I like the concept of this video. A lot of people talk about Japanese and express their opinions online, but you probably don't get to see a lot of Japanese people who talk about other countries. So I think it would be interesting to hear us talk about your country. But of course, Japanese people do talk about other countries. They just talk about them in Japanese. So if you speak Japanese, you will learn about Japanese people's opinions about other countries... not just good ones, but bad ones too. So if you want to learn Japanese with me, I can send you some Japanese lessons where I teach you the kind of Japanese that Japanese people actually speak. Click here and subscribe bit.ly/3hYMkmp
I recently disconnected from the news and politics this year. I was getting in a really depressed state because of the pandemic and I just realized that the media and politicians want to keep people in an angry state and I'm just over it. I'm done. And as far as my views, I don't care if somebody has differing views. I'll respect you if you respect me, basically.
I had to do the exact same thing. I already deal with some anxiety and 2020 was escalating it quite a bit and I had to cut myself from news and politics to keep my sanity.
@@BitterMillenial Around last election, I just quit Facebook entirely which was my primary form of communication with friends and family. I couldn't stand everyone's obsession with Trump vs Hillary. The political discordance has grown worse but I've become much happier switching to using personal discord servers and good old fashioned call and text to keep in touch with people. I am not, however, at all happy with the recent spike in media normalized rioting and violence...
I agree! It's always about which political party has the most money and power and just like sports, it's to fight over which one is better. If you like one team, people on the other team won't like you. And whatever happens, happens, so why worry about it anyway? But yeah I feel like everyone has different perspectives and they're to be respected even if it's to be disagreed upon.
You said you spoke almost no English before you came here. Your English is amazing. I thought you were American first when the video started. I can barley hear an accent.
It's always great to see you in his videos!! I'm going to be an exchange in Japan in a few years, so this was interesting to watch. Now when I go I'm going to keep my american extrovert ways intact, and try to make many friends even if it is awkward at first (: Have a great day!!
Which is very unfortunate. With politicians, they should be judged based on the actual policies they're putting forward, not for which "team" they're playing in.
Yea, the political discourse in America has really changed in the past 4 years. It wasn’t always such a divisive topic. Growing up in the 90’s I was taught it was inappropriate to ask someone who they voted for. Social media destroyed that norm.
I think its mostly because both sides of the debate used to be semi reasonable? Like you can understand why someone would subscribe to the rhetoric of the other party. But after someone with incredibly devisive and downright stupid rhetoric got into office, suddenly the people that voted for him look less like someone who may have been "tricked" into voting for them to more like either an idiot or just downright evil / bigoted.
@@PokeWeekly Aye. Before both sides were able to forgive the other. The idea was "You're doing it wrong, I get that you're trying to do the right thing but you're wrong." Now, the general sentiment is "You're doing things wrong, you're evil, you're my enemy. I must do everything I can to hurt you." People can no longer get along with eachother...
I believe that a lot of people have forgotten to imagine themselves in the other person's shoes, and try to reach across the aisle. I am a centrist in one of the most liberal areas in America (Minneapolis), and both in school and out, I can never express my opinion without fear of severe backlash. People need to realise that the other 50% of the country probably isn't evil, and just views things from a different perspective.
@@camdendebruin6667 It's the narcissism inbred and promoted now days. All appeasement and instant gratification, awards without effort, and speaking for others rather than yourself.
Two of my coworkers got assaulted just outside a bar in the Sakae area of Nagoya. A group of young men clearly singled them out because they were obviously not Japanese and beat them pretty badly; both ended up going to the hospital and one needed numerous stitches. The police were about as helpful as could be expected (i.e. not at all; they accused my coworkers of instigating a fight with a group that outnumbered them more than 3-to-1) and the CCTVs in the area "weren't working". So, yeah... I didn't walk around alone in Japan after that.
When my friend came over to visit Japan, she stayed in Tokyo a couple of days at a women-only hostel and the staff there warned her about the dangers of human trafficking, which is a fairly common issue at many big international cities. She was told to not go to areas like Roppongi Hills alone at night. It surprised me cause, as a guy, I've walked through that area at the dead of the night and never once have felt in danger. The only other big city I've walked through alone at night is Montreal, Canada, cause I spent most of my life there, and I never felt in danger there either despite some areas there having a sketchy reputation as well... Regardless, asking locals about where it's safe to go is one of the best things you can do when travelling anywhere. Stay safe!
I also felt safe on an almost surreal level, when I was in Japan. Being able to just stroll around at night and the most "severe" thing to happen was a person simply going into the opposite direction in the same side alley ^^ And compared to many, MANY other places in the world, Japan is remarkably safe. That doesn't mean that nothing ever could happen. But it is way less likely to be mugged, beaten up etc. That alone is a huge factor for me personally when it comes to the amount of "recovery from every day life" I can get out of holidays somewhere.
I was wondering about this. The reason it isn't safe to walk around certain places in the states is because those places have high or visible criminal activity going around. While I don't expect the same in Japan... I always thought the Yakuza still had some presence over there.
I feel like the obsession with politics was way less prominent in the past, Americans are just more and more unhappy, and unhappiness typically spurs a focus on politics. I notice this too with China and the Middle East.
There's been a significant social push in media to not only hyperfocus on politics, but specifically divisive politics, and often they report inaccurately to spur conflict. I can't stand the obsession with politics, so I avoid the topic. Not impressed by the riots and street shootings and shit...
@@ltmuffler3482 Yeah, I can get behind that. The whole liberals versus conservatives thing is horizontal politics, and the ones in charge of this country would rather that be our discourse than vertical politics: the poor versus the rich, the employees versus the employers, and the powerless versus the powerful.
@@MisterJang0 My concern is that the concept of "poor vs rich" is too romanticized and simplified in the US. Economically speaking, there are concerns regarding the fact that the economy as a whole shifted away from competition (which is extremely healthy for an economy and especially for consumers) toward consolidation (which is extremely unhealthy for economies and is naturally anti-consumer). The worst offense, though, has been the shift away from consumer satisfaction to shareholder satisfaction. Stocks have killed the US economy, because companies are no longer just expected to make money on a transaction, they are expected to "grow the stocks", or in other words, make more money on each transaction than before. That's not only unhealthy, but mathematically is impossible, because there is a finite amount of financial resources, which means growth of that nature will always stagnate. It naturally breeds monopolization, because of the need to hold more and more of the entire market. But setting that aside, the other concern is how private companies - and other nations for that matter - have involved themselves in US politics. The short and long of it is that "the rich" are not unanimously aligned to one side of the political schism. Both sides have significant funding, both sides are actually serving the benefits of their financial benefactors, and both sides (but, to me, it seems increasingly more so the left) are being manipulated by foreign powers with a political and financial interest in the US shifting towards communism, maintaining capitalism (and more specifically, a strong military presence in the world), or going to civil war outright (thereby removing us as a major player in global conflicts that would inevitably erupt). History does repeat itself, but the variables are rarely the same. And if greater insight into history has taught us anything, rarely is there the romanticized "good" vs "evil", but rather one belief against another. Conflict is rarely born of righteousness, more often instead born of a refusal by one or both sides to submit to compromise. And that's the mistake people are making right now in the US...
@@ltmuffler3482 I'm not saying that poor means good and rich means bad. In almost any other country the main concern with politicians is corruption, however, in the U.S. the big concern is whether a politician is "too liberal" or "too conservative". The point being we've been sorely divided and conquered.
I think politics in America is very identity driven, people associate their political affiliation with their entire outlook on life and who they are which is why they are so passionate. Positions are very extreme. It is similar in the UK but we are not as extreme as in the U.S. In the U.S it is high stakes and can be literally life & death for example with racial politics.
I'm from the UK as well (though I live in Italy) and I personally don't think we are that divided. Sure, we have our differences but no one's really gonna care who you voted for and stuff. In the US, it's a whole different level. Almost like a religion I'd say.
People assert life or death values on politics because they don't understand how a democratic republic works and that's why it's so toxic in the US. The rediculous people act like if their party doesn't win then literally ww2 Germany will happen (ie the professor she mentioned that had a mental breakdown over the election), while other side of rediculous think if their party doesn't win the constitution will go up in flames as things get banned. Otherwise it becomes an ugh thing when politics come up. But there is a couple identities that comes with the parties like real tree camo and American flag everything or blue/red hair and the general woke hippie look
Identity politics is so dumb I feel it's what lead politics to get toxic here because it's like if you don't agree with their views they take it as a personal attack and the opposition must be elminated. This applies to people on both sides of the political spectrum.
@@BitterMillenial they literally spawned the altright, no one cared about race then suddenly it's ok to denigrate white people and blame them for everything like some kind of original sin but any mild thing towards any other race is viewed as racism and we can onoy hear about issues they face and people became very resentful over it then add all the canceling and political correctness while calling everyone a nazi and boom suddenly they start growing in popularity
"American students are really into politics" and while I was a student teachers were all about telling us to avoid getting political while in school not that anyone ever cared about politics in those days. Pre smartphone era... It'll never be like that again
No kidding. Now, it's like compulsory to wear your opinion pinned to your sleeve at all times and inquire about everyone else's. Wonderful argument in favor dismantling social media.
I'd say America is more deeply, deeply divided about Political Correctness as opposed to being PC. I honestly don't know if there's more opposition or support for it because both sides are very... passionate. Frankly, discourse has fallen apart in this country and we're going through a crisis. I'm only 18, and even in my lifetime it's gotten much worse, and I don't believe it's just an American thing; I know British, Australian, and Canadian people that all feel that discourse has gotten pretty insane. I don't know about people outside of the anglosphere since I only know English, and this isn't a problem everywhere given you're talking about how it's weird, but I feel like it's worth stating that this is anything but normal for America or any other place. Everyone agrees it's bad and is very uncomfortable about how toxic it has gotten.
Funny how much it's changed. I'm 26 now, but when I was 18 politics weren't even a thing people discussed, well maybe old people lol. Can't think of a single person around 18-20 at the time that was interested in politics, Very fascinating how much has changed since myspace days
@@stevengold I just turned 30 and I'd say 2008 was when I first really saw younger people getting more into politics and politics getting more toxic and heated. I think Obama being president really freaked some people out, especially when he did a lot with the human rights movement and marriage law and everything. People who had been so used to a white dude running the country and just kind of overlooking racist and homophobic stuff, suddenly had a black president who not only gave a voice to more POC, but who also asserted everyone should have equal rights and have them protected including those in the LGBTQ community. So suddenly you had people whose worlds were turning upside down because suddenly their beliefs were being challenged and they were learning about types of people they'd probably never heard of or encountered in their lives. Or they were types of people they had learned were "other" and since they didn't understand them they saw them as the enemy and "ruining" everything. I think that's why you had so many people who backed trump almost immediately and why trump got elected. These people needed the polar opposite of Obama and I'm sure some of them were already scarred enough by a black president that a female president would've been too much. Not their fault really, just culture shock. I think lack of education (not just academic but like social education) is a big factor in a lot of the places in the US. I once worked in a small school district and the school basically had a cult (of teachers) running it and they were untouchable, regardless of how much illegal stuff they did (toward students especially special Ed, and like changing grades and stuff). It gave me insight to how closed off some small towns in the country are and how easily people can be taught to think and believe certain things just to survive where they are. In that school where I was, if you didn't conform, they slowly turn everyone against you and try to blackmail you and try to convince people to fire you. Oh the stories I could tell.
@@iminyourwalls8309 it's also far easier for people to find their "people" online, instead of actually having to literally run into them. So you've got these people who otherwise wouldn't have their insane closeminded beliefs be validated by a lot of people, suddenly get a huge following on social media with other insane belief holders from around the world. I think social media has been great for people who don't have good support systems at home and find positive communities that spread kindness and love and acceptance, but unfortunately it also opens the door to people with NOT so great agendas connecting with other people of a similar mindset and then the world or a country dissolves into chaos. Regardless of what side of the aisle you're on, the fact that there isn't a neutral government or justice department is a big issue. I personally don't care who people vote for as long as they are fairly given the ability to vote (gerrymandering is disgustingly unfair right now in some states) and mail in ballots allowed and all that stuff. Right now there's like blatant interference with people being able to vote (not everyone gets voting days off because they work so they rely on mail ins) and district lines in some places are comically inequitable and borderline criminal. It should always be a fair fight with politics but it sadly rarely is.
4:20 “You think they actually really understand what’s going on?” 🤣🤣🤣 So true, Yuta! Just having opinions is not “understanding what’s going on”, most people only want to toy with opinions and want to be right with their opinions. Just pushing opinions on someone is not “having a constructive conversation” about anything.
