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Maintained-by: TANAKA Tomoyuki
Archive-name: japan/american-misconceptions
Version: 5 (about 2000 lines)
Posting-Frequency: at most once every two or three months
Last-modified: 1998 12/4
URL: http://www.cs.indiana.edu/hyplan/tanaka/m
Written/edited-by: TANAKA Tomoyuki
Abstract:
This FAQ file examines common American misconceptions
(false stereotypes) about Japan, which also affect Asian
Americans.
FAQ files are at
http://welcome.to/SCJ
http://welcome.to/soc.culture.japan
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contents
-- preface: Daily Yomiuri, Mr Okada, Zipangu, Aardvark
-- abstract
-- some FAQs about Japan
---- (FAQ-0) "Is this ?"
---- (FAQ-1) crowded, expensive
---- (FAQ-2) slant-eye Micky Mouse
---- (FAQ-3) crucified Santa Claus
---- (FAQ-4) suicide very common
---- (FAQ-5) country and western Japanese
-- some misconceptions about Japan
---- (MISCONCEPTION 1) Japan is tiny.
---- (MISCONCEPTION 2) Japanese cities are the most crowded in the world.
---- (MISCONCEPTION 3) cost of living in Japanese cities is the highest
---- (MISCONCEPTION 4) Japanese have first names followed by last names
---- (MISCONCEPTION 5) Japanese are inept at learning English.
-- (0) introduction
---- (0.1) my (Tanaka's) first day of school in the USA ... Vincent Chin
---- (0.2) negative images of Japan contribute to ...
---- (0.3) US media coverage of Japan is a major obstacle to ...
---- (0.4) why I'm writing this article.
-- (1) disparity: Americans view Japanese more inaccurately and ...
---- (1.1) from Endymion Wilkinson, [book] "Japan versus the West"
---- (1.2) a TIME poll
-- (2) American myths and propaganda about Japan
---- (2.1) MYTH: Japanese (Asians) have slanted eyes.
---- (2.2) MYTH: Japanese are suicidal.
---- (2.3) MYTH: Japanese are sneaky and unfair as proved by the "sneak ...
---- (2.4) MYTH: Japanese are sneaky and unfair as proved by their unfair ...
---- (2.5) MYTH: Japanese are completely different from Americans and ...
---- (2.6) MYTH: Japanese are copycats (cheap imitators of the USA).
---- (2.7) MYTH: Japan is a sexist country.
---- (2.8) MYTH: Japanese men are either asexual or sex-hungry monsters.
---- (2.9) MYTH: Japanese are rich and hardworking (in a negative way)
---- (2.10) US media coverage of Japan, Ezra Vogel's "Japan as Number One"
---- (2.11) positive images of Japan in the USA
-- (3) images of the USA in Japan
---- (3.1) Japanese media coverage of the USA --- mostly positive
---- (3.2) negative images of the USA in Japan
-- (4) Hiroshi Nakamura: comments on various points
-- (5) R. Tang: comments on various points
-- (6) Earl Kinmonth: on Benedict and the tradition of Japanese studies
-- (afterword (response to Mr Kinmonth's comments))
-- (bibliography)
-- submissions to this FAQ
-- about the author
=--------------------------------------------------------------------
-- preface: Daily Yomiuri, Mr Okada, Zipangu, Aardvark
whenever i looked at the Japanese news magazines (AERA, etc)
at the Indiana Univ library, i had this sense of vertigo:
i was bewildered by the richness of materials presented.
of the 100,000,000 things that can be reported about
Japan, "NY Times", etc report only 20 things --- things
that can be used to reinforce the notions of crowded,
expensive, sexist, suicidal, copycat, etc.
American reports are always filtered through the racist
prejudice of Nicholas Kristof and others like him.
i no longer have such vertigo when i look at Jp news reports.
and the main reason is that i now look at THE DAILY YOMIURI
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/main/main-e.htm
from time to time. and i can keep in touch with 99,999,980
things about Japan that NY Times would not report.
other notable recent publications:
http://www.mars.dti.ne.jp/~ja1rna
http://www.cs.indiana.edu/hyplan/tanaka/m/zipangu.txt
http://aardvark.tierranet.com
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-- abstract
Americans and Japanese have basically friendly images of each
other.
according to a TIME article, 59% of US adults think of
Japanese as "friendly", and 64% of Japanese adults think of
Americans as "friendly" (see below for details).
