Japanese culture

[Abletony]

Why is it that some people are so into japanese culture, as in, almost like a hobby? What's the attraction?

[history_geek]

*srcatch head* Hmmmm. I suppose one of the reasons would be the contrast to our western culture. It's hard to explain, but the very mentality of Japanese culture and the people is so different that its just fasinating.

I'd recommend that you check an old TV-series called Shôgun, which is about an english sailor (Pilot-Major John Blackthorn) who sails to Japan in 1600. It's based on a novel by James Clavell, which in turn is partly based on a real person named William Adams. I couldn't find any real trailers from YouTube, but I did find this interview of Richard Chamberlain who played the part of Blackthorn:
Richard Chamberlain on playing Blackthorne in "Shogun" - EMMYTVLEGENDS

Or you could always read Lone Wolf and Cub or Rurouni Kenshin....

[The Magic Pudding]

Why wouldn't people have interest in a modern country of 128 million people?  The first Asian country to go through an incredibly fast modernisation, "made in Japan" went from a warning of cheap crap to a sign of quality and innovation.  They showed the rest of Asia what was possible with bugger all resources besides their own determination.

They are the only people that have suffered nuclear blasts in anger, their art is influenced by it.  They have a distinct animation style, it doesn't appeal to me that much but then neither does Mickey Mouse.

They have a distinct cuisine appreciated by many.

Surely their architecture is worth a second look?

There's judo, karate, kendo and cool looking ninjas.

They have made a huge contribution to world culture, to deny it would be ignorant and arrogant.

[Abletony]

Why wouldn't people have interest in a modern country of 128 million people?  The first Asian country to go through an incredibly fast modernisation, "made in Japan" went from a warning of cheap crap to a sign of quality and innovation.  They showed the rest of Asia what was possible with bugger all resources besides their own determination.

They are the only people that have suffered nuclear blasts in anger, their art is influenced by it.  They have a distinct animation style, it doesn't appeal to me that much but then neither does Mickey Mouse.

They have a distinct cuisine appreciated by many.

Surely their architecture is worth a second look?

There's judo, karate, kendo and cool looking ninjas.

They have made a huge contribution to world culture, to deny it would be ignorant and arrogant.

Nobody said that anyone is denying anything.

[Recusant]

Why is it that some people are so into japanese culture, as in, almost like a hobby? What's the attraction?

I think that the interest in Japan and Japanese culture which has arisen in the past decade or so among younger people can be traced to the introduction of manga and anime into the west. There had previously been that sort of Nipponophile around, but the manga/anime craze increased their ranks dramatically, especially among the young.

There is an older strain of admirers of Japan and Japanese culture, and most of them are drawn by an appreciation of the aesthetic qualities of Japanese art and architecture, as well as philosophy.

One thing which the surge of interest in manga and anime did was pique the interest of many people in the game of Go through the series Hikaru no Go, and for that I'm thankful.  The world needs more Go players!

[Sweetdeath]

Why is it that some people are so into japanese culture, as in, almost like a hobby? What's the attraction?

I think that the interest in Japan and Japanese culture which has arisen in the past decade or so among younger people can be traced to the introduction of manga and anime into the west. There had previously been that sort of Nipponophile around, but the manga/anime craze increased their ranks dramatically, especially among the young.

There is an older strain of admirers of Japan and Japanese culture, and most of them are drawn by an appreciation of the aesthetic qualities of Japanese art and architecture, as well as philosophy.

One thing which the surge of interest in manga and anime did was pique the interest of many people in the game of Go through the series Hikaru no Go, and for that I'm thankful.  The world needs more Go players!

Yes!  Go needs more love.  I'm dying to save up and get a nice    Go set with my girlfriend.    She's a huge fan of Go, as well as Hikaru no Go.   I'm pretty good at checkers and Chinese checkers, so i'm eager to try it.

[OldGit]

I used to play Go 40 years back, but I'd be pretty rusty these days.  An incredible game - flowing organically from one simple concept, and almost no extra rules.  Compare it to chess, which is just a collection of arbitrary and artificial rules.

[Sweetdeath]

I used to play Go 40 years back, but I'd be pretty rusty these days.  An incredible game - flowing organically from one simple concept, and almost no extra rules.  Compare it to chess, which is just a collection of arbitrary and artificial rules.

Wow, that's incredible. *__*

[Medusa]

It's probably one of the oldest cultures around. Then you look at America. And we got how many years in our pocket? Pretty boring I bet. Plus you know, Wolverine loved Japan. And I love Wolverine. So I must then love Japan. Duh. 

But seriously. It's a beautiful culture so rich and diverse.

[ThinkAnarchy]

1. They produce a very original form of entertainment in anime.
2. Their architecture is rather interesting and different from what we're used to.
3. They have the most unusual game shows of any peoples I know of.
4. They are technologically equivalent if not superior to the western world.
5. Japanese women are found to be very attractive by many western males.
6. Their history including literature as well as philosophy.
7. They also invented bukkakke (sp? Don't want to google spell check it right now  )as a result of their governments ban on showing genitals in porn.

You get the point, it is a very interesting society, with a bunch of things the western world enjoys coming from their culture and society (sony, robots, anime, etc.). The western world and Japan seem to play off each other very well, they love many aspects of American culture and we love many aspects of theirs. I only know the relationship between America and Japan, I actually have no clue what the cultural relationship is like between them and other western areas.

[Rizuidad]

Ef japan. The UKRAINE is where it's at. 

[xSilverPhinx]

They have made a huge contribution to world culture, to deny it would be ignorant and arrogant.

This.

[MinnesotaMike]

Most young people obsessed with Japan don't seem to know much about their history or the complexities of their culture. It's typically just an anime phase that about 1 in 4 of the kids were into while I was in high school. Every now and then some new fad comes along and becomes cool simply because it's foreign. Anime, manga, drifting, martial arts, architecture, tentacles... fascinating to the right people, but that appears to be the extent of their interest/knowledge.

[Tank]

I think difference is interesting and the Japanese culture is very different for European/American culture and thus very interesting.

[Hidelight]

Sumo is one of my all time favorite sports