Soapbox 3 :: Wapanese: If you cut them, do they not bleed?

Just when I think I have a solid foundation on the Japan crazes and slang, something comes along to remind me I am but a mere Grasshopper. I accidentally stumbled onto the word “Wapanese” at The Urban Dictionary, and had a hilarious, eye-opening read to be sure.

Wapanese, or wannabe/white Japanese, according to Urban, are those people who esteem the Japanese culture highly and adopt certain aspects of it, to the point of minimizing their pride and involvement in their own nationality or ethnicity. (Well, that’s the short, nice version anyway; some posters weren’t nearly as polite.)

I took a couple of the “definitions” as kindly, self-deprecating jabs at a very unique, very proud cultural subgroup. But it is obvious that more than a few of the definitions in Urban were written by people who wanted an easy, no-stakes slam at an easy target. Personally, I think some were a tad too harsh and judgmental—using stereotypical, underhanded, smear-tactical words such as “dateless,” “virgins,” “posers,” and “unemployed” in their descriptions. Not cool. Some otaku—which is the term I best know them by—are slackers or perverts of course. But most of the otaku that I have met thru my sis are basically hardworking, nice, funny, healthy, ordinary people; they just happen to have this tiny little obsession with all things Japan.

Yes, some people get a little too obsessed in their habits and lifestyle, but this is true of everyone. Take sports nuts for example. I recently bought my dad’s father’s day present at one of those sports-team stores, so I should know. Sports fans buy the craziest stuff, if their merch stores are to be believed. The world is not ready for team-affiliated placemats, yet there they were, mocking me with their hideousness. And the worst part of it is that I just know someone out there is seeing those right now and is buying them, not as a prank but because they honestly think they are cool. Further proof that all of us, including the jocks, are nerdy in some way, because man those things were fugly.

Another example of crazy obsessiveness: those girls (and yes, you and I both know them) who think that Sex and the City is, like, the best show ever, and have convinced themselves that such an over-the-top, extravagant, cosmpolitan lifestyle is the ideal, the norm and not the exception. So they buy their little Manolos and sip their little cosmopolitans to somehow capture the spirit of the show in their own lives. A little fun and partying and indulging and romance is great, of course, but these girls do it in such a cookie-cutter, immature way that I question how much fun they really think they are having.

(Of course, perhaps I never related much to that show because our versions of NYC are so very different. The time and energies I spend when I go to NYC are focused in a much different place. MOMA, Broadway, Grey’s Papaya, and Zakka’s? Check. Clubbing and cocktails? Not so much.)

I also watched with fascination shows such as “Daisy Does America” and that PBS show that went in depth about people that enter cat and cattle shows. Shows such as these highlight the small niche groups that are utterly “unique,” but love their lives and wouldn’t have it any other way.

And as for the poser slams, every stereotypical cultural group will have its wannabes. The jocks, the punks, the goths, the emo, the rockers, the cultural elitists, the preps, the granolas, the princesses, the brainiacs: all groups have that sublayer of the envious who can’t quite fit into the club but desperately want to. And actually, I would say that wapanese have created their own hybrid culture separate from either Japan or the west, so in actuality they are a distinct culture in and of themselves, with little otaku posers of their own. And once the posers have posers, they are not longer wannabes but their own unique group, so to call them posers is highly inaccurate.

(Does that even make sense? Sorry, that might be a little too mind-bending, even for me, but I thought the idea merited a mention.)

Getting back to the subject: what really determines if someone is wapanese or not? Is there a quiz or something I can take to figure out how wapanese I really am? Because if wapanese is merely the adopting of Japanese attributes, then people such as the French impressionists and Frank Lloyd Wright should be branded wapanese. And as an artist, that’s mighty pleasant company to be hanging out with; no shame there.

I will use myself as an example. I love the Japanese culture—the minimalistic yet energizing designs, patterns, and architecture; the lush yet restrained gardens; the cultural rituals and practices; the exquisite and healthy food; and yes, manga, anime, and music—but I also am equally obsessed with American, Swiss, and German things. I like some Japanese words, of course, because they express relationships or emotions in a way that the English language can’t—“aware” anyone? Yet German words are the same way; I will use those when appropriate just as I would Japanese. (I think that the Urban posters were unfair about criticizing the otaku’s lavish sprinkling of Japanese words into everyday language—it can be overdone, but common German/Italian/French/Spanish/European words have simply had more success in creeping into our own vocab than the asian words have, is all. That will change over time.) And I’m a pretty well-balanced person, for the most part—I love Japanese shows and cartoons, but I also love American and international art, music, film, poetry, sports—things that are very removed from the far east. I love the Japanese culture and arts but not all the frickin’ time, 24/7. Nor do I think that manga/anime is the highest art form there is, unlike my sis who sneers at American TV and movies. (Except I’ve gotten her addicted to Lost and Veronica Mars against her will, hah! Point goes to me!) So I basically straddle this weird plane where I am more wapanese than the average person, but not wapanese enough to be comfortable in that constant mode of otaku attitude and behavior.

(But maybe that’s just me in general, miss middle-of-the-road. My political affiliations lean to the middle as well; I’m so moderate that I probably drive both parties up the wall. Hmmm, maybe I should look into this pattern of behavior more, make sure I am truly okay. Or not.)

Anyway, there is hope for the offended: I looked up Wapanese at Wikipedia and, as always, they have a more balanced and helpful description of the term. They directed me to the term “Japanophile,” and have a pretty accurate definition there. Yay for the Wiki.

So basically, Urban’s definition of wapanese is good for a laugh—I have met people who fit those descriptions perfectly—but not to be taken too seriously. Because I think in spite of the naysayers, our country is slowly becoming more asianified or whatever day by day anyway, wapanese in our midst or not. We have as a nation adopted many of their health practices, their ways of thinking, and yes, even their artistic styles (as are glaringly obvious in our films and other modes of entertainment.) And they, of course, have adopted many of ours in turn. (Manga and anime styles were inspired originally by Disney; the Loli-goth fashions by Victorian England. Etc. etc. etc.) It is only a matter of time before the others wake up to just how wapanified we all have slowly become. And I for one view that as something to celebrate, not sneer at. And I plan to revere—and kindly poke fun at when necessary—the Japanese culture for many years to come.

Here’s a great article on how what’s cool in Japan has a worldwide influence. Makes me want to hum “Big in Japan” as I read it. =)