Japanese New Culture

Hi,you! This is the THIRD section of my presentation about Japan. If you REALLY want to start from the beginning, move back to the "Discovery Japan" section! Thank you☆

Now, let’s see the new Japanese culture. I picked three of them which influence U.S. First, Manga! Manga is a Japanese word for comics and cartoons. Some of them are so popular that you can see these animated versions on American TV. I have a friend who is a thirteen-year-old junior high student. She wants to study Japanese because she loves Inuyasha(A manga's title)! I guess you have seen the Pokemon’s, or Dragon Ball’s pictures. Not only American, but also many European, South American, or Asian people know Japanese manga animations a lot. I think people who are engaged in Manga animations are very influential Japanese ambassadors. We can’t imagine how greatly Japanese Manga animations effect young people all over the world.

Second…if you don’t know how to greet in Japanese, you know this Japanese word…Karaoke! We say, Karaoke. But you pronounce it, Karaoki? Anyway, Ka-ra-o-ke is an original pronunciation. Whenever I read the TGIF in Friday’s newspaper, I can find some advertisement of Karaoke nights at clubs or bars.

However, in Japan, the most popular Karaoke style is the Karaoke Compartment style. We call the place “Karaoke Box.” Basically, Japanese are shy people. So we don’t want to sing in front of many unfamiliar people. Thus, we go to the Karaoke Compartment! Depending on how many people you have, you can choose the size of the compartment. This room in the first picture is for 5-6 people. I love Karaoke! Sometimes I go to there in group of over ten, but sometimes with one friend who also loves singing. Then, we can sing for several hours! The Karaoke Compartment is very comfortable. You can order drinks or food.

Also, Japanese Karaoke machines are really advanced. I took the second picture when I went to a Karaoke compartment in Japan last month. This is a remote control of a Karaoke machine. Of course you can change the key of the music, and you can add the “applause” sounds when you want to have applause. If you are not sure of the melody, push “the guide melody” button. The machine will emphasize the guide melody. If you want, the machine can grade your singing! Whether you are in tune, or have the right vibration, rhythm, dynamics, and so on!

There is one Karaoke Compartment in West Lafayette. It’s not Japanese, but Korean. The name is Jojo. They have Korean songs, Japanese songs, and American songs. If you want to enjoy Karaoke among friends, I recommend you check it out!

Third, Japanese fashion. The right picture is Japanese high school girl’s uniform. However, nowadays, some girls create their original clothes based on the uniforms, and wear them in private! If you visit Harajyuku, which is in Tokyo, you can see many fancy, flashy girls. Actually…Do you know who Gwen Stefani is? Yes, she is a popular American pop singer and one of the American fashion icons!! She said her fashion had been inspired by the Harajyuku girls. In the album, “Love.Angel.Music.Baby,” there is a song whose title is “Harajyuku Girls.”

Japanese Traditional Culture

Hi,there! Now, you are at the second section of my presentation, "Discover Japan!"

Let’s move to the traditional Japanese culture. First, the tea ceremony. (The image is from;http://www2.pref.shimane.jp/kouhou/esque/14/menu03c.html) A Tea Ceremony is literally the way of serving tea or having tea, but it is based on a kind of Buddhism, so every action has a meaning. I said Japanese people are not religious, but cherish morals. In Japanese morals, it is important to be humble and caring. If you go to a tea ceremony, you should follow many rules, and these rules are based on “caring about others.”
For example, you should make a bow toward the next person before you eat a Japanese cake. Every Japanese tea bowl has a beautiful picture on one side. The tea server gives the bowl to the guest with the picture facing the guest. But before the guest drinks it, he should turn the bowl to make the picture face the server because it shows the guest’s respect to the server.
Have you ever seen a movie, “The Last Samurai?” Samurai means a Japanese soldier. It was important for Samurai soldiers to do tea ceremonies. Basically, they were like athletes, so they wanted to show their sophisticated aspects. If they served tea ceremonies artistically, they were considered smart people. Nowadays, a tea ceremony is not our daily activity. But it is also popular as in traditional culture.