Japan and the USA are important trade partners and political
allies. we have no need to worry about massive deterioration of
mutual trust in the near future.
with that said, I have noticed the following things that concern
me greatly:
--- disparity: Americans view Japanese much more negatively than
Japanese view Americans.
--- American myths and propaganda: the negative American images
of Japan are largely manufactured by exaggerated and
inaccurate US media coverages of Japan.
in this article, I'll attempt to do the following:
--- describe the disparity mentioned above.
--- expose the nature of the American propaganda.
--- debunk some of the American myths.
my point is not that these "myths" are completely groundless.
they are not. most of these have some basis (although tenuous).
for example, much imitation of American culture does go on in
Japan, and suicide rate is slightly higher in Japan than in the
USA. my point is that they are grossly overemphasized in the
USA to the point it is reasonable to call them "myths".
=--------------------------------------------------------------------
-- some FAQs about Japan
here are some FAQs (frequently asked questions) I have come
across about Japan, on and off the net.
(see also other FAQ files for SCJ.)
---- (FAQ-0) "Is this ?"
from time to time on , people post
articles saying,
"I want to read about Japanese culture, not
about how much you guys hate Japan!
Is this ?"
this whole FAQ file is a response to that question.
---- (FAQ-1) crowded, expensive
"Japan is crowded and expensive to live in, right?"
ANSWER: not nearly as advertised in the USA.
see (MISCONCEPTION 1, 2, and 3)
---- (FAQ-2) slant-eye Micky Mouse
"you know how Japanese have slanted eyes? well, I just heard
that even Micky Mouse in Tokyo Disneyland has slanted eyes."
ANSWER: probably false. (reliable information is sought.)
I've been to the Disneyland in Japan a few times and the
Disneyland in California many times. I'm sure that there is no
difference in how Micky Mouse is drawn in the two countries.
therefore, I strongly suspect the "slant-eye Micky Mouse" story
started as follows: those Americans with particularly strong
belief that "Asians have slated eyes" perceived Micky Mouse in
Japan with narrower, slanted eyes (see Section (2.1)). such
Americans reported their wonderful findings to their friends,
and thus the story spread as an urban legend.
this is such a catchy story, with many elements typical of
US media coverage of Japan.
--- Japanese copying American culture (Tokyo Disneyland is a
favorite example. see Section (2.6)).
--- the Japanese version is in some way different: exotic,
strange, ridiculous, confused, etc.
---- (FAQ-3) crucified Santa Claus
"I heard a funny story: in a Japanese department store they
installed a crucified Santa Claus for Christmas sale
advertisement."
ANSWER: probably an American urban legend.
(reliable information is sought.)
if it happened, it happened once about 50 years ago.
Los Angeles Times (March 16, 1993)
heading: "Japanese Parade for St. Patrick, Whoever He Was"
subheading: "Western holidays are all the rage. But a poor
understanding of their meanings leads to faux pas, such
as Santa on a crucifix."
there is one paragraph on crucified Santa Claus:
"The granddaddy of cultural faux pas here occurred just
after World War II, when a Ginza department store
rolled out its elaborate Christmas promotion: a smiling
Santa nailed to a crucifix."
I admit that the image of a crucified Santa Claus is a striking
one. but the oxymoronic juxtaposition is not totally unique
(for example, the 1993 music video of a Nirvana song
"Heart-Shaped Box"(?) with a crucified old man with a cap like
Santa Claus's). is it so interesting that it should be
mentioned in a heading of a major newspaper 50 years later?
or are US journalists suffering from some kind of compulsive
disorder?
---- (FAQ-4) suicide very common
"suicide is very common in Japan, and it's because Japanese
people have completely different attitude toward suicide.
that is, the idea is much more acceptable in Japan, right?"
