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nobahn
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Joined: 14 Dec 2006
Posts: 5120
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 Posted: Thu Jun 18, 2015 5:57 pm
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Mr. sickVisionz--
To elaborate on what unready wrote: Please be advised that Justin Sevakis did not write the article; he edited the article. The article was written by someone who chooses to remain anonymous.
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Joe Carpenter
Joined: 29 Oct 2011
Posts: 503
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Posted: Thu Jun 18, 2015 6:13 pm
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{I am sorry, but speculating about the website in question is simply not permitted. ~nobahn}
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Emma Iveli
Joined: 19 Jun 2005
Posts: 679
Location: Hobo with internet
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Posted: Thu Jun 18, 2015 7:46 pm
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Man I'd hate to be part of that group... I've been to Japan twice so far (once with my mom, once with two friends)but at least it wasn't as bad as that. Sure I had to practically beg my mom to go to Akihabara but nothing that bad...
Although ironically when I went to Japan the second time we ended up eating at american based places more often than Japanese based ones, but when I ate at them I always go something Japanese (Green Tea Doughnuts at Krispie Kreme, Ebi Sandwich at McDonalds, Anything at Denny's... Denny's was surprisingly very Japanese)... So yeah...
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DarkCyradis
Joined: 02 Apr 2003
Posts: 78
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Posted: Thu Jun 18, 2015 8:24 pm
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Interesting article (I guess?) about a company I've probably never heard of, and whiny Americans having the same shock all my whiny American classmates had when I studied in Japan (omg, I'm in a place where the majority of people don't look like me and I'm not instantly embraced/able to blend in everywhere I go--what do I do?! Heh, welcome to my daily life, kids!).
But seriously, what was with the super-casual misogyny here?
| Quote: | | "drop-dead gorgeous females (who actually REALLY knew their stuff)" |
Why do so many guys have to look at women as this foreign species that you evaluate with a totally different set of standards? Can't a professional video game journalist just be given the basic benefit of the doubt that she knows her stuff? Jeez.
Also, stop using the word "females" in place of "women." Way to keep dehumanizing, jerks.
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sunflower
Joined: 04 Sep 2005
Posts: 1080
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Posted: Thu Jun 18, 2015 9:09 pm
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| yaki-udon wrote: | | Reading this thread reminded me of the show "No Reservations". I think it's almost been a decade since I last watched the show. It was aired on the Discovery Channel here in Japan. I remember the host being naughty and handsome. He literally ate anything handed to him. |
Anthony Bourdain was the host. Great show. I'd love to have the chance to eat what he did on his trips to Japan. But I'd still stop at McD's once just to try something they had that we didn't, for the same reason I buy chips and KitKats in foreign flavors. It's fun to try a different twist on something familiar.
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Polycell
Joined: 16 Jan 2012
Posts: 4623
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Posted: Thu Jun 18, 2015 9:13 pm
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| DarkCyradis wrote: | But seriously, what was with the super-casual misogyny here?
| Quote: | | "drop-dead gorgeous females (who actually REALLY knew their stuff)" |
Why do so many guys have to look at women as this foreign species that you evaluate with a totally different set of standards? Can't a professional video game journalist just be given the basic benefit of the doubt that she knows her stuff? Jeez. |
Because female presenters have a bad habit of being picked for looks over expertise; it's not irrational to assume ignorance until proven otherwise. Gamers have always been a very "put up or shut up" culture(where do you think those achievements came from?) and a lot of those pretty faces utterly failed to follow through.
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Zac
ANN Executive Editor
Joined: 05 Jan 2002
Posts: 7912
Location: Anime News Network Technodrome
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Posted: Thu Jun 18, 2015 9:19 pm
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| Polycell wrote: | | Because female presenters have a bad habit of being picked for looks over expertise; it's not irrational to assume ignorance until proven otherwise. Gamers have always been a very "put up or shut up" culture(where do you think those achievements came from?) and a lot of those pretty faces utterly failed to follow through. |
cool excuse for like, as literal and direct an example of outright sexism as I think you could really offer, even in this "nothing is ever sexist, shut up about it" culture we currently live in.
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Agent355
Joined: 12 Dec 2008
Posts: 5113
Location: Crackberry in hand, thumbs at the ready...
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Posted: Fri Jun 19, 2015 12:43 am
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| Lili-Hime wrote: | | Jus throwing this out here but...
I think it's kind of understandable to stick with foods you know in foreign countries. A lot of people have special dietary needs these days... I know people who are lactose intolerant, have fish allergies, and / or gluten allergies (some people all 3 O.o) And I've had my share of Japanese food, they put seafood / fish in some unexpected places. Of course, American places toss wheat almost everywhere (apparently there's pancake batter in IHOP omlettes). It may come across rude but there's nothing worse than getting sick in an unfamiliar place. Also our stomachs kind of acclimate to what we eat regularly. I've seen vegetarians get sick if there's meat in say, a soup broth not because of an allergy but just because their stomach can't digest it that well anymore. |
I've heard its very hard to get vegetarian/vegan foods in Japan, that they don't completely "get" vegetarianism there, and there tends to be animal products in everything. But if there's a significant Buddhist population, you'd think some of them would be strictly vegetarian and they'd be food places to accommodate that. Anyone know what the deal is with that?
