Lot's of people in America take off their shoes inside so the joke already falls flat besides not making any sense. Goes to show how little the Japanese understand us. Although they did get the loud obnoxious laughing right, I love doing that when I laugh.
Lot's of people in America take off their shoes inside so the joke already falls flat besides not making any sense. Goes to show how little the Japanese understand us. Although they did get the loud obnoxious laughing right, I love doing that when I laugh.
I don't think some hipster imitating Asian cultures counts as "lot's of people in America".
I don't think some hipster imitating Asian cultures counts as "lot's of people in America".
Umm... There are reason to take your shoes off other than "imitating Asian cultures". Especially if you're anywhere you might track mud in with your boots, it's just sensible to have a place to change from "outdoor" to "indoor" shoes.
Umm... There are reason to take your shoes off other than "imitating Asian cultures". Especially if you're anywhere you might track mud in with your boots, it's just sensible to have a place to change from "outdoor" to "indoor" shoes.
It all comes to cultural heritage. Just because some have the cultural heritage to not wear their outdoor shoes indoors doesn't mean "lots of people in America" do it. That's like assuming a major population in America follow a non-American culture.
Looking at questions like this it's clear the appreciation of wearing shoes indoors is something American cultured. You can't simply say it's false because a different cultural heritage doesn't follow. An exception doesn't make a rule false. Same applies to Japan, some people use outdoor shoes inside their homes.
It all comes to cultural heritage. Just because some have the cultural heritage to not wear their outdoor shoes indoors doesn't mean "lots of people in America" do it. That's like assuming a major population in America follow a non-American culture.
Looking at questions like this it's clear the appreciation of wearing shoes indoors is something American cultured. You can't simply say it's false because a different cultural heritage doesn't follow. An exception doesn't make a rule false. Same applies to Japan, some people use outdoor shoes inside their homes.
So, wait, my raising a few data points are all "exceptions", but your raising one data point is "a rule"? Especially something that happens in a fictional TV show proves what all Americans always do all the time? Hell, I remember one of the "Everything Wrong With" videos complaining about Will Smith eating a pie by just shoving a spoon into the middle of a whole pie, and eating it straight without cutting the pie. Is that something "Americans cultured", too?!
It's also not like "American cultured" is some monolithic thing, the United States covers a geographic area the size of Europe and has hundreds of millions of people who are made of immigrants from nearly every other culture on the planet, so no one practice or set of beliefs is shared by all of them.
I mean, Hell, I might as well just counter that statement by saying, "You Europeans, you're all so generalizing, and no I clearly don't see any hypocrisy in that statement!!"
That's exactly my point. I couldn't state it better:
NWSiaCB said:
It's also not like "American cultured" is some monolithic thing, the United States covers a geographic area the size of Europe and has hundreds of millions of people who are made of immigrants from nearly every other culture on the planet, so no one practice or set of beliefs is shared by all of them.
The same applies to Japan and everywhere else. You assume Japanese don't use outdoor shoes into their homes and it's all right, one Japanese assume Americans find strange not to use outdoor shoes indoors and "goes to show how little the Japanese understand us". Well, the same applies to you. Not all Japanese eat onigiri everyday, nor stay on kotatsu in winter, nor every stupid cliched thing you see in anime and manga (you know, "something that happens in a fictional TV show"). That's the epitome of hypocrisy. It's a shame I can't submit comments to the "You are the last person I want to hear that from" pool.
One last thing, I don't laugh aloud. Maybe I should complain about how little they understand us over an externally appreciated cultured element put into fiction in order to differentiate a Japanese character from an American one.
My expereicne is that many people in the US of many different ethnic backgrounds will take off their shoes in a house if they don't expect to leave again soon or if they're going to be spending time in carpeted areas of the house. However unlike in a number of cultures in most US houses if you don't take them off it won't usually be remarked upon or noted much unless they're obviously dirty or wet. That said it varies, people with more of a neat nick streak but no particular culture background about it will still often prefer people take off their shoes regardless.
It's also worth noting this isn't a Japanese or even specifically "Asian" thing, many northern (including Germany) and eastern European cultures have similiar traditions regarding removing shoes before entering a home as do almost all Muslim countries, India, and quite a few African ones. Actually overall those cultures that tend to remove their shoes probably outnumber those that often don't so there are numerous places such a norm can come from in a United States household. However the tradition isn't as strong in either Spanish or Anglo culture so as a generalized rule America could be considered to largely lack a strong norm about removing shoes immediately on entering a home.
That said many of them would likely have encountered the practice at one time or another and would understand it as the culture difference it is without much comment, and I've heard from many people that have for instance spent time around people that do it or lived overseas that the habit sticks even after they move elsewhere. One of my closest friends during elementary and middle school was Korean and I got into the habit of removing my shoes whenever I went to his house, and it largely stuck. I basically always remove my shoes when I got inside now out of habit even though I'm as white as a bed sheet.
I'd also be inclined to say removing the shoes might be more common among the younger generation and tending to be growing over time as the habit is picked up from various places and passed on so people on a site like this who I suspect are almost universally under 40 might have a somewhat skewed view of the matter.
/amerikan/ - It's a play on American and Ameri-warshipLong time no see!It's been too long!Heeey, Iowa?
Why are you supposed to take off your shoes when you go inside a room in Japan?
