Japanese view of Brazilian/French culture [Split]

[TheFriskyIan]

[Split from The Wille People. - Monk]

Don't assume that everything that Hideaki Anno is true. He did so many times before to avoid questions that may expose something that would ruin the experience of having personal interpretations of certain elements in the series, which btw enriches the series itself. But I'm certain that Sumire has nothing to do with Brazilian culture, even though the Japanese admire certain aspects of Brazilian culture.

I thought the Japanese admired the French, not Brazil.

[MarioAyanami128]

They have a certain admiration of both, although Brazil's influence is restricted only in terms of music, hence bossa nova and samba appearing in many occasions in Japanese music, including Lupin III and NGE's soundtrack, as well as renditions of Nintendo songs. But that is all that Brazilian culture has to do with Japan...

[iihieiii]

NGE's soundtrack

LOL...can you show me a song that have Brazilian influence on?? that i hould like to see

[Mr. Tines]

There are a lot of ethnic Japanese in Brazil and surrounding countries. By contrast France is an exotic place whose reality often comes as a shock to Japanese visitors -- Paris syndrome or something like that it's called, when the visitor is unabe to handle the agressive rudeness of the locals.

[ElMariachi]

Oh yes the famous "Paris syndrome", you see there is a famous French saying that said "Paris' main problem are the Parisian!"

The city is beautiful and have a magnificent architecture, but the locals are awfully rude and arrogant, and not only against the tourist, but against French people who aren't from Paris, and sometimes even against Parisians who from different Arrondissements(Districts)!
For example, people from the 16th District(a very bourgeois district) often look with contempt at the people from the 18th and 19th Districts(both populars and industrial districts)
And they have an almost total lack of sense of service : it's the only place of the world where you get the feeling that the salesman is bothered by the fact you entered his shop(which is probably the case!)
Of not everyone is like that, there is a lot of genuinely pleasant fellow among the Parisian, but some can be the most insufferable people you can meet!

Oh and the subway is one of the dirtiest place I've even seen(and smell), very dense, let you go absolutely everywhere in the Capital, but actually looks more like a giant sewer than the subway of the "most beautiful city of the world"...

[UrsusArctos]

There are a lot of ethnic Japanese in Brazil and surrounding countries.

Indeed, it was because Brazil allowed immigration from Japan in the late 19th century when all other European countries had immigration restrictions of some form or another on workers, especially those from their Asian and African colonies. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu developed among the expatriate samurai in Japan, for instance, and I believe that Portuguese, not English, is still the most studied foreign language in Japan. The interest in Brazilian culture is no accident.

For what it's worth, Richard Feynman recounted running into a Japanese Abacus salesman in Brazil sometime in the late 40s or early 50s. It was a hoot - the salesman butchered the nuclear physicist at addition, subtraction and multiplication, came to just above his level at division, but lost hopelessly when it came to cube roots. Not something you'd find elsewhere.

[A.T. Fish]

Indeed, it was because Brazil allowed immigration from Japan in the late 19th century when all other European countries had immigration restrictions of some form or another on workers, especially those from their Asian and African colonies.

Funny thing about that, Brazil actually disallowed Japanese immigration as well for a while, you see, there was an active effort to whiten its population in the beginning of the 20th century and caucasians were the preferred ethnicity for that, as such Brazil was practically inviting europeans to enter the country, eventually there were no more european immigrants and people were still needed to work in the coffee farms, which was then the country's greatest import product, so they started accepting Japanese immigrants at that point.

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu developed among the expatriate samurai in Japan, for instance, and I believe that Portuguese, not English, is still the most studied foreign language in Japan.

Actually brazilian jiu-jitsu was invented by these guys when they adapted judo into their own thing. Regarding portuguese being widely taught in Japan, I really doubt that.

[Xard]

That Japanese often confuse pan as English loanword says everything necessary about their interest and level of studying Portugese in modern era.


