To Japanese people, America = What?

Jason, no need to insult posters here by calling them sock puppet. I can confirm that his views are fairly accurate, but Japanese will only talk about that after they are comfortable enough to talk about it. Most times they will only talk positive not to offend. I am not American myself so they are more open about it to me and most of them are negative about USA....and not without a reason....Okinawa was mentioned, look into it and you will know why.

there is no wrong answer here, and America is not known in great detail to the world, just us Americans...to the one reminiscing about middle school, did you ever stop daydreaming to listen to anything...and if you know so much, try giving an intelligent answer. You make us look dumb...learn to accept and appreciate the differences in the world!

Are blonde-haired, blue-eyed girls looked down upon in Japan?

I have been wondering this a long time? I am naturally blonde(bright) and blue-eyed. So does anyone know hoe the Japanese will react?

Thanks.

Hi Elequendi,
No it's not bad thing at all. Some people will envy you. Or some might not notice at all.
It takes all kinds to make a world,so stop worrying so much. You'll be just fine :D

I would say that japan is a country who takes everyone's culture and adopt it somewhere in their culture. A culture who definitely not afraid of change. I really didn't have any first impressions of japan because I didn't have any information to go on.

I find this topic interesting as well. My wife and I are heading to Tokyo for a week at the end of March. I have been told that overall there is a bad view of Americans there but that a lot of people would be interested to know we are from Texas.

I just came back from Japan. I was curious to know what Japan's view of America was.

From my trip... the thing that stood out the most was their kindness. They were also very polite and upbeat. etc. On the plane ride to Japan the flight attendants always had a happy way about them willing to go out of their way to serve you. Very kind and gentle. On the flight back the flight attendants (american) had a rude way about serving. One I observed was very unkind a man who didn't speak english.

I wanted to know more about Japans view of foreigners... or rather Americans visiting?

(sorry this is more adding to the questions to the conversation than answering)

I just have a side question. Before I went to Japan I read a book on ethics (culture) and it said that it is considered impolite to introduce oneself. I was wondering how accurate that was?

My dad says that people there hate America. I'm pretty sure this isn't true? Are we viewed as the "Ugly Americans"? And in other places I hear American people are accepted there? I need clarification.

hollywood, hip hop, bad food, fat men, fat women, war, violence. Basically my image of usa. Althought i sure its wrong image, because i know nothing of usa, but its image in my head.

As said japanese people don't know a lot about usa. around me opinion of japanese people about america is no opinion. no one hate american.

To DiTomasso

The following is my personal opinion.
Why does your father think that the Japanese hate Americans? Does he consider about World War II? Honestly, I suppose that most of Japanese don't like considering past. So the Japanese seldom think about the War. (But, it is also a reason why many people of some Asian country blame us).
And, many Japanese know about Iraq, and some Japanese remember Vietnam. But the main interests in America of most Japanese people have been baseball (especially M.L.B) or other sport or music (especially popular music) or cinema star or other cultural matters. Probably most favorite country of the average Japanese may be U.S.A.

I might have not understood your question. If this is not appropriate reply for your question, I�fm sorry.
If you talked about attitude of elder men, it is true some of them are haughty. But that attitude is not only against foreigners but also against the Japanese. They are conceited. Many of the rest of elder men including me also tend to hesitate to contact with foreigners because we can�ft speak English well. I suspect that you might regard me as an unfriendly person when we meet on street or station (though I�fm kind man, actually).

I think it is not rude to introduce yourself, because we Japanese are inquisitive persons, honestly saying. But we must control ourselves because it is rude to inquire bluntly. So we want you to introduce yourself.
However, we have another tendency that is contradicting with. Most of us dislike self-promotion, self-advertisement, and too much self-assertion. I think this is main reason why some Japanese don�ft like some persons of some countries (�gsome countries�h don�ft mean U.S.).

This is my personal opinion. Other Japanese might not agree with some points.
And I�fm sorry that I�fm not good at English.

It depends on the generation,but WW2( and the US occupation,A-bombs) is a big factor especially for older generations. J-People who live near American bases are naturally affected by military behaviors.

But in general, people are interested in American baseball,music,movies TV dramas,etc.

