Hearted Youtube comments on The Japan Reporter (@TheJapanReporter) channel.

  1. I teach Japanese people English in Australia for free. The majority I meet are female. As an Aussie guy, I can comment on a few traits I have noticed about Japanese women, and Japanese people in general: 1. Japanese people in Western Countries can sometimes have different traits to Japanese people in Japan. This is because they have had to overcome certain Japanese cultural issues to exist in a Western Country. An example is that Japanese women will generally be slightly more confident in Australia, because they want to learn English. 2. That being said, Japanese people are often cripplingly shy. They often do not want to disturb you, even though you are friends and it is perfectly OK. I have found that I often have to initiate social interactions with Japanese friends, as they are hesitant to do the same thing with me. Even when using LINE or messaging apps, Japanese people will often not want to bother you. 3. Japanese people (especially girls) hate conflict or resistance. This is really a dangerous trait to have in a Western country, especially for women. Guys here will often keep going with certain behaviours, until the woman says "no." This means that women who never say no can end up in dangerous or uncomfortable situations. They need to learn here that it is OK to say no to people. 4. Japanese women easily fall in love (especially with Western guys). It is very hard not to hurt the feelings of Japanese women. Most of the Japanese girls I have taught have eventually expressed feelings for me, and it is very difficult to not hurt their feelings. A few Japanese women have told me that Japanese women often expect you to be "Boyfriend and Girlfriend" before you can be physically intimate in Japan, whereas in Western Countries it is usually the opposite.
    166
  2. I really hope more women in Japan are able to break free from this trend. I can't imagine the stress for people with sensitive skin or even just a tight schedule. Who wants to feel forced to devote that time daily to what should be an optional activity? I live in the states, and I know lots of people who wear no makeup or use it infrequently. It's nice to have the freedom to choose without feeling like you will be the only one living that way.
    166
  3. I once saw someone wearing a hoodie and clothes covering all of their body walking in Japan and immediately knew he wasn’t Japanese from the way he was walking with a more energetic stride than the rest of the people around him. So even your gait can be something that shows where you’re from.
    166
  4. I need my boyfriend to see this. He is Japanese and his ex-wife abducted their 3 children. Since she definitely refused to bring him his kids, he fell in a deep deep depression. I tried to help him get through but he wouldn't even try anymore. Unlike foreign parents, and probably like many Japanese dads, he is not willing to fight. He is afraid to be a trouble maker, maybe they have been brainwashed and hates him etc. So he just gave up. But he will never be happy if he isn't reunited with them. Plus the mum is quite an abuser. He wouldn't call her that as he is her brainwashed victim too, but his family explained me and she is crazy. I worry for his kids as much as I worry for him. I really need him to fight but he doesn't even talk about it anymore and it's hard to bring the subject...
    165
  5. This is very disheartening. But it’s nothing new. Exploiting the weaknesses and insecurities of vulnerable people. The dark side of mankind that exists in all cultures. I hope the people trying to help these young women get more support from the government.
    164
  6. As Mexican American Indigenous, we also had great Japanese foreigners living in Mexico, Central America and South American, including in the United States. So shout out to those Japanese Americans and Japanese Hispanics
    164
  7. As a father (not a single Father) this made me a bit teary eyed. Great video.
    163
  8. To many people in Japan end up married because of pressure, it’s considered as normal to be married and have a family at a certain age and especially in a country with a shame culture like Japan people will just do what ever is considered as normal in society. Woman are considered to old once they hit their 30’s and men need to continue their family linage. As someone who worked in the dating/marriage industry mostly in SEA I was shocked how fast many couples in Japan get married without actually knowing each other... Talking about feelings, problems or sex is a big taboo, men live to work while woman live to take care of their kids. Many men have almost 0 experience with relationships or dating in general and then suddenly end up getting married in less then a year and many woman look to much at a men’s career, wealth or social status instead of their character. The only reason the divorce rate wasn’t higher in the past is because couples try to save their face in public, that’s also one of the reasons why cheating is so common especially for couples around their 30’s
