Discussion What do you think of Japan? In general

[Hexasheep93]

Just curious to see what is the general impression that people here have.

What do you think it has over other countries?

What issues do you think it has or on what area is it lacking on?

If you could, would you like to live there or maybe just visit? Or neither?

Note(this is a laymans impressions of the country Im not an especialist nor anything)

Im personally alright with Japan it seems like an alright country overall.

I am of the opinion that Japan has a more interesting and varied entertainment and art scene. Anime and games aside, I feel that they are more innovative and experimental on their works.

On the otherhand I feel they are stubbornly old fashioned. This is fine when it comes to protect their culture and traditions, but not so much when it comes to modernizing.

Finally, while I personally would love to go visit. I dont think I would want to live there. This is partly cause I hate having to move and cause I dont think I would mesh in well there.

How about you?

 

[PhantomXero1x]

Akihabara and shibuya would be the plaecs 2 go 4 me.

 

[Narmy]

I think there is a ton of problems with their way of thinking so I wouldn't like to live there, but their media is mostly top notch.

 

[grapedApe]

The only media of theirs that I care about is anime/manga/games-the hentai versions and gravure/JAV.

I do not want to live there, I want to regularly take vacations there just to visit the soaplands (I've done some research, there's a few gaijin friendly spots), buying anime/figures there is 2nd priority.

 

[YakuInTheFlesh]

Japan is very closed off and has plenty of problems.
Of course you have weebs acting like Japan is the "Shangri-La" of the modern world.

As for myself:
If I could speak the language, I would want to live there for at least a while. Now I wouldn't want to live in Tokyo, but rather somewhere in the countryside. This comes of course from a position of me being able to work from wherever I have Internet.

Japan has one big problem however. They want to look good and not stand out. Because of that a lot is kept under wraps and I think there is a lot that is being obfuscated rather than being dealt with.

but not so much when it comes to modernizing

Also this. Now I don't like modern Web-Dev with how over complicated it is in the back and how simplistic it is in the front, but Japanese websites are a whole nother beast (A mix between the two would be nice though). Also didn't they only start to phase out floppy disks like a year ago and they still use FAX?

 

[Hexasheep93]

Japan is very closed off and has plenty of problems.
Of course you have weebs acting like Japan is the "Shangri-La" of the modern world.

Yeah honestly I feel that people view Japan is very black or white , on one side there are frothing at the mouth japanophobes who hate everything about it. On the other side there are those that worship the place like it was heaven on earth. Then again nuance is not a common thing on the internet.

Japan has one big problem however. They want to look good and not stand out. Because of that a lot is kept under wraps and I think there is a lot that is being obfuscated rather than being dealt with.

To be fair a lot of developed countries have the attitude of keeping up appearances over actually solving the issues. The main difference, I think is that the culture of Japan encourages that, which is why you dont often see the usual disonance between the government and the people thst you can see in other countries. Tho I feel that is starting to change for better or worse

Also out of curiosity, what is one big issue that you think Japan is covering up instead of trying to solve?

 

[DanceswithDonga]

Wouldn't want to live there, but I would like to visit the place as part of my bucket list some day. Sure, it has its fair share of problems, but I hear it's a nice place. I'll just have to see it up front first.

 

[YakuInTheFlesh]

Also out of curiosity, what is one big issue that you think Japan is covering up instead of trying to solve?

Not really covering up as much as showing false truths. The working culture. You have mandated work times, but many workers get shamed into doing massive amounts of uncompensated (be it money or time) overtime, which transitions into almost mandatory drinking. Many workers do 12 to 16 hour shifts in the end.
I feel if Japan adopted the 40/42 hour work week and overtime was handled differently, then they wouldn't have trouble with their birth rates.

Another one is compensated dating. I don't see it mentioned often, but once in a while it comes out that they busted another ring. Is every highschool student doing it. Of course not, but it certainly is common enough that it should be a problem.

 

[Tsetskhli776]

I find it very... alien, it is so very different from my own country that i don't think i would ever "fit" in there had i made it my home, and then there's the work culture...
Living is out of the question, maybe a visit at most. I do have a lot of interest in their language but i find it very difficult to learn.