Finally, someone who gets it. I swear, people watch 2-3 videos and then go on to read 5 articles and they think they have everything figured out overnight.
@@nauticalblue i think the original comment refers to how inflation happens but wages don't keep up with inflation enough so that people feel that decrease in standard of living. That has been happening before 2020
It's nothing about wages or anything. It is about the standard of living of American people that they spend a lot. An average American uses 60 times more electricity than an average Chinese person also 30 times more than an average Indian person. Basically you are spending a lot of money unnecessary resources just in order to maintain the standard of living.
Everyone should. Unless you arent a coked up Jon Jones, I think its ok for you to be wary of your surroundings, but when its get to the point when you are extremely paranoid. Then yeah there is a problem.
The Japanese people's difficulty in getting close to people and making very close friends based on a few chance encounters actually resonates with me on a deeper level 😅🤣
@@sonixka257 but if you want to understand his plans, you'll need to know japanese. So if you want to learn japanese you should learn japanese with him, and sign up for his free lessons.
People in America are probably more interested in politics than Japanese since Americans are probably more dissatisfied with the current system. The political climate is more polarized now more than ever.
Americans have no idea what's going on in any other part of the world. The media skews heavily in one direction & won't discuss anything unless it's to their advantage, which is why trust in mainstream media is at rock bottom & they're all going broke & laying off journalists even before the pandemic. God help you if you're a fense-sitting 3rd party voter; you get hate from both sides. College professors are polluting the minds of students with race & gender, creating a strong us-vs-them mentality. God forbid they should teach actual job skill, or useful things like how to pay bills or not suck at interviews. Now everyone in the country pretty much needs therapy. & you practically need a college degree to not get overlooked on an application to sell shoes, & that will put you in debt until your own kids are old enough for college.
@@dan1e1473 Actually, from outside, it looks like it's treated as a sport. Everybody picks a team and support the captain, wearing hats, waving flags...
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I don't think is because of that. Just because both parties are using the "them against us" to radicalize their voters. I'm from Mexico where political parties are doing the same and that is destroying families. When we lacked of democracy, people were not very interested in politics either, but because now it is a show like watching soccer, everybody wants to be in the winner team and shove their victory over the other team and that is awful. Democracy is not bad, but it can be perverted with these tactics that the US or my country are using nowadays, because, if you think this thoughly, people depending from where they were born or their economical status, they'd have different opinions about what is good or bad, and both visions are needed to move a country, the mere act that all the different parties could reach an agreement to allow all citizen to feel more safe and prosperous, where the poor can work and earn enough to have a decent life, the middle class can follow his dreams and the rich can become more richer. If all people fight for the same objetive, the country could become unstopable.
Okay so for the first part of this you guys say you can walk around late at night in Tokyo but then you have other Japanese people saying that if you're a girl it's a bad idea to do so. So which is it?
In eastern countries, it more like considered bad(culturally ) for a girl to roam around late nights. Also you can see other norms like e.g swearing. If a guy swears it's not considered really good, but as he is a guy he can slide off. But if a girl swears then she is completely judge on her character.
my wife and i have been travelling for a long time now i don't think we felt safer in any country more than Japan...even when we visited Kabukicho which is the red light district Yuta mentioned we felt a bit uncomfortable but never felt that we are not safe or in some way in danger
@@firesniperbullet2 is probably not wrong. America's been a wall that Russia and China have been trying to find a way around for over 70 years. Too dangerous to engage, but directly interfering in their interests. Sowing political and social discord within the country so that it falls apart is a pretty easy way to resolve that issue, all they need to do is convincingly introduce the political and economical anathema of a republic into the minds of civilians, and then convince everyone that everyone else is out to murder them. China would jump on most of southeast asia in an instant if the US went to civil war. I don't want civil war. First of all, very few people here in the states understand what the implications really are of their own neighborhoods becoming battlefields. It wouldn't be particularly civil, either, you can thank the zealous hatred of white people for that... But I also don't want it because US has many allies that depend on it to ward off very dangerous enemies (like China), and without the US to protect them, places like SK and Taiwan would also be turned into battlefields. Do people in the US here really understand the implications of what they are saying when they encourage civil war? I don't think they do. If they did, they'd be keeping their goddamn mouths shut.
Chula Vista, along H Street, the line is 3rd Avenue. One side is boring suburbs, the other side is Stabtown. I literally found bullets in the gutter once.
I don't recommend walking alone at night in empty places in Japan, just because it didn't happen to you it doesn't mean there is no crime here, people (mostly girls) get mugged and molested, it is not as much as other countries but it happens quite often.
1) It can only get dangerous like that in some of America's biggest cities. The safety levels of smaller cities, like the one I live in, are more like what she described back home. I've lived here 10 yrs & only had two slightly sketchy things happen to me, but nothing aggressive, even when I walked right through the "bad" parts of town. 2) You're in college. College kids are heavily encouraged to talk & think about politics in the US, even if they've never done so before. Albeit, the last presidential election cycle was an oddball, so it may have been a bit more aggressive than usual. 3) Yeah, in America it's generally been considered polite to talk to people if you happen to be stuck in close proximity to them for long enough, even if you don't know them. Some people do it because they can't stand the silence too. Or, in your guys' case, they see a foreigner & just become generally curious because it's not something they see everyday. Not everyone does that, here, either & it does get exhausting for those who aren't a people person, but we're still expected to try to talk back if spoken to first. 4) One of the biggest aggrivations we have about our own country is that our own schools don't teach people how to budget or manage money wisely. Still, I don't know if that would change our habits all that much if we did. Most people who start a family & are forced to try still can't save much, if any, money from paycheck to paycheck to save their lives between the two of them. Plus, the least cautious people in this country push us hard towards as much convenience as humanly possible & so many companies oblige that, so you often have to have a credit card, you have to have a vehicle, you have to have a cell phone with internet, & you have to maintain all of that, or there's not much you can even do whether you have a job or not. So, when people do have few enough financial obligations, they will usually just throw caution to the wind & splurge on themselves because they don't know how long they'll really be able to do that. Also, for the first few generations of the 1900s, people were obsessed with social status-- I can buy nice things, so I will. It left a lot of people trying to have what their neighbors had, or better, so they wouldn't feel like they were pitied or looked down upon. We don't do that anymore, but I feel like that must have left a bit of a subconscious imprint across generations that makes us a bit irresponsible with money.
The "getting ignored" thing is soo damn annoying... I'm a socially clumsy person and I've been ignored by quite a few Japanese now. Since I dont know the exact reason, I cant really fix it. Its a frustrating experience
Interesting. There are definitely places you can't walk at night. But where I live in the US, I often take walks at 3am. It's not a stereotype of all of the US.
@@digdug1431 lol.. yeah I guess there are those kinds of threats. They're probably more viable in some cases than human threats. Around here you're likely just get to stampeded by a bunch of deer because of our overpopulation due to City protections.
It's definitely not a stereotype. That word wouldn't apply. What it can be is a generalization--which would be as you said, not necessarily true depending on where you are.
I'm a born and raised New Yorker and I DON'T even feel safe walking around at night without my switchblade. I'd feel more at ease in Tokyo's red light district at night then New York subway during day
i think why politics in the usa, especially among younger people are a big topic of discussion because there can be a lot in the line for their futures. being queer (using it as a broad term) or being a woman, having certain people in office can take away a lot of the opportunities that they could have (adoption, marriage, joining the military, abortion, etc.)
Politics here werent an issue for me until I noticed how they affected me personally. The moment the taxes went up, the price of healthcare jumping in a short time, the requirement to have health insurance. That nearly made me homeless. Luckily, I survived on bare minimum food and water, and left my cheap loft for an even cheaper rented room from someone. I was making 50% more than minimum wage and didn't have any problems living in my own until the new laws and policies came into effect. After that I stopped ignoring our politics and realized how much power the government actually had on our lives. Whether for good for bad.
Hmm, re: small talk when queueing, I wonder how much of the friendliness is a California thing. I live in Boston, and here, occasionally it happens, but it's more like what you two were saying about Tokyo.
Hm, true, I think the US is a place where it is generally 'normal' to just talk to random people, but yes, the attitudes vary, like I'm from the NW and theres a concept here called the Seattle Freeze, the gyst of it being that, while people aren't necessarily 'unfriendly', like they will still be nice to you, but its hard to go beyond a superficial interaction and actually connect or make friends because people are kind of just indifferent towards others, and aloof. Its cold, wet, and we lack sunlight. We drink a lot of coffee, and we're depressed lol. (Or thats the stereotype anyway)
In 1978 in the a small group of US personnel went down to a river for an overnight camping trip, Some of our group left the camp area and left me and a couple of girls there to watch the tents and the things we had brought. Shortly after we were left alone and large group of motorcyclist came down to where we were and for a while we thought we might be in trouble. They were loud and boisterous but after we offered their leader(?) some beer they calmed down and became somewhat less threatening. Finally they got bored and left us. Kind of sketchy situation. Also at that time, (not sure about now). Koreans were a bit disenfranchised in Japan. Correct?
And now all those harem anime where the protag has very little to no initiative in any given relationship but instead a series of convenient coincidences, makes much more sense. And I'm sorry to say. Its kinda pathetic that it has such a great marketing pull that these kinda rom com anime keep getting made. Relationships don't just spontaneously happen. You don't just turn around a corner and bump into a girl. You have to at least establish a connection and a dynamic together and I keep seeing none of these aspects in these anime and its really exhausting. Its so annoying to me that I sometimes feel like I wanna go to Japan and rant via a creative seminar on basic romantic story writing at like a high school or something.
Agree (I think) but normal realmlife romance stories don't tend to sell as well to coomers and young men (the core audience of anime in and outside Japan)
Calm down. It's fantasy just like dramas where the female is always the center of attention by the most perfect, handsome, talented, dangerous guys who also happen to be billionaire doctor vampire pirates.
@@ceresbane they're both about the same to me in that they sell a fantasy to the reader or viewer. The theme is always: imagine yourself suddenly desired by highly desirable people without having to change or do anything about your situation. It's why there is a nevermind churn of young people through the music industry: good music isn't being sold - desire is.
Yuta "I might not be the most friendly looking person". You are pretty high up there in friendly looks!!! Acutally, this depends on the part of America you are in as well. In some cities, if a person randomly talks to you, you think they are trying to scam you.
I'm from Eastern Europe. The culture in the West is becoming so ... different, that now I'm finding Japanese culture more relatable and interesting. そして、一年日本語を勉強しましているんです。
Србомбоница yeah i live in the US and the majority of people you run across are pretty shitty and our people worship a god called political correctness
I think it would be interesting to discuss things like the HaseKara calamity and how it affects Japanese people's behavior online (typically not using real names, large contrast between online and real life behavior, etc.)
The thing with Politics and not being friends and such: I can be friends with somebody who is a little more conservative than me, but if they are bigoted and have "opinions" that are bigoted, I can't be friends with them. At that point it's past "politics"
@@psd.3144 not wanting to be friends with somebody who thinks certain groups of people should have less rights than them is being a bigot? bigotry is not an opinion.
I always thought Japanese people were very environmentally concious and had this idea that they don't waste anything, but when I went there it seemed a bit opposite in a lot of scenarios, like when I would go to the supermarket it's just normal for people to put invidual items in small plastic bags and then put these plastic bags into bigger plastic bags even when they own an eco-bag, then there are also products like invidually plastic wrapped bananas? I don't really understand it. It's a bit bizarre for me as an Australian because we recently banned all plastic bags at supermarkets, there are only re-usable bags that you need to buy.
My cousins came over for a spell from Iceland. They were horrified when I put a pistol on my hip before we went out, then were happily surprised when we didn’t get shot at when we were shopping. They asked, “Why carry a gun if you don’t use it?”. “Because I can, and you never know,” was my reply. I think they thought The U.S. was just one long running gun battle.
@@Nikki_the_G some of us are stuck in areas where that pistol is our only chance at survival. Must be nice living in the privileged first-world parts of America.
I live in Japan now and I was really surprised with Abe-san stepping down literally no one at my office has said anything! People really don't talk about politics.
Love your videos. Shiiit don't get me started with New Orleans. As resident from New Orleans you definitely need to pay attention to you're surroundings at night
I've found that usually people who earn a higher salary as well are usually in areas where the rent is excessively expensive for even a one bedroom studio; makes it a lot harder to save and some people prioritize saving time on a commute as opposed to saving money.
Hey.. I was born here and I still find many things weird here. You just shrug and move on. What I like about Japan is how clean it is, and many other things. If it seems weird to me I just shrug and move on.
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America is many countries. You would not believe how clean Washington state is, or how much we despise Donald Trump.
