Sometimes I come across some indirect comments asking if I lived in Japan, as if it were an obligation to live in the country to write about it. So I decided to write exactly about the following topic: Do you have to live in Japan to know it?
We have already written an article about this, but it specifically discusses the steps we can take to gain knowledge about a certain country. You can read this article by clicking here.
Apparently, some people who live or have lived in Japan feel superior to others and want to know more than everyone else. The great truth is that living in Japan does not mean that a person has any knowledge about the country. I have even written about the superiority complex of some descendants.
When I was on my first trip to Japan, I met a lot of Japanese people and asked a lot of questions related to the subjects I've written about over the years. With these questions I came to the conclusion that not even the Japanese know their own country. Probably because most people live in their comfort zone and only know what suits them.
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Why don't you have to live in Japan to meet him?
Did history teachers experience history to teach history? Do you have any idea that one of the most famous books about wealth was written by a poor person? Exactly, Napoleon Hill wrote the best-selling book "Think and Grow Rich", and until the release of this book, he was poor.
It was after watching the video from Bruno Avila that I started mulling over these motivational thoughts to tell everyone that you don’t need to live in Japan to know more than a Japanese person or someone who has lived there! Shall we look at another example that Bruno provided?
You want to buy an apartment, normally you wouldn't ask someone who has never bought an apartment for help. You turn to a good guide to real estate investing, what would you think to find out that the author of this guide has never bought a property in his life? What if this author has interviewed the 20 most popular real estate investors in the world?
A person may have attended various colleges, worked in different places, and experienced a lot in 日本 and the world. This does not mean at any moment that they have more knowledge than you. They may even have more knowledge, but there is a 100% chance that you know many things they do not know. Knowledge is infinite!
Can't you know everything?
I think everyone knows that it is not necessary to experience it to have knowledge on the subject. Unfortunately, some hastily claim that there are certain things that only experiencing to know the reality. I see this a lot in some articles where I try to highlight some cultural or everyday aspect of foreigners in Japan.
The big problem with these people is that they can't see beyond their thoughts. All people have different experiences wherever they are, some feel things in their skin that others have not, and some have different thoughts and ideas about the same subject.
Sometimes I write my opinion on a certain subject, but because it is different from the person's experience, they start to criticize and say that I don't know anything because I didn't live in Japan. These people need to understand that just because I said something doesn't mean that's my absolute thought on the matter, I fully understand each person's relativity and different realities.
People want to force their opinions and reality as the correct and only one, without accepting diverse opinions. I myself have written several articles criticizing this attitude and I always talk about relativity and the different realities of each person. The life of a factory worker is quite different from that of a graduate working in an office (this is just one example).
An example of this is in several articles that are in contrast to each other. I already wrote an article speaking well of Japan and some people came to disagree and criticize Japan. I did another article talking about the bad side of Japan and again people came to disagree and praise Japan. It's always like that, people never reach a middle ground or neutrality.
Nobody knows more than anybody
Someone who works researching and writing about Japanese culture has a much greater and more diverse understanding of any subject related to the area she researches. Not because she is smarter or more experienced, but simply because she researches and results in different opinions on a given subject.
The wise person listens to advice, regardless of the other person's age or position. The intelligent person does not humiliate, is not selfish and tolerates many things. The common man speaks, the wise man listens, the fool argues. If you want to correct someone, no problem, but at the moment someone tries to know more than the other person or to belittle the knowledge different from them.
No student knows more than the teacher about the history or geography of a country just by having lived in it. Of course, a person can have lived in Japan and really understand much more about it than me or other people, but the fact is that anyone can have knowledge about a certain subject, just go for it! And you don't even need to graduate and do a doctorate in the subject.