Changing Impressions

If I were to look at how my impressions on japan have changed since I been here through just a normal perspective I would say, that to be honest, I don’t know if I’ve have many changing impressions of Japan. For the most part I feel the same as I did when I came here in August.

The biggest difference isn’t how I view Japan, but how I view my home back in the US.  I think about how much more efficient things are here compared to Chicago. I think about how I should be using the trains or riding my bike to get places instead of getting in my car and driving across the street to get some milk.

But if I were to think about how my impressions on Japan have changed because of Visual Anthropology….

I would say that I’m more interested in learning about Sub cultures in Japan. I now ask my Japanese friends why things are a certain way. Even if they don’t know the real answer I like knowing what their reason is and what they think about it.  I like to learn about the different dialects in japan, I always ask my friends to teach me different sayings that are common in the areas that they are from.  I like being taken to small underground shows and seeing a different part of japan that seems to be hidden from the mainstream media. I’m interested in why certain things are hidden in japan and why other things seem to be normal or glorified. There are so many things that I am interested in, but being in Japan for 9 months isn’t long enough to fully learn anything.  I’ve only scratched the surface. And I’ve realized that I really don’t know much about Japan.

I honestly had no idea what pictures to use for this since none of the ones I have taken would go with this post, since I didn’t know how to capture changing impressions. So these are just pictures that I took in august to try to show my parents what I thought japan looked like.

Japanese Culture

Sub Culture

More specifically, Visual Kei.

To be honest, I don’t know what else I should write about. I don’t want this post to be another cliché post about Japan. But I don’t know if this is cliché or not. But in the end, I don’t really care. It’s my choice and I want to write about something I’m interested in.

I’ve been interested in Japan my whole life. And when I was 11 I somehow found out about a Japanese guitarist/singer named Miyavi. At the time he was a solo artist who would be in the genre of Visual kei. And since then I’ve only been listening to Visual Kei.

But I’m not just interested in the music, I also find the artists themselves interesting. The whole idea of Visual Kei is to have a sort of persona when performing which is usually accompanied by outrageous outfits and have. I think that the easiest way for me to describe it is and updated version of 80’s rock in the US. Big hair, crazy outfits, and crazy make up. Visual Kei can be a darker kind of music, and musicians can look like Marilyn Manson or they can be poppy outrageous characters like Lady Gaga.

One other reason I find Visual kei interesting is because almost every Japanese person I have met knows about Visual Kei and some of the bands (and will ask me if I know __________.), but no one will admit that they themselves like it (even if they can sing a band’s song). I’ve even had Japanese students tell me that they don’t like it because they are afraid that it would turn them into bad people.

Visual kei may seem silly or stupid to many people, but I don’t care. I find it to be an interesting part of Japan and I recommend that people give it a chance and look into some bands.

Pictures are From a Visual kei concert that I went to. the one is the band's truck, and the 2nd one is of fans waiting to buy tour goods.

What do Japanese people do?

Since I don’t want to just go off of what I’ve seen I figured I’d ask 5 Japanese friends what they would say they do.  and just use their quotes to show what some Japanese people might do…

Koki-“I like to play sports and work out. But I think that I like karaoke best. It is the thing I like to do the best. When I go, I get to be with all my friends, and we drink and sing until morning.”

Yuriko- “I don’t know what Japanese people do. But I would say that I like to go to Izakaya with friends and I also like to go to karaoke on the weekends. But during the week I like to stay home and help my mom around the house when I am not at work.”

Yuki- “all I do is work. And if I have free time I sleep.  I don’t know what Japanese people do. But I don’t think that sleep is one of them. Cuz they always sleep on trains.”

Toru- “Since I’m poor, I only go out drinking once a month. Other than that I go to work and school. But I think that drinking is one of the most common social things to do in japan.  Everyone goes to the bar.”

Manato- “hands down, when I have the free time, I go to karaoke! I don’t trust anyone who hates karaoke! Because it is the most fun for everyone!  And it is best for school year. Because it gets rid of stress.”

From what my friends said, I’d say that it’s safe to say that quite a few Japanese people go out for social drinking, and karaoke in their free time. But are usually rather busy doing school work, or just going to work.

(didn't really want to use pics like these, but i couldn't think of anything to use. and i thought that they went well with the situation.)

