Arashi’s Amateurish Guide to Japanese Life and Culture and How it Applies to Fanfiction

[Arashi_Leonhart]

...So, Altima, I'm guessing, first Sakura h-scene cg was your favorite?

[Altima of the Gates]

First and third.
Also, I appreciate the info on senpai/kohai relationships. There was a few things I didn't know, particularly that the senpai was expected to pick up the tab on an outing. I know friends who would abuse the heck out of that, and thus wouldn't ever be invited, lol.

[Arashi_Leonhart]

Join a club, listen to senpai, feel ashamed at being so noobish, then feel better when they take you out to dinner!

[Aladar]

Join a club, listen to senpai, feel ashamed at being so noobish, then feel better when they take you out to dinner!

The start of many a high school relationships.

[Pata Hikari]

...So, Altima, I'm guessing, first Sakura h-scene cg was your favorite?

I guess he also liked suppressing Roa.

[Five_X]

Well, there's certainly less anal in eroge than in western porn. Which makes... sense? Ass fetishism is just bigger in western countries, probably because of certain stereotypes.

The only anime I've seen that's gone into actual ass fetishism is Kanokon, from that... that one scene. If you've seen Kanokon, you'll know it.

[Inugami]

How about cultural attitudes towards femininity, and the crime rates?

That is, explaining why Shirou's infamous words about Ayako aren't the horrible things that people seem to believe. And just how often women get mugged on the way home.

I explained the first in my other forum hang-out a while ago, and I'm pretty sure I could hunt it down and repost it here.

[Heroslayer]

What infamous words?

Though both are probably a good point to go over.

[nick012000]

What infamous words?

Though both are probably a good point to go over.

The ones he says to Taiga after he heard that Ayako got molested and fought off her attacker long enough to run away in Fate.

[Soldat der Trauer]

@Heroslayer: Here you go. Behold, the Ayako argument!

Pages 616, 618-620.

[Five_X]

That's... that's just beautiful. What day does that happen, anyhow?

[Heroslayer]

Uh... if I recall correctly. Day seven of Fate. I'm not sure if it's in any other routes.

[Five_X]

I guess Shirou just thought he was Rance for a second there.

[Arashi_Leonhart]

Well, this whole idea partially came from that argument and the fact that I kept referencing things in my fic that I was surprised people didn't know. I was going to try and tackle the gender roles at some point. It's kind of funny, because actually, out of anything, it supports that Shirou is more like a housewife, because the way he addresses it is very much from the viewpoint of a traditional woman.

[warellis]

Very interesting about what you've written.

Considering we're talking about general stuff, how accurate is the treatment of foreigners in anime/manga compared to real-life? I've often read that while the Japanese are very accommodating to tourists and visitors, they become much colder to someone attempting to enter into Japanese society. Is this true? I've read about the thing where foreigners are not allowed into certain clubs or they have problems with buying houses.

I've also often read that the Japanese consider Japanese to not really be the result of nationality, nor even culture, but almost of race. Is that true?

EDIT: How accurate would you say this website is regarding Japanese culture?

I also have to ask does Japan still discriminate against groups like the burakumin?

[Arashi_Leonhart]

Considering we're talking about general stuff

I'm also mainly talking about things as they pertain to writing fanfiction. I don't particularly write stuff that I can't just jot down off the top of my head, and some things aren't relevant to a Tsuki or FSN story.

how accurate is the treatment of foreigners in anime/manga compared to real-life? I've often read that while the Japanese are very accommodating to tourists and visitors, they become much colder to someone attempting to enter into Japanese society. Is this true? I've read about the thing where foreigners are not allowed into certain clubs or they have problems with buying houses.

The outsider-treatment to foreigners is lessening and you can probably correlate it to how much the internet and communication media has made any country less insular. Yes, there might be individual rules as to clubs barring foreigners, though you're never going to find a consistent level of that I don't think (of course, I don't have much info on clubs to go off of, and admittedly I have a very different set of problems within the Japanese culture because I'm full Asian and don't look like the stereotypical American). It is well documented that, for instance, during World War II, Jewish refugees from Europe actually were allowed to flee to Japan--despite their alliance with Axis powers--as a waystation to neutral countries, but because they were so well treated, a majority of the refugees that went to Japan stayed there permanently.

