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.
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. 
1 comment:
You are too young to be so cynical deshoo... One can see Buddhist monks in many places reciting sutras with their begging bowl. This is a normal Buddhist monk activity and it seems the effort to fake it would be more costly than the donations they receive. Sometimes ya gotta have faith...
Have you encountered homeless people who sell The Big Issue? They seem to be received in a favorable way.
One aspect of orientalism might concentrate on the Japanese as master potters and kabuki actors (and samurais and ninjas and gesiahas and...). Orientalism contains many stereotypes. The challenge of anthropology, and and this blogging assignment, is to provide context via images and text to challenge orientalist stereotypes.
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