[GTJ]

Originally Posted by samurai007

I think it's worth noting, though, that it works both ways. Some Japanese have stereotypes of other countries based on the media they see from that country.

YES. It's worth noting that apart from what they see on TV or in movies, the Japanese are almost completely ignorant on the whole about foreigners. It's pretty funny most times, completely blows my mind other times.

I was asked many times if I owned a gun, if I had ever seen anyone shot in real life (or shot anyone myself), etc.

Oh my god, if I had a dollar... Also, most of the people asking me are completely serious and act suprised at my sometimes strong, "wtf kind of question is that"-style response. It's extremely ignorant, and the only reason they all think that is because we keep exporting violent movies and dramas like Lost, CSI, and so on. So on the one hand, they're being dense. On the other hand, it's our own fault.

Some Japanese who have never been outside Japan have rather unrealistic views of other countries, just as some in those countries have about Japan. I hope that as world-wide interpersonal communications advance, such as the internet, there will be greater understanding of real life in all other countries.

Totally right. As might as it sounds like I'm saying "omg Japan knows nothing about other countries!", it goes for all countries. You can't really "know" a country till you've at least been there (for starters). After my first year in Japan, I went back to my home country of America for a few months and it shocked me to see and hear all the misconceptions about Japan (which I heard incessantly because suddenly I was nothing more to my friends and extended family than "the Japan guy"...ugh). So I guess in the end we're all ignorant about one another? Great post, samurai007.

I agree with miyukisama more than the OP (and am interested in knowing how she got like 144 billion posts). I raised my eyebrows at the "perfect English" comment, but that's irrelevant. The OP's post has a very tangeable "the REAL Japan is in the inaka" slant to it. The message I got clearly from it was "if you don't go to Japan for the boonies and backwoods, you suck and you're doing it rong." Sure, that's where all the historical and "pure, untouched" Japan is, but you can say the same for any country.

So, if you don't go to the Grand Canyon or the forests and mountains in West Virginia, you aren't seeing the "real America". If you only go for New York to eat pizza and hamburgers and see Broadway shows, you're doing it rong. Something like that, OP?

Yes, the inaka is where the real untouched country is, and it's beautiful, and I really do intent to go explore it. I refuse to leave Japan until I spend time seeing all the natural areas I want to see. I'm buildling a list, and believe me, it's loooong. (Actually I'm saving up for a scooter and my plan is to putter around all those mountain and country roads!) However, the world has evolved much, as has civilization. Cities, towns, bright lights, trains, planes, TV shows, weird subcultures, etc., are all part of what Japan--or ANY country--really is. If you go to Tokyo and spend all your time in Akihabara or Roppongi or whatever, that's no less the "real" Japan than if you went to meditate under a waterfall somewhere up in Hokkaido. People dictate their own experience, and if someone goes to Japan, wanders around Akiba in an anime-and-game-induced daze for a few weeks, goes home, and had a great time, then let them to it! They say what was, for all intents and purposes, the "real Japan".