Aspergers and Japan

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I've already found dozens of connections between people with Aspergers and Japanese people, but this is just icing on the cake.
It's a video about the general way of thinking in Japan that keeps theft, and even the thought of theft, from crossing almost everyone's minds. A trait I heavily connected with the extreme honesty typically found in people with Aspergers.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSH4KWg-dXY&feature=related[/youtube]

I've always wondered why this kind of thinking is so much rarer in most other countries. I've seen neurotypical people in school who have stolen from the library, other students, the computer lab, teachers, lockers, and even myself a couple times. But I still can't help but wonder how these people can do this without guilting themselves into depression. I've found money, graphing calculators, iPods, cellphones, wallets, and purses LOADS of times in highschool, but the thought has never even come up to keep any of them. I just can't stand the thought of doing the wrong thing, no matter HOW beneficial it is.

The only thing I can picture an Aspie having trouble with in Japan is reading emotions, and understanding contexts without clarification, although they can both be learned. Thankfully, growing up in a town where you are in constant need of knowing these things, I can do both with what is essentially an NT level of proficiency at this point. I mostly just become anxious in social situations. But then again extraversion isn't nearly as forced in Japan as it is here.

Sounds interesting

This is cultural. Concepts like guilt, and innocence, and what they mean - and even justice and truth - are culturally relative.

An anthropologist would possibly talk about shame based cultural systems and honor based systems. It's "shame vs guilt" difference and it is Japan is often used as a shame or honor based example. One fascinating thing about cultures that are shame based is if you take the individual out of the collective, all bets are off because it is rooted in more collectivist cultural values.

Fascinating stuff.

my late mother was japanese, and she had these traits to a "t"- i am more like my somewhat dishonest father, as though my aspieness were diluted, as it were. but i look to japan as a place that seems more "friendly" [approximate word] to aspies than other western countries.

Perhaps, but.....................their behaviour in World War II was not particularly friendly to anyone

I would not idealize Japan. Japan has some of the worst instances of bullying in East Asia (if not the world). Many of the kids and teenagers being bullied have ASD. I know there is a tendancy for some American's to idealize Japanese culture, but the fact is they have thier own problems. While theft may be less common, they also have a much higher rate of sexual assualt and harassment towards women, it is not uncommon for it to take place in the open, and it happened to one of my friends when she was 13.

Every country has problems. I do not idealize Japan, I see it for what it is, an evolving country with its own issues. I love aspects of Japanese popular culture, lolita dresses, Manga/anime, cinema, and sushi. But at the same time I realize the country has its own problems. Some of thier problems, such as sexism in the workplace, are worse than ours.

I am just saying do not idealize the country or think it would be a better place to live as a person with an ASD. The truth is they have thier own problems just like the UK, USA, or anywhere else, and I definately do not see them as a better place to live if one has an ASD.

I'm very curious about Japanese culture in general, and from a distance it seems like it would be great... but then I found this by the same guy, lol. Conformity, especially when it comes to social situations, doesn't really seem ideal... and since a big problem I have with people is them not saying what they are thinking, I think that would be even worse there, because at least here you come across some who don't mind speaking their minds, lol.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zL7E4HRY_zU[/youtube]

doh. double post

Japanese people seem to be reserved, cautious, & different just like alot of aspies i think their is a slim connection between the two.

Yep, Japan has one the most severe bullying problems in the world - I've not lived there but I have visited and saw that. I strongly suspect that it makes all the difference if you're an adult Western aspie going to Japan, or a Japanese aspie. If Western, they'll probably cut you a lot of slack when it comes to social conventions, and the reserved tendencies, and lack of emphasis on physical and eye contact are probably relatively easy for aspies to adapt to. If you're Japanese, well, see my point on bullying.
I know a Japanese girl who says Japan is a great place to live in... if you're not Japanese.
From people who have lived there, I hear it is a very hierarchical, authoritarian culture, and rather conformist, and the Japanese are extreme in not calling a spade a spade (unlike the Chinese, who in my experience are rather blunt). Japan is also probably the only developed country where people literally die of overwork. I thought the food was amazing, but frankly Japan would be the last developed country I'd like to live in, though admittedly another reason is the writing system - I'd be willing to learn Arabic or Russian, but life's too short to learn kanji.

I've been there and I have never felt so at home. Usually when I travel I'm a bit nervous and on edge before I settle in but the minute I arrived I felt like I got shot by a rhino tranquilizer. No worries no stress just enjoyment and beautiful people and culture.

Japanese people are reserved in the day but when they go out to have fun they open up big time and you end up having a great time and you can relax and blend in because they are usually more odd in behavior than you (or similar).

I like the idea of Japan and would love to visit there. I'd never work therre though, especially not in buisiness; there's a real culture of visiting strip clubs and other behaviours after hours which I would not personally find attractive.

I went to Japan for 3 weeks on a business trip back in 1994. It was an enjoyable visit but the everyday culture is intolerable. The pressure to conform and succeed is horrible and not for me. The salaried businessmen are required to go to strip clubs and drink until they pass out 6 nights a week. All in the name of "social bonding". No thank you. I like a glass of wine with dinner once in a while but that's it for me. Strip clubs are loud, disgusting places.