Most people who visit other countries can talk about the beautiful scenery, delicious food, and how great it was to experience a new environment.
After going through all the good moments, they might start talking about being judged by a few locals, sometimes facing scammers, and feeling unsafe on occasion. They are able to look back on their vacation fondly but acknowledge that it was not completely perfect.
Idealizing a country, on the other hand, causes people to ignore its issues and similarities to other places. Some people in the West seem to be doing that to Japan.
Now, some users on TikTok have created a trend making fun of people who idolize Japan. With the slideshow feature, users first place an image of a city or other scenery from a random country. The second picture then will be the same as the first but simply labeled as Japanese.
Although some of the images are edited to look more “Japanese” or have changes in color, they all follow the same idea that some people think things look better when labeled as Japanese.
An example of this would be advertisements in big cities. Many people complain about seeing too many glowing signs promoting a product in places like New York City. Big cities in Japan have them as well, except some people in the West see them as beautiful compared to the ones in New York.
There is a lot to like about Japan. Its streets are clean, its public transportation is efficient, and it is known for being a generally safe place. Even so, Japan is a country like any other, so it will have its problems, even if they are not as publicized as issues in other countries.
Safety is not a guarantee no matter where visitors go, and that applies to Japan as well. There is a reason women-only train cars exist there and smartphones must make noise when taking a picture in Japan. Threats like harassment are not uncommon, much like in the United States.
People can admire any country for its strengths, but no place is absolutely perfect. Idolizing Japan, or any other country, is blatantly ignoring its issues and similarities to other places.