ANSWER: see Section (2.2).
---- (FAQ-5) country and western Japanese
"I just heard on TV that country/western music and fashion is
the latest fad in Japan, that EVERYONE's into it. is that true?"
ANSWER: see Section (2.6).
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-- some misconceptions about Japan
---- (MISCONCEPTION 1) Japan is tiny.
THE TRUTH: Japan is slightly smaller than California, the third largest
state in the USA. Japan is bigger than (unified) Germany, and
the U.K. it is 10 times the size of Taiwan and 350 times the
size of Hong Kong. (source: "1994 Britannica Book of the Year".)
other Asian countries view Japan as a large, powerful country,
because of its economic might and its past military invasions in
Asia (WW2, etc).
Japan is not one big city-state. it has deserted coasts, open
fields, and deep forests.
=--------------------------------------------------------------------
---- (MISCONCEPTION 2) Japanese cities are the most crowded in the world.
THE TRUTH: in the book
John Tepper Marlin, Immanuel Ness, Stephen T. Collins.
"Book of World City Rankings". The Free Press, 1986.
Table 9 Population Density compares 105 major cities in the
world.
1. Manila 6. Buenos Aires 11. Jakarta
2. Shanghai 7. Tokyo 12. Lisbon
3. Cairo 8. Seoul 13. Moscow
4. Paris 9. Osaka 14. New York
5. Bombay 10. Naples 15. Milan
other Japanese cities in the table:
23. Yokohama 67. Kobe 83. Sapporo
25. Nagoya 79. Kyoto
the list of 105 most crowded cities contains 13 US
cities and seven Japsnese cities.
=--------------------------------------------------------------------
---- (MISCONCEPTION 3) cost of living in Japanese cities is the highest
in the world.
THE TRUTH: Tokyo prices are high, but not as high as advertised in
the USA. according to a survey conducted by Japanese
government in Nov 1994, Tokyo is about 40-50% more expensive
than New York, London, Paris, Berlin.
since housing is especially expensive in Japan, I'll present an
international comparison of housing prices.
in the same book "Book of World City Rankings", Table 74
Average Monthly Rental Cost (Page 592) compares "average gross
monthly rent (US$)" for 67 major cities in the world for
1981-83.
1. Jidda (800) 6. Los Angeles (450)
2. Hong Kong (750) 6. San Diego (450)
3. New York (617) 6. Sydney (450)
4. Tokyo (552) 9. Houston (449)
5. San Francisco (480) 10. London (430)
(Jidda is in Saudi Arabia.)
other Japanese cities in the table:
11. Yokohama (429) 40. Osaka (268)
20. Kobe (339) 50. Nagoya (236)
30. Sapporo (308) 55. Kyoto (193)
Tables 44-51, 55, 56 compare prices of eggs, milk, bread, meat,
household appliances, men's clothing, women's clothing,
automobiles, public transportation in the 50 or so cities.
Japanese cities dominate the top ranks only in the prices for
milk and meat.
some people told me that prices cited above are too old (1981-83).
I agree, but I haven't been able to find reliable data that's
more up-to-date.
from: Wen-Kai Tang
|
| I will have to disagree with you on the point of prices in
| Tokyo vs. other cities. I've been to Tokyo for about 2 weeks,
| and I must say that EVERYTHING costs much more then in the US.
| Of course, the cause of this is the strong Yen. While the
| exchange rate is about 100 yen to 1 dollar, most economists
| agree that in purchasing power terms, it should be about
| 160-180 to 1. In the 50s and 60s, when the exchange rate was
| 360:1, the dollar was overvalued and to most US residents,
| Japanese prices must have seemed very low. So this whole issue
| is really a function of overvaluing or undervaluing of a
| currency and should not really reflect poorly or favorably on a
| country. Americans should be reminded that despite the high
| Tokyo prices, most Tokyo residents MAKE a lot too, in fact more
| then Americans do in dollar terms. The result is that in
| purchasing power, the average material standard of living is
| about 85% of the US. Many Americans often just look at just
| the high prices or the high wages (in $ terms) of Japan without
| taking the other into account and yield many false conclusions
| about the standard of living in Japan. I think you should
| emphasize that point instead of just tackling the myth of
| Japanese high prices. I agree that the people in the US
| exaggerate the high prices in Tokyo. Having been in Europe for
| the last 4 weeks, I admit that European prices, especially
| Paris, are almost as high as in Japan. Of course, most
| European currencies are overvalued against the dollar as well.
| I think the rule is that prices in the US are among the lowest
| in the advanced world and everywhere else must look very
| expensive for a US resident, Japan included.