    163
  9. I have autism and I want to live in Japan and work as an artist. Thanks for the upload.
    162
  10. Western people, especially English speaking ones are very expressive and individualistic. The famous sociologist, Abraham Maslow coined the term "self-actualisation" - hence a lot of western weebs made their "passion" very apparent and show to everyone as part of their identity. A lot of stories, especially coming from the US revealed about how kids and teenagers there are also pretty conformist in certain way, people who watch anime were bullied or treated like an outcast. So the recent explosion of anime is like those "discriminated" group "coming out", and hence the parade-like expressiveness. In Asia, not only in Japan, everyone watches anime like it is normal. In many places, including Indonesia, we grew up watching Doraemon every Sunday morning. My Japanese client's boss knows "Shingeki no Kyoujin", my boss likes Dragon Ball, the other one proudly displays the entire Shohoku's starting five figurines from "Slam Dunk" in his office, the food delivery guy knows Naruto and discussed with our security guard about the recent Boruto episode. Nobody does ninja run or dress in obnoxious anime accessories, unless they are going to a convention like local comiket. It is just "normal" - nobody needs to be a weeb or otaku to watch anime or read manga. And yes, the school library has manga section, and back then, even my school teacher follows Detective Conan. Outside Japan, we already slowly started to see school teachers as just another human being - it is probably still quite a surprise to discover an upstanding member of society like school teacher to share the kid's hobby. That felt like 1990s Indonesia, when my entire class erupted when my teacher mentioned a popular TV episode like "eeeeh? Teacher watches TV too!!!".
    162
  11. I have watched a lot of TV-Japan with my wife when we had cable TV and I had to eventually ask her what's the deal with this. She told me it was so older people or people with hearing problems can watch TV and understand what's going on. The other 2 options you mentioned make sense as well. :) Thanks for going over this.
    161
  12. In 2015, I met a 19 years old guy working in a Kamakura hotel with Japanese and French parents, who told me that he had to choose between Japanese and French citizenship. I don't know which one he chose, but it was hard for him to 'discard' half of who he is. Since I have French and Canadian nationalities, I find it horrible.
    160
  13. Nobita, your journalism is better than anything in the mainstream. Been enjoying your content for years, and love seeing the steady growth in the professionalism of your presentations, along with consistently deep and thoughtful investigative work and personal reflections. All your work is much appreciated, as is the sensitivity of your character. Much love from the USA. ~tim
    158
  14. I am totally understand of what she is going through as I also have Autism Spectrum Disorder. It takes time to interact and socialized with others who are not in the spectrum.
    158
  15. As a forgein person living in Japan, I must say that I can get really angry with other forgeniers here, but with a minority of them!! Most of them are polite and respectful, but there are issues, mostly with taking pictures or videos of people without asking first and following them as show in this video for example, which I hate the most. And train can be very shocking experience for tourists and sometimes their behaviour can really put off japanese people (not respecting only women carriges in train for example), but again that is minority of visitors that unfortunetly paint a bad picture, even for us who are forgeiners living in Japan and respecting the culture. I think many people get over-excited while coming here to Japan and they want to visit all places they can and sometimes they make non-intentional mistakes. Many of them maybe cannot speak japanese and don't know all everday cultural parts of everyday japanese life and customs, except the well-known ones. And plasting their faces all over news and SNS is not really a good thing (at least censor them). But this turist behaviour problem is not only in Japan, it is happening everywhere around the world where tourists sometimes do even worse things than here in Japan. Just look up the news in Italy, Spain, Croatia, Greece and other tourist oriented places in Europe during summer and it is also so horrible. I understand that when you go somewhere to travel or vacation to relax and loose yourself a bit, but still some common manners and respectable behaviour should be prioritaized. Many tourists forget that the country they visit is someone's home and place of everyday living and working, and those people might not care that you are a tourist and may get irritated by you, because they have errands, job, things to do that are important for them on everyday basis. So, the rule I go by when visiting Japan or any other country is that you act like people there. You can take pictures, enjoy yourself but don't take the country you visit as your playground and be disrespectful and everything will be fine :)
    157
  16. Social media’s worst aspects are ruining the reputation of foreigners in Japan even more quickly than the usual foreign visitor behavior. My first suggestion to the Japanese is to not fool around with these social media fools and arrest them for poor public conduct. Then drive them to the nearest airport and deport them. Second, you’re never going to be Japanese. If you’re living in Japan accept that as a limitation and get on with living. The rest of life in Japan is fine. Enjoy it. Third, I appreciate the black guy’s perspective. Staying positive wins. Finally, many countries in the West are experiencing a severe decline in basic manners and consideration for others, so it is not surprising that the Japanese’s media notices this. If you are a foreigner visiting Japan, just be polite, be kind, and don’t be loud. You’ll do fine. P.S. The very last thing I would recommend is changing Japanese culture. It’s worth preserving and can only leave you worse off if you start trying to make wholesale changes.
