Globalization

In my Japan and Globalization class, we have been reading about the various ways Japan is influenced globally and how the culture adapts these outside influences in order to suit their culture. One of the global influences is the introduction of McDonald, the world’s largest leading fast food restaurant, to Ginza, Japan in 1971. McDonald, which was founded in 1927 in San Bernardino, California by Dick and Mac Donald, progressed from national to multinational and thus became a global business that established all over the world working with local culture and needs. The success of McDonald was due to the fact that McDonald thinks globally and acts locally. This means that they were able to adapt to the culture by making various adjustments to suit the Japanese people. They have most of the staple McDonald choices on the menu, but there are some variations. For example, it offers teriyaki Mc Burger, Chicken Tatsuta etc. Also the drink size and fries are much smaller portion and everything is bit more upscale so eating at McDonald does not seem bad. There is also a similar fast food restaurant as McDonald that opened in Tokyo in 1972 called the Mos Burger, which literally translates as “Mountain Ocean Sun”. It originated in Japan and it is the second largest growing franchise in Japan. Today, there are 1,361 shops in Japan. Mos Burger is known for using fresh vegetables and unique Japanese flavored sauces. The concept is like that of McDonald but there are slight variations. They offer standard type hamburgers and cheeseburgers but also offer burgers that can't be found at McDonald's. One of these burgers is called the Rice Burger, which replaces the bun that is found in a typical hamburger with two flat round patties made out of rice, barley, and millet. The success of McDonald is really due to the fact that it was able to adapt to the needs of the Japanese culture so it could thrive. It was able to glocalize by bringing something foreign and adapting to the local culture and needs.

I like these pictures because the first picture related to McDonald two foreigner looking people with a sign that is in Japanese. I think it is interesting that they decided to use foriengers to package the product and then they use Japanese so the local people can understand. The second picture of the Mos Burger has signs that are written in English and then in Japanese. Even though this is a store that was founded in Japan, they still decided to market their product in English. I think that this is because the usage of the English language is something that is different and stands out.

Sports & Recreation in Japan

For the long weekend, I went hiking in the Nagano region with two of my friends. This trip allowed me to explore the hidden beauty that I had yet to discover. Before I came to Japan, I had been told to venture many of the aesthetic attractions while my stay in Japan. Before this hike, I had only seen the scenery from seminar house 4 to Kansai Gaidai and back to seminar house 4. Let’s just say that this panorama did not impress me much. However, I was truly blown away by the natural beauty that I was exposed to while being on this hike. I was mostly amazed by the beauty, calmness, and cleanness. Additionally, I was very impressed by the very little garbage littering. The rule was to carry out whatever one brought and all of the hikers followed this rule very religiously. Furthermore, I noticed that many of the hikers were much older and traveled in large groups. Before coming on this hike, I would have presumed that the youngest people would be into hiking and that older people hiking would be hard to find. However, I was wrong and I was impressed to find these 70 years old women and men hiking. By what I have seen so far, I can conclude that the youth is much more concerned with their looks, being up to date with fashion, doing things that are popular rather than worrying about their health. It seems that with age, Japanese people are much more likely to travel, hike, or do sporty activities. Lastly, I would like to point out our interaction with other Japanese hikers. When we were hiking, every person that we encountered would look at us and greet us. It did not matter how tired, hurt, or hungry they were, they would at least greet us and smile. I think this kind of interaction is very lacking in the everyday life that I have encountered. I know that when I walk to school every day, I try to say hi to other Japanese people but they always seem to be in a rush and have an angry look painted on their faces. It almost seems like it is too much to ask to simply reach out and say hello. The following statement is being drawn from our hike and my everyday walks to school. It seems that when everyone is on the same level/status, it seems very easy to interact and open up to others. However, when class or status is introduced in the picture, everyone seems to change and this is when the interactions no longer follow smoothly and interactions becomes much harder. What I really liked about our hike was the fact that everyone was down to earth, no one was rushing to be somewhere, and there was not anything that divided us because everyone was going through the same experience. Thus, making our short interactions possible and pleasurable.

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http://www.fandm.edu/Images/anime.jpg

Japanese Pop Culture and Entertainment

Globalization has fostered the spread of American culture and thus shrinking and homogenizing the world. Thus through Anime and globalization, I would like to show how Japanese culture is being influenced and changing. Anime originated during the 20^th century. It evolved through manga, which is known as comic books. The first famous anime emerged after WWII when Osamu Tezuta produced Tetsuran Atomu (Astro Boy). The techniques that were used in this film were burrowed from French, German, and American cinema becuase they were technologically advanced. Osamu Tezuta gave further provided guidance to people in terms of how to be and how to act. However, anime did not become accepted into the Japanese culture until the 80’s when anime became heightened in production. Anime started representing the popular culture: “manga and Anime…are not the totality of the culture but point to certain aspect of it” (Anthony Enriquez). This means that popular beliefs and traditions were incorporated in anime and further reflected the popular culture. This allowed the younger generations to rely on the media and popular culture to help them shape their understanding religious knowledge and practices.

I came to Japan in hopes to improve my Japanese skills. Thus, recently I have been watching anime films hoping it will help my listening and speaking skills. In these films, I have noticed the presence of American culture. For example, many of the characters do not resemble the Japanese people and instead look more like American people with blond hair, big green or blue eyes dressed in western clothing. Today at school, I met with my Japanese-speaking partner and I asked her why Japanese girls dye their hair blonde, dress in American outfit, and change their eye color. Her simple answer was that they want to look like and act like Americans and so they emulate these behaviors and lifestyles. This is very sad for me to observe because I can see the traditional Japanese culture slowly disappearing among the youth as they learn to adapt to more of the American culture and lifestyles. Globalization has many positive and negative sides and I am interested with the question of to what extent is it ok for globalization to take place. Or can globalization exist simultaneously without altering the culture, values, tradtions, norms etc.

Jin Kya Park. “Creating My Own Cultural Bubble”: Consumption of Japanese Spriituality in Anime. San Diego, CA, May 2003.