Is Scandinavia like the South East Asia (Japan, Thailand) of Europe?

[vlkmo]

Is it just me, or are the Scandinavian countries and culture like the South East Asia of Europe, like Japan or Thailand. Socially, their populations are opposite socially (Scandinavians are socially very liberal and feminist while Japan is more moderate to conservative), but they have a few parallels.

Japan had the Samurai culture and Scandinavia had the Vikings.

The younger women of both these regions have a "bubbly" vibe and accent. People think of Asian culture as "cute" or that sort of energy.

Both regions (in SE Asia only Japan) were known historically for their advanced levels of development and ranking among the highest in life expectancy. On a less positive comparison, both happen to be the highest ranking for suicides.

[Lucas88]

Is it just me, or are the Scandinavian countries and culture like the South East Asia of Europe, like Japan or Thailand. Socially, their populations are opposite socially (Scandinavians are socially very liberal and feminist while Japan is more moderate to conservative), but they have a few parallels.

Japan had the Samurai culture and Scandinavia had the Vikings.

The younger women of both these regions have a "bubbly" vibe and accent. People think of Asian culture as "cute" or that sort of energy.

Both regions (in SE Asia only Japan) were known historically for their advanced levels of development and ranking among the highest in life expectancy. On a less positive comparison, both happen to be the highest ranking for suicides.

I wouldn't say that Scandinavia is the "Southeast Asia of Europe". Southeast Asia (e.g., Thailand, Philippines, etc.) has significant differences from Scandinavia in terms of culture, social values, material development, climate, and just about any other area of comparison. The two regions have almost nothing in common.

Japan isn't part of Southeast Asia but rather East Asia. There might be some superficial similarities between Japan and Scandinavia but here I must emphasize superficial – in reality, there probably isn't enough actual similarity to describe Scandinavia as the "Japan of Europe", for example.

If I were to tentatively highlight some similarities, they would be the following:

Both Japan and Scandinavia are quite conformist and emphasize social rules and collective responsibility, Japan with its sense of wa or social harmony and Scandinavia with its social democratic values. However, the type of conformity differs considerably. Japan tends towards adherence to tradition (i.e., we've always done things like this so this is how we do things, even if some of the things we do have no logical basis) while Scandinavian conformity is more about adherence to social ideals deemed "progressive", political correctness, etc.

Both Japanese and Scandinavian women seem bubbly on the surface but it's mostly an act that they put on for foreigners. They're not really like that. Japanese women do the feminine cutesy stuff but beyond that they're not particularly sociable, interesting to talk to or fun to date. Many Japanese wives are major cunts. Sexless marriages are common in Japan. Likewise, Scandinavian women might be friendly and enthusiastic about talking to Anglo foreigners due to the region's recent Anglophilia but often behave like insufferable feminists towards their own men.

Both Japan and Scandinavia have refined aesthetic sensitivities. Japan traditionally has artistic forms that express harmony such as Japanese gardens, elaborate tea ceremonies and smooth Enka ballads while Scandinavia emphasizes an aesthetic of coziness (e.g., the concept of hygge in Norway and Denmark). Sweden in particular seems to have a highly expressive literary tradition and great musical sensitivity, having contributed far more to popular music than what initially meets the eye. But the refined aesthetics of both regions are still quite different.

Southeast Asian cultures are completely different from Japan. They are far more wild, passionate, warm-blooded and free-spirited. If I were to make a comparison with a region within Europe, I'd say that they are the Asian equivalent of Southern Europe (e.g., Spain, Portugal, Italy, Southern France).

[Yohan]

Is Scandinavia like the South East Asia (Japan, Thailand) of Europe?

First of all, I do not see anything so similar between Far East Japan and South East Thailand.
They are quite different from each other - like language, food, even the religious teachings of Buddhism are different, Mahayana in Japan, Hinayana in Thailand, Shinto religion is only in Japan....

What do these two countries (Japan, Thailand) have in common with Scandinavia (Norway, Sweden, Danmark and also Finland and Iceland) - openly said, I have no idea.

Women? I don't know anything about a Japanese or Thai 'GretaThunberg' and the Extinction Rebellion.

[yick]

South East Asian countries are similar to some countries in Latin America - Ecuador, Peru, Costa Rica, Guatemala etc is like being in SE Asia. Being in Peru reminds me of being in a tropical SE Asian country - well, the coast and the jungle for sure.

No country in Europe reminds me of SE Asia - they're massively different regards people, customs, ways of life.

A lot of urban Russia reminds me of urban China and their outlook etc are more similar to each other than Russia is with western Europe.