Understanding Japanese (Chris)

Being in Japan in two months has taught me that Japanese is difficult to learn. There are many things that could be a part of that issue, but the main thing is that there are people who speak in a different dialect then the dialect that I learn in the classroom. The dialect that people speak in my area is referred to as “kansai-ben” while the dialect that I learn is not just the generic Japanese, but the dialect that is most commonly used in Tokyo. 

Cartoonish statue of Hideyoshi and Onene at Kodaiji

This would seem to be a problem, but most of the time I do not notice the subtleties of kansai-ben. There is one phrase and one grammar point of kansai-ben that I have learned while here. The phrase is “めちゃ” or “mecha.” This word is just a way of saying “very” or “really” in English.  The grammar point that I learned is ~hen. It is as far as I know just the short-form negative (for those studying Japanese language) it replaces the conjugation ~ない in use.  I hear these phrased used every once in a while, but not often. I have heard from my friends that there are professors that will accidentally start speaking in kansai-ben and have to apologize, because most students do not know how to speak the dialect.

Dialect is used everywhere that I have experienced in the Kansai region. But, most of the time I hear the standard dialect when someone is talking to me. I have heard from my friends that there are professors that will accidentally start speaking in kansai-ben and have to apologize, because most students do not know how to speak the dialect. So, someone is speaking it. I have also heard it in passing sometimes. This could be a form of code speak, and kansai-ben is mostly used within the populace, and standard is used with foreigners. It is a possibility.

Cherry tree at Kodaiji

The week before this past week, my Japanese professor came to Japan during fall break to visit, so her, another student from Beloit, and me went to Kyoto and visited Kodaiji Temple and Sanjusangendo. Kodaiji is heavily attributed with Toyotomi Hideyoshi’s wife. And, Sanjusangendo is famous for the 1001 Buddha statues that fill it. This temple was quite a site to take in. It will be hard to display the temple as no pictures were allowed in the temple, but pictures could not do justice to the grandeur of the temple. This week was midterm testing, and I spent all week studying for all of my tests. I am currently ready for a day off, but that is not going to happen. Saturday is the Nukiho Matsuri (or Rice Harvest Festival) at Fushimi Inari Taisha so I will be there experiencing this festival. So, until next time, sayonara.

Statues at Sanjusangendo (stock image)

Popular Culture in Hiroshima and Nara (Chris)

Pop culture is not as prevalent as one would think in Japan. It might just be an American stereotype of Japan, but it is not as noticeable as Americans may think. The things that I think of when I think of pop culture in Japan are J-Pop music and anime/manga.  Some of these things show up more than others.  The fictitious J-Pop character Hatsune Miku shows up every once in a while. The anime/manga Shingeki no Kyōjin (also known as Attack on Titan) is currently really popular alongside One Piece, which has been around since the late 90’s. It is fairly easy to find promotional items that feature characters from either of these anime. But these things are things that show up if you look for them. Stores do not play much Japanese music, but a lot of American-styled music, and covers of American music. One of the grocery stores near where I live seems to play the ABBA Greatest Hits Album only. Manga are not seen much publicly, but you step into a bookstore, and you will see a lot of different manga. It seems that stereotypical Japanese pop culture only appears in pockets around Japan. Denden Town was where I saw most of these, but other than that I do not see many of these types of pop culture.

The might-be-mascot-of-Hiroshima-Castle cat

The main type of pop culture that appears in Japan is mascots. Mascots in Japan are cute, simple, and usually represent a company, a site, or even an entire city and prefecture. Mascots appear in all shapes, and sizes. They are used as a marketing campaign to make a lovable character that will become associated with the company. A popular mascot is Kumamon. Kumamon is a black bear that represents the Kumamoto Prefecture. In the city of Nara there is a mascot named Shikamaru-kun.  Nara is famous for its overly friendly deer, and Shikamaru-kun is supposed to represent that aspect of Nara. Another mascot of Nara is Sento-kun. Sento-kun is a Buddha child with an antler rack on his. The reason that I see for him being a mascot of Nara is that Nara is famous for two things: friendly deer, and Todaiji Temple.  Hiroshima, on the other hand, was much harder to find a mascot. The closest I found was a samurai cat at Hiroshima Castle. I have no idea what this cat’s name is, but this cat appears to be a mascot at Hiroshima. There is no mascot for the Peace Garden area, which makes a lot of sense due to the history that the garden represents. Mascots are thing in Japan, there are just some that are more popular than others.

