[SECRET POST #1611]

[fscom.livejournal.com]

⌈ Secret Post #1611 ⌋



Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.



01.






__________________________________________________


02.



__________________________________________________


03.



__________________________________________________


04.



__________________________________________________


05.



__________________________________________________


06.



__________________________________________________


07.



__________________________________________________


08.



__________________________________________________


09.



__________________________________________________


10.



__________________________________________________


11.



__________________________________________________


12.



__________________________________________________


13.



__________________________________________________


14.



__________________________________________________


15.



__________________________________________________


16.



__________________________________________________


17.



__________________________________________________


18.



__________________________________________________


19.



__________________________________________________


20.



__________________________________________________


21.



__________________________________________________


22.



__________________________________________________


23.



__________________________________________________


24.



__________________________________________________


25.



__________________________________________________


26.



__________________________________________________


27.



__________________________________________________


28.



__________________________________________________


29.







Notes: technophile had to work late today!


Secrets Left to Post: 03 pages, 062 secrets from Secret Submission Post #230.

Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 1 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeats ].

Current Secret Submissions Post: here.

Suggestions, comments and concerns should go here.

Comments

[fscom.livejournal.com]

04. http://i52.tinypic.com/2925myx.png

[(Anonymous)]

Really? Because I often think that I'd have been severely fucked up if I had grown up in JP. Ditto the US. I'm so happy for my imperfect but relatively simple upbringing.

[(Anonymous)]

I'm curious; what country did you grow up in?

[(Anonymous)]

I think you are confusing complexity with your own familiarity.

[anthropomorphe.livejournal.com]

The culture is interesting to read about, but I would not enjoy living there. Far too lazy.

[earthbend.livejournal.com]

If this was Facebook I would totally "Like" this comment, lol.

[tamabonotchi.livejournal.com]

There's good reason for your fandom friends to think so... but since I don't know you I can't generalize and think you want to be one of those white weebs who think Japan is welcoming of everything, when in fact, it's conservative and exclusionary.

[inferno04.livejournal.com]

THANK YOU.

I'm so so so sick of people thinking it's the best most welcoming and alternative place IN DA WAURLD. My ex thought this and I repetadely told him, "They're very xenophobic and would NOT welcome your loud overbearing nature." Well...in nicer words back then. >.>

Okay yeah

[(Anonymous)]

Okay yeah.

Japan has cosplay, yaoi, tentacle porn, and anime, but that's subculture.

Japan in general is HIGHLY conservative, formal and hierarchical. Will you enjoy living in the 1950's US, where women were systematically disenfranchised from meaningful careers and social mobility? What about a life time career path, where you stay in the same company/work place all your life?

Yes? Than Japan seems like a good choice for you.

[lule-bell.livejournal.com]

I'm a Canadian living in Japan and to be honest, I think you'd be more confused. Most of the Japanese people I know have a very narrow and presumptuous opinion about foreigners (that's everyone from all nationalities) and have an inherent "we are one collective identity" ideology - and that includes a lot the people who have been and lived abroad for many years.

[(Anonymous)]

You wanted to grow up in a place where raping kids is legal?

[(Anonymous)]

Why do you feel this way?

I want to dismiss you as weeaboo, but maybe if you explained why?

[oflittlebrain.livejournal.com]

did you know that japan has never had a women's rights movement

[mskye.livejournal.com]

Honestly, I could almost live in Japan for the food alone. It is that good.

But seriously, reserve judgements about a culture until you've studied it extensively, visited there for more than a month, and made friends there. If you've already done all of this, then more power to you!

[(Anonymous)]

Sometimes I wish I grew up there rather than the US because I get tired of how individualistic and entitled many people in the US are.

I will never get tired of posting this

[scribetur.livejournal.com]

http://supacat.tumblr.com/post/33332873/sex-and-flirting-in-japan-originally-from-lj-user

[subarashiine.livejournal.com]

I can't read minds, but I can only assume you are referring to the lack of an encouragement of individualism in Japan. In which case, how come, OP? I'm curious.

[aquaricom.livejournal.com]

i get you op, i love being american, i love every part of what Im about, but when i look at my interests and fandoms....sometimes i wonder if im spending the best years of my life in front of a computer instead of I dunno...going to seiyuu events or concerts, joining a doujin circle, shopping for really cute shit, joining a ridic fashion tribe,going to comikets and whatnot...learning the language helps, but its not the same as being able to access all the goodies japanese fandom provides.

OP

[(Anonymous)]

I should have probably clarified that I'm a yonsei (4th generation Japanese). I've always felt a bit of disconnection about my cultural identity because I didn't grow up in Japan, but I do look Japanese. I know I wouldn't be accepted there because I'd be seen worse than a foreigner, like a traitor, so it makes me wonder if I had grown up there if I'd feel less lost.

I like who I am, but there will always be a part of me that feels a little out of place.

