Changing Impressions

When I first came to Japan, I didn't know what to expect. Well, I mean, I had some idea, but nothing can really prepare you for the real Japan. It has to be experienced to be understood. There's simply no other way. I crammed in a lot of traveling during this semester, which I was thankful to be able to do.


I suppose one way my perspective has changed is that my "romanticized" version is Japan is gone, as it should be. Everyone has it at some point, your own version of what you think Japan is before you get there. Most of the time, it's a positive perspective, perhaps overly so.

I think it's a bad to hold onto such an view, instead one should gain a more realistic perspective through experience. Firsthand experience, I believe, is the best way to study anthropology and the world itself. Japan is a country like any other, with its problems and successes. It's also unique in it's own way, with wonderful things to be experienced that can't be experienced anywhere else in the world. In this way, my perspective has been changed for the better, and I'm on my way to understanding and appreciating Japan even more so than I did before.



Ok, well, admittedly, there's some things about Japan that I will never understand. But that's okay, I am amused all the same.

Japanese Art and Entertainment

On the subject of Japanese art- I see it everywhere. Wall murals are all over, especially in places like train stations, restaurants, and other public areas. I love the overall visual aesthetic that is found in many advertisements, on the sides of trains or buildings, in fashion, at shrines or temples, or even on your plate. I even find some of the graffiti quite... profound. Basically, I'm a fan of Japanese design sense, and you can find it anywhere and everywhere. Japanese visual aesthetic is not just limited to "serious" art, but I appreciate it there all the same.







I could go on and on with the pictures, half of my iphoto library consists of pictures like this.

On the "entertainment" side of things, watching "I Survived a Japanese Game Show" in class was, in a word, painful. It was full of dumb reality show commentary, bad stereotypes, and they managed to somehow make people falling down NOT funny. That's quite a feat.

However, I wanted to point towards a Japanese show that was localized in the right way-MXC. They used footage from the late 80's-early 90's TV show Takeshi's Castle, cut the fat off of the clips so that it could fit in a half hour format, dubbed over the original dialogue and made a new script with silly jokes and puns that fit western humor, and most importantly, kept the sensei and talento personalities intact. The result was something uniquely Japanese, funny in it's own right, yet catered tastefully to a western audience. I wish there were more success stories like this...

Japanese Politics

When I first started walking around neighborhoods in Hirakata back in September, I saw all these posters around. Extremely photoshopped faces of smiley Japanese men. All the smiling and airbrushing made them look unnecessarily creepy. I figured they were probably something to do with politics, and I found later I was right. Something I noticed right away was that in Japan, faces seem to be an important part of the campaigning posters. Back home, all you need is a "Name, Name, Year" with red white or blue somewhere, with some decoration (like "McCain, Palin '08! *stars*). That's it. Maybe Americans assume everyone already knows what they look like?

Anyway, I did some reading on the Japanese political parties. I was surprised to find out that the LDP is the biggest party in Japan (LDP=Liberal Democratic Party, but they're the conservatives. Go figure.), but not so surprised to find out the number of crazy politicians there are in there. Government is wacky no matter where you go, it seems. The more liberal party (The Democratic Part of Japan, not to be confused with LDP!) seems to be the only opposition to the LDP. A two-party system, much like the US. Though I'm fairly sure that no one in Japan under the age of 40 gives a crap about politics, sadly. Political apathy seems widespread here, especially among younger people. Makes me wonder if an Obama-esque politician would have any success here.

Religion

I think its interesting how much Buddhism and Shinto overlap in Japan. Having (or following) 2 religions is okay here, something I'm not used to people being okay with...

