Changing Impressions

"Group Culture"

The one problem I had when coming to Japan and during the time I was preparing to come to Japan, one problem I had was generalizing the Japanese culture. To begin with I didn’t know very much about Japan before I came. However, the main idea I held when coming to Japan was the theory that Japan had a group culture and ones identity was based on how they belonged to this group and which groups they belong to. However, I’ve found that to understand Japanese culture, you can’t think in this way. Also, if one were to think in this way they would not understand the entrance exam culture. At first I attributed the “group culture” to just social interactions, but then I realized that it was more about organization. For example senpai and kohai are very important for organizing expectations of people in a group. Also the groups are heavily used for support for the individual. For example, in classes in our middle school groups are heavily used. When students stand up to answer a question to which they don’t have the answer, their surrounding friends quickly supply the forgotten information. This isn’t thought of as cheating, but as supporting a classmate. But at the same time the student is the only one standing, and they will have to still be able to form the correct answer. The students must act and perform as an individual, however they will have support in their group to hold them up. The picture above is a picture of one of my students performing in an English speech competition. While she is competing by herself and depends on her own performance, she is representing her school and her awards will be shared by the school.




"Drinking Culture"

Drinking culture is very different from what I expected when coming to Japan. My only image of drinking in Japan before I came was of the stereotypical businessman drinking after work with his coworkers. This was a generally negative image with a feeling leading toward alcoholism. I saw it this way because I was viewing the surface, a man going drinking with coworkers after work, and filled in the rest with an American point of view, drinking with no agenda. The reasons for drinking were simply because the man and his coworkers wanted to drink. However, there is much more that goes into this. There is unseen procedure and method when viewed from a foreign point of view. Usually these drinking parties seem to be in a style where a party will rent a table and have unlimited drink and possibly food for a few hours. These drinking parties are usually in celebration or recognition for large events. Some examples would be when entering a business/work place, goodbye parties, and after large events and projects. This isn’t limited to businesses and workplaces; the people can be members in clubs or one-time groups working on a project. These after-parties seem normal and (to an extent) expected in many different areas and ages (with age appropriate drinks). In the states, when you leave work, you leave work. In Japan, your position with your colleges is stronger than in the states. It seems as if the solidity of the group is taking into great consideration. I have seen a difference in the way alcohol is presented in media, which I believe is a result of this type of after-party culture. In the US, 0% alcohol drinks are rarely seen on television commercials if at all, and the idea is laughed at. However, in Japan is it common to see appealing ads and commercials for 0% alcohol beer and other drinks. The picture above is of some of the SICE students as we all participated in a cultural event. We were pulling the float that you can see behind us with a group of people. An event like this, where hard group work is done, can be expected to have an after party following it. The after parties are used to reflect on the group's performance and their hard work.

Politics

During our first month in Japan, elections for representatives were in progress. Unlike in the U.S. all advertisement seemed to be out of the home. In the U.S., supporters of a particular party or candidate put stickers on their cars and signs in their front yard. Also the television is exploding with advertisements. In Japan the closets I’ve seen of politics in private life is in the news paper and television trivia games. Instead political parties and candidates are displayed out in public. Boards are posted up all over the city (and prefecture) with the pictures and names of the candidates. Above is a picture of this. Additional posters are sometimes displayed by individual candidates. However the most obvious form of advertisement for candidates are the vans. I’m not sure what the name of these vans are so I’m going to call them candidate vans. These vans are covered in posters displaying the name and or picture of a candidate. A loud speaker is shouting out the name of the candidate and usually about four people sometimes including the candidate (I believe) are sitting in the van waving out to the people they pass on the road. Occasionally a similar group of people stands on a busy street corner however the vans seem more popular.



The people in Japan don’t seem very connected to passionate about politics in Japan. My host mother explains this by saying that the average person is not directly connected to the prime minister. In elections for the prime minister, the representative is voted on by the Japanese citizen and then this representative will vote for the prime minister (if I have this correct). Another reason for this distance between the people and the prime minister is because the prime ministers are rotated through very quickly. On a television game show Japan ranked extremely low on their approval rating of their prime minister. The approval rating was around 18%. On another game show, celebrities are regularly put into teams and participate in trivia games. One of these is to name things in a category. A picture of this is above. In this shot, the question asking the contestants to name current prime ministers in the world. Often questions will be on Japan’s politics, especially prime ministers, as there are so many and are not always “household names.”

Gender

Especially in school related events and activities, gender stands out strongly. Similar to private schools in the U.S., students wear uniforms. This usually dictates that men wear one distinct outfit while the girls wear another, which includes a skirt rather than pants. In elementary school and middle school all students are required to have a specific large backpack. In middle school these backpacks are usually the same color, but in elementary school the boys and girls have separate colors. Usually red for girls and blue for boys. At middle school the boys and girls always sit in lines depending on gender back to front, and then the lines usually alternate between boys a girls. Unless there is an imbalance in the male to female ratio in a class, a students desk partner will be of the opposite gender and desk groups are usually made up of three boys and three girls. For most of the day, the students wear their casual gym outfits, which are identical. To add decoration to their identical outfits, both girls and boys buy colorful pencil bags and accessories that are usually decorated with a popular cartoon character or pop group. Also these are additionally decorated with key chains and stickers. While boys use more anime characters and girls use more Disney and pop characters, both boys and girls seem to decorate their belongings with an equal enthusiasm. The picture above was taken by me at my middle school at their cultural festival. As you can see, the boys and girls are divided and you can see their uniforms. Most elementary schools in the Morioka area have very similar uniforms however all schools differ slightly.



I find it very difficult to talk about gender. There are so many layers to how genders are scene and ones role in society based off of this. In our classes at Gandai we have been discussing the understanding of the inexistence of some dichotomies in Japanese culture. I’m starting to wonder if gender is one of these in some ways. Or rather than gender is simply different than it is in the western culture. Sometimes I find myself overly frustrated and sometimes I realize that I’m seeing views of gender that I have never seen before. I can’t say that the culture of mother’s have a large responsibility to take care of their home and children doesn’t exist (in comparison to the father of the house), but there is so much more for me to understand before I feel comfortable talking about it. At the moment, Japan, especially the Tohoku area in which we are staying, is changing. Here there is a strong concern about younger people leaving to live in more “modern” cities and there is depopulation. The effects of this change on gender in this area have been seen by our group. I took the picture above at a festival in Morioka. Above are different float groups lined up for a speech to be given. Originally, only men could participate in pulling the floats. In the picture most of the people are men, but now both women and men can participate. This change has occurred because of the growing change in women’s roles and in the depopulation of the area causing more people to be needed in traditional festival roles such as this one.

Sports

The Road Race

Throughout school years sports play a very important role. This has been very true during my time at my middle school. Many skills are required of all students. Two requirements that are not found in the U.S. for all students are music and physical education. By middle school in the US most students are only required to take math, English, science, and Social Studies. The rest of the classes are optional or only required for a semester. In middle schools in Japan, there are no optional classes. Also school events are not optional. All students are taught to sing in their music class and every year there is a large cultural festival where the students sing. Another all-school event that focuses on a “fun” skill (as thought of in the U.S.) is the Road Race in which all students must be involved and run. Side note: I’m not sure if the term “road race” is used in the United States or if it is Japanese English, but when one of my teachers told me we were doing a road race my first thought was how dangerous it would be to have our middle school students drag racing around the neighborhood. The picture above is of the students stretching before the road races. All students were divided by year and gender and the organization was impressive. We started off the afternoon event by going through the general warm-up and stretches. The students then got into their year/gender group. The students then had to run, I believe, three kilometers and return to the school. The teachers had one of those starting pistols to signal the start and they timed all of the students. A student who was not running at the time would hand out place numbers to the students as they cross the finish line and then their numbers would be compared to the finish times that the teachers were recording. Everything was well organized and everyone received their cold orange juice from myself and other students when they crossed the finish line. Students who aren’t running also call out to the runners to support them. The cheers don’t end until every single student has crossed the finish line. After the races were done speeches were given by the gym teachers and the principle on the day’s events. Then the top 10 places and times of each group was announced followed by the fastest girl and fastest boy of the day. Everyone was very supportive of each other and spirits were high, even for those students who did not finish with high times.