I've also often read that the Japanese consider Japanese to not really be the result of nationality, nor even culture, but almost of race. Is that true?

I'm not an anthropologist, though I would say there is at least a little truth to this to a limited degree, although the reasons are cultural and religious for the most part. Though, really, up until ultra-recent times, you could probably say the same for many nations in that regard. Even in America, you get asked what "ancestry" you have, as if "German, Spanish, Finnish" or whatever were more a race than a nationality.

How accurate would you say this website is regarding Japanese culture?

I only kinda glanced at it, but while maybe in general the information is accurate, the tone in which it is written kinda comes across as accusatory. I mean, the information on gaijin for instance is true, but, I don't really see how it's that different from how any nation treats any of its foreigners as a whole or stereotypically; see: Dat Phan, for jokes on Asians in America.

I also have to ask does Japan still discriminate against groups like the burakumin?

Discriminate, I don't really know. Differentiate, at least some older Japanese do, yes, along with distinctions to ainu and ryukyuan and whatnot.

[Inugami]

I guess Shirou just thought he was Rance for a second there.

See, THAT kind of misunderstanding is EXACTLY what I'm talking about, dammit.

Reposting:


In Fate/Stay Night, there is a girl called Ayako.

Ayako, however unconsciously, acts like a bro. She will interact with guys like a bro and expect to earn their respect like a bro. She still sees herself as a girl, and will get vengefully angry if someone implies she's unfeminine, but she nevertheless conscious or unconsciously acts against her culture's ideas of femininity.

To the point that she will walk through town at night, alone.

It's not implied how often she does this, but the one time we're sure that she did, we learn about it because she was confronted by a man with ill intentions. She got scared, and ran home so hard that she pulled a tendon or something.


When Emiya Shirou is told that Ayako got herself injured, based on her character, he assumes that she got injured by getting into a fight with someone, whom she successfully beats up.

When he's told it was a pervert at night on the street, he assumes the man was an idiot or had "discerning tastes"... which I took to mean, was the kind of guy who would specifically target a girl that would try to punch his face in.

When he's told that Ayako actually ran rather than fighting, he's pleased. He comments that maybe only an incident like this would convince Ayako that she needs to act more like a girl.

At which point Taiga gleefully threatens to tell Ayako what he said. Not -- as some people assume, that Shirou had no concern that she might have been molested or raped* -- but rather that Shirou called her unfeminine.

* There wasn't a point during the conversation in which it sounded like Ayako had been in any danger. First, Shirou thinks it was a schoolyard brawl, and by the time the pervert is mentioned, it's already established that Ayako is perfectly safe and only suffered a minor injury. He's NOT fine with the idea that she might have been sexually assaulted, he's just unconcerned because it really didn't happen.


If people see Ayako as strong enough to beat up a single undiscerning pervert who accosts her alone at night, why would anyone be concerned that she's acting unfeminine?

Because it's not always going to be just one guy. Eventually, if she keeps walking the streets alone at night, it will be a gang.

Because even one guy may not always be unarmed.

Because even one guy may catch her by surprise.

Because it's just safer to walk alone at night with a group, or not to be outside at night at all, especially if you're female.


Why should this be different for females? Why are male rape-gangs more common than female rape gangs?

Because males tend to be larger and stronger. Because, I assume, it's easier for a male to reach orgasm with an uncooperative partner than the reverse.

Because men are creatures willing to pay for sex even when they can get it for free, simply to have more sex on demand. Because the male sex drive is activated when the testicles get full, and guess what? Those things are CONSTANTLY producing.

[Five_X]

You might not have caught on yet, but there are these things, I think they're called, "jokes" in most societies. This might sound a little crazy, but you just might want to look into them. They could make your life easier.

[Kotonoha]

Because men are creatures willing to pay for sex even when they can get it for free, simply to have more sex on demand. Because the male sex drive is activated when the testicles get full, and guess what? Those things are CONSTANTLY producing.

You're underestimating women's horniness. :P

[Aladar]

You might not have caught on yet, but there are these things, I think they're called, "jokes" in most societies. This might sound a little crazy, but you just might want to look into them. They could make your life easier.

'Tis a most confusing concept xD