This article is from the American misconceptions about Japan FAQ, by Tanaka Tomoyuki ez074520@dilbert.ucdavis.edu with numerous contributions by others.
R. Tang: comments on
various points (American misconceptions about Japan)
Date: Tue, 27 Sep 94 02:30:17 GMT
From: rtang@kingcong.uwaterloo.ca
Subject: Re: American images of Japan
[...]
> > --- the Japanese as rich people
> This is "negative and malicious"?
In some ways yes, it serves to promote a class distinction
between common Americans and Japanese. Americans who are poor might resent the wealth of these "typical" Japanese. i.e., they’re taking over, they're buying up everything. They are
rarely portrayed as rich in the positive way (i.e. charitable,
philanthropic).
Whether or not the Japanese are in fact charitable or
philanthropic is besides the point. My response is to show how
the "rich Japanese" stereotype has been portrayed negatively.
> > --- the Japanese as hardworking people
> This is "negative and malicious"?
Most commonly, hardworking in the sense of mindless worker bees.
A side note on this issue. An article in (I believe) Macleans
or some similar type of magazine had a story on the 'glass
ceiling' affecting Asian Americans. The perception of upper
management of AA's is that they are good hard workers, but not
suitable for upper management from a lack of initiative and
organization. While AA's are NOT Japanese, those who hold these prejudiced beliefs in AA's probably can't distinguish between the two groups anyways.
> > --- slanted eyes
> Uh, out of curiousity, have ever, during the time you "lived in
> Japan" happen across any Edojidai paintings of, say, samurai,
> geisha, or other subjests? How were the eyes depicted?
I don't think you would go about claiming Japanese have big round eyes because of Japanese anime cartoons. Or maybe Spaniards are cubic creatures, because Picasso drew people that way?
This eye slant is a myth and at most an optical illusion. Case
in point, in the time of Genghis Khan, European emissaries made the observation that Oriental eyes were further apart then
European. Both of which may be correct or incorrect, the point is that it was an observation based on nothing more than personal perception, which then got spread, and from a lack of real scientific judgement became commonly accepted as fact.
As far as my perceptions go, I would note that Caucasians and
orientals have about the same slant in eye angle, but Caucasians have a more pronounced ridge above the eye or bone behind the eyebrow. Making the eyelid less prominent over the eye.
> > --- suicide
> > Japan, Belgium, France ... 15
> > New Zealand, USA, UK ... 10
> > this shows that "suicide common in Japan" is another myth
> > created by American media bias, the wide coverage of suicides of
>
> Hmm, this shows a 50% higher suicide rate in Japan than the
> US. How, then, is it a myth that Japan has a higher suicide rate
> than the US?
I don't see Tomoyuki disputing this, he states that the premise
that "suicide is COMMON" is overstated. The correct assertion
is that suicide is more common in Japan then in America.
However, the `suicidal' stereotype, is rarely attributed to
French or Belgian peoples.
From: rtang@kingcong.uwaterloo.ca
Subject: Re: American images of Japan
[...]
> > --- the Japanese as rich people
> This is "negative and malicious"?
In some ways yes, it serves to promote a class distinction
between common Americans and Japanese. Americans who are poor might resent the wealth of these "typical" Japanese. i.e., they’re taking over, they're buying up everything. They are
rarely portrayed as rich in the positive way (i.e. charitable,
philanthropic).
Whether or not the Japanese are in fact charitable or
philanthropic is besides the point. My response is to show how
the "rich Japanese" stereotype has been portrayed negatively.
> > --- the Japanese as hardworking people
> This is "negative and malicious"?
Most commonly, hardworking in the sense of mindless worker bees.
A side note on this issue. An article in (I believe) Macleans
or some similar type of magazine had a story on the 'glass
ceiling' affecting Asian Americans. The perception of upper
management of AA's is that they are good hard workers, but not
suitable for upper management from a lack of initiative and
organization. While AA's are NOT Japanese, those who hold these prejudiced beliefs in AA's probably can't distinguish between the two groups anyways.
> > --- slanted eyes
> Uh, out of curiousity, have ever, during the time you "lived in
> Japan" happen across any Edojidai paintings of, say, samurai,
> geisha, or other subjests? How were the eyes depicted?
I don't think you would go about claiming Japanese have big round eyes because of Japanese anime cartoons. Or maybe Spaniards are cubic creatures, because Picasso drew people that way?
This eye slant is a myth and at most an optical illusion. Case
in point, in the time of Genghis Khan, European emissaries made the observation that Oriental eyes were further apart then
European. Both of which may be correct or incorrect, the point is that it was an observation based on nothing more than personal perception, which then got spread, and from a lack of real scientific judgement became commonly accepted as fact.
As far as my perceptions go, I would note that Caucasians and
orientals have about the same slant in eye angle, but Caucasians have a more pronounced ridge above the eye or bone behind the eyebrow. Making the eyelid less prominent over the eye.
> > --- suicide
> > Japan, Belgium, France ... 15
> > New Zealand, USA, UK ... 10
> > this shows that "suicide common in Japan" is another myth
> > created by American media bias, the wide coverage of suicides of
>
> Hmm, this shows a 50% higher suicide rate in Japan than the
> US. How, then, is it a myth that Japan has a higher suicide rate
> than the US?
I don't see Tomoyuki disputing this, he states that the premise
that "suicide is COMMON" is overstated. The correct assertion
is that suicide is more common in Japan then in America.
However, the `suicidal' stereotype, is rarely attributed to
French or Belgian peoples.
