• Hey Guest. Check out your NeoGAF Wrapped 2025 results here!

Is Japan really any crazier than we are?

Status
Not open for further replies.
B

bigboss370

Member
So everyone knows about the crazy products Japan has and the infatuations that some Japanese people have towards certain products. Every time a related thread comes we can expect replies like 'only in Japan' or 'oh Japan you so crazy', and there's this stereotype that the Japanese have an exceptional proficiency toward the weird or 'unorthodox'. Its as if we're on the outside looking in at these things like its unique to them. Things like:

- crazy commercials: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfzNEmqeIWo

- Otaku culture
otled.jpg


- underwear vending machines (which are extremely rare and hard to find btw)


But are we any different here in North America? we have things like:

-Bronies
3D2Hu.jpg


-whatever this is
tumblr_lj6awxpZG51qdya2a.jpg


-Jersey Shore

-Just as crazy commercials: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4W--6KM27WQ

so why does Japan get the nod for crazyness when we're pretty much on par?
 
I can't say, america is a different kind of crazy. At least japan can say they are happy with their craziness and it doesn't bother them all that much what the rest of the world thinks about them.
 
Why in the world would we talk about how normal most of Japan is when we could be talking about some weird thing an incredibly small part of their population does?
 
Watched the first video. It's terrifying.

Edit: now it seems like its a different video. I'm talking about the walking dog video or whatever it is.
 
OceanBlue said:
Why in the world would we talk about how normal most of Japan is when we could be talking about some weird thing an incredibly small part of their population does?
Click to expand...
Their entertainment industry certainly seems to be quite different than ours. Wouldn't call that an "incredibly small part"
 
We have bronies. We have Florida. We have Scientology. I think we're pretty even.



But Japan and Germany do have some strange things originate from them. From pop culture to industrial design.
 
Kinyou said:
Their entertainment industry certainly seems to be quite different than ours. Wouldn't call that an "incredibly small part"
Click to expand...

What do you mean when you say the "entertainment industry"?

Edit: Well, I guess I can't say that Japan isn't weird. I just suspect that most of GAF projects a small part of Japan (otaku in particular) to most Japanese. Most anime don't get 1% ratings in Tokyo.
 
Dastardly Jerks said:
No, you're both crazy in equally different ways.

Not like us Australians.

*sticks on flip-flops, hops in a kangaroo and rides off into the sunset*
Click to expand...

I hate the fact we have to call them flip-flops at GAF otherwise everyone would have just pictured you wriggling into a g-string.
 
History nerd answer:

Everyone's crazy.. But In a way craziness roughly translates to uniqueness. And Japan is, for historical reasons, the most unique of all the developed nations. It's the only one that isn't European or European dominated. Yes they adopted European models of production and organization, but it was by their own hand. By the time of American occupation in 1945, they had already had nearly a century of being a developed nation of their own design. That was enough trajectory to be a completely different kind of developed nation forever. If other nations had developed by their own standards, they'd be weird too. But now everyone gets there by absorbing western norms.

European-descended nations are weird too... But simply due to proliferation, it doesn't seem "unique" or therefore as weird.
 
Loofy said:
Buying used panties isnt a new thing in the west..

But the japanese managed to put them in vending machines.
http://zombierobots.tumblr.com/post/13156362095/used-panties-get-em-while-theyre-hot
Click to expand...

To be fair, the vending machines are really rare now. Most people just buy them online.



Anyway, there are a lot of older guys into 15-16 year old's here too. They even have businesses that guys can call to chat and then meet with these girls. This usually ends in prostitution. My mind was kinda blown when I first saw one of the places.
 
Kinyou said:
Well all the stuff that usually gets tagged with being so "crazy" like anime, those tv shows with extreme pranks, J-pop, commercials, etc.
Click to expand...

Well, as I tried to edit in quick enough, most anime don't even get 1% ratings in a modern city like Tokyo. I don't know what you're getting at with J-Pop, but if you mean stuff like idol groups, Korea has that as well and some would even say that idol groups don't represent the Japanese mainstream.

Some of Japan's commercials are definitely different, though.

Well, again, I'm not trying to say that Japan is completely normal or anything. I definitely don't have the experience to make a claim like that. I just want people to consider where they're getting their impressions from. Is it from "LOL look at Japan being weird!" posts on GAF?
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

Is there any combination of juices better than cranberry and orange?
32
485
Nintendo's Witch replied
  • Locked
Are we allowed to discuss Greenland?
3
131
ChuckeRearmed replied
What is happening to Japan?
2 3
119
2K
Shadowplay1979 replied
China vs Japan
2 3 4
150
2K
NeededSleep replied
Bear attacks in Japan
23
735
poodaddy replied
Top Bottom