do the japanese have such fairy tale views of the world outside japan?

[mamba]

i know from the editorials and reading what people on the board say that the Japanese can be very sheltered in their views or have them skewed by the media but is it really so bad that they suffer breakdowns? i know their thoughts of America but very rarely do i hear about their views of other countries and this article gave me a laugh.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/6197921.stm

[Daishikaze]

I suppose thats what they get for not finding out all they could before going there. If they looked around the net they might have realized Paris is not as Idyllic as they thought.

[Eddie Echoplex]

I blame MTV.

[Daishikaze]

I have to say, they are really no different from the Japanophiles who go to Japan and have their dream world shattered, when they see its not all sunshine and rainbows.

[Smallredbox]

I have to say, they are really no different from the Japanophiles who go to Japan and have their dream world shattered, when they see its not all sunshine and rainbows.

I totally agree.

A country is a country, full of its ups AND downs.

Its a shame a lot of people do not realize this.

However, I do find it hilarious that they have mental breakdowns. X3

[chad mullet]

I've never been to Japan but I've been in France a fair bit - it's true that
quite a few can be rude and even aggressive if you don't speak their ghastly lingo.

I found that they quickly learn how to behave properly if you give them it right back with interest.

I think the French have an inferiority complex because they're such losers.

[mawande]

Almost every Japanese remembers about the boy who was shot on Halloween.

[Cherub Rock]

Welcome to Paris, home of the 5 most densely populated cities in Europe. You can't roll out of bed without stepping on someone's face.

[Crowley]

Paris has the 5 most densely populated cities in Europe IN it?! Where do they keep them? One under the ground, one up the Eiffel Tower...?

[Cherub Rock]

Paris has the 5 most densely populated cities in Europe IN it?! Where do they keep them? One under the ground, one up the Eiffel Tower...?

Paris the metro area. Most major cities are like that, where they grow so large that they engulf the surrounding cities. In Paris it's a bit different though because they aren't like suburbs or anything. It's all one giant city that is pretty much equally dense in population. They still get to keep their names and everything, but they're more like districts than actual cities.

[MNJetter]

The only thing I really laughed at was how the article was treating "Paris Syndrome" like it was a disorder in its own right. It wasn't until the second-to-last sentence in the whole article that they mentioned the true form of this "syndrome," which is culture shock. No matter how many people from a specific country get culture shock in a specific other country for a specific set of reasons, culture shock is still culture shock.

I don't know if I find the actual idea of people having mental breakdowns funny, having experienced pretty bad culture shock myself once. But yeah, it does speak to the reason for not keeping your citizens too sheltered from reality.

But then again, maybe that's what the Japanese government actually wants. Somebody leaves the country, can't handle it, comes back, and bam - you've got yourself a 100% loyal citizen who will never betray the Emperor. :watson:

[erbiumfiber]

A coworker had a mental breakdown at an intellectual property conference in Helsinki for crying out loud (I've been there, it's very nice and polite). She couldn't be contacted and a rescue team was sent in to retrieve her. Paris is so much worse...

[CrazyAce86]

Almost every Japanese remembers about the boy who was shot on Halloween.

What happened?


I think before a person embarks on a trip anywhere in the world for the first time, they should have to sit through a culture shock class. Even if its fifteen minutes, just something to help them realize that different countries have different cultures. They'll probably still get culture shock, but hopefully it wouldn't be as bad as actually having a mental breakdown over it.

And I don't mean the first time traveling, I mean the first time traveling to a new country. I don't care if you've summered in France your entire life, if you decide suddenly you're going to Germany for the summer instead you're going to get some culture shock. Just because both countries are in Europe and even are neighbors doesn't mean they're the same culture.

[PopCulturePooka]

I found it hilarious.

I can imagine this Japanese OL huddled under a table in a Paris restaraunt, in a feutal position, shrieking crazily after a waiter yells at her. Comedy gold.

[CrazyAce86]

*rocking back and forth*

"Can't sleep... The clowns will get me... Can't sleep... The French will eat me..."

[RandomPasserby]

A coworker had a mental breakdown at an intellectual property conference in Helsinki for crying out loud (I've been there, it's very nice and polite). She couldn't be contacted and a rescue team was sent in to retrieve her. Paris is so much worse...
If it was from culture shock, was it because there is no snow, no polar bears, no Santa Claus and no penguins?

[CoryInJapan]

go's to show that no one should set high expectations when going somewhere they have never visited them self.

[Eddie Echoplex]

go's to show that no one should set high expectations when going somewhere they have never visited them self.

I don't know, Guanajuato did met my expectations when I visited it this past summer.

I guess it's all got to do with the knowledge you have a bout the place. Japan seems insular (I take this from what I've read in the editorials and here in the forum) both geographically and culturaly, at least when it comes to other countries. This would explain the dreamy version of Paris, and so on.