Second, Japanese Flower Arrangement. The left one is a western flower arrangement. (The image is from;http://www.kasyo-nobu.jp/omakase-arr.html)The right one is the Japanese way. (The image is from; http://ikebana.jugem.cc/) Can you see the difference? Western flower arrangements are mostly gorgeous and brilliant. Japanese flower arrangements have many groups, so some of them look like the western style, but the traditional groups prefer not to be gorgeous, but to be chic. The Japanese flower arrangement started in a Buddhist temple, and they are used in the tea ceremony. Therefore, the Japanese flower arrangement also has a theory of being humble, and caring about others. In Japanese traditional morals, to be outstanding is not so good.

Even being outstanding was not good, Geisyas were exceptional. (The image is from; http://www.cosmonet.org/nhonda/nhonda6site/traditional/geisya.html )I love watching movies, so I’m going to ask you again.. How many of you have watched “the Memoirs of a Geisya?” Thank you! I guess some people may have wondered whether geisyas still exist or not. The answer is “yes.” Geisyas are still active in Japan. There are no Samurai soldiers anymore, but there are from 10,000 to 20,000 geisyas in some certain areas. A geisya means an artist. They have been trained as entertainers. They can sing, dance, and play some traditional instruments at the dinner parties. Hiring a geisya is very cultural, but also expensive. If you hire a geisya for a two-hours party, you should pay at least 200 dollars. However, they don’t come alone usually, so you have to hire several geisyas. Then…how much? To see the geisyas’ entertainment is one of the prestigious pleasures among Japanese people.

At the end of the traditional culture section, I will introduce you to traditionally popular sports. Sumo is the national sport of Japan. It is a kind of wrestling. (The photo is from; http://rd.nikkei.co.jp/net/news/photo24/headline/u) The object is to force the opponent’s body out of the ring. Their physical characteristic is ..the wrestlers are very big and …look fat. The bigger the better to force and push their opponents out. So far, the biggest wrestler was 700 pounds. (He is from Hawaii! Konishiki!!) However, they are strong athletes, and their games are really exciting! Sumo is a traditional Japanese sport, but we have many international sumo wrestlers. Unfortunately, there is no American professional Sumo wrestler now, but some of them are from Russia, Brazil, China, Korea, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Kazahstan, and so on. Right now, the highest ranking wrestler, Yokozuna, is the only one. His name is Asasyoryu, from Mongol. (The right picture)His smile is good, but my favorite Sumo wrestler is Kotoousyu. (The left picture. Both pictures are from; http://www.sanspo.com/sports/sumo/profile) He is cute, isn’t he? Actually, he also is not a Japanese. He is from Bulgaria, Europe. It is interesting for us that Sumo, is a Japanese sport, but the strongest one and the most popular one are from another countries.

However, there is another popular sport that many players go oversea, here. U.S. It is baseball. Last year, 13 Japanese baseball players were registered in the Major Leagues. I think the most famous player is Ichiro Suzuki. He has been the right fielder for Seattle Mariners since 2001. He became the first Japanese-born everyday position player in the Major Leagues. His is our hero because of his magnificient performance. He has been winning a gold glove award and also every year All-Star selection for 6 years since he came to the U.S. In 2004, he marked 262 hits. Ichiro completed the 2004 season with 262 hits and an MLB-leading .372 batting average. It shattered the previous all-era record of 206, set by Wee Willie Keeler in 1898. When he did it, many American medias celebrated him. I said Japanese people cherish morals. Because his fruitful results in the U.S. are so impressive to us that his stories are referred in some moral textbooks in Japanese elementary schools. We have learned a lot from his effort and persistence.

Here is another major leager who lives near my town. He is Tadahito Iguchi. He has been the second baseman for the Chicago White Sox since 2005. In his rookie year, his team won the World Series! He is the first Japanese player who won the World Series. Actuall, I met him in Chicago’s Japanese supermarket. You know, Japanese society is not so large here. He was with his wife and four year old daughter. He is a nice guy.

