I live in Cupertino, CA, in an area that is primarily tech immigrants from China and India, and occasionally, Whitey ( that's me) and I could leave my wallet in the street overnight and somebody would return it. It is a far, FAR cry from the TL in San Francisco.
And while we can blame "culture" all we want, that's an incomplete picture. I lived in L.A for 25 years and there was a gang-infested neighborhood (Near Pico & Crenshaw), mostly Latino and some black folks. The people finally got sick of the crime and threatened their city councilman, who then set the cops on them. 9 months later, what was left of the gang moved on.
The lack of enforcement is entirely driven by the preferences of white Democrats. And the results are largely the same anywhere fathers are absent.
This is my experience as well, it’s pretty hard to find anywhere that feels unsafe in Japan (the biggest fear should be from the police, since suspects don’t have many rights as in other western countries).
As for the shotengai photo, I don’t know what you base the prostitution claim on (there are such businesses as deliheru short for delivery health, which sends woman out to male’s homes who need some boost to their “health”, but I don’t see any in this photo.) The posters on the ceilings are for GinGinHurricane a song by the GinGin girls (ギンギン♂ガールズ): This is an idol duo formed in 2014 by AV actresses Kyoko Maki and Saki Mizumi. They debuted in 2015 at Japan Adult Expo, known for their energetic performances and a mission to “energize Japan’s men.” Their catchphrase and name lean heavily on the “ギンギン” (Gingin) vibe—lively and bold. They’ve performed at venues like Shinjuku Lefkada and held anniversary lives, with a notable 5th-anniversary show in 2020.
So, it’s maybe slightly related to prostitution but in a clean Japanese way. Note the performance is not as sexy as you would assume.
AV is porn (the GinGin Girls are not, they just sing in dance in tame costumes), but laws prohibit images of genitals so those are always mosaiced (according to the letter of the law, which changed about 20 years ago to no longer prohibit pubic hair), but it’s kind of pointless since everything else including the action is shown. Since I was in the AV (audiovisual) club in middle school in the US and ran movie projectors and reel to reel tapes and the like (this was the 1970s), later when I went to Japan people were shocked that American middle schools had AV clubs.
Polite and diligent yes, law abiding no. I find cultural Japanese to be about as law abiding as the rest of us, it's just they tend to be less public about it because of the high social price of nonconformity and disgreeableness. Domestic abuse is rampant in Japan as is both corruption and statutory sex crimes, nor do I find Japanese speed any less, it's just these "crimes" are generally private hence doesn't concern the public.
Japan has something like 1 illegal immigrant for every 130 residents. In the US, that number is closer to 1 per 30. Japan has a foreign born population is less than 3% of the total population. In the US, that is more like 15%. Correlation is not causation...
Japan isn't ABSOLUTELY monocultural, but there definitely IS what could be called cultural "hegemony." There ARE numerous immigrants, mostly from Korea, and a few indigenous minorities, such as the Ainu of Hokkaido. Your question stands (in Japan and elsewhere).
The West is a big, diverse place. Places IN the West do indeed compete with Japanese propriety, but they are not big nor numerous enough to characterize the West in general.
Japanese culture is not replicable in the USA because of various reasons that cannot be discussed in "polite company".
I live in Cupertino, CA, in an area that is primarily tech immigrants from China and India, and occasionally, Whitey ( that's me) and I could leave my wallet in the street overnight and somebody would return it. It is a far, FAR cry from the TL in San Francisco.
And while we can blame "culture" all we want, that's an incomplete picture. I lived in L.A for 25 years and there was a gang-infested neighborhood (Near Pico & Crenshaw), mostly Latino and some black folks. The people finally got sick of the crime and threatened their city councilman, who then set the cops on them. 9 months later, what was left of the gang moved on.
The lack of enforcement is entirely driven by the preferences of white Democrats. And the results are largely the same anywhere fathers are absent.
You could make much of the US much nicer through rigorously enforcing the law and harsh punishments, especially for repeat offenders.
This is my experience as well, it’s pretty hard to find anywhere that feels unsafe in Japan (the biggest fear should be from the police, since suspects don’t have many rights as in other western countries).
As for the shotengai photo, I don’t know what you base the prostitution claim on (there are such businesses as deliheru short for delivery health, which sends woman out to male’s homes who need some boost to their “health”, but I don’t see any in this photo.) The posters on the ceilings are for GinGinHurricane a song by the GinGin girls (ギンギン♂ガールズ): This is an idol duo formed in 2014 by AV actresses Kyoko Maki and Saki Mizumi. They debuted in 2015 at Japan Adult Expo, known for their energetic performances and a mission to “energize Japan’s men.” Their catchphrase and name lean heavily on the “ギンギン” (Gingin) vibe—lively and bold. They’ve performed at venues like Shinjuku Lefkada and held anniversary lives, with a notable 5th-anniversary show in 2020.
So, it’s maybe slightly related to prostitution but in a clean Japanese way. Note the performance is not as sexy as you would assume.
https://youtu.be/9hUEmSyV0F0?si=pWGmw2OPluwm2kZU
Oh, and in Japan AV is short for Adult Video, not audiovisual.
ANY similarity to pornography?
AV is porn (the GinGin Girls are not, they just sing in dance in tame costumes), but laws prohibit images of genitals so those are always mosaiced (according to the letter of the law, which changed about 20 years ago to no longer prohibit pubic hair), but it’s kind of pointless since everything else including the action is shown. Since I was in the AV (audiovisual) club in middle school in the US and ran movie projectors and reel to reel tapes and the like (this was the 1970s), later when I went to Japan people were shocked that American middle schools had AV clubs.
Race (DNA) matters. Wherever Japanese live, not just in Japan, they are law abiding, diligent and polite.
Polite and diligent yes, law abiding no. I find cultural Japanese to be about as law abiding as the rest of us, it's just they tend to be less public about it because of the high social price of nonconformity and disgreeableness. Domestic abuse is rampant in Japan as is both corruption and statutory sex crimes, nor do I find Japanese speed any less, it's just these "crimes" are generally private hence doesn't concern the public.
Unless they are at war. ;)
See Richard Hanania's grand unified theory of East Asians for a vigorous attempt to resolve this contradiction!
FACTS.
Reminds me of how Canadians are polite and respectful unless they're playing sports! Relevant: https://youtu.be/sCOHdLd0LyA
If only the US could copy Japanese urbanism, everything would be so great 🤯
How does one get a guest post on your blog?
Japan has something like 1 illegal immigrant for every 130 residents. In the US, that number is closer to 1 per 30. Japan has a foreign born population is less than 3% of the total population. In the US, that is more like 15%. Correlation is not causation...
Immigrants, including illegal immigrants (who have more to lose, after all), are less likely to commit crimes than US-born.
https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/research/debunking-myth-immigrants-and-crime
America has a lot more crime than Japan, but it’s not because of immigration.
Caplan wants to destroy this through mass immigration.
I have a lot of questions about these kinds of differences. I'm not implying my own point of view, I am genuinely asking your collective perspective:
1) how much of this is the fact that Japan is monocultural?
2) how does the Japanese welfare state look compare with the US?
3) how does Japanese government philosophy and activity drive behavior, differently than the US?
Japan isn't ABSOLUTELY monocultural, but there definitely IS what could be called cultural "hegemony." There ARE numerous immigrants, mostly from Korea, and a few indigenous minorities, such as the Ainu of Hokkaido. Your question stands (in Japan and elsewhere).
so not possible in the west
The West is a big, diverse place. Places IN the West do indeed compete with Japanese propriety, but they are not big nor numerous enough to characterize the West in general.