3:09 - 🤔 Texas has some of the friendliest people (overall), or at least better mannered, that it's very strange to hear your guest say that. Now, it may just have been in that particular city. If her friend was in a college area, that may explain it. Once you get outside of that, there are many decent places and many decent people across the board (ie. it doesn't matter who they are, they tend to be decent and with decent manners). There are also many decent people in Red and Blue states. You need to get outside of college areas. Those areas and the people in them don't represent the country as a whole. (The US is very large with a population that's not quite 3x's Japan's, but it's up there). Once you get out of college areas, no matter the state, the general public tends to be better mannered. I hope your guest and her friend make another trip in a few years to explore more areas and states.
"southern hospitality"is a saying for a reason (even if in more recent years it's slowly going away). I've seen a few other foreign UA-camrs go to the states and they always say they love the south. They usually say everyone is friendly and there's delicious food. There's always a few bad apples everywhere though.
of course they do, politic is very huge part of our life. almost every part of our daily life can be linked to politic. because WE (people) are the politic.
If its a civil discussion with alot of people understanding where people come from and can openly agree or disagree without it becoming a shouting contest. Yes. Talk politics. But in many cases, the nut case in people come out. And all kinds of misinformed opinions spew forth. You can have political opinions. Just don't make them political BELIEFS. Because with opinions, you can make tiny adjustments and corrects based on the new facts you learn everyday. At the core they might not change in how you see a well run government and an ideal society. But at least, you understand better and have more realistic expectations due to the wants and needs of others as well that might chafe under your believed ideal. But if its a belief. You will do all kinds of insane mental gymnastics that your side is right. And that everyone is out to wrong you. Everyone are fools that don't understand how the world should be. And there's no way you can be wrong. Because this belief you have are based on such righteous ideals that there is no way it can end poorly for anybody. And to those that do, probably deserve it for being fools.
I disagree, it's actually a pretty fun and interesting topic. You just have to be open to other people's views and to not take anything personally. Most of my friends are not into politics, but most of those who are are on the opposite side of the spectrum from me. But we actually get along well and have interesting discussions occasionally.
It stressful, but it's a part of life and we can't really afford to be ignorant about politics. Everything is all fun and games until you're the one being affected
@@el-karasu6070 the easiest way to be directly affected by politics is to get in a conflict because of your opinion on it. It can influence your life more than your vote.
This reminds me of back when I was in Year 8 (age 12/13) and I was the only one in my form who didn't know who my country's prime minister was (Theresa May). Man, I was so innocent back then. My life was so much more peaceful back when I knew nothing about politcs ngl.
@@Ricky911_ I think it's actually pretty sad that people are expected to be informed about politics at such early ages nowadays. Not only is the political climate, frankly speaking, way more toxic than any kid should have to put up with, at that age most people aren't able to form a very informed opinion anyway so they would probably end up on whatever side radicalizes them first.
Top 3 Areas in Tokyo with the Highest Number of Violent Crimes Shinjuku Ward (Shinjuku): 757 incidents; Shinjuku, Kabukicho, Shin-Okubo area. Chiyoda Ward (Manseibashi): 642 incidents; Akihabara, Marunouhi, Kanda area. Toshima Ward (Ikebukuro): 581 incidents; Ikebukuro, Sugamo, Mejiro area. What about these areas, Juta?
Those numbers may seem high but think of the total population of Tokyo. There’s 13.96 million people who live there full time. So if you add up all of those violent crimes, you only have a 0.00015% chance of being a victim of a violent crime in Tokyo. In comparison, the city of Philadelphia had 15,091 cases of violent crime in 2020 with a population of only 1.579 million. That gives you a 0.01% chance of being victimized. That’s significantly higher and philly is not even the most dangerous city in the USA.
Curious about where in Texas Shino's friend was at. Not that it matters TOO too much, since it wouldn't be terrible hard to find bigoted people anywhere in the state, but the density of such things can shift drastically. The city I go to college in was mostly in a state of mourning - every class I went into, you could tell precisely who had voted Trump as they were the only ones cheerful and peppy, teachers included. Also, with the safety topic being brought up, I am curious about what the Japanese would think of Sundown Towns in the US. Never got around to talking to my friends about it when I studied abroad, so I do wonder what their reaction to such a concept would be.
@@khankhattak. Sundown Towns are essentially white supremacist communities, within which there are often segregative local laws or practices towards non-whites. The name stems from the roughly universal rule that "colored" people need to leave by sundown, else the community would attack them. There are instances of this concept that apply to as little as suburbs to as big as entire Sundown Counties. TL;DR - If you're not white after dark while there, they try to kill you.
@@TheMasterXIII Although they were discussing places like sections of Chicago, Detroit, Oakland, Compton, Stockton, New York, Minneapolis, Modesto, etc. Where you just don't go period. In any other country, these places would just be another suburb instead of functional combat zones depending on the day. There are reasons for this though and it has nothing to do with what you went on about.
@@shawnm1902 I was referring to the specific story regarding Shino's friend getting accosted during the early phase of Trump's 2016 election @2:50 , the area safety thing was a completely different talking point.
I kind of feel that any place in a large city is a danger zone where crime & drugs run rampant. Other people feel that way about small podunk towns. In reality, it's always the low income zones in evey town & city where needles flow & bullets fly. The large cities seem to have the largest concentration of mentally unstable, drug-addled homeless, while the podunks are basically giant trailer houses full of gun owners with nothing to lose. It can also be argued that rich kids do crime for clout & fun, because they know daddy will bail them out.
Some places you can walk around at 2 am, my kids used to do it all the time in college. Unfortunately, there used to be a lot of places where you could leave doors unlocked but getting less and less. We all used to know our neighbors too and could walk in each other houses too but most people don't know their neighbors anymore. It's sad. I'm lucky I live In a town where we all watch out for each other.
I miss how in Japan, I was able to walk around, drinking a beer. There is an assumption that people are responsible that is missing in the United States.
@@jeeroylenkins3081 What I mean by that is that when you were out for a walk, you could have a beer in public. Sit at a bench and take life in or stand there and chat with a friend. In any event, yeah, you wouldn't really wander since you have to stay near the vending machine so you have a place to put the can when you're done.
@@funghazi Yeah, Japan truly does seem like a lot more of a peaceful country than most. I've heard you can even leave your laptop lying around and the odds are it won't be touched at all. In most other places you'd be lucky to leave a pen unsupervised without it getting taken hahaha.
BTW, you have been in Sao Paulo, right? Nowadays Brazil is really like USA in political fight. It's really a hell over here when the topic changes to politics.If you come back here someday, i suggest you avoid this topic, because people are really insane about that
Some comments for Feedback, 1. Safety -- This is pretty accurate, even in safe areas you have to be careful and make sure you avoid sketchy people. Avoiding sketchy people and areas are petty important. Luckily, walking in the US isn't a big thing, so you usually don't need to worry about on-foot safety. 2. Politics -- Also pretty accurate -- Some people definitely do not understand what is going on. There is a lot of cognitive dissonance in the US. However, i would say most informed people do have legitimate understandings and on the left, the political arguments (and the changes that come with them) often are modeled after countries like France, Korea and Japan. Dating & Politics -- Yep. You can basically treat this like religion. Politics becomes part of peoples identities in the US, even when those people aren't very politically inclined. Coexistance is always possible. But obvious you don't want to Date/LongTerm/Marry someone you can't agree on ideologically things. You can argue this is close minded (because it's sort of is) but it also makes sense. Most people don't love someone they are prone to get into conflict with. Politics often represents an individuals principles. Disagreeing on principles can lead to conflict. People hate conflict with people they like. Political Correctness -- In general, Americans on a national level struggle with empathy (思いやり). A part of the country doesn't get taught this in a nice uniform way. It's kind of expected to have been learned by adulthood, but it isn't guaranteed. I don't have a good understanding where PC comes from, but i'd like to think it comes as a reaction from the Left due to Culture and Race being an incredibly touchy subject in the day-to-day already. PC Is probably a vicious cycle that only gets worse as it gets over-used and abused. 3. Small Talk / "Friendly" - I honestly have no idea where this comes from -- just part of the culture -- probably just learned from our parents? Totally a thing and I do participate in this every once in a while. It's more common among older people than young people, but everyone does it. 4. Savings -- Not even going to comment on the saving money thing. This is 100% true on the average. I work hard on my savings personally. So there is a counter example for you. 5. Friends -- We want to be friends with Japanese people. especially us that watch your videos LOL. I think we all understand that language barriers can be exhausting though.
I’m living in LA so it’s nice to have her perspective be so familiar, I think westwood is a rather nice area and parts of sawtelle are too, however the point of not wanting to be on the other side of the street is so very true, there are alot of rough places in LA and it’s good to know which places to avoid. In the area south, around LAX in westchester things can get very very sketchy and I’ve seen actual Japanese tourists be scared before since that is an essential area for travel, still not as bad as downtown lol
I don't care if people have different political beliefs to me regarding taxation or benefits or whatever, but when it's openly unabashed racism - locking up immigrant children just for the colour of their skin, and cheering on the murder of black people at the hands of cops, just to name a couple major ones, then I refuse to be friends with such people. I don't think their's anything close-minded about rejecting such ugliness.
4 роки тому+2
Thank you for caring. Thank you for being a decent human being!
American students are very into politics, yes, but interest is not directly related to expertise or understanding... A great thing about Americans is how often they act and speak with confidence. This is also an awful tendency when politics get involved, because people will often spout things that are illogical, quantifiable false, or outright unethical and be genuinely convinced that they are absolutely right... it's unbearable. After all, anyone who thinks murder and vandalization are legitimate forms of political demonstration can't really be terribly intelligent...
on the subject of Japanese people not letting hyou know that you offended them was such a real struggle for my time in Japan. So many times there would be friendly conversation, they would seem very happy and enjoyed talking with me or my castmates and even say that it was a nice conversation, then go to our tour managers and complain about how we offended them. Though for some people for sure that would be a testimony to how some of the cast members didn't think before they spoke.
Politics is a huge part of our culture in the US. Our founding was inherently political (and bloody), and it also doesn't help that politics is constantly injected into our media, news, and corporations.
Please don't take this as offense, but I'll just leave some opinions here... different views on the same topic, not to invalidate anything that was already said. First and foremost, something that I need to point out specially for interchange students, but also for tourists and foreigners visiting another country overall - the way you get treated is not the way locals relate to themselves, wherever you are. I know this is kinda obvious, but I feel this sometimes really needs to get hammered for a deeper understanding. I have hosted a japanese foreign exchange student at home, and I have a family case... daughter of my mom's aunt who moved to Japan young, married there, has been living there for over 50 years. Her daughter came to visit relatives in Brazil, she liked the experience to the point of learning the language and heavily considering moving here for a period of around 10 years. But the enchantment kinda dies pretty fast once you move from tourist / interchange student to either an immigrant or someone trying to do the regular stuff here - work, build a family, pay expenses and plan on staying. It was a bit of a similar thing for the foreign exchange student who stayed at my home. She was more or less pampered and taken extreme care of during her stay. Security is a priority, you take them wherever they need to be, they are treated as a more or less a representative of a foreign country by most people. Because there's more at stake than only her welfare, which is obviously important... but for most foreign exchange students there is usually also the image of the exchange student program (in her case, Rotary), the image of families taking care of her, among other stuff. So you end up living in a sort of bubble. This is also true for tourists, and to a point family visitors. Then again, this is also true on the negative side, for instance, for immigrants seeking low paying jobs. Often, you'll have a pretty crappy experience in another country with this situation in mind no matter how good the country is, not because life in the country is generally crappy, but because your situation is. Whoever immigrates to another country for low paying jobs to send money back to family has high potential of having a crappy experience. I have some family that went to Japan during the 80s and 90s for that. Their experiences, though not all bad, are peppered with bad stuff. Living in run down cramped warehouse rooms converted for living in the middle of nowhere, being offered bad jobs, getting verbal abuse and complaints all day from bosses, working overtime all the time without extra compensation, almost getting scammed multiple times, being fired without warning and not knowing what to do next, having no friends... I never took this to mean Japan is a bad country, despite being some of the first - first hand experiences I heard about living in Japan. I took this to mean immigrant life is not easy anywhere, which is totally true. This, despite them all being japanese descendant and speaking a bit of the language. More recently, in 2008 and 2018, I had the opportunity to visit Japan as a tourist and visiting family. It was a wonderful experience, but of course if I were ever to move there (kind of a dream of mine) I know it wouldn't be anything like visiting as a tourist. It'd be at the very least harder than living here... no friends, no close family, I still haven't learned japanese properly, etc. Anyways, back on topic. Japan is much much muuuch less diverse than countries like US or Brazil. Immigrants are a tiny minority by comparison. Current percentage of immigrants in countries like US and Brazil lies somewhere around 15% of the total population, but if you consider history, as colonized countries, the native population was totally overrun, and are still highly mistreated as part of a minority these days. So actually, the majority of people are from other cultures, carrying other cultural bagages with them... it's a very different situation. Japan currently has a bit less than 2% of the population as immigrants. And this number grew quite a lot in recent years. The overall culture and self image is much more uniform. As lots of them live in urban areas like Tokyo, it might not seem much like so, but that's the real difference... Japan has somewhere between 7 to 10 times less immigrants in comparison to western countries, proportionately - considering the total population. If you don't consider the total population it's even worse... US has around 50 million immigrants, Japan has like 2.3 million. You can imagine the difference this makes... This, plus rules for entering the country as an immigrant changes the relationship the general population has with them. Japan has even higher standards to accept immigrants, though it's been relaxing things a bit in recent years. Back in the 80s and 90s, when my relatives went there to work, they only did because they were second gen japanese - nisei. If it wasn't for that, it'd been much harder for them to get there. So, the things lots of foreigners living in Japan often says, as a minority, is worth of consideration. Even japanese people with mixed blood. I hear often in interviews and from family members living there - it's like we are and will always be treated as foreigners. With respect, sure, but at a bit of a distance. It's hard for them to break this barrier. There's also japanese culture being more collectivist vs western countries individualist culture, but you gotta keep digging to understand it a bit better. One of the reasons why americans can get so political about things, has to do with culture, yes... but also, in overly capitalist countries, with a long history of immigration, there are lots of key differences to consider. Historical considerations, wage gap problems, long running discriminatory problems coming from a history of differences. This doesn't happen a whole ton in Japan because it doesn't have a long history of division between japanese people and people who immigrated from other nations, the wage gap isn't as bad in Japan as it is in the US and other western countries, among others. Yes, it has some of those, as all countries have, but not in the same scale countries like the US or Brazil has. So, with this, there isn't as many reasons for young japanese people to worry a whole ton about politics, which is both a good and bad thing. As long as Japan stays a peaceful nation with reasonable quality of life for the majority of people living in the country, it's good not to have unnecessary attrition and strife. But if politics suddenly changes and things go out of balance, that's when the lack of political motivation in the country will hit it badly. Because there is nothing better for an authoritarian, totalitarian government than a population that doesn't care about politics.
