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GOLDSEA |
ASIAMS.NET |
ASIAN AMERICAN ISSUES
JAPAN'S IMPACT ON THE ASIAN IMAGE
t has long been seen as the fountainhead of consumer electronics technology. Its cars are consistently among the world's most admired. Its corporations own two major Hollywood studios. Its kiddie culture has all but killed off Mickey Mouse and Barbie. Its $4 trillion GDP is number two behind the U.S. and its workers earn 25% more per head than Americans.
Bravo Castrati!
That's how many Asian Americans see Japan. A nation that should command the stature of a powerhouse -- and elevate the image of all Asians in the process -- possesses the geopolitical profile of, say, Switzerland, a nation a thirtieth its size. Japan's leaders are seen as mere hand puppets in a sad half-century charade of democracy. Its homes are cramped. Its men function as soulless drones whose women fly into the arms of western males. Even its vaunted economy has been on the ropes for ten years and looks ready to go down for the count. What little testosterone it possessed seems to have left with Ichiro.
A nation that should champion the Asian image has only reinforced every insulting stereotype. To many Asian Americans, Japan has done less than its smaller, poorer neightbors. Little Hong Kong exports asskicking action stars. South Corea exports people who take hooey from no one. Taiwan exports tech entrepreneurs to Silicon Valley. Impoverished China, Vietnam and even nutcase North Corea showed balls in standing up to the west. But mighty Japan? Spiritually it seems never to have recovered from its defeat in World War II.
Is Japan carrying its weight or slacking in the Asian image department?
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WHAT YOU SAY
[This page is closed to new input. --Ed.]
(Updated
Tuesday, Apr 1, 2008, 06:00:41 PM)
to AAM
...how...barbaric!
From what source are you basing your ranking process and how are you going to support your argument?
If you are as cultured as you think you are, I shouldn't even be having to remind you that you needn't elevate yourself at the expense of others, especially whole other cultures that you haven't even begun to understand much less appreciate.
You are one example of a loser AM that I would definitely NOT date.
MLK (Kelly)
Thursday, April 25, 2002 at 20:36:39 (PDT)
To AAM,
To put a rank on race is like mixing oranges with tangerines; it doesn't make any damn sense. Aren't all men created equal? What justification do you have to say that other asian races are inferior to others? You should get your white-washed ass out of this forumn and go to cnn.com and tell what you think becaue it doesn't hold no grounds here. Also, I don't quite get your last statement regarding the assimilation part. I've never once seen a japanese guy with a pretty caucasian girl but always a japanes girl with a caucasian guy. Japanese do have the fob stigma because if you go to little tokyo you'll see people who act and speak japanese without any clear understanding of japanese.
Vietnamese hapa
Thursday, April 25, 2002 at 18:50:40 (PDT)
To AAM
"Wait a minute. I'm a Japanese-American and I can say unequivocally that as an Asian American group we are at the top of the heap for all Asian Americans. . ."
Regardless of whether or not your assertion is true, this board is about Japan's contribution to the Asian image, not the contribution of
Japanese Americans.
"Unlike other AA groups, we lack the FOB stigma that so many other asian groups suffer in the U.S."
I think that this is only true to the extent that non-Asian Americans recognize the distinction between Japanese nationals and Japanese Americans. While it is true that there are few "FOB" Japanese Americans, there are plenty of Japanese expat sararimans here. And lets not forget hte ubiquitous camera toting, upscale shopping Japanese tourist stereotype.
Personally, I don't connect that much with the majority of the JA community
(I'm a nisei/ABC mix) but I'm immensely proud of our history and achievements here. The Hawaiian plantations, the internment camps, the 442d, and the struggle for reparations were seminal events in AA history. But these are our achievements as JAs, not those of the Japanese nation per se.
Right now, I think Japan's biggest achievement in "advancing the Asian image" is baseball!! Go ICHIRO!!!
Man of Lha-sa(Mancha)
Thursday, April 25, 2002 at 18:45:11 (PDT)
Unlike other AA groups, we lack the FOB stigma that so many other asian groups suffer in the U.S. We date the best looking men/women and for the most part, have assimilated into American society without losing an understanding an appreciation for our native culture.
Not true, most JAs are assimilated, and all of the Japantowns in America are nothing but tourist attractions. It's a changing world my friend, most JAs tend to follow trends that white people follow, which are no longer trendy. In fact, many FOBs have out success native Asians in this country, and that includes JAs. I have couple of JA friends who couldn't find work in white companies, and were eventually employed by tech companies owned by CAs and FOBs.
1) Japanese
2) Chinese
3) Korean
4) Filipino
5) Vietnamese
6) The rest: Laotians, Thai, Cambodians.
This rank is true to a certain degree, but I see it to be different, let say 5 years from now. JAs would be in 3rd or 4th place.
First of all, don't understimate FOBs. Being an AA myself, I had a tendency to overlook them, but now I realized that it is important to know an Asian language with fluency. And the fact that many FOBs have a better work ethic than most AAs, they will eventually displace them, just like older immigrants become replaced by newer ones with different ideas, better way of doing things.
I assume you're one of these naive individuals who come here to start trouble by painting an arrogant/ethnocentric image of JAs. You need to see the world and grow up!
Talk is garbage
Thursday, April 25, 2002 at 13:03:27 (PDT)
NYhomeboy,
"almost as if it has a mandate from God"
I wouldn't worry about it too much. Japan use to think, and some still do, that their emperor was a living god. Didn't stop their nation from rising or falling. Most nations on the fall associate their leaders with transcending truth. Takes the bite out of making difficult choices. Makes it easier to swallow if you believe you are on the side of right.
USA is also subject to the natural rise and fall of nations. Couple hundred more years and some other nation will overtake us. Just as long as we remain dominant for the next 80 years, I'm cool.
AC Dropout
Thursday, April 25, 2002 at 07:08:37 (PDT)
Wait a minute. I'm a Japanese-American
and I can say unequivocally that as an
Asian American group we are at the top of the heap for all Asian Americans as
far as helping to elevate the image of
Asian Americans, namely AA males. Unlike other AA groups, we lack the FOB stigma that so many other asian groups suffer in the U.S. We date the best looking men/women and for the most part, have assimilated into American society without losing an understanding an appreciation for our native culture. I rank the hierarchy of Asian races in the U.S. as follows:
1) Japanese
2) Chinese
3) Korean
4) Filipino
5) Vietnamese
6) The rest: Laotians, Thai, Cambodians.
(Much how European countries have a
hierarchy of ethnic backgrounds w/ the
eastern european countries struggling at the bottom, we can easily develop one for Asian countries.)
AAM
Thursday, April 25, 2002 at 00:02:15 (PDT)
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