That is to say it's zilch

[Hyper Shinchan]

Indeed, it was because Brazil allowed immigration from Japan in the late 19th century when all other European countries had immigration restrictions of some form or another on workers, especially those from their Asian and African colonies.

Actually I heard that it happened because of the opposite, Italy imposed emigration restrictions at the beginning of 20th century, Decree Prinetti, which resulted in a shortage of workforce for the Brazilian plantations.

[andreh]

As far as I know Japanese and Brazilians get along just fine.
I do not like football, but it is easy to see that the Japanese support Brazil when your football team is not playing and vice versa for example.

But I think they like most the German language than Portuguese: shingeki no kyojin Opening, guilty crown power up song ("bios"), etc etc...
I once read a comment saying that Japanese think the German language a language very beautiful and that sounds so "mystical"

[A.T. Fish]

That Japanese often confuse pan as English loanword says everything necessary about their interest and level of studying Portugese in modern era.


That is to say it's zilch

I don't quite get what you mean, pan is a greek word.

[Hyper Shinchan]

パン comes from pão which means bread in Portuguese.

[MarioAyanami128]

As far as I know Japanese and Brazilians get along just fine.

I'm not sure about that. It's common the declarations of struggle against racism in Brazil, but the Japanese fell victim of constant joking. I know what I'm talking about. Trust me.

@iihieiii

The orchestra version of Fly Me to the Moon already features bossa nova's rhythm and sound that already makes it a Bossa Nova song. Although, if you ignore this fact, please take a look at this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgc70Diuvz8&list=FLP8FGNPTEO3SyGwJx1Inl-w&index=62

There's also "Barefoot in the Park", one of the many versions of "Mellow 2009", and others..

[CX1329]

I'm not sure about that. It's common the declarations of struggle against racism in Brazil, but the Japanese fell victim of constant joking. I know what I'm talking about. Trust me.

I haven't witnessed any overt xenophobia towards the Japanese here. The opposite seems to hold true, everyone appears to love Japan and everything that comes from that country.

[MarioAyanami128]

That is an illusion. Few people trully admire Japanese culture in Brazil, except from those of Japanese ancestry. Most people are blinded by Western culture, not giving much space to Eastern culture. And no, I'm not talking about xenophobic behavior. I'm talking about a stereotype that isn't suitable to Japanese people.

Also, could anyone point out the French influence in Japanese culture??
I mean, I only saw Paris and French elements in Ghibli films and Nadia.

[A.T. Fish]

パン comes from pão which means bread in Portuguese.

Oh, I get it now, I was thinking pan the prefix, which is the only way this word exists in portuguese, though it does mean bread in spanish.

[InstrumentalityOne]

Don't forget karuta

[CX1329]

I live here, and I have yet to see any sort of prejudice being directed towards a single Japanese person. I haven't seen Japanese people being denied jobs, being discriminated against or being treated any worse than the average citizen. It's not even an issue, and if there was any sort of ethnic discrimination going on, you can bet there would have been an uproar about it already, considering how sensitive people have been about anything that even remotely resembles prejudice.

I was talking to a professor of Japanese descent the other day, and he said things were bad in the past, but now it's a completely different story. Asians currently enjoy a great amount of respect and prestige here nowadays.

[MarioAyanami128]

I live here, and I have yet to see any sort of prejudice being directed towards a single Japanese person.

Dude, it's not about prejudice either. What I meant was that, while Japanese descendants are OK with Brazilians in general, the national culture created a rather ridiculous stereotype of the Japanese.
I have spent many year of my life in Brazil, and ironically, as I write this post from SP, I guarantee you that I'm aware of the social problems in the country.

On a side note, your point about Brazilian society's excessive sensitivity regarding prejudice is a good one. You need to think carefully before speaking these days, with the possibility of people simply destroy you in mind. And if you dare question such behavior (the same way I'm doing now), they go nuts and will show you no mercy.

[A.T. Fish]

There is no need to make multilingual posts, it's kind of against the rules too.