From: davidg@aegis.or.jp (Dave McLane)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
Subject: Re: What do most of Japanese think of Korean (Re: An open letter..)
Date: 23 Aug 92 14:46:24 GMT
Organization: Aegis Society, Kyoto Japan

ntetsuya@lamar.ColoState.EDU (Nishimura) writes:

>In article <1992Aug23.060230.9267@Princeton.EDU> wohfuchi@splash.Princeton.EDU (Wataru Ohfuchi) writes:

[stuff deleted]
>>  Now my questions are:
>>  1) Does "baka-chon"'s "chon" really mean Korean?
>>  2) Are there any other offending Japanese words against the Koreans?
>>
>	An answer to 1) is NO.
>	"Chon" in this case means "the end of a matter, to fire (a person),
>	a dot, and a person who has less wisdom/knowledge."  So "baka-chon"
>	has nothing to do with offending or insulting the Korean nationals.
>	But there ARE people who do not like to use the word for fear of 
>	offending anyone.

So 'baka-chon' means 'stupid dot'? ? ?

I don't know myself, but a lot of (~30) Japanese nationals have told
me that 'baka-chon' meant "so easy that even a stupid Korean could
use it." Maybe they were wrong and it doesn't mean that, but they
thought it did and gave it as example of how Koreans are made fun of
even in advertisements. 

Speaking of making fun of Koreans, one of the biggest complaints
I've heard is that Koreans smell ... or garlic of course! At first I
didn't believe that they actually did, but after being here for
maybe 4 years I went to the U.S. for a visit (via Korean Air, of
course: low price, good food, new planes). On the way back when I
walked into the waiting room full of Koreans the smell hit me. 

Now if you've been in Japan for any length of time, I think you'll
agree that few things smell very much. Japanese food in particular
has very little smell compared to food from say Korea, China,
France, Italy. It *looks* just so, and I appreciate that, but it
doesn't smell, and that's something I miss.

On the other hand, I'm slightly allergic to certain aromatics
(gasoline, perfume, aftershave, certain soaps, etc.) so while I
love to eat food with a great smell, I don't like to have it on
my clothes as I start breaking out in a rash.

The solution is go to Korean restaurants (two are within a five
minute walk from where I live), eat my fill and then toss the
clothes into the washer when I get home. The best of both worlds! 

IMHO in general, a many/most Koreans really do smell, mostly of
garlic, although they probably aren't aware of it as they've become
accustomed to it. Many/most Japanese don't smell, and don't like
things that smell so naturally they are aware of the smell of
garlic, and criticize what they don't like. 

But all is not lost: a woman I know told me she has a Korean friend
who is always giving her kimichi (sp?) which she politely accepts
and then puts outside as soon as her friend leaves as she can't
stand the smell. Hearing her story, I asked if she would give it
to me and she said yes. So now I get some really great kimichi
but I can't thank the woman who made it. 

Oh well....

Dave

--
Dave McLane 
JUNET: davidg@aegis.or.jp (ONLY within Japan: post otherwise)
Nagaokakyoshi, Kyoto Japan Tel: +81-75-951-1168 Fax: +81-75-957-1087
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