[japanat]

Originally Posted by mawande
Almost every Japanese remembers about the boy who was shot on Halloween.What happened? (re: Halloween shooting)Hattori was dressed as a pimp for Halloween, and drunk, when he and a friend went to the wrong house. He rang the bell and then tried to open the door, and the housewife wigged out - total panic attack. Then Hattori made the big mistake: he walked around to the side door and tried to open that. The owner stepped out of his house and shot him.

Now, personally, I think the houseowner should have gone down for manslaughter or 2nd degree, for the simple reason that "Make-my-Day" laws usually only cover when someone is entering your home. Hattori hadn't done that, he had only tried the doors. But the homestay group, and the friend he was partying with, screwed the pooch by not stressing that you never enter an American home uninvited.

Yet I get salespeople trying to pop open my door and come into the entry all the time. One time way back when, I had just climbed out of the shower and was walking down the hall to get underwear when a young lady opened my apt door to see if my futon needed cleaning. Needless to say, she squeaked and ran out.

[Digital Masta]

and the friend he was partying with, screwed the pooch by not stressing that you never enter an American home uninvited.

Yeah...we don't have sayings like "Doing that will probably get you shot!" for nothing.

[Hatsumomo]

It especially depends on where you are in America, where they shoot first and ask questions later.

[japanat]

It would have in my house. Or a baseball bat to the brain at the least.

In Japanese culture, the genkan (foyer) is considered public space, which is why it is always separated from the living area by a door or threshold. Hattori didn't know better, and it's such a basic, unquestioned part of American culture that no one thought to mention it to him.

[Nannou]

idiots and their guns.

guns dont kill people, americans kill people

:P

[akitaka]

He was in the wrong state in a generally bad time (halloween, where everyone wears a mask and can potentially rob you). The principle of defense that people use to own guns is still bull, the way I see it. Then again, I know how to fight both stand-up and on the ground, and have a black belt in chair-fu.

Relating to the main topic, a family friend actually ran into one of these Japanese with a false view of America, who almost got himself killed (by hit and run). Here's the main article:

Cross-Country Collision (http://www.tylerpaper.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=17473318&BRD=1994&PAG=461&dept_id=226369&rfi=6)

Japan native Yuki Kenjoh won't soon forget his souvenirs from the Lone Star State - a disappointingly small steak, a broken leg, a dislike for root beer, two black eyes, a scraped forehead and the end of a dream.

On Friday night, the 22-year-old math student's three-month-long plan to cycle across America came to a crashing halt.

Kenjoh was hit by a car between Ben Wheeler and Edom as he was pedaling eastbound down the dark shoulder of Texas Highway 64.

Kenjoh managed to call 911 on his cell phone despite knowing little conversational English and losing consciousness. An ambulance took him to a Tyler hospital to receive treatment, where he stayed for three days. He has since been taken in by a local Japanese hairdresser and members of a Tyler Japanese club.

Doctors have mandated that Kenjoh get two weeks of recovery time before he can return to his family in Japan. He'll be headed back to Shizouka broken and bruised, but with a story that even he admits has cinema quality.

JOURNEY

Sitting in the back room of Niki's Hair Design, Kenjoh thumbed through his atlas and translated his story through hairdresser Niki Cash and Tony Tadasa, leader of the Japanese club.

His nose nearly touched his maps, as he relayed the ups and downs of his 44-day-long journey across the American Southwest.

He began planning the trip six months ago. The Yokohama City University student got a job as a waiter, saved thousands of dollars, secured a plane ticket to Los Angeles and purchased an atlas and a bicycle in Hollywood, Calif.

Kenjoh figured that by biking across America, he could save money and see the places that tourists don't frequent.

In his mind, he divided his U.S. atlas into quarters. Kenjoh, who was the first in his family to visit America, planned to cross the country, from Los Angeles to Fort Worth to Atlanta with a bus ride to New York, in just 80 days.

He quickly discovered how wrong he was.

Kenjoh didn't anticipate that bicycles were forbidden on American interstates. He had no idea that Arizona cacti would cause four flat tires. Wearing light clothes and carrying a sleeping bag the thickness of a sheet, Kenjoh didn't plan for chilly desert nights or cool fall weather. He didn't prepare for the time difference or the time it would take to cross just one U.S. state.

In the course of almost a month and a half, Kenjoh replotted his trip to stay off of interstates (for the most part) and slept in motels, bus stations and the homes of strangers he met on the road.

On his bike, he rode from San Diego to Campo, Calif., to Yuma, Ariz., somehow accidentally ending up on a military base. He rode from Quartzsite, Ariz., to Phoenix, underestimating his water supply and almost passing out on until police brought him water. He rode from Globe, Ariz. to Silver City, N. M. where he met a man named Jerome who directed him over 5,000 feet of mountains. He rode on to Las Cruces, New Mexico, fighting off the "wild dogs" that attacked his silver track pants.

From Las Cruces, he drove the long stretch from El Paso to Fort Worth to eat a Texas steak in the Stockyards and then headed toward Tyler to spend the night.