Last year, St.Louis cardinals reigned the World Series. (All three players pictures are from; http://www.sanspo.com/mlb) You can also find a Japanese player in this team! His name is Sou Taguchi. He is 38-year-old player, not so young, but he played four of five games in 2006 World Series.

Japanese national team won the first world Baseball Classic last year. Ichiro was the team leader, and Sadaharu Ou was a team manager. Now he is 67 years old. This picture is when he was a professional baseball player. He is famous worldwide because his record of 868 career home run is 113 more than Hank Aaron’s. However, Japanese baseball fields were shorter than MLB fields at that time, so we don’t know whether he was geater than Hank Aaron. However, while I was watching live WBC games, announcers addressed him “Ou-san.” San means sir in Japanese, and many MLB American players asked came to him to get his autographs. (His photo is from;http://mbs.jp/jounetsu/2006/03_12.shtml)Thus, I knew how he is admired in the U.S. Also,his father is a Taiwanese, so he is a baseball icon in Taiwan and China as well.
Incidentally, this is our custom. When Japanese won big games or cases of celebrations like weddings, we toss the most valuable one into the air. (The photo is from; http://www.tandai.ichinomiya.ac.jp/blog/archives/2006/03/index.html)Sadaharu Ou get accustomed to be tossed because he was a popular player in the most popular baseball team, and he has been a manager of a strong team. It is not so easy to stretch your arms and legs straight and keep smiling like him while you are tossed! It is hard to keep the balance in the air! But his style is always beautiful, so he was also called “the best Japanese of being tossed.”

Discover Japan

Two weeks ago (Oops! It has been long time since the last time I published the blog!), I gave a lecture at the Purdue University. ...It isn't a lie! The class is the "Global Awareness." Students' majors are agriculture, but they have learned about various culture in this class. Every time, they have a guest speaker who are from another countries. On February 27th, a speaker was...me! who are from Japan! My friend, Junko had been the speaker. However she moved California, so I took this role from her.

When I heard this offer from Junko, I hesitated to do it. Because? "Introducing Japan" seemed too broad! I think Junko is one of the best girl who represents "the Japanese." She has certifications of the tea ceremony, Japanese flower arrangement, and calligraphy. She is intelligent enough to answer various questions, and speaks English fluently! On the other hand...me!? I can speak anything about the "Japanese weddings," but I am not sure I understand "the Japanese traditional spirit!" I am one who quit calligraphy class because it was boring. I am one who belonged to a tea ceremony club, but didn't go to lessons. I went there only when they had drinking parties! I was afraid if I was not qualified to be a representive of Japan...but, as an "international emcee-to-be," I wanted to seize a chance of ANY big presentations! So, I spoke up, "I will!"

Before the presentation, I decided to have these three objectives.
1. Don't make the students bored!
2. Don't go deep into specific aspects! Explain many topics briefly!
For example, I would talk about tea ceremony. But I wouldn't explain their sects, like "Ura-senke" or "Omote-senke."
3. Make them feel "Wow! I want to go to Japan!"

I divided my presentation into four groups. 1. Basic information about Japan 2. Japanese traditional culture 3. New culture which has influenced in the U.S. 4. Nowadays Japanese situations. Now, let me write my script here! Would you like to know..."the basic information about Japan?"

