this post was submitted on 03 Jan 2025
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[–] PhilipTheBucket@ponder.cat 147 points 9 months ago (4 children)

It’s that way in almost every country that isn’t America or America-light. Japan does it in over-the-top performative ways, but pretty much everywhere else, people care about random strangers, people invest time into their days and activities being nice just for the simple pleasure of human stuff and taking time to be a human and be pleasing with other people. Food, gifts, clothing, respect and value for travelers and gestures of good-will. If you’re from America, it feels “normal” here but something is clearly missing, and if you ever spend any length of time overseas you see exactly what it is and how badly wrong things are here, that it is missing.

I’m not trying to be prejudiced about it, just saying that every culture has its good stuff and its failings and not giving a shit about other people or life in general is definitely an American one.

[–] grue@lemmy.world 75 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)
[–] Serinus@lemmy.world 29 points 9 months ago (2 children)

Europe took a long stroll in that direction too, but there are some major differences. First, most of their cities were established before cars. Second, they're making more of an active attempt (in some areas) to be walkable again.

In short, in America 75 years is a long time. In Europe, 75 miles (120km) is a long way.

[–] grue@lemmy.world 49 points 9 months ago (2 children)

First, most of their cities were established before cars.

That's true for America too, and isn't an excuse. American cities were not built for cars; they were demolished for cars!

For example, downtown Houston, TX in 1957:

vs downtown Houston, TX in 1978:

[–] ThoGot@lemm.ee 7 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

That's so absurd it almost doesn't seem real
(from my european perspective)

[–] Trainguyrom@reddthat.com 4 points 9 months ago

American cities were not built for cars; they were demolished for cars!

You can actually see this in any small town that hasn't seen significant redevelopment since they first paved the streets. Old houses are really close together, small lots, fairly dense development and its only a couple of miles from any part of town to any other part of town, so pretty walkable/bikable by nature

[–] HonoraryMancunian@lemmy.world 7 points 9 months ago (1 children)

What's 75 years in metric?

[–] muix@lemmy.sdf.org 6 points 9 months ago

2.3652 gigaseconds

[–] wise_pancake@lemmy.ca 37 points 9 months ago (2 children)

I’m Canadian and we’re very America lite.

I grew up in a small town and I miss being young and spending so much time getting to know my neighbours or random people at the diner.

People feel less friendly the last few years, but when you get to know people they are nice. But that consideration for our fellow man is weak lately.

[–] bobs_monkey@lemm.ee 11 points 9 months ago (2 children)

This is why I moved out of a metropolis to a small mountain town. We have our share of assholes and dipshit tourists, but a lot of people genuinely care up here and it's much easier to be of that mindset when you're around people of a similar ilk.

[–] Trainguyrom@reddthat.com 3 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

Honestly trumpism killed a lot of that spirit in the small town (and its surrounding towns) that I moved to. Now I'm working on moving back to the large city because then I can join some clubs and maybe find some sense of community that was lost thanks to the "fuck your feelings" crowd.

I've also now had 2 job changes due to layoffs in a row, so I want to move to where there's more job opportunities for the next time a workplace decides to do without me, and not find myself up the proverbial creek and forced to accept another job with an hour+ of commuting each direction

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[–] Louisoix@lemm.ee 25 points 9 months ago (4 children)

Not sure what it has to do with America, but the European countries (or people's relationship) I've lived in are extremely far from being that nice.

[–] idiomaddict@lemmy.world 23 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

I’m in Germany, which feels pretty unfriendly to me (and I’m from Connecticut), but there’s still a back current of something. I don’t know if it’s best described as a sense of community, solidarity, or shared humanity, but I work at a bakery (culturally comparable to a diner, imo, and I worked in the US at a few diners) and the clientele as a rule sees me as a person in a way that they didn’t always in the US.

It’s also the first place I’ve worked in a city that didn’t have an oppositional relationship with the local homeless population, because my boss treats them like people, and doesn’t allow anyone to do any differently.

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[–] PugJesus@lemmy.world 7 points 9 months ago

Yeah, I have a European acquaintance who I've heard talk at length about how America is warm and friendly relative to Europe, and it's a notion I've heard backed up by online accounts as well.

[–] PhilipTheBucket@ponder.cat 4 points 9 months ago

I ws defining most of Europe as "America light" here. People in Central America, the Middle East, and Africa all have a particular human way of interacting with each other that is absent in America and sort of muted in a lot of Western Europe. Then at a certain point my perspective flipped and I realized their way was normal, and it's us that have something unusual about us.

The world is a big place with a lot of variation, and I'm not trying to romanticize any particular place. Just saying that a lot of looking out for each other and being kind has been forgotten about in a lot of America.

[–] WillFord27@lemmy.world 3 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

Absolutely. Cold culture vs warm culture. It's not just an American thing, but the "only america is this bad!" thought process on here is rampant. It's getting exhausting.

[–] GrumpyDuckling@sh.itjust.works 8 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

I sell on ebay and while I don't go that far out of my way I do put a little thank you stamp on the packing slip, make sure everything is packed correctly and I go out of my way to make sure that the item is shipped either same day or next day if they order later in the day. People are always grateful that they get their items so fast. I often sell spare parts for things off of already broken items, but even things like cassette tapes I imagine that they want it for the weekend or it's for a gift for someone.

