"Black Lifestyle" in Japan

[Riot3000]

I found this to be a very interesting video and stimulating. I know from studies how Japan can be very xenophobic yet a video like this would probably give a glimpse into seeing that maybe that attitude is not as strong in younger generations.

As for the whole "black lifestyle" thing while not the best of words but this is Japan not America so that slide. There seems to be legit appreciation maybe a little overzealous depending on your measures but it doesn't seem malicious or mocking but embracing something different and enjoying it but that is just me.

So what are the escapist opinions about this.

Also maybe too much TMI but think Hina is pretty cute.

 

[Auberon]

I just want to know if this triggers the "cultural appropriating" alarm of tumblr. Because seeing them get their knickers twisted is incredibly fun.

Seriously, subcultures get so absurd "black lifestyle" is tame.

 

[Riot3000]

I am hoping for no tumblr nonsesne or stromfront nonsense for that matter but what can you do. Though it might attrat those unware racist replies that are always good for a laugh.

I agree it is pretty tame.

 

[BeeGeenie]

This is far less offensive than most representations of black people I've seen from Japanese media (pick any random anime or Japanese video game, and odds are if there's a black character, it's a ridiculous stereotype) So I'd say take it as a sign of progress.

Parody may be offensive, but Imitation is the highest form of flattery. This is clearly the latter.

 

[Programmed_For_Damage]

Doesn't surprise me. I've met a few Japanese punks, and punk originated in the UK so they obviously are cool with adopting the look of the music they listen to.

 

[Tanis]

It's Japan, their kind of...weird.

I mean, these are the people that have a culture called 'Ganguro' (basically, black face), which isn't suppose to be racist but another subculture like Punk or Emo or Metal.

Japan: It's one weird island.

 

[MHR]

I guess it's like celebrations of "Jamaican culture." There are probably many Jamaicans that don't like being associated with dreads, being ridiculously laid back and smoking marijuana like chimneys. People talk about Jamaica like those are the only parts about it that matter, and I for one haven't seen anyone explode over it yet.

Maybe Jamaicans are just too laid back to be offended? Ha

The point is, people can love a particular culture, and sincerely love it, not mock it. The only difference is whether someone gets pointlessly offended.

 

[Risingblade]

I for one wouldn't mine seeing Japanese girls in...such outfits.

 

[MeChaNiZ3D]

I wouldn't call Japan xenophobic in regards to people's individual opinions. As a country, yes, they hardly let anyone immigrate and remain pretty insular, but culturally they're more like a wide-eyed child that sticks to what it knows. Which is apparent in the hilarious term "B-style" and Japan's treatment of foreign cultural items as mysterious and exotic. When I was in Japan, I found kindness and curiosity at the very least, not once racism of any kind. Naturally, I was following Japanese customs, not just walking around with my shoes on and not bowing, but that's respect, not cultural tolerance. I've also hosted a Japanese student in Australia, and we are racist personally but (until recently) not as a country. Everyone is here in some representation and yet my Venezuelan coworker at the nursing home I work at complains about a new Chinese resident even though we only have 4, and instead of living around people of all types, you get whole suburbs full of one nationality or another.

Not really on topic but I read the word xenophobic.

 

[Flutterguy]

Most the time a culture 'adapts' another, it tends to be more of a trend then anything. No one really represents a fashion or style, it's moreso something done in passing to cover insecurity. They are all posers.

'SLC Punk' is a good movie.

 

[PsychedelicDiamond]

This isn't quite as typically Japanese as you might believe. I live in Germany and the German Hip Hop Scene, while mostly dominated by Middle Eastern Immigrants is pretty much built on aping American Black Culture for all it's worth. Of course it's not as... overt because Germans lack the bizarre love for all things tacky that Japanese pop culture seems to have but it's definately there.

 

[Boris Goodenough]

Heh, Japan.
In truth, it's kind of the same thing that's at play with a lot of Japanese women who specifically seek out white men. It's just a different fashion paradigm.

Is it really? I have heard differently from Japanese women, it has mostly to do with white men treating them better, and have bigger penises.

 

[Fappy]

Heh, Japan.
In truth, it's kind of the same thing that's at play with a lot of Japanese women who specifically seek out white men. It's just a different fashion paradigm.

Is it really? I have heard differently from Japanese women, it has mostly to do with white men treating them better, and have bigger penises.

I don't know about the penis aspect of it (lol), but I do know from friends of mine that have spent a lot of time over there that younger Japanese women prefer western men because they do supposedly treat them better. They supposedly treat them as equals and don't get upset if they want to work/be the breadwinner of the family, which is still taboo in Japanese culture (from what I understand).

 

[Riot3000]

I for one wouldn't mine seeing Japanese girls in...such outfits.

Cosign to that.

This is far less offensive than most representations of black people I've seen from Japanese media (pick any random anime or Japanese video game, and odds are if there's a black character, it's a ridiculous stereotype) So I'd say take it as a sign of progress.

Parody may be offensive, but Imitation is the highest form of flattery. This is clearly the latter.

