Changing Impression

It has been already more than three months since I came to Japan. Leaves are changing their colors and so does my impression on this beautiful island country. My belief about Japan that I developed through media and internet source was that Japan is one of the most modernized countries with big cities full of tall buildings and neon sings. When I first came to Osaka, my belief shattered. Myriad of tall buildings and sparkling neon signs were not there. There were more of bicycles than Lexus on the street. And, credit card was not accepted in many of the places, and I had to always bring cash with me.

My first impression has changed since I visited Osaka city and Tokyo. Luxirious buildings and brand shops overwhelmed me in Ginza. Tall red Tokyo tower that I saw in the movie impressed me. Great number of stores with neon signs in Shinjuku attracted me as well. Sparkling Chrismas decorations of enormous department store in Osaka city amazed me. Credit card was accepted in any shops in Omotesando too. Amazingly advanced and modernized buildings and facilities in Tokyo gave me different impression from Manhattan city view.

My impression I recieved from Tokyo city has changed again in Kyoto, Koyasan, and Kanazawa. Japan is surely advanced and modernized country. However, in Japan, modernization and tradition coexist. Great number of temples are well preserved in many of towns in Japan. Its tradition is also kept well, and Japan celebrates many of traditional ceremonies today as well. Many people visit Koyasan for religious purposes too. Traditionally preserved temples and conventions surely amazed me. Kanazawa is also famous for onsen, hot water spring. Onsen can be found in everywhere in Kanazawa, and most facilities are yet in traditional ways - wearing traditional yukata, traditional Japanese house-like hotels, etc. Japanese people try hard to preserve their traditions at the same time as Japan gets more modernized.

To me, now, Japan is the country with both tradition and modernization intermingling in harmony.

Conflict

Ijime is one of the serious problems in Japanese society. It literally means bullying. According to the survey, it ijime has been reported in 27% of elementry schools, over 50% of junior high schools, and 36% of high schools in Japan. Although bullying exists in other countries too, it is somewhat more serious and dangerous in Japan.

It has also been reported that one junior high school student committed suicide after being continuously bullied by his classmates. Ijime exists in various of forms. It includes hiding or destroyng property, verbal and physical violence, taking money, etc. There are several reasons that explain why ijime is so strong in Japan.

Japan is a collective country, which values conformity over individuality. In other words, people in Japan do not like something different from them. For example, in schools, students who are too brilliant and raise their hands too much can be attacked by others. Students who look differnt can also be attacked as well (too good looking or too bad looking for instance).

Schools in Japan also enforce many restictions to students, which can be very stressful. Students in Japanese schools are required to wear same uniforms, to cut hair to certain length, etc. Students become stressful, dealing with so many school restrictions, and this might be one of the reasons for ijime in Japan.

There isn't a single answer for ijime. Combination of many factors contribute to ijime in Japan. It is one of many serious issues to be solved in Japan today.

Cosmetic Surgery

Lookism is a term used to describe people's preference of good looking appearance. It is almost always associated with prejudice.

Lookism is probably most popular in Korea, the nearest nation of Japan. However, Lookism exists in every country to certain degree, and it is somewhat strong in Japan as well. Also, beauty in Japan today is deeply associated with Western look. This includes double eyelids, big eyes, sharp and high nose, pale skin, etc. Numerous people dye hair to lighter color and some people even wear color contact lenses to imitate blue eyes.

People do not stop here with eye color and hair color. They go even further to become more beautiful, or become more western looking. Double eyelid surgery is very popular in Japan. Many Asians have single eyelid which makes eyes look smaller. In Japan, bigger eyes with eyelids, which resemble Western look, are popular, and many therefore many people decide to get the eyelid surgery. Double eyelid surgery, however, increases eye size only vertically. There are two other types of eye surgery that increase eye size horizontally. First type is to cut little part of skin between the eyes and suture. Second type is to cut little part of skin outward of eyes. Both surgeries, along with the double eyelid surgery, make the eye size bigger.

