This is just a great match between two great wrestlers from the 1950's as Wilbur Snyder and Mr. Moto match up. This match was from the Los Angeles territory...
All the Japan threads are some shifty attempt to justify 'race purity' in the mind of some people. Lots or vague references to some "extreme minority" group that has all the power etc. Letsrun is strongly white nationalist and this is just their latest trend.
Just kidding. People on this web site bash every possible designation of country, race or political persuasion. There are too many uncaring people who somehow get a thrill out of disparaging others.
Not bashing them, The People of Japan have a Very Good Work Ethic very similar to Americans, Probably why they do so well in the Marathon.
They litter less than the people of The USA, They have less Graffiti on The Walls, They have less Riots and Shockingly they now have a lower Crime Rate Than The USA.
They are Very Polite in General, They are Honest They Very similar to Americans in so many ways. When people say Japan I think of Good People, Good Country.
Japanese Civilization is the most advanced in the World. The people can totally read and write and do math on a practical level and it's nothing new havinv been that way for 1,000s of years. Every country wants to be just like Japan.
They have a lower crime rate than the USA, so we can learn something from them
It's extremely difficult to own a gun there.
Still they have less Flash Mobs where a bunch of people go into stores to steal, They Have less Muggings, Less robberies, We should figure out what they are doing and Emulate it
Ekiden's are awesome. They are stacked with very good runners and lacking exceptional runners. Been that way for years. They have trouble competing outside Japan (swimming has the same issue). Some swimmers break world records in Japanese meets then they don't even medal (or make the final 8) outside Japan.
Japan is a place with huge positives and also some negatives just below the surface. Overall a great country, not many people can deny that.
If you're a tourist, positives. Living here, you see the truth. Been in Japan (Tokyo) 12 years. Here's my take:
~ Japan is the prostitution capital of the world. So many ways you can pay for sex here and it is all out in the open. Everyone puts out for money. everyone, every age. Many stations have recruiters to get young women to work at places that are fronts for prostitution. Everything in Japan is a front for paid sex. They have suck shops only ('pink salon') for a quick lunch break pops, 'home/delivery health' where the prostitute comes to your place, and standard 'health', where you go and flip through a book and pick your girl, and go up to her room (just like Thailand, but many more ways in Japan). Most men cheat in Japan (its the culture) and many women too. Love hotels are an industry catering to cheating and prostitution. Every city has 'em. Tons of em. It's a Hentai nation. I never knew about upskirt pictures until I came to Japan. Soft porn mags at combinis are at eye level of children, front row stuff for all to see.
~ Japan is a gross polluter but they don't know it. Massive front-end waste of new plastics and they send their garbage to Thailand now. They are anal retentive about recycling but it does next to nothing to mitigate the front-end waste when old plastics can barely, if at all, be mixed with new plastics to make bags or bottles. Greenwashing ("Eco") is everywhere but the damage is done with front-end waste. It is MONUMENTAL. For example: every INDIVIDUAL fruit and vegetable at the supermarket is plastic wrapped, many put on a foam bottom. Like, 'here good sir, is your single banana'. Vending machines are everywhere. Even next to stores with drinks. It's ridiculous. Many items are double and triple wrapped. Most family take baths. Japan leads the world in accidental drownings as a result. They don't use raincoats. They are VERY weak about rain. Any light drizzle and the entire city sprouts plastic umbrellas, which they dispose of immediately. One gust of wind, one tweaked cheap umbrella, and they chuck it, for Thailand to worry about. They have NO CONCEPT of front-end waste here because they are sleeping, thinking their recycling is making their waste all better.
~ Work. "social harmony" = OBEY and STFU. Overtime work is the prime example. Mental health is a big problem in the cities. Tokyo is so tightly strung, everyone walks around like robot zombies. Trains are the worst. Everyone suffers collectively, together. Employment laws in Japan is same as America. People can leave at 5 or 5:30, by contract. They don't. Can't risk being be ostracized at work. So after 5pm, no one really does anything for the 2-3 more hours of overtime they stay. This is confirmed by my Japanese friends. Essentially everyone is faking work. Falling asleep at their desk with their eyes open. It is still work before family in Japan but getting better. Some people do bail at 5pm. siyonara suckers! Good for them.
~ Moon-kan-shing is the Japanese term for social indifference. Everyone is invisible to each other in Tokyo. This is the first weird feeling you notice when you walk off the plane in Japan. Artificial, sterile feeling. People don't make eye-contact here. You can't quite pin it but Moon-kan-shing is what you are experiencing. Nobody says hello. After 11 years, I have been attacked (physically and verbally) by more strangers than I've been greeted by a complete strangers. In fairness, we have a beach home in Chigasaki Kanagwawa. When I run on the path there, some runners wave to me (men only). Now I always wave, at everyone. It's not all gloom, mostly Tokyo. Kyushu is better. Osaka too. Inaka people in general. More open and friendly. Tokyo is just very bad and Japanese concur.
~ Friendliness myth: you understand the difference btw 'friendly' and 'polite' only after living in Japan. You won't know the difference if you come here for vacation but many people mistakenly say Japanese are 'so friendly'. People that are paid to help you are not friendly. As part of the travel/tourism/sales industry, they are being polite. It's their job. No strangers will come and talk to you, or say hello, not on the street or normal life. Maybe out drinking. That's it. Some might help you on the street if you are holding out a map and lost. That's politeness. Truly friendly people chatting you up or initiating conversation is VERY rare.
~ Japan is NOT peaceful. It's violent and very racist. Many examples:
- punched in the back while standing on a crowded train, morning rush hour.
- elbowed in the ribs from an old man for... sitting next to him, doing nothing but being non-Japanese. I kicked him off the train.
- standing on a sidewalk with students, a man rides by on a bike and yells "white skin, you have white skin"
- making a play sound to a boy, who I passed while riding a bike. They were a family, also on bikes. Up ahead, I stopped. The family caught up to me. The father was irate and said I called his son "small" in Japanese. I didn't even know Japanese at the time and I told him that. He wasn't having any of it and went on to say, "I work with foreigners, I know how you people are.." I forced him to listen to his mistake then I lectured him not to do that to people.
- (2 times) sitting next to people on trains, they will start hissing, making sounds, or snapping their reading material (newspaper). They are not disabled. They are trying to get me to move away from them, showing their displeasure that I'm there.
- (40 - 60 times?) on trains, people will move away from me to another seat if one opens up. They are moving to seats next to Japanese people, not to seats that have no people around them. Usually it's a quick slide over to open up a space btw us. Sometimes they stand and change sides. When this happens now, I move with them to wind them up. total bs. My Japanese friends said many Japanese think they are superior to gaijin (outsider) and that is what this is.
Positives:
~ Best looking people on the planet.
~ Amazing, stupid cheap healthcare. No deductible, ever. Doesn't exist here. Working full time, my monthly is $56
~ Nature / seasons are great. Big snow close to Tokyo
~ Food and rent in Tokyo is VERY cheap. Thousands upon THOUSANDS of apartments for $400 - $600 a month. No, not capsule hotels. They are 17 - 30 meters square. Very practical and for the price, perfect. Our vacation place by 300 meters from the beach (in sought after Shonan) is $330 a month with a huge loft. Hakone Ekiden runs right by our place.