just a reminder that learning japanese to consume their cultural products like video games more is totally fine and not a sign of disrespect or whatever
gatekeeping how people use and study languages is just a ridiculous notion that needs to be dispelled asap
Follow
Click to Follow highimpactsex
かすっち （ルビ：ｋａｓｔｅｌｐｌｓ）
@highimpactsex
a subculture infodumper with a MSc degree that’s got nothing to do with making gay games for | work: | ico:
かすっち （ルビ：ｋａｓｔｅｌｐｌｓ）🌕🔧’s posts
please watch this video and share it if you care about lgbtq in japan because this is extremely messed up for a politician to say this shit so brazenly twitter.com/kaedehatashima
This Tweet is unavailable.
just a reminder that learning a language like japanese to engage further with the media is as valid a reason as learning it for work or anything else
you should never need to rationalize why you are learning anything in general except for one fact: that you are interested in it
so i’ve seen tweets about the codes of conduct with chinese/korean/japanese fanart twitter and i’ll just briefly touch on this as a thread since it is v important:
east asian social media is v different from western social media
Replying to
i want to clarify the gravity of the kyoani fire incident
this isn’t just about anime fans crying over the loss of creative talent
this is currently the worst mass murder in post-war japanese history: 33 lives were lost; in comparison, the sarin gas attacks of 1995 had 12 deaths
remember kids,
doujin and doujinshi aren't just always porn!
they are respectively the terms for the japanese indie world and self-published works
and both represent an important subculture within the anime mainstream and affect how artistic creation works
look up the discrimination toward the zainichi in cities like osaka, the okinawans, the ainu in hokkaido, the burakumin, the hibakusha/survivors of the hiroshima & nagasaki nukes, and many other ethnic minorities and ask yourself how the country is able to present itself as this
someday people will stop equating doujin with pornography
sure, some of them are porn but it’s an actual culture where people showcase anything they’ve made by themselves
there’s a lot of crafts, recipe books, and games like a certain touhou franchise that are doujin works…
as much as it is cool to see a jp creator like uchikoshi stand up for including references to lgbtq people in their games and sticking with it, i do think it is frustrating that folks are claiming that lgbtq people in japan don’t exist or aren’t as “political” as in the west
um folks
kyoani (yes, Kyoto Animation) is on fire
someone put gasoline and this seems to be a case of arson.
some folks are injured
if you think you are clogging up people’s timelines for spamming about niche things you like, don’t worry about it
people tweet stupid shit all the time and it’s also nice to see folks just tweet about things few people know about but are passionate about
it makes twitter better
i wish people stop referring doujinshi as those porn things
it's so fucking harmful to doujin creators like musicians, writers, and artists who don't ... work in nsfw content
they should be understood as hobbyist or indie circles :-(
Son, that’s what they call a CloudFlare eclipse. A phenomenon that happens once in a while and shows how vulnerable the internet privatized infrastructure is. Truly astounding, isn’t it?
having lived in multiple countries that have p much banned lgbtq content, i would be pretty devastated seeing someone say “it’s specifically not available to you” and that i am somehow perpetuating a certain kind of “colonizer bullshit” in order to advocate for anti-piracy
read image description
ALT
seeing vtubers compared to “western” women streamers over how much better they are pisses me off all the time
some of my favorite vtubers are actually harassed precisely because they used to stream in their real personas, not a 2d one or whatever
and that harassment continued
Replying to
so what if someone thinks japanese is a “cool” language and their only exposure to japan is just anime? as people become more invested in the language and cultures, they’ll end up learning about history thru osmosis
learning japanese is not just about the language itself, y’know
there is a group pretending to be raising funds for kyoani and tweeting at people to check out their GoFundMe page
they call themselves the “Kyoto Studio Crowd fund!” and kyoani as “Kyoto studio”
be aware of opportunists using fake campaigns to get some quick cash like that
why are there so many people bootlicking copyright law today, fuck copyright, let the internet archive do whatever shit it wants
Replying to
there’s also a fundamental misunderstanding on what cultural appropriation is lately: people think using “japanese”-inspired usernames is somehow cultural appropriation and it somehow sullies their intent to learn jp
bruh, there’s bigger things you can make a molehill out of
excellent read about people in the current japanese political economy hellscape
Replying to
people seem to discourage the learning of japanese esp because it’s associated with “weeb” things
well, what isn’t “weeb” nowadays? if someone’s looking through the history of samurais, are they a “weeb” or are they a scholar of japanese history?
