Japanese Bashing In Bangkok?

[britmaveric]

^well usually Japs get carried away when they drink too much, but for the most part they are rather lovely/polite people.

[Spee]

Actually I find the Japanese tourists the most polite, quiet and not racist at all.

I concur. I am not saying that they never act up, but I have never seen one be anything but polite.

Yes, the Japanese give the appearance of being polite, but when they are in their "collective" they can become as unruly and obnoxious as a common yob.

I agree with your previous post and this statement. The "no-gaijin" policy in Japan (as well as in many popular male oriented tourist areas) is something I will never forget.

Also having done some work at Sasebo naval base which required commuting via Nagasaki, I endured the glares of the older generation. I and my ancestors did nothing to them, but it was very clear they viewed me as the one who dropped the bomb.

Back to GK's statement above, as well as the one Brit made, I have found the Japanese people to be generally polite. But in many ways it is a ruse, both to westerners and to other Asians. The Japanese view themselves as the superior Asian race. Koreans, Chinese, Filipino, Thai and Lao people living and working in Japan are generally treated like lower life forms. Japanese youngsters are typically obsessed with western culture (fashion, music, etc.), but that is not to say that they want much to do with westerners. The Japanese also generally like to drink, often to excess, and tend to get sloppy and obnoxious when sh*t-faced.

I suspect that the origins of this thread were as others suggested, a late night drunken encounter, where some mouthing off solicited an unexpected response.

[Scott]

I've spent a little time in Japan. I really didn't care for it. I felt about as welcome as a stray dog, although outwardly they were polite.

[carmine]

I'm sure if you would ask a Chinese or allied POW they would tell you that as a people their cruelty knows no bounds.

They also have a "superiority" complex, live in denial about the past and are xenophobic.

However, i love kobe beef and sushi

[chuang]

]Actually I find the Japanese tourists the most polite, quiet and not racist at all.

I concur. I am not saying that they never act up, but I have never seen one be anything but polite.

Actually many of you do not know what a Japanese is like...

[richieudon]

http://centurychina.com/wiihist/<h2 align="CENTER"> </h2> Japanese Governement constantly denies or minimizes these crimes, and until now, it has not made any formal apology for its aggressions and crimes against China and other Asian nations. The Japanese Government has successfully gotten away from the remaining problems, they hide or destroy documents, they destroy newly uncovered evidence of war crimes, they refuse to pay the living victims such as the comfort women, they remove the war crimes from their history textbooks... Fifty years later, young Japanese still says "No! So what?" for their country's crimes in Asia. The Japanese general public glorify the war criminals as patriotoc heros, enshrine them as gods, threaten the former soldiers who are telling the truth..

I'm sure if you would ask a Chinese or allied POW they would tell you that as a people their cruelty knows no bounds.

They also have a "superiority" complex, live in denial about the past and are xenophobic.

However, i love kobe beef and sushi

[Ijustwannateach]

I think we could safely discuss the contemporary behaviour of Japanese at home, in Thailand, and elsewhere abroad without reference to war crimes in WWII, just as one can discuss the behaviour of Americans without mentioning our turn-of-the-19th-century abuses in the Philippines, which are similarly obscure for many Americans and for which we have not either really made significant reparations.

Let's keep things on topic and in perspective, in other words.

[TheLaughingMan]

Outrageous. It must be all the old men in this thread. Judging the race based on what happened in the wars 60 years ago? Like America and England don't have horrible dark spots in their history? Judge the Japanese on how they act TODAY, not 60 years ago, its just common sense.

[GrahamF]

I've spent a little time in Japan. I really didn't care for it. I felt about as welcome as a stray dog, although outwardly they were polite.

I was in Tokyo late last year and my friend and I felt exactly the same way. If you asked them a question, come hel_l or high water they would find you the answer, one lady actually walked us to our hotel from the train station after we asked her for directions. That being said, we did not feel welcome and we came to the conclusion that if they could, they would once again restrict all foreigners to Yokohama. I did like the super toilets though.

Somewhat back on topic, I spent two months, late August to late October 2009 staying at the Admiral Suites on Soi 22 and never felt threatened in any way. There were some tough looking characters that hung out in front of some of the shops, but they never caused any problems for me. As a matter of fact, after they got used to seeing me walking to and from the BTS on a regular basis, I would usually get a smile or a nod hello from them. The biggest hassle I had on 22 was running the gauntlet of massage parlors up and down the Soi, "Maaaasssaaaaggge?" No big deal there as well, after awhile the girls got to recognize me and knew I wasn't interested.

[wayfarer108]

Strange that for the few years I lived in Thailand plus my ten visits since, I have managed to avoid opening up a can of whoop ass on any vendors. Nor have I drawn the attention of the BIB in this regard while eating at stalls.

I think your experience is far more typical.

No, Bangkok is not getting 'more dangerous.' Still one of the safest cities in the world for its size, from what I've observed in my travels at least.

[spongeman]

Im going to take a shot at what actually happened.

Guys came over to food stall. Did'nt ask what the price was first. Vendor tried to get a few extra baht out of them. 2 boys threw a strop.

After that I d'ont know.

[Spee]

Judge the Japanese on how they act TODAY, not 60 years ago, its just common sense.