Then again, there is a difference between being vocal about politics, and acting on it. People take position according to what society demands, how society works culture wise. In US there is an expectation of people to have opinions regarding politics, and express them. Regardless of being vocal or not, in a sense the reason why Trump got elected in the first place was because lots of americans, despite being very vocal about politics, in the end when it counted the most they didn't act. Lots of people who were against Trump didn't go out to vote against him. And so, things became even more divided. Because before Trump, during the election and now, the reality of US politics is that it's almost perfectly divided between republicans and democrats. But as vote is not obligatory, only a few people actually go out to vote. The party that convinces more people to act on it wins. Next topic, I have a personal feeling that the entire thing about being closer, more trusting, more helpful and whatnot has less to do with country and more to do with big cities versus smaller cities or the countryside. I saw this in the US, in Japan, and see this here in Brazil. People in bigger cities are just colder, because life goes faster, and things are more cutthroat. Everyone is rushing somewhere and worried about something, so they get less friendly, and stop less to talk with strangers. And it makes sense. If you think about it, a big part of big city population is composed of people coming from smaller cities searching for opportunity. In the US I went a couple of times as a tourist, family roadtrip and bus tour, visiting cities in the west and east coast from very small to the big cities. I felt that difference there too. And here in Brazil I was born and lived most of my life in a mid sized touristic city, but also lived in one of the biggest cities in Brazil (Sao Paulo), have family there, and currently live in a smaller capital state. I also see the differences here. So it's kinda independent of country... mass psychology perhaps? xD Just a theory. We are much more similar than people might think, or often international news portrays. The thing about groups and where you live I also feel it's kinda universal, despite sometimes this being tackled to Japan or something. I mean, I live in Brazil, people would probably have this image that it's all party, everyone friendly, and easy to make friends everywhere. I actually kinda isn't. My friend circle at school, and then at both universities I went through, had all to do with similar interests, and they were relatively small. This even has a specific term - "panelinha". Classes of 40 people usually have groups of 5 to 10 people with shared interests... just the way it is. And yes, I have seen students that makes no friends at all. I imagine this is also a thing in the US, particularly when you hear about the horrible shootings and suicide cases... it's often people that have become ostracized in schools, universities or communities. Thanks Yuta and Shino for the video and opinions... I think it's important to share and discuss these things.
I have zero interest in politics as well, but as a college student, I can't avoid it lol. As an American, I feel that politics and nationalism are so ingrained into society and education that it's just how we live. The ideas and nuances that drive certain political beliefs, seem to be what most people base their entire worldview on rather than say, experiences or relationships. It's kind of hard to explain but, it's true, everyone seems to want to talk about politics lol. Like how I am talking about it right now...
The cancel culture seems to be bipolar with Japan IMO, at least on the online side. Like either people don't care about it at all and meme on the few person trying to criticize the subject or there's suddenly this people that seems to never forgive and never forget. The latter is more common with entertainment and otaku it seems as I saw it from time to time when an a creator/artist/idol that just don't stop hating until you get out of the industry (most recent one was Mano Aloe, but I still remember Aya Hirano, that girl from AKB that was forced to shave her head, and the whole fiasco with Kannagi where the main heroine apparently had a boyfriend before in the past).
I spoke a woman in Tokyo who had a sister that lived in L.A. Her sister had to leave L.A. because her vehicle had been vandalized 9 times and homeless people kept threatening her children.
It's funny seeing the reactions of my Japanese fiance when I told her stories of some of my childhood experiences when I used to live in South Central L.A.
As to the saving versus spending, i have heard it depends on what people think about the society. If you think it is stable, consistent, etc, you tend to save more, because there’s a future to plan for. If it can get upset and fall apart, or looks like it will, they tend to spend more, because why keep it if you don’t know it’ll stay around (ie. economic crash). Not sure how accurate it is, but it does seem to be a decent explanation. Love your videos! 😊❤️
It really depends on where you live. I've never carried a weapon and have never felt the need to have one, because it doesn't seem like others around me have them either.
The political correctness thing is so true. For example in Spanish, particularly in Mexican culture, a common term of endearment of the sort is "gordo" or "gorda". These terms can be used in a negative manner just like any other, but it is usually used just like you would use "buddy" or "darling". These two words are usually used among friends and family and never really negatively. Now, I've had two instances in my life where people have gotten mad at me for using the words and have given me shit for it. Once when I was 12 and once when I was taking chemistry in HS. The first one, I was told that although they didn't speak Spanish they knew it wasn't nice to say. Of course I referred to my friend as gordo. The second time, I had another buddy who I would also be called him gordo. This time the Chem teacher got pissed and said I was insulting and being rude to him along some other things. Obviously not true, because we're buddies and neither of us had a problem with it. He would always call me back a stick or something and it was cool and all. I knew what these two people were trying to get at, like I know there are those with body image issues and weight issues, but because of that I shouldn't be told not to say it. Cultural context is very important, because for me and my two buddies this wasn't a problem at. it's common, but outside of the culture it does seem offensive and not normal I suppose. And it goes to show people are willing to get offended and correct people on behalf of themselves or other without seeing the clear picture.
I'm in the US, and I personally hate the whole politics thing, and it's gotten much worse since Trump got in office. You can't go more than a few days at most without hearing people arguing over politics in my experience and I really wish people would just be quiet over it. Everyone has different opinions and no one will agree, so it's just arguing for the sake of arguing. That's one reason I want to move to a different country in the future.
Same. I saw a video (may have been a Yuta video) and all the comments were like "Why do Japanese people not care about Politics, or vote for a party, that's so bad!" And I was thinking, are you kidding me? that's amazing - It means the politicians must not be affecting their lives (at least not in any major way) and they can go about their lives without having to think about it
If you look on the right places (small music venues or a few pubs) you will find nice people that have social skills, you can exchange contacts (facebook mostly) and act like a normal human being.
In my opinion, America's focus on politics is more a product of its history, not the character of its people. The most contentious issues in American politics tie into massive social issues that were created hundreds of years ago. Also, the American government has a lot of power, even over other countries around the world. The decisions politicians make create massive shockwaves. If I lived in a smaller, European country, I probably wouldn't care as much about my country's politics as I do about America's politics. And like it or not, other people around the world are more likely to judge you as a person by the president your country elected than if you were Japanese.
I like the concept of this video. A lot of people talk about Japanese and express their opinions online, but you probably don't get to see a lot of Japanese people who talk about other countries. So I think it would be interesting to hear us talk about your country.
But of course, Japanese people do talk about other countries. They just talk about them in Japanese.
So if you speak Japanese, you will learn about Japanese people's opinions about other countries... not just good ones, but bad ones too.
So if you want to learn Japanese with me, I can send you some Japanese lessons where I teach you the kind of Japanese that Japanese people actually speak. Click here and subscribe bit.ly/3hYMkmp
I can tell im already gonna love this video
hey yuta do people often take loans in japan like in us
Hey Yuta can you make a video of who Japanese want to win in this election!?!? Trump or Joe Biden.
donald duck.
Thanks Yuta. I really like this kind of content, but there isn't very much of it available.
I recently disconnected from the news and politics this year. I was getting in a really depressed state because of the pandemic and I just realized that the media and politicians want to keep people in an angry state and I'm just over it. I'm done. And as far as my views, I don't care if somebody has differing views. I'll respect you if you respect me, basically.
I had to do the exact same thing. I already deal with some anxiety and 2020 was escalating it quite a bit and I had to cut myself from news and politics to keep my sanity.
@@BitterMillenial Around last election, I just quit Facebook entirely which was my primary form of communication with friends and family. I couldn't stand everyone's obsession with Trump vs Hillary. The political discordance has grown worse but I've become much happier switching to using personal discord servers and good old fashioned call and text to keep in touch with people. I am not, however, at all happy with the recent spike in media normalized rioting and violence...
I agree! It's always about which political party has the most money and power and just like sports, it's to fight over which one is better. If you like one team, people on the other team won't like you. And whatever happens, happens, so why worry about it anyway? But yeah I feel like everyone has different perspectives and they're to be respected even if it's to be disagreed upon.
I think that's how most people are until they get on social media.
@@chasey1978 Using social media is one of the biggest wastes of time.
Thank you for having me on your video, Yuta-san🙏🏻✨ hope everyone enjoyed it...!
姉の名前もしの😆 Good job in the video, very interesting discussion.
You said you spoke almost no English before you came here. Your English is amazing. I thought you were American first when the video started. I can barley hear an accent.
It's always great to see you in his videos!! I'm going to be an exchange in Japan in a few years, so this was interesting to watch. Now when I go I'm going to keep my american extrovert ways intact, and try to make many friends even if it is awkward at first (: Have a great day!!
Your English is so good!!!!! I would think you are American haha
Cute
Politics are like sports here. The parties are “teams”.
@@JigsWithoutWoodstock and nobody is a good sport and everyone throws tantrums
Danji it’s also very toxic
Which is very unfortunate. With politicians, they should be judged based on the actual policies they're putting forward, not for which "team" they're playing in.
Politics in the US is like an EA game. Everyone bashes on it and the only people who play are in it for the money.
Chris Helton So like Ancient Rome?
Yea, the political discourse in America has really changed in the past 4 years. It wasn’t always such a divisive topic. Growing up in the 90’s I was taught it was inappropriate to ask someone who they voted for. Social media destroyed that norm.
I think its mostly because both sides of the debate used to be semi reasonable? Like you can understand why someone would subscribe to the rhetoric of the other party. But after someone with incredibly devisive and downright stupid rhetoric got into office, suddenly the people that voted for him look less like someone who may have been "tricked" into voting for them to more like either an idiot or just downright evil / bigoted.
@@PokeWeekly Aye.
Before both sides were able to forgive the other. The idea was "You're doing it wrong, I get that you're trying to do the right thing but you're wrong."
Now, the general sentiment is "You're doing things wrong, you're evil, you're my enemy. I must do everything I can to hurt you."
People can no longer get along with eachother...
Social media destroyed our social fabric. Time for social media to be destroyed
I believe that a lot of people have forgotten to imagine themselves in the other person's shoes, and try to reach across the aisle. I am a centrist in one of the most liberal areas in America (Minneapolis), and both in school and out, I can never express my opinion without fear of severe backlash.
People need to realise that the other 50% of the country probably isn't evil, and just views things from a different perspective.
