Do you like Japan?
Do you like Japan?
43 members have voted
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1. Do you like Japan?
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Yes (JAPAN IS THE BEST... *makes robotic sounds*)5
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No (I might like what comes out of Japan, but I don't necessarily like the country)16
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Mixed thoughts (I'm a weaboo but I'm starting to/have realized that Japan isn't perfect)22
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This is a question I wonder if many people here have asked themselves... do you honestly like Japan, as a country (whether you've visited or just look in from the outside)? My own feelings are... mixed. Japan has a pretty fascinating culture that is essentially a scrapbook of various elements drawn from cultures that contacted it that were then evolved based on what the people of a given era wanted/needed. However... the country itself is pretty problematic looking at it from the outside. Political corruption, resurgent nationalism, toleration of organized crime, and the tendency to ignore all 'domestic issues' by those outside the household in question (including the police) are all reasons to be ambivalent about Japan. However, the closeness of police to people's lives (the kouban system), otaku culture, and the traditional aesthetic values of Japan are pretty interesting.
We all have our reasons for the way we feel about Japan, if we feel anything. If you'd asked me fifteen years ago, I would have unhesitatingly chosen option 1, but the more I studied, the more I realized just how many problems the country just fails utterly to deal with. That said, if you asked me the top three countries - other than my homeland - that I'd be interested in living in, Japan would still be number one. Why? I got addicted to hot springs after a visit to one in Arizona, and studying history is one of my major hobbies. Pretty hedonistic of me, eh?
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