Won't Miss #482 - credit where none is due

People have not yet given Japan credit for the invention of sliced bread, but I'm sure someone will eventually. 

One of the great things about living in Japan was that the world was full of numerous curiosities. I lived in perpetual comparative state. From the way in which the cups are shaped to the manner in which people line up to the way the walls looked, it was all different and therefore more interesting than life at home. Everyone who goes to Japan does this and many observations and conclusions are valid and interesting. Unfortunately, there are some who have a compulsion to so elevate Japanese culture and societal norms above those of their own culture that they give Japan credit where none is due. This is especially so for Americans who often are so self-conscious about coming across as jingoistic or overly patriotic sorts that they react by putting America down constantly to prove they're not those sorts unappealing types of people.

One of the dumbest claims I ever heard about Japan's unique and superior way to handle things was over the little plastic tubs of sugar syrup that are handed to customers when they buy cold beverages like iced tea. The woman who was saying America was inadequate for failing to provide such customer service went on about how everything was much more convenient and thoughtful in Japan. She made a common mistake when comparing cultures. She assumed her knowledge of America reflected the reality of being American and since she didn't encounter simple syrup in her lifestyle back home, she assumed it didn't exist in the U.S. The Japanese weren't superior about this, they merely were more wasteful in giving out plastic tubs of this sugary goo to everyone regardless of need.

I won't miss this tendency among foreigners to give credit where it is not due because they don't realize that they don't know everything about their home culture and don't bother to check. 

Won't Miss #428 - Japanese sports figures worship

I hate to watch the Olympics and the biggest reason for that is I dislike the blatant favoritism of athletes based on shared nationality. I have always disliked the way medal counts are tallied up according to country with the underlying idea that those with the most medals represent a country with somehow superior people and those with smaller numbers are inferior. I felt this long before I ever set foot in Japan even though America often won a lot more medals than many other countries.

In Japan, when a Japanese athlete makes it big in sports elsewhere in the world (especially American baseball, but also European soccer), it's like the Olympics all of the time. Because of the common inferiority complex that Japanese people have relative to the rest of the world, many people latch onto a Japanese athlete who makes it big for no other reason than he is Japanese. It's one thing to love a sport or a gifted athlete. It's another to adore that person or sport simply because one of your countrymen is performing well in it in the international arena. 

I won't miss the blatant nationalism reflected in this sort of behavior. 

Won't Miss #404 - the superiority thing

The flip-side to the lingering inferiority complex that the Japanese people have about their position relative to Western cultures and China is the superiority complex about Asia. There is an interesting contradiction displayed in regards to China in particular. The Japanese frequently criticize all things Chinese from the lack of order as demonstrated by not lining up to the rudeness to the food quality and safety to the cleanliness yet they fear China is going to eclipse Japan economically. The sense that Japan is not even a part of Asia and is above other Asian countries has become somewhat muted as the economy has behaved like a slowly sinking ship since the bubble burst, but it is still there.

I won't miss the superiority complex that some Japanese people display when speaking of other Asian countries. 

Won't Miss #403 - the inferiority thing

Japan has the third largest economy in the world with the 10th largest population. Tokyo leads the world's major cities in patent applications. The country is known for its superior technology. Their cars dominate the automobile market. Japan is a very small country with almost no natural resources. The fact that their food, pop culture, and products are known and desired and that they are an economic force to be reckoned with is amazing in light of their size and circumstances. Despite all of this, Japanese people, by and large, have an enormous inferiority complex. They fret about being eclipsed by China economically. They talk how they have shorter legs than Westerners and flatter noses as if these were signs of some sort of inadequacy on their part. They note every loss in an international athletic event as an indication of their inferiority. I encounter a steady stream of people who think Japan is weak and inadequate to every Western nation and China.

Japan is an amazing country that has accomplished a great deal with many disadvantages and I won't miss the lingering inferiority complex that people display despite their many achievements.