Japanese Culture

Im not Japanese. Or asian at all. But i love Anime,Manga, Old fashioned Traditional Japanese culture (Geishas etc). What do japanese people think of outsiders being interested in their culture? is it annoying? do we come off as "wannabes"? I dont want to offend anyone but i also want to express myself.

A lot of it is going to depend on how you present yourself as well as the people you are talking to. As with pretty much anyone else from any other culture, some of them love it and some of them hate it. My koto teacher seemed pretty delighted to have a dedicated foreign student. Several of my students and I bonded over a shared love of anime. The people I worked with had an overall positive reaction to my interest in things like kimono, and my supervisor even asked my advice about a kimono outfit once. The folks I know who run a kanzashi shop have always been very kind towards and interested in the foreigners who visit their shop and buy things. But I think it really helped that I tried to get to know these people first and didn’t just run up to them gushing about how awesome all things Japanese were. It probably also helped that an interest in Japan and Japanese culture was something of a prerequisite for having the job I had over there. And I think it’s important to remember that no matter how you present yourself and no matter how strong your interest is, there are going to be people both inside and outside of Japan who think that you’re a wannabe or weeabo just because you’re interested in Japanese things. The question, then, is how much you are going to let that bother you.

I like Japanese culture, and I also like Chinese culture a whole lot. Maybe it’s because of the apperance of the magical beings in that culture. How do I get more in tune with both cultures in all aspects?

Talk to people who are part of those cultures- different people can be part of different sub-cultures so theses so much to engage in. Theres only so much you can learn from a culture text-book style, so you got to experience them- perhaps visit those places. Cinema is a good way to go, but learning the languages (manderin, cantonese, japanese) would probably get you more in tune with the cultures.

I am 19-year-old girl who lives in Japan.
Please teach the Japanese culture in which it is interested though it announces by the theme "Japanese culture" at the school.

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I like Lisa See’s way of writing and love learning of the Chinese culture through her stories? Are they any writers who are like her but of Japanese culture?

I’ve been reading Haruki Murakami’s books. His books have male and female main characters, and they give you a good look at Japanese culture.

It’s mostly inspired by ancient Chinese culture, but can some aspects be Japanese, like some of the names?
My story takes place in a fictitious village.

It’s probably not that good of an idea…did you know that Japanese is actually a combination of two languages? The written language is basically copied from the Chinese, but the pronunciations are based on Korean. That’s why people confuse Chinese and Japanese while reading, but Korean and Japanese while speaking (or hearing). That’s also why when people hear Chinese, they think of "Ching Chang Chong" or something (not trying to be racist, or offensive- I’m actually Chinese. Half.) But when they think Japanese, they think like "Yamasuki Sakio" or something. That’s why it’s actually not a good idea to put Japanese names in, but Japanese culture is okay, because it’s pretty close to Chinese.

From the story what were some things that you could conclude about Japanese culture and their values?

I read the John Allyn version, but we all have the same idea.

The story of the 47 Ronin were the junior samaui whose master had been forced to commit suicide. To avenge their master, they went to the house of the rival samaurai and killed them all.

I dont know the full story – i havent read the entire story on WIKIPEDIA.

There is something on the WIKIPEDIA website mentioning something about Bushido.

I am reading articles online regarding the ancient legend of the Tsurugi blade, and then i found an article on Yamato, the legendary prince, and I really want ot broaden my knowledge about Japanese legends, culture, and myths. Is there a book in particular or several i should grab?

Just grab a mythology book or culture book from the library. They’re all very insightful.

Mythology is a VERY cool topic though. I love Japanese Mythology! They have some of the weirdest things! My favorite (I think because it’s so sinister) is a baby that cries on the road until someone picks it up. Then it grows super big and crushes them! I forgot what it is called though. ^_^

I alwyas see Chinese people loving the Japanese culture (anime, manga, etc) but never vice versa. Are there any Japanese people out there who absolutely ADORE the Chinese culture? Like majoring in Chinese or learning Chinese, dressing up in Chinese clothes and trying to act Chinese?
Everytime at Anime conventions I always see these white weeaboos and whatnot…"KAWAII DESU." The sad thing is that only 1% are real Japanese.

first of all,sorry i am not good at english
>majoring in Chinese
many people do.including chinese literature.
>dressing up in Chinese clothes
most of our clothes are chinese(or made in china) . If you mean old chinese dresses,I do not see many in ordinary daily life,but some of our chinese restaurants have chinese dresses as uniforms
> trying to act Chinese
I have never heard.Trying to act others? If you see those people,they are mocking chinese people.

other than that,In japan we all are taught ancient chinese language and chinese poetries in highschool 30 hours or so and in junior high school a little.
and chinese restaurants are by far the biggest number of foreign restaurants

I personally like chinese poets such as ??,??,???,and chinese history books such as ”???”or”???”

and this is my favorite chinese poetry
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I would be very interested to know what does yellow signifie in japanese culture.

Yellow has several meaning in Japan, but not all of it is purely of Japanese cultural origin and for the most part only the older generation understand or remember. The younger Japanese are mostly ignorant of any cultural meaning of the color yellow.

1) Strangely, the color yellow symbolizes courage. Unlike western culture where it symbolizes cowardice.

2) At one time, the Japanese emperor’s guard would wear something yellow such as a yellow chrysanthemum in reference to their status as imperial guards.

3) Yellow to some who are Buddhist, is a sacred color. The Buddhist monks in Asia typically wear yellow, but for some reason not as many in Japan.

4) A lesser known meaning of yellow in Japan is "happiness" or "cheerfulness". There was an old popular movie entitled, "Happy Yellow Handkerchiefs".

What are some ways that Japanese culture is different than American culture?

Has anybody been to Japan, or lived there?

I’ve always been really interested in Japan and want to learn as much about it as I can.

In terms of family, it is tradition in Japan that the elderly parents live with their children. It is the children’s responsibility to take care of their parents when their parents are old. But there are some elderly parents who live alone and away from their children and continue working. My grandparents are living away from us because they are still working and do not want to retire. They are 80s.

In USA, as far as I know, elderly parents are either put in to retirement or nursing homes and their children visit them during holidays or special occasions only.

In terms of society, a vertical society structure is still common here in Japan. Are you familiar with the kohai-senpai system? It’s like that. It can be found in schools, work, family, clubs, etc.