(1) Pokemon Life in Japan [5/16]

Well, the Japanese have a different view of merchandising and commercialization than in the western world. The Japanese enjoy buying merchandise and supporting corporations, whereas in American and Europe, people who run companies are seen as these Mr. Burns type people (and for the most part, they are). That's why there's so much merchandise for every franchise: CEOs don't have the sort of stigma they do here. Japanese CEOs are often a lot more open, compassionate, and friendly due to the cooperatism, whereas in Western world, at least in the States, we are taught that we must push other people down in order to get ahead and that in order to stay ahead, we must be cutthroat. Well, either that or they put up a good façade.

(Don't think I'm a Japanophile, however. There are many flaws in Japanese culture, such as its continued denial of Korean comfort women in its history classes and its very strict gun control laws. I just prefer the Japanese style of big business over the American style.)

Also, only a certain group of people in school pick on other kids for liking certain things. Let them have their fun now, and remember that they're going to be the ones stuck at minimum wage for the rest of their lives.
 
lol just read the article, i am ever so jealous that you have a raichu backpack :( But thats not the point, it seems like pokemon is still thriving in Japan which is of course a great thing. Great article, nice to hear all the little stories in there, the pictures were cool to, very well done!
 
Yay this person who made that story she rocks!! I'm 16 and Pokemon is my most favorite show. No one in my high school really likes pokemon. There are only a few and they won't admit it.
 
anyway Watermaster, be a journalist I graduated in the field of Public Relations at Taylor University in August 2007. You would be a great journalist. I actually havea jounralist background.....so, go for it!
speedhost101 and TCGplaya you guys are banned, you have a mind use it.
 
UltimateTrainer32 said:
anyway Watermaster, be a journalist I graduated in the field of Public Relations at Taylor University in August 2007. You would be a great journalist. I actually havea jounralist background.....so, go for it!
speedhost101 and TCGplaya you guys are banned, you have a mind use it.
Click to expand...


Umm, two words... 8-7... first word starts with B... A... C... K... second word starts with M... O... you can work it out yourself...

Anyway... Agreed on what you said about Japan, Ophie. Even though it has flaws, Japan > most of the western world. Actually, their gun control laws are better than the USA's; there's much less of a chance of a crazy madman going on a shooting spree if you actually have laws about guns. The USA doesn't seem to have any gun control laws at all.
 
"Even though it has flaws, Japan > most of the western world."


that is completely wrong. youve never actually been to japan, have you? ^^; there is a reason tons of them jump in front of trains everyday.

http://gai-gin.com read that, im working on getting some "truth" about japan into the world with it. my articles only show a fun pokemon side to it, but japan is NOT > most of the western world just because of pokemon and gunlaws XD;
 
I have to agree with Gin/heerosferret for that. With a good side there is a downside. Besides, I've heard that Japan has the most no. of suicides every year. o_O
 
Isn't that just bad for the people who do it? If you're not suicidal and don't hang around people like that, I don't see how it is a downside or how it affects you personally.
 
The amount of pressure put onto a Japanese person is enormous. You see, there's something I recently found out called "Ganbarimasu," which is the obligation to always try one's hardest at everything they do. It soulds really obvious, but the degree to which the Japanese take it would seem ridiculous compared to Westerners. You can see this in the incredible rigorousness Japanese high school students go through in their studies and their entrance examinations (though it isn't nearly as grueling as what the Koreans go through) to service workers always putting a smile. There's always a downside to everything, and while trying one's best to get the best possible impression upon other people is obviously a good thing, to maintain such an image over time would become harder and harder, especially when everyone around you expects it from you. We get consistently quality products from Japan all the time, and CEOs have a good relationship with their workers out of Ganbarimasu, but it's psychologically taxing.

That's why I think the suicide rate in Japan is pretty high: The people who aren't good at taking pressure, well, will be unable to take it anymore. At my high school, the Korean classmates grew bitter and apathetic because of parental pressure on them to do well; I can hardly imagine what it must be like to have this pressure put upon you by EVERYONE.

This actually has little to do with the article itself, though I guess I can feebly link it back via Ganbarimasu being a subdivision of the overall air of cooperatism in Japanese culture. (This is just my inferential guesswork, however.) People are encouraged to work together rather than by themselves; everything is built around this philosophy of "greater than the sum of its parts." Ganbarimasu and cooperatism means we don't have a business hierarchy and that companies are often led by decent people. For instance, Shigeru Miyamoto gave himself a very low income cap and has stood adamantly by it; many of his subordinates are paid much higher than he does. Thus, companies don't have the image Western companies have (which is yet another reason why The Simpsons initially failed in Japan, because people didn't understand Mr. Burns' behavior), and people are more willing to buy merchandise.

Well, that and we have a competitive otaku culture that, while small, buys a large potion of these things. There are some groups who measure their level of devotion by the amount of money they spend on merchandise. Granted, they exist in America and in Europe too, but they're not as publicly known as in Japan.
 
sorry about that destini haru im a moron?....anyway about japan i had a japanese neighbor live next door to me and he bought me Pokemon silver in japanese before it came out here.....then i bought it here in english.... 2nd, I tutored japanese kids in high school and they where backstabbers just the ones that i tutored not japanese in general.....i tried being like them even dyed my hair black and the worse part is dont immerse yourself too much when you forget who you are....Japan is a wonderful place....But make sure you know what your going up against when you try to live there or anything. the one who works for the site knows what shes doing....so......hmmmmm hmmmmmmmm Pokemon in japan is like how batman and superman are here its not glorifed or anything just so you know....
 
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