Actual marijuana usage in Japan is low with only about 1.8% of Japan’s population ever trying cannabis, compared to 44.2% in the United States.
I can’t say I miss the representation of it. I can’t imagine my favorite characters stoned of their ass 😭. Fun article to bring up the topic and think about it though.
I do think it’s bizarre we live in a society where smoking tobacco or drinking alcohol is “normal” yet weed is somehow a taboo subject.
It’s especially funny since Japanese policy on weed was basically forced on Japan (and the rest of the world) by the United States with racially motivated trade policies that conveniently helped the alcohol business thrive in a post prohibition world.
I don’t see weed as taboo, maybe it’s different where you are from. It seems way more popular than tobacco these days. Of course alcohol is still the most accepted drug around.
I think I’d prefer seeing characters consume cannabis over alcohol. I definitely get that it’s entirely cultural, but I can’t say I ever feel comfortable with the stereotypical drunk characters. I suppose, at the very least, most perpetually drunk characters in the anime I watch are seen as a nuisance, annoying, and obnoxious. I do understand why cannabis doesn’t have representation in anime and don’t really see that changing any time soon.
Maybe that is the important part and the particular drug used is not that relevant. If so, the characters wouldn’t really change that much? In the west in decades time, when young people assume the position in society that boomers have right now, we might actually see stoner characters and vaping characters become somewhat normal like drunk characters.
This is such a gaijin question to ask 😅.
I can’t say I miss the representation of it. I can’t imagine my favorite characters stoned of their ass 😭. Fun article to bring up the topic and think about it though.
I do think it’s bizarre we live in a society where smoking tobacco or drinking alcohol is “normal” yet weed is somehow a taboo subject.
It’s especially funny since Japanese policy on weed was basically forced on Japan (and the rest of the world) by the United States with racially motivated trade policies that conveniently helped the alcohol business thrive in a post prohibition world.
I don’t see weed as taboo, maybe it’s different where you are from. It seems way more popular than tobacco these days. Of course alcohol is still the most accepted drug around.
I think I’d prefer seeing characters consume cannabis over alcohol. I definitely get that it’s entirely cultural, but I can’t say I ever feel comfortable with the stereotypical drunk characters. I suppose, at the very least, most perpetually drunk characters in the anime I watch are seen as a nuisance, annoying, and obnoxious. I do understand why cannabis doesn’t have representation in anime and don’t really see that changing any time soon.
Maybe that is the important part and the particular drug used is not that relevant. If so, the characters wouldn’t really change that much? In the west in decades time, when young people assume the position in society that boomers have right now, we might actually see stoner characters and vaping characters become somewhat normal like drunk characters.