Weird questions from Japanese

[Don Roley]

Japanese tend to ask some weird questions. I have been asked things like if there are any 7-11s in America, same for MacDonalds and if everyone owns a gun.

But last night took the cake. We were out drinking with the office when one of the Japanese (well educated) asked a guy from Scotland if there was any beer in England. :drink2tha :roflmao:

Can anyone top that?

Just don't yell or make loud noises for the next few hours. Oh my head!!!!

 

[Eldritch Knight]

The "does everyone have guns" is a classic. As is "are there black people in America".

I don't think I can top your last one, Don, but some of my Aussie friends got asked what language they speak in Australia. I've been asked during a meal if I can use chopsticks, even after I've been eating with them for the past 20 minutes. I know it's considered common courtesy to ask that, but it's just plain funny in context.

 

[Matt Stone]

Not so much a question, but...

I've always gotten a kick out of how my Japanese acquaintences couldn't believe that a) I could use hashi, b) I could eat sushi, shishamo, and other Japanese cuisine, or c) I could speak Japanese without an accent...

Ya just gotta love them thar' Japonesies!

 

[Jonathan Randall]

Japanese tend to ask some weird questions. I have been asked things like if there are any 7-11s in America, same for MacDonalds and if everyone owns a gun.

But last night took the cake. We were out drinking with the office when one of the Japanese (well educated) asked a guy from Scotland if there was any beer in England. :drink2tha :roflmao:

Can anyone top that?

Just don't yell or make loud noises for the next few hours. Oh my head!!!!

True, but wanna bet there is a thread on a Japanese forum somewhere titled "American's tend to ask some weird questions"...

 

[Eldritch Knight]

No kidding. I would just love to be around when an American asks a random Japanese "Are you really good at kung fu?". The sad part is that some Westerners have asked me that about the Japanese I knew.

 

[Hyaku]

:idunno:After coming on 25 years of questions it wears a bit thin. One hopes over the years that they will become more enlightened.

After the truly countless times people have commented on my hashi ablity I started to say, "Yes and I can use a knife and fork too". But sarcastic, joking responses are also wasted on a humorless race.

But sometimes it really feels like one might have come from another planet. Recently someone who I thought was a close friend asked me and my wife, "How do you sleep?".

I would not dream of inviting people in. Some walk around the house like it's a theme park or zoo.

Saturday I went to work as usual. For three years now Saturday has been a day off. But due people not knowing what to do with free time it was decreed that we should go to work as usuall and show that we were prepard to work if someone might reinvent it for Saturdays. Of course if you talk privately to others no one wants to go on Saturday. It's not really a matter of Japanese people not understanding other countries. The idiots dont even understand the feelings of each other yet.

 

[Bammx2]

Stupid questions?!
I got one fer ya,but this did not come from a foreign national.
It came from a young lady home grown in columbus ohio.
AND....she graduated high school long BEFORE she asked this question.

The question was;and I am quoting word for word.......

"why don't men have periods? Is it because they have different insides from women? They are different,aren't they"?

Now THAT is dumbest question I have ever heard....that I can think of right now anyway

 

[Jonathan Randall]

:idunno:After coming on 25 years of questions it wears a bit thin. One hopes over the years that they will become more enlightened.

After the truly countless times people have commented on my hashi ablity I started to say, "Yes and I can use a knife and fork too". But sarcastic, joking responses are also wasted on a humorless race.

But sometimes it really feels like one might have come from another planet. Recently someone who I thought was a close friend asked me and my wife, "How do you sleep?".

I would not dream of inviting people in. Some walk around the house like it's a theme park or zoo.

Saturday I went to work as usual. For three years now Saturday has been a day off. But due people not knowing what to do with free time it was decreed that we should go to work as usuall and show that we were prepard to work if someone might reinvent it for Saturdays. Of course if you talk privately to others no one wants to go on Saturday. It's not really a matter of Japanese people not understanding other countries. The idiots dont even understand the feelings of each other yet.

"The idiots"? Your profile shows that you are studying a Japanese art. Why would you study from a people you consider to be idiots? Your post drips with contempt for this race. Why? Why study there, why work there, why live there if you consider them to be an inferior people? These people went in one generation from fighting with bows and arrows and swords to fielding a modern army and navy that handily defeated the Russian Empire in 1905. They also went from producing junk cars in the early fifties to become THE name in reliability and economy and kicked the crap out of Detroit in the 1970's and 80's. They are a tough, industrious race.

