typically not be aware it means “harbour wave”). Right. Thanks! ---
**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:** [October 21, 2014, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weeaboos-for-countries-other-than-japan/701407/58 "2014-10-21T00:23:25Z")
> [@SiamSam222](#): > > I may be misremembering, but I’m pretty sure I heard of tsunamis when I lived in Hawaii. Earlier there had been a big one that had hit the Big Island, called the [April Fool’s Day tsunami of 1946](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laup%C4%81hoehoe,_Hawaii). The term was used in Japan because of the large number of Japanese and Japanese Americans living there. My father was in Hawaii around 1950, and had heard about that April Fool’s tsunami. > [@Malthus](#): > > Thing is, both terms are somewhat misleading. “Tidal waves” have nothing to do with tides (although they often resemble tides) and “tsumamis” are not generated by, or only appear in, harbours (although they often damage harbours). Similarly, the term “seismic sea wave” isn’t always accurate, because they can be caused by things other than seismic activity. > > Though the term “tsunami” appears to be winning in the vocabulary battle, it isn’t any more or less _inherently_ ‘correct’ than “tidal wave”; it is just an arbitrary choice that has gained favour, I suspect mostly because it _sounds_ more “correct” in English (as English-speakers may typically not be aware it means “harbour wave”). This is factually incorrect. See the link in **bump** ’s post: > [@](#): > > The term tsunami was adopted for general use in 1963 by an international scientific conference. Tsunami is a Japanese word represented by two characters: “tsu” and “nami”. The character “tsu” means harbor, while the character “nami” means wave. In the past, tsunamis were often referred to as “tidal waves” by many English speaking people. The term “tidal wave” is a misnomer. Tides are the result of gravitational influences of the moon, sun, and planets. Tsunamis are not caused by the tides and are unrelated to the tides; although a tsunami striking a coastal area is influenced by the tide level at the time of impact. Also in the past, the scientific community referred to tsunamis as “seismic sea waves”. “Seismic” implies an earthquake-related mechanism of generation. Although tsunamis are usually generated by earthquakes, tsunamis are less commonly caused by landslides, infrequently by volcanic eruptions, and very rarely by a large meteorite impact in the ocean. While the Japanese word does come from “harbor” and “wave” it was never limited to waves in harbors. Rather, that is where the damage would be seen. Japanese geography is highly mountainous, so pretty much the only place people lived by the sea was in harbors in fishing villages. As noted above, tsunami is the term adopted by the scientific community, and is such “_inherently_ ‘correct’.” ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2014, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weeaboos-for-countries-other-than-japan/701407/59 "2014-10-21T02:48:50Z")
> [@LC\_Strawhouse](#): > > When I was first in Germany I was **very** surprised and distracted to see cliche Native Indian stuff everywhere on a daily basis (like replica headdresses for sale at country kiosks, or records with titles like “Horst Meissner sings Native Indian Love Songs” in shop windows), but apparently this is so familiar as to be beneath comment. I actually only recently learned that wearing the headdresses as a fashion thing is rather insulting to American Indians. It’s something you have to earn, not something you can just wear. I mean, I knew the stereotype was offensive, but not just the headdress by itself. I viewed it more like wearing lederhosen to seem German or something. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2014, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weeaboos-for-countries-other-than-japan/701407/60 "2014-10-21T05:21:19Z")
My introductory oceanography textbook (Gross, 4th ed, pub 1987) contains a glossary listing for Tide Wave (long-period gravity wave that has its origin in the tide-producing force and that manifests itself in the rising and falling of the tide) and one for tsunami or seismic sea wave (long period sea wave produced by a submarine earthquake or volcanic explosion). I’ve read texts that note that “Tidal Wave” is an inappropriate term but AFAICT Gross doesn’t even bother to acknowledge that it exists. So no I don’t think tidal wave was dropped due to trendiness. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weeaboos-for-countries-other-than-japan/701407.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weeaboos-for-countries-other-than-japan/701407.md?page=4)