Japanese Students Shocked By Ignorant American Highschoolers
Japanese “news” portal Ameba has published an article by a reporter who interviewed Japanese highschool students who had recently returned from short term exchange programs in the American Midwest. There was some shock that despite the fact that news over here is always talking about the popularity of various Japanese things in America (anime, sushi, Ichiro, etc), many Americans they encountered didn’t seem to know anything about Japan. While having homestay families that have no clue about Japan might be bad, it got even worse at school, where the Japanese students were subjected to the following:
- Japan? What part of China is that?
- Is your father a NINJA?
- Was your father a SAMURAI?
- Is your mother a GEISHA?
- Can you do KARATE? [note: "karate" is pronounced "Kura-ri-" in America]
- Sony is an American company! [said when the Japanese student brought up the famous Japanese company]
- If you are shamed, don’t you have to commit HARAKIRI?
- Do they have McDonald’s in Japan?
- On the Japanese practice of eating seaweed and raw fish: I can’t believe it.
- On the day before a student returned to Japan: I feel sorry for you. Starting tomorrow, you won’t be able to eat pizza anymore, and you’ll be eating seaweed again.
- One reportedly was told the following: I heard Japanese girls have sideways vaginas. I want to see it just once!
Some of the Japanese students said that the fact that they were in small Midwestern towns without any other Asians was probably a factor in what happened. Perhaps if they’d have visited a more populated area, they would have encountered less ignorance?
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These are like the comments I get EVERY DAY from ignorant people in my town (In California):
“Do you have pizza in Africa?”
“Are you a cannibal?”
“When will you go back to Africa?”
“Are you an illegal immingrant?”
I have never even been to Africa before, so why do they generalize? The answer: THEY’RE INGORANT!
You’re right.
I think that every youth in the world is ignorant to some degree or another, that’s what makes them youth. But the American youth really take it over the top. Obviously influenced by their family and peers, outright racism (i.e. ‘I heard Japanese girls have sideways vaginas. I want to see it just once!’) is what really hurts people, and pisses the hell out of me. My wife is Japanese, and if anyone EVER said anything like that to me or her, I’d break their jaw. Ignorant or not, people know what hurts other people… In your case, saying things like ‘When will you go back to Africa’, is the kind of KKK shit that happened in the 50’s. Come on people, grow up… It’s on the older generation to teach the youth that it is NOT OK to be racist (even if they think what they are saying is funny).
But that’s just what I think…
Need it be reminded again that this was the midwest. The midwest is a very different place than the rest of America. I grew up on the east coast and I have never met anyone growing up that would have thought -any- of these things were anything but ridiculous jokes.
Does this mean that Japanese youth aren’t ignorant?
Americans counterpart in Japan must be just shocked to know how little Japanese know about the U.S.
i dont know how many strangers ive met in japan (especially cab drivers) that have informed me that all americans have guns, as if it is a fact.
why are people shocked that i have the manual dexterity to operate chopsticks? (ohh…ahh!) and I can write my own address in kanji (amazing!)
let’s face it. there’s a certain number of ignorant people in any given place. the best you can hope is to chip away at stereotypes little by little.
But i really thought that every american has a gun. No?
If by “every”, you mean about 40% of households.
How would you ever even get that impression? I can’t even imagine how people would come to that train of thought.
You really thought that every American has a gun? That is difficult to believe. I guess American youth are not the only uninformed group in the world. Surprise, surprise.
Excuse me? This is a two way street.
“Isn’t America unsafe because everyone has a gun?”
“Do you have four seasons?”
“Do you have seven colors in the rainbow?”
“Can you use chopsticks?”
“Do you have 7-11s in America?”
“You can speak Japanese?!?!”
And anywhere BUT where those students went they would have gotten waaaay less ignorance. Still, I wish they saw the irony. Also more props to ‘em for traveling abroad, I guess.
Your examples are still halfway acceptable questions, you know, not every country got four seasons, and they are at least aware of that fact.
As a non-American even I tend to fall into the “all Americans are armed to the teeth and willing to use them” trap a bit too often – the media doesn’t often jibe with what I see when I visit (though the only time I have ever seen a cop arresting a person was in the US).
