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Orient Helios Automatic Watch

Showing 1 of 21 conversations about:

Orient Helios Automatic Watch

mclose

582

Aug 17, 2019

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I could never wear a watch with the Latin derived and archaic "Orient" name. I work with too many Asians who hate and see terms like "Orient" or "Orientals" as racial slurs. They come from countries with unique cultures and long distinct histories that bristle at a European term that was a best demeaning and very racist. I know this comes from a time when the term was in wide use but that's no excuse to keep it.

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Joensuu

Aug 17, 2019

mcloseYou're aware this is a japanese founded and japanese owned company?

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582

Aug 17, 2019

JoensuuOf course, that's why I wrote " I know this comes from a time when the term was in wide use but that's no excuse to keep it." Seiko made a bad decision.

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Watchyoutalkingabout

Aug 18, 2019

mcloseOrient was founded in 1901, in japan, by a Japanese guy named Yoshida. Get a new job.

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Omegaman68

546

Aug 18, 2019

mclose"Orient" or "Orientals” is not, and never was a racial slur. I think your reaching here.

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582

Aug 18, 2019

Omegaman68Ten years ago: https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=112465167 John Kuo Wei Tchen, director of the Asian/Pacific/American Studies Program and Institute at New York University, said the basic critique of the term developed in the 1970s. Tchen has said, “With the anti-war movement in the ’60s and early ’70s, many Asian Americans identified the term ‘’Oriental’’ with a Western process of racializing Asians as forever opposite ‘others’.” This is not a new issue. I've worked with Koreans, Chinese, Indians, Vietnamese, and a host of others Asians. All found the words offensive. No doubt some don't, but that's been my experience and I've traveled widely throughout Asia for 40 years. Because you unaware of this does not make it untrue. There are even academic papers on the topic that go back decades. Educate yourself before using words like "...is not and never was..."

(Edited)

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mclose

582

Aug 18, 2019

WatchyoutalkingaboutThat was 40 years ago and it was not a lone individual. Not sure why you seem so angry. Would you like to re-visit all the racial & ethnic slurs from 100 years ago? Slurs that are no longer deemed acceptable? I'm old enough to have grown up when they were common place. I'd like to think we're a bit more enlightened now. I've lived and worked in Asia and the US for decades and I'm just relating my experience. Many in China, Korea, and SE Asian counties detested the Japanese although not as much as they did in the 20 years after WWII. This was also understandably true in the US in the immediate post-war period. I live in NYC where the population is larger than all but 11 states and the metro area larger than all but 2 states and very diverse. That may leave me more sensitized to the issue (more than 1/3 of the city is foreign born and less than 46% Caucasian). Certainly when Orient was founded in 1950, the word was in common use and many Japanese companies that planned to export goods were well aware of anti-Japanese feelings throughout Asia and the West. Did that knowledge influence their choice of name? I have no idea. I'm relating what I've learned from decades of experience, I don't know what informs your very strong feelings about this issue.

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A community member

Aug 19, 2019

WatchyoutalkingaboutOriental is old fashioned at best and might represent colonialism to many Asian people who, from their perspective, don't live in 'the Orient' at all as they are not east of themselves. But, the watch manufacturer is Asian so it is up to them to decide if this is a term they wish to find offensive or not. 'The Orient' is different from being called 'oriental' by a foreigner, and many Asians find prestige in a faux coat of arms and a vaguely British name of a watch company so I suppose when Asian people stop buying Orient watches they will consider re-branding. My point being that mcclose's hysterical wokeness is probably an over-reach but so is the notion that colonial terminology is completely inoffensive.