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Though referred to by some as “America’s hat,” Canada is actually one of the most highly regarded countries in the world. In fact, it was recently ranked the most admired by the Reputation Institute, with Sweden, Switzerland, and Australia following. Of course, this survey was apparently focused on respondents in G8 countries, so there was probably a bit of a bias, but it’s obvious that many think quite highly of the large country.
But what do young Japanese people think of Canada? Would they like to visit? And how much do they actually know about the country anyway? Watch the video below to find out and see if you beat these (mostly) college students in some Canadian trivia!
If you watch a lot of YouTube videos about Japan, there’s a good chance you’ve seen some by Rachel and Jun, a married couple who make videos about Japan and their lives. We’ve shared a few of their videos before, so be sure check them out if you haven’t already!
In a video released last week, Rachel, American, and Jun, Japanese, asked a few different groups of young Japanese people what they think and know about Canada. As someone from the U.S., I have to admit that my knowledge of Canada is woefully lacking. I’m curious to see if these guys know more than me.
The first question was: What do you think about when you think about Canada? There were a number of answers, but one seemed particularly common: "maple syrup," followed by "It's cold."
Another question stumped pretty much everyone they asked: Who is Canada’s leader?
Fortunately, everyone had an answer for this question: Who are some famous Canadians? After a bit of debate, this group came up with Justin Bieber, while another said Taylor Swift, who is actually from the U.S.
So, what stereotypes do these Japanese people have of Canada? First, here are some of the good ones! Along with auroras, beautiful nature, and all around nice people, Canada also apparently features a lot of people who speak French and it's not very eventful.
One more question proved to be really tricky. What is Canada’s capital? It turns out it’s not Toronto.
Source: YouTube (Rachel & Jun)
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© Japan Today
16 Comments
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Equality
Thanks for putting a big smile on my face. Sad to hear that Justin Bieber is the best known Canadian (sigh), but nice to hear that they would all like to visit. :-)
Tom Thompson
someone has got a big awareness problem, really big
Yardley
I thought it was fun. It wasn't meant to be some serious research, and I don't know if you'd get a much better result asking a small group of average American college students the same questions. At least one boy said he'd study Canada more! ;)
Wc626
LoL, cat got all their tongues when asked to name a famous canadian. Justin B? thats a hilarious. I'm way older than those kids n' the vid, so I'd have to say- Marty McFly was my fav Canadian.
CanuckNikkei
This made me smile too.
yamashi
Why anyone is so much surprized? This is a logical result of westernization of Japanese society. A generation of typical consumers has no desire to learn geography or history. Perhaps, in the USA youngsters would show much worse results in similar survey. They prefer to chat about life of miley cyrus or make a week-long line in front of a mall to buy a new iphone.
Cogito Ergo Sum
Probably , as the country in which Japan was walloped by the US. This they won't easily forget.
lucabrasi
Wonderful scenery, friendly people.
My absolute favourite of all the fifty states.... ; )
Tim_Fox
And Preston Phro, you sound lazy and unqualiied to write the piece. It sounds like even after writing this piece you still know absolutely nothing about Canada. The capital city of Canada is Ottawa. Some famous Canadians among many include James Doohan (Star Trek Scotty), William Shatner (Captain Kirk), Keanu Reeves, and Shania Twain. The current far right national embarassment of Canada is far right anti-environment / anti-democracy Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
TrevorPeace
While I'm sure the whole exercise was, as noted, done in fun by an American/Japanese couple, and reported by a woefully ignorant American about one of his country's strongest allies and economic partners, it's still worthy of a light laugh. But that's about it. And there are a lot more famous Canadians than actors, singers and celebrities.
Jeff Huffman
What's most disheartening is that if you asked this same group what they new about Japan past or present, they'd be just as clueless.
It was either Leno or Letterman (maybe both) that would do "man in the street" Q&A like this. I've seen something similar to this done in the UK asking about both the EU and the US.
Then there are these.
https://www.distractify.com/brits-label-us-map-1197799565.html
http://www.buzzfeed.com/summeranne/americans-try-to-place-european-countries-on-a-map#.bvevno3eqn
I don't think they teach geography in American public schools any longer. I remember taking a test in which I had to name all the countries of the world and their capitals.
jonobugs
I'm sure that if you asked a similar group of Canadians similar questions about Japan they wouldn't do much better. It's just so sad that the only famous person they knew was J. Bieber.
Noliving
Could have been worse, they could have said Chad Kroeger
sfjp330
Most famous Canadian is a hockey player name Sidney Crosby from Nova Scotia or rock legends Neil Young Bryan Adams from Ontario, or Celine Dion from Quebec. Actually, entire Canada has less population than California. If you visit eastern British Colombia around Kelowna in the Okanagan Lake, the weather is very similar to California except clean air and water. Maybe 10 degrees off throughout the year. Wonderful place to live and visit.
Yumster100
Can't think of a negative stereotype of Canada as well. That's pretty cool.
Kabukilover
Hey, Leonard Cohen. Great poet ("Suzanne"). Between Justin Bieber any day of the week.
I love Toronto, Montreal (dig the local French) and Vancouver. If you know nothing else about Canada you should know Wreck Beach in Vancouver. A national treasure.