[Question] Japanese Culture, Life and Anime.
 

Hello everyone!

I just registered on this great forum, and so far im enjoying the content of it. ^^ Thank you for doing such a thing :)
Straight to the point, I wanted to ask some questions (if someone has the time to answer) about Japanese culture, life and Anime.

First, i would like to know if someone could explain me hows the Japanese "life-style" and "way-of-thinking". Example.: Reserved in general, liberal, etc.... (this is a very complicated question i guess, but maybe someone can clarify my mind ^^)

Second, is "Anime" related to Japanese life-style? Like, those animes that we see on College/High School, and the people on it, is it related somehow with the reality?

Oh boy, i guess i didnt realy express what i wanted to know, but i will try to do my best if i get some replies. xD

(I did some research, but it didnt realy answer to what i was looking for.)

Just stepped off the plane, going to go to sleep, but this caught my attention:

There is a Japanese style, but it isn't necessarily as restrictive as it may appear to people not living in the society. There is a great deal of individualism and creativity within the style. There have been books written on this.

Anime represents perceptions or viewpoints on Japanese society, so in many easily demonstrated ways, the answer to your question is yes. I often watch slice of life anime about junior high school or high school students because as junior high school teacher of Japanese students, what happens gives me insight into my students, and my students' actions give me insight into the anime representations of Japanese students.

Thanks for the answer, realy clarified my mind! ^^

Personally, I think The characters in Anime are far more emotional than they would actually be in Japanese culture. I sometimes suspect anime is used as an outlet for actions they would like to do, but are too reserved to do publically. True, that's just spectulation on my part.

That could be true.

very true.

anime is an outlet for what they really think about their society, their lives, their dreams, ambitions, desires, etc, etc. so i suppose you could learn alot by reading between the lines. certainly dont take things literally all the time.

its really no different from media in any other country, its just other countries might do it through tv, or their own comic books, or music.

re the "restrictive-thinking", if youre coming as a foreigner, dont worry about it, you are exempt, but it is very interesting to know about, and will surely help as Tsuwabuki has said.

at the same time, you should bear in mind that the manga artist/writer is probably someone who has stepped outside the restrictive thinking mode, which is why they are/can criticise it so. I'm not sure but i would imagine that deciding to become a manga artist is just as left field here as say, wanting to work for DC or Mavel comics in the US.

you're right yukisuke.

theres much more anger, violence, crying, etc, than one would normaly see in real life. its harder to pin down accurate representations of japanese life in manga until youre actually here.

you can say that manga displays the truer feelings, etc, but at the same time, it is entertainment, so there is only so much you should take, unless you have the ability to read between the lines like no one else.

think of it this way,.... if i asked " i am going to california and i want to know how true the lifestyle portrayed in melrose place is?" or "i'm going to middle america, how much like smallville is it?" or "i'm going to NYC, how soon after i land do you think i will be mugged or murdered?"

see what i mean?

Heh, as to NY..I suspect how quickly you were mugged would depend on what steet your were on, at what time of day. Being from Iowa myself, I suspect I have a better chance of being hit by lighting than a mugger.

Thanks for verifying my theory on anime, I realize it's not a perfect model, but based on the anime I have been watching. I have always strongly suspected that it was utilized as a picture into the Japanese soul, true it's distorted a bit, but it suggests that while Japan is culturaly reserved on the outside they are pretty much as emotional on the inside as the rest of us.

I suppose the reserved nature of Japan prolly has something to do with such a large population so densely packed together, it's a survival method of getting along under such conditions. Most Americans on the other hand, are loud and as far from reserved as you could get. Again, this would be based on how the US was formed. Although haveing the "American Spirit" is possible for anyone, as is haveing the "Japanese Spirit" I would suppose.

Though that's prolly an issue for a different discussion.

