Americans are Big and Loud

Japanese people have many prejudices, both good and bad, about 外人　(gaijin foreigners), in general, and アメリカ人　(amerika-jin Americans) in particular.

Here are some adjectives that are often used to describe Americans. You might notice a common thread running through them.

• 大らか　(おおらか　ohraka) - big-hearted, magnanimous, not hung up on little details
• 大声　（おおごえ　ohgoe) - loud - loud literally and loud as in opinionated
• 大げさ　(おおげさ　ohgesa) - exaggerated, exaggerates, over-dramatic.
• 大きい　(おおきい　ohkii) - big, both in height and weight

The kanji 大　which means big is used in all of these phrases as you can see. Americans have the image of being big and loud and overweight and dramatic. I am guessing this is partly a holdover from the post-war period, when American GIs roamed the streets handing out candy to little Japanese kids, and towered over the short Japanese adults. (My father was a kid in the post-war period, and he still has vivid memories of getting chocolate and chewing gum from big GIs.) And while Japanese people are now a lot taller than they used to be, they are generally a lot skinnier at least than most Americans. (Unfortunately, Americans are generally perceived overseas as being very fat, and getting fatter...which may actually be true.) In addition, American pop culture, not to mention foreign policy and so on, all contribute to that Big/Loud image.

One thing I've noticed about some (not all) Americans who try very hard to fit into the Japanese culture is that they become the opposite of Big/Loud. One recent example is the African-American (he's part Japanese-American also) enka singer Jero, aka Jerome Charles White, Jr. If you don't know Jero, he's a singer who has taken the world of enka, a traditional form of Japanese pop song, by storm. It's the equivalent of a Japanese singer going to Nashville and topping the country charts. Here he is being profiled on an episode of CNN's Talk Asia program:

Whenever I've seen Jero on TV, he's been quiet, soft spoken, polite, obsequitious - exactly the opposite of his hip-hop image. He might already have been like that before entering the Japanese entertainment world, but his non-Big/Loud image has certainly helped him gain fans, especially amongst the traditional enka fan base of middle-aged and older people, especially women. Whether he will help to change the Big/Loud stereotype of Americans, only time will tell.

Comments

[Thorsten Schmidt]

Thank you for this post. It is very interesting to read about stereotypes among Japanese people, as they are very reluctant to speak about them usually.

Now, as I am German, of course I would like to know what are some prejudices/stereotypes the Japanese have for German people...I can guess it's something like "always on-time, but humourless" ;-) Or am I wrong?

[Alexandre]

There are stereotypes about Americans everywhere, even in the countries that have the closest ties with them, like Canada. Knowing Japan's history with the Americans, it's not surprising they would have stereotypes as well.

Very interesting post, though.

[Alex]

Very interesting..
One question: did you post here the "nicest" stereotypes "available" there regarding the americans? How about "ignorant" or "self centered"?
I'm not suggesting anything, just add those in the "bads" section :P
:)

[kim]

Yeas, I think they have the same image in Europe as well... though we always add that most of them are very friendly!
When I was in Japan, locals often asked if I was American, and I'm not that big (in all senses of the word). They just assumed that the gajin (me) would be from the USA because I could speak English.

[Eric H.]

I like the observation that most Americans who try to fit into Japanese culture become the exact opposite of those stereotypes.

I know that I myself meet some of those stereotypes. I am not necessarily all that tall (about 175cm), but I definitely exaggerate things on a regular basis, both my movements and my stories. When I am in Japan I make every effort to act the opposite of those stereotypes as I hate hearing "やっぱりアメリカ人（外人）は何々だ”. Every now and then though I let something slip or I do something non-Japanese and I hear that dreaded phrase.

Speaking of that whole "やっぱり" thing, that might be a good word for you to cover such as the difference with "さすが"? I am not sure if you have or have not already.

I know I may sound a little bitter, but that is one of the very few things I really don't enjoy about Japan. It seems no matter how long a person lives there or how well they can speak the language if they were born to non-Japanese parents(even if born in Japan) they will always be a foreigner.

[andrew]

thanks for this post. I've been following you on twitter and unfortunately wasn't able to read all the Japanese posts on amazon and the translation site. but this post was very interesting. I'll be going to japan in June and hopefully several more times and I love reading about these things. not only are these stereotypes, but I'm sure "wapanese" are held in very low esteem there. I fear people like those are makingbit even more difficult to be taken seriously as an American. I've been reading several Japanese historical and political books so as to have a better insight into the inner workings of the modern country. I just don't want to be automatically considered another dumb foreigner who continually makes a fool of themself.

I'm not even into the whole otaku culture aspect of the country, but being twenty one, I'm not sure if I'm still automatically included in that stereotype.

I guess I just want to be as educated as possible before heading over and be considerate of the everyman. while I am very softspoken, I'm afraid I won't have such good luck breaking the "big" stereotype as I'm 6'4" :)

[thesouthstar.livejournal.com]

My first time posting a comment on this site, but I have a few comments.

These stereotypes are definitely true, however there are also a lot more. One of the most surprising things I discovered is how unsafe Japanese people think America is. While studying abroad at 関西外大(kansai gaidai) university near Osaka this fall, (Coincidentally enough a school which Jero attended; He's still kind of a big deal there) I often asked my Japanese friends where they would like to study abroad. I became used to receiving a response of "oh, well I'd like go to America, but everyone has guns there... it's too dangerous. So I'll go to Canada"

"One thing I've noticed about some (not all) Americans who try very hard to fit into the Japanese culture is that they become the opposite of Big/Loud."

