To Japanese people, America = What?

Interesting to note that the stories that there was no looting are also based on stereotyping. In fact, there have been plenty of reports of looting in the affected areas, and most likely when people return to their homes and businesses around the Fukushima power plant, further stories will emerge. However, it has probably been less than previously observed in disaster zones in other countries. But the real non-simplified story doesn't fit the media agenda that the Japanese are selfless and put society first.

@Laralaura

There was no question posed in the first post asking whether anything was fair or not. I was just giving my opinion. I am educated and I don't just get my information and views from TV, you need to not judge people from one paragraph they type on the net. No need to be so sensitive.

It's interesting...during my first trip to Japan, many Japanese people asked me if I was from America. When I said I wasn't, they laughed and said that it's good because Americans are cowboys/have so many guns. I even had a few people ask if I was from America, while doing an accompanying "gun" gesture.

Obviously this is only a select few people I' talking about, but I thought it was quite funny that their first impression of America seemed to be about cowboys and guns.

It might be that they're just joking ofcourse.It think it must be tiring for a Japanese (or any east-asian) to constantly hear the joking about kung-fu and ninja's etc. It doesn't have to mean that this is all they know about asia. Sometimes it's just the first thing that pops in your eat that you express, just to clear the air or to break the ice of a conversation.

It just depends on the person and their exposure.

The question could easily be flipped around and ask the same question about any other country and their opinion on Japan.

You'll get stereotyped answers, you'll get intelligent answers and you'll just get ignorant answers.

Frankly speaking, I don't care what the person might think and care more about how I project myself in public. Then maybe it can help change some sterotypes.

If Americans or others come and start acting like fools then it projects another sterotype.

If Foreigners (not just Americans) and the media overreact and act irrational and leave Japan because of nuclear fears. it projects one sterotype that Foreigners are just here for a short time and leave.

If you stay and help out it eliminates that idea for the people you have in contact with.

That's what I've been doing recently. I'm here, not a flyjin ready to help out.

The Japanese people's typical images of the British I believe are: the people who love tea, pubs and fish & chips; who are ironical and love ironical humor; tons of whom are crazy about football with a memory of the World Cup held in Japan that a prior fear of notorious hooligans turned out a relief by finding only nonviolent, not too wild but rather peaceful football fans.

As for ATMs, we can use those in convenience stores almost around the clock.

As an Englishman I'd say you're pretty much right! The only difference being, in England, football fans do cause a lot of trouble, but fortunately only at a few clubs.

Hearing the news at that time that the English press reported how their country's football fans were surprisingly well-behaved in Japan gave us a smile :)

@Eigo J-Go (guest), page 3
I am an American. I am an English teacher in Japan. I asked my middle and high school students this same question (aka, please list good and bad things about America) and asked them to be honest. They didn't write their names on the papers. Most of their responses were very similar, and for the record, only about three or four of them (out of 600) have ever been to the US. Most who go to the States just go to Hawaii on vacation. However, I don't think a Hawaiian Vacation is exactly representative of The United States as a whole. =) Maybe it's just me.

Anywho. Here were the most common responses:

Bad:
Big. Very big. Guns. Gangs. Danger. Crime. War. Army. Fat Man. Fat Woman. Fat people. 80 kilo~100 kilo people [Note: Those are kilograms, so that's about 175 to 220 pounds.]. Fast Food. Bad food. Eat only beef. No rice. "ONLY ENGLISH!!! VERY VERY FAST ENGLISH!!!! ITS DIFFICULT ME!!!". [Note: Lol, I liked that answer.]

Good:
Big place. Pretty girl. Handsome boy. Ikemen [Note: Lol, that means "Hot Guys."] Blonde hair. Blue eyes. Tall person. Big Chest. "F"-word. [Note: I've censored the word. The student wrote it out though. Not sure why that was in the "Good" column.... lol]. Disney. Mickey. Hollywood. Johnny Depp. Michael Jackson. The Beatles. Avril Lavigne. [Note: The Beatles and Avril are not American, but more than a dozen kids wrote it, so...]. Cowboy. Texas. New York. Hawaii. Seattle. Los Angeles. Washington DC. Washington [Note: These kids also meant DC. Most Japanese people don't know that Washington (State) and Washington DC are two different places at opposite ends of the country. The ones that DO know are usually baseball kids that idolize Ichiro Suzuki (the Japanese baseball player that plays for the Seattle Mariners).]. Hot Dog. McDonalds. Kentucky [Note: Lol, they mean KFC]. Big Car. Music. Dramas [Note: They mean TV Shows]. Ichiro. Obama. YES WE CAN!


Aaaaand there you have it, folks! "America" through the eyes of about 600 middle and high schoolers who've (mostly) never been to America, or any other country for that matter (though a few have been to Korea).

Oh! One last note: Lol, give them a break on mixing up capital, state, and city names. I'm constantly surprised that they can even name as many places as they do. I know that I, for one, had NO idea how many prefectures were in Japan until I went out of my way and Google'd it. I certainly didn't learn that in school. Heck, I don't even know how many provinces/states are in Mexico (and I certainly can't name even two of them) ---- and Mexico shares a border with the U.S.! To these kids, the US is just one of many other countries in the world, just like Lithuania or Zambia. You can't expect them to be able to know and rattle off the names of states and capitals at the drop of a hat. After all, would YOU be able to tell the difference between the names of states, provinces, and cities in, let's say... Laos? Or even a country that speaks your own language, like New Zealand? ;D

Cheers!

VERY cool post! I like to point out that one of the things that was NOT in the bad list that I expected would be is "stupid people". I thought a lot of foreigners thought that American people were stupid :/ Though, honestly, it seems like more AMERICANS think that Americans are stupid than people who don't live in America ._. I am not one of those people... ._.
I found this thread (despite that this is probably my first time on this website, lol) SUPER interesting, since I really like Japan and Japanese-related things x3 I was curious to know what Japanese thought of Americans after my dad told me that they were "prejudice" against us. From reading these posts, it seems like some of the older Japanese follow the typical American stereotypes and say a lot of bad things about them, but the younger generations (teens, 20s) seem to say a lot less bad things about us.
If any Japanese person on here is curious, my view on Japanese (I may not be as reliable considering I've done research xD) people (mostly teens) is this:
Hardworking, polite, nice (mostly xD), fun, happy... and if I go along with what Eigo J-Go says... hot guys - lol XD. Pretty girls (no homo :x Just that they're pretty and I wish I was born Japanese XD) Cute things (clothes, items, really a lot of stuff xD). Cool games, anime, music and manga. ...bad things? Um... tough one xD I really like Japan xD Maybe that the guys are more perverted than in America. . . but that's about it XD As you can tell I'm a big fan of Japan :3
I'd say the most common opinion on Japanese would be traditional Japanese (I'm not sure, but I think some people actually think Japanese people go around wearing Kimonos..), everyone knows karate (lol), SUPER smart, and that's all I can think of right now xD Like I said, this is what I think a lot of American's Japanese-stereotype.
-Later :P