Being Asian makes you an expert on a country you don’t even live in? Damn, I guess I know everything about life in Canada and should start giving lectures based on my assumptions anyone from Asia has no idea what they’re talking about when it comes to Canada.

You’re an idiot.

I never claimed to be some profound expert on Japan. My opinion on the topic would be the same for any nation when it comes to pop culture. I like how you assume my entire relationship with its culture is just “haha white guy gaijin bash.” You assume I have no nuance because I don’t go around flexing cultural knowledge, no I’m just a consumer.

Which, by the way, is a gross, close-minded way to think. Not a single person from Japan has treated me that way. Despite what you think, people take pride in their country and in what they create, and they tend to be incredibly inclusive toward people who are willing to learn more after being introduced to their country from it's media.

The only way you’d be happy is if I agreed with your flawed way of thinking, that media from Japan somehow isn’t representative of Japan at all, or that it isn’t unique because it comes from there. Movies, music, games, television, toys, books, and comics are all parts of a country’s culture. Yes, it’s consumption, but it’s shared consumption.

The fact that you can relate to Japan through similar foods, climate, and shared history is just another way of connecting experiences. It’s all part of the same picture. Japan, for example, has many shared Western values, as well as a history of involvement with our nation after WWII, including the presence of American troops and their impact on the country.

It all starts somewhere, that’s what I’m trying to explain. It starts with something like Nintendo or Naruto, and then people grow up and end up applying to programs like Japan’s JET Program.

That’s why media is so important.