    157
  17. I can relate to all this, My parents had an accident in 02, I was young, and my brothers both had families with little children. So as a former Army Medic, I took over the car of my mother, who was disabled. My relationship with my ex-girlfriend came to an end due to immigration, and she was not allowed in the US. So I had to juggle work and travel with my mother's care. It was hard. I ended up in 16, putting my mother in a nursing home due to her health went down. I lost her in 18. Now I am 52, single, and own a house that's is almost paid for after 25 years, And it's just me, no one else., So I totally can relate. I still have debt from all this, but it's almost gone. You really don't have time to have a relationship, and it's hard. One thing my city put in place was like child daycare. They started an Elderly daycare, and this helps a lot. Maybe as a suggestion, talk with cities and businesses to see about doing this to help their workers who are in this situation.
    155
  18. I’m starting to understand why Japan has such a birth/fertility problem. Hikikomori and hectic work life aside this is another issue adding to their problem.
    154
  19. History is there to teach us. Either how to handle a situation or how to not repeat it. It's not there so that we can condemn people for their ancestors' wrongdoings or to feel superiority over others. History must be taught and must never be sanitised, eitherwise we are in danger of repeating grave mistakes.
    154
  20. Good to see that you could approach this topic in a level way on your YT. Evenly presented with cautions, while service providers were calmly interviewed.
    152
  21. He went from kicking ass to teaching people how to kick ass, or prevent themselves from having their ass kicked.
    151
  22. This was really inspirational. I’m really curious what it’s like to be married to someone with different religious beliefs. I can imagine that being a source of stress in a relationship.
    149
  23. there is many similarities between Japanese work culture and where I work, long hours and team culture, nobody wants to be the first to leave even if you are done and not doing anything. Also, going home to the family can be stressful also. Marriage can become sexless after kids and coming home is more like coming home to roommates rather than loving family, so cheating is only way to release sexual needs
    148
  24. This beggs several questions that weren't asked to them such as: Maybe the measures to prevent STDS are effective but what about other consequences? Psyochological maybe? Do they think they can still marry a man and love him just like that anyways? If they think it's not cheating because there are no feelings involved but money instead, what would they say if they get married and someone else (maybe an former client) asks to pay for her services again? What would they tell their husbands if they feel they are being treated unfairly when compared to paid clients? Isn't that just merely monetizing human relationships and reducing them merely to an exchange of goods be it time and effort or money? What is love for them then? What is love worth then? What about pregnancy? Maybe they would be unable to do it due to having had so many years working in that industry so they had to abuse of anticonceptive methods or for any other reasons (maybe they have become too old for it?) now their bodies are uncapable of it anymore?
    148
  25. (4:46) You have a good point. Nothing can change if everybody is on the defensive. It would be better for foreigners to respectfully tell Japanese people when they feel uncomfortable. Foreigners are held to different standards so they can be a little more direct. As long as it is said respectfully, there should be no problem.
    146
  26. With it being the way it is in Japan, I'm still blown away why anyone from outside Japan would want to live there. If I was young, I wouldn't want alienation and distancing. It's a big disappointment. The odd thing is that I've gone to other countries like Hong Kong, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, Mexico, and other places and never felt like what is described here by foreigners living in Japan. It's weird!!!
    146
  27. This is an underreported problem.
    145
  28. Nobita san, thank you so much for interviewing us..! It was a wonderful experience and a lot of learning about cultural difference.! Amazing video Nobita san!☺️☺️✨
    144
  29. But Joey is literally half Japanese, does that not count for anything. I am not a consistent watcher of the podcast (and stopped this year because the algorithm no longer promotes it) and only watch Connor and Joey’s content. I can see how they can come across as grating.
    143
  30. I think the biggest problem with Japan is all of the needless paperwork required to do, literally, anything. Not sure why, maybe because I've had my licence for over 3 decades, but I only had to answer some T/F questions and take the driving test. It can depend a lot on the attitude if your observer for the test. As for the job outlook, it really depends on teh companies but yea, overall, not being able to speak even basic Japanese will limit your potential jobs.
    142
  31. I know sex isn't everything in a relationship, but there is something very fulfilling condlfidence wise when the deed is done. 1. For both partners, there's the feeling of closeness in the passionate embrace. 2. Emotionally sex can be freeing, especially when you're with the one you want to make love to. There's a release of being with someone who sexually arouses you and knowing that person can be yours for the rest of your life. The action shouldn't just be used and exploited for selfish reasons. It should be something special between two people...Also, I do think Japanese men might want to take care of this issue before it really gets out of hand. They're not going to like it if suddenly foreign men come in and their women suddenly become aroused at the thought of having an affair with them.
    142
  32. Another excellent piece, Nobita. As with your story about the idol industry, you have peered beneath the "glamour" exterior and revealed the harsh reality and human cost. Well done for tackling this subject.
    141
  33. My advice is avoid dodgy places and activities. And you will have a good time. I’ve even heard from Japanese friends that got ripped off! If even Japanese natives can get scammed, it means us foreigners don’t stand a chance.
    141
  34. Amazing Story! Keep up the great work Nobita-san.
    141
  35. Mrs. Fuhka has a really great perspective on life. Can't imagine what living in a country where Christianity is not the norm, must be really tough. Kudos to Mrs. Fuhka for not trying to conform.
    141
  36. I think part of it is also that people from the US, UK and France expect other countries to be "melting pots" like their own countries, which is just not the case for a whole lot, like even here in Denmark there is a good chance you will always be for example "The American" even if your white, unless you speak like perfect Danish which is impossible to tell from natives. I mean our Queen had a husband who together gave birth to our crown prince and he was still simply considered French. Granted he had quite a bit of a heavy accent but still, I hope you get my point.
    140
  37. Nobita-san, First of all, I thought you handled the interview with great sensitivity and decorum. Well done! As to the young lady, it is so sad that she was bullied to an extent were she felt she had to leave a nursing career to go into porn. She was wearing a bulky dress, so I couldn't determine what her body looks like, but her face and hair are beautiful. If she likes cos play, maybe she could make a living doing that and leave porn. Afterall, a career in porn is short lived, whereas she could be a cos model for a much longer time, and perhaps even get married and have kids to take care of her in her old age.
    140
  38. We actually have this problem in western society without even realising it
    139
  39. Thank you for interviewing us Nobita san!!😊 There are many issues in Japan, but the society is changing. As Nobita san said, I'm hoping things will get better in the future.🙏 Thank you for bringing up these issues on YouTube!
    138
  40. Just let two consenting adults be with whomever they want
    138
  41. It’s called trash taste because they know their opinions are trash (and sometimes their taste in anime), and they don’t actually mean any harm. I wonder if the Japanese people have figured it out yet.
    135
  42. A beautiful lady! Her love for God shows through her personality. Hearing her gospel singing would have been nice! Thanks for this interview!
    135
  43. Kudos for these women speaking publicly, couldn't be an easy thing to do in that society especially. The first lady was very attractive as well.
    134
  44. In Germany, we have something called "Bafög" which is short for "Berufs und Ausbildungs Förderung". It's basically a subsidy anyone who goes to university, goes to a technical school, or is in any kind of training or something similar can apply to. If you or your parents are not rich enough to take care of you, then you get a monthly subsidy from the state that pays your rent completely, and then some to live off of. As a school student, you don't even have to pay it back! As a university student or someone in training, you have to pay it back half of it with NO interest over the next 20 years after graduation. But even then the maximum you have to pay back is always max 10.000€ no more, no matter how much you got over the years. And if you earn too little you can even go and reduce the payments even further. I feel so lucky to have grown up in Germany. Whenever I hear about student loans in other countries, my stomach turns around in disgust. How can a state let their young generation be exploited and oppressed and sucked dry by banks just because they want an education? Mind boggleing.
    133
  45. I hope the Japanese people stay strong, the weather out there is kind of wild right now.
    132
  46. I think a dog or cat would do more to combat loneliness than a digitized imaginary gf. A glorified tamagotchi doesn't teach you social skills to help you get out of loneliness. Ai would alleviate the pain temporarily but it does more harm in the long run.
    132
  47. I'm Persian, and I'm 21 years old and have never worn makeup even when going outside. Although I get criticised a lot by my friends and classmates. There is the same misconception here that if you don't wear make-up, you are clumsy and do not want to appear good. I admit that there is a lot of pressure on girls to do makeup because they don't want to have an image of being "ugly." But still there are many girls like me who are not comfortable with makeup and love their natural face even if some people don't like them. Let's embrace ourselves despite all of the judgments. ❤
    131
  48. THANK YOU!!! I really liked the Pink Hat Girl's voice. It was somehow soothing.
    131
  49. What an adorable lady! If only people had her positive mindset. Too many PC-brainwashed these days in America who are offended by that question "where are you from (originally)?". Like she says, you can use it to strike a conversation and also grow your confidence.
    130
  50. High rates of infidelity is one of the major reasons why the birth rate is so low. Many men dont want to risk being cheated on simply cause they are overworked
    130