The Diary Of a Tired Japanese.

2. Jokes

I like it when someone who hasn't lived in Japan writes about Japan.
So I sometimes type in 'Japan' and scroll through the books on Wattpad.
If I see someone writing in Japanese, I get happy. I get the same expression my dog has in the picture when I do.

If I find a mistake, I look at the books description, the authors' bio, see if they ask for corrections.
If they do, I pm them, explaining the grammar.
If they don't, I won't do anything.
I normally don't get upset even if they say mean things about Japan. I get it. The stereotypical image of a Japanese is probably Masi Oka (His name isn't Masi, it's Masayori), so it's easy to make cruel jokes about Japan.

-Even though when one of my friends showed me HEROES I started laughing so hard I started crying because my stomach hurt.
I asked her, if the Tokyo in HEROES is some kind of AU. She said no.-

I understand that. They don't mean any harm, they don't think that a Japanese would actually understand what they're writing, that they might see it.

That's the problem. They don't think.

Google 'Japanese jokes' and you'll come up with tons of them, poking and prodding about the 'differences'.
I still don't get angry.
Because I grew up in a family that speaks 4 languages. When I have a fight with my older sister we usually end up screaming at each other in a garble of the 4.
I know how Japanese seem like to others.
So I get why the jokes would be 'funny'.
I don't think having stereotypes is racist.
The problem is when you automatically think that's how 'that person' in front you is going to be.

Examples:
1.
Q: How does every Japanese joke start?
A: By looking over your shoulder.

True, Japanese are normally shorter than Westerners. Most men are around 170-175cm and women are around 150-155cm.
Well, I'm not Japanese by blood so maybe that's why I'm a girl who's 173cm.
Oh, wait... my boyfriend is 186cm and he's Japanese...hmmm...
I wonder what the person who made this joke would say if they met us?

2.
God tried to make everyone different. He got bored by the time he got to China.

So... this is a joke about Chinese? Or about Asia in general? Because, well, if you're going to say that Asians look all the same, I don't want to be mean but non-Asians all look the same to us too. American, French, Russian, Moroccan...

3.
How do you blind fold an Asian? With dental floss.

Uh...
This is my eye...

Dental floss might just, you know, blind me.

4.
What tests do Asians usually fail? Driving Tests.

Okay...?
Now I'm just confused.

I don't get angry that easily.
I get disappointed.
I don't get frustrated easily either.
I get sad.

But the next joke?
Yeah, I got angry. I got frustrated. I got so mad that I almost typed an extremely long text to him pointing out every single flaw I could find in his book, just to make him feel bad. You do not want to make a Law major your enemy.

But, I didn't.

Why? Because, he wasn't there. He didn't experience the pain and suffering that spread through out Japan on March 11th, 2011.
So, he wouldn't understand how cruel his joke would be.
I won't post a screenshot because to me, that would be mean. It's not his fault he wasn't raised to have manners. He's just a child, don't send that angry word vomit, Noise don't do it.
I managed to calm myself down.

But this is how his joke went.
He was introducing a new animation movie that was going to be made in Japan.
I think he was excited.
And he said,

"I seriously think the radiation has gotten to your heads Japan movie producers!"

No.
Just, no.

You do not make fun of earthquakes that took the lives of twenty thousand people.

You do not make fun of a tsunami that washed away everyone's friends and family in front of their eyes.

And you most certainly do NOT make fun of a Nuclear Power Plant Disaster that forced everyone to move away from their home towns.

One of my best friends lost her father that day.
Don't you DARE make fun of something like that. Don't. You. Dare.