I had an image of the US as a dangerous place since one Japanese high school exchange student got shot in his chest and died on Halloween(about 15 years ago in Louisiana). I think everyone remembers this incident. So I always think of gun culture.

Also American people's image =friendly.

um, hi. i know this doesn't answer the question, but i just wanted to say and ask a few things. i heard that there are a few stereotypes of the u.s. like that we love pro wressling and eat a lot of beef, but that isn't exacly true, some people do lf course. but not that many. also, i don't know if this is a true one either (so please don't be offended if it's not) but i heard that many japanese people believe the women in america dress manly and act like Madonna, but that's very untrue. also, there are a lot of people, especially teenagers, who absolutely love japanese culter and people. there are even a lot of internet sites dedicated to japanese and japanese anime loving people. ^-^ and there was a question i wanted to ask as well. i was hoping to be a foreign exchange student in japan some day, but i'm really shy and scared. would they by any chance, you know, dislike me because i'm american?

you'll probably be popular if you are american going to school in japan especially if you are a high school student. western foreigners tend to get lavished with attention when they're immersed in normally all japanese environments. it's kind of nice sometimes. remember when you were a kid and mom always told you you're special... well you can have that feeling again, haha!

there are some stereotypes but they're just stupid little ones that every culture has. nobody is going to be hugely surprised by anything you tell them about american culture, the stereotypes are not that deep.

i laughed really hard at Trish's post (not at you, like, at the idea of being thought of that was as an American).

rofl ''dress manly and act like madonna''. let me go get my pointed bra.

well, i had read something that someone who visited japan wrote and they said thoughs were some stereotypes. ha ha. but im so glad to hear that! :D though im still shy and scared... mostly just cause that's how i am...

oh ya i have another question! ok, i'm about 5 feet and 4 and 1/2 to 5 inches tall, i weigh about 106 to 108 pounds, and im 15. im the lightest & thinest girl in my class (by a little bit) but would that be taller and heavier than most other students at a school in japan?? i really want to know...

this is interesting i have always wanted to go to japan but i dont want to go there if they feel like im freakin invading the country! i feelt this way most of the time probally because i understand about WWII which i think is ABSOLYTELY TERRIBLE I SAW A MOVIE''GRAVE OF FIREFLIES'' I CRIED FOR A HOUR THAT IS THE SADEST THING NEXT TO THE HOLOCAUST. SERIOUSLY. but thats why im always so hesitant to going there.

but then again i find it funny that noone ever mentions how some people dont want mexicans, koreans, chinese and japanese commin into the united states and how we sterotype them and treat them bad and say they are stealin our jobs(wen some of us really are too lazy to go get a damn job anyway).not saying all americans or japanese do that(japanese to americans). but think of it in that way. not only are we sort of invading their lands but we keep in mind of WWII and a mans pride all into one. of couse its gonna give dem a sense of resentment.because if the united states thought for a second that someone was going to take us over we would have blown them off the freakin map.but just like me i dont mind anybody comming into the u.s. and i KNO there will be open people in japan!!!

I was kind of wondering the same thing lately and this post addressed all of my concerns. My worries started with a lady at work, I had mentioned I was planning on heading to Nagoya for my schools study abroad program (One more year of Japanese before I'm elligable :D ).

She had a job that had her travel internationally and she was telling me how much we (Americans) are disliked pretty much everywhere. Which I do understand our foreign policy, Iraq, ect. would impact this.

It's good to hear that everything is not all gloom and doom as she led me to believe (she's rather pessimistic). I was actually planning on giving up on any kind of international venture/job/study, but this gives me all the fuel I need to keep on trucking.

Thanks! =)

I find it amazing and doubtful that most Japanese could not name correctly the capital city of the USA, or even take it a step further and realise that California is a state with largest cities LA and SF.Id find a lack of all that amazing, given both the formidable Japanese education system, and the amount of media Japanese must consume.
Even if you watch US TV/movies, you soon absorb such obvious fundamental things, and much more, permanently.
To not usually know such things the Japanese would have to be as or even more parochial than the US, which is always seen as the most parochial nation.Im sure the Japanese are more outward looking than these examples.