Thank you Japan.

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A sad end to a great World Cup run for Japan. I’ve been extremely impressed with them in all the games they played even their loss to the Netherlands. Having watched their disastrous friendlies against England and Serbia, I wasn’t expecting much from them, but they delivered a surprise blow to my Japanese football cynicism. For that I’m thankful.

On the topic of Komano’s miss, let’s remember that this is a team sport. Japan had chances. Japan blew chances. It’s a team game. I can’t wait to read the garbage the J-media will put out about his miss. I also can’t wait to see them ignore or at least miss Kawashima’s poorly timed early jumps. He almost blocked a couple of them and then he switched his game plan mid-shootout. Big no-no. In the end, I feel bad for Komano because he’ll be the scapegoat here.

It would have been nice to see Japan go on to the round of 8 only to get absolutely slaughtered by Spain or Portugal, but maybe it’s as well that they go out here. They’ve made a name for themselves in football and they will be back for at least a couple more I hope.

In all what did Japan gain during World Cup 2010?

1. A new hero. Keisuke Honda is the standout and really the new face of Japanese football. He’ll be seeing lots of offers from clubs better than the one he is currently at. Believe that.

2. Perhaps a competent coach who will stay around for more than a couple years. Okada was laughed at when he said Japan will get into the semis, perhaps rightfully so, but he has the guts to believe in his team.

3. Pride. Japan has a reason to hold it’s head up after this showing. Few expected them to get out of their group despite playing with the likes of Denmark and Nigeria. That’s more than enough for me to say this World Cup as been a success.

Good job Japan. You’ve done well.

Out of sheer boredom I’ve decided to post some interesting Japan-related results from google searches using the “I’m feeling lucky” button.

Query #1:

“I’ve never been to Japan, but I love Naruto.“

Initial thoughts: Wow. Honestly, it doesn’t get much better than gay Naruto fan fiction does it? To my credit I had to Wikipedia who Sasuke is.

loltastic: “Sasuke got back in his original seat and they just sat in awkward silence. Sasuke’s could feel the tension in the air. It was uncomfortable. Nearly as uncomfortable as the fact that he hadn’t minded kissing Naruto. He pushed those thought to the back off his head. The kiss meant absolutely nothing, because he was not gay and the kiss was just to trick Sakura. He was not gay.”

- I’m sure that anything I write about this will not be able to do it justice. I’ll leave it at that.

lol wut?: “How about you? Keisuke’s your guardian, right? What happened to your parents?”
Naruto inquired.
“Same as yours; Dead.” Sasuke replied flatly.
“How’d they die?” Naruto pried.
“They were murdered. But that was 7 years ago… it doesn’t hurt anymore.” Sasuke said before Naruto could say anything else.”

- By the way: SafireCharmz does not tolerate yuri. You’ve been warned.

Query #2:

“I went to Japan because I like the culture.“

Initial thoughts: Poor persecuted “weeaboos.” Anyone who is tired of being called a weeaboo and creates a “Don’t call me a weeaboo, I just like Japanese culture” group on Facebook is, with all certainty, a “weeaboo.” I’m not a huge fan of the phrase, but give it a rest kid; it’s obvious that you care far too much about this.

Teh lulz: “its all because of these stupid anime nerds that always mix japanese phrases with english when they really dont know the first thing about japanese culture. they believe that the Japanese culture is perfect when in reality it really isnt. have you herd of Nanking? but Japan still has its good points. it has a great fashion sense, the people are really nice (I have met some people in japan) they have great rock music that doesnt complain about how life sucks, they are so far ahead of us in technology, they know ow to have fun, and political correctness is not an issue. also it has a huge ammount of history that can not be compared to north american history in ANY way.”

- What stands out to me are the words “they really dont know the first thing about japanese culture.” It’s as if Nanking, great fashion sense, rock music that doesn’t complain about how life sucks, not being politically correct and knowing how to have fun is all there is to Japanese culture. Wait a second, there is so much more: Laughing at drunken salarymen sleeping on the side of the road, recycling a thousand different things, selling things in groups of five, drinking in public, peeing in public, standing in a large group around a statue of a dog in public, crazy English phrases printed on everything that money can buy, wearing the same clothes as everyone else in the city, waiting in line for an hour to get DONUTS, avoiding eye contact at all costs, chu-hi, Michael Jackson being worshiped FOREVER, Tommy Lee Jones in canned coffee commercials, token white people in beer commercials, standing still at concerts, never saying what you actually think for fear of offending someone, host and hostess clubs, human trafficing and discrimination in housing are all amazing parts of “actual” Japanese culture. This is the kind of crap they don’t tell you about in the Lonely Planet guide, ya silly anime club geeks.