This was definitely true for me. I often received comments from Japanese friends such as 「日本人っぽい性格はいい！」 "I like your Japanese personality!" - roughly translated. There are many Japanese people who appreciate it when you try to fit in. (although it can be very hard, like not eating or drinking anything in public!) However, there are other Japanese people who actually PREFER a more "gaijin" personality, because they feel that Japanese people are stereotypically TOO quiet and not 'loud' enough.

It became very confusing for me at times when I was together with two particular friends, one who admitedly preferred the '外人’ peronsality, and the other who liked that I acted '日本人っぽい'

[sarah]

I have a request for something you might cover in an upcoming post, based on a phrase I came across while translating:
癖がつく ki ga tsuku

As far as I can tell, it means "to have a (bad) habit [of doing something]." But in the sentence I found it in, the meaning was a little confusing! It was: 晴れたときでも折り畳み傘を持っている / 気まぐれな空の癖がついたら. So obviously this is saying the fickle sky has a bad habit [of opening up and pouring down rain], but it doesn't SPECIFY its bad habit, so it's kind of hard to translate. I'd appreciate it if you discussed that :)

You could also throw in other phrases that use つく, such as 気がつく, and maybe go into the other 気 phrases (気がする, etc), which have always been a bit mystifying as to the best way to translate them into English.

[maki]

@sarah: would that be 気まぐれな空の癖がついたから ? That would make slightly more sense. (also, it's read 'kuse', not 'ki') Anyway, based on that that sentence would mean "(I) always have a folding umbrella, even when it's sunny, because I've gotten into the habit of dealing with a fickle sky." (I am guessing these are song lyrics, because it's not really a normal sentence)

@Thorsten: Generally German people have a very positive image in Japan. I may use that in a future post :)

@Andrew: I honestly didn't know the term 'wapanese' until a week or so ago. I don't believe it's a known term in Japan at all. What do Japanese people feel about non-Japanese people who are fans of Japanese things? I guess, mixed (depending on who you talk to)

@thesouthstar: Well, unfortunately the U.S. is dangerous compared to most other so-called advanced nations, statistically speaking. Also, incidents like the shooting of Yoshihiro Hattori have left a very deep impression on most Japanese people's minds. I remember when it happened, a number of parents of some Japanese friends of mine who were living in the U.S.(the kids, not the parents - some were students, some were working) told their kids to come home ASAP before they got shot by mistake. Over reaction, maybe, but such impressions are hard to erase.

And yes I know there are many other stereotypes applied to Americans in particular and 'gaijin' in general in Japan, but since this is primarily a language blog I was just tying together the ones starting with 大 (big) here.

[Rick N]

I lived in Japan for two years and agree that when you are in Japan and around Americans, many seem loud. I was riding the bus from Nagoya airport to Nagoya train station and I was embarrassed at how loud another group of Americans were on the bus (I'm American). But if it would have been a bus in the USA I probably wouldn't have noticed or cared. I found myself shrinking down in my seat as low as I could and trying not to be noticed. I didn't want to be associated with the noisy group. The fact that they were noisy didn't really bug me. It was the fact that they didn't seem to be trying to fit in to the local ways. "When in Rome do as the Romans" they say. Well, it is too bad, in my opinion, that when in Japan, many Americans tend to "do as they normally do" rather than "do as the Japanese".

Regarding Jero, I think he is one amazing guy. I saw him on a Japanese talk show and several people were faxing in comments. More than one of them said something like, "I'm a young adult and didn't have any interest in enka until I heard Jero sing. Now I'm a big fan and finally have something to talk to my grandma about!" Not those exact words but that type of message. I think it is pretty neat that an African-American guy from Philadelphia can get young Japanese people excited about enka!

One thing I'd like to point out is that using the word "外人"
is looked down upon by many. I think "外国人" is a lot more appropriate.

[sarah]

Maki, thank you for your comment! You are completely right that it is "kuse," not "ki," which I actually knew, I just made a typo because I had "ki" on the brain from the other part of my question! Thanks for your help :)

[sarah]

Oh, also, yes they are song lyrics, and it is in fact 癖がついたら not tsuite kara... although that would make a whole lot more sense! So you don't know of the phrase 癖がつく kuse ga tsuku, by itself?

[knktucker@hotmail.com]

Great blog...I enjoyed reading your accurate representations of americans...loud and exaggerated. I am new to blogging, so please check out my site if you get a chance. It is dishandscoop.blogspot.com. Thanks.

[jero one of many]

omoshiroii . . . おもしろい

i was thinking about the rap groups from nagoya or aichi prefecture (and shizuoka, yokohama. . .). they've bee around forever and although "quieter" and less commercial than american rap, they are very original - very japanese and with a twist of african american culture/southern africn am. culture. eg - m.o.s.a.d, tokona-x (now the late tokona':/),zeebra ilmiriachi, shinjuku runningdogs, mc , primal, hime . . . and even pop singers like kodakumi and many others (besides the obvious - eg - crystal kay or thelma oyama - both kokujin halfus born in japan - singing in nihongo).

jero is only one of many, and he is recent - not from japan. and he is 1/4 japanese (grandmother came to usa)

japan is much like korea and other parts of the east asia, where there is much contact btwn american/east asian culture from wwII to present. eg - yoon mirae (tasha - t) who is 1/2 korean/africanam and married to drunken tiger - who is a great korean rapper, r&b man there in seoul.

jazz among other things has been wonderful in japan for internaliziing the best of american culture.
eg. - latest singer being taeko. there are so many who've gained respect internationally -

i guess saying none of this is new to japan or n.east asia - concept of "loud americans" is incorporated gracefully in an east asian way.

yes, i'm from japan, born in japan, and raised in japan hawaii, and sf. ,

[jero one of many]

sorry the grammar was so bad, and so long above. romanji - not so great. but english is worse.