Re: Culture-fest! (and some stupidity) ^_^


to ranma@usagi.jrd.dec.com
from Hitomi Ichinohei <Hitomi_Ichinohei@MBnet.MB.CA>
subject Re: Culture-fest! (and some stupidity) ^_^
date Thu, 31 Aug 1995 22:09:51 -0500 (CDT)
On Thu, 31 Aug 1995, Kevin Lew -- 'The Lai-Lai Boy' wrote:

> Here's what I don't understand then.  My Nihongo sensei is a true-blue
> Nihonjin and she says that she finds nudity to be no big deal.  She still

Nudity is not a very big deal, in fact, nudity is an accepted part of our 
culture.  After all, we discuss sex, openly, honestly, and with feeling.  
In what other culture is there a manga series dedicated to AIDS and how 
it is caught, why it is caught, what you can do to prevent it etc.

> takes baths with her family at home.  The concept of modesty implies that
> there's something "dirty" about nudity.  I can understand this, but then,

It is not so much modesty, except in the cities, it is more a concept of 
privacy.  _You_ choose what you want to share with certain people.  This 
is privacy.

> WHY do they show so much of it in manga/anime?  Basically, if nudity *is*
> a big deal, then why do cast members drop their clothes in even
> kid-oriented stuff? 

Because it is something natural, not something to be reviled as in the West.

> Another culture question:  I was told that you NEVER bring a rice bowl to 
> your face to scoop rice into your mouth directly.  Why does Ranma and the 
> others do this all the time?  Is it an inside joke, to show that Ranma 
> and company are total slobs?

Actually, people in country settings do still eat by bringing a bowl up 
to ones mouth.  What you are talking about is a city culture vs. country 
culture.

>  -- In Chinese culture, it's totally normal to eat with a bowl shoved in 
> your face (like how Ranma does).  This is taboo in Japanese culture.

Only in cities.

>  -- In Chinese culture, you eat soup with a soup spoon (we have a special
> utensil for this, in fact).  If you drank soup straight from the bowl,

We actually eat soup with a pair of chopsticks.  It is considered 
polite.  (And it is also practicle.)

> like the Japanese, you'd be considered insane.  (The Japanese would find
> you insane for trying to eat soup with a spoon). 

Ichinohei Hitomi
Hitomi_Ichinohei@MBnet.mb.ca

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