[itachinyu.livejournal.com]

If OP is referring to the cultural mindset, I agree. I'm socially awkward and can never say what I really think to someone's face. I can not stand people being direct with me and in-your-face and it makes me feel uncomfortable as fuck (and this is -why- i'm socially awkward)
In japan, they have this whole culture of indirectness and non-confrontation. A lot of things are done via (often extensive) proxy, and for someone like me, it's a far easier method of communication.
Also it's considered rude to stare directly at someone in Japan for too long which is blessing for someone like me who hates eye contact.

[rayiroth.livejournal.com]

I love how missing the point just about all of the comments are.

OP, as someone who have lived in several cultures with possible disconnection with their cultural heritage, may I just say that the moment you are put in the position when there are a class of cultures that could be made into you, it will always end up as a "what if". Despite of the amount of FUCKYEAHAMERICA in this thread, the reality is that every culture (YES, every single one) has its pros and cons, and its natural to wonder what ifs and chances are the what ifs you are wondering are also valid.

I think, this column (http://therumpus.net/2011/04/dear-sugar-the-rumpus-advice-column-71-the-ghost-ship-that-didnt-carry-us/) is about something else altogether, the wondering of one to whether have children or not, but coming down to it, the other life is the parallel ghost ship that is good to wonder about but it is a missed ghost ship.

As for me personally? I think if I grew up in my hometown and heritage, I would have less cultural identity issues as it would be an issue I never ever have to think about, but I would also be a lot less tolerating, far more bigoted and far more xenophobic simply because I have never went through the same vein of being an outsider and having the confusion. Hell, I might even be replying with 'WHY WOULD YOU WANT TO LIVE IN ANOTHER COUNTRY YOU TRAITOR WEEABOO DON'T YOU KNOW THAT COUNTRY DOES/DOES NOT ________(insert false statement learned from 4channers who also never had to question their cultural identity).

[(Anonymous)]

I've spent time in Japan. Three days in [city redacted - no, not Tokyo] and I felt like I'd lived there since always. A week, and I was being recruited to help explain cultural points and manners to foreign visitors. Two weeks, and it was the only place I have ever felt at home in my entire life. Then the end of summer, and I had to leave. I miss it so much. You aren't alone.

[floweranza.livejournal.com]

Huh. I'm currently finishing up a year of study abroad in Japan, and I'm super sad to leave. I really like it here... but!

Since I'm obviously a foreigner and live in a more rural area, I'm stared at often (and I don't like being stared at, no matter where I am). The rules of eye-contact propriety do not apply if you're a foreigner. They don't have bad intentions; when I see foreigners I don't know, my first reaction is also huh, what are they doing here? and I can't help but look. Everything in this culture is meant to build up exclusivity and if you don't want to be stared at, might not be the place to go. No one stares in Tokyo, but my heart's in Nagoya and if I ever come back here to live/work (which I am considering) I'll be condemning myself to a significant time period of being uncomfortable while just walking down the street. You can get used to it, but it can still eat at you sometimes.

Also! My Japanese is pretty good, I can have a decent conversation about health insurance and politics and whatever, but usually when I meet someone for the first time and say only 'nice to meet you!' they're all, OH MY GOD YOUR JAPANESE IS AMAZING. WOW. This is kind of inevitable. Until you have a chance to prove yourself to a Japanese person, they will kind of sort of think you're just a foreigner-otaku who can't speak much beyond konnichiwa, kawaii, and sumimasen.

The real kicker is that there's no way to really get 'inside' from the 'outside.' You can have good friends here, or a job, you can even marry a Japanese person... but once you leave your local area it'll be back to the beginning of the path of getting 'inside'.

And uhh, with all the stress my Japanese friends are going through right now with the strict Japanese job search system, I'm glad I didn't grow up here. Not fond of the educational system, either. :\ Well, every country has its pros and cons, and if you grew up in Japan (especially as yonsei) you'd definitely have a Japanese identity... but occasionally my friends say they feel that limits them in global interactions, because the identity here is very unique and ingrained.

/OMG LONG i've had a year of pondering

[immaculate.livejournal.com]

I am Caucasian (who grew up between two different cultures on my own, actually) but I have lived in Japan as a permanent resident for the last 5 years (and on and off for twice that time). Through work I met another young woman who was second-generation and who had grown up in Canada, then moved to Japan as her mother's health began to fail. This person would always talk about how isolated they felt and insisted that being a person of Japanese descent who hadn't grown up in Japan had it far harder than any other group of foreign people in Japan. I don't know, though she must have had valid reasons to feel the way she did.

I also feel like-- yes-- there are hurdles that people in Japan who are not Japanese have to jump (admittedly I have been allowed to bypass many of them, because I have a quote on quote "in" to the culture through my long-term bf) but over all... if you speak the language well enough and you are at least a bit culturally aware, you should have no problems no matter where you come from.

No country in the world is perfect, and certainly all countries are different, I get that-- but I also feel like for the most part people are kind no matter where you go, with a few bad nuts in between.

[puddinchan.livejournal.com]

If you want to live there for other reasons than anime, I'll forgive you.

I used to be all weeaboo and wanted to live there, now I just want to visit. (Which I can't do, cause I'm poor. And I'd probably get several kinds of annoyed at the Engrish. I mean... it's funny when I search for it and see it in an amusing light, but, when it's serious it just irks me.)