Love this post. Gives great context and real anecdotal experience.
To be serious about the Tekken 6 discourse for a moment: I’ve seen a number of tweets about “Japanese FGC” aura loss or how much one’s opinion on the “Japanese FGC” has dropped due to this, and yes the racist language on both sides is ugly, but all of you are saying “Japanese FGC” when you really mean Japanese society. The reason you come visit the country and tweet about how everything is so nice is the same reason you are so upset right now - people following rules, regardless of how nonsensical or outdated they seem.
I grew up in America where rules are generally treated like suggestions, so it was incredibly frustrating when I first moved here and couldn’t understand why people wouldn’t make exceptions or bend rules to help me out for things that I thought were minor. It was just me constantly asking “Why??” and getting told, “That’s just how it is,” with no room for discussion. I thought I knew better and things should be changed to be more convenient for me, but after adjusting my thinking and seeing how everyone followed these same rules, it made living here so much more comfortable - it’s why I’ve chosen to stay for 15+ years.
Now OBVIOUSLY I am not saying no one in Japan breaks rules, but it’s understood that if you get caught then no one is going to be there defending you. That’s where this whole issue comes from - you are not going to convince anyone on Twitter that “This rule is dumb, I'm going to ignore it.” If you’re gonna do it, then do it - but no amount of justification will make it acceptable in the eyes of most people here.
So yes, this is a complex issue, but it is not the “Japanese FGC” you are dealing with, it's Japan’s rule-based society as a whole. It’s been very interesting and pretty nostalgic to watch from the sidelines.
As for my stance: No comment 😇