[–] quixotic120@lemmy.world 49 points 9 months ago (1 children)

I haven’t bought a record in a while but I used to buy a ton and buying used from Japan was always my favorite. It wasn’t like this if you bought from corporate stores obviously but almost every time I bought from just some dude on yahoo auctions or discogs or ebay or whatever I would have a similar experience. Handwritten note, candy, good luck charm from a shrine, etc. almost made up for the astronomical shipping

One time my friend ordered a book from Russia and got similar treatment except they got tea. We made it and it was the most horrible tea we had ever tried in our lives. It came with a sweet letter though so the sentiment was nice

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[–] Varyag@lemmy.dbzer0.com 42 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Oh I love this one. It introduced me to Casiopea and they're a PHENOMENAL band. Which sent me into a hole of finding more stuff like that, and now I love J-Jazz.

[–] AnarchistArtificer@slrpnk.net 12 points 9 months ago (7 children)

Recommendations? Not even limited to J-jazz — I used to do a lot more active music searching and I'm trying to get back into that, part of which involves asking random people who like different music than I do for recs

[–] sushibowl@feddit.nl 9 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

I'm not a huge Japanese jazz aficionado, but this is some stuff I've found over the years and enjoyed:

  • Himiko Kikuchi - Flying Beagle
  • Masayoshi Takanaka - All Of Me
  • Jiro Inagaki - ファンキー・スタッフ (Funky Stuff)

If you like jazzy stuff in general, maybe you'd like:

  • Lund Quartet - Lund Quartet
  • Portico Quartet - Memory Streams
  • Colin Stetson - All This I Do For Glory
  • BADBADNOTGOOD - IV
  • Snarky Puppy - Lingus
[–] childOfMagenta@lemm.ee 5 points 9 months ago

https://everynoise.com/engenremap-japanesejazzfusion.html

Everynoise is the website for exploring genres. Warning: Time will fly.

[–] potustheplant@feddit.nl 3 points 9 months ago

Give Takanaka a try.

[–] dominotheory@midwest.social 2 points 9 months ago

Not the person you responded to, but I got super into Haruomi Hosono last year. Sort of 70's Japanese electronic jazz. Hosono House and Paraiso are great albums. He also contributed to Pacific, and it's a great jumping off point for all the other artists on that record.

Cornelius is another really fun Japanese electro band, found them on an old episode of Yo Gabba Gabba.

Quite unrelated, but if you're into hip hop Mr Giscard was a fun find for me. It's in French, which I don't speak, so can't speak to the lyrical content, but it's a fun listen. Similarly, Lous and the Yakuza, this time in German.

Happy listening!

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[–] recklessengagement@lemmy.world 36 points 9 months ago (2 children)

That album fucking rules. Can also confirm the Japanese vinyl store experience, they love to add personal touches.

[–] Pilferjinx@lemmy.world 12 points 9 months ago

Japan does jazz really nice. Look up Soil and Pimp for a more spicy metal jazz experience.

[–] Mac@mander.xyz 9 points 9 months ago

Fun fact: Casiopea released an album last year. It isn't nearly as good, but still cool.

[–] tuxiqae@lemmy.dbzer0.com 35 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Now I'm curious which tea they got

[–] peteypete420@sh.itjust.works 34 points 9 months ago

I'm curious if they left a positive review

[–] eli@lemmings.world 26 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

Huh this makes sense now

[–] doublenut@lemm.ee 25 points 9 months ago

Oh man thank you for reminding me of casiopea. Haven't listened to them since like early high-school I think. Back into weekly rotation now!

[–] NotSteve_@lemmy.ca 21 points 9 months ago

I think I ordered a Ratatat vinyl from the same seller, or Japanese discogs sellers are just the best. They sent me a free 1970s Japanese city pop vinyl and a bunch of stickers for fun.

[–] FinishingDutch@lemmy.world 16 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Huh, that’s actually pretty cool music.

[–] eestileib@sh.itjust.works 4 points 9 months ago (2 children)

A lot of the people doing video game music in the 80s were Casiopea fans, so there is a big overlap between their stuff and game music.

Their track "Countdown" being a very cleae example.

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[–] pieter91@sh.itjust.works 16 points 9 months ago

I watched a great Japanese animated film last year about a jazz musician: Blue Giant. Can definitely recommend.

[–] Hayduke@lemmy.world 12 points 9 months ago

That is a good album. Those cats jam, and jam well.

[–] Gemini24601@lemmy.world 10 points 9 months ago

Yes this Greentext introduced me to Casiopea and jazz fusion, Mint Jams is still my favorite album of theirs. Other notable works of the genre include Miles Davis’s In a Silent Way, Masayoshi Takanaka’s On Guitar, and ISSEI NORO INSPIRITS’ BEAUTY.

[–] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 8 points 9 months ago

Listening to Dolphin while playing Wave Racer 64

[–] frunch@lemmy.world 7 points 9 months ago

I ran into a live performance they did in 1985 the other day while i was doing yard work. It was really good, they're all phenomenal musicians. The crowd response was nutty, it was cool to see/hear that many people loving the hell out of the music and the band.

https://youtu.be/ilOZZp8zWKE

[–] FiskFisk33@startrek.website 6 points 9 months ago

They remind me of Gran Turismo

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