"Musashi" <Miyamoto@Hosokawa.co.jp> wrote in message news:<ZQh2d.3032$hv6.2388@newssvr15.news.prodigy.com>...
> "Shez" <UseReplyAddress@nospam.uk.invalid> wrote in message
> news:ghLW9WMRVJSBFwYz@zerex.nospam.co.uk...
> > In the faraway land of sci.lang.japan, Musashi <Miyamoto@Hosokawa.co.jp>
> > said:
> > >> Hmm. So you're saying that the British are not Europeans?
> > >
> > >Yes and No. If we are speaking strictly in a geographical sense, then
> > >obviously British are
> > >Europeans. But if we are talking about "how a people or nation perceives
>  and
> > >calls themselves"
> > >then I have met plenty of British people who rather pride themselves in
> > >being "British or English"
> > >and consider themselves seperate from those on the "continent". Perhaps
>  this
> > >has somtehign to
> > >do with being an island country, in which case it is understandable that
>  a
> > >similar type of mentality
> > >would have developed in Japan.
> >
> > Yes, Britain and Japan are very much alike in this respect, and indeed
> > in many aspects of their historical relations with our continental
> > neighbours - wars, invasions, cultural & linguistic influences (e.g. the
> > adoption of the Roman alphabet in Britain and Kanji in Japan, along with
> > a lot of loan words from what was otherwise an unrelated language). Both
> > were even saved from invasion by a divine wind that dispersed an
> > invading fleet, IIRC.
> >
> 
> Finally someone who understands this.
> I've never had much reception to this idea from
> my American friends.

I would actually think that pride would be an obstacle for
British/Japanese to not agree. It makes sense to me (a 'merikan).

John W.