kainzero Wrote:

IceCream Wrote:@kainzero: じゃ、会いましょう　；）

I, uh, don't think you got the joke...

But okay!

Anyway, for some reason, people always think I'm a mix of different Asians. And every time I go to an Asian ethnic market they always speak to me in whatever language they speak there. I got Cantonese at Ranch 99, Japanese at Mitsuwa/Marukai, even Korean at Zion.

One time the cashier at Target spoke to me in Tagalog.

Why can't people just speak English to me?!

Even when I went to Japan I felt like I had to try and look as foreign as possible just so people would not assault me in rapid-fire Japanese. It failed. Even the bums begged me for money in Japanese.

That's not always a bad thing though! I'm Filipino/Chinese and it's sometimes useful when I'm identified as whatever Asian race they think I am, especially for those mabuhay discounts ^_^ For example, I was in Paris last summer and I bought some souvenirs from some gift shop at a subway station. The shop owner was from Cambodia and recognized me as South East Asian, and then gave me a 20% discount on the spot! A free VIP pass is nothing to complain about

If the bums begged you they knew you weren't Japanese. They only beg foreigners because only foreigners give money.

Jarvik7 Wrote:If the bums begged you they knew you weren't Japanese. They only beg foreigners because only foreigners give money.

Unfortunately, I have found this to be true as well. I often ask students what they think of the homeless and if they have ever thought of helping them. The response has, so far without exception, been harsh criticism of the homeless person. Charity doesn't seem to be a concept Japanese people understand very well. I don't really know what to make of this because I have generally found Japanese people to be very kind otherwise.

bodhisamaya Wrote:

Jarvik7 Wrote:If the bums begged you they knew you weren't Japanese. They only beg foreigners because only foreigners give money.

Unfortunately, I have found this to be true as well. I often ask students what they think of the homeless and if they have ever thought of helping them. The response has, so far without exception, been harsh criticism of the homeless person. Charity doesn't seem to be a concept Japanese people understand very well. I don't really know what to make of this because I have generally found Japanese people to be very kind otherwise.

The only Asian country that I can think of off the top of my head with a culture of charity is Thailand and that's mostly because of their style of Buddhism.

Jarvik7 Wrote:If the bums begged you they knew you weren't Japanese. They only beg foreigners because only foreigners give money.

Well actually...

He did asked me if I spoke English, probably because he overheard me talking to my friend.

THEN he asked me for money. So he had to check first if I wasn't Japanese. =)

Is IceCream already on the flight? 行ってらっしゃい！

As for charity, I don't give money to anybody on the street ether. I don't think that's even good for them in a long run. I think proper social welfare is important though.

Womacks23 Wrote:

bodhisamaya Wrote:

Jarvik7 Wrote:If the bums begged you they knew you weren't Japanese. They only beg foreigners because only foreigners give money.

Unfortunately, I have found this to be true as well. I often ask students what they think of the homeless and if they have ever thought of helping them. The response has, so far without exception, been harsh criticism of the homeless person. Charity doesn't seem to be a concept Japanese people understand very well. I don't really know what to make of this because I have generally found Japanese people to be very kind otherwise.

The only Asian country that I can think of off the top of my head with a culture of charity is Thailand and that's mostly because of their style of Buddhism.

I want to believe that charity is an innately human quality and not simply a religion inspired system of morality. I fear the implications of Japan's lack of charity more closely reflect the human condition than a specific society's apathy.

慈を以て人とす。　形を以て人とせず。

People often say, "Don't give a bum anything. He will just use it to buy beer." The thing is, most likely, that is what I would have spent it on as well. And who needs it more?

I'm pretty much a proponent of the "give a man a fish, feed him for a day; teach a man to fish, feed him for a life." I have given money to people who've asked for it before, but I almost never do anymore just because in almost every case it does nothing to solve the real problem in the long term.

It's not just homeless people either I've tried to help. The last time I gave away money, it was some guy at a gas station who wanted a dollar (apparently to buy enough gas because his car broke down somewhere). He didn't look like he actually owned a car though and I assumed he was homeless. So, I gave him the benefit of the doubt and gave him a buck, and I saw a few other people give him a buck that he had asked. As I was leaving the gas station 10 minutes later, I see him at the register buying a pack of cigs. Made me feel great...

bodhisamaya Wrote:People often say, "Don't give a bum anything. He will just use it to buy beer." The thing is, most likely, that is what I would have spent it on as well. And who needs it more?

If someone is living on the streets, the thing least likely to help their situation is to help them fund alcohol or drug addictions. If you want to help a homeless person, give money to a shelter. Buy food and give it to them. Volunteer at a soup kitchen. Don't just hand out money - in the end you're just trying to make yourself feel better.