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Polycell
Joined: 16 Jan 2012
Posts: 4623
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Posted: Fri Jun 19, 2015 3:47 am
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| Zac wrote: | | cool excuse for like, as literal and direct an example of outright sexism as I think you could really offer, even in this "nothing is ever sexist, shut up about it" culture we currently live in. |
Should we assume every girl sitting on top of a car at an auto show knows her stuff as well? I hate to break it to you Zac, but there's this thing called "pattern recognition" that people use to take prior experierance to help them navigate furture events and they're not going to stop doing so with politcally incorrect conclusions just because you throw a hissy fit. Any sexism here is in the hiring process(an unstated conclusion in my post, if you weren't so idiotic as to serious state that people weren't allowed to use their past experience if you didn't like the results), not with those reacting to it.
In any event, the more popular personalities are increasingly more-or-less independant Youtubers, who have to prove their skill as part of the video review, so this is less of an issue.
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nobahn
Subscriber
Joined: 14 Dec 2006
Posts: 5120
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Posted: Fri Jun 19, 2015 4:24 am
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| Polycell wrote: | | Should we assume every girl woman sitting on top of a car at an auto show knows her stuff as well? |
Fixed your line for you (and yes, you should make such an assumption until proven wrong).
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enurtsol
Joined: 01 May 2007
Posts: 14754
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Posted: Fri Jun 19, 2015 5:32 am
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On the other side of the tracks: 
Japanese tourists share impressions of traveling abroad with limited English ability
- 1) So many people say “uh huh” when listening to someone talk.
2) People say “Ya” or “Yeah” more often than they say “Yes.”
3) I feel like I will always be stuck with loose change. Whenever I pay with a large bill, I get a ton of coins in return.
4) I thought for a long time about what I could talk about at the front desk of the hotel, but landed up not saying anything.
5) I’m surprisingly fluent in saying, “I can’t speak English.”
6) I was relieved to find a Japanese store.
7) Why do foreigners get so happy when I take a picture with them?
8) I regret not being able to speak a lot of English
9) When my English-speaking friends laugh, I laugh too even if I don’t know what’s going on.
10) Whenever I ask for directions, I can never understand what the person is saying in English.
11) Native English speakers can never pronounce my name correctly
12) I never want to speak English in front of other Japanese people.
13) Instead of asking, “How much?” I just pay with large bills hoping it’ll cover the cost.
14) So many people use slang like “[expletive] __” to describe something or “shit” to mean “things.”
15) About once every three times when I order coffee, I will receive water. When I say, “koohii puriizu” (“Coffee please” said in the Japanese syllabic alphabet), the clerk will ask, “Water?”
| Wondername wrote: |
| Tempest wrote: | |
It is a trend, but it's also the minority of travelers. While it may be more common with Americans (I'm not implying that it is, but it's the stereotype) I've certainly seen Europeans act like this (fwiw, not Germans, but then, I know very few Germans and have never traveled with any). |
Having worked in tourism and having also traveled a lot I have noticed that German tourists enjoy quite a pleasant reputation. They are usually polite and respectful to others and the loudest they get is if they drink too much (mostly young ones though). 
That being said, these from the article really seem like the stereotypical American tourists you mention. It's like they fail to realize what the point of traveling is and they expect that every country in the world is 'Murica. |
To them, it's not traveling - it's a job.
| Agent355 wrote: | |
I've heard its very hard to get vegetarian/vegan foods in Japan, that they don't completely "get" vegetarianism there, and there tends to be animal products in everything. But if there's a significant Buddhist population, you'd think some of them would be strictly vegetarian and they'd be food places to accommodate that. Anyone know what the deal is with that? |
Japanese vegetarians campaign for Tokyo's 50,000 restaurants to offer meat free dishes
- The Tokyo Smile Veggies group wants eateries and shops to cater for the influx of vegetarian tourists when the counrty hosts the 2020 Olympics
Tokyo may be the gastronomic capital of the world – with more Michelin-starred restaurants than any other city – but it has lagged behind in catering for those who don't eat meat. But with Japan hosting the Olympics in 2020, and the associated influx of vegetarian tourists, the group Tokyo Smile Veggies aim to get 50,000 restaurants – the number of convenience stores in Tokyo – to offer vegetarian dishes by the time they arrive.
But traditional Japanese restaurants tend not to include vegetarian food, and instead have lots of meat and seafood dishes – noodles have fish stock or pork as their soup base – or specialise in one type of food. Vegetarians are often met with a look of panic when they say that they don't eat meat or fish. Hanae Matsuya, a food PR, said: "Vegetarian restaurants open all the time but end up closing. Japanese are very good at cooking with vegetables at home so when they go out they like to eat meat."