True, some countries do not have four seasons. But this speaks to some pretty basic geographical ignorance here. I also suspect the idea behind this is that Japan’s four seasons are somehow ’special’.
Never heard the rainbow thing before. If I did then I would probably tell them that in our country we go one better and have eight.
Chopsticks – well, someone who has never met you has no way of knowing, though if you speak Japanese well then they should not be surprised.
7-11s in the US is a perfectly respectable question – it’s not as if all the 7-11s in Japan make it remotely obvious they have US roots.
The Japanese question is not really a question it would seem.
All of those quesitons are pretty normal. Nothing as insane as what those kids recieved. Well execpt for the rainbow one. That’s just odd.
Even the 4 seasons question is fine. Where I’m from in the US we have two seasons: hot and really hot.
I have a few Japanese exchange students who came from Oklahoma City. (I’m in Seattle). They said it’s very racist, and there is nothing to do there. I heard a few molestation stories too. I think it is better to live in a coastal place because it’s more diverse, where else in the midwest is mostly rednecks.
Annie, your comment shows even greater ignorance than that in this topic. Both the exchange students and yourself have help propagate the very thing that this topic is trying to expose. That is bigotry.
I am not from Oklahoma City, but i have been there. Yes, there is very little to do there. But they are a very kind and warm people. To label everyone there as racist and imply that they are all molesters and rednecks is wrong.
I challenge you to change your attitude because it shows great ignorance and a lack of tolerance. Forget being ignorant about other countries, you are generalizing about a place you have never been and it somehow seems justified to you because its in your own country.
I am disgusted.
I think you need to calm down. Annie didn’t say anything about labeling -everyone- in the Midwest as rednecks. She said “most” people, and in my experience she’s right.
wow another ignoramus. midwest folks are some of the nicest, hardworking people you’ll ever meet. think about that next time you’re in l.a. or new york and you need help from stuck up individuals who are too busy to help you.
as for these questions the japanese encountered, they’re probably the same ones any young american child would have. they mean no harm.
Pretty funny how you yourself just labeled New Yorkers as being ’stuck up’. I live in New York City and can tell you that it, along with any other place, is full of both great and not so great people. Quit calling the kettle black.
Ohio is counted as the Midwest. So is Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Wisconsin. The states that you’re probably thinking of aren’t even always classified as Midwestern states. I’ve yet to meet a redneck in Columbus.
yeah Columbus!!
I’m japaense. I grew up in columbus. I know no rednecks, and i’ve never experienced much racism here–i did get more than a bit while out in upstate NY tho. The honda plant in cbus and the high jpn population prolly helps.
i am from oklahoma… attended two universities right outside of oklahoma city andi can agree with the fact that there isnt muchh to do in OKC. it is a pretty bigoted and racist place and well lets face it …people are molested all over the planet!
I wouldn’t consider it racist since I lived and studied in Oklahoma State U. for 4.5 yrs as a person who is of asian descent. Sure I was born and bred upstate NY, but I would at least try to explain why those students may have thought in that manner. Oklahoma City has Oklahoma Central University which has many intl students from Japan, same with Oklahoma State University. They may have thought everyone was a racist, when in fact most people were kind and were more than willing to reach to them, if those students ever opened up and did the same. To me it’s a two way street, and unfortunately most of the Japanese students I knew, met, or have indirectly known don’t open up and just cocoon themselves to the mini Japanese communities setup in these college towns.
For you to generalize that there were molestation stories occuring in Oklahoma is as ignorant of me to say that all people in the state of Washington, are liberal hippies who just bad mouth this country. And I know this is not the case, there’s good and bad apples everywhere.
I will admit to the fact there isn’t much to do in the state of Oklahoma, even the young Oklahomans wish to go to the coast where there are bigger cities and more diverse things to do.
