Backyard Coffee and Jazz in Kyoto

It’s far from exclusive to Hacker News. In fact, it doesn’t seem to be that prevalent here, as when it’s mentioned it at least tends to be in relevant context. Reddit, Tumblr, Imgur, and plenty of other communities both on and offline have an appreciation for Japanese culture.

> although I've come to realize that it's mostly Americans holding up an example of everything they feel they lack domestically, and in that sense isn't so much about Japan as it is about America

Also not related to America at all. It’s just as common in Europe and western countries in general. Generation probably plays a role. Find anyone who had their mind blown by an anime at a formative age, and you’ll find someone who to this day is likely to have some degree of fascination with Japan.

I'm honestly convinced it's a bit more prevalent in America, and I've explored this in earnest conversations with American friends. I don't mean to villify it either, as it makes a certain amount of sense. Their take is roughly that Japan is the benchmark case for a sufficiently alternative/different culture from an American POV and thus invites comparison. As in, yes, you could also cite equivalent examples in Europe (say, cozy hole-in-the-wall cafés in 200 year old structures with vines hanging off of them ...), but since the cultural overlap is much larger (or presumed to be), it's less striking. To quote one friend, "if you're going to make the comparison, why not go for the maximum you can?"

Add the surplus in shared history, the far greater exposure to Japanese products (e.g. car brands) inviting more interest, and so on.

Sure, you can find manga/anime fand pining for that Japanese lifestyle also in Europe, and Europeans are certainly no strangers to orientalism through the ages. But the incidence of finding "look at how the Japanese are doing it differently" in random mainstream media is a lot higher in US publications. And it's also largely been US-based consulting companies and/or organizations that have taken the hoishin and the kaizen and what not global in corporate culture and particularly in tech.

There’s a ridiculous number of Japan-centric things that make it to the front page compared to any other culture. Tech has always had a Japan obsession.

But is there a ridiculous number of Japan-centric things that make it to the front page compared to any other community? Are Japan-centric things discussed on HN more than Reddit, Tumblr, Imgur? Because that was my point; Japan is popular in general, not just popular on HN to the point it’s even worth singling out.

But attaching the Japan label suddenly makes it more appealing as it invokes many distorted (and misinformed) aspects of Japan.

It's the same annoying vibe that Koreans get when they come across a foreigner who is into Kpop. Most Koreans do not care for Kpop as do most Japanese do not care for Anime.

Yet these exports create a parasocial relationship with a foreign country that when broken turn them into passive aggressive bigots.

The more you covet the harsher the rejection. Japanese and Korean society simply has no place for outsiders. Having a Japanese passport doesn't make you Japanese as it will not change your ancestral history, having your gender changed on your drivers license doesn't change the biological history and so on.

I think you're mostly right on the money on that, but I'll also say it doesn't have to be all fetishization. A lot of US Americans legitimately do live in places where you don't have access to cozy nightlife like that because it's not what the market provides, and if it's to your tastes, I can understand desiring it.

I lived and worked in South Korea for a number of years, and I really enjoyed some of the laid-back wine bars and whiskey bars there, made for working-age couples and small groups in their 20s to lounge around and talk with a drink. That kind of atmosphere is very commonly available there, but fairly hard to find in Berlin (where I live now), where bars more typically are tacky, sticky, and play terrible music so loud you have to yell at each other. I also miss the late-night coffeeshops a lot, where I spent many a night with the laptop doing FOSS stuff - your typical Berlin café closes no later than 7pm. There are exceptions to these rules but the sort of places I like are generally a lot harder to find.

Note I e.g. get the same opinion from Catalan friends in & about Berlin, who really miss their chill bars and street-side places from back home in Barcelona and similar. So this is again more of a "I like this foreign thing I can't have here as much" than it is about Japan.

I'm not so sure. Or, rather, reasons can differ. I'm not into anime at all, but every time I visit Japan (was just there in April, after not having visited since 2017), I am constantly finding little things and thinking "it's a shame we can't have that sort of thing in the US".

I'm generally positive on the concept of government regulation, but the US & US state governments tend to over-regulate so many things, like zoning and alcohol licensing (as mentioned in the article). Culture plays a part too, certainly.

I do not care about other communities. I am discussing HN and the tech community herein and the phenomenon that occurs with Japan worship here.