Firts of all, I am stunned down to the bottoms of my 700 yen Seiyu zebra-print pajama bottoms that apparently that post is one of the top results for googling "I Hate Japan."
http://greatteacherannazuka.blogspot.com/2009/05/why-i-hate-japan-right-now.html
I just googled the phrase myself, and it does not appear on the first page of search results, so who knows?
Anyways, the post has apparently been adopted as a source of catharsis for some and a source of contention for others. I mean, sort of...but let's be honest, not that many people read this blog and five comments is well a big fuckin' deal for me.
I feel the need to do some damage control. Surprisingly, I understand, given the amount of bitching and hatred that seeps through my posts, but I feel like I need to make something clear once and for all:
I DO NOT HATE JAPAN.
I do not hate Japan I do not hate Japan I do I do I do believe in spooks, kind of.
Since the post is dividing the massive amout of internet readership I get (read: three of my friends IRL and the occasional Facebook sraggler), I have listed ten things I love and ten things I despise about this country. All of the forthcoming are 100% what I adore and what I dislike; you are welcome to draw your own goddamn conclusions based on what you consider to be depth and levity in the following:
THINGS I LOVE ABOUT JAPAN:
1. The scenery in Ishikawa prefecture.
2. Umeboshi
3. The fact that when you buy tampons, the drugstore employee wraps the box in a protective paper bag and then bungs it in a larger plastic sack, thereby preventing you from public shame and general uncomfortableness.
4. The Christmas lights.
5. My shower is a clothes dryer!
6. The inexplicable, yet very welcome popularity of otherwise largely-defunct iconic '60s designer Mary Quant.
7. Vending machines and conbini.
8. Kimono
9. 24 beer sources.
10. I bought a 3d T-Rex puzzle at Muji!
THINGS I CAN'T STAND ABOUT JAPAN:
1. Train people.
2. Being shoved for no reason and with no forthcoming apology.
3. Mayonnaise
4. Indirectness (I am blunt to a fault, you fat ugly stupid crotch pig).
5. Inflexibility
6. The inconsistency of how ones pays on public buses.
7. Going on a date with a foreign guy who is married to a Japanese girl, and NEVER TELLS YOU...well, not soon enough.
8. Every time I buy shoes, they die in about a week.
9. Japanese beer all tastes the same after a while.
10. Too many smokers.
As an anonymous (MAN THE FUCK UP PEOPLE; sign your goddamn names, eh?) commenter pointed out on the post in question, no country is perfect.
Japan is not my favourite country of residence, but it's the only one I got. So while I hate it sometimes, I also enjoy it sometimes. Keep that in mind in the future.
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1 comment:
If you need a break from Japan, go to China. The contrast is shocking and will give you a new perspective on Japan.
Japan is the sort of place nearly everyone loves when they first arrive. It seems so civilized. Honeymoon period ends at around 3 months. The cool, unique, and innovative fashion begin to seem ridiculous, the politeness insincere, the apologies overwhelming, the racism much more obvious and threatening, the people shallow and ditzy.
China, on the other hand, you either love or hate the moment you meet her, with most people feeling the latter. It's the opposite of Japan. People are rude, loud, obnoxious...if you can survive 3 years in China, then you'll likely fall in love with it. In China, things start badly and can only get better. Japan, the opposite.
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