I was never a member of the Japanese student association but my girlfriend was because she was from Japan and studied in my university. Not to mention most intl student organizations where free willing in letting anyone join who was interested in their culture, yet there were a few including the JSA group who had this unspoken rule of not letting foreigners allowed, at least that’s how i saw it. Before I met her, most Japanese people were less likely to approach me, yet after dating her some started opening up, wouldn’t that constitute as some form of ignorance? I visited Japan last year to visit my gf’s relatives and I for one was not welcome by her grandmother since I was simply a gaijin, and yes she did come from the countryside; so in a sense it’s not only the U.S. and certain parts of it but everywhere.
Right now there is ignorance also in China in the university I am studying in and to think it’s in Beijing. That can’t be helped, and I try my best everyday to reach out and meet new friends to try and make them less ignorant of what Americans/westerners are as well as learn something new from them.
I’m from Oklahoma. We’re not all rednecks and certainly not all racist. It’s sad that they encountered such people.
I am impressed one of the students knew what hara-kiri was. Lets give them some credit for that.
I knew a guy from China who was asked when he visited my high school, “do you have radios in china?”.
I kid you not. This guy was from a modern city with a population of 10.6 million people and they ask that. When he told me i felt ashamed.
Even though every country has those who are ignorant. We should still expect more from our children. My high school taught me very little about other cultures (not that they didn’t try). But at least schools can help spark an interest in the subject of what life in other cultures is like.
Yeah, I think we got ignorance and racism floating to-and-fro in any country. I like to talk smack about how little my students know about America, but they really aren’t that bad, comparatively. At least they can find America on a map.
Although this is a pretty hilarious affront to Japanese narcissism. Japan, yeah–now what part of China is that? Perfect.
As some one who lived in both the Seattle area and Oklahoma City area and parts of Oklahoma, I can say that it is better that the live in Seattle as the notion of Asian people is much more known and people in Seattle know more about the the culture of East Asia.
I doubt that there are many horrible stories of people taking advantage of foreigners everywhere. I see the bigotry in OKC as what they know by what is taught to them through the media. I’ve always wondered why us Americans have never really looked more into other cultures and tried to gain a better understanding. I know the people in OKC area are very keen on staying in there comfort bubble and have a difficulty in trying things that may change the way they think. But this was everywhere I went in Oklahoma and parts of Texas.
I think that if people were taught to be more tolerant about cultures and learn from them and ask thoughtfilled questions, that this wouldn’t have happened.
“I’ve always wondered why us Americans have never really looked more into other cultures and tried to gain a better understanding.”
Simple: they don’t need to. Barring the Hondas on their streets, the US is an island unto itself. As the biggest guy on the block at the moment, it has that imperialist idea that it is biggest because it is the best, and therefore other ways of doing things that are different are obviously not “the best” simply as they are different – in other words, a strong inherent conservatism (they still call their coins by names, for example, not by number) going hand-in-hand with insularity (born of little need to look beyond their borders for anything) leads to a certain disinterest in foreign culture.
Of course this is just a broad brush and there are many Americans who personally would be nothing like this, but I suspect that in the mid-west and west rural areas – the “flyover states” – this attitude is pretty common. I’m not sure it will be easy to change – you can lead a redneck to the library, but you can’t make him read, as the saying goes. Perhaps when China and India get their acts together and the world becomes less Ameri-centric they will be forced to learn….
who says they’re not tolerant? american kids were asking questions about their guests, is that not the first step to mutual understanding? im sorry that folks in okc are thousands of miles from a large asian populace. wow that must be their own fault huh? there are no wrong questions, just some boneheaded responses on this board.
As has amply been pointed out, Japan has an equal number of ignorant misconceptions about other countries as these high school students have of Japan and I’m not talking about Japanese high school kids. I’m talking about Japanese adults, not kids. In addition to all the things previously said my (35-64 years old) students are shocked that:
• I don’t eat hamburgers all the time (in fact, I don’t eat them at all) because all Americans eat them all the time.
• I’m not a Christian (because all Americans are religious nuts).
• I would take off my shoes before entering my house in the U.S. and that my relatives have always done this (because all Americans wear shoes and dirty up their homes).
• I was not born in a city and that it takes 6-8 hours to drive across my state. (They can’t seem to conceptualize the size of America very well and think that we can all travel to NY, LA, and SF in a heartbeat. They’re also shocked I haven’t been to every major U.S. city because surely I’ve had the chance to go sightseeing in all of them.)
