When I watched a certain video, I enjoyed listening to the conversation a foreigner in Japan had with a middle-aged Japanese woman. It was funny and I understood the situation. However, after the first third of the video, I felt something unpleasant. After watching it in its entirety, I let out a sigh of disappointment. I’m curious why I felt that way. I couldn’t explain it well at the time. Maybe because negative feelings always have an invisible connection to the subconscious. However, I’ll try to figure it out and write my thoughts as necessary.
There are 3 points which I’m afraid of that lead to the spread of misunderstanding of Japanese culture.
- Don’t use offensive words lightly. In the last scene, the protagonist tries to fight a Sumo wrestler using a Japanese sword. In that scene he said “BAKA-YAROU”, which is similar to “F**k you” in Japanese. I’ve never heard this phrase in my daily life. If I were to say it to someone, there will definitely be trouble
Even if a foreigner who doesn’t know Japanese well, it can be very dangerous. It is very insulting. - Sumo is a sacred sport for Japanese. It originated from the ritual of asking the gods for prosperity and has been practiced since A.D.734. Thus I felt that the portrayed behavior is so rude. The playing field of sumo is also considered a sacred place.
- I fell it is inappropriate to dress an adult woman in a high school girl’s uniform. Subconsciously it is suggestive of pornographic videos. It adds to the discrimination against Japanese women.
These are my opinions. I don’t know whether other Japanese think similarly as I do. I’m a Japanese female in my late 40’s, so, young male Japanese might not care. Someday I wish I can ask people of the opposite sex and generation in Japan.
Before the Revision
Title: Misunderstanding of Culture
When I’ve started to watch this video, I’ve enjoyed their conversation which Japanese middle-aged woman and a foreigner who visit in Japan. It was funny and I understood the situation. However, over the 1 on 3 part of it, I felt something unpleasant. In the end, when I finished watching it I sighed deeply disappointment. I was curious why I thought that. I couldn’t explain it well at that time. Because the negative feelings always connected subconsciously some invisible one. However, I’ll now try to figure out it and write it down from necessity.
There are 3 points which I’m afraid of misunderstanding of Japanese culture is spread.
- Don’t use super negative word easily. In the last scene, protagonist tried to fight Sumo wrestler using a Japanese sword. He said “BAKA-YAROU”, it similar meaning “F**k you”. I never heard this phrase my daily life. If I said it to someone, it will become trouble absolutely.
Even if foreigner who don’t know well Japanese use it, it’s dangerous. It brings huge anger. - Sumo is sacred sports for Japanese. It originated from the ritual for prosperous asking gods since A.D.734. Thus I felt their behavior looks so rude. The playing field of sumo is a sacred place.
- Don’t use high school girl’s uniform for an adult woman. Subconsciously it imagines pornographic video. It increases discriminate against Japanese women.
These are my opinions. I don’t know other Japanese think similar as me. I’m Japanese female and almost 50, so, young male Japanese might don’t care it. Someday I wish I’ll ask different gender and generation in Japan.
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https://www.nippon.com/ja/column/g00490/?pnum=1