As a nation Japan gives the second highest amount of money of any country as direct foreign aid (only the USA gives more). As a proportion of the gross national income, Japan actually gives more than the USA (0.25% compared to 0.17%).

I also calculated that (in 1996 - the only year for which I could find figures) Japan gave internally about 0.17% GDP in charitable, tax-deductible donations by individuals and companies. It's probably quite a bit higher as most individual giving isn't tax deductible. For comparison, France gives about 0.14% internally while the UK gives 0.73% and the USA gives 1.67%. Bearing in mind that mine will be a huge underestimate, that doesn't make Japan particularly uncharitable.

I've always got the feeling (although I don't live there, I'm talking about from news and other media) that the Japanese have little sympathy for those who violate the societal contract, but that they have compassion in many other cases (illness, disasters, environmental concerns). If that's the case, I'd have to agree with them.

If you volunteer at a soup kitchen you are supporting his drug habit because now he can use the handouts he does get for drugs instead of the food they might have been used for otherwise :/ . Of course never buy alcohol directly for someone who is addicted to booze. But then, how do you know your buddy working as a salaryman isn't an alcoholic as well when you pick up the tab at the local pub? I am not sure why a non-homeless smoker is supported by tax dollars if he gets sick in America as well (or the obese for that matter).

I am highly suspicious of foreign aid. In America's case, it is often little more than a bribe lining the pockets of dictators. If it actually were charity, Dick Cheney would have cut that off during his time as Bush's puppeteer. Remember when Bush initially offered $1million for tsunami relief? The world had to shame him into adding three more zeros to that number.

Well I personally don't drink, and wouldn't buy a round of drinks. However, it's still quite different to take part in responsible drinking with other people who have stable lives than it is to give money to someone who is very likely to harm themselves with it. If nobody gives the guy (by which I mean a homeless man) any handouts he can't buy any drugs, might be forced to visit a shelter or soup kitchen and is much more likely to find some real help. How about if you feel bad for him, stop and talk. Buy him a hot drink and a sandwich and find out his story. Or do nothing - it's better than giving cash.

I completely agree that foreign aid is a fairly meaningless measure though, especially since the whole game of international aid is basically political handshaking on a massive scale. Not just corruption, but all aid money is given in a very tactical way, often to bolster future economic benefits for the giver rather than to make any meaningful contribution to the welfare of foreign citizens.

I just don't like to promote the situation where homeless people are asking for money on the street. I want them to be in a proper shelter, with proper help. And I don't oppose to pay a bit higher tax for proper social welfare like you do in Japan. 慈しむ is a word for "taking care of someone with love" and giving out money on the street isn't really my idea of 慈しみ. You do it to your family and people directory around you, and if everybody does that, theoretically, there won't be anybody needing to ask money on the street, right?

For what it is worth, I guess I am in the minority here in that I am reasonably into Japanese culture without being obsessed with its women. I feel like men that ask why we can't have so many hot women in the U.S. are likely to have 1 or more of several problems:
1. Lack of the required amount of social skill to interact with someone of his own race(and therefore his only hope is a culture in which the women are generally very into western men)
2. A super otaku that has this very idealized view of Japanese women from anime/manga/etc. (similar to how they have an idealized view of western men).
3. Or just happen to be one of the unfortunate few who just happened to be born not attracted to white women. I truly believe this third option is in the super minority if people are completely honest with themselves.

Am I trying to make fun of anyone that is dating an Asian? Definitely not. That being said, I personally can't understand how someone can say that there are way more attractive Asians. There are a ton of attractive white women around especially if you happen to be in college and ignoring them is your own loss. ALMOST all races are approximately equal in my eyes in terms of attractiveness and I guess I just have trouble understanding someone that doesn't see it that way.

aaroncp Wrote:ALMOST all races are approximately equal in my eyes in terms of attractiveness and I guess I just have trouble understanding someone that doesn't see it that way.

I guess people have preferences, imagine that? (I like how you say ALMOST- so clearly there are some races you don't like)

Your points listed here are ridiculous, and basically boil down to trolling.
1. No social skills
2. Nerd
3. "Unfortunately" not attracted to white women

Do you tell people that don't like your favorite flavor of ice cream that they were "unfortunately" born not liking that flavor? People like different things- skinny, fat, black, white, blondes, red heads, whatever. If we all liked the same thing, that'd be pretty boring, wouldn't it?

FWIW I'm not a yellow fever kind of guy- I've dated plenty of white women from America and Australia, and I've dated one Japanese girl- I just happened to end up with her. I do happen to like women that are fit- and in America that's becoming a minority whereas in Japan it's the norm.

As for college girls- do you really think we are all still in college? Do you think we can just go back to college and hang out? To me it seems like you're thinking with a very narrow perspective- that everyone is just like you and has the same experiences and same life as you- which is why it's so hard for you to understand that people could have different viewpoints.