All that being said, ignorance is not stupidity nor should anyone be looked down upon for not understanding another country well. I think that being “shocked” that someone is ignorant of your country’s culture displays a level of ignorance in and of itself, particularly when you’re talking about high school kids. There’s no reason for American high school kids to know Japan well. They have more than enough on their plate at that education level and there are far too many countries and cultures for any person to be well-versed in any particular one.
It’s reasonable that any country is going to get its general information (or misinformation) from movies, media, and local news and utterly pointless to be shocked at the resulting ignorance. The need to look down on other countries by talking about how little they know is a manifestation of an inferiority complex.
i wonder if some of those were jokes that people just didn’t pick up on? i mean the sideways vagina thing… the person had to be just messing around, right? i wonder how old and what sex the person asking was.
and what’s strange about asking if they have mcdonald’s in japan?
“One girl reportedly was told the following: I heard Japanese girls have sideways vaginas. I want to see it just once!”
you know.. sounds an aweful lot like some witty guy trying to get into her pants
If you read the article, it actually says that they were Japanese school boys, not schoolgirls. Although I agree, it seems like a question too stupid to be serious and would make more sense as a pickup line.
P.S.
I bet some Amrcian’s also have stories about people being totally shocked taht they knew something.
I mean .. after all. We all know that all American’s are so ignorant and clueless and know NOTHING!
i dont know what you mean by know NOTHING kat are you trying to say we dont know about other Cultures if so your right lol and we dont give a f!ck to lol
SPLCHEK! PUNkTUAShuN! LOL
(Sorry James)
Laura said it best, I also believe no matter where in the world you are, what culture or religion, you’ll run into a few ignorant if not, well informed individuals.
I remember a Japanese exchange student at my college who spoke English pretty well. But the stereotypes he developed of Americans was more friendly-misinformation then insulting. I also had to inform him once when he attempted to use the n-word in a sentence… in the LA area/Santa Monica area of California. Oops, did I just stereotype an area? I guess it’s so easy to stereotype.
I fully agree with S. Pihlaja that at least you can locate America on the map.
I’m Singaporean so you can well imagine what a struggle it is for us Singaporeans; it doesn’t help that Singapore is but a tiny red dot in the world map.
my teacher once asked me whether India is in Singapore or is Singapore in India LOL i’ve stayed in Singapore for more than 10 yrs and hearing that just made me laugh out in class
The sideways vagina thing is not a joke. People actually believe this in smalltown America.
Oh, and my mom thought Japanese people fill the cavities in their teeth with bamboo.
says who, has there been a survey or something? i can see those people who always confuse memes as truth believing it, but a significant amount of people? no way.
what’s the origin of it anyway?
I’m from a small town in the US and I have to vouch for the fact that there were several kids in my middle school who genuinely thought that girls in Asian countries had sideways vaginas. There were also butt loads of other racist stereotypes flung around about Asians… and I say Asians because many of the kids didn’t even know where the hell Japan was in the first place, getting it confused with China or Korea or thinking that all those Asian countries were some kind of nebulous whole country like “Gookland” or something. The word “Gook” and “Jap” was constantly thrown around by people I knew and many times it was in a disdainful fashion.
For those who say talking about this kind of thing from small town America is a kind of racism or sterotype against small town Americans in and of itself. I should point out that not ALL people from these places are this way… I was from small town America and wasn’t that way… but still MANY people were and it’s something troubling that shouldn’t be shrugged off.
Having known many of the families of the same kids that would spew this stuff out… I think that’s where the root of lot’s of this problem is, in the prideful culture of American small towners. They may be nice and kind as adults… but they do have an unspoken air about them inferring that America is best and knowledge of other countries is little more than trivial information. Worse yet many of them do nothing in their parenting to fight ideas of racism and stereotyping… sometimes even promoting it in both subtle and not too subtle ways. Also, lots of disinformation gets spread around because (not just on issues of Japan) they don’t want to look “stupid” to their kids… so if they’re asked a question about something by the kid… instead of admitting “I don’t know” or “let’s look into that later”… they’ll just re-cycle some hearsay or misinformation to cover their lousy-parenting asses.