Group shot with Sento-kun

My trip to Nara was terrific. The friendly deer is something I would not expect. In America, deer are not friendly, and seem more nervous than anything else. In Nara though, the deer are very friendly, and will play with you. Todaiji Temple was quite a site. The main thing about this 1300 year old temple is the giant Buddha that fills the temple. It is a sight that cannot be described in words. So, if you go to Nara, play with the deer for a few hours, and go to Todaiji Temple. There are other places to go, but those are the most famous things in Nara.

Picture of me with a majestic deer

The buddha at Todai-ji

In Hiroshima, I went to the Peace Garden and the Genbaku Dome (a memorial near the hypocenter of the first Atomic Bomb), and listened to a testimony given by a bomb survivor. It is difficult to go to these types of places. The still air and the large amount of feelings that exist on the topic can be felt.  It is a sad place that marks a scar on humanity that cannot be erased. It is really hard to go about the rest of the day with the thoughts of the destruction that happened at Hiroshima. 

Genbaku dome

The rest of the day consisted of wandering around the city and visiting Hiroshima Castle. Sadly, by the time I got there the castle had closed for visitors for the day, but there was a shrine nearby that me and my friends visited. From there we had to start the long walk back to the train station to catch an overnight bus back to Osaka. It was a long day, and an even longer night. The night concluded with my falling asleep on my futon at 8:00 in the morning. I currently have no plans for the weekend as this week is the start of midterm testing for me at school. So, until next time. Sayonara.

Hiroshima Castle

History and Manga (Chris)

It has been a while since I have written my last blog post, and much has happened since then. Denden Town was a lot of fun. It is a pop culture shopping district area is the best way to describe it. There is also a multi-story arcade in the Denden Town area. The highlight of that arcade was the Gundam simulator. For those who do not know, a Gundam is a giant pilotable mecha, so the Gundam simulator was just a video game with a really complicated controller. Hanging out in Denden Town was a good area to explore, but a lot of the merchandise in that area was really expensive.

Outside the Denden Town arcade

Inside the Gundam simulator

This past Sunday, I went on a field trip to Kyoto and went to the Manga Museum. The Manga Museum has a huge collection of manga, but it does not explain much about manga. There was one small exhibit that talked about manga, but it only gave it in a current sense. A better description would be that the exhibit described the current state that manga is in. There were segments on art style, income of artists, and manga on the global scale. The talk about manga in the past is not even touched at all. Even though all the manga in the room are arranged by release date, there is no talk about the history of manga. It was a bit disappointing to see that the history of manga is not considered important at the Manga Museum. The only reason that I can think of for this is that manga is tailored to a younger generation that is not interested in fancy academics, but instead is interested in reading manga. The Manga Museum is worth a visit, but do not expect to learn much about manga. 

Outside the Manga Museum

Inside the Manga Museum

Similar to the Manga Museum, the history is not a thing that is often seen in Japan, unless you go to a place that is historical. To refer back to a place that I talked about in an earlier blog post, Kiyomizu Temple is a place that has huge amounts of history. The way you get there is by traversing through the very modern, big city area of Gion-shoji for a while. You know when you are near Kiyomizuj Temple when the architecture completely changes to a more traditional style, and stays that way all the way up to Kiyomizu Temple. When I was there, it was late in the day, so there was not much activity happening, but the only historical thing was observable was the architectural style in that area.  This was also the most expansive thing that I have seen in Japan that could be considered historical. The only places that I have been to, so far, that show off that traditional flair are at temples and shrines. Religion has had a major role in Japan’s history, and the fact that these religious sites are maintaining the traditional look that they have had for hundreds of years shows that the stoicism that is maintained in retaining a “true” historic look is quite astounding considering the large amounts of modernity that Japan has gone through.  There are some modern advances that are used at these religious sites, mainly at office buildings and shops for the convenience of the workers that use that space for business instead of religious duties. Also, how much has religion evolved when there is, somewhere, a shrine that is devoted to Thomas Edison, and treats Edison as an electricity “god”. With this particular shrine as an exception, modernity and tradition are mostly segregated, but fit into the weird puzzle that allows them to be next to each other without being seemingly out of place.  