Many Japanese, or Asians, have lower nose compared to Western people. Some Japanese people get nose job as well to make it higher and sharper. There are several ways to do this. Simplest one is to inject Botox or filler to increase the volume. More comlicated ways include reconstructing the cartilage inside of the nose and inserting Silicon or other supporting materials. These can make lower noses become sharper and higher, which again resebles sophisticated Western look.

Youth is another catecory of beauty in Japan, or probably in other countries as well. Botox and filler are fast treatment, which can be done in lunch break. These are widely used in Japan to remove wrinkles and give volumes to aged skin. There are more expensive but better means to treat aged skin today. One of them is called Platelet Rich Plasma injection. This is done by colleting patient's blood, centrifuging it to separate collagen and other essential materials, and injecting to the wanted places. PRP injection uses patient's own blood rather than foreign materials, so that it is less likely to cause side effects.

Three main categories of beauty in Japan are thinness, youth, and Western look. To achieve these, many women and even some men decide to take plastic surgery. Is it a good thing or bad thing? Answer is not that simple.

Religion

There is a great number of gods and religions in Japan. Buddhism is one of the many religions in Japan. I will introduce Shingon Buddhism in this blog.

Buddhism is originated from India. Buddhism was first founded by Guatama Shiddartha in India. It has been spread to China, Korea, and then finally to Japan. Koyasan Shingon Buddhism is one of the many sects developed in Asia.

Koyasan Shingon Buddhism was established in 9th century by Kobo Daishi. Kobo Daishi was a famous monk in Japan at the time. He was impressed by "esoteric Buddhism" and went to China to learn more about it. Esoteric Buddhism was developed in India in the 1st century as one sect of Buddhism.

Koyasan's Shingon Buddhism stone symbols

Kobo Daishi founded Shingon Buddhism in Koyasan after returing from China. Kobo Daishi's teaching is called "Mikkyo." According to his teaching, everyone can attain enlightenment in this life. The only reason one cannot attain enlightenment is because of the greedy desire. This teaching is somewhat different from teachings of other sects of Buddhism. In other sects of Buddishm, one needs to try throughout many lifetimes in order to get enlightenment.

Shingon Buddhism's Buddha statue

Kobo Daishi was believed to attain enlightenment and still alive. He is in the state of meditation, and believed to help people who want salvation. People have provided food to Kobo Daishi' s room since the year of 835 until now and believed that he is still meditating.

Gender

Metrosexualism is one of the 21st century's trend, in which heterosexual men adapts flamboyant and fashionable appearance an lifestyle. Metrosexualism is especially popular in Japan. Guys with nice hair styles and fashionable clothing on streets of Japan are common scenes.

Yes. There are many beautiful guys in Japan. Clothing styles are different from the U.S. It is usually more flamboyant and pretty. Japanese guys buy many brands that is considered as women's brand in the U.S. as well. Guys with Gucci wallets or Louis Vuitton bag is common in Japan. But what makes Japanese guys more distinguishable in metrosexual sense, I believe, is hair style. Let's explore about their amazing hair styles

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It is almost always colored, straightened, waxed, or permed. Honestly, I have never seen any Japanese students with bushy hairs, not combed or waxed in Kansai Gaidai University. In any beauty & supply shops, men's hair styling or coloring supplies can be found in Japan. Most of the hair coloring supplies are unisex products, meaning they can be used by both men and women. However, there are some hair coloring supplies only for men as well. These hair coloring supplies are usually stronger for thicker male hairs and include less steps for convenience. The most popular hair color in Japan is brownish color, in between black and blond. Brownish hair color is said to be "normal," or "not too showy" among Japanese guys.

There are a number of hair styling methods too. There are hair gel, hair spray, wax, etc. The goal of these three products are same - fixing hair in positions wanted by user. However, the way of use and ingredients are different. Hair gel is gel type product, and users must put certain amount of gel on hand, rub it with both hands, and apply to hair as needed. Hair wax must be used in same way as hair gel, but wax gives shining texture to hair as well. Hair spray is little different from gel and wax. Users don't have to rub it or apply to hair by hands. Users merely have to spray it to hair. But, spray alone is not sufficient for styling. Either wax or gel must be used beforehand to fix hair into positions and then spray must be used to further fix it. Usually, spray is used optionally.

