"Reading" (sort of)

Woo! Got an email back from lauramm

From: tom@workaccountforpersonalemails
To: laura@japan
subject: Those crazy Americans (or, Those crazy Japanese)

I just read this which started me thinking about the crazy things we Americans think Japanese do.

I’ve got visions of samurai, temples, martial arts, and peasants vs. the visions of Tokyo I’ve seen in movies and anime:

Neon signs, sleek black and silver cars, gangsters, millionaires, motorcycles, and roving gangs of teenagers decked out in 80’s era Air Jordans, glaring colors, and portable Playstation Dance Dance Revolution hookups.

Gadget-happy Japanese city dwellers, contestants on wacky gameshows (the most mild of which are spoofed on the Simpsons).

My question is this: Is it real?

Is there a distinction between traditional Japanese and new-age, high-tech, Japanese? Are these caricatures we see on this side of the Pacific accurate? Are they wrong?

Is is the case that most Japanese are actually both of these, praying at a temple in the early morning, walking the dog, getting the kids off to school, only to head in to the city for business and then retire after work to a neon green and orange strip club for blowfish and saki bombs?

Have we ever seen the real Japan, or anything close, over here?

And how do they perceive Americans? I know I could think of crazy stories about New York’s own neon-colored depravities. Do they think of us as cowboys? Farmers?

Embittered city dwellers who carry cell phones, iPods, keychains, credit cards, ID cards, paperback books, pens, watches, and chapstick, instead of one device that provides all of that?

I’ve been reading your blog a little bit. I see there is a distinction between suburb and city, I’m wondering how distinct they really are.

Also, excellent writing. Your page is a compelling read. Have fun in Thailand. Try to learn Thai Boxing. Then you can skip grad school and become an ultimate fighter.

BAM!
-t



From: japanlaura@mmmmm.com
To: tom@woo-ha.com
Subject: Those crazy Americans...

Hey Tom,

I could write a book about your questions, and I'm sure that someone actually already has. But I'll try to answer as best and truthfully as I can in a moderately readable length. The problem with all your questions is twofold:


1. I've lived here for long enough now that nothing Japanese people do is really that strange to me, and therefore, I can no longer remember what it was like to have these questions.

2.Japan is firstly and foremostly a country of contradiction. Are there samurai? No. Are there people who still wear traditional clothing? Yes. Do teenagers dress like they walked out of an 80's music video? Some. But there's a whole lot who shop at the Japanese equivalent of the Banana Republic as well. Do Japanese men love their families? Absolutely. Do they also love their mistresses and going to sex hotels? Quite a few do.

The stereotypical Japanese businessman with glasses and a camera working long hours, bowing too much, and drinking the night away is mostly true.

Salarymen have ridiculous lives. A two hour commute, a twelve hour work day, and then mandatory drinking with the boss or clients. Their children never see them, and their wives wait up until they come home so to feed them dinner, heat up the bath, and send them to bed.

This is changing, however, with the younger generation. There is less job security and there are increasing numbers of young people who don't want to work, don't want to go to school, and don't want to move out of their parents' house. They are the consumers. They buy designer clothes, fancy cell phones (camera, phone, mp3 player, TV, mirror, internet, email), and stay out late drinking. They don't care about preserving the traditional family home and most can't speak polite language anymore.

The old people, if anyone, keeps what you consider "traditional" Japan alive. There are still quite a few grandmas who wear kimono all the time, and a few grandpas who wear the wooden sandals in the summer. They take care of the ancestors and support traditional theatre, art, and music.

Technologically speaking, I think Japan is behind on the times. Internet didn't start to take off until a few years ago. Cell phones were so advanced so quickly that young people always did email on their phones and it isn't until now that they are learning how to use computers.

The government is so full of old bureaucrats that won't change anything, so the mess of above ground power lines keeps the country looking dirty, entrance exams from middle school to college keep children studying all of their waking hours, and despite the fact that I am living in a brand new house, there is no central heating or air conditioning.

Is everything you see on TV real? Maybe. Have you seen Lost in Translation? Take it with a grain of salt, but it does a pretty good job of conveying what Japan is pretty much about. At least the part of Japan you see in the movie.
The wacky game shows shown on Spike TV and spoofed on the Simpsons are from the 80's. Yes, Japanese game shows are still very silly sometimes, but not as bad as they were.

I don't think I've done a particularly good job of addressing your questions. Directly:

Yes. There are neon signs everywhere in Tokyo. And Osaka, and any big downtown area.
No. There are not sleek black cars everywhere. Anime does not clearly portray that Japanese streets are so tiny that one small sized vehicle can barely pass. You know the Honda Element? Take that car and shrink it. Or the VW Bug. That's the size of average Japanese cars.

Again, as you said the distinction between urban and rural is great. You can't take all of what I say and apply it to the middle of nowhere Japan. There are still plenty of farmers, plenty of kids who play outside, and isolated villages who are in danger of running out of food in the winter when the snows get too high.

What do they think of us? My host mother thought:
Americans eat beef, lots of it, every day.
Americans are never scared of public speaking or being in embarrassing situations.
Americans are loud and energetic and rude.
Americans drive huge cars.
Americans have huge houses.
Americans eat three times as much as Japanese people.
Americans don't eat rice.

They see our movies and get their impressions from there, I think. America=New York. America=San Francisco.
America is dangerous. Everyone carries a gun. And you could be robbed at any second.
The cowboy phase was about 20 years ago. Now everyone emulates rappers, pop stars, and famous people.

This email is pretty incoherent. I might rewrite it and send it again. But I wanted to get back to you now, before another two weeks passed. Cherry blossoms are about to peak and I hope to be going to a few flower viewing parties. This is another traditional part of Japanese culture: go sit under the beautiful trees but get so wasted that you can't see them.

Hope you enjoyed the long winded Thailand stories.


Laura