As this week closes, my friends and I are planning to visit Nara, and visit some of the major sites. I also have decided to join the Archery Club at Kansai Gaidai. The club materials are not exactly the correct size (in my case) for students. But, it is a lot of fun.

Orientation (Chris)

My dorm mates and I

(August 30, 2014) A lot has happened during my first week in Japan. I have met so many people and have seen many sites. This week was the orientation week for Kansai Gaidai University, so I had to wake up every day this week at 7:00 while being jet-lagged, and walking 20 minutes to the university.  Along my walk is a plant for the company Komatsu that constructs equipment for various things, mainly construction equipment.  The area across the street from Komatsu is residential. The walk is not difficult to make. I literally walk out the door and walk straight down the road until I reach the gates to the college. Most of the people, that I pass, are older people riding bicycles.

My dormitory for the semester

A view of Komatsu from the street

Most of my first week was spent on campus getting ready to take classes. But, on Friday, the international student body was divided up for orientation on the use of the train and bus system (which is surprisingly easy). A group of people and I spent the day in Kyoto. This was my first time in Kyoto. We went to Fushimi Inari-Taisha Shrine and Kiyomizu Temple. At these two locations a group of people and I did a few of the normal things when visiting a shrine or a temple. We purified our hands and mouth, and wandered around the grounds. Inari-Taisha Shrine has many torii that create almost a hallway. Torii are traditional Shintō gates.  It was a really cool site. Kiyomizu Temple was such a pretty site.  We got there about 45 minutes before closing, so we did not get to see the entire temple, but we saw most of it. In the valley of Kiyomizu was a water purification place where you take a ladle and put it into these mini waterfalls to get water to purify oneself by drinking the water. After the temple closed for the day, we left to find a place to eat, but all of the nearby shops were already closed.  It was surprising to see how quickly a place becomes completely quiet. We were able to find a place to eat and made it back to the dorm.  That is a summary of my first week in Japan. On Monday, I officially start taking classes.  So, until next week. Sayonara.

Inari-taisha Shrine

Kiyomizu Temple

Water purification at Kiyomizu Temple

As I Begin My Journey... (Chris)

As I begin my journey, I feel nervous, but also excited. I have wanted for so long to go to Japan.   I realize that in about 11 hours, I will be boarding a plane to Japan.  Specifically, I will be in the city of Hirakata near Osaka and Kyoto. There I will be studying and living Japanese culture. The excitement is there. But, I am nervous. Nervous about normal things such as, “will my luggage arrive with me” or “will I miss my flight?” But, there are other things to be nervous about as I take my first steps in going to Japan. This is my first time traveling alone via airplane, and my second time leaving North America. This experience is new to me, and I do not really know what to expect. When I finally arrive in Japan, will I be able to get to my bus? But, putting all of my worries aside there is much to look back upon to see what has lead me to this point in my life.

First sight of Osaka from my airplane.

My interest in Japanese culture started when I was in middle school. My hometown of Red Wing had a sister city program with a town in Japan. I was selected to go to Japan as a student ambassador. But, the trip to Japan that year was cancelled due to the H1N1 epidemic. I graduated from high school, and went to Beloit College. I decided to take Japanese and further increase my interest in Japanese culture. I have since then studied the Japanese language for two years, took a course on samurai literature, and have done a summer language course to further prepare me for going to Japan. It has been a rough two years, and now I get to see the fruits of my studies and spend a semester in Japan.  I am excited and I know that I will have fun studying, exploring, and making new friends all in Japan.