Return 0 wrote:
wielding a katana

A real one or a fake one?

helios wrote:
Could you say "I'm going to be partial just because", or "I'll decide based on a coin toss"?

You probably could...and what's even funnier is that they might have to throw you out simply because you might.

I don't have to worry about being selected for jury duty. My state of residence uses motor vehicle registrations and voter registration lists to randomly select jurors. I have never registed to vote, and I haven't had a motor vehicle registered in my name in 13 years, and that was in another state.

wielding a katana A real one or a fake one?

Please don't tell me you're another Westerner who pretends to be or acts Japanese, while having no bloodline connection with Japan at all?
There are so many of them... Usually they end up getting tattoos of Japanese characters(when you ask what it means they reply "freedom" or "peace" or "clarity" or something stupid like that; actually the tattoo artist is sitting there laughing his head off because he just wrote "I LOVE DICKS" on some guys arm), they "learn" Japanese (they know what konichiwa (or however you spell it) and sayonara mean) and they watch anime and draw manga (and not even well). I used to watch anime. It was a lovely little show called Pokemon. But they ruined that series, along with my childhood (I still play the games though). Where does this sudden fascination with Japanese culture stem from, anyway?

Where does this sudden fascination with Japanese culture stem from, anyway?

It's called xenophilia. Attraction to the exotic. In this case it's kind of a paradox, since a great deal of Japanese culture (specially that which a Westerner is most likely to be exposed to) has been a mirror of American culture since WWII. To name just one example, the typical anime big eyes are a style that was adopted by the creator of Astroboy (I forget his name right now) after watching Mickey Mouse. While in the West that style was completely abandoned except for children's cartoons, Japanese artists never got over it.

Xenophilia, like xenophobia, is nothing new, really. People have always been both attracted to and scared of the strange.
Of course, it's one thing to like a culture, and another to go around squinting and saying "kawaii". That's just asking for a beating. If you like a culture, learn its language and immerse in it, but don't make an ass out of yourself.

That's what I mean. It just irritates me that suddenly a bunch of white kids are going around with pictures of Aeris and Vivi on their shirts talking about Yakuza and how they have Samurai heritage or something (I'm not even making this up, sadly).

It's one thing to laughingly call yourself a pirate or a ninja or something (pirates are awesome, anyhow) but to actually pretend you're part Japanese is another thing entirely. If they had been, I'd be slightly less irked, but they're not.

chrisname wrote:
Please don't tell me you're another Westerner who pretends to be or acts Japanese, while having no bloodline connection with Japan at all?

Wtf? People pretend they are part Japanese? The hell? Sounds really retarded to me >_>
Anyway, I like it because of the games (anime too, but the games are more important, hehe, too many good games only get released in Japan...).

helios wrote:
Of course, it's one thing to like a culture, and another to go around squinting and saying "kawaii". That's just asking for a beating. If you like a culture, learn its language and immerse in it, but don't make an ass out of yourself.

Lol, that. Unfortunately there are too many that seem to think "zomg google translator is 100% accurate!!" and that they can make words/crap by just sticking kanji together (I've seen a couple of people do that, and it annoys me).

Wtf? People pretend they are part Japanese? The hell? Sounds really retarded to me >_> Anyway, I like it because of the games (anime too, but the games are more important, hehe, too many good games only get released in Japan...).

I thought, being a programmer, you'd be smart enough not to engage in that kind of crap. I'm glad I was right :)

Edit: it's not that they literally claim to be part Japanese; but they act like it. It is really annoying. Like this one guy claimed to be an "Otaku." Well, I decided to find out what that means. Apparently, in Japan it's a really derogatory word; but Westerners use it in a positive way or something. At any rate, it's really, really annoying. I was interested in Japan's (well actually, more Korea and China, but Japan as well; mostly imperial Japan. At the moment it's Russia) history before this whole "LOL I R JAPAN3SE N I HAV SUMAROY SOWRD" erupted (or at least, before I was aware of it), but it's kinda driven me away; partly because I don't want to be seen as one of these people who only take interest in the country because it's "the new big thing," and partly because with everyone else "knowing" about things like that it's not interesting for me to learn about it. Same reason I'm opposed to programming languages that allow anyone to program without actually learning about programming concepts -- I'm a human and naturally I want to feel special, and superior to other people.

Lol, that. Unfortunately there are too many that seem to think "zomg google translator is 100% accurate!!" and that they can make words/crap by just sticking kanji together (I've seen a couple of people do that, and it annoys me).