As mentioned above, high involvement is required of all students. This is also with club activities. All students are required to join a club. While some of the clubs are not sports, such as calligraphy, band, and English club, the majority of clubs seem to be sports. Such as basketball, soccer, handball, baseball, kendo, etc. Also students are required to go to gym about two times a week. It then is expected that for middle school students and high school students (were club activities are also usually required), sports plays a large role in their daily activities. With this understanding it can then be expected that sports will play a large role in a persons life past their schools years. When I have classes with my 2nd year students I begin the class by asking questions to the students. One easy question to ask for all students is which is their favorite sport. All of the students always have a favorite sport. This is also a frequent topic on other questions in English class. For example, the other week we studied frequency and we used sport activity per week. Here in Japan I am a mild tv watcher, but I can count on seeing Sawa, the women’s soccer captain, at least once a week on tv. Other than on the TV Sawa’s face can be found on posters and advertisements and it is difficult to not see someone walking around in a Samurai Blue jersey on a busy street. After the Japanese team won first at the Women’s World Cup, Japan has been buzzing with support and admiration. Although, I’m sure this would exist even without the win. My family and I often watch the men’s national team play against other teams in the Asia area as they prepare for the next World Cup. Above is a picture of my middle school’s students cheering on their peers who were competing at the all middle school sports day.

Globalization

When being involved in schools in Morioka it is difficult to miss the effect of sister cities/schools/etc. Some schools, especially the top high schools, in the city have sister schools around the world. Earlier during my stay in Morioka my sister’s high school met up with students from their sister cities around the world including Canada, the United States, and Korea. My other sister, who went to the same school, had the opportunity to travel to New York City to visit the students from the U.S. sister school. The pressure to become internationalized (which usually means to be influenced by western culture and to learn English) seems very strong in Japan and seems to be very important in one is wanting to seem educated and/or urbanized. In the picture above you can see a display I found in the station at Hiroshima. It is a poster and display for the 2015 Boy Scout Jamboree that will be hosted by Japan. Being from a family that is heavily involved in Boy Scouts, I know that the Jamboree is a very important international event in the scouting group. International parties, sister schools, study abroad. These are words I hear a lot of while here in Japan. Of course this is influenced by the fact that I am an international student and perhaps I am wrong in my conclusion. But I believe that these words are used far more in Japan than in the United States. There is a very strong emphasis on watching the international countries. For example I’m always surprised to see Obama’s weekly activity on the news even when it does not pertain directly to Japan. For example this morning I watched Obama meet with the President of South Korea. Almost everyone in Japan seems to know who Obama is while most people in the United States could not tell you a single political figure in the Japanese government.




As I said with the photo above, there is strong pressure within Japan to learn English. Sometimes taking English classes is not an option as with middle schools and high schools. Even some elementary schools and business are pushing their clients to learn English. Also, on entrance exams to enter top colleges there may be an English requirement. All in all, learning English does not seem to be an option anymore. As a citizen of the United States who hears constantly that we need to study Chinese as it is the growing power and language, there is a slight oddness to have such a stress on learning English. Mainly I believe that this strangeness I feel is from the fact that it is always strange to hear that something you don’t always take for granted is incredibly important to a nation of people. The above photo is of the Ueno Zoo in the Tokyo area that I went to on our fall vacation. As you can see, everything is translated into English. This itself isn’t as significant as this is the only zoo in Japan that has a panda and the zoo is also located near Tokyo which makes it a hot spot for tourists. But then again… it’s a hot spot for tourists and Japan is signifying this by making sure that English is displayed. In Japan, English is “cool.” Or at least until students become tired with all of their English classes at school. There are many tv shows which teach English as well as bring in foreigners, who are usually English speakers even if they come from countries that do not speak English, to talk about Japanese culture as well as their own. If you buy a T-shirt there is a high chance that it has English on it and even Japanese brand names are using English letters and/or words.

Religion

Before I start I want to make a note especially for any online readers. My knowledge of shrines and temples in Japan is very limited so my conclusions most likely have many holes.



