Are Japanese peoples a lot more relaxed than others?
 

Hello all!

Just a question...
It's maybe a "culture" or something like that, or I'm wrong but...

I see a lot of Japanese peoples who have special hairstyle like flash colors, and... and who wears specials clothing where we would never dare to carry that in western countries...

For example, we are scared to wear clothes with a little different colors or even hairstyles with special colors... that made discriminant and strange for the others...

Is this the case in Japan?
Or peoples just don't mind because they are "accustomed" ? (they usually see that kind of this)

Or I'm totally wrong???
LoL

It depends on the job, age, place.

Japan is SO far from relaxed it's not funny... stress-country.

Fashion-wise, Japan is pretty open, in the right places, with the right people.

Salary-men had better wear a full suit with a white shirty and shiny shoes and not do anything that sets him apart from the rest...

I've often heard that because of Japan's overly oppressive uniform policies, you'll see things like crazy hair because it's something on you that can be shown off and not covered up.
I'd assume the same goes for fashion. If you're forced into a uniform all day, 5-6 days a week, why not let loose and get creative on your off days?

I think it`s important to point out that people wearing that kind of thing and into the kind of fashion that is so popular to point out as "Japanese" are a very very tiny subset of the population.

Normal people never come close... And in fact, the greater majority of those people seen in photos are "dressed up" for the day and don`t really dress like that in daily life. Think "dressed up weird to get stares because I am bored on one Saturday" - not regular fashion.

It`s always interesting to see the reaction of those who come to Japan with dreams of living in a world of Harajuku fashion... Only to see that the country is 99.999% conservative when it comes to fashion.

That's absolutely right, thanks for pointing that stuff out. :)

I want to add also that most schools don't allow their students to change their hair color at all, so the uniform strictness idea doesn't really work =/

I suppose cosplay is apart of the dressing up--possibly for visitors to admire and photograph.


my japanese friend who is almost seventy now is very aware of how she is dressed very soberly really--but I am sure the younger generation want to experiment and have fun doing so. she often is shocked with some young japanese students she meets-- but its a good thing that they are moving on-- doing their own thing.

when I first visited scotland many years ago-- I too was expecting all the men to wear kilts-- of course they didn't except for special events.

I really only see kilts up here for, as you say, special events (e.g. weddings etc.) & when the Tartan Army are off to watch the national team play football. I think in Japan, Harajuku in Tokyo is the most likely spot to see fashion-conscious young Japanese people. As well as, fans of Visual Kei & anime :D

Meh...
I compared some photos where we see population...
Western vs Japanese...

And well...
No you"re right... they're aren't much more peoples in Japan who wears special things... but I've seen more on Japanese shots than Western...

Are Japanese peoples less timid and more open of expression and/or spirit?

not even close, Japanese people are the most humble, modest and timid people I've ever encountered in my life

That girl you see with bright green hair and incredibly erotic cosplay, would probably blush if you told her she was pretty, or not be able to answer you, and if she could she'd deny any nice thing you said about her

Seriously?
I'm nearly sure that's shouldn't be for all Japanese peoples...

Is it a genuine shyness or modesty though? I know it's wrong to make assumptions because of how one dresses, but I'd imagine if someone had the confidence to wear something so revealing or attention-getting that they'd have the confidence to take a compliment too. I'm not saying that Japanese in their culture aren't naturally humble and modest like you said, but for those particular few who cosplay or dress so wildly is it still the same case?

You're right in that it is much more modesty than shyness, and it's also true that there are many outgoing and visibly/admittedly confident Japanese people. Though the vast majority of Japanese people who I've met and been friends with over the years have taken the cultural modesty to a level of psychological conditioning from birth, trained shyness if you will.
It is safe to say someone is shy if in any condition they act in that manner, regardless of how they may subconsciously feel about themselves.

As for girls in the awesome cosplay that look like goddesses, yeah seriously, go to akihabara or any other place where you can see a lot of cosplay chicks, talk to them, they are so shy it's so confusing and paradoxical lol.

Maybe there's a higher percentage of cosplay/outrageous-fashion Japanese people who aren't conditioned to be shy as a reflex, but it's still not that many.

If you wanna see non-shy Japanese, go to a dance club after they started drinking, that's about it.

(please don't take this as a form of complaint on my behalf, I love this culture and it's modesty was a breath of fresh air for me after living in a culture of self-centered superiority-complex'ed opinionated idiots)

No seriously Japanese peoples are so timid as you said?

