http://whatjapanthinks.com/2008/07/20/the-wests-contribution-to-japanese-inventiveness/ From kimono to keitai; research Japanese facts and figures through translated opinion polls and surveys. Tue, 02 Dec 2008 01:20:36 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.1 http://whatjapanthinks.com/2008/07/20/the-wests-contribution-to-japanese-inventiveness/#comment-101862 Chris Wed, 23 Jul 2008 14:22:52 +0000 http://whatjapanthinks.com/2008/07/20/the-wests-contribution-to-japanese-inventiveness/#comment-101862 I immediately thought of Tanizaki as well, Amanda. I'd have to agree -- there's no reason to think that introspection in the bathroom was any less common when squat toilets were the standard. Maybe we've made it more comfortable -- hey, I prefer squatting -- but I don't think that's not enough to say that the west has "contributed so much to the Japanese creative process." I immediately thought of Tanizaki as well, Amanda. I’d have to agree — there’s no reason to think that introspection in the bathroom was any less common when squat toilets were the standard. Maybe we’ve made it more comfortable — hey, I prefer squatting — but I don’t think that’s not enough to say that the west has “contributed so much to the Japanese creative process.”

]]> http://whatjapanthinks.com/2008/07/20/the-wests-contribution-to-japanese-inventiveness/#comment-101714 Frank Wed, 23 Jul 2008 02:27:09 +0000 http://whatjapanthinks.com/2008/07/20/the-wests-contribution-to-japanese-inventiveness/#comment-101714 That doesn't quite follow, Amanda. Maybe we didn't help them be more inventive, but we've helped make the...time spent....more comfortable, at least. That doesn’t quite follow, Amanda. Maybe we didn’t help them be more inventive, but we’ve helped make the…time spent….more comfortable, at least.

]]> http://whatjapanthinks.com/2008/07/20/the-wests-contribution-to-japanese-inventiveness/#comment-101587 Amanda Tue, 22 Jul 2008 15:22:56 +0000 http://whatjapanthinks.com/2008/07/20/the-wests-contribution-to-japanese-inventiveness/#comment-101587 I would not jump to the conclusion that Western toilets have contributed to toilet-related creativeness in the Japanese. Japanese creativeness on the toilet is an aesthetic that pre-dates Western-style toilets. For example, the novelist Jun'ichirō Tanizaki describes sublime aesthetic and spiritual moments contemplating nature while squatting over traditional Japanese toilets in his 1933 book 'In Praise of Shadows'. Maybe you are underestimating the quadriceps and glutes of the previous generations of Japanese. I would not jump to the conclusion that Western toilets have contributed to toilet-related creativeness in the Japanese. Japanese creativeness on the toilet is an aesthetic that pre-dates Western-style toilets. For example, the novelist Jun’ichirō Tanizaki describes sublime aesthetic and spiritual moments contemplating nature while squatting over traditional Japanese toilets in his 1933 book ‘In Praise of Shadows’. Maybe you are underestimating the quadriceps and glutes of the previous generations of Japanese.

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