Japan, changing impressions:)



Automn Leaves-Kobe



In a day like today, four months ago, I made it safe from my country to Japan carrying  more  than 20 kg of  in my hands and tons of stereotypes in my mind. Since then, I have met tens of people, watched many documentaries, observed around me and read a lot of article. Thanks to all of this I was able to recycle all the misconceptions I had in mind and tried to draw a more accurate image of Japan. I have also learned not to view Japan as a mass but instead view it as a big image divided into many pixels,  in a way the sum of all the pixels represents real Japan.





A view from Arashiyama

From these thousand of pixels, I have chosen some that I am going to discuss in this post. This are the things I didn't know initially and that played a major role correcting my previously stated misconceptions. I believe that the things I am listing here and that impressed me and helped me build a new image about Japan are relative in a way that my background plays a role in what I consider "different". Different people might have different experiences as they have different background.





The first thing I noticed since I came to Japan was  the high literacy rate. People in different walk of life are literate. Seeing a grandmother reading a newspaper in the train is not unusual. This sound weird to me as the literacy rate in where I came from is less that 50%.Therefore, I strongly believe that literacy has greatly helped the exponential economic and social development Japan has known.

The second thing I would like to discuss is the strong link between Japanese people and nature. Some might relate it to the Shinto background that is predominant it Japan but  still it is awesome how the Japanese people care about nature. Since I came to Japan, we had two days off for nature-related events. Two weeks ago I went to watch the tree leaves changing their color. This is something I do for the first time. In Morocco, there is no special day dedicated to watching the tree leaves or any kind of nature-related event. I was impressed when  I went to Arashiyama by the number of people coming there to enjoy seeing nature.

Kobe by night

The third thing I think that is good to mention is how Japanese are attracted by western culture. A brief section in "The Japanese Version" discusses the variety of odd expressions English found in Japan, also known as Japanglish. This is a phenomenon immediately apparent to an English-speaking visitor confronted with expressions ("Store My Ducks", "I feel Coke", "Good Notebook for Vegetarian") that appear to make no sense. Let's Sport", "Let's Healthy"are very common expression that one might fight anywhere.

The fourth thing me and my friends noticed what that the Japanese women became mums quite early. We met several times young couples in their late twenties having children. This seemed quite normal for me as it is not very different from where I came from however, my American and French friends found this unusual. This explains somehow that even though Japan is getting developed, the gender roles are still the same. Therefore, even thought a women receives good education and occupies a very good Job, fulfilling her social role by getting married and having children is still a priority.

A train car reserved for women during rush hours

The list is still long. I strongly believe that the different movies and discussions we had in visual anthropology class strongly participated in helping me have a better visualization of Japan.

To conclude, I think that the best thing about knowledge is transferability. Now that I now that the stereotypes I had about Japan are completely inaccurate, I should get rid of all the misconceptions I have about different parts of the word. I should not take anymore the documentaries as source of information without being critical toward their purpose and targeted audience. All in all, I hope that our blogs will help people interested about Japan have a closer image of the country and the people.

のみましょか

 

              Drinking has always been a way to strengthen human social relationships. It is also considered as a good icebreaker in quite formal situation. However, there is a whole anthropology behind drinking as it differs from country to country and sometimes even from region to region. Therefore the action of drinking encompasses more social aspects that the act of drinking itself. for instance, in Morocco, when someone invites you to stop by his house to have a cup of tea, this means that this person  has the willilness to strengthen your relationship or revitalize it.

     The First informal thing I discovered after the "formal" campus and seminar house tours was the "beer park". This place was a meeting point for all the Gaijin drinking community. It allowed them to get to know each other and became friends. Therefore, in Japan as in any other part of the world, there is a whole etiquette for drinking and a whole social aspect behind it. Let's zoom it in:).

              Our ancestors said centuries ago "In wine is truth", we will see how this applies to different situations within the Japanese society. In Japan, drinking is present in the professional and networking situations, business deals as long as in dating situations.

