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.

Neighborhood Hirakata

When I arrived in Japan, I came before orientation week began. During this time, I was placed in seminar house 3 where I had the opportunity of meeting students from all over the world. Here, I met a girl from Morocco and became very close friend with her. However, I had to leave seminar house 3 after orientation week was over, and I had to move to seminar house 4, which is located right across the park. I frequently visit my friend, and each time I must sign in. At first, the Okasan that works at the front desk was not very friendly, and she would barely say anything to me. Over the past month, I tried to talk to her so she sees that I am trying and that our one minute talk can be better. Even if it took a while, our brief interaction has improved.
When this blog theme was presented in class for our assignment, I thought about Okasan at seminar house 3 because the perception that I held about her has changed over time. Now, when she greets me, she actually asks me about my day, and our interaction is much longer. Today I visited my friend, I told Okasan about our assignment and asked her if I could write about her and take a picture of her with my broken Japanese. Without thinking twice, she responded by saying no and that I should take a picture of someone young like my friend. She asked me why I would want to take a picture of someone old and kept saying no. She thought some more in puzzlement and then discussed my requestment with her husband. After a minute of dialogue between them, they both said no. I thanked her for her time. As I was leaving, they requested for more information about my blog project. Finally they agreed upon the enough information that I provided for them. I immediately took my camera out and snapped a picture of her. Before I could leave, she and her husband wanted to approve of the picture I had just snapped. I was very thankful that she and her husband were flexible on their decisions. I think that if I had asked her in September, she would have never agreed to change her mind. I think that because she has gotten to know me, learn to trust me and like me, she felt much more open and comfortable. I think this example of Okasan is a perfect model of how time can change everything about a person. It is very important not to judge people on first time interaction and it is crucial to be open minded and flexible.

I like this picture because it clearly shows how crowded Japan has become over the last decade or so. I like how this picture shows the old and the new. The old in the sense that the houses are small and the streets are narrow. And the new in the sense that there is over crowdedness, modern clothes and cars. I know that when I walk to school every morning, I feel kind of claustrophobic with the lack of space there is available. I am always worried that there is not enough room and because everyone is in a hurry, I always make sure to take extra caution. I have noticed that in America, drivers are made sure to stop at pedestrian crosswalk but here it seems that drivers are less likely to stop for the pedestrian. Additionally, I like this picture because it shows the way Japanese people dress is not that much different from the way foreigners dress. Thus, this shows that the traditional Japan is transforming into a more western style and yet there are still things that remind people of the traditional Japan.

Early Impressions of Japan

Before coming to Japan, I had the impression that everything in Japan was modernized due to technological advancement that has been fostered by globalization. I thought that it would be hard to find traditional things in everyday life. After arriving in Japan and adjusting to our new life at the dorm, the school made a day field trip to Kyoto. On our way, I was amazed at the complex train system and it seemed impossible to figure out how to get from one place to another place. I noticed that almost all the girls wore very modern clothes and that they were all on their cell phones, which allowed them to communicate massive web of people instantaneously. As we made our way to the temples, I noticed the narrow road trying to fit the cars, the motorcycles, the bicycles, the trucks, the pedestrians etc. I think this was the first time I noticed how crowded Japan really was. As we were walking to the temple, I noticed this woman wearing a traditional outfit standing in the middle of a very modernized atmosphere. I did not want to be rude and so I politely asked her if I could take her picture and she nodded yes without hesitating. What I really like about this picture is the kindness and the gentleness that you can see from her pose. I like this picture because it reminds me of the traditional Japanese culture that I have read about from the classes that I have taken in college and that I have seen being portrayed in American Hollywood films. This picture is great because it represents the modern and the traditional culture simultaneously.