keitai-l@appelsiini.net writes:
>there are a number of contributors (many of whom i assume from their
>names are not native Japanese) that have made regular postings to the
>effect that outsiders don't and can't understand.
...
>What worries me is that "outsiders" have been castigated on this site in
>the past and been told we can't understand because we aren't in Japan.
could you provide some archive links for this? I would be curious to see
these posts.
My recollection of the list over the past year (for what it is worth) is
that those foreigners who live here have generally maintained that it is
largely the business model that has made imode successful, very often in
the face of newspaper claims from "abroad" (at the height of wap fever)
sometimes muttered only soto voce, that imode's success was due to
cultural conditions... Those claims are certainly less often heard now.
One group of foreigners resident in Japan is trying to sell you something
- they have a vested interest in selling Japan as alien and
incomprehensible so they can provide consultancy. So feel free to
disregard them. (For myself, I think back with longing to my first few
weeks in Japan during which I knew and understood everything, and compare
it with the fog of incomprehensibility through which I regard the country
now after nine years living here.)
The second group of foreigners on the list is mainly annoyed by people
living in Japan but comparatively new to the country who have grown
frustrated and who diss the Japanese or some element of the society
without good reason. They are fair game for castigation. I believe the
gentleman referred to by the "Japan bashing" comment may have fallen (he
is no longer with us, I gather) into that category. Occasionally there is
the odd bit of cultural condescension. That's fair game as well. (In the
most constructive sense possible, Mr List Moderator...)
> Just check out BusinessWeek's coverage of NTT's successes,
>for an example. Or just look at the way Sony is perceived.
Extremely, is the answer. UK newspaper (the only one's I am familiar with)
coverage of Japanese companies is often extreme. And emotional. Envy,
scorn, fear, adulation. But always curiously tinged with emotion.
>We are here to learn. Please don't insult us for it.
This line genuinely puzzled me. If it is ONLY the business model that is
the cause of i-mode's success, that can be picked up in a few days. So
what could there be to learn?
It is not the intention of any part of this post to insult you - please do
not take it amiss.
Nick May
Fukuoka, Japan.
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Received on Wed Nov 21 19:12:38 2001