I live on an island in the tropical Pacific (Saipan), which by any population standards is “small town”. But the great thing is that we have dozens of ethnicities crammed onto this tropical paradise (along with daily flights from Japan for our tourists). My kid’s school has about 80 kids and 14 ethnicities. And it’s not an international school!
David
Life on Saipan
Agreed: ignorance is not stupidity. My praise to those students who were willing to experience a different culture, even if only for a short time. But not everyone can afford it, or desires to leave their homes.
I personally didn’t have some of those more outrageous ideas about Japan growing up in America, despite the fact I was rather ignorant – most of my knowledge came from Karate Kid and Nintendo (although Karate Kid, the first anyway, did teach you the martial art came from Okinawa).
No disrespect to James, but I don’t see how this is anything new. Anyone who’s been in Japan long enough can tell you the misconceptions Japanese have about westerners:
- chopstick ability
- Japanese ability
- unable to consume natto, taco, or sashimi
- Hamburgers and pizza are an everyday meal
Naturally, there are plenty more. Don’t let yourself fall into Nihonjinron, or see the same gaikokujinron.
It isn’t anything new, but it was a “news” story on a major Japanese portal, so I posted about it. Also, how could I resist a Japanese article that has a headline about sideways vaginas?
If I remember correctly, sideways vagina was mentioned in the film ,”Hannibal Rising” to the Lecter’s lover, a Japanese woman.(Actually she was a Chinese actress, I think).
The one who asked it to her was the first prey for Lecter.
I just find it kind of funny that a lot of people are balking at the idea of pizza and burgers. If that wasn’t highly unhealthy I’d be more than happy to eat burgers and pizza (most) everyday!
Guess in that aspect I’m stereotypical!
Perhaps it is because I’m Asian, but when I was in Japan, I was never asked about my chop-stick ability. I also was never assailed with the four-seasons question, but was asked about gun-use and safety in the US. Strangely I was also asked about how big Americans (fat) are. Generally though, I never encountered many of the stereotypical Japanese questions.
Americans often seem to have a bad rap about cultural diversity and their knowledge of the world, but as many have pointed out, ignorance is a universal phenomena.
A few months ago I stayed at a hostel in the Midwest and shared a room with a few Europeans (mostly Dutch I think). For some reason they were fascinated that I was Asian AND American, and kept asking me questions such as, “what is your real country?” and commenting on how great my English was. They also told me that my women were beautiful. They were even more fascinated by my Filipino friend, but questioned whether the Philippines was really an Asian country, since it didn’t “sound Asian.”
True story, I kid you not.
Well, usually guys like that wont get outside of their countriys borders…
Just ask them if they know about ayaan hirsi ali
Which people know the other better is apparent with which people it is who can draw the map of the other’s country more.
It is natural because the USA can maintain current level of life without Japanese market but converse are not always true.
Besides most of Americans are looking towards Europe as their roots.
If they choose overseas for sight seeing, the 1st is certainly Europe, the 2nd is probably South/Central America and the 3rd is possibly Asia.
One more thing sure is that midwestern/southern Americans are not so intersted in outside world.
They can provide everything for themselves if they are forced.
The tragedy is that those who do not know what other country’s geography is like is managing this world as current Pres. Bush.
Another “Americans are so ignorant” article. Guess what? Ignorance is an (unfortunately) universal phenomenon. Go ahead. If you live outside American go to your local high school and ask some basic questions about history and geography. It’s appalling really.
I came from a small town in ohio and my school is actually pretty culturally diverse. We had a large number of asians (koreans, indians, chinese, thai, and a few japanese) in my highschool. We also get a lot of foreign exchange students from asia and other countries. Maybe because it is a slightly suburban city, but I doubt most people in my school would ask those questions (apart from things like “do you guys have mcdonalds”).
I’m an English teacher in Japan, born and raised in Britain and I’m of Chinese decent.
Sometimes when my new students (adults) ask me where I’m from and I say I’m English, some of them are shocked that English people can have such a skin colour as mine. And then they say “But you look Japanese.”