you don’t see this shit w/ china
ah yes, japan is most famous for not having soy-based products like tofu (agedashi, aburaashi, and more), soy sauce/shoyu, miso, yuba/tofu skin, natto, edamame, kuromame, kinako (the filling you have for confectionaries), and ofc soy milk
soy definitely not a thing
don't want to rant on yiik much
but i was aware of the game copying someone's real life death but i didn't know what it was and someone uploaded an imgur gallery of that sequence imgur.com/a/wmYHCTx
and let's just say using someone's death as a game dev "influence" is Fucked
Replying to
there is no utopia in japan
people searching for this paradise will be disappointed it is another country with its own sociopolitical mess
this is just plain ol’ ignorance shrouded in orientalism; it is an act of dehumanizing the country and assumption that time stopped there
if you follow japanese creators as i do, everyone is expressing grief and shock over the passing away of the berserk creator
i haven’t read/watched much berserk but man, miura’s influence is like Everywhere
an unbelievable tragedy for someone who passed this young
Replying to
i know a lot of folks on the twitters complain about how “uninformed” the stereotypical gamers/weebs are
but i’d also wager many of those complainers are ignorant about history too and being hypocritical
if you’re applying a standard to others, make sure it applies to you too
Replying to
i’m not japanese (i’m chinese indonesian) and my japanese is poor
but i once got the opportunity to meet the developers of a game i really liked and i communicated with them through my poor japanese
and they were so touched by my need to express these thoughts that they sobbed
Replying to
what makes your learning japanese different from “weebs”? or are you one of those folks who think learning japanese in general a “weeb” thing to do?
maybe that’s less a reflection on people who want to study the language and more on how you view folks in general then
Replying to
if you think learning japanese or watching anime is a toxic form of cultural appropriation, stop
you don’t understand how cultures exchange ideas and build upon each other
i look forward to people not using the english word “emoji” because guess where that’s from
why do people keep falling for the extremely overused grifter trick of “i am japanese because i can write random words in japanese, anyway stop injecting pronoun politics into anime”
guess the lesson of “idolize no one because the power dynamics within the influencer-consumer relationship are exploitative and ripe for abuse” is still the hardest thing to wrap one’s head around since people are still making threads about “unproblematic” creators
Replying to
learning japanese was (and still is) a lifechanging experience for me
i’ve read so many interesting works, listened to people discuss their real life via thoughts on video games, and trying to (poorly) recreate that experience i had reading w/ jp media by making my own stuff
Replying to
everyone — and i mean, everyone — is shocked by this
it doesn’t matter if you like anime or whatever; this is going to be remembered as a massacre in the annals of japanese history
we just saw a tragedy unfold before our very eyes...
this school is allowing people to mix and match uniforms for both boys and girls; you can wear a skirt and a ribbon if you're a boy
Quote
Replying to
was me conveying those thoughts that resonated with the developers a kind of cultural imperialism? a kind of disrespect toward language and japanese cultures? how was i supposed to tell them what i thought? only one of them understood english!
Replying to
look at the comments of japanese artists and vtubers, there’s always people who don’t speak japanese trying to communicate with them in the language
they could write “good” in english but they want to express their feelings more
how is this disrespect or cultural appropriation?
