Douglas Adams on the English–American cultural divide over "heroes"

Re:Douglas Adams on the English–American cultural divide ove... by kstenerud on Friday January 23, 2026 @12:13AM (#46728692)

In Japanese culture the failed hero is also revered, but in a solemn rather than comedic way.

Minamoto no Yoshitsune, Kusunoki Masashige, The Standing Death of Benkei, Saigo Takamori (the last samurai), the Kamikaze pilots, even Yukio Mishima...

What's interesting is that unlike the British fatalism, Japanese failed heroes are driven by duty and honor and tradition above all (even at the cost of themselves). To an outsider they are foolishly stubborn and unwilling to accept an imperfect or changing world. But in Japan that is something to be admired.

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Re:Douglas Adams on the English–American cultural divide ove... by t-3 on Friday January 23, 2026 @10:36AM (#46733734)

Many of those are not failed heroes. They are heroes who found success by dying honorably. "Death before dishonor" is something now known only to the criminal classes in the West, but was the norm for any feudal society (ie, Japan before being conquered by the US).

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