This is a picture of Santa,
Spiderman, and a Power Ranger trying to sell me
Yakisoba at
Gaidaisai. The person on the right giving the thumbs up
snuck in to the photo. I was amazed at how I was assaulted by people wanting me to buy their product at
Gaidaisai. Traditional the
Kansai region specifically Osaka was known for its merchant culture. People from here are said to be the best salesman or at least the most
persistent. I can see where this stereotype comes from. I have attended fairs like this, but never have I had to turn down so many vendors. I understand that the money goes to their clubs, but I was just overwhelmed with offers for cheap food.
This is a picture of my Japanese friend
Taka dressed as
Spiderman.
Spiderman is very popular in Japan and it even has its own version of
Spiderman. But I chose this picture because of what happened once he was in this costume. Japanese people seem to enjoy getting the picture taken next to costumed individuals so they jumped on the chance to photograph
Taka. But since he was standing next to me they assumed he was a
gaijin and would ask in English if they could take his picture. I found this interesting that just because I was standing next to him they assumed him to be a
gaijin and since he was a
gaijin they assumed he could not understand any Japanese. Well maybe that is a bit cynical and they were trying to practice
english. This was very interesting to me. Did they not think it possible for me to have a Japanese friend or for a Japanese person to dress up for Halloween?
This is a picture of Santa, Spiderman, and a Power Ranger trying to sell me Yakisoba at Gaidaisai. The person on the right giving the thumbs up snuck in to the photo. I was amazed at how I was assaulted by people wanting me to buy their product at Gaidaisai. Traditional the Kansai region specifically Osaka was known for its merchant culture. People from here are said to be the best salesman or at least the most persistent. I can see where this stereotype comes from. I have attended fairs like this, but never have I had to turn down so many vendors. I understand that the money goes to their clubs, but I was just overwhelmed with offers for cheap food. 
This is a picture of my Japanese friend Taka dressed as Spiderman. Spiderman is very popular in Japan and it even has its own version of Spiderman. But I chose this picture because of what happened once he was in this costume. Japanese people seem to enjoy getting the picture taken next to costumed individuals so they jumped on the chance to photograph Taka. But since he was standing next to me they assumed he was a gaijin and would ask in English if they could take his picture. I found this interesting that just because I was standing next to him they assumed him to be a gaijin and since he was a gaijin they assumed he could not understand any Japanese. Well maybe that is a bit cynical and they were trying to practice english. This was very interesting to me. Did they not think it possible for me to have a Japanese friend or for a Japanese person to dress up for Halloween?
2 comments:
Nice pictures. Maybe some explanation of Gaidaisai and student festivals in general might be useful. I think it is a bit unusual for a Japanese person to cosplay Spiderman, so maybe that's why people thought he was a gaikokujin...
That is entirely possible.
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