Japanese Discordian Project

[Placid Dingo]

Looking for stuff to steal for my Mittens I ended up on BIP Wiki.

Ending up on BIP wiki I went and looked at the World Discordian Project discussion.
http://www.principiadiscordia.com/forum/index.php?topic=15889.30
Looking at the World Discordian Project I went to reply. And then it was all like, fuck you man, this thing is like over 120 days old. Start a new thread. Hence thus this.

This is where I talk for a little about Japan, and the elements of what could make a good Japanese Discordian work.

Some points responding directly to the above thread.

1. Saying Japan is just like a version of China is a really epic way to loose friends in Japan. In fact even mentioning China can be a great way to loose friends, but I like to think any Discordian work is aiming itself at a slightly less judgemental crowd.

2. Japanese Discordian figures were discussed. There were lots of people saying 'poets and Zen Buddhism' as sources, and that's probably good. In fact, this kind of thing will probably appeal in Japan from the Buddhist/Zen angle alone. I'd also say Nasubi (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nasubi) and  Nozomi Tsuji (Who is a Japanese equivalent of Discordian American Princess; not so shocking for the West but for super mainstream Japan, sure). Burakumin were mentioned in the thread, but making things into a morality tale will kill the audience.

3. I forgot. But I know stuff about Japan, and have kind of average Japanese, so if anyone is interested in this as a project let me know and I'll work with you on it (of course, once current project is done)

[Triple Zero]

> And then it was all like, fuck you man, this thing is like over 120 days old. Start a new thread. Hence thus this.

srsly, don't listen to what a stupid piece of forum software tells you no problem in replying/bumping old threds. Worse threads get bumped

[Rococo Modem Basilisk]

BoingBoing once told me that mainstream Japanese humour is based around ambiguity, absurdity, and "ha ha only serious". Given that all three of these things are pretty fundamental to a lot of existing discordian stuff, I think we have a good angle.

This person on BoingBoing also said that things like the highly publicized marriage of a grown man to a video game character are occasionally pranks played deadpan.

The past n generations of japanese culture have been both somewhat neophobic and very socially minded (like peedy, rules are enforced less by the rule police and more by people being afraid that they'll get mocked to death), though it seems in my limited view that there is a trend towards neophilia.

[Placid Dingo]

Well Japan is a real country of contridictions. The same social rules that enforce a strict code of behaviour is the same set of rules that alow people to publically expose their eccentrisities without fear. It's a country where the language you use to your boss is hyperpolite, and everything you say in discussion is based around emphasising your inferiority, but it's socially accepted that on Friday night drinks you may trip out and begin abusing your boss. And then the next day its like nothing happened.

Japan loves new suff is a kind of fetyishy hive mind kind of way, jumping from one thing to another quickly, but the social rules are fairly solidly in place. One of the important things though, is that most your alternative groups still operate within this social structure, it's just it's an 'as well as' not 'instead of'.

[Telarus]

Which I think makes it perfectly ripe for meme injection.


Hell, there are Japanese Rasta kids, so we should be able to do just as well.

[Zyzyx]

There's a bit of a notion that Japanese people are easily influenced by foreign cultures, at least temporarily and superficially - like the image of the Japanese tourist in the US that wears a cowboy hat and eats steak everywhere he goes. Is there validity to this?

[Kai]

Japanese are not all that outlandish like the stereotypes, rather, conservative with strong gender roles and traditional family structure. The average otaku is not the average japanese.

[Placid Dingo]

There's a bit of a notion that Japanese people are easily influenced by foreign cultures, at least temporarily and superficially - like the image of the Japanese tourist in the US that wears a cowboy hat and eats steak everywhere he goes. Is there validity to this?

I think the aesthetic of foreign cultures can be picked up quickly.

[Rumckle]

There's a bit of a notion that Japanese people are easily influenced by foreign cultures, at least temporarily and superficially - like the image of the Japanese tourist in the US that wears a cowboy hat and eats steak everywhere he goes. Is there validity to this?

Kinda related:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/6197921.stm