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