That is how I took it. I remember shows like Samurai Champloo, Afro Samurai and Tokyo Tribe(watch at your own risk) blew my mind in high school because I did not think hip hop spread out that far out. It introduced to some really good producers and music. Most of the japanese hip hop producer I listened have a late 80s early 90s through early 2000s feel to them which comes off nostalgic to me.

snip

Thats a lot to digest I can understand your feeling of othering but it doesn't come off as super negative. I mean black people and black culture are "other" in sense. I mean even in America I have ran into people who never met a black person before in their life. The whole thing with the reggae sounds like more of "real music" arguement you know the real rock, real country etc. I mean black culture seems exotic them to because well it is exotic to them its exotic to people who live in america. I highly doubt nihonjinron is going to crop up you have a better chance of the 4th Reich invading from the moon if that is the case. I said before I think flattering but thats just me.

 

[Charli]

I just want to know if this triggers the "cultural appropriating" alarm of tumblr.

Oh no no no, no you see you're only a filthy culture appropriating, racist scum bag if you're whiiiite.

Asians are just 'oh how precious' when they do it.

You have to study the SJ holy charter (not to be confused with people who actually study social inequalities and discuss them rationally and free from prejudice) and do penance by flogging yourself for every supposed flaw you were born with. Heterosexual white male? Get a ready for a long ass floggin matey!

As an aesexual white woman, I only had to do several hours of self flogging. Maybe a few extra minutes for my rampant narcissism.

(Seriously don't use tumblr than anything more than a platform for showing your work or looking at pictures, some of the people on there are touched in the head)


I think pretty much all of what Japan thinks of anything outside it's borders can be summed up as 'oh Japan'. They really don't get out, or those that do have a very interesting look at the outside world.

 

[Boris Goodenough]

The first thing you need to learn about Japanese culture- it is perfectly acceptable (maybe even necessary according to some) to tell someone what you think they want to hear if it makes them happy, even if it's a bold-faced lie. Just in case they came up, no, your Japanese ability was probably not as great as they said, and your skills using chopsticks weren't amazing either.

That's odd because the girl I talked to about this was not interested in men (outside of Bruce Lee) and knew I had no special interest in asian women. Considering the other stuff she has told me I think it would be odd to tell me a lie on that specific subject, considering what else you had said on this site pretty much correlates with what she has said.

 

[Boris Goodenough]

Well, I don't want to speculate on your situation with another person because it's none of my business. I'm just saying, take all comments which could possibly be interpreted as a compliment toward yourself (or your in-group) with a grain of salt. I've known a lot of foreigners who date Japanese people who strut about on top of the world because of the sweet nothings their partner has whispered in their ear, and then later wind up crying into their beers (or spending years in unhappy marriages) because it turns out those things weren't true.

Which is not to say that all Japanese people are dishonest. There's just a little more tolerance here for fawning flattery as a tool for ensuring smooth social relationships, and when cross-cultural communication is involved with one person who isn't a native speaker, both parties have a tendency in my experience to not be very good at spotting when the other is being less than honest. And it's also not to say that all cross-cultural relationships with Japanese people are doomed to failure. I've known plenty of people with successful relationships with Japanese partners. But those relationships tend to have participants who aren't into the other just because of their race, they were drawn together by some other source of attraction.

I don't want to sound like I'm calling out a friend I've never met of a person I've never met on the Internet for being dishonest. I'm just saying things may be more complicated than the picture you're getting, and even if the woman you know of is expressing her sincere opinion, she may not represent the majority of Japanese women who are into white men. In my many years living here and with my connections to Japanese communities living in the US, I've encountered an awful lot of Japanese people (male and female) who just want to date someone with real blond hair. Or have a baby with blond hair.

Granted that cross-cultural interactions can give a slightly wrong impression. She is very well traveled and is 1/4 Swedish herself.
Well, she represents the ones she has talked with (to whichever degree she can) and it's not the first, or last time I have heard what she said.
And yes I am aware dating is not limited to what has been said, it's just a question of bias.

Captcha: save face, I am getting scared...

 

[Someone Depressing]

Japan is... insensitive when it comes to black people. In Panty and Stocking, for example, every black person has ridiculously huge lips and has an accent thicker than a fat girl's Nutella. What accent? Uh... "Black" accent.

I suppose it's oddly charming to see everyone's favourite crackpot nation full of bipolar, uptight businessmen and women who also enjoy cartoons and buying live fish from vending machines, be a tiny bit more accepting even if it's backfiring horribly.

 

[Scars Unseen]

Japan is... insensitive when it comes to black people. In Panty and Stocking, for example, every black person has ridiculously huge lips and has an accent thicker than a fat girl's Nutella. What accent? Uh... "Black" accent.

I suppose it's oddly charming to see everyone's favourite crackpot nation full of bipolar, uptight businessmen and women who also enjoy cartoons and buying live fish from vending machines, be a tiny bit more accepting even if it's backfiring horribly.

Just out of curiosity, are you speaking of the original Japanese voice acting or a dubbed version. Because if it's the dub... well that's not Japan, that's the American translation studio. I've never seen the show, so I'm not sure.

 

[RobAlister]

I disagree with people saying that this is positive. I'm not saying it's offensive (well, some of it is) but it doesn't show any real signs of acceptance. Usually when a group of people outside of the U.S. adopt the hip hop subculture they have a sort of social and/or emotional connection to it. But the japanese are just doing it as a fad. That doesn't really say that they care or understand anything about blacks or even hip hop itself. If I dress up like a samurai and go around say "hyah, hyah, hyah!" does that mean I know or care anything about japanese culture or samurais? Nope.

But let me make one thing clear, I am not saying that they're supposed to have some deeper connection to it. I'm speaking directly to people who see this and think that this is some sort of step up within black-japanese relations. It's not.