Replying to
in general, east asian fan artists love some international recognition; imagine getting your drawings being shared with people in another country — it is genuinely exciting and quite validating: plus it also shows the international appeal of who/what they are drawing
Replying to
you don’t have to look far into yuri and BL to see creators and their characters lament about how they aren’t recognized as being capable for marriage or even respect
activists aren’t being “polite” either, they are just untranslated and ignored by the world
Replying to
please respect the privacy of the victims and their loved ones
one of the more tragic things that’s going to happen after the incident will be the piling of mass media and people trying to investigate and get new scoops...
do not encourage this behavior
they need time to grieve
more or less agree with this thread but also noteworthy is that people are being marketed to NFTs via emails and friends
which is why it’s somewhat difficult to convince people: you need to tell them it’s as bad as MLMs (which jp artists are v aware about)
Quote
A thread 
about the way NFTs seem to be seen in Japan, and why, when making your case against them, you probably should NOT be using all the usual arguments that work here, and what would probably get you more success instead.
about the way NFTs seem to be seen in Japan, and why, when making your case against them, you probably should NOT be using all the usual arguments that work here, and what would probably get you more success instead.Replying to
if you wanna discuss orientalism, cultural imperialism, and all that in regards to how people approach japanese media
that’s fine
but you have to realize you too are a part of orientalism too
you are not innocent from the annals of the history we are all in
Replying to
we live in a world that depends on translations, exchanges, and even appropriation
and not all of this is smeared with imperialism
you should be able to watch tokusatsu and consider learning japanese without thinking this is born out of some ill will
this is a toxic mindset.
shut-in, recluse, hermit, individuals who got screwed over by capitalism and became disenfranchised by societal values for not being productive and social for the functioning of capitalism
Replying to
maybe ask yourself how the japanese state has responded to the victims of ww2, the colonizations of korea and others, the fukushima nuclear incident (which has still not recovered btw!), and so on
Replying to
now, let’s turn the tables around
is learning english in japan inappropriate? what if japanese people just want to play skyrim or watch john wick without subs or dubs?
more importantly, how do you think people are discussing political movements like BLM in japan?
Replying to
what i want to make clear is if you’re learning any language, whatever your reason it may be, you are valid
extremely valid
you don’t need to listen to any of these shit arguments about how bad it is to learn a language
go watch a vtuber and learn some japanese, it’s good
Replying to
most people don’t really comment on japanese social media or pixiv; at most, they go “that’s beautiful” or use that elephant emoji spouting love from its nose
which makes sense because these spaces are just to draw; comments are nice but unnecessary
Replying to
this is an extremely offensive video even to cishet people who may not feel ready to be parents; people are only "productive" if they make children and if they are gay or uninterested in making children, then they are "unproductive"
cool thread from the skeb ceo about why skeb won't be doing nfts but also debunking common lines of thinking with nfts in the japanese artist community
most interesting one IMO is the spurious claim that nfts act like drm lol
i think it’s quite funny that people are back claiming they want “shorter games with worse graphics” but don’t go to sites like itchio or follow blogs that cover this subject
it’s like this slogan is just a slogan, it’s got no bite and people just want to feel morally superior
Replying to
p.s. someone’s gonna ask me how i’ve learned jp so here’s a post
it also discusses how i became interested in japanese politics and pursued a master’s degree in international relations
so fuck anyone who says learning a language is just a “weeb” thing
Replying to
do we tell them that they should stop learning the language because their heart isn’t in the right place? what reason should they learn the language for?
for that matter, what is the proper, legitimate reason to learn any language?