First, in a professional context, bosses generally invite their workers to the Isakaya, a restaurant bar or a all you can drink. The idea is to remove inhibitions and create a fluid and friendly environment for social interaction, free from the strains, anxieties, and rigid order of the workplace, the classroom, and society in general. Essentially, what happens in nomikai stays in nomikai, so participants are free to talk and bond in ways that would normally be impossible in the Japanese workplace, without fear of repercussions when they return to their daytime lives.




A night of drinking. By jamesjustin CC License

 

The second situation where the "nomoucommunication" is present is for business deals. If nommunication is a powerful tool in the hands of a salesman, it is sometimes the cause of pressure and stress for those junior employees who feel obliged to accept their superiors' invitation. Male employees are more exposed to this kind of pressure as they are expected to be heavy drinkers.

A night of drinking. By jamesjustin CC License

              Drinking is a very good catalyst for the "Kompa" that refers to the Japanese blind dating. In Japan, one hand it is not good for a girl to be single by the age of 30 and arranged family marriages are not very common. On the other hand, the professional context is not a good plane to find the potential husband. Therefore, having a drink with a stranger might me a good way to get married and fulfill the socially imposed roles.

Finally, drinking plays different roles within the Japanese society. It is the only occasion for the Japanese to show their real personalities considering how professional they should be within a work framework.

Japan, Perfectionland!

        Since I came to Japan, I was wondering what makes these people different from the rest of the world. What was the secret behind there exponential economic success. I was really considering the existence of this magic potion that they drink to be able to balance between conservatism and innovation. I lived in Japan for three months now and I feel that I started to notice what makes those people different from the others or at least different for us, Moroccans.

       The first week I came to Japan, I went to the bank to get change and this was the first time I face the Japanese perfection. First of all, the lady took the Euros I carried and straitened them as they were messy according to her standards. Then she started copying the number of each single 20 one and then she checked many times and then finally told me that we can change your money. The second thing I had noticed in the same bank was that the way they stamp the papers is so faultless. This might seem weird but seriously I was impressed by how those people stamp their papers, the bank officer was doing it slowly and perfectly. This made me think of the Moroccan banks and administrations where the only sounds you hear there is the one of agents stamping papers. They stamp so hard as if stamping hard and making a lot of noise proves that hard work.

         The second time I faced Japanese perfection was when I went to buy Ice-cream in Osaka. I told the vendor that I want to take it away and she asked me in how long exactly  I will eat it. I wondered why she asked me such a question but basically she did so to know who much ice she should put on it to keep it from melting. I was really impressed. However she said she was going to put ice, isn’t this ice going to melt and everything will be messy by the time I get to my destination? Of course no, we are in Japan and the ice doesn’t melt but evaporate instead. My knowledge in chemistry is quite modest to understand the process, all I did is smiled and left.

      The third scene where I was impressed by the perfection was when I saw my host sister’s Obento which was amazing. It really looked like a work of art. The colors, the way food was presented it this little box. It looks so nice that you hesitate before eating it.

These things might be very futile but it seriously made me think for days.

A perfectly made Obento

  Wednesdays night I used to go watch the tea ceremony club. I am really impressed by how complex the protocol of this ceremony is. I strongly believe that this ceremony shows how  the Japanese care about perfection. If you move the spoon from right to left it is not good, If you move it little fast it is not good. Every single detail counts, the posture, the smile, the way you present tea, the way you serve it. This in really unbelievable!



Japaneese Tea Ceremony



    It is really impressive how getting things done well can change many details in one’s life. I strongly believe that this care about the details the Japanese people have, participated in a way or another in making from them on of the most developed countries in the world.

Pictures 'Sources:

1.Obento:http://www.google.co.jp/imglanding?imgurl=

2.TeaCeremony: http://www.google.co.jp/imglanding?=tea+ceremony