Changing Impressions

Now reaching the end of the semester, I come to find that Japan is not as simple as how a travel magazine depicted. When I first arrived and even before I arrive in Japan, I had preconception that since Japan is an industrialized country, it should not be too different from the United States because the only difference should just be scenery, with grand temples and tons of gardens. Living in Japan should not be too difficult—or so I thought. Japan is full of bits and pieces of other cultures coming together in one place that can make one lose one’s way in searching for the “Japanese culture.”

That is why I come to realized that Japanese culture cannot be fully understood through observations but must be felt through experience…but of course there are things that a foreigner like me cannot even feel or comprehend even if I live here for 40 years unless I am Japanese with Japanese parents and raised in Japan. For example, why are there so many angles in a bow? Why do Japanese people love Western things so much yet still alter it to fit their taste? And why are Japanese so obsessed with cuteness?

I regret that my stay in Japan is too short for me to find answers to those questions because four months in Japan is only a little more than a tourist but way less than an anthropologist. In four months I only tackled the surface of Japan. But that doesn’t I am leaving empty-handed. I did learn that there is a deep hierarchy in Japanese society that is portrayed in the language and customs—how to address people in in-group and out-group, who must pour sake first, etc. However, taking this class has provided me the opportunity to learn about Japanese culture in details but at the same time also enjoy the magnificent view.

Flavorful Okinawa

During golden week I got a chance to visit Okinawa. In Okinawa, despite the common language is Japanese, the atmosphere and the people are different compared to other parts of Japan—such as Osaka and Tokyo. After living in Japan for over 3 months, I no longer feel like a tourist when traveling to different places until I set foot in Okinawa…

Even though there are street vendors and small souvenir shops everywhere like in Namba, Osaka but how people dress gives off a feeling of tropical. When I show up at school wearing flip flops (beach sandals) my friends and teachers asked if I’m cold, and the people who wear flip flops on hot sunny days are international students, while in Okinawa almost every native wear flip flops, rain or shine. Walking down the main street in Naha, the capital, one can spot tons of flip flops in stores and occasionally an artist carving all kinds of pictures on the flip flops.

(che by Akira ASKR)

And of course, who can forget the street performers especially when they are burning hot!


But flip flops aren’t the only thing a tourist would spot. Shops, restaurants, hotels, house, all have a set of Shisa in front of their door, on a desk, and/or in the garden for protection and luck. I asked a local restaurant owner and he said “Shisa is Okinawa and protects seamen.” He told me a story that long ago Okinawa was terrorized by an evil dragon until the King brought a pair of Shisa, the lion dog guardian, to kill the dragon with their roars. Ever since then, fisherman can sail with ease and people commemorate the shisa by decorate their houses and shops with a pair of shisa, whether it is from clay, stones, or rocks.

The shisa can look very scary on people’s garden or very silly in souvenir shops. But despite how they look, Okinawa natives love them.