@@camdendebruin6667 It's the narcissism inbred and promoted now days. All appeasement and instant gratification, awards without effort, and speaking for others rather than yourself.
Two of my coworkers got assaulted just outside a bar in the Sakae area of Nagoya. A group of young men clearly singled them out because they were obviously not Japanese and beat them pretty badly; both ended up going to the hospital and one needed numerous stitches. The police were about as helpful as could be expected (i.e. not at all; they accused my coworkers of instigating a fight with a group that outnumbered them more than 3-to-1) and the CCTVs in the area "weren't working".
So, yeah... I didn't walk around alone in Japan after that.
Yes, unfortunately anyone need to expect danger anywhere.
When my friend came over to visit Japan, she stayed in Tokyo a couple of days at a women-only hostel and the staff there warned her about the dangers of human trafficking, which is a fairly common issue at many big international cities. She was told to not go to areas like Roppongi Hills alone at night. It surprised me cause, as a guy, I've walked through that area at the dead of the night and never once have felt in danger. The only other big city I've walked through alone at night is Montreal, Canada, cause I spent most of my life there, and I never felt in danger there either despite some areas there having a sketchy reputation as well... Regardless, asking locals about where it's safe to go is one of the best things you can do when travelling anywhere. Stay safe!
I also felt safe on an almost surreal level, when I was in Japan. Being able to just stroll around at night and the most "severe" thing to happen was a person simply going into the opposite direction in the same side alley ^^
And compared to many, MANY other places in the world, Japan is remarkably safe. That doesn't mean that nothing ever could happen. But it is way less likely to be mugged, beaten up etc.
That alone is a huge factor for me personally when it comes to the amount of "recovery from every day life" I can get out of holidays somewhere.
I'm from Hiroshima, and we have a lot of "Yakuza" there...
In Hiroshima, there are some areas that you shouldn't walk through...
I was wondering about this. The reason it isn't safe to walk around certain places in the states is because those places have high or visible criminal activity going around. While I don't expect the same in Japan... I always thought the Yakuza still had some presence over there.
This is one of the most interesting videos I've seen. Not just on your channel but in general. I would love to see more on cultural differences!
"I got to know some people" - Yuta
"I got to know some girls :)" - Translation
Some cute girls 🤣
Yuta had game lol
I feel like the obsession with politics was way less prominent in the past, Americans are just more and more unhappy, and unhappiness typically spurs a focus on politics. I notice this too with China and the Middle East.
There's been a significant social push in media to not only hyperfocus on politics, but specifically divisive politics, and often they report inaccurately to spur conflict. I can't stand the obsession with politics, so I avoid the topic. Not impressed by the riots and street shootings and shit...
@@ltmuffler3482
Yeah, I can get behind that. The whole liberals versus conservatives thing is horizontal politics, and the ones in charge of this country would rather that be our discourse than vertical politics: the poor versus the rich, the employees versus the employers, and the powerless versus the powerful.
@@MisterJang0 My concern is that the concept of "poor vs rich" is too romanticized and simplified in the US. Economically speaking, there are concerns regarding the fact that the economy as a whole shifted away from competition (which is extremely healthy for an economy and especially for consumers) toward consolidation (which is extremely unhealthy for economies and is naturally anti-consumer). The worst offense, though, has been the shift away from consumer satisfaction to shareholder satisfaction. Stocks have killed the US economy, because companies are no longer just expected to make money on a transaction, they are expected to "grow the stocks", or in other words, make more money on each transaction than before. That's not only unhealthy, but mathematically is impossible, because there is a finite amount of financial resources, which means growth of that nature will always stagnate. It naturally breeds monopolization, because of the need to hold more and more of the entire market.
But setting that aside, the other concern is how private companies - and other nations for that matter - have involved themselves in US politics. The short and long of it is that "the rich" are not unanimously aligned to one side of the political schism. Both sides have significant funding, both sides are actually serving the benefits of their financial benefactors, and both sides (but, to me, it seems increasingly more so the left) are being manipulated by foreign powers with a political and financial interest in the US shifting towards communism, maintaining capitalism (and more specifically, a strong military presence in the world), or going to civil war outright (thereby removing us as a major player in global conflicts that would inevitably erupt).
History does repeat itself, but the variables are rarely the same. And if greater insight into history has taught us anything, rarely is there the romanticized "good" vs "evil", but rather one belief against another. Conflict is rarely born of righteousness, more often instead born of a refusal by one or both sides to submit to compromise. And that's the mistake people are making right now in the US...
@@ltmuffler3482
I'm not saying that poor means good and rich means bad. In almost any other country the main concern with politicians is corruption, however, in the U.S. the big concern is whether a politician is "too liberal" or "too conservative". The point being we've been sorely divided and conquered.
@@ltmuffler3482 This is a pretty good summarization of what has happened in the US and the shift to politics 24/7. Kudos.
I think politics in America is very identity driven, people associate their political affiliation with their entire outlook on life and who they are which is why they are so passionate. Positions are very extreme. It is similar in the UK but we are not as extreme as in the U.S. In the U.S it is high stakes and can be literally life & death for example with racial politics.
I'm from the UK as well (though I live in Italy) and I personally don't think we are that divided. Sure, we have our differences but no one's really gonna care who you voted for and stuff. In the US, it's a whole different level. Almost like a religion I'd say.
People assert life or death values on politics because they don't understand how a democratic republic works and that's why it's so toxic in the US. The rediculous people act like if their party doesn't win then literally ww2 Germany will happen (ie the professor she mentioned that had a mental breakdown over the election), while other side of rediculous think if their party doesn't win the constitution will go up in flames as things get banned.
Otherwise it becomes an ugh thing when politics come up. But there is a couple identities that comes with the parties like real tree camo and American flag everything or blue/red hair and the general woke hippie look
@@pieshka4509 enlightened centrist spotted
Identity politics is so dumb I feel it's what lead politics to get toxic here because it's like if you don't agree with their views they take it as a personal attack and the opposition must be elminated. This applies to people on both sides of the political spectrum.
@@BitterMillenial they literally spawned the altright, no one cared about race then suddenly it's ok to denigrate white people and blame them for everything like some kind of original sin but any mild thing towards any other race is viewed as racism and we can onoy hear about issues they face and people became very resentful over it then add all the canceling and political correctness while calling everyone a nazi and boom suddenly they start growing in popularity
"American students are really into politics" and while I was a student teachers were all about telling us to avoid getting political while in school not that anyone ever cared about politics in those days. Pre smartphone era... It'll never be like that again
No kidding. Now, it's like compulsory to wear your opinion pinned to your sleeve at all times and inquire about everyone else's. Wonderful argument in favor dismantling social media.
where is that? If my teacher told me that, I would have spoken up --like no way, are you kidding? Sounds like a garbage teacher to me
@@pantheon777 Because professors/teachers should show you how to think not what to think.
I'd say America is more deeply, deeply divided about Political Correctness as opposed to being PC. I honestly don't know if there's more opposition or support for it because both sides are very... passionate. Frankly, discourse has fallen apart in this country and we're going through a crisis. I'm only 18, and even in my lifetime it's gotten much worse, and I don't believe it's just an American thing; I know British, Australian, and Canadian people that all feel that discourse has gotten pretty insane. I don't know about people outside of the anglosphere since I only know English, and this isn't a problem everywhere given you're talking about how it's weird, but I feel like it's worth stating that this is anything but normal for America or any other place. Everyone agrees it's bad and is very uncomfortable about how toxic it has gotten.
Funny how much it's changed. I'm 26 now, but when I was 18 politics weren't even a thing people discussed, well maybe old people lol. Can't think of a single person around 18-20 at the time that was interested in politics, Very fascinating how much has changed since myspace days
@@stevengold I just turned 30 and I'd say 2008 was when I first really saw younger people getting more into politics and politics getting more toxic and heated. I think Obama being president really freaked some people out, especially when he did a lot with the human rights movement and marriage law and everything. People who had been so used to a white dude running the country and just kind of overlooking racist and homophobic stuff, suddenly had a black president who not only gave a voice to more POC, but who also asserted everyone should have equal rights and have them protected including those in the LGBTQ community. So suddenly you had people whose worlds were turning upside down because suddenly their beliefs were being challenged and they were learning about types of people they'd probably never heard of or encountered in their lives. Or they were types of people they had learned were "other" and since they didn't understand them they saw them as the enemy and "ruining" everything. I think that's why you had so many people who backed trump almost immediately and why trump got elected. These people needed the polar opposite of Obama and I'm sure some of them were already scarred enough by a black president that a female president would've been too much. Not their fault really, just culture shock. I think lack of education (not just academic but like social education) is a big factor in a lot of the places in the US. I once worked in a small school district and the school basically had a cult (of teachers) running it and they were untouchable, regardless of how much illegal stuff they did (toward students especially special Ed, and like changing grades and stuff). It gave me insight to how closed off some small towns in the country are and how easily people can be taught to think and believe certain things just to survive where they are. In that school where I was, if you didn't conform, they slowly turn everyone against you and try to blackmail you and try to convince people to fire you. Oh the stories I could tell.
@@iminyourwalls8309 it's also far easier for people to find their "people" online, instead of actually having to literally run into them. So you've got these people who otherwise wouldn't have their insane closeminded beliefs be validated by a lot of people, suddenly get a huge following on social media with other insane belief holders from around the world. I think social media has been great for people who don't have good support systems at home and find positive communities that spread kindness and love and acceptance, but unfortunately it also opens the door to people with NOT so great agendas connecting with other people of a similar mindset and then the world or a country dissolves into chaos. Regardless of what side of the aisle you're on, the fact that there isn't a neutral government or justice department is a big issue. I personally don't care who people vote for as long as they are fairly given the ability to vote (gerrymandering is disgustingly unfair right now in some states) and mail in ballots allowed and all that stuff. Right now there's like blatant interference with people being able to vote (not everyone gets voting days off because they work so they rely on mail ins) and district lines in some places are comically inequitable and borderline criminal. It should always be a fair fight with politics but it sadly rarely is.
4:20 “You think they actually really understand what’s going on?”
🤣🤣🤣
So true, Yuta! Just having opinions is not “understanding what’s going on”, most people only want to toy with opinions and want to be right with their opinions.
Just pushing opinions on someone is not “having a constructive conversation” about anything.
Finally, someone who gets it. I swear, people watch 2-3 videos and then go on to read 5 articles and they think they have everything figured out overnight.
Yuta is very osbervant and self aware he can sense the oblivouis from american's talking about politics . Yuta is a very smart man
The cost of living in America has risen, and wages haven't risen with it. But yes, people spend more than they should here.
@@nauticalblue i think the original comment refers to how inflation happens but wages don't keep up with inflation enough so that people feel that decrease in standard of living. That has been happening before 2020
It's nothing about wages or anything. It is about the standard of living of American people that they spend a lot. An average American uses 60 times more electricity than an average Chinese person also 30 times more than an average Indian person. Basically you are spending a lot of money unnecessary resources just in order to maintain the standard of living.
But, it's for The Gram! 🤳🎁😔
Depends on what state you live in
When I get home around 11 pm from work, I’m constantly checking my surroundings, even though I’m a guy
I watched too much -shit- as a kid and now I'm paranoid af tbh. lol
Everyone should. Unless you arent a coked up Jon Jones, I think its ok for you to be wary of your surroundings, but when its get to the point when you are extremely paranoid. Then yeah there is a problem.
The Japanese people's difficulty in getting close to people and making very close friends based on a few chance encounters actually resonates with me on a deeper level 😅🤣
I don't understand why you splitted this interview in half and posted the other half almost nine months later
His goals are beyond your understanding
@@sonixka257 but if you want to understand his plans, you'll need to know japanese. So if you want to learn japanese you should learn japanese with him, and sign up for his free lessons.
@@teddydeveau1477 🗣 no
@@teddydeveau1477 And so the evil plot is revealed!
There's a genius to his madness!
People in America are probably more interested in politics than Japanese since Americans are probably more dissatisfied with the current system. The political climate is more polarized now more than ever.
It's more pushed on us culturally to be informed in America. It's considered irresponsible or ignorant to not know what's going on in the world.
Americans have no idea what's going on in any other part of the world. The media skews heavily in one direction & won't discuss anything unless it's to their advantage, which is why trust in mainstream media is at rock bottom & they're all going broke & laying off journalists even before the pandemic. God help you if you're a fense-sitting 3rd party voter; you get hate from both sides. College professors are polluting the minds of students with race & gender, creating a strong us-vs-them mentality. God forbid they should teach actual job skill, or useful things like how to pay bills or not suck at interviews. Now everyone in the country pretty much needs therapy. & you practically need a college degree to not get overlooked on an application to sell shoes, & that will put you in debt until your own kids are old enough for college.
also becouse they treat politicians like celebrities
@@dan1e1473 Actually, from outside, it looks like it's treated as a sport. Everybody picks a team and support the captain, wearing hats, waving flags...