There are many professional hair styling methods offered in hair salon. These include straight perm, wave perm, treatment etc. Straight perm is used to straighten the curly hair, which takes about two to three hours. First, straightening perm liquid must be applied to hair. After about 45 minutes, it needs to be washed away, and hair must be dried. Then, hair stylist must iron the each part of hair with hair straightener to keep it straight afterward. Wave perm is to give curls to straight hair. Wave perm liquid must be applied to hair. Then each part of hair must be rolled and fixed by hairstylist for about 45 minutes. Then, the perm liquid must be washed and it is done. Treatment is optional to make hair healthier and give better texture. It gives nutrition to hair, which has been damaged by perm liquid and heat of iron.

After all these fussy steps, Japanese guys can go out with such nice hairstyles, which can be seen too girly in the U.S.

images from

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Globalization

Japan has many modern, sometimes western, featuers incorporated in society. Tall buildings, electronics, shinkansen (bullet train), etc represent Japan's globalization. What most fascinates me among these features is McDonald's in Japan.

In 1971, the first McDonald's was opened in Japan. Den Fujita was the one who opened the first McDonald's in Ginza, a luxurious city in Tokyo, Japan. He went to Tokyo University Law School, and he was especially interested in international trade. After graduating from the university, he worked in importing business. While importing many stuffs, he became ready to import McDonald's chain in Japan.

First McDonald's in Ginza had no tables or seats at all. Take and out system was applied to the first McDonald's in Japan. However, Japanese society value group over individual, and take and out system was something strange to them. Later on, tables and seats were installed to fit Japanese culture.

First McDonald's in Ginza had the menu, which was very similar to that of the U.S. It was somewhat successful, but it seemed that something must be done to make it prosper further. Japanese taste came under consideration. People in differet cultures eat different types of food. As a result, many new items that fit Japanese taste have been added to the menu. Teriyaki burger and rice burger are great examples, which cannot be found in American McDonald's.

Ingredients of soda is different as well. Japanese people prefer less sweet cola than American people. This was put into consideration too, and less sugar is being added to cola in Japanese McDonald's. These adjustments to menu and ingredients have been successful and led to continuation of McDonald's prosperity in Japan.

Sports and Recreation

Japan is a country of euphemism and politeness. People use indirect expressions in daily life, which has been incorporated into Japanese culture. When entering any small shop or department store, employees greeting customers by saying "irrashaimasei" (welcome in English) is common scene in Japan. Also, unlike English, Japanese language has formal and informal way of speaking and writing. It is required to speak in formal way to the person of higher social rank than the speaker.

These super-polite mannerism and the use of formal and informal ways of speaking define Japan. There is no single answer to the reason why Japanese people use euphemism and being super polite compared to the U.S. It seems that the use of formal and informal speech developed in Japan because of strict social segregation in Shogun period. Shogun was the king of the village he lived. Right below shogun were samurais, or warriors. Samurais fight for their shogun and were respected for their courage and royalty. In ancient Japan, peasants were lower in social rank, and were required to speak in formal way to samurais. In turn, samurais were also required to speak in formal way to their shogun. It is believed that strict social rank system contributed to the development of formal and informal way of speech in Japaneses.

Likewise, Japanese culture respects group more than individual. In agricultural ancient Japan period, peasants cooperated on rice fields. Samurais cooperated to serve their shoguns. These all had contributed to the development of social bondage in Japanese culture. Strict social rank system and agricultural society developed appropriate mannerism and social bondage. These can be found today not only in Japanese language but also in recreation.

Travel is one of the most common way to enjoy leisure in many countries. In Japan, people do not travel alone, which is little different from some other countries. I interviewed 10 Japanese students in Kansai Gaidai University, and none of them said they are okay with traveling alone. On the other hand, 2 out of 5 American students said they can travel alone depending on situation. Sample size of the quick survey was small though, it seems there is a big difference between Japanese students and American students. I believe that strict rank system and agricultural society molded Japanese culture and cooperation has been essential part of Japanese society throuhout history. As a result, even today people value group more than individual.

First picture of the blog is taken by one Japanese lady at the spot.