I’ve also done the “If you moved to Canada and had a son. Would he be Canadian or Japanese?”
-”Japanese”
“And if he had a son, would he be Japanese or Canadian?”
-”Japanese.”
“And if he had a son, would he be Japanese or Canadian?”
-”Japanese.”
Some people just don’t seem to get it. Others do. It depends on the person.
I also live in Japan and when people ask me if my wife is Japanese, I usually say “She’s a woman”.
To SAK:
Maybe you’re right about me making a quick judgement about the midwest, but my assumptions come from stories that I’ve heard from those that visited the midwest. I apologized if I offended you.
As an Asian living in the U.S, I still get a lot of ignorant comments. Such as:
I usually get asked “Are you from China?”
or
I had a little chit-chat with an African American guy at Subway, and I thought this guy is pretty pathetic.
“Where are you from?” Me: My parents were born in Vietnam.
“So can you speak Cambodian?” Me: wtf
Me: Can every American speak Spanish? Him: *smiles*
Even though we have the title “American” behind our ethnic group, the truth is that Asian is still an outsider in the U.S. It’s the truth. Even though I feel like an outsider, I do love and is very loyal to this country.
—–
Dear Annie,
I sympathize your hardships.
Midwestern/southern Americans are surely great countryfolk but most of them are straightforward guys of good and old days.
Do not be so sensitive as I present you a joke in the USA.
How to ask the nationality of an Asian;
*To ask whether Chinese or not at first.
Because they are the most and if he is not a Chinese, he simply denies with smiling.
*Not to ask whether Japanese or not at first.
Because he answers in the affirmative with smiling in most cases even if he is not a Japanese.
*Never to ask whether he is Korean or not.
Because he is upset in most cases, what is worse, even if he is really a Korean.
Bottom Line: Stupid people ask stupid questions. These people were in small towns which are full of uneducated people who are so ignorant it isn’t even funny. I live in the Mid-west (St. Louis, Missouri) and the educated people I hang out with don’t ask stupid questions like that.
Also, when I was in Japan people would ask all kinds of crazy questions. A person really shouldn’t be offended if someone doesn’t know about their country. Its not like it is their “responsibilty” to know. That in itself is ignorance.
i’m the same as DJade…i’m Japanese and Filipino American, but when I tell students here in Japan that my mother is Japanese and my father Filipino, but I was born in America. They say things like “oh, you’re not American” or “You’re 50% Japanese, 50% Filipino and part American?”
And of course Japanese people ask just as ignorant of questions too. I’ve been asked if they sell Coca-cola and Pepsi in America. And how I learned to use chopsticks if I lived in America.
and also…”I’ve never been to America before, but I’ve been to Hawaii”
Nicely balanced by all those Americans who think that New Mexico is a foreign country….
Note that travel agent brochures in Japan are divided into “Hawaii” and “America” (for the mainland). This is no doubt a major contributing factor. Also the fact that the Japanese are all supporters of Hawaiian sovereignty and refuse to recognise the suzerainty of the United States…..?
I went to school in Kansas and — guess what — we had a Center for International Studies where everyone learned either Japanese, Chinese, Russian or Arabic. That was about ten years ago.
The most stupid of all Japanese questions is “do you have four seasons?” I still can’t figure that one out.
I think the Four Seasons question (Yes, we DO have mega-expensive hotels here!) comes from two things. One, the idea that traditional Japan is very sensitive to the changes of the seasons. This is generally true, and coming from an agricultural society, hardly surprising. Europe also noted them carefully, but many of the seasonal transitions have become diluted by religion (Easter, Christmas) or changed their meaning (Halloween, at harvest time) so that we don’t really think of them as seasonal markers as such.
The other factor that may be involved is that middle-school texts on social studies etc, in a laudable bid to demonstrate the diversity of human populations, generally contrast Japanese life with something very different: arctic circle eskimos, desert tribes, jungle dwellers, etc. These people do not have four seasons.
The other thing about the four seasons that irritates non_japanese, I think, is that the Rainy Season is not counted, so to your average foreigner, Japan actually has five seasons.
