It not making sense.

Originally Japan was an extremely homogenous country, its hardly surprising that theres xenophobia

even china, which has lots of diversity, is xenophobic. you can hardly blame japan for being xenophobic.

sino-centric? haha

But Japanese xenophobia is different. They think they are special. They assume other Asians are lower than they are. They kiss up to White people too much.

lol have you ever even been to japan?
If you're a foreigner of course you're less important
White people are a new fad, used to be a fad for black people, changes all the time

Do you think it is because japanese never felt real defeat? I mean they don't feel apologetic for WWII, so they carry the mentality that they are still the #1 asian power in the region.

didn't china in its heyday consider japanese to be a bunch of dwarves or something? its just an asian thing. whichever country is richer and more culturally afluent will look down on the others who are less so.

remember that china was once so arrogant that it decided to close itself off from the rest of the world because everyone else was too barbaric. and lets not forget china called itself the "middle kingdom."

Its still called the "Middle Kingdom" lol. There are actual scholarly studies done on the history of the Chinese world order.

Not true, since when dont they feel apologetic.
Plenty of people in Japan have said they dont like the way Koizumi is buggering the relations between Jp and its asian counterparts.

yah well my point was that china was pretty arrogant and xenophobic as well.

They don't feel apologetic because they are not educated enough to know. Its not their fault really.

lol I still dont know where the not apologetic stuff is coming from.
Most people in Japan see Koizumis apologies as precisely that yet China wont accept them which I presume is rather confusing to them, I think by now they're just sick of it all.

I once saw a Japanese commercial advertising Japanese food and Asian food. Its like they don't even consider themselves Asian.

I think you are generalizing japanese a bit much. My Chinese language classes, chinese lit classes, and chinese foreign policy classes had a few japanese from Japan.

basing that on a commercial?

Japanese cannot picture themselves from the Chinese viewpoint. It is well reported that the Japanese education system has failed to educate the youth the extent of Japanese colonialism during WW2. If they did know the extent, they would probably be more upset with Koizumi's government. Post WW2 Japanese live in a different mindset that is filled with tons of distractions. They could care less about what their country did in WW2.

well do british people consider themselves european? its the same thing with japan. japan is an island country off of the asian mainland just like how the UK is an island country off the european mainland.

I guess British people could be considered european but not exactly the same as how french and germans are european.

And japanese people are kind of asian but not in the same sense as say chinese or koreans.

The government fails the people a lot when it comes to history but that doesnt mean the average Japanese doesnt care
Students generally tend to find out more once they're in university due to their own curiosity however the mentality is very much that of a 'the past is the past' kind of thing which personally I think is better for moving on but with the way relations are with China its not in our best interests.


Thats a pretty good comparison actually.

japanese have a tendency to associate anything chinese with the past. there are aspects of chinese culture and history, especially those of ancient times, that japanese admire and respect.

I know that not all Japanese are like what I described. In fact, I watched a nanking documentary made by japanese professors. We have to remember tho that its not the minority that puts pressure on. Its the majority and so far, there hasn't been political heat. I really don't give a crap about the whole issue anymore. I still am displeased at the fact that Yasukuni visits still occur. I just wish there was more political heat from Japanese.

They should make a truthful documentary specifically for schools and make it compulsory to show it.
Political heat wont really get you anywhere in Japan, like when the textbooks were brought out and the JTU protested, didnt cause them to be sent back
Yasukuni I have no problem with personally.

oh well, this is getting nowhere.
Even if they Japanese view themselves different, do they have to look down on other Asians?

Yasukuni is a Shinto shrine and Japanese have freedom of religion. But you and I know, Yasukuni is being used as a political tool.

If you're not Japanese then you're a foreigner, your race makes no/very little difference.

@kuno
Yes, its becoming a place for nationalists which is ruining the entire image of the visits.
Japanese citizens who have family buried there are beginning to speak out against the war criminals being buried there due to the amount of publicity for the situation.

like i said before, china looked down on other asians as well as the rest of the world for millenia. the chinese tribute system was a means to reinforce and justify chinese superiority.

we'd be hypocritical if we accuse the japanese of looking down on other asians.

but but but.. suburban skies...
when china was powerful, did china go around slaughtering japanese civilians?
did the chinese abuse their power? did they invade other lands to the extent of the japanese?

china is a nation that is able to respectfuly use power. Japan in the past simply abuses it

I seriously think we should just make FAQ sections because debates like this will go on forever and ever lol.

then who will write in the FAQs? that in itself would be biased.
That's the beauty of politics, no one is absolutely right or wrong.
however pple who can back up their claims with history is more right than others

china's way of dominance over others was through its tribute system, which is basically like peaceful colonization.

yes, japan was brutal and barbaric in its efforts at colonization but there are positive examples of its colonization. they built a lot of infrastructure and industrialized places like taiwan, manchuria and parts of korea. the japanese were efficient at government and non-corrupt.

all the topics like this should be pinned to stop people asking again and again

same with the Taiwan independence threads lol

Nothing wrong with being proud of being the number 1 asian power in the region. People should be proud of it.

There is when that position is under threat.

The Japanese want to be white. It's true.

*makes the wanker sign*

Damage Control!

I heard lots of asians in japan get treated like how black folks get treated in the u.s.a

It's NO denial,Japanese are sophisticated Asians culturally.Much of their modernized Japanese culture has feel of " HIGH CLASSNESS ".I am somewhat Nipponphile myself,as I've always like things Japanese.

Japan schools teach children they are PART OF THE WESTERN WORLD,therefore mentally DISCONNECT from all other Asians.

Asian look down on each other through out human history.

at the very least, they have an inferiority complex to whites

But why is that? Why do they feel this way but some others like Chinese generally do not?

japanese dont want to become white. they may think white people are more attractive but that doesn't mean they want to be white.

Japanese are traditionally and historically like this.
Even back when during the days of their first Emperor Jimmu...
Poetry was already being made about how great they were.

I really think its just in their blood.

Yes, this is true. The Great Wall of China reminds us of this.


It's not that they look down at other asians, they just look up to themselves because they are proud to be Japanese. Their pride is misconceived as them looking down on others, which I think has to do with you and not them. It's not crazy nationalism/racism, it is just the common national pride I think almost every country has. Japan is no different than other countries int his sense.



Whether some choose to use the shrine as a political tool has nothing to do with all the Japanese people in general. Anyone to choose to misuse something. I think people are pointing fingers in the wrong places.



I agree Japan had abused their power in their colonization but to say China is the great example of not misusing power is ridiculous.

Yeah...definitely. I mean any country abuses their power sometimes... Also, lol I don't think Japanese are super-friendly to white people, it's just moreso that they believe their own culture is unique in a way, but at the end of the day, we're still Asians, just like Chinese or korean, etc.

*repeats sign made previously*

I think one country that hasn't is India, they've always been peaceful and have never invaded anyone for example, ever.

India peaceful? HAHAHHAHA

Why don't ask some pakistanis?

I think Japanese have too much pride(national pride), thus look down on others, except White. Young Koreans(usually fobs or tourists) are also like that.

White people are a fad? Cool, I'll have to visit Japan before that ends.