=--------------------------------------------------------------------
---- (MISCONCEPTION 4) Japanese have first names followed by last names
just like Americans do.
THE TRUTH: a Japanese name usually consists of a family name followed by
a given name.
most academic and serious treatment of Japanese culture in
English text (such as scholarly papers and serious books)
observe this original order, while popular and cursory ones
(such as newspaper and magazine articles) reverse and
"Anglicize" the order.
note that preserving the original name order in English text is
the default for people from mainland China (PRC) (Mao Tse-tung,
Chou En-lai, Li Peng), Vietnam (Ho Chi Minh, Nguen Van Thieu,
Pham Van Dong), and North Korea (Kim Il Sung). it is also
common for people from Taiwan (ROC) (Chiang Kai-shek) and South
Korea (Rho Tae Woo, Chun Doo Hwan).
on a related note ...
many Japanese people (myself included) don't find it
particularly flattering or pleasant when non-Japanese do the
following "Japanese" things in an attempt to be polite or show
off their knowledge.
--- saying, "Ah, so".
--- bowing to us (instead of shaking hands).
--- calling us "XXX-san" in English speech or text, such as
"Good morning, Tanaka-san."
(when friends do it, it's perfectly fine. use of
"-san" in Japanese is always fine.)
--- using words "Nippon" and "Nipponese" instead of "Japan" and
"Japanese". (we usually say NIHON anyway.)
I've stored some articles on notation of Japanese names in
English text in my WWW site. see Section (A) for access
information.
=--------------------------------------------------------------------
---- (MISCONCEPTION 5) Japanese are inept at learning English.
Edwin O. Reischauer. The Japanese Today. (1995)
"Unfortunately the Japanese have proved notably inept at
learning to speak foreign languages or to comprehend
them aurally." (Page 387)
THE TRUTH: Japanese are not especially or notably inept.
Japanese and English are two very different kinds of
languages, and it is difficult for a speaker of one to
learn the other.
=--------------------------------------------------------------------
-- (0) introduction
---- (0.1) my (Tanaka's) first day of school in the USA ... Vincent Chin
I will remember that day all my life: the first day of middle
school in January, 1976. I was 13 years old. having arrived in
the USA from Japan in the previous December, it was my first day
of being a student at an American public school in southern
California.
my impressions were almost all positive: helpful teachers and
friendly fellow students. it seems that many of the experiences
I was about to have in the USA were all symbolically represented
in the events of that day, and that included my first real
encounter with American racism; during the P.E. (physical
education) class, I was running with a football in my hand with
some boys chasing me, and a white boy yelled at me, "Stop, Jap!"
I was not offended at all. I was just puzzled. I had read and
heard about the word "Jap" in Japan, but my understanding was
that the word ceased to be used decades ago. like most Japanese
teenagers, I had no special negative feelings toward the USA (I
had only positive feelings) and I naively believed that those
sentiments would be shared by Americans. well, I was wrong.
in the later years I learned of the systematic way the American
society (parents, teachers, schools, churches, the media)
reinforces (i) general racial hatred and prejudice and (ii)
feelings of vengeance and grudge toward Japan regarding WW2.
these societal efforts are ethically wrong, and they annoy me in
my daily life. I felt that I had to do something when I learned
the following from the film "Who killed Vincent Chin?".
--- how Vincent Chin was beaten to death with a baseball bat,
with these words: "It's because of you (little)
motherfuckers that we are out of work."
--- how the killers only got small fines and probation for the
killing.
--- how there was no storm of protest about this from the
general American public.
