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| offtopic:japan [2012/12/14 08:14] – Petike | offtopic:japan [2018/11/04 15:07] – [Alternate history clichés involving this country] typos max_sinister |
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| As with many cultures, a lot of what we "know" about Japan actually comes from the same Western media that appareantly believes all Spaniards are matadors, Mexico is inhabited only with drug runners, maids, and mariachi bands, Romanians drive Victorian stagecoaches to vampire castles, Arabs fly around on flying carpets, Egyptians still build pyramids, and China hasn't left the Ming Dynasty. So take anything you here about them with a grain of salt. | As with many cultures, a lot of what we "know" about Japan actually comes from the same Western media that appareantly believes all Spaniards are matadors, Mexico is inhabited only with drug runners, maids, and mariachi bands, Romanians drive Victorian stagecoaches to vampire castles, Arabs fly around on flying carpets, Egyptians still build pyramids, and China hasn't left the Ming Dynasty. So take anything you here about them with a grain of salt. |
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| ==== Alternate history clichés involving this country ==== | ==== Alternate history clichés involving this country ==== |
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| **The "[[alternate history:Premodern Japan as a great power]]" cliché** - Unlikely, but depends on the POD and continental situation. | - **The "[[alternate history:Premodern Japan as a great power]]" cliché** - Unlikely, but depends on the POD and continental situation. |
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| -Conversely, Japan as a colony of a Western Power, which is even more unlikely - in the first period of colonization (15th to 18th century), Asia was too remote and populous to see anything more than trading posts (which is what the Japanese got anyway), and in the second period of colonization (mid to late 19th century), the Japanese had nothing the Europeans couldn't get cheaper from the Chinese - the only reason the US took an interest was the possibility that Nagasaki and Edo could be used as coaling stations for New England whalers | -Conversely, Japan as a colony of a Western Power, which is even more unlikely - in the first period of colonization (15th to 18th century), Asia was too remote and populous to see anything more than trading posts (which is what the Japanese got anyway), and in the second period of colonization (mid to late 19th century), the Japanese had nothing the Europeans couldn't get cheaper from the Chinese - the only reason the US took an interest was the possibility that Nagasaki and Edo could be used as coaling stations for New England whalers |
| -Japanese weaponry being superior to European or Chinese equivalents; Japanese steel and henceforth Katanas, were inferior to European and Chinese swords in General (and were actually more for show - bows and pikes were the main weapons, as elsewhere). | -Japanese weaponry being superior to European or Chinese equivalents; Japanese steel and henceforth Katanas, were inferior to European and Chinese swords in General (and were actually more for show - bows and pikes were the main weapons, as elsewhere). |
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| -Shinto it's Japan's only religion: false, Buddhism is just as influential, and, in fact, the two faiths fought numerous conflicts every bit as complicated and bloody as the Religous Wars in Europe in the 17th Century. And then you have Shinto-Buddhist Syncretism in the Pre-Meiji and Post-Meiji periods. | -Shinto is Japan's only religion: false, Buddhism is just as influential, and, in fact, the two faiths fought numerous conflicts every bit as complicated and bloody as the Religious Wars in Europe in the 17th Century. And then you have Shinto-Buddhist Syncretism in the Pre-Meiji and Post-Meiji periods. |
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| -Ninjas. The black jumpsuits come from kabuki plays, where black clothes meant you were a stage hand (and thus, onvisible to the characters - thus someone in a black suit who suddenly attacked the lead was equivalent to an assassin literally materializing out of thin air). The martial arts were, like all eastern martial arts, designed to be physical and mental exercises, not combat training. The supernatural powers are, well, hyperbole, tall tales from bewildered witnesses, and Hollywood magic all rolled into one. By all actual accounts, Ninja were no different from any other assassins. | -Ninjas. The black jumpsuits come from kabuki plays, where black clothes meant you were a stage hand (and thus, invisible to the characters - thus someone in a black suit who suddenly attacked the lead was equivalent to an assassin literally materializing out of thin air). The martial arts were, like all eastern martial arts, designed to be physical and mental exercises, not combat training. The supernatural powers are, well, hyperbole, tall tales from bewildered witnesses, and Hollywood magic all rolled into one. By all actual accounts, Ninja were no different from any other assassins. |
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| -Samurai as overly honorable, to the point of insufferability. Like the Code of Chivalry, Bushido was actually a guideline, an ideal the perfect samurai was supposed to achieve. In reality, of course, the samurai followed it as closely as knights followed Chivalry. | -Samurai as overly honorable, to the point of insufferability. Like the Code of Chivalry, Bushido was actually a guideline, an ideal the perfect samurai was supposed to achieve. In reality, of course, the samurai followed it as closely as knights followed Chivalry. |
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| ==== In AH.com Culture ==== | ==== In AH.com Culture ==== |
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| **[[Nazi Pirate Japan]]** - An older [[running jokes|running gag]] of AH.com. | **[[Nazi Pirate Japan]]** - An older [[running jokes|running gag]] of AH.com. |
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| ==== AH.commers ==== | ==== AH.commers ==== |
| [[offtopic:gaijin]] is [[the netherlands|Dutch]], but has been living in Japan since the early 2000s. | [[offtopic:gaijin]] is [[the netherlands|Dutch]], but has been living in Japan since the early 2000s. |
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| | [[offtopic:Leej|Tyr]], [[offtopic:mcdo]] and [[offtopic:OsakaDave]] are also non-native Japanese citizens. |
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| ==== See Also ==== | ==== See Also ==== |
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| **[[regions|Regions of the World]]** | |
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| **[[timelines:Japan|Japanese Timelines and Scenarios]]** | **[[timelines:Japan|Japanese Timelines and Scenarios]]** |
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| **[[resources:Japan|Useful Resources about Japan]]** | **[[resources:Japan|Useful Resources about Japan]]** |
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| | ==== Navigation ==== |
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| | **[[regions|Regions of the World]]** |