In a statistic that was mentioned in class, a huge percentage of Japanese people do not consider themselves religious. I thought this was odd, considering religion is one of the things about Japanese society that I find is extremely visible. Shrines and temples are littered everywhere across the landscape (especially in this area, being so close to Kyoto), and it's not hard to find traces of Buddhist or Shinto thought in everyday life in Japan. So what's the deal? Are Japanese people really not all that religious, given how carefree and non-strict the attitude that most Japanese have when it comes to religion (esp. compared to the west and it's religions)? Or are Japanese people SO religious that religion is just an expected part of everyday life? For example, religion is so far ingrained into Japanese society that a simple ritual or religious tradition is something you just DO?

This is an question that I've been pondering. Western religions and their integration in society are a huge contrast to what I've experienced in Japan thus far. Visiting temples and shrines is one of my favorite things to do here, but I have yet to find a concrete answer. I probably never will.

Gender Issues

Men and women in Japan have equal rights, just as men and women in other developed countries do. Each gender has a role that is not clearly defined, but is present. These roles can be broken, but social stigmas and expectations can make this difficult. This can be true of any country.

One thing I noticed before and after coming here is that I've never heard of a powerful Japanese woman in the world of business. You see the typical salarymen (both old and young) everywhere, with their suits and briefcases. I read articles on the richest people in Japan. All dudes...(or at least the top 20 were, I got sick of clicking through pictures of old businessmen.)

Thing is, I've heard of a perception in Japan that once women get married, they are pressured to quit their jobs and become full-time housewives. Nothing wrong with being a full-time mom, but I would imagine it would make things harder for women who actually want careers with upward mobility (and aren't just waiting to find the right man to settle down with and become dedicated mothers.) I've seen way more women in certain jobs, like teaching, food services, etc. and men more so in business (there's lots of young female secretaries, though they probably won't ever become the company president.) It's interesting to see the gender lines when it comes to employment. Big business is still a man's world in Japan, it seems.

Japanese Sports-Baseball

I will admit it upfront: I'm not the biggest fan of sports. I occasionally will watch the World Series, because it's the only baseball games that I find somewhat interesting. I grew up in Cooperstown, NY- the supposed "Home of Baseball", complete with the National Baseball Hall of Fame and the Dreams Park. Every summer, tourists flood in from various places and overcrowd the downtown area with their white sneakers and baseball uniforms. I worked a couple of summers during high school as a sales clerk in a few baseball stores. I hated it. Baseball pervaded everything about my town, so I tried my best to ignore it. It's not that I disliked the game itself-it's fun to play, and as I said before, I don't mind watching the World Series sometimes. But, the oversaturation I experienced because of my hometown has trained me to ignore it, becuase I found the whole sports scene irritating.

Of course, the Japanese love baseball. I could not ignore this, because this was the first time that I've seen another country besides the US actually giving a crap about this sport (the rest of the world seems to like soccer a whole lot more, heh). From the little I've seen of the KG team practicing as I pass the athletic fields on my way to class, they already look like they put in more effort than my high school team ever did. However, this could be because they're a college team. The movie we watched in class, Kokoyakyu, definitely showed the amount of work and dedication that high schoolers here put into their sport. This is something that was a stark contrast to my own high school-sports were important, but the effort (at least to the extent that the Japanese kids had) wasn't really there.

Also, from what I've seen of Japanese baseball games, they seem to have a different atmosphere than the few I've experienced at home. I don't know how to describe it, but it seems "friendlier", if that makes any sense. If I get the chance, I hope to go to one someday and see for myself how different it really is.

Globalization- Fooding

Japan is well known for borrowing things from other cultures and modifying them. The result is something that is not quite the same as it was, but something that is a combination of being foreign but also uniquely Japanese.

This strange crossing of cultural elements has been most obvious to me thus far in food. The Japanese have taken foreign foods and adapted them a bit. The end result is sometimes surprisingly good, but also sometimes awful.


From what I've eaten thus far, the Japanese take on spaghetti is neutral. Compared to what I'm used to in the States, it's not better or worse, just different.

When it comes to cheese, however, I can't say the same.


