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TPenglake

Junior Member
Registered Member
Randomuser said:
As a former weeb who still appreciates Japan for what it gave at its peak, I do not actively boycott anything Japanese out of some patriotic duty.

I just am not really interested in what they have these days. Simple as.

Like I can't remember any anime made in recent times that made me want to actively go out and watch it. Or video games for that matter. And this is supposed to be a soft power superpower.

Like their product offering kinda sucks now and offers nothing new. It doesn't help it tends to be quite expensive. I was talking to some relatives the other day about visiting Japan and we suddenly came to a realization that for most part you can effectively see the same stuff in China for a much lower price and little language barrier. When you pay more, there should be a justification for that premium and it's kinda hard to find one.
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Japan and Korea are to me the ultimate examples of nations whose tourism resources are massively embellished by their pop culture image. Take away those, Japan has less and Korea has nothing.

Even with Japan though, you'll hear weebs stating their appreciation for Japanese architecture. But back when China was bottom of the barrel poor and destitute, ask any average joe on the street to name a Chinese landmark and even people in hicksville USA could at least name the Great Wall, Forbidden City, and Teracotta Warriors. Japan though? Most people who did not take a university course in Japanese history would struggle to come up with anything. Osaka castle? It's a modern art museum with a historic castle facade, nothing actually historical about it. Closest I could think of then is maybe Fushimi Shrine, but that's more of an instagram famous destination rather than something that's ubiquitous like the Colosseum or Great Wall.
 
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jiajia99

Senior Member
Registered Member
Randomuser said:
As a former weeb who still appreciates Japan for what it gave at its peak, I do not actively boycott anything Japanese out of some patriotic duty.

I just am not really interested in what they have these days. Simple as.

Like I can't remember any anime made in recent times that made me want to actively go out and watch it. Or video games for that matter. And this is supposed to be a soft power superpower.

Like their product offering kinda sucks now and offers nothing new. It doesn't help it tends to be quite expensive. I was talking to some relatives the other day about visiting Japan and we suddenly came to a realization that for most part you can effectively see the same stuff in China for a much lower price and little language barrier. When you pay more, there should be a justification for that premium and it's kinda hard to find one.
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True, for a good Chinese noodle dish as an example where I am from, for a similar bowl of Japanese noodle dishes, you would have to be prepared to pay at least 1.5 that amount for only have 80% quantity of the same Chinese noodles with quality not always guaranteed. Also sashimi bowls for the most part is easy to do at home with fish itself only need to be at least about 25 dollars for two people while the same sashimi bowl will cost 45-50 for two. Hence as far as I am concerned, ever since I can make my own sashimi bowl, I never needed to go to any Japanese place for a sashimi bowl ever again. These days especially, Japanese food is too overhyped for the value you get once the rosy tinted glasses come off, hype is all Japan has left and even that is not forever. Honestly forced boycotts I feel don’t seem to actually change anything based on how there are countless boycotts in the USA that ultimately amounted to nothing. The only thing that seems to actually do anything is changing trends based on the market as that is what honestly hits the bottom line and right now, the cost of Japanese products vs Chinese products for similar quality is actually making a difference and that takes time
 
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SDFlurker

New Member
Registered Member
TPenglake said:
Japan and Korea are to me the ultimate examples of nations whose tourism resources are massively embellished by their pop culture image. Take away those, Japan has less and Korea has nothing.

Even with Japan though, you'll hear weebs stating their appreciation for Japanese architecture. But back when China was bottom of the barrel poor and destitute, ask any average joe on the street to name a Chinese landmark and even people in hicksville USA could at least name the Great Wall, Forbidden City, and Teracotta Warriors. Japan though? Most people who did not take a university course in Japanese history would struggle to come up with anything. Osaka castle? It's a modern art museum with a historic castle facade, nothing actually historical about it. Closest I could think of then is maybe Fushimi Shrine, but that's more of an instagram famous destination rather than something that's ubiquitous like the Colosseum or Great Wall.
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Now that you mention it, try as i might the only famous landmark that comes to mind is yasukuni shrine lol
 
supercat

supercat

Colonel
burritocannon

burritocannon

Junior Member
Registered Member
Randomuser said:
Like I can't remember any anime made in recent times that made me want to actively go out and watch it. Or video games for that matter.
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agreed, i feel like theres some sort of institutional incest at play here, like anime is now just so deeply buried by its own conventions it has lost its ability to connect with anyone but a peculiar breed of people who have similarly lost connection with the real world.

i couldnt shake a feeling of uncanniness when i was in japan, like it was less a nation and more a nation-scale giftshop. but maybe thats just the effect of being stuck in tourist areas coupled with illiteracy.
 
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