--- how Vincent Chin's mother returned to China and left the
USA, where she believed there was no justice for Asians
and Asian Americans.
I have stored some articles on the Vincent Chin case in my
WWW site. see Section (A) for access information.
---- (0.2) negative images of Japan contribute to ...
negative images of all Asia, and to anti-Asian violence.
from [booklet, "Asian Pacific Americans" 1988] (see (bibliography))
|
| === Anti-Asian violence ===
| The trade imbalance with Asian Pacific countries and economic
| hard times in some U.S. cities have reawakened more violent
| forms of racism against Asian Pacifics, who increasingly suffer
| verbal harassment, vandalism, arson, beatings and killings.
---- (0.3) US media coverage of Japan is a major obstacle to ...
non-Japanese's understanding of Japan.
|-----------------------------------------------------------------
| Date: Wed, 26 Oct 94 14:52:21 -0400
| From:
| To: tanaka@indiana.edu
| Subject: US-Japan imagined differences
|
| Thank you for your posts about portrayals that seek to
| "pigeonhole" US and Japanese characteristics of culture.
|
| For five years, I lived in northern Japan near the JASDF "Misawa
| kichi" and I realized that what I had been taught about Japanese
| was very wrong. There are many elements of human behavior that
| are the same around the world, for example, the attention given
| to children, or wage labor practices.
|
| Nothing was "inscrutable" about the Japanese. Behavior, opinions,
| and feelings might be expressed differently, but it was just as
| easy to gauge these in Japanese people as in US people. [...]
|-----------------------------------------------------------------
(this above and other Usenet materials (those that
require permission to quote) are quoted by permission.)
C. Douglas Lummis (professor of political philosophy at Tsuda
College in Tokyo) writes in a book published in 1981.
|-----------------------------------------------------------------
| (C. dagurasu ramisu. "nai-naru gaikoku: KIKU TO KATANA saikou".
| jiji-tuusin-sha. 1981. Pages 43--65.
| back-translated into English by Tanaka ---
| I believe the original English manuscript is lost.)
|
| From time to time people ask me, "What were your first
| impressions of Japan?" I remember them very well. In 1960 I
| came to Japan aboard a personnel carrier ship of the U.S.
| Marines heading for Okinawa. [...]
|
| When I first came to Japan, I was completely ignorant about
| the country --- at least at the time I thought I was. I had not
| read a single book on Japan, and going to Japan was not by my
| choice; it was by the orders of the U.S. Government. [...]
|
| I was indeed ignorant, but my ignorance had a definite structure
| and content. In reality I "knew" a variety of of things about
| Japan --- not from studying about Japan, but from simply living
| in the USA for 23 years. Numerous images and concepts about
| Japan exist in the American culture, and form a part of that
| culture, which people who grow up in the USA automatically
| absorb. 20 years later, it is an interesting exercise to
| remember what kind of preconceptions I had at the time. By
| remembering them I can perhaps give the reader some impressions
| of the nature of education the USA has given to its citizens
| about Japan during 1936--1960. [...]
|
| Inside the Americans' heads there existed several images of
| "Japan" simultaneously:
| --- the diminishing wartime image of "Yellow Peril"
| --- the image of occupied Japan, "bright and diligent student of
| Douglas MacArthur's"
| --- the "Made in Japan" image (cheap and often faulty products)
| --- for a few people the image of "Exotic Orient", going back to
| Lafcadio Hearn.
| In the mid-50s there appeared a new image: that of Japan as the
| country of Zen. [...]
| GIs' heaven (occupied Japan) [...]
|
| I can go on, but I hope the reader already sees that when I
| came to Japan in 1960, I was "completely ignorant" about the
| country, and that state of "complete ignorance" is totally
| different from that of a blank paper (tabula rasa) you can
| write anything on. My mind was filled with stereotypes and
| images about a country somewhat like Japan, a country which is
| called "Japan" in the USA, but which exists not in Asia but
| only as an artifact of American culture --- my mind was full of
| attitudes and prejudices toward that country. Many of these
| images were closely linked to my own culture and to myself. To
| actually set foot in Japan was the beginning of a long battle
| between those preconceptions and my real experiences.
|-----------------------------------------------------------------
because US media is so powerful and influential, these negative
images are also exported to the rest of the world. I have met
people from India with these same American stereotypes for
Japanese: sly and sneaky.
