Saturday, December 28All That Matters

How do Japanese see the US in 2023?

27 Comments

  • “Why do you like America?” “They don’t have pollen there.”

    Oh, I assure you, we very much do, lol.

    I think you’d have to go somewhere in the desert or otherwise a really arid and hot place to get away from pollen…

    Though she may have just meant that she didn’t have allergies here, which makes sense. I have pretty severe allergies at home in Oregon, but the few times I’ve been to Hawaii and England, I had none at all. That was nice, so I get that being a big bonus.

    Also, it’s kinda nice to hear that we have fans in other countries. Given our recent past, I would have assumed they thought we were all idiots who believe in ridiculous things and make celebrities into our leaders for some reason.

  • Countries are judged by their most apparent representatives. Outside of celebrities and politicians, that’s going to be largely tourists, at least in America’s case. That part of things isn’t really represented in this video.

    Americans, for many reasons, are viewed as having some of the friendliest tourists and thus, the country comes across as being a friendly place. Part of that is because of tipping culture. We want to give money to everyone for doing anything and that is viewed as friendly. When social responsibility is placed at the individual level, the way it is in America, one can’t help but seem friendly to others who don’t quite understand why Americans operate this way.

    Outside of this, there is a general “American Optimism” that is necessary to be alive in America and I think others recognize the symptoms while not quite gleaming the cause.

  • The Japanese as I have found, as well as most people of other nations, generally have a very good opinion about Americans. They consider us kind and friendly. Our own national media seems to be sending us the message that we should have a reason to hate each other. Other countries really don’t get the same message about Americans. Their first hand experiences are generally very positive, which is really what it is like in America after all. While I differ with people politically, face to face the hate factor rarely comes into play.

  • “I’m going to San Francisco, Texas, Chicago, Miami, New York Baltimore, Philadelphia…”

    Dude is gonna be *jet lagged*

    Also if he’s looking for recommendations to experience the US, I’d tell him to not just visit major cities and try to drive through the country more. The vast majority of the US is wide open rural space

  • My YouTube has become nothing but these types of vids and those kids of white people speaking an Asian language “shocking” the locals honorable mention to X people try X people’s snacks.

  • The best part of Japan is its homogeneity. You can visit Japan and actually see Japanese people and their distinct culture, language, customs, etc. Immigration is virtually non-existent. It’s not like visiting Paris and not seeing French people and just seeing Algerians and Middle Easterners and not experiencing French culture.

  • This is interesting because I speak some Japanese and I noticed in some of the seedier areas they were slightly relieved when my friends and I told them we were Australian rather than American for some reason, but in general they are friendly to everyone.

  • Well, the people in these videos site that Americans are more free to speak their minds. I have heard that in Japan there is a firm distinction between “Things you say publicly” and “Things you actually believe”. I wonder if this video is largely dominated by publicly appropriate sentiments. I suspect it is.

  • Went to Japan earlier this year, and everyone was so nice and polite. Except this one dude near the tori gates in Kyoto. I was walking back down the hill with some friends saying “good morning” in Japanese to people as we passed them and getting it in return. Except this one old guy smoking a cigarette, sitting outside his house. We said good morning, and he gave us the most evil look and didn’t say a word. I think about that dude a lot for some reason.

  • Not from Japan, but I like to pitch in this conversation.

    Stupid.
    Ignorant.
    Dumb.
    Superficial.
    Bully’s
    Obnoxious.
    Think the entire world revolves around the USA.
    Self-righteous
    Crybaby’s

    And we got a lot more I you like…..

  • I lived in China for two years and visited Korea twice.

    I think the impression in China was very positive, though this was in 2003 and China was still making every single bit of focus about capitalism, building, and making as much cash as possible. Now, I would imagine the image of America is worse.

    Korea? Very hard to gauge. I liked China more, but I lived there and only visited Korea. Korea is more insular.

  • Is there a non-white culture that America loves more than Japan?

    We love Japanese food (or at least our version of it), Anime is super popular, Kaiju flicks do well here, Nintendo/Sony are huge parts of American culture, we love Japanese cars, I personally am super envious of how clean and orderly Japanese culture appears (though I don’t actually know much about it)

    As an American I think America really likes Japan in general.

  • Some really interesting interviews here. Feels like Takashi-san was asking pretty decent questions to get a general “vibe,” and the varied responses based on the interviewees’ backgrounds was cool to see.

    America is also massive compared to Japan, so where in the States people have experiences can be vastly different.

  • Kind of fun to watch. I work with a lot of Japanese expats, they almost always enjoy being here interestingly enough.

    That being said, Japanese culture is just chefs kiss to me with the level of respect that they maintain for one another and even foreigners. Something I think we fail miserably at here.

  • I just moved back the the US six months ago, after living in Japan for a few years. I already miss Japan. The one guy really hit the nail on the head regarding convenience and public safety in Japan. It’s so easy to get around, and I never had to worry about my safety while I was there. Everyone I met was super friendly, and seemed genuinely interested in sharing our cultures with each other.

    I’d love to move back there again. I just need to become more fluent in the language.

  • Having worked with Japanese colleagues, it’s good to remember (and I think obvious in the video) that they are typically immaculately polite and self aware. So miiiight not be their *true* feelings.

    Gotta say though, as an LA resident, looking at immaculately clean and well-planned Japanese cityscapes in the background, I would be pretty horrified to have them see our eternal run down strip malls and ubiquitous poverty.

  • I’m American and went to Japan once for work. I love Japan and the Japanese people. I have met some really wonderful Japanese people through my job. One is now a very good friend who often shares information about their traditions, holidays, and culture with me. My wife sometimes shares this information with her young students. Great country and great people. 日本は素晴らしい

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