I don't think is because of that. Just because both parties are using the "them against us" to radicalize their voters. I'm from Mexico where political parties are doing the same and that is destroying families. When we lacked of democracy, people were not very interested in politics either, but because now it is a show like watching soccer, everybody wants to be in the winner team and shove their victory over the other team and that is awful. Democracy is not bad, but it can be perverted with these tactics that the US or my country are using nowadays, because, if you think this thoughly, people depending from where they were born or their economical status, they'd have different opinions about what is good or bad, and both visions are needed to move a country, the mere act that all the different parties could reach an agreement to allow all citizen to feel more safe and prosperous, where the poor can work and earn enough to have a decent life, the middle class can follow his dreams and the rich can become more richer. If all people fight for the same objetive, the country could become unstopable.
Can confirm: I felt kind of sketched out in a basement store in Kabukicho, but I also didn't get the sense that anything bad would actually happen.
Okay so for the first part of this you guys say you can walk around late at night in Tokyo but then you have other Japanese people saying that if you're a girl it's a bad idea to do so. So which is it?
In eastern countries, it more like considered bad(culturally ) for a girl to roam around late nights. Also you can see other norms like e.g swearing. If a guy swears it's not considered really good, but as he is a guy he can slide off. But if a girl swears then she is completely judge on her character.
I wish he interviewed a Japanese guy to see the differences in opinion as each gender gas very different experienced
my wife and i have been travelling for a long time now i don't think we felt safer in any country more than Japan...even when we visited Kabukicho which is the red light district Yuta mentioned we felt a bit uncomfortable but never felt that we are not safe or in some way in danger
Bader KW I went there and didn’t feel uncomfortable at all. I think I must be pretty clueless. I didn’t know it was the red light/ yakuza area.
@@Xosidhe hahah your not clueless at all i didn't know it was the red light district either till i got back to my country
Thanks for the video! I really enjoyed it! Hope you're all doing well. Hello from the USA!
America is in the middle of a cold civil war that will go hot soon so thats why the political situation was like this
Only if useful idiots continue to play into it.
civil unrest + pandemic + eviction avalanche.
But billionaires have increased their share and total wealth.
Crazy times!
Can't wait until everything calms down
@@jojitorod4621 it wont
Not this time
Shadow government has found the weakness of democracy and will be making powet moves
@@firesniperbullet2 is probably not wrong. America's been a wall that Russia and China have been trying to find a way around for over 70 years. Too dangerous to engage, but directly interfering in their interests. Sowing political and social discord within the country so that it falls apart is a pretty easy way to resolve that issue, all they need to do is convincingly introduce the political and economical anathema of a republic into the minds of civilians, and then convince everyone that everyone else is out to murder them. China would jump on most of southeast asia in an instant if the US went to civil war.
I don't want civil war. First of all, very few people here in the states understand what the implications really are of their own neighborhoods becoming battlefields. It wouldn't be particularly civil, either, you can thank the zealous hatred of white people for that... But I also don't want it because US has many allies that depend on it to ward off very dangerous enemies (like China), and without the US to protect them, places like SK and Taiwan would also be turned into battlefields. Do people in the US here really understand the implications of what they are saying when they encourage civil war? I don't think they do. If they did, they'd be keeping their goddamn mouths shut.
Chula Vista, along H Street, the line is 3rd Avenue. One side is boring suburbs, the other side is Stabtown. I literally found bullets in the gutter once.
I don't recommend walking alone at night in empty places in Japan, just because it didn't happen to you it doesn't mean there is no crime here, people (mostly girls) get mugged and molested, it is not as much as other countries but it happens quite often.
i would listen to this as a podcast lol very interesting video yuta!
1) It can only get dangerous like that in some of America's biggest cities. The safety levels of smaller cities, like the one I live in, are more like what she described back home. I've lived here 10 yrs & only had two slightly sketchy things happen to me, but nothing aggressive, even when I walked right through the "bad" parts of town.
2) You're in college. College kids are heavily encouraged to talk & think about politics in the US, even if they've never done so before. Albeit, the last presidential election cycle was an oddball, so it may have been a bit more aggressive than usual.
3) Yeah, in America it's generally been considered polite to talk to people if you happen to be stuck in close proximity to them for long enough, even if you don't know them. Some people do it because they can't stand the silence too. Or, in your guys' case, they see a foreigner & just become generally curious because it's not something they see everyday. Not everyone does that, here, either & it does get exhausting for those who aren't a people person, but we're still expected to try to talk back if spoken to first.
4) One of the biggest aggrivations we have about our own country is that our own schools don't teach people how to budget or manage money wisely. Still, I don't know if that would change our habits all that much if we did. Most people who start a family & are forced to try still can't save much, if any, money from paycheck to paycheck to save their lives between the two of them. Plus, the least cautious people in this country push us hard towards as much convenience as humanly possible & so many companies oblige that, so you often have to have a credit card, you have to have a vehicle, you have to have a cell phone with internet, & you have to maintain all of that, or there's not much you can even do whether you have a job or not. So, when people do have few enough financial obligations, they will usually just throw caution to the wind & splurge on themselves because they don't know how long they'll really be able to do that. Also, for the first few generations of the 1900s, people were obsessed with social status-- I can buy nice things, so I will. It left a lot of people trying to have what their neighbors had, or better, so they wouldn't feel like they were pitied or looked down upon. We don't do that anymore, but I feel like that must have left a bit of a subconscious imprint across generations that makes us a bit irresponsible with money.
The "getting ignored" thing is soo damn annoying... I'm a socially clumsy person and I've been ignored by quite a few Japanese now. Since I dont know the exact reason, I cant really fix it. Its a frustrating experience
Really interesting topic, would love to hear street interviews!
Great content!
Interesting. There are definitely places you can't walk at night. But where I live in the US, I often take walks at 3am. It's not a stereotype of all of the US.
I don't know. I'd be wary of walking in Alaska at night. You never know when you'll be mauled by a grizzly.
@@digdug1431 lol.. yeah I guess there are those kinds of threats. They're probably more viable in some cases than human threats. Around here you're likely just get to stampeded by a bunch of deer because of our overpopulation due to City protections.
It's definitely not a stereotype. That word wouldn't apply. What it can be is a generalization--which would be as you said, not necessarily true depending on where you are.
Maybe you're in one of those 'red states' that she hates
I'm a born and raised New Yorker and I DON'T even feel safe walking around at night without my switchblade. I'd feel more at ease in Tokyo's red light district at night then New York subway during day
I dislike unnecessary attention, so I'm okay being ignored.
Hello fellow introvert!
It would be startling if someone tried to talk to me on a street out of the blue, and they weren't asking directions
i think why politics in the usa, especially among younger people are a big topic of discussion because there can be a lot in the line for their futures. being queer (using it as a broad term) or being a woman, having certain people in office can take away a lot of the opportunities that they could have (adoption, marriage, joining the military, abortion, etc.)
Politics here werent an issue for me until I noticed how they affected me personally. The moment the taxes went up, the price of healthcare jumping in a short time, the requirement to have health insurance. That nearly made me homeless.
Luckily, I survived on bare minimum food and water, and left my cheap loft for an even cheaper rented room from someone. I was making 50% more than minimum wage and didn't have any problems living in my own until the new laws and policies came into effect.
After that I stopped ignoring our politics and realized how much power the government actually had on our lives. Whether for good for bad.
Interesting conversation, and pretty useful. Shino added quite a bit to the dialogue, and she has a very pleasant personality.
Hmm, re: small talk when queueing, I wonder how much of the friendliness is a California thing. I live in Boston, and here, occasionally it happens, but it's more like what you two were saying about Tokyo.
Hm, true, I think the US is a place where it is generally 'normal' to just talk to random people, but yes, the attitudes vary, like I'm from the NW and theres a concept here called the Seattle Freeze, the gyst of it being that, while people aren't necessarily 'unfriendly', like they will still be nice to you, but its hard to go beyond a superficial interaction and actually connect or make friends because people are kind of just indifferent towards others, and aloof.
Its cold, wet, and we lack sunlight. We drink a lot of coffee, and we're depressed lol.
(Or thats the stereotype anyway)
In 1978 in the a small group of US personnel went down to a river for an overnight camping trip, Some of our group left the camp area and left me and a couple of girls there to watch the tents and the things we had brought. Shortly after we were left alone and large group of motorcyclist came down to where we were and for a while we thought we might be in trouble. They were loud and boisterous but after we offered their leader(?) some beer they calmed down and became somewhat less threatening. Finally they got bored and left us. Kind of sketchy situation. Also at that time, (not sure about now). Koreans were a bit disenfranchised in Japan. Correct?
And now all those harem anime where the protag has very little to no initiative in any given relationship but instead a series of convenient coincidences, makes much more sense.
And I'm sorry to say. Its kinda pathetic that it has such a great marketing pull that these kinda rom com anime keep getting made.
Relationships don't just spontaneously happen. You don't just turn around a corner and bump into a girl. You have to at least establish a connection and a dynamic together and I keep seeing none of these aspects in these anime and its really exhausting.
Its so annoying to me that I sometimes feel like I wanna go to Japan and rant via a creative seminar on basic romantic story writing at like a high school or something.
Agree (I think) but normal realmlife romance stories don't tend to sell as well to coomers and young men (the core audience of anime in and outside Japan)
Calm down. It's fantasy just like dramas where the female is always the center of attention by the most perfect, handsome, talented, dangerous guys who also happen to be billionaire doctor vampire pirates.
@@mgancarzjr What you're describing is not what I'm talking about. Thats a whole other thing thats also kind of cancer here in the west.
@@ceresbane they're both about the same to me in that they sell a fantasy to the reader or viewer. The theme is always: imagine yourself suddenly desired by highly desirable people without having to change or do anything about your situation. It's why there is a nevermind churn of young people through the music industry: good music isn't being sold - desire is.
@@mgancarzjr then you don't get the nuance of the comment in context with the video.
Yuta "I might not be the most friendly looking person". You are pretty high up there in friendly looks!!!
Acutally, this depends on the part of America you are in as well. In some cities, if a person randomly talks to you, you think they are trying to scam you.
I'm from Eastern Europe. The culture in the West is becoming so ... different, that now I'm finding Japanese culture more relatable and interesting. そして、一年日本語を勉強しましているんです。
Eastern Europe should never even have looked at west for ANY guidance lol,I as a Serbian never look at the west as some role model
@@Србомбоница86 Best that Eastern Europe to try to be democratic but use the examples of Western countries on what NOT to do.
@@BitterMillenial true lol political correctness is actually disgusting
Србомбоница yeah i live in the US and the majority of people you run across are pretty shitty and our people worship a god called political correctness
I think it would be interesting to discuss things like the HaseKara calamity and how it affects Japanese people's behavior online (typically not using real names, large contrast between online and real life behavior, etc.)
The thing with Politics and not being friends and such: I can be friends with somebody who is a little more conservative than me, but if they are bigoted and have "opinions" that are bigoted, I can't be friends with them. At that point it's past "politics"
You realize that would make you too, a bigot right.
@@psd.3144 not wanting to be friends with somebody who thinks certain groups of people should have less rights than them is being a bigot? bigotry is not an opinion.
@マナンナンアナメ my family does. i know plenty of people that do. I don't pretend anybody thinks a certain way.
I always thought Japanese people were very environmentally concious and had this idea that they don't waste anything, but when I went there it seemed a bit opposite in a lot of scenarios, like when I would go to the supermarket it's just normal for people to put invidual items in small plastic bags and then put these plastic bags into bigger plastic bags even when they own an eco-bag, then there are also products like invidually plastic wrapped bananas? I don't really understand it. It's a bit bizarre for me as an Australian because we recently banned all plastic bags at supermarkets, there are only re-usable bags that you need to buy.
Canadians find the USA very unsafe too, and I have never felt unsafe anywhere in Japan
I am American, and yes, I think U.S.A is garbage. I will move to Japan after I turn 18.
@@paddyotterness If you're from a Western country you can, but otherwise no.
@@markhenley3097 ?
Awesome video!!
My cousins came over for a spell from Iceland. They were horrified when I put a pistol on my hip before we went out, then were happily surprised when we didn’t get shot at when we were shopping. They asked, “Why carry a gun if you don’t use it?”. “Because I can, and you never know,” was my reply. I think they thought The U.S. was just one long running gun battle.
