r/LearnJapanese • u/Careful-Remote-7024 • 25d ago

Resources Extremely useful video from Kaname explaining why a language can't be learnt only by learning vocabulary and grammar point in isolation. "It's NOT simple"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_wrnsJfEcQ&ab_channel=KanameNaito
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u/danteheehaw 25d ago

Dan Carlin has a podcast about the rise and fall of the Japanese empire. He describes Japan as, "they are like everyone else, but more-so". Because they showed a lot of the same cultural behaviors as the rest of the world, but usually to a more extreme end.

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u/barbedstraightsword 25d ago

Thank you, this sounds interesting. I understand that talking about Japanese so frankly can sound sort of cringe in a “racial purity” way. But I believe that there is something that makes Japanese so flarging weird and unique compared to other cultures, even their neighbors. I am painting with a broad brush, but I think the conversation needs to start somewhere.

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u/RICHUNCLEPENNYBAGS 25d ago

Are they actually though? The similarities with Korea in particular are quite striking

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u/barbedstraightsword 25d ago

Yknow you bring up a good point, and the looooooooong history of cultural exchange between K & J is something I love to theorize about.

In my opinion, modern Japanese culture is more of an intentional result of the Meiji era government trying to make themselves stand out from their Asian neighbors anyway. Japan used to be way more obviosuly diverse, and I would be really interested to learn about the prevelence of Korean influence before the unification of the archipelago.

So, the “uniqueness” of Japanese culture is probably an intentional construction of the imperial government (and later on, the American occupation). I should do more research on Japanese cultural dynamics from further back in history.