Sometimes it’s downright incredible how outlandish people’s misconceptions about Japan are.

Case in point: this article, which was sent to me last week by a friend. Entitled Living and Dying in Tokyo, the author, Adam Sparks, begins with:

My mother-in-law passed away last week, and I attended the funeral in Tokyo. The five-day wake was a mind-blower in so many ways. It made me think of just how different Japan is than the United States and how, in so many ways, it is so far superior, both culturally and technologically. We have much to learn.

He then goes on to list the most clichéd stereotypes and far-fetched assertions about Japan that I have ever read. The result is pure comic gold; a mediocre work of middle school-level fiction that reads like a James Clavell novel. It’s blindingly obvious just how little understanding the author has of Japan and how clueless he truly is. Seriously, if I were to break down the article and provide evidence to refute the blatant falsehoods in each and every sentence, it would take me all week. (The irrelevant sentence about Dubya thrown in at the end was quite a doozy, too.)

The funniest (yet saddest) thing is that many people will probably read the article and believe every word of it. Incidentally, at this moment, those people are probably at home, dressed in yukata, polishing their Sailor Moon figurines and watching their collector’s edition of Akira, while dreaming of the day when they will arrive on Japan’s shores.

It really is surprising how drastically different Japan’s international reputation is from reality. Movies like Lost in Translation and The Last Samurai paint a picture of an advanced, utopian society in which all of the men possess an honorable samurai spirit and all of the women are hot, subservient babes. I suppose I myself am also guilty of having a somewhat idealistic view of this country before I arrived. However, seeing as I’ve never been much a video game fan nor have I ever watched an anime film in my life (a fact that gives me much pride), my preconceptions came mainly from Japanese toys from the 80s and The Toxic Avenger Part II.

Japan as an entity is very good at showing off only the best of its culture and society to temporary visitors, who are carefully shepherded around by handlers and guides to prevent the guests from seeing the “real” Japan. It’s easy for people to float around in a little tourist bubble for a few days and then go home with a head full of exotic memories. Meanwhile, those of us who decide to try to take root here (at least for a little while) find that Japan is not quite the welcoming land of gadgetry and geishas that it’s made out to be.

Anyhow, I don’t want to knock this country too much. Sure, like any place, it has its downsides, but if I didn’t like it I would have left a long time ago. I just feel that misleading articles like the one above tend to cause more harm than good, as a lot of impressionable people who do make it over here and try to acclimatize eventually end up bitter and jaded. For anyone curious about learning about the realities of the so-called Land of the Rising Sun, I recommend stopping by this site as well as reading a book or two on the subject.

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Here are some uninteresting photos from Shinagawa Intercity that I took a couple of months ago while wandering around killing time: