12..Changing impressions

This is the last post for my visual anthropology project.

Through this project I took many pictures and did some things I had never done, like interviewing one of my neighbors, a complete stranger; ask my part-time job boss about the situation of kyabajyoo and so on.

I thought that I did my best, however my classmates' blogs were far better and surprised me.

My classmates got interested in our lives in a way I never realized before. Most of the posts were interesting and made me think about Japan from a completely different point of view.

Through their blogs, I felt that Japan is not original but maybe a guchagucha country...?

The cultures of many countries coexist with the old and modern Japan, like the celebrations we have through the year (Christmas, three different rites in one wedding, Valentine and White day, etc); magazines recommending western fashion; people trying to change their features to look "25% foreigner". All these things may give non-Japanese a weird impression.

This comes from the big influence that Japanese youth has right now in every field of Japanese society, like industry, the food we prefer, media and fashion, everything but politics... but then again, that is another story.

All the research I did for my project, reading my classmates' blogs, and discussions in this class led me to a new approach to Japanese culture.

Taking pictures reflecting Japanese situations was challenging but interesting as well.

I plan to continue with this blog, maybe at a slower pace.

I would like to post something about Kyoto, my hometown.

Look at the two photos below.

I guess that this photo on the left is not good but it is the Kamogawa(Kamo river).

Kyoto has some interesting faces.I intend to resarch them and post.

Anyway, Merry Christmas and Yoi otoshi wo! (happy new year!)

11.. Arts and Entertainment in Japan

Japanese modern arts and entertainment, I think that should be video games!

Some Japanese game companies have made great video games and these games have been played all over the world.

I want to write about the "Final Fantasy"series as an example.


This is a promotion video of the latest work. I choose this game series for today's theme because Japanese game's graphics have a certain prestige in the game industry and the Final Fantasy is very famous both for the graphics and for the stories.

The stories are a little complicated.

I read on the internet that Square-enix (the company that makes this game) meant the stories to be made into movies from the very beginning. Such movie-oriented scenario made a big hit.

The best seller (http://vgsales.wikia.com/wiki/Final_Fantasy) of Final Fantasy in Japan is the FFⅦ. It was the first 3Dwork of Final Fantasy series, and the graphics quality of FFⅦ impressed the world and boosted sales. This innovation gave a new meaning to Japanese entertainment and modern arts.

10..Politics in Japan -looking for jobs!-

The world economic crisis hit japan and as a result many Japanese lost their jobs. This problem affects young students, too.

Last week I went to a job fair held in KyoseraDome Osaka.

Currently, I am job hunting. At the job fair, students from many universities were visiting company booths and listening to explanations from the recruiting companies.

I saw a lot of students who approached the representatives and tried to give a good impression to them.

I was impressed by the passion they put in finding a good job and also by their fear of becoming part-timers or, worse "freeters" (Japanese English: Free-timers).

For more about this theme, look at the picture on the left. I took this photo at a small bookstore near my house.

All these in the book shelf are recruit books for students, full of suggestions on, for example, how to pass a job interview, how to write a good resume, and also drills for an employment examination.

Most of my university friends have, at least, one of such kind of books.

These days in Japan, it is not so rare anymore to hear about companies who suddenly cancel the unofficial acceptance of students as their new employee. Of course, KGU students might face this problem, too.

I think that I will see many news about the issue until I graduate.

9..Religion in Japan

Religion in Japan. It was an interesting theme for me to research.

Describing Japanese religion iｓ difficult because Japanese people embrace aspects from many religions, like, for example, getting married in a christian church or welcome the new year in a buddhist temple or a shintoo shrine.
However, many Japanese people tend to feel spirits in everything, what is known as Animism.

For example, I rememered a shrine dedicated to several gods, so I went there again for my research. It was in Kyoto, near Kyoto University.

The shrine is called Yoshida jinjya. As you can see in the cite, the shrine was established for four guardians originally but in the Muromachi era, the founder of Yoshidashintoo, Yoshida Kanetomo said that Yoshida jinjya was home to various kinds of gods. So, I took some picture there.

The above one is a shrine named "Kaso jinjya", dedicated to the god of sweets. The other one is "Sankei jinjya" dedicated to the god of cooking.

I found that both Kaso and Sankei shrines are very similar.
At the Sankei jinjya's photo, you can see many standing poles.The names of all the companies who donatied the founding to build that shrine are carved on the poles.

The amount of poles portray Japanese faith in Animism.

8..Gender in Japan~japanese women as powerless people~

Do you know what these photos are?

The first one is the board of Hankyu train's platform where it says women should line up there to board the women's coach. The second photo is the timetable of that coach. This train runs only on weekdays.

This system started in 2001.
Why was this system implemented? What does this train system implies?

It portrays that Japanese women can not protect themselves because of their weakness.

Japanese women are powerless...such image comes from their long long sexual discrimination history.

Check this cite. http://www.womeninworldhistory.com/essay-04.html

As you can see, Japanese women were treated as if they were inferior to men and this image exists still now. The "Ladies only" train was invented because there are many women who are under threats from the gropers. It is rare in Japan that woman scold at man who touch her.

My friend, who had such dreadful experience told me that when the man was touching her hip she couldn't say anything. In addition, she was raised by her parents as a traditional Japanese girl, so, she didn't know well how to defend herself. She feels that this train system is helpful.

My friend Shoko, on the other hand, said that she doesn't mind when a man is in the lady's coach and it could be that he didn't notice it was a women only train. Other passengers don't seem to mind, either. She doesn't need such a kind of train. She insisted that women should be stronger, and we can do that.

"Ladies only" train was invented for Japanese traditional women and it works well.
However, this system gives an opportunity to rethink about Japanese women's position at the same time. Will we see the women's coach in Japan ten years from now?

7..Sumo Wrestling

'Sumo' ('Sumo' wrestling) is one of the major Japanese traditional sports and known as the national sport.

For more information about 'Sumo' check this site.

http://www.sfusd.k12.ca.us/schwww/sch618/japan/MartialArts/Japanese_Martial_Arts.html

There are many foreign fans of 'Sumo', like my Mexican friend who is a fan of Takamizakari and Kitazakura (both are 'Sumo' wrestlers).

So, what makes people from overseas to be fasinated by this Japanese sport ?

This time, I picked up 'Sumo' as a topic and asked my friend why he likes sumo.

He said that 'Sumo' is very interesting because 'Sumo' is a sport in which strengthness, inteligence and ceremonial aspects are mixed together.

Actually, when you go to 'Sumo' games you will see some events before and after the match.
For example, the 'Sumo'wrestler is scattering salt in this photo.

Purging with salt the field and pray for his own safety, is one of the traditional rites in 'Sumo'.

Every wrestler shows an original performance when they scatter the salt, which is very interesting an funny. It is said that 45kg of salt is spended a day at this performance.

When one 'Sumo' match is over, both wrestlers bow. Through this bow the defeated seems to be accepting the strength of his rival.

My friend likes this scene because for him, it shows the sportsmanship which is inside 'Sumo'.

In addition, I found some interesting items . Look at photo at the right. These are 'Sumo' wrestler cards. There is the wrestler's picture in the front side of the cards and their profiles at the back side. It is interesting that the Japanese national sport, 'Sumo', is approaching people in such a unique way. In my opinion these cards helps to make people getting much more familiar with 'Sumo' and this could lead to increase the number of 'Sumo' fans.

6..Japanese globalization: International marriage and mixed children

In Japan, the number of international marriages is increasing.

Look at this data.

http://whatjapanthinks.com/2005/11/29/international-marriage-still-means-japanese-man-and-asian-woman/

As you can see in the comments, Japan may be still a closed society but I feel the boost in international marriages in many situations.

For example, this is a kimono company`s calendar 2008. They are two mixed (in Japanese half, but it would rather be "double") girls wearing kimono. I've never seen such models until I got this calendar , and we often see many mixed celebrities in the Japanese media these days.

This situation is really different from the one fifteen years ago.

Look at this photo. It's me. I have Mexican and Japanese blood. I have lived in Japan as a stranger from my early childhood. Anytime and anywhere, when I started speaking Spanish with my family, people would stare at us surprised.

The most impressive memory that I can remember is at my high school entrance ceremony.

When students from other classes heard that a mixed girl was among them, they ran to my classroom to take a look at me.

I was so uncomfortable and thought "These are really narrow minded people."

I asked my friends why those other students had such a strong interest in me and they said "They want to see you because a mixed student is a rare sight around here."

International marriage was not common at the time. I think it could be because the law regulations for immigrants were very strict and there were not many chances for Japanese and foreigners to meet and develop relationships.

Nowadays (look at the data on the link) , it is a different situation; maybe laws have not changed that much, but in practice there are many more chances (international parties, world fairs, chat sites on the internet, etc) for Japanese and foreigners to meet.

Concluding, the Japanese say that Japan has entered globalization and statistics are there to prove it, but still, they keep on staring at international couples and mixed children.

