Nihonjinron :) vs. ^_^

[Charles]

Americans and Japanese Read Faces Differently

Culture is a huge factor in determining whether we look someone in the eye or the kisser to interpret facial expressions, according to a new study.
For instance, in Japan, people tend to look to the eyes for emotional cues, whereas Americans tend to look to the mouth, says researcher Masaki Yuki, a behavioral scientist at Hokkaido University in Japan.
This could be because the Japanese, when in the presence of others, try to suppress their emotions more than Americans do, he said.
In any case, the eyes are more difficult to control than the mouth, he said, so they probably provide better clues about a person's emotional state even if he or she is trying to hide it.

Clues from emoticons
As a child growing up in Japan, Yuki was fascinated by pictures of American celebrities.
"Their smiles looked strange to me," Yuki told LiveScience. "They opened their mouths too widely, and raised the corners of their mouths in an exaggerated way."
Japanese people tend to shy away from overt displays of emotion, and rarely smile or frown with their mouths, Yuki explained, because the Japanese culture tends to emphasize conformity, humbleness and emotional suppression, traits that are thought to promote better relationships.
So when Yuki entered graduate school and began communicating with American scholars over e-mail, he was often confused by their use of emoticons such as smiley faces :) and sad faces, or :(.

...much more...

[Greji]

Americans and Japanese Read Faces Differentlyhe was often confused by their use of emoticons such as smiley faces and sad faces, or .

Confusing?

[Charles]

Confusing?

Yeah, I'm confused too. I thought Yuki was a woman's name.

[Greji]

Yeah, I'm confused too. I thought Yuki was a woman's name.

Might be a switch hitter, but if he/she is attempting to read the emotions of JNs and Gaijins through their computers, this has got to be research of the century, well worthy of government funding!

[spyder]

Yeah, I'm confused too. I thought Yuki was a woman's name.

It's a boys name too

[amdg]

Yuuki, one extra u for the guys, but Japanese seem to play fast and loose when romanising their names anyway - eg Dr. NakaMats. It's stupid really, .....

Edit, I should say I'm not 100 percent sure that there are no male Yukis, just that I've never met any.

[American Oyaji]

It might be Yuuki

But there are male Yuki's

[kamome]

I have two male Japanese friends whose name is "Yuki" (and I believe it's with one 'u' not two).

[amdg]

I have two male Japanese friends whose name is "Yuki" (and I believe it's with one 'u' not two).

Are you sure they aren't just fucking around with the Romaji ?

I would be interested to know the kanji they use, if any.

[6810]

Back to the topic...

big fucking cultural insight there...

different cultures read faces differently, umm, like, duh...

anthropology has been saying that forever, in one way or another