ACCIDENT

Little is known about his accident on Texas 64. A police report was not available late Wednesday night and Kenjoh was in and out of consciousness after he was struck by the car. From what he remembers, a car hit the rear of his bicycle, throwing him onto the gravel shoulder around 6:50 p.m. Friday. He passed out, woke up in the gravel and tried to flag down cars on the highway.

Nearly 30 cars passed by but no one stopped, he recalled. He remembered to call 911 (it's 119 in Japan, he said) and then passed out again. He said he awoke shivering to find a man he can only remember as Sean and a woman wrapping him in a blanket. After questioning police, Mrs. Cash believes the two are volunteer firefighters at the Midway Volunteer Fire Department.

Kenjoh was taken in an ambulance to East Texas Medical Center.

On Saturday morning, an ETMC nurse who is a client of Mrs. Cash's called her about Kenjoh. Mrs. Cash said she talked to Kenjoh and communicated his needs and concerns to the hospital staff. On Monday, Kenjoh was released to Mrs. Cash with a fresh Fiberglas cast, a nasty scrape, a fractured skull and the same blood-spattered clothes and well-used Adidas he wore to the emergency room.

Wednesday afternoon, Kenjoh was battered but nonetheless happy.

A blue headband pushing his shaggy hair away from his scraped forehead, Kenjoh laughed about the growling wild dogs that attacked him every two miles in New Mexico, the four times he's been stopped by the police and the sausage and water he scored for free from a roadside vendor.

Kenjoh is disappointed that he won't finish his trip. He had planned to swim the Olympic pool in Atlanta. Kenjoh, who has been swimming since he was 5, is a big fan of the Japanese Olympic Swim Team. He said that the Atlanta Olympics were the first time the swim team didn't medal, and he wanted to see the pool that kept them from doing so.

He won't be spending Christmas in New York as planned, and he won't make it to Canada.

He hasn't called his mother in Japan to tell her about the accident. She opposed the trip in the first place, and she has a weak heart, so Kenjoh plans on waiting until she picks him up at the airport in Japan to tell her what happened.

RETURN TRIP

He plans to return home whenever he can. Right now his leg is too swollen for him to safely fly the altitudes reached in a plane, so he will stay with families in the Japanese club until it's OK to fly. He has painkillers and just enough money to get back to Japan.

In the accident, he lost his prescription glasses, the heavy jacket he bought in Campo, Calif., and his bike. He has some donated T-shirts and sweaters, but he needs clothes and other odds and ends.

Mrs. Cash said a fund has been set up in Kenjoh's name at Regions Bank on Ferguson Street.

Later, he emailed our friend in gratitude for picking him up along the road near Campo, California. He was dehydrated, had a flat, and a broken chain. After giving him some food and rest, he left without telling anyone; not even a "thank you" note. The email came after he recovered enough to return home; "I want to come back" was the last sentence in the message. Heck, maybe he WILL complete his journey after doing some long hard research, and physical conditioning.

So much for dreams.

[Jetsetlemming]

It sounds like he actually did far more than most travelers to foreign countries as far as planning. He just didn't count on the weather of the deserts, the size of the country, or the local laws. :P
I would probably NEVER try to do something like this in a foreign country. Maybe in America, where I've been born and raised, where I know the laws and generally, the people (like I know not to go in people's houses, or property in general, without asking, and to not rely on roadside courtesy and charity, as hitchhikers have a great stigma in America). But never in a country vastly different from my own, with a different native language, different client, and 180 degree different culture.

[Cherub Rock]

Sounds like he winged it without really doing any research. America isn't Japan. A person of average to above-average athletic ability can't just bike across it. Most people know that deserts are some of the hottest places on Earth in the day and coldest at night. Also, he should have known at least enough English to read the signs, such as "Military Base." At least he knew how to dial 911.

[atomiton]

He underestimated... well, almost everything. I think he's a little kawatteiru.

[Wakka]

I think before a person embarks on a trip anywhere in the world for the first time, they should have to sit through a culture shock class.

Lawl. Seriously, be reasonable. I've been to France and Germany (and a whole lot of other places outside Europe too) and they're not that radically different that you have to take a course on it :x. I actually would find that incredibly patronising; 'You're not going to be able to handle this on your own so here watch a video about Germany'. I mean jeez.

[Daishikaze]

I agree with Wakka. I came straight to Switzerland from the US , having never been out of the country before in my life, and it really isn't all that different. just a few little differences here and there.

I will say that if you come from an asian country and are going to a Western country (or vice versa) , it might be pretty jarring. Thats when you might consider a culture shock class.

[Danistar]

I agree with Wakka. I came straight to Switzerland from the US , having never been out of the country before in my life, and it really isn't all that different. just a few little differences here and there.

I will say that if you come from an asian country and are going to a Western country (or vice versa) , it might be pretty jarring. Thats when you might consider a culture shock class.
Uh, if you didn't notice, we've been talking about Japan. Which is in Asia.