---- (0.4) why I'm writing this article.
---- (0.4.1) reason 1: because the Japanese government isn't doing it.
those who have a chance to go to Japan, study the language, and
live there will hopefully discover for themselves how inaccurate
US media images of Japan are --- as Prof Lummis and
did.
but this is something only few Americans (non-Japanese) can
afford to do. in the meantime, US media images of Japan
continues to have insidious negative effects (Section (0.2)),
and continues to be a major obstacle to non-Japanese's
understanding of Japan (Section (0.3)).
I really feel that the Japanese government and Ministry of
Foreign Affairs (GAIMUSHOU) should be doing something to fight
these negative images and promote positive images, but I know
too well how bad they are at doing thing like this
(while they are good at doing some other forms of
advertisement. see Pat Choate, [book] "Agents of
influence" (1990) and "buffers", "propaganda", and
"Japan's foreign apologists" in Karel van Wolferen,
[book] "The enigma of Japanese power" (1989)).
that's why I feel that *I* have to something.
---- (0.4.2) reason 2: because I want to make the USA a greater country.
when I write about these topics on the net, I sometimes get
responses such as the following (lines from actual articles
posted).
> Now, will you SHUT THE FUCK UP about this topic, Tanaka?
> Please enjoy your stay in our country, [...]
(the poster is telling me, "Go home, Jap." in polite
language --- this poster, at the same time, wrote to
my postmaster about my "abusive" posting.)
some people may interpret what I'm doing as some foreigner
bashing away at their beloved country --- like badmouthing
their parents or something. in my mind that's not what I'm
doing at all. I've lived in this country for about 10 years,
and plan to live here for many more. in a way I already feel
more like a Japanese American than a Japanese. I love this
country. more than anything else I love the energy that
American people have to transform and improve themselves in the
spirit of self-affirmation and self-expression. This is
symbolized by the two marches in Washington: for civil rights
movement in 1963 and for the gay rights movement in 1994 (?).
I firmly believe that my criticism can make the USA a greater
country.
=--------------------------------------------------------------------
-- (1) disparity: Americans view Japanese more inaccurately and ...
negatively than Japanese view Americans.
---- (1.1) from Endymion Wilkinson, [book] "Japan versus the West"
"The key difference is that Japanese images of Europe and the
USA have tended to be more positive and closer to reality than
European and US images of Japan. The reasons are clear: at the
formative period of modern Japan, Westerners were regarded with
a mixture of fear and respect, two excellent reasons for
wanting to learn from somebody else. Westerners, on the other
hand, until recently regarded the Japanese with indifference;
sometimes with scorn and sometimes with fear, but seldom with
respect." (Page 32)
"But it [inaccurate Western images of Japan] also derives from
the Japanese inability to project a clear and unambiguous
message abroad." (Page 241)
---- (1.2) a TIME poll
in an issue of the TIME magazine (1992 2/10) with the cover
story "America in the mind of Japan / Japan in the mind of
America", on Page 20 there is a graph showing the results of
telephone polls (500 Japanese adults and 1000 American adults):
|-----------------------------------------------------------
| which words describe what which words describe what
| people in Japan are like? people in America are like?
| THE AMERICAN VIEW THE JAPANESE VIEW (diff)
|
| friendly 59% 64% 5%
| competitive 94% 50% 44%
| devoted to fair play 35% 43% 8%
|
| lazy 4% 21% 17%
| hardworking 94% 15% 79%
| prejudiced 53% 41% 12%
|
| violent 19% 23% 4%
| crafty 69% 13% 56%
| poorly educated 12% 21% 9%
|-----------------------------------------------------------
(the numbers in the rightmost column are (the absolute
values of) the differences that I calculated.)
three large differences exist: those for "competitive",
"hardworking", and "crafty".
in short, these results show that where a large disparity
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