Do you know where Japan is? Japan is an island country in East Asia. It is located in the Pacific Ocean, lies to the east of China, Korea, and Russia. It’s a very small country, isn’t it? (The map is from;http://swdcwww.kugi.kyoto-u.ac.jp/wdc/acmap/japanmap-j.html) The size is a little bit smaller than California, but about 128 million people are living here. Japan has the world's tenth largest population. Because of this small size, the density is about 12 times that of the U.S. The capital city, Tokyo, has almost 10% of the Japanese polulation. Tokyo is very big city. Very crowded. Therefore, when we commute, we have to endure crowded trains. My husband was one of the crowd before we came here... It may look terrible, but Tokyo is an exciting city. We can find many intriguing places and interesting people. I love Tokyo! Before I got married, I lived in Sapporo. Sapporo is the capital city of the northernmost island. Sapporo looks like this. (The image is from; http://www.hankyu-travel.com/guide/hokkaido/festival.html) It’s a cold city. Sometimes it is colder than Lafayette. Also, we have much much more snow. Therefore, we have an annual snow festival in Sapporo. If you go to the festival, you can see many buildings or sculptures made of snow. However, if you go to Okinawa..it is not on the map, but it is a southern island. (The image is from; http://4travel.jp/dynamic/search20.php?q=%B2%AD%C6%EC&h=1 )The weather is very hot like Hawaii. Additionally, Japan is a mountainous island. The highest mountain and the most popular one is Mount Fuji, which is located in Yamanashi Prefecture, near Tokyo. The fields are green tea fields. I think this scenery represents a Japanese characteristic well. (The picture is from; http://www.scenery.jp/alps/index-17-1.html This Web-site is pretty amazing! You should visit here!!)We have many mountains and fields. As you can see from those pictures, even if Japan is a small country, we can enjoy various nature depending on a city.

Next, language. Japanese language has three kinds of writing. Hiragana (おおはし　けいこ）is the easiest one. Many children start to learn the language by using Hiragana. Katakana（オオハシ　ケイコ） is used mostly when we describe Japanese-English words, like a cake, bus, Christmas…But we can also describe our name in Katakana. Many Asian people share Kanji, Chinese characters（大橋　恵子）. So, if my Chinese friends or Korean friends see my name in the Kanji version, they can figure out “Oh! Your name means Big Bridge, a Blessed Child.

Let’s talk about food. Traditionally, the main Japanese food policy is we should take “one soup, a bowl of rice, and three side dishes” at every meal. Our staple food is rice. However, many of us…especially, young people also love to eat pasta or breads. One soup means basically miso soup. Miso is fermented soybean paste. In the case of this picture, the main dish is meatballs and some veggies I guess. This side dish in the middle is vegitable and seaweed salad, and the other one is pieces of boiled potato. My mother was a nutritionist. She said we should have over 30 different kinds of food in a day. To have many kinds of food, the “One soup and three side dishes” theory is good for us. Especially, I think most Japanese people have been trying to eat fresh vegetables as many as we can.

Next, religion. Which religion do Japanese believe? There is no formal record, but one private survey says, “45% of the Japanese believe in Shinto: Have you ever heard of Shinto? Shinto is the ancient religion of Japan. Our ancestors believed there are many gods in the world, not only one. When I was a child, my grandmother told me, “You will be scolded by a nature-god if you spoil the flowers.” Or “You will be punished by a fertility god if you leave your food.” and so on. In Shinto, two gods gave birth to the Japanese islands. Back to the survey, 49% are Buddhist: 1% are Christian: The other 5% believe in other religions. However, I am not sure this survey is correct because many Japanese don’t think they are religious, including me. A typical Japanese pattern is like this. When she was a child, she was celebrated at a particular age like one, three, seven, at a Shinto shrine. But she celebrates her wedding as the Christian style. And when she dies, her funeral is organized as the Buddhist style. I am not a specialist of religion, so please don’t ask deep questions about that. However, in my personal opinion, many Japanese cherish our ancestors’ customs and morals instead of religion.

By the way, I was a wedding emcee. Many people celebrate their weddings based on their religion. However, we are not so religious, so many Japanese choose their favorite styles. According to a “Wedding Trend Survey” by a Japanese bridal magazine, in 2006, 68% of newlyweds chose the Christian ceremony style even though our Christian population is just 1%. 16% are the Shinto style. 15% are the Intimate style. The Intimate style is not related to religion. Couples swear their eternal love, not to a god, but to their families and friends, intimate people. It was a trendy wedding style when I got married, 6 years ago. However, now, many people want to reminisce about the traditional Japanese style. So, the Shinto style wedding is getting popular again.

Now...are you ready to move "the Japanese traditonal culture" section!?