mini-rant #47123 :: violence: Japan & America
i was too lazy yesterday to post yesterday`s 給食 so
yesterday: veggie soup stuff with fried tofu, tsukemono, rice w/ shredded nori and chicken stuff w/ green beens.
today: hakkusai (cabbage) tsukemono, soup stuff w/ mochi (rice dumpling stuff), rice & fried fish + nori sheets.
i don`t know about other American ALTs, or maybe even non-American ALTs, but surprisingly often (which really isnt /that/ often, but too frequent imho) someone (student & otherwise) comments about how "dangerous" a country America is. it seems like some people in this country (and probably even outside this country) hold the notion that the violence that can be seen in American movies really reflects how things in America are-- ie. that major violence is widespread and common throughout America. some students i`ve taught were shocked when i told them that it actually is NOT common place in America for households to have a gun, let alone 6 (they thought your average American family had 6 guns!). i really do think that this notion is largely derived from American media. :[
on the other hand, Japanese people and people world wide seem to feel that Japan is a "safe" place with little violence at all. note that even Japanese people commonly believe this, although some will admit to violence in recent years increasing. i, however, laugh everytime i hear Japan described as "safe". sure, you can leave your car and apartment doors unlocked in the inaka and get away with it and sure, stats show that in general there is less violence in Japan than in America, but there is still plenty of (often bizarre) violent acts that happen everyday in Japan. i feel like people outside Japan are very ignorant to this and that even Japanese people forget/ignore this.
everyday, first thing in the morning, i (sleepily) watch the news before going to work and what stories more often than not do i see everyday? stuff like random stabbings/slashings at train stations, a former employee killing his superiors and their spouses, baby bodies found in a bag, a father killing his family and then himself, a daughter hanging her parents, etc. all but the first are random incidents that i can remember from this past month or two, the first being a couple months ago?
what i gather from seeing these kind of stories on tv all the time (incoming huge generalization:) is that while in America murders tend to be random people killing random people, in Japan murders are fairly often people killing people that they are close to-- even family members-- and then possibly even themselves.
murder aside, anyone who lives in Japan is probably aware of the rates of violence towards females in this country. i`d say that they are as high as that of other countries if not higher in this country. "safe" country my ass-- for males maybe.
meh. why am i ranting/blurbing about this again...? oh yeah. i just wanted to blurb about seemingly common misconceptions.... randomly... for some reason.
i`m done for now. watching Star Trek TNG while typing this has taken the unnervedness out of me.
yesterday: veggie soup stuff with fried tofu, tsukemono, rice w/ shredded nori and chicken stuff w/ green beens.
today: hakkusai (cabbage) tsukemono, soup stuff w/ mochi (rice dumpling stuff), rice & fried fish + nori sheets.
i don`t know about other American ALTs, or maybe even non-American ALTs, but surprisingly often (which really isnt /that/ often, but too frequent imho) someone (student & otherwise) comments about how "dangerous" a country America is. it seems like some people in this country (and probably even outside this country) hold the notion that the violence that can be seen in American movies really reflects how things in America are-- ie. that major violence is widespread and common throughout America. some students i`ve taught were shocked when i told them that it actually is NOT common place in America for households to have a gun, let alone 6 (they thought your average American family had 6 guns!). i really do think that this notion is largely derived from American media. :[
on the other hand, Japanese people and people world wide seem to feel that Japan is a "safe" place with little violence at all. note that even Japanese people commonly believe this, although some will admit to violence in recent years increasing. i, however, laugh everytime i hear Japan described as "safe". sure, you can leave your car and apartment doors unlocked in the inaka and get away with it and sure, stats show that in general there is less violence in Japan than in America, but there is still plenty of (often bizarre) violent acts that happen everyday in Japan. i feel like people outside Japan are very ignorant to this and that even Japanese people forget/ignore this.
everyday, first thing in the morning, i (sleepily) watch the news before going to work and what stories more often than not do i see everyday? stuff like random stabbings/slashings at train stations, a former employee killing his superiors and their spouses, baby bodies found in a bag, a father killing his family and then himself, a daughter hanging her parents, etc. all but the first are random incidents that i can remember from this past month or two, the first being a couple months ago?
what i gather from seeing these kind of stories on tv all the time (incoming huge generalization:) is that while in America murders tend to be random people killing random people, in Japan murders are fairly often people killing people that they are close to-- even family members-- and then possibly even themselves.
murder aside, anyone who lives in Japan is probably aware of the rates of violence towards females in this country. i`d say that they are as high as that of other countries if not higher in this country. "safe" country my ass-- for males maybe.
meh. why am i ranting/blurbing about this again...? oh yeah. i just wanted to blurb about seemingly common misconceptions.... randomly... for some reason.
i`m done for now. watching Star Trek TNG while typing this has taken the unnervedness out of me.