i sincerely ask this in good faith
Replying to
just put yourself in their shoes: how are you supposed to understand what people are even talking about in your thread? what are you supposed to feel? it’s no wonder they will take drastic measures because they just want to draw art, not invite a damn load of attention
Replying to
english-speaking artists can respond; most east asian artists do not — that’s the big difference
an english-speaking artist will obv understand your memes but east asian artists will be confused and possibly offended by what you say
Replying to
i can’t generalize All Japanese People but the folks i have talked to enjoy american culture and do similar things “weebs” do
they have Cool English words and mention american pop culture
the yuri vn series, FLOWERS, has so much american pop culture — it even mentions oj simpson
Replying to
this can’t be forgotten as an incident anymore
i saw, translated, and reported a massacre on twitter
this is why the news is so heavy: we saw the darkest parts of history flash before our eyes and we are powerless to stop it
Replying to
maybe just maybe, this whole thing about japan being an ethnic homogenous nation that is peaceful could be a front
it could be used to make people say “Well, the Japanese are xenophobic and conservative because they keep things together”
it’s a good ass illusion
Replying to
this is a topic i hate seeing on twitter a lot not just because the arguments are always stupid and condescending to japanese learners but also because they sully the actual power concepts like cultural imperialism have
i am pissed off it’s always some woke american doing this
folks, “desu” is not a cute way to end your japanese sentences like it’s “lol” and “lmao”
it’s an actual grammatical construct to affirm what is said
if you wanna make a joke about this, people there use “www” and other slang…
/subtweet
Replying to
however the trouble comes when the foreign reaction becomes overwhelming — mass retweets, quote tweets, or any response that isn’t in simple english; that’s when fanartists start blocking or worse locking their accounts
Replying to
it’s embarrassing people still believe in this myth and i sincerely hope people stop idealizing japan as a glorified paradise with zero politics
don’t Other japan, thanks
Replying to
this shit is the real cultural imperialism if you ask me
it silences the voices of people in the global south (there are for example many indonesians interested in learning japanese) and discourages people in broadening their horizons
those folks are the real assholes imo
didn't intend to wake up to Anime News Network writing native advertising for one of the worst "new" religions or cults in japan, Happy Science
i like to read up stuff about cults so i'll just mention a few things twitter.com/pancakeparadox
This Tweet is unavailable.
Replying to
and oh, the million hot takes on the fertility rate and how conservatives are so obsessed about that despite not giving a shit about welfare and safety nets!
plus the severe exploitation of labor on all levels because the employers have their workers’ welfare as hostage
Replying to
anyone who follows the currents in japanese social media will recognize it is a chaotic mess like other countries
japan may not have the scandals on the scale of brexit or impeachment but there are protests and lawsuits for gay rights for example
Replying to
why not search antifa japan, read into the prestigious long histories of the japanese communist party or the diabolic ones of the LDP, the protests led by japanese nationalists and the counterprotests led by marxists and their allies, sugita mio’s ableism and the reaction etc
Replying to
east asian twitter isn’t a reblogging website like tumblr which allows this behavior; they don’t need snarky remarks or long threads — they just want to post art
this is not to say tumblr is bad or anything; we are just talking about different cultures
Replying to
because i’ve seen people argue so much about how learning the japanese language is some act of colonialism or whatever, i want to know what they think is an appropriate reason and the code of conduct
i know it has to be silly and unrealizable but they’re never clear about it
Replying to
you can also spend your day reading about how the japanese mass media has harassed victims of massacres including the kyoani incident a few months ago
or you can go deeper and see how japanese nationalists and alt-right communities in the us and europe are helping together
i am not interested in the motives of the suspect and he is honestly going to get the death penalty (see japanese law for arson-related deaths)
but i am concerned that people are forgetting the victims
it is p clear the perpetrator wants to dismantle kyoani and get the attention
Replying to
of course there are xenophobic artists, but those are rare; i have commissioned japanese artists a couple of times, both in english and bad japanese — they understand fandom and ofc the US dollar sign; most are welcoming if you take note of how social media there works
Replying to
if you do want to express your appreciation for these artists, retweets and favoriting them do way more than quote tweets
i will also point out they do egosearch (i.e. they may look up their name) so it may be better to keep it a short complimentary message than something long
Replying to
this — again — isn’t xenophobia or them closing their accounts because of international attention: it has to do with how non-english speaking people interact with fan artists
they don’t mind the interaction but there are languages and cultural barriers
Replying to
the perseverance of this delusional myth in a fictional japan in the year 2019 suggests that many people outside japan have still not taken the country seriously
any kind of context is stripped from interpretations and the country is left to the whims of people’s imaginations
Replying to
efforts to be more inclusive in more mainstream settings are greeted with applause but at some point, the nihilism sets in
japanese supreme courts and the federal government are denying gay marriage and promoting homophobia instead
it’s very suffocating to read jp tweets at times
Replying to
p.p.p.s. if you are learning a language to hit on women or to commit similarly unethical shit, congratulations, you are actually the person who should be called out for learning japanese and this thread doesn’t apply to you :-)
Replying to
p.p.s. if someone pretends to be asian, that’s something to be decried upon
if it’s just someone expressing their attachment to japanese culture through writing their names in japanese or some shit, that’s not a problem at all
i want to make this clear because nuance is dead
this video got subbed into japanese and is making the rounds
and watching it with japanese subtitles really made me realize how important this struggle needs to be discussed internationally
Replying to
nothing like a good cup of tea and laughing about high rates of gay suicides because lgbtq education isn't helpful to the productive people ... in fact, it might make you gay and suicidal
jfc
for the oscars, the boss baby gets a nomination while anime films like koe no katachi/a silent voice do not
the boss baby is thus a superior anime and should be added onto myanimelist as a 10/10 film
love to enjoy talking about how show don't tell is a CIA-funded writing workshop technique :-)
i know piracy and scanlations are sensitive topics and as a creator i totally empathize with many sides of the argument
what i don’t agree with is “if you can’t buy it, then it’s too bad”
as someone living in the global south, i am genuinely horrified by this sentiment
Replying to
so you can quite imagine the confusion when their tweet gets threads and threads of replies in english: what could they possibly mean, should i use google translate, i feel kinda weirded out etc.
