Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.
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I suppose "place vs place, japan" is a common enough meme. Just have a look at the meme, it's easier than me having to type out an explanation.
I don't really relate to the main idea that people are overly enthusiastic about Japanese things, just because they are Japanese. I do think Japan has uniquely beautiful places, I like JDM cars for reasons other than the J, I actually think sushi tastes good, etc.
The meme generalizes to <thing/place> vs <coveted thing/place>.
For example this instance of the meme. The bottom location doesn't exist. But Ushuaia, Argentina is actually real. Both its landscape and cityscape are very similar to Scandinavia. The crazy part is, that my eyes know what's real, but my brain is tricking me, despite knowing otherwise. When I see the bottom picture from "Norway", I think along the lines of "wow that's a beautiful place, I wish I could visit one day", whilst I see the exact place in Argentina and think "It's alright I guess?". Of course, the context aids the preference, wine from the more expensive bottle tastes better even if it was switched with boxed wine, you get the idea. But I'm surprised that I would fall for it, post revelation. I thought those wine tasters were lizard-brained simpletons.
So what are your lesser known examples of Place vs Place,Japan?
One of my gotos are Swiss Alps vs Kashmir, Pakistan/India. Equally beautiful, and order of magnitude cheaper and less well known. (There are many alpine resorts all over Central Asia in Pakistan, Kazakhstan and other stans, and they are all dirt cheap relative to similar locations in EU and NA.)
I was a digital nomad for over a year. I grew a bit desensitized to the place vs place, Japan thing. One of the first things I noticed was that when I was walking around a foreign country, everything seemed magical just because I knew I was in a foreign place, but eventually I started to realize that things aren't always super special just because it's foreign. Sometimes the small things are just small differences and don't really have any meaning. When I started traveling I was really annoyed with the US so every difference I would see I would make up some story to myself about how it's so much better than in America. Eventually I developed a better and more keen sense of where things lie and I can appreciate differences in culture and aesthetics while understanding the downsides to differences as well. I still enjoy traveling overseas and exploring new cultures but I think the most important thing I learned is to respect whatever I see everywhere I go, whether that's a foreign country or my small hometown.
Exploring more of Asia also brought greater perspective on the Japan thing as well, having been to Thailand and South Korea I feel like I understand Japan better and can see it more for what it is. I was always a total weeaboo for a long time and visited Japan a few times growing up but stayed there for three months recently and it was great to live there while working from my computer but having been to Seoul it's easy to see how the stagnating economy has been hurting Japan, compared to the up to date and high tech vibe of South Korea which Japan used to have a few decades ago.
Speaking as a designer I will say that Japanese aesthetics and design are objectively better than in most of the world though. There is something different about the sense of space in Japan and attention to detail that I find really attractive to the country.
To directly address the question you posed, what are some lesser known examples of place vs place, Japan?
I think the Appalachian mountains are ridiculously beautiful and extremely underrated. Every time I drive through West Virginia I'm impressed by the scenery. I would consider moving to the region.
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