As to the other observation; how many American teenagers don't know the name of the current Vice-President of the United States? How many, if asked, would say that the Civil War was fought against the Germans? How many young teens fail to connect sex and pregnancy?

 

[mj-hi-yah]

Mod Note:

Please keep the conversation polite and respectful. :asian:

- MJ
- MT Moderator

 

[Andrew Green]

True, but wanna bet there is a thread on a Japanese forum somewhere titled "American's tend to ask some weird questions"...

Don't have to go that far, even in Canada there are some jokes made

 

[Hyaku]

"The idiots"? Your profile shows that you are studying a Japanese art. Why would you study from a people you consider to be idiots? Your post drips with contempt for this race. Why? Why study there, why work there, why live there if you consider them to be an inferior people?

Well as mentioned there are some rather silly people everywhere. Did I say "all of them". The thread is about wierd questions. I was just quoting a few examples.

People asking you about the personal details of sex with your wife in a public restaurant because you are not Japanese.

Not knowing what to do with a holiday so you go to work does not go down well with anybody. Do you commend going to work weekends when there is no work? Have you any idea what it must cost to run the air conditioners in 38c in 30 empty rooms? If anything it makes a loss. Three years ago 99% percent got the message and stay home. Some have not figured it out yet.

Since when has the word "idiot" been a racial slur? You mentioned the words inferior and race not me. Don't mess up my post by using such words. It's incitement. You could do us all a favour and fill in your profile. I dont respond well to trolls.

People who do live and have lived here will know what I mean. If you have never lived in Japan I suggest you stay off thread!

 

[shesulsa]

Since when has the word "idiot" been a racial slur? You mentioned the words inferior and race not me.

You said, in the same paragraph:

It's not really a matter of Japanese people not understanding other countries. The idiots dont even understand the feelings of each other yet.

This infers that Japanese people are idiots by your wording.

Don't mess up my post by using such words. It's incitement.

See my above comment.

You could do us all a favour and fill in your profile. I dont respond well to trolls.

Anonimity is an American right. You would do well to review your own manners before commenting on the manners of others and making accusations.

If you have never lived in Japan I suggest you stay off thread!

Every active member on here is entitled to respond to your post and this thread if done so in a respectful manner. If you have a problem with a particular user, feel free to use the "ignore" feature or take the issue to PMs.

 

[Saitama Steve]

"The idiots"? Your profile shows that you are studying a Japanese art. Why would you study from a people you consider to be idiots? Your post drips with contempt for this race. Why? Why study there, why work there, why live there if you consider them to be an inferior people?

Well Hyaku has lived in Japan for god knows how many years. I lived there myself for 7 1/2 years and I worked and interacted among them in various fields. It's not the race that is considered inferior in this case, it's the new generation. They have gone from being hard working, intustrious with a good standard of common sense, to some kind of non-caring, new-taste-of-the-month, consumer animal that only cares about the newest fashions, has no care about the standard of work done and just wants the pay so that they can figure out the best way to spend it on all of the cool new gadgets and clothes. I lived in a suburb near Tokyo and I got to see this kind of carry on all day for many years.

Now that's not to say that all of them are like this, but a vast majority of them.

Then you go to the dojo and see the previous generation and the previous generation to that, all training together in respect. No graphs or slide shows are needed to illustrate how badly some things have changed in ways. Most people blame it on the influences of foreign culture.

These people went in one generation from fighting with bows and arrows and swords to fielding a modern army and navy that handily defeated the Russian Empire in 1905.

Yes, with French and British military advisors training them how to use the new weapons and military tactics.

They also went from producing junk cars in the early fifties to become THE name in reliability and economy and kicked the crap out of Detroit in the 1970's and 80's. They are a tough, industrious race.

That suburb that I mentioned I lived in previously was one of the main bases for Nissan in the kanto area. They had two huge factories. You want to know how many Japanese manual workers they had in these factories? Nil!

The main workforce in Japan for manual labour are Brazillian, Peruvian, Phillipino and Ghanan. The only Japanese you'll see are the foremen and office workers. The same goes for chemical and cement factories in Japan, where mass production and cheap labour are neccesities. Noone Japanese does this tough, industrious work any more, they hire other people for shekels to do it.

 

[hardheadjarhead]

The main workforce in Japan for manual labour are Brazillian, Peruvian, Phillipino and Ghanan. The only Japanese you'll see are the foremen and office workers. The same goes for chemical and cement factories in Japan, where mass production and cheap labour are neccesities. Noone Japanese does this tough, industrious work any more, they hire other people for shekels to do it.

