The Japanese Sure Do Like Ghosts
 

Okay, I admit that I haven't seen a LOT of Japanese horror movies, but the overwhelming majority of the ones I HAVE seen, have involved ghosts...

DO most Japanese films have ghosts in them...Or is it just my own personal limited repertoire that makes it appear so, to me?



I already know that Audition doesn't have any...

long hair, usually wet and wearing white

So...It really IS the most common theme?....Or...Are you playing with me?

now would i play with you :eek:







and yes it is common :p

Yes and okay....lol

What's with the all water?

Ya know...I actually have a theory about that....Japan is a small island, surrounded by water...Maybe some fear is caused by that....Hmm...

Your probobly right, id be scared of just somehow sinking.

Or Tsunamis...Imagine knowing that pretty much your whole country could be wiped out by a big enough wave :eek: ...I think that would probably cause ME to be a bit afraid of water...

Well with Japan it's probably from stories lord knows how many centuries ago being passed down and you'd probably have to do serious research to get to the base of it.

Well, My 'Japan experts' here have informed me that ghosts are a huge part of Japanese culture in general...The influence isn't only expressed in their horror movies, but also manga, anime, etcetera...

I was referring to the water issue.

oops...lol...Well, I still think that one stems from growing up with a feeling that water can destroy you...

Well if that's the case I know how they feel.


Just out of curiosity, why'd you have to post periods in all those threads?

When I pulled up everything (well, everything that I could FIND) about Japanese horror, there was a total of three full pages...BUT, each forum only shows posts that are up to 30 days old, then you can't see them anymore (unless you go to the bottom of the page and hit the drop down, then change it to 60 days, a year, the beginning, etcetera)...

SOOO...After hours of filling up that forum, only TWO threads actually showed on the page :eek:


I had to bump all of the posts, so that people wouldn't assume the forum was empty...That would cause a lot of repeat threads to be created...

There are many forums here that look like they only have a few threads in them, but if you go to the drop down and change it, you'll see that they are actually full...The threads are just old...


When other people post on those threads, to keep them on the page, I'll remove my posts with periods in them ;)

^Your pm box is full.

I had JUST caught it...Sorry about that...

One of the big cultural aspects of Japan is the ancestor cult. The dead, the past and cultural heritage are looked upon as critical to protect. And ghosts have frightened people because they represent what was left behind. Acts of violence, neglect and general mistreatment literally come back to haunt people. This might not be as immediately simple to grasp for people in 21st century America. Dead means dead most of the time, unless you're a Christian (America's dominant religious paradigm), in which case souls find themselves in heaven or hell. But, when the things we leave behind return, then we have something to be afraid of. In Japan where afronts against ancestry and family are unforgiveable, these transgressions being brought back are truly terrifying. And Japan is expanding these concerns to deal with more "modern" transgressions, child abuse for example in the case of Ringu. So, ghosts are a bigger concern to the Japanese. And, as for water, it's the element of emotions. Think of tears. Lots of tears. American horror is more of a melting pot of cultural neuroses, so makes the horror movies of other cultures look obsessive.