Historically, Japan does have a tradition of vegetarianism. Buddhists are banned from eating flesh and some of the tastiest vegan food in the world "shojin ryori" is eaten at Buddhist temples across Japan.
"It's been really tough as many people don't understand what being a vegan is," says Masato Hayashi, a marketing manager who has been vegan since he was a teenager. "Even though shojin ryori is vegan, Japanese people have not made the connection and it's seen as special food."
"In Europe, 20 years ago, vegetarians would be given a salad in a restaurant and everyone would feel sorry for them. This has changed completely, so it will change in Japan."
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Shiroi Hane
Encyclopedia Editor
Joined: 25 Oct 2003
Posts: 7580
Location: Wales
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Posted: Fri Jun 19, 2015 2:04 pm
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To be fair to the Americans in this story, I have to point out that Paris Syndrome exists.
| st_owly wrote: | FWIW Brits are notoriously bad for going to foreign countries and complaining that things are too foreign and no one speaks English  so it's not just Americans. |
There's a whole show about that: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/An_Idiot_Abroad
| CandisWhite wrote: | | Try this experiment: Go to your local airport and walk through the wrong door; See how much fun you have. Airports have been shutdown because someone said the word 'bomb'. |
I'm reminded of a program I caught a little of about teenagers with tourettes going on holiday. Tourettes isn't about swearing as such, as being unable to say things you know are inappropriate. Like repeatedly saying "bomb" when trying to check in at an airport...
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HeeroTX
Joined: 15 Jul 2002
Posts: 2046
Location: Austin, TX
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Posted: Fri Jun 19, 2015 3:49 pm
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| DarkCyradis wrote: |
| Quote: | | "drop-dead gorgeous females (who actually REALLY knew their stuff)" |
Why do so many guys have to look at women as this foreign species that you evaluate with a totally different set of standards? Can't a professional video game journalist just be given the basic benefit of the doubt that she knows her stuff? Jeez.
Also, stop using the word "females" in place of "women." Way to keep dehumanizing, jerks. |
Two things I'd like to note:
-For males/men/guys/boys whatever, EVERY word for the opposite sex seems to be the "wrong" one to somebody. I think it's unfair to take the guy(?) to task for using "females" in this situation. You're free to disagree, but I know I've seen women who DON'T like men using the word "women", so...
-While there was no doubt ALSO some "wow, there are women that know about this material", I think the "drop dead gorgeous" part is more relevant. To be clear, I don't think it's "a woman can't be hot and ALSO into geek interests" as much as it is "very ATTRACTIVE people aren't into these geek interests". That's no doubt a combination of society/popular media saying that over and over with the (usually) fat, bespectacled, (usually) unattractive people portrayed as the nerds, geeks, gamers, etc. and also SOME of the geeks (especially those with low self esteem) making assumptions to protect their own ego. (ie. he/she CAN'T be attractive/popular AND also know all this stuff that is the core of my identity) I think this reinforces not only the societal view of what geeks are to outsiders, but makes geeks themselves more defensive/suspicious of "attractive" people in their hobbies. (like Kousaka in Genshiken) I think this is especially true for tv/video streams/etc as people WANT to believe that because they perceive themselves to be ostracized for being unattractive, the "on camera" people are not as "expert" and are instead given a script and told what to say. (ie. the "true" geeks are "smarter"/more knowledgeable than the "pretty" people)
tldr - People have made similar surprised comments that Vin Diesel *gasp* actually plays D&D and has other nerd interests.
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Polycell
Joined: 16 Jan 2012
Posts: 4623
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Posted: Fri Jun 19, 2015 5:58 pm
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@HeeroTX:
That was a far more eloquent way of putting it, though we all know that there's more pressure on the attractive side of the equation for female presenters everywhere. That's what I get for posting when I'm only awake because I need towels in the morning.
@nobahn:
The vast majority of booth babes and show girls are just hired models given primers on what they're being living ornaments and advertisements for. People who earn their living off their looks tend to have other interests than whatever it is they're working for this instant.
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leafy sea dragon
Joined: 27 Oct 2009
Posts: 7163
Location: Another Kingdom
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Posted: Fri Jun 19, 2015 6:26 pm
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Hasn't Paris hosted the Olympics before? Because they have way fewer options for vegetarians (let alone vegans) than Tokyo. I remember the Piccolo Teatro episode of Kitchen Nightmares where Gordon Ramsay pointed out that only about 2% of Parisians are vegetarians and thus they had to market the place to meat-eaters too. And I met a vegetarian who went to Paris on vacation; she can speak French well but was always stonewalled by chefs and restaurant workers who didn't fully understand what "does not consume meat" meant.
I also noticed in that article that Japan apparently has a very low English proficiency rating. I wonder how that happens when it's long been fashionable to have stuff written in their own interpretation of English, resulting in massive quantities of Engrish present there.
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