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Japanophilia is a strong interest in Japanese culture, people, and history.[1] In Japanese, the term for Japanophile is "shinnichi" (親日), with "shin (親)" equivalent to the English prefix 'pro-' and "nichi (日)", meaning "Japan" (as in the word for Japan "Nippon/Nihon" (日本)). The term was first used as early as the 18th century, switching in scope over time. Its opposite isJapanophobia. The study of Japan isJapanology.
The term "Japanophile" originated in the late 18th and early 19th centuries during Japan's period ofsakoku, when contact with foreign countries was strictly limited.Carl Peter Thunberg andPhilipp Franz von Siebold helped introduce Japanese flora, artworks, and other objects to Europe which spiked interest.[2][3]Lafcadio Hearn, an Irish-Greek author who made his home in Japan in the 19th century, was described as "a confirmed Japanophile" byCharles E. Tuttle Company in their forewords to several of his books.[4] Others may includeJules Brunet, aFrench Army officer who played a famous role in the JapaneseBoshin War.[citation needed]
In the first decade of the 20th century, several British writers lauded Japan. In 1904, for example,Beatrice Webb wrote that Japan was a "rising star of human self-control and enlightenment", praising the "innovating collectivism" of the Japanese, and the "uncanny" purposefulness and open-mindedness of its "enlightened professional elite."H. G. Wells similarly named the élite of hisA Modern Utopia "samurai". In part, this was a result of the decline of British industrial productivity, with Japan and Germany rising comparatively. Germany was seen as a threat and a rival power, but Japan was seen as a potential ally. The British sought efficiency as the solution to issues of productivity, and after the publication ofAlfred Stead's 1906 bookGreat Japan: A Study of National Efficiency, pundits in Britain looked to Japan for lessons. This interest, however, ended afterWorld War I.[5]
GeneralJosé Millán-Astray, the founder of theSpanish Legion, stated that thesamurai warrior codeBushido exerted a great influence on him. Defining Bushido as "a perfect creed", Millán-Astray said that "the Spanish legionnaire is also a samurai and practices the Bushido essentials: Honor, Valor, Loyalty, Generosity, and Sacrifice", and added thatSpain would become a great power like Japan by adhering to the code's principles.[6] He also made a Spanish translation ofInazo Nitobe's bookBushido: The Soul of Japan and a prologue to it.[7]
In the early 2000s, derogatory slang terms were created to refer to people who are obsessed withJapanese popular culture. The term "wapanese" (from "white Japanese", or possibly also "wannabe Japanese") first emerged in 2002 as a derogatory term for a non-Japanese, particularly white, person who is obsessed with Japanese culture, particularlyanime,manga,visual novels andlight novels. The term "weeaboo" (often shortened to "weeb") came from the webcomicThe Perry Bible Fellowship, in which the word had no meaning other than something unpleasant.[8] An administrator on4chan added a filter on the site to change "wapanese" to "weeaboo," but users on the site quickly picked up the word and applied it in an abusive way in place of the already existing term "wapanese".[9][10] The terms "weeaboo" and "weeb", while originally derogatory, have also beenreclaimed by some of those to whom they originally referred, seeing increased usage by fans of Japanese media to refer to themselves in an ironic or self-deprecating fashion.[11]
Kim Morrissy of the media companyCrunchyroll wrote that the use of the wordotaku (person with consuming interests) in anime fandom can be hindered by the belief of someWesterners that its use constitutescultural appropriation and that it can only refer to a Japanese person.[12]
In a blog post onAnime News Network, Justin Sevakis argued that there is a difference between a weeaboo and someone who simply appreciates Japanese culture, saying that there is nothing wrong with loving Japanese culture, but that a person becomes a weeaboo when they start to be obnoxious, immature, and ignorant about the culture they love.[13] Matt Jardin from theAlaska Dispatch gave his opinion that weeaboos blindly prefer things from Japan while looking down on anything else, despite obvious merit.[14]
one who especially admires and likes Japan or Japanese ways
