Why are the Japanese such an isolated and suicidal culture?

[samurai_panda]

Japanese are really friendly and polite, but they have a darker side to their society and culture.

Most Japanese prefer to be alone, live alone, and travel alone. It's like the wandering samurai going around and kicking everyone's ass.

Why is the Japanese structure catered to isolation and kamikaze orgies? Is it due to the rise of technological advances? The modern age?

Or is it part of their ninja kamikaze samurai history?

[xiongmao]

> Most Japanese prefer to be alone, live alone, and travel alone

What gave you that idea? When I was in Japan I saw most people engaged in group activities.

[Repatriate]

This guy is such a fraud. He doesn't even understand the cultures he's trying to rag on.

[polya]

You need to do your own research. The answers are very easy to find.

[momopi]

Japanese are pretty social, but only among their own clique. You could befriend a Japanese coworker for 5 years and not get invited into their homes. In comparison, with Taiwanese you're either in or out. If you're on the out, F-off. If you're in, mi casa es su casa.

A socially awkward or withdrawn person in Japan would be seen as abnormal, otaku, or hikikomori. In East Asia there is often an expectation for you to socialize with your coworkers, drink, eat, sing at KTV, etc. Someone who neglects or is unwilling to paticipate in after-work social events may find themselves on the out in due time.

[samurai_panda]

The Japanese started the war with the Americans by bombing Pearl Harbor. America effectively conquered Japan.

Japanese only hanging out in their own cliques - sounds like American culture to me. U.S. has influenced the hell out of Japan - why Japs like baseball so much?

Japanese are very lonely with lots of their men dying alone in apartments or some of them turning celibate herbivores. What the hell is that? I'd rather die, than resurrect myself like a phoenix towards greatness.

Japan is supposedly rich, but they can't even pay their nurses. There is no demand for nursing/medical staffing in most Asian countries.

[momopi]

If I'm not mistaken, in post-WW2 Japan the American occupation authorities had banned competitive sports. The restriction on bsaeball was the first to be lifted, and as the only permitted competitive sport at the time, it became quite popular.

[Winston]

@Yohan do you have any answers to the OP's questions about the Japanese? lol

[Yohan]

> Most Japanese prefer to be alone, live alone, and travel alone

What gave you that idea? When I was in Japan I saw most people engaged in group activities.

I can only agree with Xiongmao. The person who wrote that MOST Japanese are travelling alone has no idea, likely never been in Japan at all.

Japanese are group people and they do not travel alone - much of domestic travel is really based on group tours - especially bus-tours to sight seeing spots - starting with elementary school students and teachers and up to elderly women - going from cities to rural areas and from rural areas to the cities.

For longer distances instead of bus the bullet train service is used for group reservations, and to islands especially Okinawa, also airplanes.
Same of course also with hotels and restaurants, group tours are many everywhere you go in Japan... up to golf-places with co-workers etc. etc.

Same is true also for overseas, there are large Japanese groups to France/Italy/Spain and other countries in Europe, group tours to Hawaii and so on.

[Yohan]

Japanese are pretty social, but only among their own clique. You could befriend a Japanese coworker for 5 years and not get invited into their homes.

In Japan there is no custom like that. You do not invite co-workers to your home - on the other side there are plenty of family restaurants, coffee shops, restaurant boats if you near the sea or a lake, hot spring Japanese style hotels etc. where you meet each other. Co-workers meet frequently at golf-clubs, resort hotels and are renting a bus to get away from the city they are living and working.

Visitors usually do not stay with you, even if you have a large house, often even not in case of a visit from relatives - they usually prefer to stay in a hotel nearby. It's about the idea not to disturb each other in private rooms.

We did the same, when I was still working... we arranged a meeting every year somewhere outside of Tokyo with all staff members and their family members.

A socially awkward or withdrawn person in Japan would be seen as abnormal, otaku, or hikikomori. In East Asia there is often an expectation for you to socialize with your coworkers, drink, eat, sing at KTV, etc. Someone who neglects or is unwilling to paticipate in after-work social events may find themselves on the out in due time.

In general Japanese people are not very talkative, especially not if you are living in a condominium building. People don't know their neighbors.

Many Japanese in cities have only small rooms to avoid to pay high rent, others are workers, getting small rooms from their companies etc.

There is some 'isolation' existing, but to become a hikikomori/otaku - this is for outsiders of the society, not supported at all - it's your own decision, if you lock yourself totally in your room.

However it is true, in Japan you need a family, otherwise it might become boring...

Some Japanese have of course also their own problems - many men and women are into alcohol, wasting money for pachinko or are otherwise into gambling activities, have debts everywhere...
some Japanese are indeed impoverished when getting older, lost their jobs...

[Cornfed]

Most Japanese prefer to be alone, live alone, and travel alone.

Japanese prefer to travel alone? That’s news to me. Back in the day New Zealand used to be lousy with Japanese tour busses. (Now it is mainly Chinese).

Here is a joke from that time I can’t resist telling. A man is kneeling beside a cliff, crying. Another man walks up and asks him “Why are you crying?”. The man replies “A busload of Japanese tourists just drove off this cliff”. The other man, confused, says, “Yeah, OK, but why are you crying?”. The man replies “There were five empty seats!”.

[Yohan]

Most Japanese prefer to be alone, live alone, and travel alone.

Japanese prefer to travel alone? That’s news to me. Back in the day New Zealand used to be lousy with Japanese tour busses. (Now it is mainly Chinese).

That's nothing compared to domestic travel within Japan.

You have to see what tour busses mean in Japan for domestic travel, expect 20 busses or more arriving at the same time loaded with people all from the same company renting large meeting rooms in big hotels and stay there overnight .... However such tours are indeed much cheaper than individual travel and you have next to you people you see the first time (despite they are working for the same company, men and women from different departments) and you can talk with them...

However of course I met also some Japanese people who avoid such group tours at all costs...