I find it unfortunate how easily social mores can change for the worse.
Peace sells but magas not buyin nor isreal(fuck isreal)
Marty is SUCH a class act! I last saw him the evening of a snowstorm, so not a huge turnout, but he and everyone in his band were incredible. His rhythm guitar player was sick so their tech stepped in to thunderous applause. Chargeeee absolutely brought down the house! Waka has such a good stage presence, and Marty himself does an amazing job of highlighting all performers he shares the stage with.
https://xcancel.com/hokkori_buzz/status/2096184819755651380
I don’t really know how to feel about this. It’s important to respect cultures and all that but it’s also just dancing. It seems like they are celebrating the place instead of really disrespecting it. Honestly, the disrespect comes more from turning it into a tourism spot in the first place. Charging tourists to come into your sacred shrine kind of takes away the sacred aspect of it imo (edit: not the case here I think but still)
Would you do the same thing in a church or a mosque?
I don’t see anything wrong with dancing in a church either. I actually think if a priest came out and complained about people dancing in his church, he’d get overwhelmed with mockery. (I don’t mean during a service but normal wandering around hours).
If a place is so sacred you can’t dance in it, then it’s too sacred to let tourists in either.
Let me explain it as it was explained to me when I lived outside my home country when I was young.
When you travel or live abroad you are a guest. You should be on your best manners as you would if you were in the home of a stranger who invited you over. Further, you are an unofficial diplomat for your home country and should act with that in mind for as long as you are there. Don’t insist your culture, your language or your sense of entitlement upon your hosts.
Sharing your culture also means to let people access sacred places to some extent. Think about famous Mosques in Istanbul for example.
Ya I get that but they are treated like tourism spots. Mosques and churches where a bad example. Here’s a passage (the last bit was in bold in the article) and pic from the link. It just seems like the shrine itself doesn’t really treat it with reverence so dumb tourist behavior is kind of to be expected.
I get it but we also live in a society where people will sometimes dance at locations they perceive as public enough. I find it annoying no matter the location but it doesn’t seem like a big deal either.
Many of Japan’s religious sites do not have or cultivate a heavily solemn atmosphere. The streets leading to major shrines and temples are often lined with restaurants and souvenir shops, and a mood of levity isn’t seen, in and of itself, as sinful or inappropriate, even on shrine/temple grounds. The sprawling layout of sites such as Fushimi Inari can also contribute to a casual atmosphere, as moving about the spaces between structures can feel like a walk in the woods or stroll in a garden. As such, while shrines and temples are religious sites, they might not necessarily feel like “sacred ground,” in that they don’t impose the same sets of strict regulations and restrictions that term might imply in other cultures. However, just because visitors aren’t expected to be somber at Japan’s shrines and temples doesn’t mean it’s OK for them to be flippant.
It just seems like the shrine itself doesn’t really treat it with reverence so dumb tourist behavior is kind of to be expected.
That’s certainly not what I took away from the bit you quoted. I read it more as “Since acceptable attitudes aren’t limited to the super solemn, dour ones common in Western churches and holy sites, you can understand somewhat how foreigners might not understand where exactly the limit is in acceptable behavior, but this is definitely past it, so don’t do it.”
Your very statement about them not treating the site with reverence reveals the crux of your misunderstanding. You keep considering this situation with your norms, by which the shrine’s staff fall short of their duties, ergo they’re not being reverent. The whole point of the article is that, while standards for behavior and attitude at holy sites in Japan do permit a wider range of expressions than is common in the West, it doesn’t mean you have carte blanche to act as you please, and while Japanese people will overlook gaffs relating to the finer points of their etiquette, this is too grave a faux pas and risks significant consequences as concerns Japan’s attitude towards foreign tourists in the future.
I don’t see anything wrong with dancing in a church either
Here’s the problem: it’s not your place, it’s theirs. It doesn’t matter what you think or you believe. When you go there, you go with what they think and what they believe.
This is why people hate tourists. If you can’t respect the culture and tradition of a place then just stay home so you don’t ruin it for the people that will be respectful. If they tell you something is sacred just listen. If they say a behavior is inappropriate just listen.
They let tourists into their sacred site because it’s amazing and they want to share that. They just don’t want you being a disrespectful dickhead, it’s not a big ask.
Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t get caught dead doing this, but you look at the vid and there is a crowd of people. It kind of feels like a zoo, it’s unavoidable I guess.
I feel the same about this as I would seeing someone do it in a crowded museum. The shaming is justified but it feels out of proportion for what it is.
How about people loudly talking/laughing in museums? For me that can ruin an experience and there’s not much you can do about it unless you’re looking to make a scene with some 16 year olds or whatever.
Not really the same situation.
Really fucking tired of shitty people ruining tourism all over the world.
The wrong people have money everywhere.
Only the shitty ones can afford to travel I guess
Yeah, that’s it.
People have always been shitty tourists. We just have cell phones now. And influencers, I guess.
They should do what the Koreans do and start punching shitty tourists in the face.
Marty is the GOAT guitarist.
Alexi Laiho was better
Discussing who “the better” guitarist is/was is about as pointless as championing a particular time zone. Being more or less skilled at the instrument (especially at the level of skill both posses(ed)) is largely irrelevant to the quality of the music they are able to make. In fact, one of the traps many virtuoso musicians fall in is to create demonstration pieces for their skill that are entirely bewildering or boring to the casual listener.
Regarding your final statement: see Buckethead… Absolute virtuoso that has played on hundreds of albums. Most of his solo stuff is just wanky self indulgent noodling - Unlistenable
Soothsayer… Yes… Awesome… But also sterile and lame.
It’s all subjective. Just poking a little fun.
I think Marty is superior to Alexi from a technical standpoint but Alexi is by far the better songwriter while also being able to sing while playing leads.
I think that probably the best overall guitar player of the same era is Jeff Loomis: https://youtu.be/id3_l_tqArY
Most underrated probably goes to Vogg: https://youtu.be/HHPGGMjHapw (he cites Limp Bizkit as an inspiration lmao)
Alexi was the shit, but no way was he better than Marty IMHO.
When the greatest thrasher of all time tells you to be respectful, you’d better fucking listen.
Especially when he’s lived there for 20 years and has sufficient fluency to be asked onto live television as a commentator.
Not just commentary, but actual hosting of shows.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_Fujiyama
The title might as well have said “host of rock Fujiyama, Marty Friedman”
I’d be sweating bullets, that’s for sure.