Japan doesn't seem very big on cheese. I managed to find a few foreign brands that taste about the same as what I'm used to at home, but the vast majority of regularly available cheese is...not exactly what I was expecting. You can find good cheese if you look hard enough, but the stuff that is mainly available in my local grocery stores is almost exclusively the type of overly processed cheese that tastes a bit like plastic. They even have cheese that is fruit flavored, which is something I have never seen at home.

However, its comforting to know that despite the Japan's affliction for putting their own twist on food, some things stay the same. The original Coca-Cola is a big brand here, and hasn't changed in terms of taste. Are there other coke flavors unique to Japan that I just haven't seen yet?

Traditional Japanese Culture

Just as pop culture is nigh impossible to avoid in Japanese, the same can be said for traditional culture. It can be in-your-face, or very subtle. For me, the traditional aspects that stand out the most are architecture and food.





I love traditional Japanese architecture. One of the best places I've found to see some examples of this are the various shrines and temples that are scattered across Kyoto. Tori gates, stone lanterns, intricate carvings, bright paint colors, and large buildings with curved rooftops that are made entirely of wood are only some of the things that come to mind. The natural surroundings are also often pruned and manicured to look neat and clean. The overall effect is beautiful and calming. The above photos were taken at Fushimi Inari in Kyoto.




Food is another one of my favorite aspects of traditional Japanese culture. Noodles, in particular. I am a huge fan of udon. I am also a huge fan of sushi, nigiri zushi in particular. These are traditional foods, of course, but it's not just the food itself that contains culture. The presentation is part of the meal, and I've found the presentation of food in Japan is just as much of a part of the food culture as the taste. Arranged just so, perfection in presentation makes for a feast of the eyes as well as the mouth.

Japanese Pop Culture

It is almost impossible to avoid Japanese pop culture. It's everywhere (a good amount of it makes it overseas too), and because of this, I feel that for most people Japanese Pop Culture is a "gateway drug" of sorts that gets foreigners interested in Japanese Culture as a whole. It certainly was that way for me (and judging by the other international students I've talked to here), the same can be said for a lot of us.

I was out a few weeks ago with a relatively new friend of mine. We went to a CD store, and while we were in there she was telling me all about her obsession with Japanese Dramas and J-pop. Then she turned to me and said "So what's your sort-of embarrassing Japanese thing that you like? C'mon, everybody's got one."

Well, mine would probably have to be video games. I've loved them ever since I was little, even though I didn't get into Japanese ones (like Nintendo) until I was a bit older. My video game interests run about 50/50 in regards to western and Japanese games, so I've always enjoyed playing both and spotting the differences in game design and focus between them.




One thing I immediately noticed upon coming to Japan, however, was the arcades. In America, the arcade is pretty much dead compared to how big it was in the 80's and early 90's. Here, it's also not quite as big as it used to be (arcade popularity in general has tapered off since home consoles were introduced) but it's still somewhat thriving. The picture above is of an arcade game called "Taiko Drum Master" that requires a giant plastic Taiko drum and plenty of room to play, so it's not something that could be done easily on a home console (although I heard there is a version for the PS2 because the arcade game was so popular...). Japanese arcade games also sometimes feature cool little extras that are completely absent in the States, such as being able to download your score using a cell phone bar code. The pictures below were taken outside of an arcade in Osaka, where Sega shows us they are not shy about using their main mascot Sonic to advertise.

Japanese People

I'm going to be honest here-Japanese people are still largely a mystery to me. This is mostly due to the fact that there is a huge language barrier between me and about 99% of this country. Of course, language isn't everything, there's still a lot that can be learned through observation. But I feel that my own incompetence in the Japanese language is obscuring a huge portion of my interaction with the people. Hopefully this will change as I get better at Japanese and bolder about speaking.