One strong aspect in Japanese religions is a sense of luck or good fortune. At every shrine in Japan you are able to buy small pendants that have a specific area in which they may bring you good fortune such as safe driving, good fortune in studying and test taking, and pregnancy and a healthy child. You are also able to collect fortunes which are similar but much more complex than what you will find in a fortune cookie in the states. However, these fortunes also can give you bad luck. If you have bad luck in ways concerning your birth year or your unlucky fortune you can tie up certain things in which to ward off these bringers of bad luck. In the picture above, you can see a 1 yen coin that I dropped into a basin of water. I’m not completely certain of the meaning of this task, but I know that if your coin floats it is good luck. I think the main difference between Abrahamic religions and religions in Japan (focusing specifically on shinto) is a difference idea in where the spirit(s) are found. Focusing specifically on Christianity (simply because it is the area of abrahamic religions that I know best), there is basically only one entity where spiritual/unearthly power lies, in God. In the Shinto religion it is a bit different. My host mother explained to me that ‘itadakimasu’ (what one says before eating) is an expression meaning to express gratitude. However this does not mean gratitude specifically to the person who made the meal. It also refers to the life that was taken for this meal. This life is from not only the animals but from the plants as well. In Japanese culture there is a stronger idea of life or a spirit of some sort being in everything. For this reason, everything you do, even small everyday things, involves some type of spirit. This can be easily seen in Japanese folktales about Youkai where everyday objects or spirits come to life to haunt a family, person, or place.



Closely fit with the last topic, connected with this photo I’m going to discuss the use of nature in religion. Above is a classic picture of the Golden Pavilion or the Ginkakujin. Beside the structure of a temple or shrine, one of the main characteristics is the environment which is focused around simplicity in nature. To get to a shrine or temple you usually must climb up a mountain, walk through a rock garden, or make your way through a small forest. There is a big focus on the environment of where a person, shrine, or temple is. I believe this is a result of the idea of life and spirit being everywhere in the world and earth. In Japan, a shrine without the surrounding nature and environment feels significantly different. In western religions, all that is needed is the building in which houses spiritual objects. At one time we were able to visit a Japanese rock garden. While it itself is not a shrine or a place of specific spirituality, it has a very spiritual feel.

When talking about religion in Japan, there is very little discussion about afterlife, which is focused in Buddhism. In a family’s house you can usually find a shrine for the ancestors of the fathers side of the family. Other than this I have only heard of the afterlife mentioned once. This was in Nagano where I saw a row of figures representing the realms of afterlife, which includes more than just humans such as animals and godly beings. Instead of focusing on afterlife, as I was grown up as a Catholic I can safely say that there is a large focus on ones afterlife in Christianity, Japanese religions focus more on ones place while living. The environment is important in this because being part of the life in all things around you and finding a place of philosophy is important.

Pop Culture

The most prevalent form of pop culture, especially among girls, is music. Many music artists in Japan are with a group of people rather than singing alone. These bands are also often referred to as idols. The groups are usually very large and they seem to be created by larger figures such as label companies than the singers themselves. For example, for the boy groups, many stem from a group of boy idols called “Johnny and Associates.” When the boys become older their music groups are formed out of these groups. While at first I found this to be a rigid process, I realized that it can be seen as a natural product of Japanese culture. Through this process of being the “Johnny and Associates” back up dancers to the idols, you learn through experience where you are expected to look up toward the older and experienced people who have come before you. While to outsiders of Japanese culture, the job of these idols is to produce music, their real job seems to be popular and to entertain rather than to sing. For example, my host mother told me that when she was young non of the idol groups could sing very well, but they were still very popular. Physical appearance, of course, has a lot to do with this. The idols of Japan are unavoidable. You see them on television shows, television commercials, vending machines, collectable merchandise (as seen above in the picture), and you hear them while walking on the streets or through the hall ways of a karaoke business. There is one drink that you can buy at a conbini that comes with a collectable keychain of a band member. One of my students at my middle school had a huge collection on her backpack.



PURIKURA! Japan is very good at making things I wouldn’t want to do very fun. I learned about purikura when I was very young and it was the first aspect of Japanese pop culture that I learned. Simply put, purikura is just a photobooth that you go to with friends and take pictures. However, these are highly sophisticated photobooths compared to the ones in the United States and you have to be very fast to operate them. Purikura machines have amazing photoshop capabilities. You can change the tone of your skin, add very fun backgrounds, and write whatever you want on top of them. Purikura seems to be an easy icebreaker of sorts for meeting new friends. I’ve met people for the first time only hours or minutes before doing purikura with them and the first day my host sister and I were free together we went off to take purikura. This seems to be the equivalent of going out for coffee in the US. The pictures come out as stickers, which are sometimes put into books, or can be sent to a cell phone. The picture above is of the SICErs favorite purikura location. Purikura areas seem to be usually located near game centers.