I think that a lot of those questions were intedended as (bad) jokes, the one about sideways vaginas does seem like a very poor pick-up line.
Yes, we are asked many questions here in japan that appear hugely ignorant but we have to remember that if this is the first time that a japanese person has met you they are likely to assume that you haven’t been in japan for very long and may therefore be surprised that you can read/write in japanese, use chopsticks and even speak a little. This surprise usually doesn’t last for long once we get talking I have found (and my japanese is terrible after a year and a half here).
As for ignorant questions regarding colours of the rainbow, seasons, which part of China Japan is in etc etc, these will always be asked in any country, the best we can do is give and hope to recieve educational answers. I certainly asked a few dumb questions myself when I first arrived here in Japan.
Yeh, we all know how stupid Americans can be.
At least American kids are getting more correct history leasons.
But I also found that many Chinese & Japanese kids are also same, they are so ignorant about rest of the world.
You ask average Chinese kid about japan & korea, or taiwan, then they say they all once belong to China, now that’s so stupid.
More correct history lessons? American History books are biased and slanted as all get out!!
Too right – I mean, George Washington is hailed as a hero and the father of the nation instead of a traitor and the leader of the rebel army.
More seriously, I wonder how many people who complain about Japanese history textbooks for school have ever actually READ one?
True, I find that Chinese & Japanese societies tend to be so absorbed into themselves. Everything is about us, us, us and us vs rest of the world.
heh, I live in Japan and sometimes get asked if there is KFC in the US, so I guess people everywhere are ignorant.
Please. Like ignorance is limited to Americans.
A good friend of mine, when visiting Okinawa, was asked by several people if it was true that black people had tails! Now THAT is ignorance, and disgusting.
Nationality is not a limit to ignorance. Unfortunately, it can be found within every group.
MUAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Hahaha, but the Japanese school students aren’t too far from some of those comments. A friend that did a homestay in Osaka was talking to a JET from South Africa. He told me how this happened one time:
Japanese student: “Do you eat lions?”
JET Teacher: “Well, is your dad a SAMURAI?!”
That was just hilarious. This just states that you should shut your mouth when you’re asked about a foreign country you know nothing about or you look like an idiot.
that was bloody hilarious. even so, with only 10% of the americans owning a passport, not many americans know where afica or england is. i had the same kind of steriotype when i visited the philippines. i was asked what my number [as in basketball number, not my phone number] i guess he thought basketball was played everywhere. i told him football is our country’s sport and he was clueless.
a woman on Romblom island in the visayas told me that my english isnt very good, am i german. when i replied to her that i’m in fact from England, she asked me what language do i speak in England. this is true, i kid you not
but really, do the americans really say karate as kura-ri is america? thats crap, really is just crap
I’m sure Japanese youth probably think of American stereotypes like we have BBQs for every meal of the day.
Thats every other day, get it right.
Some of these questions made me cringe.
I FUCKING hate ignorance. I want to beat my head against a nail in a wall every time I hear crap like this.
I’m half Scottish and I spent a couple of years in Scotland. You have no idea how many times I hear this crap.
“Do you speak Scottish?”
My response: They speak ENGLISH you FUCKING idiot!
“Do they have TV in Scotland?” No, when their bored they just stare at the FUCKING grass! What do you think ASSHOLE?!
These people need some serious education on foreign culture.
Those can not be real comments.
If they are, the people were either joking, or they were at a school for the mentally handi-capped.
If it is real, I want to know what city the school was in, because I’d like to avoid it at all costs.
I’ve witnessed ignorance before, but that is absurd.
Ofcourse, I would expect that from Americans (Myself being an American, surrounded by some ignorant people.)
Although, I would agree that if they were in even a slightly bigger city, they would have been much more understood.