This is globalization... or not?

5.. Japanese traditional culture

Japan is a Buddhist country even in these days when many Japanese don't regularly practice a religion.
Buddhism came to Japan about 1500 years ago and there are now nine million people who call themselves buddhist. Buddhism can be categorized into many sects like any other major religion.

Regarding this topic, I found an interesting traditional place in Higashiyama, Kyoto.
This is Higashiyama koo-koo, a buddhist high school established in 1948. The school is based on the Jodoshu spirit, founded by Hounen. The doctrine is "face yourself and reflect on your actions, then you'll see the truth."


Following the belief, this high school is well known as one of the top high schools in Kyoto.


Next, look at this photo. It is Nanzenji, a famous temple of the Rinzaishu sect, founded in 1291. This was quoted by the Missouri Zen center as "one of the three living zen traditions. It stresses enlightenment through the koän practice." Myoan Yosai was the founder of Rinzaishu in Japan. His doctrine is "knowing the pureness and the dignity of humans, you will know that you are as precious Buddha."

Higashiyama koo-koo and Nanzenji : they practice the same religion but their approach is different.

And still more interesting, Higashiyama koo-koo is just next to the Nanzenji.
I didn't know until my friend who studied in this high school told me that these places have no connection with each other. "I heard that not only it is next to but Higashiyama koo-koo is within the land of Nanzenji" he said.

The interesting point is this: why did the high school founder choose to build the school there, where they already practiced a different religion and manage to keep it there up to these days.

I think that it's an example of how Japanese culture traditionally has embraced different beliefs and combines them without conflict.

You may find a similar case in any other part of Japan. So if you do, let me know.

4..Japanese pop culture ~a part-time job~

Kyabajyoo..
Do you know this word? It's a part of Japanese pop culture...today's theme.

Kyabajyoo is a japanese term that means "Cabaretclub (it's Japanese english: kyaba -kura)+ojyoosan (lady)", girls who work at nightclubs. They talk, drink and sometime go out with their customers to sing Karaoke and other things to try and alleviate some Japanese men's loneliness.

Genarally, this job doesn't have a positive image because people think that it is a kind of prostitution. However, the image is changing in Japan, especially among the young. Many girls work or want to work as Kyabajyoo.

You can see job offer magazines in the center of this photo.

People use them to find a jobs, mostly day-jobs. It is remarkable to see that one sixth of the content of these ads are to work at nightclubs .

I took this picture at a convenience store.
Anyone can see such magazines in public places, it means that any girl has the chance to become a Kyabajyoo.

I asked my part-time job boss,who had been working as nightclub manager, why girls would want to work at those places. He answered briefly: They want to learn good service manners , and to earn a lot of money in a short time instead of the low-salary that day jobs often offer. The highest hourly wage he remembered for a girl was 6,800 yen, he said.Kyabajoo is becoming a popular part-time job. The photo above is a sign board that says "We are looking for girls!" Such establishments are also getting more and more popular by placing their lit signs at the center of a city.

Surprisingly, there is a magazine especially published for Kyabajyoo called "Koakuma ageha" (this is Black Devilish Swallow Tail , it 's in japanese so just look at the photos) and girls called Kyabajyoo models appear on this magazine.

This trend may mean that Japanese girls' common sense is changing extremely but the customers, mostly lonely men in this case, might also be one reason for the increasing number of Kyabajoo.

Many Japanese men feel lonely through their day life, even (or specially ) when they have a family: Their daughters might shout at them :"Get off!"; their wives beg them "Please come home later! Dinner? eat out!"

These men want to talk to someone and spend their off day with their family, but the family shy away from the father, so they go to nightclubs, where there will surely be someone who will listen to them with a smile.

The more Japanese lonely men, the more beautifully dressed ladies to take care of them...for up price. It's just demand and supply.

3..Japanese People ~Love working?!~

When I was on my way home one night at about 10p.m. , I saw people getting off a shuttle bus and get in the station ( photo above). They seemed so tired.

Other night, I saw a worker sitting and completely asleep.

Actually, these sights are nothing uncommon. We can see such people anywhere in Japan and I know they are overworked.

The moment for me to look for a job has come. These days, I look at job adds and compare the information in them. I often think not which one has less work time but which one would require less over time...

"The Japanese work too much", that fact is well known but I didn't know the causes of overwork.

I found the term "shigotochyuudoku no nihonjin (workaholic japanese)"in a book called

"Sekaiga warau nihonno johshiki ( The funny Japanese common sense)". I wondered if all foreigners had such stereotype. I remembered that one of my friend had suffered from overwork some time ago, then I asked her about this.