Tell me about it... ugh.

Nod.

chrisname wrote:
but Japan as well; mostly imperial Japan.

Mmm, I like the Sengoku era (Samurai Warriors games >_>).

chrisname wrote:
partly because I don't want to be seen as one of these people who only take interest in the country because it's "the new big thing," and partly because with everyone else "knowing" about things like that it's not interesting for me to learn about it.

I sort of see where you are coming from, but my opinion on these kinds of things is generally "I don't give a **** what other people think", I just do whatever interests me.

chrisname wrote:
I'm a human and naturally I want to feel special, and superior to other people.

Heh, I know that feeling too, but I try to avoid doing it.

Like this one guy claimed to be an "Otaku." Well, I decided to find out what that means. Apparently, in Japan it's a really derogatory word; but Westerners use it in a positive way or something.

In the West, the term is neutral. It just means "someone who likes anime/manga".

partly because I don't want to be seen as one of these people who only take interest in the country because it's "the new big thing," and partly because with everyone else "knowing" about things like that it's not interesting for me to learn about it.

That's a very bad reason not to learn about something.

I'm a human and naturally I want to feel special, and superior to other people.

Oh, boy.
Not only is that's a terrible reason to learn anything, you're telling the world "people who know stuff are jerks".
Let's start with the fact that nothing you do will make you superior to anybody, because the word "superior" is meaningless when applied to people. If you feel superior, that's just because you're being a smug asshole, which I don't believe is a universal human characteristic. Self-improvement maybe, but not smugness.

Right now I can't think of more than two legitimate reasons to learn anything:
1. Curiosity. IMO, this is the purest of human motivations.
2. You need to accomplish something else that requires that knowledge.
Neither of those are influenced by whether other people know the subject, and neither of those should make you feel anything but satisfied once you know.

A real one or a fake one?

What do you mean a fake one? A wooden sparring katana or are you referring to a mass reproduction? It's real and carbon steel, I tend to avoid stainless steel in my swords.

Please don't tell me you're another Westerner who pretends to be or acts Japanese, while having no bloodline connection with Japan at all?

Who pretends to act Japanese? Actually I studied Ninjutsu from age 5 and for a while instructed private classes on various topics when I was older. My weapon of choice of course was not a Katana... that would be... blasphemous. I had at one time a beautiful Wakizashi... unfortunately that was stolen as well... I replaced it some years later, but there is nothing in comparison. After that I taught Dim Mak and some herbal medicine classes (which were Chinese) until an incident forced me to stop. Around that time is when I bought my first Katana.

I'm not necessarily interested in the culture per say (althought they have a fantastic culture pre WWII), but the martial arts taught discipline, confidence, and some very useful skills. I actually have relatives that are Japanese, but my direct bloodline is Irish. Coincidentally I work for a Japanese company lol.

my direct bloodline is Irish

He's Dr. McNinja!

He's Dr. McNinja!

LOL

Helios, I was kidding. I do that alot; I was making fun of the human race. Humans tend to look for things that make them special and different, and mine is programming because not everyone does it. Also, I've been told that at times I become really cynical and kinda mean; so it might be that.

Oh and for the most part, I learn about things for interest. I find it exhilerating to expand my knowledge. The more I know about something, the more I need to know about it.

He's Dr. McNinja!

Most of the Dentists where I live are Irish. In fact, I say most -- literally all of them are. You walk in, the first names you see, O' Rourke, McMason, etc.
Why are they all Irish? Do Irish people like teeth? I'm half Irish I think actually... but origins are so confusing. You just don't know whether somewhere along the line someone married a Somali or something. I could have relations in India or Nepal or Brazil or anywhere... At the moment I think I'm tied to Ireland, France and Denmark (woo! Vikings!), but..?

Who pretends to act Japanese?

I don't mean someone who takes an interest in Japanese martial arts and things. In fact, I should have made it clear that the kind of people I'm talking about are usually about my age, give or take two or three years. It's just a lot of people seem to like pretending to be Japanese -- like they're some kind of enlightened people who know "the way" or something ridiculous like that. I can't stand those people. They don't even know about the modern Japan -- in most cases, they're just like Americans (they would be; the only reason Japan is so rich is because of America. Sounds kind of weird though, "let's act like those guys who massacred our people." No, wait... wasn't that a chicken and a cow?) but more Asian. They don't still have houses made of paper and bamboo, do they? They have buildings of glass and steel. Oh well...