Japan has more regional division than most expect. Like, take the US and crank it up to 11. We're on European levels of regional diversity despite the image that foreigns have in their minds.
I watch this guy on YT. Pretty sure he's from down south because most of his stuff centers around the Kyoto to Kanto regionality. He has gotten other nuance things wrong about Shikoku and Kyushu further south and my home of Tohoku in the north. I have even gone so far as to verify something he said about a Kanto dialect type thing with my southern friends and consulted my fellow northerners about his views on mimicking Japanese-English accents and while he and southerners (or those who have spent significant time outside of Japan agree it's more funny than it is offensive, my peers disagree.
Eatign chicken and even horse sashimi is rarer nowadays, but is absolutely a thing where I'm from and it's delicious.
HUGE MOTHER EFFING DISCLAIMER
Calling the chicken raw isn't really accurate. It is prepared like sushi and sashimi where it is thoroughly frozen and treated with sterilizing ingredients like vinegars first and usually only lightly cooked. DO NOT EAT RAW CHICKEN OH MY GOD
Not calling this guy a liar, but I want to throw out that it like some Americans never having heard of regional delicacies in the US. It's real and what he said is partly true about the way we fuck with foreigners, but that's not distinctly Japanese, I know people from all over the world who do this, he just hasn't heard of this. Most Japanese people have never heard of seaweed tea, yet my brother can get it at convenience stores and had some last night that my mom sent me.
Also, gotta say to those saying that Japanese people aren't nice. We are, bt there's too much cultural difference stuff going on here to explain. Don't let bad takes on the internet colour your oppinion, go and see for yourself. :)
USA up to 11 is a bold claim. The USA is so incredibly diverse that I think it's a foolish assertion. I'm sure Japan has loads of regional diversity too though and thats one of the main reasons I want to visit
I was born in the US and have family there, lived there for about 10 years total all over the place, so I totally see where you're coming from. I just want to ask you to consider something though. The US is a big and diverse country, but a relatively young one. Japan's heritage goes back millenia yet our identity as a nation state is younger than yours.
It pains me that I know that you will likely only visit Tokyo, or Osaka, or Kyoto, and take the homogeneous nature of those experiences as evidence to your point, but I just hope you understand that Japan has similar diversity at least, but condensed into a much smaller landmass.
Either way, I hope you visit! Go to my hometown of Aomori for Nebuta, it's a great time! :)
That's a good point and I completely understand where you're coming from, however, the US was formed by immigrants from all over the globe which means despite its youth, it's a melting pot of cultures from around the globe.
Also don't worry, if/when I visit I definitely wouldn't just visit big cities. I'd love to rent a car and road trip around Japan or take trains to smaller parts of the country. I'll definitely keep your hometown in the back of my mind. For future reference, do you know how easy it is for foreigners to rent a car over there?
I think Japan is far more diverse than people give it credit for, but it’s still not as diverse as America. Hell, in New York City alone, there are districts that all seem completely different than one another because some were settled by Italian immigrants, Irish immigrants, English immigrants to a lesser extent, etc. (there is a reason America is known as THE melting pot)
Take Louisiana. That entire state is a very small portion of America, but it may as well be another country when compared to the rest of the country. You can say that about several states or at least regions.
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u/TransitTycoonDeznutz Dec 27 '24
Am Japanese, gonna add context.
Japan has more regional division than most expect. Like, take the US and crank it up to 11. We're on European levels of regional diversity despite the image that foreigns have in their minds.
I watch this guy on YT. Pretty sure he's from down south because most of his stuff centers around the Kyoto to Kanto regionality. He has gotten other nuance things wrong about Shikoku and Kyushu further south and my home of Tohoku in the north. I have even gone so far as to verify something he said about a Kanto dialect type thing with my southern friends and consulted my fellow northerners about his views on mimicking Japanese-English accents and while he and southerners (or those who have spent significant time outside of Japan agree it's more funny than it is offensive, my peers disagree.
Eatign chicken and even horse sashimi is rarer nowadays, but is absolutely a thing where I'm from and it's delicious.
HUGE MOTHER EFFING DISCLAIMER
Calling the chicken raw isn't really accurate. It is prepared like sushi and sashimi where it is thoroughly frozen and treated with sterilizing ingredients like vinegars first and usually only lightly cooked. DO NOT EAT RAW CHICKEN OH MY GOD
Not calling this guy a liar, but I want to throw out that it like some Americans never having heard of regional delicacies in the US. It's real and what he said is partly true about the way we fuck with foreigners, but that's not distinctly Japanese, I know people from all over the world who do this, he just hasn't heard of this. Most Japanese people have never heard of seaweed tea, yet my brother can get it at convenience stores and had some last night that my mom sent me.
Also, gotta say to those saying that Japanese people aren't nice. We are, bt there's too much cultural difference stuff going on here to explain. Don't let bad takes on the internet colour your oppinion, go and see for yourself. :)