Talk:Japanese values

Not only biased, but copied and pasted?

Has anyone else noticed that this page has been copy/pasted from one of the listed sources? [1] Comrade cottontail (talk) 15:33, 16 June 2009 (UTC)

Problems

This article has uncited references everywhere. The final segment in particular is definitely not written from a neutral standpoint. In fact it seems quite anti-Japanese and bordering on racist. I removed it for this reason. Grieverxiii 17:12, 12 February 2007 (UTC)

I agree with this. The article is uncited. If I knew more about Wiki editing I would nominate this page for deletion. It is completly bogus and unnecesary. I removed "These values are a great source of pride to the Japanese, who consider themselves "uniquely unique," (see: Nihonjinron theory), and the object of much fascination from outside observers." for it's obvious stereotyping (bordering on racism) Talking about a people as a homogenous group is surely a thing s of the past.

urusainaa June 2007

i put back the section, minus the reference to world war two. i dont think its particularly biased, though it does need citations and probably to be rewritten, especally the last item. Bob A 07:49, 19 February 2007 (UTC)

I have edited the final segment for language and clarity, removed hyperbole, and adopted a more neutral tone. I added views of Western values from the Japanese viewpoint for balance. kozure okami 13:55, 25 February 2007 (UTC)

Sorry I found the section absurd. Unless there are references I'll have a tendency to delete it again. I can find examples where the opposite is true. The american automotive industry has tried to adopt Japanese Philosophies for example. Daniel.Cardenas 21:52, 11 March 2007 (UTC)

Actually, I more or less agree with you and have no particular interest in replacing the section. My interest was only in making a poorly written and blatently biased passage readable and balanced, maintaining the original structure and concept. But let's do away with it entirely. kozure okami 16:01, 15 March 2007 (UTC)

Omg thats not the main problem. Seriously, no one gives an **** about america, the only values an american lives by is greed and selfishness, so comparing Japan to a SINGLE (and extrenely weak) country's social trend is absurd. Instead 'the West' should be placed, or if a single countrt MUST be used, then use one with actual customs.

What is the point of this page?

look at this quote:

"Japanese values are cultural assumptions and ideals particular to Japanese culture. These values are a [b]great source of pride to the Japanese[/b], who consider themselves "uniquely unique"

If the Japanese are so proud of their 'values' why isn't their an equivelant page in Japanese? Odd? There are plenty of wiki pages on child models in Japanese (http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandra) but nothing on 'Japanese values'. This is just more nihonjinron from the west the whole page needs to be deleted. I can find no page on 'English values', 'American values' or 'Chinese values'. Nonsense. March 2007

Culture is understood by the people who live in it. It is not something that is normally blatantly documented by the people who live in the culture. America as a society values freedom. Most everyone knows that, so no one is eager to write a page on it. Although perhaps the Japanese trying to understand American culture would document this. The page can use improvement. I might create an American values page so people outside of our culture can understand us a little better. This has little to do with chest pounding/bragging/pride and more to do with understanding a culture. America is proud if its values also. Daniel.Cardenas 19:24, 19 March 2007 (UTC)

"America as a society values freedom. Most everyone knows that, so no one is eager to write a page on it." is this a serious comment? Do you seriously think other people don't value freedom? You think the British and the French are somewhat 'less free' than Americans?

You also fail to answer my questions. 1. Why is there no page on American values or Chinese values or ANY OTHER country except Japan? Is it perhaps becuase people like to fetishize about Japan? 2. Why is there no translation of this page in Japanese? 3. Why is there no Japanese page about 'American values'?

The point of this page is that values form a core part of a cultural identity. An article about the values of a particular culture is perfectly valid, therefore, just as an article about a culture's art or language would be. I reached this article trying to research the Japanese value of 'wa' and was sadly disappointed at its lackluster coverage. Indeed there are articles about American values - the 'Culture of the United States' goes into political values, though indeed it lacks a discussion of specificly 'American' values such as individualism, freedom, etc. This is a shortcoming of the American article, not an irrelevance of this one. Indeed there is an Asian values article that tries to cover the somewhat-uniform values of the cultures of Southeast Asia. Regarding the inflammatory comments about 'less free' - I don't think anyone is trying to discuss 'how free' different societies are, simply how much they value a concept like 'freedom' - certainly there is some variance between different culture of the world (in fact, the Asian Values article specifically addresses this question). Regarding 'fetishization' of Japan - yes, Wikipedia has incredible depth in subjects that appeal to its editors. The pool of editors is indeed not a simple crosssection of humanity, but a biased collection including a heavy number of 'geeks', myself included, resulting in deep coverage in topics interesting to them, while lacking that depth on what are almost certainly more valuable pages (compare Sonic the Hedgehog (character) to Hanging Gardens of Babylon). This is simply a fact of life at Wikipedia. In time, certainly, pages on other cultural values should exist, or those values should be incorporated into the 'culture of ...' page itself. The other questions regard the Japanese wikipedia. They are perhaps best asked of the editors of that wikipedia, not the editors trying to improve this one. If this should be translated into Japanese, please feel free to do so. Indeed, pages on other values should exist - please feel free to create them. Basically, the lack of similar pages is an opportunity for improvement, not a sign that this page is irrelevant. Tofof 03:00, 9 April 2007 (UTC)

Mergefrom Wa (Japanese)

Wa (Japanese) is tagged for merging with this article for almost an year. Looks reasonable, but I don't know... anyone knows? - Nabla 03:38, 26 June 2007 (UTC)

Wa (Japan) article seems to contradict it. No references.  :-( Perhaps it should be deleted rather than merged, at least the differences should be fixed or made obvious. Daniel.Cardenas 03:55, 26 June 2007 (UTC)

Scratch that. Doesn't really contradict. Fine to merge. Daniel.Cardenas 13:10, 26 June 2007 (UTC)

certainly, merge it I shall Nazgul533 ^{talk contribs} 03:55, 29 June 2007 (UTC)

I merged it to Wa (Japan) as there was already a summary there making it a more appropriate merge.--Jorfer 21:29, 30 June 2007 (UTC)

Plagiarism

This passage

Group membership in Japan provides enjoyment and fulfillment, but it also causes tremendous tension. 
  An ideology of group harmony does not ensure harmony in fact. Japan 
is an extremely competitive society, yet competition within the group must be strictly regulated. 
 Minor issues are sometimes dealt with by appeals to higher authority,
but they may well smolder unresolved for years. Major problems may be denied, especially to outsiders, 
but may result in factions or in the fissioning of the group. It is often the individual, however, who 
bears the burden of these interpersonal tensions. This burden is reflected in high rates of 
alcohol consumption and of minor, sometimes psychosomatic, 
 illnesses. Many Japanese cope with these stresses by retreating into 
the private self or by enjoying the escapism offered by much of the popular culture.

is a plagiarism of a 1994 (!) US Library of Congress report on Japan (one copy here: http://countrystudies.us/japan/58.htm)

Wiki Education assignment: MIT 398 Intercultural International Communication

This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 20 August 2023 and 5 December 2023. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Fatima Al-Thani (article contribs).

— Assignment last updated by Fatima Al-Thani (talk) 09:45, 2 November 2023 (UTC)