They thought you were a psycho, and they were right. I hope they met some normal Americans.
@@Nikki_the_G some of us are stuck in areas where that pistol is our only chance at survival. Must be nice living in the privileged first-world parts of America.
I live in Japan now and I was really surprised with Abe-san stepping down literally no one at my office has said anything! People really don't talk about politics.
I love Japan.
So do I.
🌸🇯🇵🍣⛩🌸
And so do I.
Love your videos. Shiiit don't get me started with New Orleans. As resident from New Orleans you definitely need to pay attention to you're surroundings at night
Personally if someone looks at me other than day dreaming . I would expect for some sort of acknowledgment or maybe questioned.
I've found that usually people who earn a higher salary as well are usually in areas where the rent is excessively expensive for even a one bedroom studio; makes it a lot harder to save and some people prioritize saving time on a commute as opposed to saving money.
Hey.. I was born here and I still find many things weird here. You just shrug and move on. What I like about Japan is how clean it is, and many other things. If it seems weird to me I just shrug and move on.
America is many countries. You would not believe how clean Washington state is, or how much we despise Donald Trump.
BenjaminFranklin99 lol your proving there point with US being sensitive and obsessive with politics
if I want to know what is a queue for in big cities, I usually go straight to security guards or people who manage that queue
3:09 - 🤔 Texas has some of the friendliest people (overall), or at least better mannered, that it's very strange to hear your guest say that.
Now, it may just have been in that particular city. If her friend was in a college area, that may explain it. Once you get outside of that, there are many decent places and many decent people across the board (ie. it doesn't matter who they are, they tend to be decent and with decent manners).
There are also many decent people in Red and Blue states. You need to get outside of college areas. Those areas and the people in them don't represent the country as a whole. (The US is very large with a population that's not quite 3x's Japan's, but it's up there).
Once you get out of college areas, no matter the state, the general public tends to be better mannered.
I hope your guest and her friend make another trip in a few years to explore more areas and states.
"southern hospitality"is a saying for a reason (even if in more recent years it's slowly going away). I've seen a few other foreign UA-camrs go to the states and they always say they love the south. They usually say everyone is friendly and there's delicious food. There's always a few bad apples everywhere though.
I find these types of videos fascinating.
I hate politics, everytime I talk to some of my friends they always try to make it about politics
But politics are damn important. It affects all of us
of course they do, politic is very huge part of our life.
almost every part of our daily life can be linked to politic.
because WE (people) are the politic.
It kinda encompasses everything you do.... though... you can talk about it TOO much.... there's a time and place
Everything's related to politics.
If its a civil discussion with alot of people understanding where people come from and can openly agree or disagree without it becoming a shouting contest. Yes. Talk politics. But in many cases, the nut case in people come out. And all kinds of misinformed opinions spew forth. You can have political opinions. Just don't make them political BELIEFS. Because with opinions, you can make tiny adjustments and corrects based on the new facts you learn everyday. At the core they might not change in how you see a well run government and an ideal society. But at least, you understand better and have more realistic expectations due to the wants and needs of others as well that might chafe under your believed ideal.
But if its a belief. You will do all kinds of insane mental gymnastics that your side is right. And that everyone is out to wrong you. Everyone are fools that don't understand how the world should be. And there's no way you can be wrong. Because this belief you have are based on such righteous ideals that there is no way it can end poorly for anybody. And to those that do, probably deserve it for being fools.
It's funny how much it shows that she learned most/all her English in LA.
Politics sucks, no matter where you are.
I disagree, it's actually a pretty fun and interesting topic. You just have to be open to other people's views and to not take anything personally.
Most of my friends are not into politics, but most of those who are are on the opposite side of the spectrum from me. But we actually get along well and have interesting discussions occasionally.
It stressful, but it's a part of life and we can't really afford to be ignorant about politics. Everything is all fun and games until you're the one being affected
@@el-karasu6070 the easiest way to be directly affected by politics is to get in a conflict because of your opinion on it. It can influence your life more than your vote.
@@bogdanlevi That's not how it works at all. You're only saying that because you never had to deal with sociopolitical issues that affect YOU.
@@el-karasu6070 I have. No sociopolitical issues that I could affect in a major way though.
When you don't even know the leader of your country is the prime minister not the president, you really don't care or pay much attention do politics..
I would look at a person like they were crazy if they told me they didn't know who their countries president was!
@@duane_313 i don't know who leads this place
This reminds me of back when I was in Year 8 (age 12/13) and I was the only one in my form who didn't know who my country's prime minister was (Theresa May). Man, I was so innocent back then. My life was so much more peaceful back when I knew nothing about politcs ngl.
Japanese people probably know what their leader's title is in Japanese, but not necessarily in English.
@@Ricky911_ I think it's actually pretty sad that people are expected to be informed about politics at such early ages nowadays. Not only is the political climate, frankly speaking, way more toxic than any kid should have to put up with, at that age most people aren't able to form a very informed opinion anyway so they would probably end up on whatever side radicalizes them first.
Top 3 Areas in Tokyo with the Highest Number of Violent Crimes
Shinjuku Ward (Shinjuku): 757 incidents; Shinjuku, Kabukicho, Shin-Okubo area.
Chiyoda Ward (Manseibashi): 642 incidents; Akihabara, Marunouhi, Kanda area.
Toshima Ward (Ikebukuro): 581 incidents; Ikebukuro, Sugamo, Mejiro area.
What about these areas, Juta?
Those numbers may seem high but think of the total population of Tokyo. There’s 13.96 million people who live there full time. So if you add up all of those violent crimes, you only have a 0.00015% chance of being a victim of a violent crime in Tokyo. In comparison, the city of Philadelphia had 15,091 cases of violent crime in 2020 with a population of only 1.579 million. That gives you a 0.01% chance of being victimized. That’s significantly higher and philly is not even the most dangerous city in the USA.
Curious about where in Texas Shino's friend was at. Not that it matters TOO too much, since it wouldn't be terrible hard to find bigoted people anywhere in the state, but the density of such things can shift drastically. The city I go to college in was mostly in a state of mourning - every class I went into, you could tell precisely who had voted Trump as they were the only ones cheerful and peppy, teachers included.
Also, with the safety topic being brought up, I am curious about what the Japanese would think of Sundown Towns in the US. Never got around to talking to my friends about it when I studied abroad, so I do wonder what their reaction to such a concept would be.
what is this sundown town
@@khankhattak. Sundown Towns are essentially white supremacist communities, within which there are often segregative local laws or practices towards non-whites. The name stems from the roughly universal rule that "colored" people need to leave by sundown, else the community would attack them. There are instances of this concept that apply to as little as suburbs to as big as entire Sundown Counties.
TL;DR - If you're not white after dark while there, they try to kill you.
@@TheMasterXIII Although they were discussing places like sections of Chicago, Detroit, Oakland, Compton, Stockton, New York, Minneapolis, Modesto, etc. Where you just don't go period.
In any other country, these places would just be another suburb instead of functional combat zones depending on the day. There are reasons for this though and it has nothing to do with what you went on about.
@@shawnm1902 I was referring to the specific story regarding Shino's friend getting accosted during the early phase of Trump's 2016 election @2:50 , the area safety thing was a completely different talking point.
I love when he says "Buuut☝🏽" 😂. Look at her reaction at 18:13 hahaha
to quote my brother piotr "americans....you are very strange people"
You're welcome.
I kind of feel that any place in a large city is a danger zone where crime & drugs run rampant. Other people feel that way about small podunk towns. In reality, it's always the low income zones in evey town & city where needles flow & bullets fly. The large cities seem to have the largest concentration of mentally unstable, drug-addled homeless, while the podunks are basically giant trailer houses full of gun owners with nothing to lose. It can also be argued that rich kids do crime for clout & fun, because they know daddy will bail them out.
10 years ago US is probably more peaceful and secure
I love how he says "queuing" instead of standing in line
UA-cam -This video has 3 comments
Me - can I see them?
UA-cam -の!!!
sorry bro but you can look at tmy comment if you feel like it
I see what you did there 😂😂
Same here.
Some places you can walk around at 2 am, my kids used to do it all the time in college. Unfortunately, there used to be a lot of places where you could leave doors unlocked but getting less and less. We all used to know our neighbors too and could walk in each other houses too but most people don't know their neighbors anymore. It's sad. I'm lucky I live In a town where we all watch out for each other.
I miss how in Japan, I was able to walk around, drinking a beer. There is an assumption that people are responsible that is missing in the United States.
It's actually considered rude to walk and drink/eat at the same time in Japan
@@jeeroylenkins3081 What I mean by that is that when you were out for a walk, you could have a beer in public. Sit at a bench and take life in or stand there and chat with a friend. In any event, yeah, you wouldn't really wander since you have to stay near the vending machine so you have a place to put the can when you're done.
@@funghazi Yeah, Japan truly does seem like a lot more of a peaceful country than most. I've heard you can even leave your laptop lying around and the odds are it won't be touched at all. In most other places you'd be lucky to leave a pen unsupervised without it getting taken hahaha.
Hey Yuta, thanks for the video. I suggest you put "part 2" on the title, because I reluted to watch because was thinking that was a repost
BTW, you have been in Sao Paulo, right? Nowadays Brazil is really like USA in political fight. It's really a hell over here when the topic changes to politics.If you come back here someday, i suggest you avoid this topic, because people are really insane about that
Some comments for Feedback,
1. Safety -- This is pretty accurate, even in safe areas you have to be careful and make sure you avoid sketchy people. Avoiding sketchy people and areas are petty important. Luckily, walking in the US isn't a big thing, so you usually don't need to worry about on-foot safety.
2. Politics -- Also pretty accurate -- Some people definitely do not understand what is going on. There is a lot of cognitive dissonance in the US. However, i would say most informed people do have legitimate understandings and on the left, the political arguments (and the changes that come with them) often are modeled after countries like France, Korea and Japan.
Dating & Politics -- Yep. You can basically treat this like religion. Politics becomes part of peoples identities in the US, even when those people aren't very politically inclined. Coexistance is always possible. But obvious you don't want to Date/LongTerm/Marry someone you can't agree on ideologically things. You can argue this is close minded (because it's sort of is) but it also makes sense. Most people don't love someone they are prone to get into conflict with. Politics often represents an individuals principles. Disagreeing on principles can lead to conflict. People hate conflict with people they like.
Political Correctness -- In general, Americans on a national level struggle with empathy (思いやり). A part of the country doesn't get taught this in a nice uniform way. It's kind of expected to have been learned by adulthood, but it isn't guaranteed. I don't have a good understanding where PC comes from, but i'd like to think it comes as a reaction from the Left due to Culture and Race being an incredibly touchy subject in the day-to-day already. PC Is probably a vicious cycle that only gets worse as it gets over-used and abused.
3. Small Talk / "Friendly" - I honestly have no idea where this comes from -- just part of the culture -- probably just learned from our parents? Totally a thing and I do participate in this every once in a while. It's more common among older people than young people, but everyone does it.
4. Savings -- Not even going to comment on the saving money thing. This is 100% true on the average. I work hard on my savings personally. So there is a counter example for you.
5. Friends -- We want to be friends with Japanese people. especially us that watch your videos LOL. I think we all understand that language barriers can be exhausting though.
I’m living in LA so it’s nice to have her perspective be so familiar, I think westwood is a rather nice area and parts of sawtelle are too, however the point of not wanting to be on the other side of the street is so very true, there are alot of rough places in LA and it’s good to know which places to avoid. In the area south, around LAX in westchester things can get very very sketchy and I’ve seen actual Japanese tourists be scared before since that is an essential area for travel, still not as bad as downtown lol
Thank you for sharing!
I don't care if people have different political beliefs to me regarding taxation or benefits or whatever, but when it's openly unabashed racism - locking up immigrant children just for the colour of their skin, and cheering on the murder of black people at the hands of cops, just to name a couple major ones, then I refuse to be friends with such people. I don't think their's anything close-minded about rejecting such ugliness.
Thank you for caring. Thank you for being a decent human being!
Lol 😆 thank you, I enjoyed the commentary and the Japanese perspective. 👍🏻
American students are very into politics, yes, but interest is not directly related to expertise or understanding... A great thing about Americans is how often they act and speak with confidence. This is also an awful tendency when politics get involved, because people will often spout things that are illogical, quantifiable false, or outright unethical and be genuinely convinced that they are absolutely right... it's unbearable.
After all, anyone who thinks murder and vandalization are legitimate forms of political demonstration can't really be terribly intelligent...
You can say that about any place in the world if you are a foreigner Walking On Foreign Street
We Americans sometimes keep our shoes on in the house.