She got a "best salesperson" award along with a big bonus. However, she would work from 8a.m. to 2a.m. the following morning and still brought work to do at home. Her health quickly deteriorated.

"I had to work that much because the company was trying to lower costs and forced workers to do a huge amount of job." she said, giving a bitter smile.

I found some other reasons for Japanese working too much time in a book called "Endless Workers" by Kazuya Ogura. The photo above shows some data from the book.

After reading this book, I got to the conclusion that the majority of Japanese who answered the questionnaire gave the following reasons:

"Trying to do perfect tasks by deadlines."

"It can't be helped, everyone else does it ."

A few of them said they would rather work overtime than getting back home; others, that they really loved their job.

Not all Japanese are workaholics. In fact, many Japanese want to escape from overtime working.

Some Japanese workers who keep working overtime end up being like this.

http://www.japan-101.com/culture/karoshi.htm

2.. My neighborhood

Today's topic is about neighborhood. I tried to do my research within my closest sorroundings.

I live in a small town between Kyoto and Osaka prefectures.

Meeting senior citizens, who have lived here for a long time and may have many connections, is a good way to do research, I thought. So, I went to a nearby coffee shop and interviewed an old man.


The man was seventy three years old and had lived in this town for forty five years. When he moved here, there were a few houses, few people and the vast rice fields. There were about five-hundred students in this town who attended the same school that students from next town. As a result, the students had the chance to widen their circle of friends.

Helping each other in times of trouble was another way to start and strengthen relationships. My interviewee told me his experience about the time he lived at the lowlands where the flood would come every year, and he used to be evacuated to the houses of the family who lived in the highlands and spend some days there. The family welcomed him everytime. They have contact with each other to this day.

He said that he still makes new friendships. Comparing with the old times, there are many schools now and they build better, safer roads and buildings now. This made me wonder how townspeople get acquainted with new people these days?



He told to me about the poster and the label above. The above is advertising events held at the local nursing home. The under is the label of a local business and industry group(Sho-ko-kai). Anybody who has a company in this town must join it. He ran an electricity company as a member of the group until he retired and now he acts as the chief director of that Sho-ko-kai.



I make new friends when I attend events held in this town, and everytime we talk each other, we share our happiness or sadness, and sometimes we fight, he joked.


Hearing his comments, I remembered the times I received help from my neighboors and reconfirmed the Ninjyoo of my town is still here.

Ninjyoo means "humanitarian spirit", which we can find especially in the old part of Japan.
I feel I was lucky I could still feel my neighborhood's Ninjyoo through this interview (of course the old man who answerd my interview was nice!), even when people make fun of my hometown saying, "There is really nothing to enjoy around here, isn't there!"

My town is one of the places which appeared in this webpage as a sight of sakura.
http://www.tku.ac.jp/~juwat/photo5e.html

1..Otsukimi ~Moon viewing~

Hi everyone. This is my first blog of NIPPON Life.


This is my Japanese Visual Anthropology class project and I will write about many Japanese scenes here and I will also write down my thoughts about that same topic. I don't have a clear image of visual anthropology, but I think that I get some ideas as I go through writing this blog.
I hope that you enjoy my page and get to know about Japan a little more.


For the first topic, I will write about an event that I recommend for the people who have just arrived in Japan.
We just had “Otsukimi” this week. It’s an event where people pray to the full moon and offer some traditional foods.


This custom came from China in the Heian era. Taro and Japanese pampas grass are used for offering. People liken taro to the full moon and pampas grass to rice ears and they pray for good crops and give thanks to the full moon that lighted up the fields and helped their harvest. I think that ancient Chinese and Japanese tried to give their wish a tangible shape and doing so, be closer to the moon.


However, the meaning of Otsukimi has changed. Last week, I got a flier with the photo I'm showing above from a Japanese sweets shop. The photo shows new rice cakes for Otsukimi. I thought they were cute.
Not only in this photo but in many websites you can find a variety of sweets for this season.

These days, the majority of people don't pray but enjoy Otsukimi, with their loved ones. It's difficult to say which one is better: the traditional style or the modern style to celebrate Otsukimi, but I think the modern style shows the prosperity of Japan (of course because now it is able to import ingredients from other countries). So, the modern way might be better, I mean, we are symbolically thanking the moon for this new affluency of Japan.

Link: Let's try the Otsukimi quiz! Note that it's in romanized Japanese.
http://www.nic-nihongonokai.info/quiz/0008/index_r.php