I should say that I am talking about “East Asia” in this blog post. I did not think about India at all when I wrote this. And Iran is located in Middle East and it is not in Asia according to Japanese geography. So, I have never thought that Iran is a part of Asia.

I had many Chinese friends (Taiwanese) in the U.S. and I have learnt about the real Chinese mindset from them. The façade of Shanghai is changing time after time but the mindset has stayed the same, I think.

How can you say that I write based on assumptions? I am Japanese and I understand Japanese culture and its language. There is a lot of information given only in Japanese and information translated into English is limited. Do you understand Japanese language at a native level like me?

All ethnic groups have various people but I see that people from the same ethnicity tend to follow the same values. I think that is why sometimes I can recognize if a person is westerner or non-westerner from what the person write without seeing or knowing the person’s cultural background.

Please answer my questions.
1. What is an ‘Asian’ identity? Do Afghans hold onto their Asian identity as strongly as the Chinese do (as you claim)? Do Chinese people even hold a strong Asian identity? Have you heard Mainland Chinese say, “We Asians…” It is common for people in America and Europe to say “Asia is…” because like you, many(not all!) people do not understand much about the region tend to see the WHOLOE of Asia as China, which it is not.

2. Indian people do not celebrate Chinese New Year. Neither do Indonesians and Siberians. They’re still Asian. Because Asia is not just China.

3. Traditionally Japanese do not care as much about blood relationships as Chinese and Korean people do. Confucianism is not supported in Japan as much as it is in Korea and some Chinese regions.
So Asia = China and Korea. Hmmm. I didn’t know Iran was exactly the same as China and Korea. And the last I checked, Iran was still on the mainland.
And as far blood relationships being important, name me a culture that doesn’t value family.

4. traditional culture is not considered as much important in Japan as it is in China and Korea.
Once again, how do you know this? Please don’t tell me you’ve ‘travelled extensively across Asia’ and hence you’re ‘justified in making this comment’. If you went to Shanghai as a tourist for a week they’ll show you all that traditional artsy stuff like opera, acrobatics, Chines medicine, etc. If you lived in Shanghai for a year it’ll be VERY different.

Asia = the land mass and the islands around it. There is NO such thing as an Asian identity or traits common to Asians (except universal values like thou shalt not kill) because the region is too diverse. Unless Japan gets ripped apart by another earthquake and slowly drifts towards Hawaii, it will always be considered Asian.

I could go on, but I’ll stop here.

I discovered your blog last night. I agree with some of it, that’s natural. I love how you write freely about your opinions and how you’re open to debate.
I disagree with parts of it, but people have different opinions and I can accept that. You argued your points logically and I can see where you’re coming from and even though I don’t endorse that viewpoint, I’ll accept it.

But for the most part, I keep thinking, where is the logic in her assumptions? What does she base her statements on? Your ability to stereotype based on so little is amazing. You see a one armed man in India and no handicapped people in Czech and you’ll conclude that all people in India are handicapped or no people in Czech are handicapped. Like I said earlier, your knowledge of Asia is skeletal at best. I would really recommend reading up on the area before you make any of your far fetched assumptions and stereotypes.