Portrait of a Japanese Person

Give me a paintbrush, canvas, and some tubes of oil paint and I would be willing to paint a portrait of anyone. Why? Because it’s easy to look at someone and paint what you see. But using your words to create a portrait of someone is much harder. For me, it’s nearly impossible. Because I’m not a writer and I’m absolutely horrible at describing things and I can’t accurately  say what I want. To me, a picture says everything. The saying is true; a picture is worth 1,000 words.

 But if I were to use my words to paint a portrait of a Japanese person I would paint a portrait of someone I know, so that I could be accurate when it comes to my description.  My portrait would be of my old roommate, Yuriko Nishiguchi. She’s quiet and can be rather shy, and when you first meet her she can come off as a rather cold person who is a bit indifferent, so when I think of her I see soft pastel colors. But she’s also a really strong person because she is able to deal with hard times, such as the death of her father. She never seems to get too stressed because she can look at a situation from a calm perspective, so I would give her a pose that’s coming from below her to lift her up and make her seem a bit stoic.

When I asked her how she would paint a portrait of herself, as a Japanese person she said that she would just do purikura to show that she’s just a typical Japanese girl. And when I asked to her what kind of picture (from my collection of photos I have taken while in Japan) she would use to show who she is she chose the 2^nd picture I have posted.

This just shows that our perspectives are just so different and it’s rather hard to have an accurate portrait of anyone.

Neighborhood Hirakata

As of now, I am living in Hirakata, a small city in Japan. But when I think of Hirakata I don’t really think of it as a city. To me, it’s a suburb of Osaka. It’s just a quiet little town that doesn’t really seem to have much action. But I shouldn’t generalize Hirakata, since it is a large area and I only live/walk around a small part of it.

Where I live is in Kansai Gaidai’s Seminar House (3) for international students. The Area it is located in is just a quiet neighborhood. To me, this neighborhood reminds me a lot of home. Just by how the neighbors will be walking around and run into each other and start to chat about what’s been going on and to catch up with each other. The only other sounds that are present are the sounds of motorcycles and children playing. 

There are 2 main places that I go to in Hirakata; the first is Hirakata station, the “down town” area of the city. This area is rather lively compared to where I live because so many people are either going in and out of the area because of the train station and the small shopping area near it or local/international students are meeting up and hanging around the area. The 2^nd area I go to is Kansai Gaidai itself. When I think of Kansai Gaidai’s campus, it feels more like a high school. It’s quiet on campus, and people are running off and fitting different activities in between their classes and they truly live by the bell that rings throughout the campus.

I would say that Hirakata is a good area for both the locals and the international students to live in. it’s a nice quiet little area that one can call home.

My Impressions of Japan

Big cities, massive crowds, reserved people, and a world that was modern but very much so tied to the past. These were just a few of the things that came to my mind when I thought about Japan. If you asked me what Japan was like a year ago I would probably tell you about what I have learned in my various classes and talk about the people by telling stories about my friends. But if you were to ask me now, I’m not sure I would know how to answer.  Family and friends ask me, “So what’s japan like? Is it a lot like an anime? Are the people as crazy as they are portrayed in game shows?” and it's hard to answer these questions when I first got here (back in August) because it’s hard to paint an accurate picture of this/any country.

If I had to describe japan in one short statement I would say that it is it organized chaos. It can be overwhelming, and the cities might seem a bit hectic at first, but once you get your footing, japan isn’t too intimidating.

Japan is definitely NOT just like an anime, although anime characters are everywhere you go and are usually being promoted on many products. So I would say that anime has been integrated with Japan and it’s undeniably prominent. But people don’t go out of their way to talk to you about it. I’ve even found that Japanese students get upset when anime is the subject for too long.

And the people are not just a bunch of freaks running around in crazy costumes acting silly. From my point of view, the people of Japan are hardworking, kind and they can be really reserved. I’ll never fully understand them because I am not Japanese. Even now, after months of living here, I’m still never 100% sure if my actions are appropriate or not. Japan is a culture full of subtle complexities that only a native would fully understand. But Japan is also a country that is full of people who can be quiet but are very kind. And I want to spend the rest of my time here trying to understand Japan and it’s people a little more.