Replying to
the japanese diet now have lgbtq politicians calling for diversity
there are now more discussion than ever on equality, labor rights, and war crime reparations
but this is not a new turn of events; it’s already there and people are reporting about it
Replying to
it’s a facade that needs to be torn down
i don’t expect people to read books and articles on japanese political history and whatnot but i do expect folks to realize the country has Politics like the rest of the world
people in japan are real people so ofc they have to do Politics
Replying to
(yes, unlike western artists, japanese artists do actually charge normally; thankfully most people don’t commission japanese artists or we’ll be seeing how japanese people overcharge — alas, i wish western artists charge as much as them)
as usual, i always wonder why people claim that cishet creators and consumers fetishize queer media but cishet media themselves is relatively free from any accusation of fetishization
could it be that queer media is always perceived as Something Horny And Impure hmm
Replying to
if you want to know how much japanese people care about kyoani...
lrt: for people unaware of the newer touhou, matara okina is a kami of things like earth (地母神, lit. earth mother)
the concept of disability itself (障碍の神)
and discriminated minorities (被差別民の神)
only she would create the setting for touhou, a utopia for the ostracized
Replying to
you have to be blatantly ignorant/uncaring about what is happening in japan right now to suggest people there don’t care about lgbtq stuff
a good half of the country now has same-sex partnerships as a compromise against the state not allowing gay marriage
people are trying there
vndb mods are thinking of removing staff roles like planners and concept artists right now
they’ve currently removed sales, special thanks, and other staff roles
this has to be the stupidest vndb move, even more so than the 13 sentinels drama lmao
vndb.org/t8242.968
just watched like thirty minutes of YIIK gameplay and i thought of the bad MOTHER/EarthBound-likes that i played
and it’s always interesting how they share the same problems of not understanding the appeal of MOTHER
so a small thread i guess
Replying to
p.p.p.p.p.p.s. this also goes without saying but i’m not talking about people using japanese as “aesthetics”
i’m talking about people with a genuine interest in learning the language and culture
if you think adding japanese text is aesthetic, you’re a shit orientalist
Replying to
so while i know chuds do chud stuff, it remains painful to see people be blatantly ignorant and say japanese society is conservative and tries to not rock the boat with this lgbtq stuff
to the contrary: it is almost impossible to ignore the pain and confusion by lgbtq and allies
kinda wish the whole projared thing is less about “wow guy traded his 10 of a wife for a 4” and more about how the guy was able to use his reputation to establish power relations and exploit heidi and many other ppl
aspects about abuse are seriously under-discussed in these memes
Replying to
i understand loanwords do happen and will evolve to its own thing (hentai for example) but doujin having this pornographic meaning will seriously contribute to so much misunderstandings and misinformation
so let me be a bit of a prescriptivist just this once…
Replying to
p.p.p.p.s. if you want to get a kanji/hanzi tattoo, please uh make sure you’re not getting 糞 or some stupid shit
get someone who knows japanese/chinese to vouch for it first lol.