Sul blog Japanese Rule of 7, l’autore discute dei diversi significati di “vero Giappone”, cercando di fare ordine tra le visioni stereotipate del Giappone perpetuate da Youtubers, bloggers, fan degli anime e anche dal governo giapponese tramite la campagna Cool Japan.

Look, Japan’s a fiction. Trying to define “the real Japan” assumes there’s a single place with that name. That doesn’t exist, outside of the internet.

(…) Which isn’t to say people here are good or bad—just that they come with both packaged together, like the poisonous liver inside a delicious fugu fish. It’ll only kill you every once in a while. Enjoy your meal.

L’internet abbonda di racconti affascinanti o imbarazzanti di turisti in Giappone, e gli stereotipi non mancano:

Visitors describe the nation like a fairy-tale cotton candy land—“Japan is well known for its politeness and good manners,” with a noble citizenry practicing “extreme Japanese cleanliness,” while showing “respect for older adults.”

All of which is true, except for folks coughing and sneezing without covering their mouths, random morons dumping garbage in the mountains or releasing nuclear waste into the sea, and the epidemic of abandoned elderly dying alone.

So when people talk about “the real Japan,” well, which Japan’s that?

L’ovvia risposta è che l’esperienza in Giappone dipende soprattutto dal punto di vista dell’osservatore e da caratterristiche come età, colore della pelle, paese d’origine, etc…

During the monsoon season, a friend from England proudly announced “I’ve no problem with the weather here, year round.” The very next day, a gal I know from Southern California said, “I wouldn’t have moved to Japan if I’d known how much it rained.” I was like, What the eff? You both live in the same city—is the weather good or bad?

To me, Japan seems a supremely average place. The climate’s not great, but manageable. The standard of living is squarely middle class. It’s kinda safe. It’s sometimes quiet. It’s passively racist. It’s generally convenient. At times, it’s somewhat fun. You could do worse.

It’s probably easier to gush about Japan if you come from a nation with rampant poverty, violence, homelessness, virulent racism, or an unusual amount of precipitation. In other words, how much you love Japan depends in part upon how much you hate where you left. It’s all relative, and anything’s better than New Jersey.

In conclusione:

The only thing I can say for sure is—if Real Japan met Internet Japan walking down the street, they’d barely even recognize each other.

Immagine da Pixabay