Rues of Roo

Couple with the Rainbow Bridge

Sometimes I’m not sure what to think. A lot of people stereotype the Americans for being bigotted and ignorant, which is probably true especially when you go to Alabama. However, there’s good reason for that. I suppose you can’t really blame them, what with their inbreeding and their total lack of travel (for further evidence please youTube: ‘Miss South Carolina’), but I suppose it’s more to do with exposure than anything else. Generally, and I really do say generally, you find that people who meet many other people from many other places tend to be more…well, accepting. You find that people who have spent prolonged periods of time in another country, or with other people, and are generally put in uncomfortable situations are people with more tolerance. There is always that stereotype of single children being spoilt, and it’s pretty easy to explain why. Essentially, that child gets what they want, whenever they want. (Yes, I do generalize, of course I do know plenty of single children who are very nice and generous). You find that people who are single and do not enter into relationships to be somewhat restricted, especially when they are 45. And in addition, and I do tread on scary black waters that possibly could swallow me up, you find that adults who are married and have no kids, tend to be pretty anal themselves.

Father and daughter in Odaiba

Now I can’t say that I am an expert in general anthropological studies, or in the psychiatric behaviour of mankind, but it doesn’t really take a genius to figure this all out. It’s really all that nature versus nurture crap, and while, yes, there are always married couples with fifteen children who are bloody inconsiderate, and there are people with siblings who you’d like to shoot in the face, and there are single, unmarried, no girlfriend/boyfriend individuals who are 45 that are absolutely adorable, but generally, and I really do mean, generally, the case is not so. Older siblings tend to be more serious, younger siblings tend to be more care free and irresponsible. If I have to explain the reasons for that, then whatever, you probably grew up with no books, in which case I wouldn’t blame you anyway.

So when you go to places like Japan, you’re not quite sure what to think because you try to understand, and you try to blend in, and you try to be open hearted and generally be a good person. You’re visiting this place for the first time and everything is just so weird, but you can’t kick up a fuss, because, well, you don’t live there, and you don’t know the culture. But there is one thing that you seem to want to jump at, an understanding that you seem to realise, and that’s really that in Japan there doesn’t seem to be much comprehension of the outside world. Sure, they adopt Western fashion, icons, images, but all that individuality isn’t really Japanese at all, it’s just a take; it’s an Asian take on all things Western. The dyed blonde hair, the maid cafes, the Gothic look, the emo guys and the girls who want double eyelids and huge freaking eyes. In a way it’s kind of sad, and yet rather intriguing. I saw a documentary that was talking about the American kids going crazy over Japanese fashion which sounded to me just like Singapore and Malaysia. Singapore takes the Malaysian water, repackages it, and sells it right back. That’s not to say it’s not better, sure, it’s consumable now, so similarly it’s an oriental, perhaps, take on Western ideas. At the crux of it all, it’s a Western ideology that is at the core of it all. It’s still Malaysian water.

Play by the Rainbow Bridge

But yet, it still isn’t. Materially, and physically, the West has played a huge part in shaping modern Japan, and indeed, Tokyo. Everything Japan does now is essentially to cater towards the West. While there are certain placements that are, well, were, unique to Japan like video mobile phones, and Burberry Blue, it seems that most of the material aspect of Japan is catered to Western needs, and that is of course essential due to global economy. But culturally speaking, mentally, a lot of the ideology and culture is still very inwards. An island is an island, and Japan tells no different story.

What you get is, well, Japan. I can’t truly understand it, nor probably ever will, and maybe won’t want to. But what can be said is that a sense of acceptance is perhaps not always there, and there are things said and done that are just bizarre to any outsider. With the social boundaries and rules that you have to abide to, you find that after a while it’s very tempting to just become angry and frustrated with the way things are. Coming from a society that embraces pushing the boundaries and essentially ‘rebellion’, (and no, not Singapore) it is the order and neatness of the way things appear in Japan that sometimes call out for one to break the monotony. You watch movies like ‘V for Vendetta’ and ‘Equilibrium’ and while it is an extreme comparison, you understand why rebellion occurs, simply for the outright desire to express yourself in a manner that society deems unfit.

Of course, I do not advocate anarchy, nor suggest it, for what position am I in to speak of the social norms in a country a thousand miles away? I am in none of course, but it amuses me so to only just think of it. I can only speculate that all of this tends to rotate around the fact that people in Japan haven’t been exposed to the conditions, the cultures, of the outside world. Like the sheltered child who had a butler to clean his room or the person who had never had to take public transport in his life. When exposed, it’s just totally strange, alien, absurd. Yet at the same time, it is not as if that child never existed in this world. Just that it is sheltered, spoilt, spoon-fed.

Sunset and Odaiba

What parallels this draws to personality differences and social norms are abounding. While one country can be so different from another, one person is so different from another. When one can only wonder what kind of retarded person can be so selfish and self centred, you can only wonder what kind of retarded nation would embrace an adulterer as their leader, or a murderer. When one wonders what sort of person expects people to cater to their every need, what kind of nation would truly expect multinationals to invest in it when corruption is so rife? When one kind of person gives their opinion so bluntly so as to purposely offend others and expect them to listen, how can one nation invade another and expect the world to take them seriously?

Yes, well, that’s just the human condition, I suppose. And I guess, Tokyo’s, Japan’s. And the funny thing is, people pretend not to notice, countries tend not to notice. It’d be disadvantageous to do such obvious things. Can you imagine if someone went around judging people for what they really were? Individually, person by person, they would just end up hating that person anyway, even if he or she is right. Eventually, a lot of people would end up having a common hatred of this one person, and all these retarded idiots would just form one band of people and the person who was correct, who was right, will be the victim. Isn’t that just weird?