Ha, aaron's post reminded me of those 4chan types who goes around calling everyone a weeaboo while eating Pocky and sorting through their collection of 500 anime DVDs.

My interest in Japanese culture is so much more substantial yet simultaneously so much less obsessive and socially alienating than yours!

Asian women... with accents. So yummy.

Wait. Why are we discussing appearance in a thread about cities again?

Because you're incapable of doing so in real life with white women, you nerd!

Not even a hint of prejudice coming out of that post, aaron.

But wait ... what about *Charisma Man*? :p
"a comic strip character of an expat magazine in Japan, is a skinny, ineffectual, sexually inexperienced, nerdish loser from Canada who suddenly transforms himself into a handsome, desirable stud when he comes to Japan to work as an English conversation teacher."

He's spawned some serious academic blah blah, too:

*Appleby, R. J. (2009a). Charisma Man: Discourses of desire and western men in Japan.
*Appleby, R. J. (2009b). Reflections on ‘Charisma Man’. The Teaching-Learning Dialogue: An Active Mirror.
*Bailey, K. (2007). Akogare, ideology, and the ‘Charisma Man’ mythology: Reflections on ethnographic research in English language schools in Japan.

Note: The Canada bit was clearly a typo. Canadian men are hot...the epitome of masculinity...

Even better...

I'll just be sitting back here, as a mixed race person, who doesn't care about race when choosing a partner, I just go for the hot ones.

Speaking of the world's most expensive cities and Japan, what's the deal with abortion and Hitler? That's gay and retarded. Men suck. Women are inferior. Also, natural disasters happen because God is angry at minorities. Therefore, Japan can be a cheap place to live if you're smart and thrifty. o_O

@captal: Perhaps I am trolling. Stereotypes may not always be best to go on, but they exist because they are generally true. When I was taking Japanese classes, several of the guys I knew dating Asian women straight up told me it was only because it was so much easier to get one (not that they are loose, but they do seem to really want a western man). Even my Japanese teacher asked the class why so many weird people take Japanese (and for the record she is quite good at her job though I prefer self study now). Also, there is quite a difference between maybe not liking certain racial features and being into only 1 race. Inclusive of all but maybe 1 does not equal Exclusive of all but 1. I understand slight preferences toward one race or another, but what I don't understand is the mostly unfounded obsession( though that is probably too strong a word) that often occurs among otaku and the like that almost completely excludes all other races.
Nerd and Otaku (as the definition concerns western society) are completely different things though they do happen to overlap somewhat often.
Thinking that it is unfortunate that someone doesn't have the same views as you happens all the time.
"Oh you like video games?"
"Yea"
"Do you want to play Halo?"
"No I don't like FPS"
"Ahh that's unfortunate"
I would consider that a perfectly normal conversation in which the first person, intentionally or not, tells the second that what they do or do not like is unfortunate.
Do I think everyone on here is still in college? Of course not and honestly you weren't reading my post very carefully if you think that that is what I was insinuating.

@harhol: What the heck is a weeaboo and what is Pocky? Also why would I collect DVDs anymore when I can torrent all the material I ever want or need? And for the record my post says: "I am reasonably into Japanese culture" That is a far cry from: "My interest in Japanese culture is so much more substantial...than yours."

Am I a troll?...there is always a chance.

Yen 81.135

If they were doing the ratings now, the Top 5 most expensive cities would perhaps all be in Japan.

bodhisamaya Wrote:Yen 81.135

If they were doing the ratings now, the Top 5 most expensive cities would perhaps all be in Japan.

Cheaper for Japanese people and people who get paid in yen. Shitty for everyone else.

aaroncp Wrote:@captal: Perhaps I am trolling. Stereotypes may not always be best to go on, but they exist because they are generally true.

Quick question for you aaron- have you ever lived in Japan? Because if you're talking about the stereotypes you have of guys that are taking Japanese at your university, I don't have any experience with that as I've never taken Japanese at uni. If you're basing your stereotypes on experience at a university, you really should say so.

From what I've heard, there are a lot of students who study Japanese because they're in to manga/anime/J-music. A lot of these people are probably also very interested in Japanese women/men. However to broadly stereotype the majority of people into the 3 laughable categories that you listed before is ridiculous, as I stated. If you want to stereotype males aged 18-21 taking Japanese class at uni, you might have a better argument, I don't know.

Also your usage of unfortunate in the first post: "Or just happen to be one of the unfortunate few who just happened to be born not attracted to white women." Is a lot different than in the second post "it's unfortunate you don't like Halo." You should be able to see the difference in those usages.

On topic- I saw that yesterday that the US dollar is at 81 yen. I'm living in Australia right now and the Australian dollar is almost at parity (1:1) with the US dollar- which hasn't happened in recent history (it was all the way down at .55 US in mid-2008, and was usually in the .7-.8 range before that)