Why is Japan considered Western and China not? There is no map of the West.

Tuesday 06th May, 11:00 PM JST

Guy Sorman, a French philosopher, author and economist, questioning the so-called “clash of civilizations,” which is basically the West against the rest. (Japan Times)

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12 Comments

sincity at 03:08 AM JST - 7th May

Who considers Japan as Western, other than an idiot?

Modern, sure, but Western.

Quel une tete a merde!
LFRAgain at 09:33 AM JST - 7th May

As much as Japan may embrace things deemed "Western," e.g., Italian-like food, French-like cafes, European-like fashion, I wouldn't say Japan was "Western" except by the most liberal interpretation. Japanese culture, society, and business still operate largely within the confines of Confucian and collectivist principles. Anything else is a thin veneer. Corn and mayo pizza, anyone?
kagunlapell at 03:07 PM JST - 7th May

Japan, western? distance(Japan, China)
Alphaape at 04:28 PM JST - 7th May

kag: Japan is to the east of China, so by going geographically, China is western and Japan is eastern.
Ah_so at 01:33 AM JST - 8th May

So where does Australia and New Zealand fit in to all this? Surely Japan can be Western if Australia wants to be.

Actually, has Australia made up its mind on this yet for that matter?
Alphaape at 02:03 AM JST - 8th May

I think that the term "western" refers to the group of contries that trace many of their cultural ties (artistic, philosophy, medicinal, literature) to the Ancient Roman/Greek influence. True, these societies probably had interaction with "eastern" groups from China and what we would consider India and the Arabs, but for the most part, the development of what we call "classical civilization" from this group is what is defined as western. Countries that have at their base a direct off shoot from these two influences (most of Europe, and when they expanded during the age of exploration North America) are generally considered western. Australia and New Zealand could be considered western, since they were colonized by England, and developed societies based on the British model (excluding the native peoples there).

Eastern would be civilzations and countries that had at their core a direct influence with what the west considered the far east, and a major influence on this would be the Chinese. True, Arabic nations are considered from the "east" but these civilizations are not thought of as being a "direct decendant" from the classical Greek and Roman civilizations. It is funny since in both of these terms, the entire continent of Africa is excluded (I don't believe that they are considered either west or east) and the meso-Americans that were in America before Europeans arrived.
EurajReturns at 02:16 AM JST - 8th May

Yes, Alphaape.

That's what I was going to say...
Nessie at 11:04 AM JST - 8th May

Guy Sorman, a French philosopher

A better question: Why is an ignoramus like this considered a philosopher?
solarbuster at 01:20 PM JST - 8th May

Possibly the question is wrong; for the Japanese to live in parts set aside as European Areas they had to be considered "White" not "Western". In South Africa Japanese were also considered "White" in their papers and Chinese always "Coloured". Japanese were not considered as Westerns but as Westernized Asians. If you look at some Japanese they are much whiter than some Europeans, so even though the decisions on colour were political the logic for them to be classed as "Whites" was there.

I know some Chinese were also "White" but you could not have convinced the "White" powers ripping China off that they were. In short it was politically racist but expedient to keep the Japanese as allies.
sabiwabi at 01:20 PM JST - 8th May

Because Japan remains occupied by the US.
sabiwabi at 01:22 PM JST - 8th May

Why is Japan considered Western and China not? Well, Japan helped the west in its occupation of Iraq, China did not. Being "Western" is not always good.
brotokyo at 01:41 PM JST - 8th May

Yes solarbuster you're correct. South Africa made Japanese honorary whites just as the Dutch and English made Japanese honoray whites decades earlier and about the same time the US issued its Gentleman's Agreement so that Japanese could work and farm in the US after having adopted the infamous Chinese Exclusionary laws. Discarding the Kimono for neckties and fishnet stocking hardly makes Japan Western.