Wednesday, December 5, 2007
There's More to Being Cute Than Being Cute
The Pink Panther was made to be a sly character, but Japan turned the idea of him into a cute kitten-looking "panther pal".
This was found in a keitai denwa store; the mushroom is the symbol of NTT Docomo. I'm unsure how mushrooms with human characteristics are considered cute, but it seems even companies that sell the most practical of goods geared toward all generations have such little mascots.
Speaking of mushrooms, I went to a bar in Kyoto called "The Mushroom Bar", that had low orange lighting, smiley faces all over the walls, and kids' toys on each table. The bar's owner had his hair shaped like a mushroom. The bar wasn't nostalgic or even kawaii, just terrifying.
This concludes my blog of Japan for the semester. Thank you for viewing my photos and reading my babbling text. Japan is a culture of much more depth and dimensions than I gave it credit, but hopefully I represented it in as appropriate a way as I could.
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Strange Japan
I admit that these following pictures were taken solely because I thought they were strange. I wanted visual evidence of some differences that may exist between Japan and America, and these hold to that in an entertaining way. It's much more difficult to visually represent the situation for women or the concept of seniority or the "herd mentality" within Japanese business culture. Instead, I can take pictures of statues or people in costume, call them strange, then go home.
This was taken in Himeji. I don't know who the character is supposed to be.
This was taken in Shijo. I, again, don't know what it is supposed to be, if anything.
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Japan's Rising Pet Rate
The pet industry in Japan is in fact booming. Over 40% of Japanese homes contain a pet, and animals are being considered "part of the family." They're allowed to stay and sleep indoors, they're dressed fashionably, they're given psychiatric drugs to ease depression, they're given professional massages, etc. This also includes prairie dogs, apparently.
I took this picture in the park in front of Himeji Castle. A man had trained her using whistles, and could make her walk, stop, spin, and stand up on command. After a brief show, he then scooped her up into his bag and walked away.
Many attribute the rising importance of pets in Japan to the declining birth rate. The amount of DINKS (Double Income No Kids) households are increasing, and the void is being filled by pets, who perhaps are considered children whose care is less demanding or career-restricting for women.
I could also conclude that the aging society leaves many widowers craving the companionship of a pet in the home.
The rising prevalence of and focus on pets in present-day Japan reflects wider social change that's affecting the every-day choices of individuals, especially women.
More information: It's a dog's Life, and Japan's Pet Industry
Monday, November 12, 2007
No More Bridges
Keiji's blog post entitled "Bridge" expresses concern about the poor condition of bridges in Japan, even asking "Why does the government [do] nothing?" The Japan Times article linked in the post discusses the aging of bridges and how delaying repair could lead to disasters similar to the bridge collapse in Minneapolis, Minnesota this past summer. Interestingly, the question of the past couple of decades has been "Why does the government do anything?" when it comes to construction within Japan. The Japanese construction state is enormous and terribly corrupt, sucking up large sums of taxpayers' money for useless construction projects that are not tied to public need. According to Jeffrey Broadbent, dirty pork barrel politics maintains the construction state; politicians benefit with votes and financial support for their elections when they exploit the system.
Thus it is curious that the Japan Times article in Keiji's post is concerned about lack of financial resources to support the repair or replacement of Japanese bridges. Many elaborate bridges and roads have been built where none were truly needed, and money has been poured into unsightly projects such as the placement of concrete tetrapods on 50% of Japan's shoreline. The repair of unsafe bridges is necessary and definitely within the construction state's budget. The prevention of future public works projects that serve no social need should be yet another priority.
For more information, please see Jeff Kingston's book "Japan's Quiet Transformation: Social Change and Civil Society in the 21st Century" and the chapter on Downsizing the Construction State.
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Lions, Pandas, and Foreigners, oh my!
At the Gaidai Festival this past weekend, many school clubs formed their own fundraising booth to sell a certain food dish. Walking through the human highway between booths, festival attendees are bombarded with questions and marketing pleas. To international students, it's in broken English: "Excuse me. Are you hungry? Please try udon!" It is very difficult to refuse such a thing without regret, and for me my Japanese is too poor to convey a reason why I would not want udon at that moment. The photo above showcases this exact occurence, and actually features a fellow Visual Anthropology student (the tall panda in yellow) who was likely unaware of my camera.
This photo was taken in mid-September at the Danjiri Festival. We, as obvious pandas, were personally picked out of the crowd and rushed to the Tourist Information office where we were dressed and shuffled together with other young Vietnamese tourists, without any explanation. After the photo opportunity, we were escorted around the festival by Otoosan, the lovely Japanese man on the right, who led us to the best spots to view the Danjiri floats. With red and white ropes tied around our heads, we were directly marked as pandas to attract even more attention to our cuddly selves.
To be an outsider in Japan can be difficult even when just dealing with awed strangers. There is always a sense of discomfort being an "Other", though of course any outsider treatment I receive is not nearly as severe as that which many outsiders face on a daily basis in America.
Pandas are welcome in Japan--as long as they remained unarmed.
American man in panda mask for Halloween, posing with Japanese man in a white face mask.
Thursday, November 1, 2007
Trick or Treat or New Cultural Practice
In
A restaurant called "The Lock-Up" in Shiji has adopted some familiar American Halloween customs for the special night: ghouly masks set up on shelves, blacklights, animal costumes, people banging on walls and screaming, and pop reggae playing overhead (well...). It is interesting to think about the transfer of such traditions from one culture to another. If Disneyland can play such a large role in bringing (at least) the material aspects of a major holiday to a different nation, that proves that there are definitely "sell-able" parts of culture. Halloween in America is hardly tied to the Christian religion anymore, but what Japan took of it is even more generic, the scrapings off the top. Maybe I'm making this a bigger issue than I should, but it's fascinating to witness how cultures influence each other in such small ways outside of economy, religion, gender roles, family structure, etc. You physically see it on the bodies of the people:
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
The Photographer that Couldn't
This past Tuesday I attended the annual Kuruma Fire Festival in the Kumura prefecture of Kyoto. Sorry to use an overused metaphor, but we were packed like sardines as we shuffled up to get a glimpse of the flames. I tried to take a picture from far away because everyone else seemed to be doing it, but the distant scene was obstructed by another photographer. I can see the fire in his camera, but not my own. The technology of digital cameras allows us to hold the camera above our heads and capture a scene we can not see ourselves when in a large crowd of tall foreigners. I feel as though this cheapens the experience--to watch something beautiful through the eye of a camera--but at least I can tell people I have been there, which is the point of tourism, right?
I tried with all my might to get a good-looking picture of this event. Here, men are crowded around one of the two mikoshi, a portable shrine. The colors were stripped away when I used flash, and movement was blurred when I didn't. Even if I did get a clear shot, there is still a curious filmmaker in the corner, interfering in my own anthropological work. What troubles we have to go through to avoid the interference of other spectators with cameras, while being interfering photographers ourselves.
What I learned from being a photographer who failed is that some experiences are just not meant to be captured on film. Margaret Mead is right in that visual anthropology enhances our cultural studies, but in the case of the Kumura Fire Festival, my CoolPix camera could never capture the smells or the cold or what it felt like to walk down an emptying street framed in flaming torches.