Ay-yay-yay! They pay in SHEKELS? That leaves me a bit fertummelt that they should pay this gelt. These schmendricks can't do the work, so they hire these schmegegge to get their hands dirty? Oy! Such big shots!




Regards,


Steve

 

[Jonathan Randall]

This seems to have gone from a thread about interesting questions that Japanese nationals ask their visiting friends to a racial argument. I very much doubt the thread starter intended this. How did we get there from here? We could have had fun with this thread and gained some cultural insights.

BTW, how many adult Americans, upon visiting a Japanese restaraunt, order Chow Mein?

I've actually been asked by a non MA aquaintance why the Japanese named their art "Brazillian" Ju-Jitsu.

Cultural differences and even ignorance, can be very amusing and even enlightening. There's nothing to read into it, though. My Japanese girlfriend had to constantly correct me on cultural issues - particularly while dining.

I am not an anonymous user. My name is on every post I write. My city and state (Sacramento, CA) are in my profile. Missing is a homepage which I have but is not related to the Martial Arts in any way. I deleted my arts studied after it caused me too much grief. Believe it or not, people still fight passionately over the spelling of the karate style I studied. I took Judo off because I have not been training regularly since college. I took boxing off, because, as another MT member rightfully pointed out, the gulf between amateur and pro in boxing is VERY WIDE - too wide for me to claim expertise.

 

[Saitama Steve]

Ay-yay-yay! They pay in SHEKELS? That leaves me a bit fertummelt that they should pay this gelt. These schmendricks can't do the work, so they hire these schmegegge to get their hands dirty? Oy! Such big shots!




Regards,


Steve

Errrr, my thoughts exactly mate.

 

[Hyaku]

This seems to have gone from a thread about interesting questions that Japanese nationals ask their visiting friends to a racial argument. I very much doubt the thread starter intended this. How did we get there from here? We could have had fun with this thread and gained some cultural insights.

Yes you are right.....problem is a lot of what they ask, say and write is not always so funny. If I could expound a little on that and re-use the words: Japanese men will constantly barrack and attack my wife because they consider women to be inferior. She is considered by them to be inferior but she's not an idiot. She has a masters degree in linguistics. Speaks Japanese English, French, Bahasa, and a little Cebuano. Of course I don't think she is either silly or inferior and as a Japanese share my views 100%.

BTW, how many adult Americans, upon visiting a Japanese restaraunt, order Chow Mein?

Now that's not a problem. In Japan its called Yakisoba (My dinner tonight after practice)
The thing is as Saitama Steve says the general Dojo attitude is not reflected on the streets. If only it was. Signs not allowing foreign customers. Signs at baseball stadiums telling people to watch out for foreign criminals. After all we know that Foreigners are responsible for all crimes??? Weird questions are just the tip of the iceberg. One can almost see someones mind ticking over working out what the next question will be and sure enough the more they ask the ruder it gets.

So what do you think your reaction would be if you walked into restaurant with your wife and a total stranger shouted out, "Hey look everyone it's a ni??a! or in Japanese a gaijin (alien). Would you just smile or tell him to shut the hell up?

We actually have to choose the shops we visit to avoid yet another embarrasing situation. Just sitting down to enjoy a choice bit a sashimi and sip some sake and the person sitting next to you pipes up in a loud voice, "Hey this guys got a really big nose. and his feet... look and his feet!" Swift nudge in the ribs with the comment, "Hey anyway how tall are you? Hey you sure can use those chopstick well for an alien etc. etc... Laugh if you will but my appetite has gone.

It really is the Dojo and forgive the pun "Martial Talk" that makes is worthwhile staying here. Sadly talking about what Japanese people say really does open a can of worms.

People used to say strange things to me when I arrived and I would stay polite and think, "Mmm. But it will change once they realize we are just other human beings that speak another language. " Twenty plus years later and it doesn't.

Sorry I can't find it all as amusing as you. A few weeks ago I am on a roof trying to convince kid to come down. He has cut another kid with a box knife and is threatening to jump. Last week a grandmother calls to say that a kid who I will be meeting within 20 minutes has a cleaver in his bag! This for me is normal life in Japan. The Dojo? That's just fine and everyone can sit in seiza for more than two minutes.

Cultural differences and even ignorance, can be very amusing and even enlightening. There's nothing to read into it, though. My Japanese girlfriend had to constantly correct me on cultural issues - particularly while dining.