Which is really nasty... Considering the amount of human feces can be found on american streets.
it depends. my family never does this, but i have friends who do and friends who don't.
When we had carpet shoes where not allowed in the house. Now we have tile so we wear light shoes or slippers.
♥️, ☮️ & happyness from California!!!☺️
American's want to save but it is really hard when health care and insurance in general is so expensive.
on the subject of Japanese people not letting hyou know that you offended them was such a real struggle for my time in Japan. So many times there would be friendly conversation, they would seem very happy and enjoyed talking with me or my castmates and even say that it was a nice conversation, then go to our tour managers and complain about how we offended them. Though for some people for sure that would be a testimony to how some of the cast members didn't think before they spoke.
Politics is a huge part of our culture in the US. Our founding was inherently political (and bloody), and it also doesn't help that politics is constantly injected into our media, news, and corporations.
Interesting video ty I enjoyed it
I am a damned simp,I subbed to her in the first 10 seconds :(
Please don't take this as offense, but I'll just leave some opinions here... different views on the same topic, not to invalidate anything that was already said.
First and foremost, something that I need to point out specially for interchange students, but also for tourists and foreigners visiting another country overall - the way you get treated is not the way locals relate to themselves, wherever you are.
I know this is kinda obvious, but I feel this sometimes really needs to get hammered for a deeper understanding. I have hosted a japanese foreign exchange student at home, and I have a family case... daughter of my mom's aunt who moved to Japan young, married there, has been living there for over 50 years.
Her daughter came to visit relatives in Brazil, she liked the experience to the point of learning the language and heavily considering moving here for a period of around 10 years.
But the enchantment kinda dies pretty fast once you move from tourist / interchange student to either an immigrant or someone trying to do the regular stuff here - work, build a family, pay expenses and plan on staying.
It was a bit of a similar thing for the foreign exchange student who stayed at my home. She was more or less pampered and taken extreme care of during her stay. Security is a priority, you take them wherever they need to be, they are treated as a more or less a representative of a foreign country by most people.
Because there's more at stake than only her welfare, which is obviously important... but for most foreign exchange students there is usually also the image of the exchange student program (in her case, Rotary), the image of families taking care of her, among other stuff.
So you end up living in a sort of bubble.
This is also true for tourists, and to a point family visitors.
Then again, this is also true on the negative side, for instance, for immigrants seeking low paying jobs. Often, you'll have a pretty crappy experience in another country with this situation in mind no matter how good the country is, not because life in the country is generally crappy, but because your situation is. Whoever immigrates to another country for low paying jobs to send money back to family has high potential of having a crappy experience.
I have some family that went to Japan during the 80s and 90s for that. Their experiences, though not all bad, are peppered with bad stuff. Living in run down cramped warehouse rooms converted for living in the middle of nowhere, being offered bad jobs, getting verbal abuse and complaints all day from bosses, working overtime all the time without extra compensation, almost getting scammed multiple times, being fired without warning and not knowing what to do next, having no friends... I never took this to mean Japan is a bad country, despite being some of the first - first hand experiences I heard about living in Japan.
I took this to mean immigrant life is not easy anywhere, which is totally true. This, despite them all being japanese descendant and speaking a bit of the language.
More recently, in 2008 and 2018, I had the opportunity to visit Japan as a tourist and visiting family. It was a wonderful experience, but of course if I were ever to move there (kind of a dream of mine) I know it wouldn't be anything like visiting as a tourist. It'd be at the very least harder than living here... no friends, no close family, I still haven't learned japanese properly, etc.
Anyways, back on topic. Japan is much much muuuch less diverse than countries like US or Brazil. Immigrants are a tiny minority by comparison.
Current percentage of immigrants in countries like US and Brazil lies somewhere around 15% of the total population, but if you consider history, as colonized countries, the native population was totally overrun, and are still highly mistreated as part of a minority these days.
So actually, the majority of people are from other cultures, carrying other cultural bagages with them... it's a very different situation.
Japan currently has a bit less than 2% of the population as immigrants. And this number grew quite a lot in recent years. The overall culture and self image is much more uniform.
As lots of them live in urban areas like Tokyo, it might not seem much like so, but that's the real difference... Japan has somewhere between 7 to 10 times less immigrants in comparison to western countries, proportionately - considering the total population.
If you don't consider the total population it's even worse... US has around 50 million immigrants, Japan has like 2.3 million.
You can imagine the difference this makes...
This, plus rules for entering the country as an immigrant changes the relationship the general population has with them. Japan has even higher standards to accept immigrants, though it's been relaxing things a bit in recent years. Back in the 80s and 90s, when my relatives went there to work, they only did because they were second gen japanese - nisei. If it wasn't for that, it'd been much harder for them to get there.
So, the things lots of foreigners living in Japan often says, as a minority, is worth of consideration. Even japanese people with mixed blood. I hear often in interviews and from family members living there - it's like we are and will always be treated as foreigners. With respect, sure, but at a bit of a distance. It's hard for them to break this barrier.
There's also japanese culture being more collectivist vs western countries individualist culture, but you gotta keep digging to understand it a bit better.
One of the reasons why americans can get so political about things, has to do with culture, yes... but also, in overly capitalist countries, with a long history of immigration, there are lots of key differences to consider. Historical considerations, wage gap problems, long running discriminatory problems coming from a history of differences.
This doesn't happen a whole ton in Japan because it doesn't have a long history of division between japanese people and people who immigrated from other nations, the wage gap isn't as bad in Japan as it is in the US and other western countries, among others.
Yes, it has some of those, as all countries have, but not in the same scale countries like the US or Brazil has.
So, with this, there isn't as many reasons for young japanese people to worry a whole ton about politics, which is both a good and bad thing. As long as Japan stays a peaceful nation with reasonable quality of life for the majority of people living in the country, it's good not to have unnecessary attrition and strife.
But if politics suddenly changes and things go out of balance, that's when the lack of political motivation in the country will hit it badly. Because there is nothing better for an authoritarian, totalitarian government than a population that doesn't care about politics.
Then again, there is a difference between being vocal about politics, and acting on it. People take position according to what society demands, how society works culture wise. In US there is an expectation of people to have opinions regarding politics, and express them.
Regardless of being vocal or not, in a sense the reason why Trump got elected in the first place was because lots of americans, despite being very vocal about politics, in the end when it counted the most they didn't act. Lots of people who were against Trump didn't go out to vote against him. And so, things became even more divided. Because before Trump, during the election and now, the reality of US politics is that it's almost perfectly divided between republicans and democrats. But as vote is not obligatory, only a few people actually go out to vote. The party that convinces more people to act on it wins.
Next topic, I have a personal feeling that the entire thing about being closer, more trusting, more helpful and whatnot has less to do with country and more to do with big cities versus smaller cities or the countryside.
I saw this in the US, in Japan, and see this here in Brazil. People in bigger cities are just colder, because life goes faster, and things are more cutthroat.
Everyone is rushing somewhere and worried about something, so they get less friendly, and stop less to talk with strangers.
And it makes sense. If you think about it, a big part of big city population is composed of people coming from smaller cities searching for opportunity.
In the US I went a couple of times as a tourist, family roadtrip and bus tour, visiting cities in the west and east coast from very small to the big cities. I felt that difference there too. And here in Brazil I was born and lived most of my life in a mid sized touristic city, but also lived in one of the biggest cities in Brazil (Sao Paulo), have family there, and currently live in a smaller capital state. I also see the differences here.
So it's kinda independent of country... mass psychology perhaps? xD Just a theory. We are much more similar than people might think, or often international news portrays.
The thing about groups and where you live I also feel it's kinda universal, despite sometimes this being tackled to Japan or something. I mean, I live in Brazil, people would probably have this image that it's all party, everyone friendly, and easy to make friends everywhere. I actually kinda isn't. My friend circle at school, and then at both universities I went through, had all to do with similar interests, and they were relatively small.
This even has a specific term - "panelinha". Classes of 40 people usually have groups of 5 to 10 people with shared interests... just the way it is. And yes, I have seen students that makes no friends at all.
I imagine this is also a thing in the US, particularly when you hear about the horrible shootings and suicide cases... it's often people that have become ostracized in schools, universities or communities.
Thanks Yuta and Shino for the video and opinions... I think it's important to share and discuss these things.
Glad she came to UCLA and has a good time! Diddy riese!
I have zero interest in politics as well, but as a college student, I can't avoid it lol. As an American, I feel that politics and nationalism are so ingrained into society and education that it's just how we live. The ideas and nuances that drive certain political beliefs, seem to be what most people base their entire worldview on rather than say, experiences or relationships. It's kind of hard to explain but, it's true, everyone seems to want to talk about politics lol.
Like how I am talking about it right now...
The cancel culture seems to be bipolar with Japan IMO, at least on the online side. Like either people don't care about it at all and meme on the few person trying to criticize the subject or there's suddenly this people that seems to never forgive and never forget. The latter is more common with entertainment and otaku it seems as I saw it from time to time when an a creator/artist/idol that just don't stop hating until you get out of the industry (most recent one was Mano Aloe, but I still remember Aya Hirano, that girl from AKB that was forced to shave her head, and the whole fiasco with Kannagi where the main heroine apparently had a boyfriend before in the past).
I spoke a woman in Tokyo who had a sister that lived in L.A. Her sister had to leave L.A. because her vehicle had been vandalized 9 times and homeless people kept threatening her children.
It's funny seeing the reactions of my Japanese fiance when I told her stories of some of my childhood experiences when I used to live in South Central L.A.
As to the saving versus spending, i have heard it depends on what people think about the society. If you think it is stable, consistent, etc, you tend to save more, because there’s a future to plan for. If it can get upset and fall apart, or looks like it will, they tend to spend more, because why keep it if you don’t know it’ll stay around (ie. economic crash). Not sure how accurate it is, but it does seem to be a decent explanation. Love your videos! 😊❤️
America is, for better or for worse, a world of weapons. It's good to carry a weapon in america.
When in Rome, speak Latin.
It really depends on where you live. I've never carried a weapon and have never felt the need to have one, because it doesn't seem like others around me have them either.
That's certainly good for you. Congrats
The political correctness thing is so true. For example in Spanish, particularly in Mexican culture, a common term of endearment of the sort is "gordo" or "gorda". These terms can be used in a negative manner just like any other, but it is usually used just like you would use "buddy" or "darling". These two words are usually used among friends and family and never really negatively.
Now, I've had two instances in my life where people have gotten mad at me for using the words and have given me shit for it.
Once when I was 12 and once when I was taking chemistry in HS. The first one, I was told that although they didn't speak Spanish they knew it wasn't nice to say. Of course I referred to my friend as gordo.
The second time, I had another buddy who I would also be called him gordo. This time the Chem teacher got pissed and said I was insulting and being rude to him along some other things. Obviously not true, because we're buddies and neither of us had a problem with it. He would always call me back a stick or something and it was cool and all. I knew what these two people were trying to get at, like I know there are those with body image issues and weight issues, but because of that I shouldn't be told not to say it. Cultural context is very important, because for me and my two buddies this wasn't a problem at. it's common, but outside of the culture it does seem offensive and not normal I suppose. And it goes to show people are willing to get offended and correct people on behalf of themselves or other without seeing the clear picture.
I'm in the US, and I personally hate the whole politics thing, and it's gotten much worse since Trump got in office. You can't go more than a few days at most without hearing people arguing over politics in my experience and I really wish people would just be quiet over it. Everyone has different opinions and no one will agree, so it's just arguing for the sake of arguing. That's one reason I want to move to a different country in the future.
Same. I saw a video (may have been a Yuta video) and all the comments were like "Why do Japanese people not care about Politics, or vote for a party, that's so bad!" And I was thinking, are you kidding me? that's amazing - It means the politicians must not be affecting their lives (at least not in any major way) and they can go about their lives without having to think about it
I do consider moving to Japan after I turn 18.
It's literal hell here...
U.S.A. sucks.
If you look on the right places (small music venues or a few pubs) you will find nice people that have social skills, you can exchange contacts (facebook mostly) and act like a normal human being.
politics is a religion for those without faith...
That's so wise
Calm down there Confucius. But in all seriousness you are right.
WOW. We should be able to save comments. This is so dope!!!
Wise guy
faith == absence of reason
In my opinion, America's focus on politics is more a product of its history, not the character of its people. The most contentious issues in American politics tie into massive social issues that were created hundreds of years ago. Also, the American government has a lot of power, even over other countries around the world. The decisions politicians make create massive shockwaves. If I lived in a smaller, European country, I probably wouldn't care as much about my country's politics as I do about America's politics. And like it or not, other people around the world are more likely to judge you as a person by the president your country elected than if you were Japanese.