Journey to the Central Capital

My friend Quill and a 12 year old Japanese boy who decided to hang out with people almost twice his age. Here we are at an Okonomiyaki restaurant. What was strange about this is that he spent the whole day with us. It is interesting to see how much freedom is given to Japanese children. In America we are taught not to talk to strangers and to avoid anyone we do not know. This kid just came up to my friends and I and started talking to us as if it were nothing. The whole day I was amazed and we kept asking him if it was alright for him to be doing this. And he would respond that it was alright. I constantly see Japanese children do things that I was never allowed to do. Oh, to be a Japanese child.

Waiting for the train. This is a common sight all over Japan. Trains are hardly ever late, extremely convient, and a great form of transportation. With the trains, you can go almost anywhere in Honshu. And if you want to get to your destination faster, and are willing to spend extra, there is the Shinkansen (bullet train). Over the long weekend my friend and I traveled to Nagoya, the 4th largest city in Japan. Along the way we transfered to different trains on different lines that are owned by different companies and charge different rates. I was suprised at how such a convient and effecient system can be so confusing and complicated. I found it less than convient. This is all new to me, but to the people who ride the train everyday it's routine. I just find it fascinating that trains play an important role in the everyday life of Japanese city dweller. The ability to travel great distants on a whim is easiyl attained with the Japanese train system.

Blog 2

In class we have mentioned many one word theories. Well if I were to use a one word theory, I would use かわいい. Everything in Japan is sickenly cute. This photo for example is for some sort of snack food, but contains two cute mascots. Some foods are even the mascot. Nacchan a juice drink, but the bottle itself is Nacchan and when you take a drink you drink the essence of Nacchan. Everywhere I look in Japan I can find a cute mascots, stationary, manga characters, logos, keychains, and even the storm drains have cute cats, dogs, and otters on them.

This is a picture taking in a park of a tree. I took this because most of the nature I see in the city seems rigidly controlled. All the rivers are forced on their paths by concrete walls. Every tree I see is trimmed such that they offer very little shade. The trees are forced up and not allowed to grow out. This might have to do with the compact nature of the cities. If trees were allowed to grow normally they would grow into buildings and cause havoc. In Oregon there is green everywhere even its largest cities. It is strange to see so little green, but all land that is habitable is needed for people. I just want some shade.

Blog 1

This picture is of a shrine in Hirakata City. These shrines can be found all over the City. Usually nestled in between building or hidden in alleyways. You also see the occasionally worshiper silently praying. This I find strange for a country where most people will say they aer not religious yet you can find shrines like these all over the country. Another reason why I took this picture is because it has a symbol we know as the sawstika. But in Buddhism it represents universal harmony. This symbol can be found in popular anime and manga. Here it lacks the negative connations that the nazis gave it and hence why we do not see in America.

This is a photograph of a tanuki statue. A tanuki is a Japanese racoon dog. It not only exists as a real animal, but it can also be found in ancient folklore. The tanuki is often depicted with a large scrotum, a sake jug, straw hat, and a promissory note (Schumaker). This statue was found outside a restaurant, but I have seen them near shrines and temples as well. They are seen as inviting guest and are signs of good luck similar to Maneki Neko (Schumacher). I chosse to post this picture because it very Japanese and you wold not see something like this in America. We do not have anything that is equivalent to a tanuki. I thought it was a good representation of Japanese culture and also a very humorous part of Japanese folklore.

Schumacher, Mark. "Tanuki - Japanese God of Restauranteers." A to Z photo dictionary Japanese Buddhist Statuary. 27 Aug 2007. 10 Sep 2007 .