Two random observations:
-Public transportation is quiet. Most Japanese seem to keep to themselves and not bother anyone else when on trains and buses. Some of my own experiences in the U.S. have been similar, but not quite to this extent.
-Umbrella sharing doesn't have quite the same attitude, at least in my experience. In one case, I was walking back to the dorms in the rain along the bike path that runs by the komatsu plant. I didn't have an umbrella with me that day, and as I was walking this middle-aged guy came up to me and shared his umbrella. He started making small talk (turns out he works at the plant) and held the umbrella over my head until I had to make a turn towards my seminar house. Another time, one of the girls that had been in my Kyoto tour group insisted on holding her umbrella over my head as we walked back to Kansai Gaidai in the rain, despite me telling her several times that I didn't really mind getting wet.

The thing I've learned from these so far? It seems to me that Japanese people can be extremely open or extremely closed off, depending on the situation. There's probably many other examples of this that I haven't experienced yet. Or maybe I'm completely misinterpreting things based on only the encounters I've had. Either way, I still want to learn more.

PS.- I changed the blog name.

Neighborhood Hirakata

Hirakata is a very residential place. Houses as far as the eye can see, or at least that's been my impression walking to and from campus each day. Sure, there's the university (and the Komatsu plant, and probably a ton of other stuff I haven't seen yet) but I like residential Hirakata. I love the houses, the statues and trees in the tiny parks, plants that line the street, and the pretty decorated manhole covers. One thing I don't like, however, is how narrow some of the streets are. This is something that normally wouldn't bother me, but add motorcylists and cars to the mix and it can be a treacherous path for a walker at times.



On my 2nd weekend here, I had a encounter with some of the locals. It was evening, and I was walking back from the grocery store. A middle aged couple turned a corner and ended up walking a short ways in front of me. I thought nothing of it, until I noticed the woman had been glancing back at me. The woman kept looking back at me, until they slowed down cause they wanted to talk. They asked me if I was American, and the man asked if I was from California. I said (in Japanese, these people didn't speak a word of english) that I used to live there but now I lived in NY (which is indeed true). They also asked me if I was good at Japanese, to which I replied "ehhh, chotto... ( a little...)" The woman gave me a candy, and then they said "bye bye!" (towards the end the guy started saying other stuff, but I couldn't understand cause he was talking too fast. I just giggled awkwardly, and he asked 'wakaranai'? [you don't understand?] a few times.) I'm disappointed I couldn't converse a bit better, but they kind of caught me by surprise as I was zoning out while walking back to my seminar house. Oh well. Very nice little encounter, but random. Guess I'm just not used to friendly strangers.

Japan: First Impressions

First Impressions? Well, one difference I immediately noticed about Japan (vs the U.S.) is how obscenely clean everything is. Seriously, I felt like I could practically eat off of the floors of the trains (not a good idea, but still...) Anyway, things here feel more compacted and less spread out. Which is pretty much expected, considering the size of the country isn't anywhere near as big as what I'm used to. Still, I find it charming. At home, if you want to get around, a car is pretty much required. Here, a bike is required, but you could hoof it if you have the time and energy. Also, the train system (which I haven't figured out yet...) is convenient to have access to.

I also like how some of the bigger houses in the residential neighborhoods of Hirakata have pretty gardens and traditional style wooden gates. Some houses are just really pretty, I already have a few favorites along the route I walk to the Kansai Gaidai campus.

All of this can be summed up in one sentence: I don't really know what to make of Japan...yet. There are a lot of nice little (and some bigger) differences I have noticed thus far, but I'm not sure what to think. I still wake up in the mornings and have to remember where I am.

On a lighter note, I was surprised that Japanese McDonalds is better than it is in the states. I do not eat fast food in the states (think it's gross), but after being almost forced to eat it here, I was pleasantly surprised that it was...okay. Not disgusting! Anyway, I found these Japanese McDonald's Ads and thought I'd share. They're extremely creepy, but that's why it's funny.

New Blog

Hello! This is Tessa G.'s blog for the class "Visual Anthropology of Japan". Hopefully some interesting things will turn up in here...