Oh and I think the Aztecs, Mayans and Olmecs might have a thing or two to say about North American history, my high school friend.

lol wut: “What’s wrong with being a weaboo? why would anyone be proud of their race? isn’t that what the klan does? wasn’t St. Thomas Acquinas a weaboo?”

Bonus Query (unrelated to Japan): “I’d like to buy a small child”

- Plenty of camp in the result and, hey, it’s a creepy search that’ll probably land me on some Interpol watch list.

Quote hilariously taken out of context: “The illustrations give me happy, “warm fuzzies” feelings, and I think they would definitely help to draw a small child…”

Far be it from me to tell people how to raise your children, but honestly, parents of Japan, you need a wake up call.

I’m rarely critical of the way things are done in Japan, apart from that which isn’t obviously wrong or insane such as the sexualization of children in Japanese otaku culture (pedophilic doujinshi, anyone?), but parenting in this country is one thing I really can’t understand. What bugs me is the over-abundance of parents who, instead of disciplining their younger children when they ought to be disciplined, tend to let them do what they want and try to be their “friend” rather than their parent. I can’t remember how many times I’ve seen this in my classes as well as in public. Every time I do, I often cringe at the thought of what their children will be like when they get older.

Of course, in the West a few parents have “spare the rod; spoil the child” firmly rooted in their heads to the point that they maim their children socially for years to come. As well, there are plenty of other parents who let their children do as they please and are subsequently surprised when their child gets into some sort of trouble at school or with the police. The phrase “My child would never do that” comes to mind. Thankfully, quite a few parents dish out some punishment when it’s needed in the West and, at least in my opinion, that leads to better children and I’d like to think, a better society.

I don’t mean to say that Japan has a bad society or that today’s children aren’t going to be good productive members of society because their parents pampered them too much (though the growing numbers of freeters and NEETs might suggest just that), but I do wonder why this behavior exists. Speaking with some of my older students I’ve learned that their parents were extremely hard on them from an early age. The older the student, the tougher their parents seem to have been. Is this a generational issue? Are parents today trying to over-compensate for the way their parents scolded them or is there another reason for this reluctance to scold children?

It is almost as if many parents don’t want their children to hate them for being harsh. The outright lack of discipline in situations when it is obviously called for, at least from the looks on bystanders’ face, is absolutely puzzling to me. I can’t imagine why this is, but the lack of discipline for children until around the age of 6 seems to be a parenting trend at least in Tokyo. I’ve seen it so often that the word “すいません,” said halfheartedly and with a look of shame, is burned into my mind along with the image of a parent who cannot control or discipline their child. The disinterested responses that children who run around on the train or in other public areas are met with by their parents, in most cases their mothers (this might be especially telling), is to me absolutely pathetic and of course, detrimental to their child’s sense of right and wrong.

Of course, children ought to be disciplined with love and generosity, but is saying 「ＯＯくん、おいで。。。」 while waving your hand at the wrist in a downward motion really going to teach your child that he should not run around in a coffee shop full of furniture with sharp edges and people walking all about? I don’t suggest that parents make a scene and beat their child on the spot, but I can’t understand the simple lack of urgency in some individuals’ parenting style. Patience is a virtue and for parents especially, it is a necessity, but when does that patience become tempered with some sort of cold hard logic that informs the parent that a. their child is doing something that might get them hurt, b. their child is being a nuisance to other people, and c. not attempting to correct this behavior might lead the child to believe it is OK?

All that mess being said, most children in Japan seem to grow up into happy normal adults who aren’t complete social schleps, but is there something I’m missing here? I know that older generations were much more stern with their children, and almost excessively so, but is this sort of parenting the logical response to that or is it the equal and opposite reaction to it?