If we're going to talk about copying. Paper and gunpowder were invented in China so I think the balance of who's copying who's tech is in China's favour
this post was submitted on 27 Aug 2026
182 points (84.7% liked)
Memes
57169 readers
984 users here now
Rules:
- Be civil and nice.
- Try not to excessively repost, as a rule of thumb, wait at least 2 months to do it if you have to.
founded 7 years ago
MODERATORS
Love the China memes and all, but how often do you meet someone who has anything to say about Japanese modernization?
In the early 00s I remember there being a whole lot of propaganda centering about how futuristic Japan is with their technology and robots and shit.
It depends on the circles you run in. I'm getting my history degree at an American university and tbh it's often
I do believe your sentiment and I am sorry if this sounds snarky, but I am also genuinely curious: do they ever invoke "The Samurai Spirit"?
This does happen pretty often in sources, westerners in Japan after Meiji restoration often noted how many former samurai works in various places (usually wersternised ones) and how everything looks like in military and how everyone is polite and works their assess off without complaining, all must be because the samurai spirit.
Thank you!
when i was gen-z's age, that's ALL anyone ever talked about -- americans were really terrified that japan would overtake the united states.
China is where Japan was in the 80s
A financial bubble about to pop?
No awesome pop music
That's Korea.
Why no awesome music?
Japan was accused of copying things as well until the 80’s
It's how many countries industrialized, including the US
And then after the '80s they stopped making anything new at all.
Didn't the samurai revolt against the Meiji reformations?
Yeah, but Bushido is brought up whenever the Japanese culture is romanticized.
Yep, and they lost.
Samurai caused Meiji reformations in the first place, and funnily enough, when they get what they wanted, they felt shafted and rebelled - literally the same people.
The Meiji restoration had samurai on both sides. Those in western Japan, mainly Kyushu and Chugoku, generally supported the emperor, while those in Northern Japan, particularly Hokkaido and Tohoku, supported the Tokugawa Shogunate.
Yes i know, point is, proshogunate forces were crushed and their remnants absorbed by government, but the ones that rebelled in Seinan War were precisely those who made the restoration possible in the first place, that period was full of political voltas.
During the 70s and early 80s the general western view of Japan was exactly the same: they made cheap copies of European and American stuff.
It’s like living in BSG: happened before, will happen again.
They literally did copy. They brought over German and Japanese engineers
The train (top one) is too pointy. It's more aerodynamic to have a more round nose.
Well yeah, japan got to try twice. They tried it themselves, fucked it up the same way Germany did, then did it right with the Americans holding their hands and fingering their ass. Its not hard to get it right when youre a hand puppet.