The majority of Americans are ignorant, and arrogantly ignorant at that. Excuses such as, America is an island unto itself, and “how close is America to an Asian nation?” are preposterous. I live in Canada, situated on the same continent & directly north of the United States for those who don’t know, and I rarely if ever face the type of sheer idiotic queries or remarks that were directed towards me during my stay in Oregon(supposedly a tolerant and progressive area). Being of Indian(India) heritage- born and raised in Canada- I was subjected to the following questions, not once, but numerous times(I honestly lost count):
AM: Where are you from? ME: Canada, but my family is originally from India
AM: So you’re from the Middle East? ME: Um, India is situated in South Asia, not the Middle East(I didn’t bother explaining to him that the Middle East is actually part of Asia as well)
AM: You’re wrong, Asians are Chinese, you’re Middle Eastern Indian Arabic.
AM: Indian people eat rats, that is gross. ME: The majority of Indians are actually vegetarian. That was a scene from Indiana Jones, a fictional movie, not a documentary.
AM: Why do you Arabs hate America? Is it because you’re jealous? AM: Again, I am not an Arab nor am I Muslim.
AM: Why don’t you go back to where you came from(India)? AM: For once, I agree with you. I should go back to where I came from(Canada).
And this was during my stay in Corvallis at Oregon State University. As an engineer I have to deal with Americans on a day-to-day basis, and still face ridiculous questions regarding Canada such as: “Do ya’ll live in igloos?”And remarks regarding conversions, simple metric dimensions like what is a metre? Seriously, I am not making this up. Now I know there are some very bright and worldly Americans, but the inordinate amount of ignoramuses fair outweigh the enlightened.
Sorry to hear you’ve met so many ignorant people in America. However, I’d say the majority of people in most nations are very ignorant. Based on the Canadians I’ve met in America and Japan, there are certainly a good number of them who are just as dumb as the Americans you mention in your comment.
I can definitely attest to there being many dumb Canadians. I am one. But Kal has a good point. I’ve got other Indian friends who experienced less than fantastic trips to America because of their physical similarity to Arabs/Persians.
But Kal, I bet you grew up in a city right? Toronto/Montreal/Calgary/Van? Go to a smaller town in the boondocks in Canada, and while it won’t be horrible, you’ll have a lot of people staring. I hate to say it, but Canada can suck too.
However, with all of that said, it was truly an honour and humbling experience to work and study at the Linus Pauling Institute. A great American, a great mind, and truly a mercy on humanity. I wish more Americans would follow in his footsteps in learning about the world and universe around them.
well, I see your problem right there, sir.
they were in the Midwest.
I lived in Michigan for 10 out of my 18 years, and people there STILL thought that the Japanese wore kimono on a daily basis.
Just so you know, now there are english learning schools here in Japan usually (in most cases) prefer Americans to teach them English. That is they like to have an American accent. If you are Brittish or any other English speaking country, your chances depends on whether an American is applying for that position with you. And to think the Origin of the English language was from Great Brittain!
I went to a Halloween party this year as a Cheshire cat (don’t ask…) but was holding a British flag. More than one Japanese person (all ADULTS!) pointed at it and said “Ah, the Australian flag!”
More than this, my Japanese teacher (I’m in Japan) asked me the other day if Iceland is part of the United Kingdom! I asked him if he was confused with Ireland and he said no, Iceland was part of the UK!!!
Oh wow. I’m a little shocked myself. Seeing as I am an American high school student that’s just embarassing.
I am from australia and no matter where you go in the world your going to get your dumb asses. I think that things in america get highlighted more is because america is a leader in so many fields then the world (including americans themselves) expect better.
There are ignorant people in every country, really. But I’ve encountered only ignorant Japanese people. My (American) friend’s host brother asked her if they had Starbucks in Japan. And my Japanese friend apparently thinks that everyone outside of Japan should know Todai, Taro Aso and Haruki Murakami. I’ve had lost Japanese tourists approach me, speaking only Japanese. Some of them seem to think every other Asian person should know Japanese. I agree that Japan has a huge influence on the rest of Asia, but listening to Jpop is completely different from knowing the language of its origin country! Some people seem to think it’s like English though..
It proofs that some America sucks at world history and stuck in the past. They have no idea what happened/is happening to Japan.
They think they are the only modern country.
From patriotism to nationalism.
Yes, some Japanese are turning ignorant also. Pro-Jappan ignores everything else.