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Comment by quelltext | Hacker News Reader

Reddit is apparently better at figuring out that this is classic Nihonjinron:

https://www.reddit.com/r/japan/comments/eau0cx/japans_deep_c...

I do think that identifying this behavior makes sense, but it's definitely not a uniquely Japanese thing[1] (just like tatemae, uchi/soto) and I'm sure there are existing terms for these phenomena. I'm not saying there isn't a Japan-specific aspect to it, but I'd rather learn about what that is than being described a rather generic behavior and link it to Japan.

I mean all these concepts were introduced by a single person and there's IMO so far been little deeper research into it.

[1] The article tries a little bit to not make that point but Doi says so... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Anatomy_of_Dependence

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The article repeatedly says that the concept of "amae" is universal, and the unique part in Japan is mostly the one word that describes a range of behaviors. The article seems to be preparing Olympics fans for the various excessively cute things they may encounter, though it's a bit heavy handed on the "Japan is so unique" at times.

Yeah, I could sense there is something wrong with the article as soon as I got to the part where the Japanese were portrayed as this unique society where you need to say "excuse me" before approaching a stranger on the street asking for directions. I live in an Eastern European capital, a place that is seen as a lot more "abrasive" compared to how Japan is seen in articles like this one, and most people will definitely ignore you were you to come to them asking for directions without showing some sort of politeness before.

To say nothing of the part with crying kids that become needy and less adventurous if the parents don't come to their side immediately, that really came out of nowhere, sounded like 100% pop-science (which most of the child-related psychology studies really are, to be honest).

Up until now the pop-line was to not attend to a child everytime they cry.

> the Japanese were portrayed as this unique society where you need to say "excuse me" before approaching a stranger on the street asking for directions.

I agree that part is not really unique, but if you are an obvious foreigner and stare at a map in a train station for more than a few seconds, a stranger will come up and ask you if you need directions. Maybe it is just people who want a chance to practice their English, or something (since they all have to learn it in school, but do not get a lot of chances to use it in daily life). However, I have literally had someone walk me halfway across the station and wait with me on the platform to personally see me get on the right train, during the middle of commuter rush hour, even though it was not the way she was going at all. That kind of stuff only happens to me in Japan, and it happens to me there repeatedly.

Of course, in the modern cellphone era, navigating Japan is not the imposing challenge for foreigners that it once was.

Yep, I was there earlier this year and I never had anyone offer to help me with directions, but that was probably because I never had a map, and was using my cellphone to get around, and never looked lost. It's so easy with a SIM card and Google Maps.

But when I had a problem using an automated bikeshare machine in Kanazawa, some guy and his girlfriend were more than helpful, even calling the bikeshare place on his phone to work out the problem.

> Yeah, I could sense there is something wrong with the article as soon as I got to the part where the Japanese were portrayed as this unique society where you need to say "excuse me" before approaching a stranger on the street asking for directions.

What that part of the article was trying to convey was that if you approach a Japanese person a bit sheepishly and looking confused, you'll get a much more enthusiastic response than if you directly approach and say "excuse me".

It's not unique to Japan, but it is different than a lot of places.

It's not at all surprising to see this kind of Japanese exceptionalism about, especially on the BBC, which in various ways loves to show Japan as wacky and weird, without much understanding of the cultural context. While there are of course a great many things unique to Japanese culture, articles like this only serve to baselessly inflame Japanese exceptionalism. It doesn't help that nihonjinron ideas are very common in Japan too. The number of times I've heard "you wouldn't understand, it's a Japanese thing" in serious contexts is baffling.

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