I may be American, but i'm still not getting the gist of the "American Spirit" attitude. I'm not the noisy type, so i guess Japan is the place for me since silence is valued a lot over there. I think. And thank you, Trunker for your evaluation of my answer. I really appreciate it. I sort of thought that anime and manga are the main tools for the creator to express themselves in a society that's taught to have a reserved nature and composure. I love it. If anime and manga didn't exist, I'd just die of boredom. LITERALLY. :)

yeah i'm pretty sure that the scarcity of land, and being on an island has alot to do with it. the uk, which is pretty much the same thing, has its own version of reserve as well as other similarities (the main difference being the larger number of immigrants and stronger regional identities).

and youre welcome yukisuke.

silence is perhaps overvalued :P here.

it can be unnaturally silent here, even in parts of downtown tokyo.

on the other hand, i seem to have some massive cricket type things in the garden that are loud as hell, like someone running a power drill.

Silence? I never found it to be very silent in Japan. You have constant noise from traffic, people on the street, neighbors making noise and talking loudly, guys on motorcycles revving their engines all night long, etc.. As far as Japanese people talking, it seems like they do more talking then Westerners do because they never get straight to the point. ( Although my wife's friends pointed out that because I speak very quietly I remind them of a Japanese man. I guess they think most Americans speak very loudly) That is just my opinion.:ywave:

Not sure I could describe what I mean by "American Spirit". I guess watching a Eagle fly, would be one way.

The declaration of Independance and the Bill of Rights are more than just words, they are kinda like a code of conduct, and instruction manual on how to be such an individual. Teddy Roosevelt always seemed to be the ideal representation of an American to me.

And how is that??

I guess for me ideally, it's the idea of self reliant independance through co operation with others. Pioneer spirit if you like, mountain men/women. The idea that the government that governs least, governs best. Really, read about Teddy Roosevelt, he is a representation of what I think American Spirit is about.

Being American to me is about liveing a certain way and being willing to fight/die to ensure I can live that way. Whats written in the Bill of Rights and Declaration of Independance is essentially the honor code I live by to achieve that.

I suppose you could describe the Bill of Rights and Declaration of Independance as "The Way of the American".

That's sort of true.

Downtown Tokyo, silent? I guess if you disregard the traffic noise, the sirens, the trains going past, the constant roar from air-conditioning, the recorded announcements explaining how to use the escalators safely and the politicians campaigning with loudspeakers, it could be considered silent...:confused:

Either that, or it might be time to have your ears tested! ;)

not all the time of course, but it can be very quiet, especially for a city of 12 million. tokyo is probably the quietest major metropolis that i have lived in / visited. i lived 5 stops away from shibuya on the local toyoko line, and it can be like inaka silent there.

even during the day, at peak hours, downtown is not exactly "loud" despite the trains, campaigning, gyoza guy, oimoo guy, crazy black shirt nationalists and christians.

i suppose if you came from a smallish city or town it would seem noisy tho,... it is all relative.

mind you i was there in the winter, so yeah i wouldnt know what it sounds like with all the aircons running right now.

I think nowadays Japanese are very upset with their urgent life style.Indeed,they need to use animation to show the ideal world in their mind.So we can see many exaggerated looks and behaviours throuth their animation.In this ideal world the charatcter can do whatever the writer want to do.

That's so true, cherrykiss.

Why do you think this? Do you really think anime is used to show an "ideal world"? Most of the time the world is very much the opposite of ideal, which is why it makes for an interesting story. If the world were ideal, it probably would be pretty boring.

In a sense, anime is used to show the creator's view he/she wants the world to be. They all have their ideal visions of they want to see the world as.

I still think the ending to Fate Stay Knight sucked.

What is that about? Are there three different shows based on Fate Stay?

It's based on a Game ironically. The Anime itself is really good, just the ending was too sad. Allthough based on the game there were three different possible endings...they chose this particular one.

Really? Most of the time the world's in anime are chaotic. Maybe we are watching different shows.

True the worlds in anime are a nuthouse. However, I do think they use it as wishfufillment in terms of how outwardly emotional the characters are.

I agree with that.