Actually, to make assauge your feelings: European tourist boards have done a lot of poling lately. It turns out that Americans have some of the best reputations as tourists in Europe. The ugly american stereotype has disapeared, thanks tou sensative people like you. We tip better, are moe polite and try to learn a few native phrases more than almost anyone else.

It turn out that the French and Chinese are the worst rated. They are rude, the chinese touch things i museums and the french are lousy tippers.

We are conscious of the old stereotype so we, as you say, "go out of our way" to et people know we appreciate thier patients. It has gone a long way.

Later.

I dunno, I grew up on Anime and Manga too, but wasn't the least bit interested in Japan until about 5 years ago (I'm 17) when I had a really good friend that tought me alot of stuff about th real Japan. At that point, I kinda learned to seperate fact from fiction.

If you want my honest opinion. The real Japan, not the fantasy world of Anime is truely interesting.

I can't claim to know what Japan is like, simply becouse I have never been there. But in all honesty, Japan isn't the "be all, end all" of my life. In fact I'm really leaning tward learning Korean instead of Japanese at this point (mostly becouse Japanese is a detriment to english teaching in Japan, they don't want your english being influenced.)

I think, as long as you know that you don't know, and that you don't hide it. You can find out the truth, and be truely knowlageable.

Yeah, but it didn't disappear,they are turning better only recently. It takes more than few years for stereotype to change xD
(I'm working at casttles and museums part time) Still the best tourists are japanese and german.

I have bad luck for american tourists too. ("Please don't make photos." "Yeah right *flash flash*", "Please don't touch anything." "But of course! *goes to sit on antique chair*") :)

Yeah, actually most americans I've met in my home country were allright (not better or worse than anyone else). American tourists usually just want to have fun and are polite in general (I know people that work in a museum, so atleast I get a little bit of insight).

Funny thing though is how it's kinda rare to meet repub's. Every single american person I've encountered through university etc have been "goddamn-I'm-tired-of-bush" dems.

As for the french I think their biggest problem is that they don't speak english too good (ofc I'm now generalizing, which isn't really a good idea but hey..), and more often than not aint interested in learning your language (ofc this is not so for all french).

I;m not into anime but i think people who are not interested in japan have a bigger distortion than the people who watch anime. I think most people knows what they are getting into =)

What are you talking about, anime and manga is what Japan is like for real! Maybe not.

I've been to Japan, so I have the "real" idea of what its actually like. However, I did notice that anime/manga is correct with a lot of "normal" things.

Such as, the way the houses and streets are set up, and the large schools with the chiming bell to call children to class. I felt like I was in a manga while walking down the street in Kita Koshigaya, lol. But no there are no flying wizards and witches, or magical creatures walking about.

Is it possible to have been led to anime, manga, music....everything by dreams? As young as 4-6, I had dreams. Things my family's pastor dubbed "visions of my future and past." He told my family and I to seek the aide of his friend. As it just so happened, the friend was an elderly man who had spent 20 years in Japan. Till his last days I spoke with him and studied under him. I know like many others that Japan isn't all anime-ish, the Japan of movies...or even the Japan of memories. As much as I wish I could have seen the countryside then; I'm satisfying my hunger by learning the trade of game design with the hopes of working in Japan under the SquareEnix Company.I hope to live out the rest of my life there, and I'm going no matter what anyone says. :vsign: Hope to see you there! :ywave:

im not really worried on how we view japan but on how japan views native americans....have you seen some of the stuff they put about us in manga and animes?

Yep, funny stuff.

... But, like I've said: Some of it, even in an effort for humor, can be true to a point.
There's no helping it; it's just an expression of the contrast between cultures.

Sort of like describing the big-nosed, white-skinned foreigners that talk unusually loud.
It seems blunt. It can be offensive... But it can also hold an element of truth, especially from the perspective of someone with an entirely different outlook on life. Minus racism.

We generalize others just as they generalize us.
It's one way of trying to understand the world around us in a form that we can remember, without possessing the knowledge gained from actual experience.

In the case of anime/manga, I don't think so. When I was younger, I didn't know what either was. When I was young, I watched cartoons/animated stuff in general. I didn't know where it was from, nor did I care, just as long as it entertained me. As silly as this may sound, when I first started watching Sailor Moon years ago, it didn't hit me that the show was dubbed over from Japan until older.:p I also never preferred one country's series over the other. If it entertains me, doesn't matter where it's from. I'm like this even now.

That aside, I wish you the best of luck. ^_^