It's not, I knew and know plenty of outgoing people in Japan who couldn't be called timid. Musicians, bartenders, aspiring comedians, horse track patrons...

lol. Sounds like me, dressing up in clothes other than the norm, yet shy

How about for the vast majority of the population?

The vast majority of the population are normal people. I just tend to push back when people make it sound like Japanese people are like squirrels, timid from any human interaction.

I have never asked someone for directions and not gotten an answer in Japan. That's not always true in the US.

Go to a typical restaurant in the US, and it is more like a library. People talk quietly over their meals. Then go to an izakaya in Japan. It's like Grand Central Station with people yelling out drink orders and salary men and college students slurping noodles and getting each other loaded. That would practically be illegal where I live.

If you want to say people are more aware of their surroundings and of the people around them in Japan, I would agree, but that is different than being the most timid people in the world. Stand between an Osaka obaasan and the 50% off table at the Daiei, and you are going to see the opposite of timid. Go to a Tigers bar or a Giants bar on gameday wearing the wrong uniform.

No it isn't like a lot of places in the world, I am sure, but I think this image of Japanese being so timid they are afraid of their own shadows needs to be corrected. (I know you didn't say that, but, again, I am giving an alternative perspective for those that have never and may never get there.)

It seems like we agree with each other then :)

Timid and modest are quite different yes, even though in some situations it can be hard to tell them apart.
The examples you gave are great.

I guess you push back when people call Japan super shy, but I push back when people expect cosplay chicks or extreme fashion kids to have a mentality similar to that of a western mind in the same clothes.
I was quite surprised at first when having conversations with people in those situations, thinking "how can someone dressed like that behave that way?!"

If we compare a western society to even kansai society (arguably the loudest most outgoing society of Japan) I still think it would be like night and day in contrast, don't you?

Also, don't you think most westerners would be more than surprised at the mentality of many people dressed in crazy fashion or in cosplay?

I figured we probably agree more than not.

In my experience with anyone who is a member of a fringe part of society (at least fashion-wise) in Japan, is that they are generally normal people who have a unique, or at least easily spottable, hobby.

I think what people don't realize is that Japan is the most hobby-friendly society, probably in the world.

I was there earlier this year and saw an auction of shinkansen parts. All the densha otaku showed up and paid insane amounts of money for foot rests and overhead shelves from the now defunct 500kei trains.

In Japan I feel hobby is encouraged in a different way, so even if I am made fun of in high school, I can find people interested in exactly what I like either in he community or in college.

So those into cos-play, visual-kei, decora, or whatever are not actors and actresses, but simply hobbyists. Under that makeup and fashion is usually a pretty normal, typical person.

Very well put, especially the last part, just normal Japanese people doing their hobby.
I'd say perhaps a tad less shy or modest, but still shockingly more than most westerners would expect lol

I want to emphasize the "normal people" bit.
No matter how they look, or what they do, almost everyone is a "normal person".

When it comes to fashion - no matter what the fashion is, it is only fashion. In the west, there tends to be a tendency to link certain fashions very strongly to a specific lifestyle. In Japan, in most cases you can subtract the lifestyle and any stigma attached to it.
People dressed in western "gang" style, people dressed like serious goths, people in leather and spikes, skinheads, etc etc... are 99.99% of the time totally normal people who have no links to that sort of lifestyle other than thinking the fashion is cool. (This can lead to some shock on their end when visiting other countries, where certain fashions do represent certain types of people...)

The "normal people" thing stretches far beyond just fashion.
In my 10+ years of living here, I have had some sort of contact with people from most facets of society. I have had the opportunity to talk to the most extreme styled people, yakuza / gang members, government big shots, famous musicians and television/movie stars, etc...

And they`re pretty much all normal people. There is an extreme feel of something I can only refer to as "accessibility".
People in certain careers don`t live behind some sort of weird curtain of protection, cut off from the rest of the world. A famous former actress sends her kid to the same kindergarten as my son. There is no particular secrecy about it, and she is a totally normal person. There is no strange cloud of secrecy, I guess. Instead of being "someone famous and special" - it`s "a normal person who works as such and such (musician, actor, actress, politician, etc)".

I think you will find that even in the western countries are people who dress up different, the thing is to know when & where. If in Japan the percentage is a bit bigger, so what ? That's cool :)