A religious experience

Highschool students on a field trip to Todaiji. It wa nice to see a bunch of highschool students having a good time. We mostly hear about how hard Japanese school is and how most students attend cram schools. But from what I have seen and heard it s not as bad as we make it out to be. They still get to go on cool fieldtrips like this. Another thing that is significant is the school uniform. While I was at Todaiji, I saw many different uniforms. Each school has its own uniform and so one can use these uniforms to identify what school they go to. Based on what school they attend you could also infer where they live or even how much income their parents make.

A man lighting incense while his family waits. This was shot at Todaiji which is Japan's largest wooden structure and house the largest statue of Buddha. For some it seemed to be somewhat of religious experience, but most people were here as tourists. I saw many people light incense, but were the lighting just because it was there and its the tourist thing or were the lightning it for religious reasons? Most Japanese would say that they are not religious, but many perform rituals such as this. I find it very interesting that despite saying that they are not religious, they still engage and religious rituals.

And now for something completely different

A man sleeping his day away beside a river in Kyoto. Along the river you could see many people enjoying their afternoon. Some were fishing, others chatting. As for this person he was close to some homeless shelters so is this person homeless or just some who was so tired he just fell asleep right here. I didn't watch him long enough to find out, but it got me thinking about Japan's homeless population. Professor Fedorowicz mention some statistics and it seems to be a major problem. But like homelessness in most cultures it is looked down upon and considered the fault of the person. This article explains about "internet cafe refugees." What strikes me is this quote from the article and by a former homeless man "Those cafe sleepers are not the ones the government should be throwing tons of money on." Which I agree with. The homeless on the street are ignored or shooed away much like the man in the picture. I hope the government will try and help the street people as well.

A sign that commands readers to "Feel Wood." English text can be found all over Japan, but alot of it is considered engrish. The word "engrish" itself is engrish, capitalizing on how the "r" and "l" sounds are hard to pronounce for the Japanese. I see signs like these almost every day. I once saw a sign the proudly proclaimed that it had "Everyday high prices." Why would anyone want to tell people they have the highest price? I find it interesting that these exist. Every Japanese student must take about 6 years of english. With people who have learned/learning english why is that no one notices the grammar and spelling problem? Or perhaps it just popular to throw in english much like Kanji tattoos are extremely popular, because it looks cool. Or maybe it all just a huge joke that is laughing at the english language? Who knows?

A Visit of Nostalgia

This is a man dressed as a buddhist monk asking anyone passing by for money. Is this guy really buddhist? Or is he capitalizing on the amount of tourism Kyoto gets? Seeing this reminded me of the Shuwa reading about specific areas having unique signs for that area. One of those signs was of a extended hand asking for money which was to represent a monk begging. I thought it interesting that these beggars take on the image of a buddhist monk asking for alms. All along the bridge were people dressed like this, ringing bells, and asking politely for money. These were the first open beggars I had seen in Japan. Japan's homeless population is very much shunned so it surprised me to see this.

This pictue was taken in Kanjiro Kawai's house. Kanjiro Kawai was a very famous and amazing potter. Upon entering his house I felt as if I had entered a traditional Japanese house. The kind that I envision when I think of traditional Japan. It made me feel at home. All over the house you could spot Kanjiro's work. The works are awe inspiring. While he was living the Governement offered him The National Living Treasure Award for his expertise. He politely refused. He was an advocate of folk art, which in Japan is greatly appreciated part of Japanese culture. Japan has preserved many of the folk arts from bunraku to kabuki. From our Oreintalist viewpoint we think the Japanese all work at large companies, express no creativity, and conform to a group. It was nice to see that stereotype shattered. The artistic aspects of Japanese culture were great to experience.

Stranger in a Strange Land

After reading this post and this short article I knew I had to comment. I empathize greatly with the soapbox update. I made a comment on the post, but I feel this is a very important matter. I have felt completely alien in this country on the border of unwelcome. I have had to jump through many hoops just to be able to stay here for only a couple months. Imagine the foreigners who live here permantly, this is just one more hoop that they are forced to jump. It seems extremely unfair. Can Japanese people do no wrong? Why aren't they considered able to be terrorists? It is unfair that native Japanese do not have to such lengths as permanent foreigner residents And since foreign residents are not allowed to vote, how can they hope to get their rights back? How can they voice their opinion? It also seems like saying that this law passed is to prevent terrorism is just an excuse to discourage and further alienate foreigners coming to this country. Is this law just an embodiment of Japan's historical mistrust of foreingers?

This article just cemented my feeling of alieness. It seems that places go out of their way to alienate foreigners. Everywhere I go there is english signs, english menus, and people talk to me in english. Why do they always assume I do not know any Japanese nor couldn't possible understand such a complicated language? I came to this country to learn the language, how can I learn if I am given "special treatment?" I also feel like eyes are on me all the time as if a foreigner is a rare site and something incredible to behold. This might have been true in the past, but in this gloabalized world now, you see foreigners on tv, sightseeing around Osaka, or living in Japan. I just want to be treated like any other Japanese.

"Traditional" Japan

Today, I am going to combine my posts. Both of these pictures show a nice juxapostion of modernity and "traditional" Japan. The first photo is of a field of rice in the middle of Hirakata city and the second photo is of a shrine that is across from the field. The shrine also happens to be a park, hence the slide in the background. When foreigners think about traditional Japan, temples and shrines are sometimes conjured. And whenever we think of an Asia country, rice comes to mind. I thought it was interesting to see a field of rice in the middle of a city or a slide in the middle of a shrine. A shrine or rice fields are the Oreintalist stereotypes we expect to see, but not like this, in a modern setting. Like the Newsweek article suggests, we want to view Japan as the ancient land of the samurai and fail to see what it has evolved into today. We are too busy looking at the temple than see the massive city around it.