Surreal Escapes

Take a moment to think about the following things related to Japan.

• How many famous Japanese people can you name?
• What about important dates?
• Can you name and locate any prominent geographical features?
• What about cities? Prefectures?

I had a recent conversation with some of my Japanese friends, and it made me realize just how little I knew about Japan. Most of what I know now, I have only learned while being here. I think a lot of Americans are the same, in that they know only a little about Japan. On the contrary, the Japanese seem to know quite a bit about the U.S. My friends knew presidents, even had at least some idea of when they were president. Washington was 1st, Lincoln 16th, Franklin Roosevelt during WWII, Kennedy in the 60’s, Nixon and Watergate, Reagan, Bush is the current president’s father, Clinton, Bush. They recognized Carter and Jefferson when I mentioned them. They knew Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Edison, Alexander Graham Bell, Einstein (wait, he’s not American). They knew 1776 was when we signed the Declaration of Independence. 1861, the Civil War. I drew a rough map of the U.S. and they could name and locate the Rockies, the Appalachians, the Mississippi, the Great Lakes (not individually), Niagara Falls, California, Texas, Florida, New York, Los Angeles, Seattle, Houston, New Orleans, New York City. They recognized San Francisco, Las vegas, Chicago, Indianapolis, Detroit (and said, oh yeah, cars), Boston, Baltimore. They even knew many of the cities’ baseball teams.

Now, this was just one conversation with two people, and I am sure there are many people who know only a fraction of the above, but there are probably many others who know more. It’s hard to say without doing a proper study. As such, I am left with just a hypothesis waiting to be proved or debunked. Using what I have gathered from observations and conversations here in Japan combined with what I know from experience at home in America, I would say that on the whole, Japanese know far more about America than Americans know about Japan. If that is true, it is interesting to ask why. (more…)

American moms are still fighting the good fight, but here in Japan I think they gave up long ago. Rarely does anyone untie their shoes before taking them off, nor do they untie them before cramming their feet back into them. It makes perfect sense though. The sheer number of times the Japanese change shoes in a day is astonishing. Outdoor shoes are not worn in homes, many restaurants, some businesses, and even a few stores. Slippers are generally worn indoors, but must be taken off in tatami rooms. Also, they must be changed for a pair of often gaudy looking slippers when entering a bathroom.

The root of this tradition comes from the rather practical matter of cleanliness, but I think it has taken on a subtler meaning as well. Not only is physical dirt left in the entryway, but so too is the unclean world left behind before entering the sanctity of one’s home. While it has taken some time to break in my shoes, and taken some practice to maintain my balance while stepping up from my shoes to the raised floor of the interior without touching the dirty floor, I have come to enjoy this aspect of Japanese life. Particularly because I no longer have to worry about smelly feet or being the odd one at work when I take my shoes off to let my feet breathe.

Recently I was organizing my photo album and came across pictures from cherry blossom season. It’s hard to believe that just over a month ago the now unassumingly green-leafed sakura were ablaze with subtle shades of pink. The trees are everywhere, growing naturally in the mountains, planted in people’s yards, and being cultivated along city streets and in public gardens. I spent a day in Kyoto admiring their beauty and of the places I visited, Heian Shrine was the most stunning. Its grove of fully blooming and radiant cherry trees formed a canopy on which I could nearly picture angels dancing. The famous Philosopher’s Path was a peaceful walk along a small canal lined with the flowering trees, whose petals gently fluttered down to softly land on the water’s surface, whereupon they would slowly float away. I also glimpsed a less alluring, but perhaps no less enjoyable side of sakura season. I walked through a park which is a popular spot for hanami and the remnants of the week’s festivities could be seen in the empty tarps lining the ground, the many empty food and souvenier stalls, and the worn out look of the cherry trees, already beginning to lose their petals.

Hanami is the Japanese celebration of the blossoming trees, and it literally means “flower viewing.” Each year, people gather under the trees for picnics and barbeques while drinking sake and enjoying the company of friends and family. While partying I don’t think they spend much time actually ‘viewing’ the flowers, but they make time for that too, as hundreds of people flocked to the same places I did to enjoy the beauty. The cherry blossom tradition is an ancient one, beginning with the samurai. They felt a similitude to the trees, aspiring for a moment of resplendence before their brief lives ended. Today sakura still symbolize the ephemeral beauty of life and are a wonderful way to be reminded of the simple elegance of nature.