Quote:
Originally Posted by RealJames
In north America, with any class or category of friendship or relation, strangers and friends alike, you can quite easily get into a heated and sometimes aggressive argument on these topics because they do take it personally. That's a major cultural difference.
What I mean to say though is that...
Religion and politics are safe to talk about because they aren't personal, whereas in the west they are.
|
I think you are onto something. I do agree that Japanese don't tend to get into heated discussions about religion and politics, but that doesn't mean they are not impassioned or opinionated.
I think the reason is that Japanese people do not feel personally connected to religion or politics the same way people in the West do, as you said.
Japan is not a religious nation, and politically the masses are more apathetic than in the West. This is probably due to the constant changes in leadership and the constant scandals that fill the news every night.
Other topics, like US military bases, drug legalization, gun legalization, whale hunting, the young generation, etc. might get more interesting discussions started.