Well as I have just said come over here for few meals. It's an enlightening experience.

 

[Don Roley]

This seems to have gone from a thread about interesting questions that Japanese nationals ask their visiting friends to a racial argument. I very much doubt the thread starter intended this. How did we get there from here?

We got here because of YOU! When you opened your mouth and said "Your post drips with contempt for this race" things went downhill from there. Can't you remember?

My sympathy is with Hyaku. Him calling Japanese idiots does not bother me. I call Japanese idiots, and call American idiots. I know both and both tend to be idiotic in different ways. Americans just seem to whine, moan, be hypersensitive and open their mouths without knowing what they hell they are talking about. Of course, I don't think this applies to me, but you only have to look at daytime talk shows to form this opinion. Japanese are anal retentive, somewhat facist, etc.... Not all, but enough to be typical. They also have their good traits as well.

Everyone who lives in Japan tends to get togther with other non-Japanese and vent a bit about the things they have to go through. I accept it from them. I would not accept Japan bashing from someone with as little experience or knowledge as you. The same goes for America bashing. It may sound strange, but that is just the way it is.

 

[Jonathan Randall]

We got here because of YOU! When you opened your mouth and said "Your post drips with contempt for this race" things went downhill from there. Can't you remember?

My sympathy is with Hyaku. Him calling Japanese idiots does not bother me. I call Japanese idiots, and call American idiots. I know both and both tend to be idiotic in different ways. Americans just seem to whine, moan, be hypersensitive and open their mouths without knowing what they hell they are talking about. Of course, I don't think this applies to me, but you only have to look at daytime talk shows to form this opinion. Japanese are anal retentive, somewhat facist, etc.... Not all, but enough to be typical. They also have their good traits as well.

Everyone who lives in Japan tends to get togther with other non-Japanese and vent a bit about the things they have to go through. I accept it from them. I would not accept Japan bashing from someone with as little experience or knowledge as you. The same goes for America bashing. It may sound strange, but that is just the way it is.

Don, I have always read your posts her on MT and previously at E-Budo with great interest. You seem to be very knowledgeable and informed. I have always treated you with respect when responding to either a thread or post that you made. I cannot understand your repy. I responded to the Hyaku the way I did because in his post he went on a tirade against the Japanese as a people and specifically referred to them, not individually as you suggested, but as a group as "Idiots". Now, I understand frustrations when dealing with a different country and people, but there is no way to paint his post as anything but derogatory to an entire people. Did you personally appreciate your Japanese instructor being referred to as an "Idiot"? Because that is just what was implied. I tried to reply via PM out of respect to you, but your Box is full. I believe that if you re-read his post as both the practitioner of a Japanese art and as a MT MODERATOR, you will see why I challenged him. As to "opening my mouth" - God forbid that I ever fail to when I encounter an entire race beging referred to as idiots. My sympathy is not with Hyaku. If he is so burnt out and has so much resentment towards the Japanese, as evidenced in his post, he should leave and find other employment. If he is not, and his post was simply "one of those moments, the kind we all have" - then let him say so. We all overreact at times and make blanket generalizations that we do not mean.

 

[Don Roley]

God forbid that I ever fail to when I encounter an entire race beging referred to as idiots.

Actually, it is an entire culture. You fail to understand the difference.

I myself have little problem with someone who has lived in America calling Americans idiots. Americans typically can be idiots. They are hypersensitive, whiney, ignorant and take no responsibility for their actions. Of course, that applies more to you than to me.

In the same way, I look at the Japanese culture and think of them as idiots. There is no way I can think of a culture that has a word for death by overwork as anything but. There is no way I can look on a culture that has facist and racist trends in it as anything other than idiotic.

This is not to say that one culture is better than another. Some aspects of one culture are indeed better than the other. The personal responsibility for their actions is one of the things I like about Japan. The ability to speak freely and be different is one thing that America is better than Japan IMO.

And again, I am talking about a culture- not a race. If I went back in time to 1935 Germany I could talk trash about what I saw and not be racist. Their culture changed and now things are different. The same goes for 1855 Georgia and the slave culture. To say that you dislike something about a culture does not mean that you are racist. Would YOU say only nice things about Hitler's Germany or Dixie under the slave system?

So, yeah... I think that calling the Japanese idiots can be accepted. You should hear my Japanese teacher talk about the state of affairs in Japan today. He makes Hyaku's rant sound tame by comparison.

So, why are you pushing this if you just want it to go away?