Indeed. Allthough only the core royal family matters imo, even though some of those I despise.

Thats pretty much like watching a war film, and asking them to censor the violence. Just makes no sense.

The culture there is very different from the western nations, i don't even try to understand them anymore Still, i like much of the stuff that strange little island produces (and i don't mean the porm. Exclusively )

Yeah they are different. But variety is the spice of life. I also dont know of anything that makes me morally dislike their culture either, so yeah Japan seems like a great, but a tad crazy place.

I like that about them, while I may not be a huge fan of everything they believe/do/produce, I love that there is a culture out there that is so foreign to the West. Wish more places were so distinct.

I have never seen a funnelweb in my life.

You could look at parts of Africa or the middle east. But then you have bad differences too...

At the risk of sounding somewhat, I don't know nerdy (?), I really really like the whole Riverdance and Celtic Woman thing out of Ireland.

^^^
I love it, considering that its a tradition of my ancestors. I'm more thickly Scottish and German though, so bagpipes and old German folk music tend to take presidence over river dancing.


Yeah...Africa is pretty much in the same state it was 400 years ago, only now with guns and toxic waste. Middle East is improving with time.

Some things it's better not to ask. Having spent quite a few years of my life there, let's just say it's not positive.

The used-underwear vending machines and the pressure to overachieve doesn't bother you?


I'll assume you don't know how insulting and offensive that sounds.

This has always been bugging me...but do Spanish-speaking countries have spelling bees?

You may not see them, but they see you. They know where you sleep, where you bathe, where your porm stash is...and as far as they're concerned, you only live in your own house because they permit it.

Pray to whatever gods you worship that you never anger a Sydney funnel web spider, for their wrath is terrible. They will chase you to the ends of the earth, and bite you several times with their big-ass mandibles that drip with a venom that it both painful and deadly.

Sweet dreams, kiddies!

I've had a Brown Snake slither by and lick my big toe while I stood perfectly still. It'll take more than that to keep me awake.

WW2 denialism is apparently very common in Japan. Not only their history books deny any Japanese atrocities but I suppose they deny that their friends did anything either.

Their friends from 70 years ago?

I'm often curious how people in other countries feel about their monarchs, I've been around since 1988 and have only liked 1 out of the past 5 Presidents that have served in my lifetime. Can't imagine how much it would svck to have one person you hate representing your country your entire life, even if some Prime Minister or Generalissimo is the real power. I've read a lot of good things about Juan Carlos of Spain, Harold of Norway and Qabus of Oman. Especially Sultan Qabus given his competence and fairness as an absolute monarch. Of course anything I've heard or read could be spin and those could all be terrible people, how would I know?

How does one feel about having a hereditary "ruler" in this day and age, especially one who doesn't actually rule?

Controversy over history textbook content is a recurring theme in postwar Japan. There are some really despicable characters in the government, the education bureaucracy, academia, and (ultra-)nationalist circles continuing to push this. That being said, they do not get a free pass here. Plenty of academics, teachers, and citizens have protested the playing down of wartime atrocities and their position gets plenty of attention. In addition, textbooks which do give attention to the "dark" side of Japanese history are readily available as are similar supplementary materials.

You might find http://spice.stanford.edu/docs/134 interesting.

As for the idea that "they deny that their friends did anything either", some may, but not many.

On a side note, years ago I came upon a little store in Shibuya (Tokyo) that sold Nazi memorabilia. You could buy a genuine SS cap for an astronomical sum, or a fake for considerably less (but still a lot). I suspect that there is a strange fascination with all things Nazi in many countries. Like I said, though, this was an obscure store and hardly reflects general Japanese attitudes toward Nazism.

Also years ago, when my parents came to visit me, we took a taxi in Kyoto, and after I got to talking to the driver, he thanked my dad profusely for his participation in the occupation. "Makete hontou ni yokatta." He was very thankful that Japan had lost the war. I suspect that many (most?) share this sentiment.

Thanks for that. All interesting.

^Agreed.

They are harmless. Unlike some cultures that kill people for being gay, or treat women like [censored]. Would you have a problem with a harmless group, who are a bit weird, but other than that, seem like good people.

A woman was nearly killed for naming a bear muhammed, another was beheaded for witchcraft. I dont think thats much of an impovement.

I would rather they rule. It would eliminate the childish bickering you see in politics, and they could be better rulers. Trained from young age in ruling and leading a country. Seems more efficient, besides democracy gives ill informed people equal say. That just leads to bad things.

I hate all politicians in our country. They're all upper class rich kids, who went to Eton and Oxbridge and then jumped straight in to politics. They have no idea what the man on the street thinks, or feels and they're all in it for their own gain.

Ok, sorry for derailing.

I have a question for the Americans. How can anyone enjoy NASCAR?

We build giant ice-arenas where we fight Polar Bears to the death, Gladiator style, to keep us warm.


EDIT: Yes yes I know that Iceland isn't a part of Scandinavia, whatever.

Except for all those hikokomori, about 3 000 000 000 of them, that are ruined shells... The underwear-sniffing part doesn't bother me that much.


I think this thread had best stay out of those waters. Or people are going to start pointing out negatives about Western countries to achieve some parity in these discussions. Is letting someone die due to poor health care better than stoning them to death? Let's avoid this, please. This is supposed to be a "nice" thread, guys.


That's too simplified a view. Plenty of people who were trained from a young age to be Kings/Queens/Emperors were really horrible persons who did really horrible things to their people.

Don't know if Ellert already replied to this since I haven't read the entire thread yet... but, I'll try to answer it anyway.

Icelandic names are patronymic, meaning that our last names reflect the first names of our father (or sometimes, the mother). For example my first name is Bjarki, and my fathers name is Jónas, which makes my last name Jónasson. My name is Bjarki Jónasson, which literally means Bjarki son of Jónas.

There is no stigma for going against that convention, in fact most people in my family have a family name and don't use their patronymic names. Family names aren't very common though.

No idea what the hell a hikokomori is. *googles* people can be like that in the west too you know.
Most places have decent healthcare, also natural death > murder for stupid reasons.
And you think that would happen again ? Our culture has evolved, we have monarchs who are nice people. If they bring their kids up right, they will be good too.

So your son/daughter would be Bjarkison?