Can't speak for anyone but myself. I've been to Japan more than a dozen times, with my first trip in 1989, and lived there for almost a year in 2003-2004. I got to know many Thai Lao and Filipino people who lived and worked in and around Yokohama. I've been as far north as Misawa and as far south as Tanegashima with about 8 or 10 points in between. While I might be a borderline old git, my reflections are based upon relatively recent experiences. Been through Yokohama train station probably 100 times or so at all hours. One can learn a great deal about modern Japanese culture simply by walking around that place for a day, especially if it is around a major holiday or election. It's just a realistic assessment based on experience. That is not to say that similar boorish behaviour in LoS as discussed in this thread is exclusive to a single nationality.

[carmine]

Outrageous. It must be all the old men in this thread. Judging the race based on what happened in the wars 60 years ago? Like America and England don't have horrible dark spots in their history? Judge the Japanese on how they act TODAY, not 60 years ago, its just common sense.

A quick off topic response to you.

NO it is not outrageous

1 they show NO remorse

2 they make little or no apology

3 they still worship the shrines of the war criminals as if they were heroes.

4 they lie in the schools and the past

When i actually see this generation actually show even a modicom of regret and penence for their past despicable crimes against humanity i ma begin to view them differently, but as for now their currenty towards it just makes it worse.

Now Mr Laughing Man shall we go back on topic, and i shall finish by saying that i doubt whether their nationality had anything to do whatsoever with them getting a slap. As to the perpertrators. don't i was'nt there.

Edited March 2, 2010 by carmine

[Penangkaki]

Maybe they asked for salt and pepper........

They didn't want phala in their som tum!

[TheLaughingMan]

Why would children that had nothing to do with anything feel remorse or apologise for something they never had a hand in? A race is supposed to magically inherit guilt through osmosis? Do white people feel guilty for slavery against blacks? I sure as hel_l do not. Do the English feel guilt for all their colonies where they treated the natives as sub human? Do the Italians feel guilt for their Roman empire that tried to rule the world and make everyone slaves? This line of thought is without one iota of common sense.

[bjoe97]

Actually I find the Japanese tourists the most polite, quiet and not racist at all.

I concur. I am not saying that they never act up, but I have never seen one be anything but polite.

Yes, the Japanese give the appearance of being polite, but when they are in their "collective" they can become as unruly and obnoxious as a common yob. The Japanese were quite polite when they beat up on my family during the Chinese occupation of China. If I recall the story told to me, they were very attentive to decorum as they strung up the Chinese from the lightposts in the neighborhood.

Some will say, why blame the young for this? Well the answer is simple: The young are not taught about their past nor the torture and massacre of the Chinese, the savage brutality shown towards the Commonwealth troops in Hong Kong or Singapore, nor the death march of Bataan, nor the concentration camps where Dutch, Australian and English people were sent to die a horrible death, nor the use of slave labour, particularly of POWS. When a nation is oblivious to its past and is taught that Japan is still superior to the outside "world", sensitivity is not a trait. I have been in meetings where very polite expressions are used to classify some people. Very polite, and yet inherently racist and shocking. Yes they can be polite when on public display, but that still does not change a society that considers people that have lived in Japan for over a century as foreigners and not in the same class as Japanese. TV is filled with stories of how racist Thais, Americans, and others are. I put it to you, that the youth of Japan are still raised to see everyone as beneath the perfection that is Japan. It is a nation quite capable of repeating its past errors simply because it does not allow for discussions of past behaviour and conduct. Don't be fooled by all the bowing and smiling. Mr. Tojo may be dead, but his spirit is still very much a part of the national mindset. Perhaps the first step would be an actual apology to the various groups that were brutalized. Not the usual expressions of "regret" but an apology to the Hong Kong veterans, or the Koreans, or to the Chinese.

how right you are- lets everyone own up time

and lets not forget the wests history, the brits illegaly stole hong-kong, invaded china, and were the worlds biggest drugs delears

they almost but wiped out the indians and infected their blankers- thats biowarfare

the brits are so polite, - no dogs and chinamen-

they even sent down the black and tans to help the irish out

looted so much of its ex colonys, invaded tibet, because the great white Queen wanted it! I mean, thats enough said is'nt it, the brits are white, its okay to kill, rape,invade,re-write history

but not for the japs, because they lost, and are yellow- and does'nt the west just hate the way they showed how they were certainly not invincible-I love 'em for that.

They destroyed that myth.

lets not even mention the spanish, 95% of native indian murdered in 100 years

who wins the body counts- the japs or the west- and the west did it in the name of religion!

I would not of sat and waited to be ditacted to by the west. Treated like a second class citezan in my own country,forced into trade agreements.

I love japan, true like everywhere else it has its bad points.But to try and compare them and make them worse than the west...oh please.

And you know something, in a way I do think they have a supior culture, the worlds safest country,almost zero street crime, politeness to elders/teachers,respect for the arts, a great work ethic, so all in all, I do think they almost have a right to feel better in many( not all )ways.

Does the west set a better example?

Polital correctness gone mad, do you know how racist those ruling elite are by the way?

The yanks making up the rules as it goes along, then changing whenever it does't suit then,selling its weapons, a rising crime rate,soaring prison population, a total erosion of traditional family values/ethics( unlike japan) Great, really great!

Do we also aplogise then? To the chinese, the whole SE asian countrys, the native american indians? The jews we ignored in one european country that one brave japanese dipolmat got out risking his own life by issueing exist visa's?

And, what does those boys being japanese really have anything to do with it? They were set about by cowards.Rat pack. I do not know the details , but thats how it seemed.

Do we now blame people grandfathers?

We could all learn alot from them in many ways.The war is over

[TheLaughingMan]

Thankyou bjoe97, some common sense at last.

[soundman]

OK - Enough debate without fact about this particular incident.

Time to close the topic before all the "bashing" gets really out of hand.

Closed.