Japan Research Paper 2008

Japan is a beautiful country with many qualities that set it apart from its Asian counterparts. Everything, starting from its history, to the customs and etiquette that currently rule its society, has been essential in making Japan into the amazing country it is today. Japan is composed of four main islands and over 3900 smaller ones. The main islands are: Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku and Kyushu. Its size is slightly smaller when compared to California; however, Japan’s population reaches around 126 million. Japan is politically divided into 8 regions and 47 prefectures. Due to its longitude climates vary greatly from north to south. Winters in Hokkaido are cold with great amounts of snow while on Osaka- an island of southern Japan- winters are warm at around 16 degrees celsius. 75% of Japan’s land is a rugged terrain that is virtually uninhabitable due to the fact that it is located at a point where many continental plates collide. This causes Japan to have many earthquakes and has formed volcanoes all around the country. The most famous active volcano is Fuji-san (Mt. Fuji). 15% of the land is dedicated to the agriculture of rice, potatoes, sugar beets, vegetables, and fruits. Its main industries are electrical and electronic equipment, vehicles, machinery, metallurgy, and fishing. After that, only 10 % of Japan’s terrain remains for its inhabitants to live on. Japanese compose 99.4% of their country. Males are expected to live around 77 years while females are estimated to live till they are 84 years old. The average income is $22, 700 a year. Japan’s currency is the yen “¥” (originally named “en”).

Japan’s

Capital

Tokyo, also known as the capital of the east, is located on Honshu, the biggest of the four main islands. It has been the capital since 1868. Its population is of 12 million in an area 800 miles2. Three famous neighborhoods in Tokyo are Ginza, the world’s largest outdoor mall, Akihabara, also known as Electric Town, and Jibuya, a neighborhood full of entertainment for young people where there is everything from karaoke to cosplayers!

Japanese National Anthem Kimi ga Yo wa (May your reign) Chiyo ni Yachiyo ni (Continue for a thousand, eight thousand generations,) Sazare-Ishi no (Until the pebbles) Iwao to Nari-te (Grow into boulders) Koke no Musu made (Lush with moss)

Nihon no Matsuri In English, matsuri means festival! There are many matsuri celebrated in Japan. Shōgatsu

To start off the year is Shōgatsu, or new years. It is celebrated from the 1st till the 3rd of January. During the holiday it is costomary to visit around 3 buddist or Shinto temples in order to be “blessed” for the New Year. Families and friends come together for the biggest holiday of the year. At that time people play cards, a type of badminton, spinning tops, and they fly kites. Before New Year’s, it is a custome to house to prepare for the New Year.

Sejin no Hi After New Year’s festival, on the second Monday of January, Seijin no Hi is celebrated. This is the day all those who turned 20 by April 2nd of the current year, gather before the Mayor to be informed of their duties as adult citizens. It is the coming of age festival. On this day both the men and the women wear their best kimonos, traditional, or formal clothes. This is also known as *Oyaji-day, since anyone can take pictures of the beautiful young girls. *Oyaji means “old man”

Hinamatsuri On March 3rd is Doll’s day, also known as Girl’s Day or in Japanese as Hinamatsuri. Although in the 18th century it had a different meaning such as purification (as in the dolls would absorb the girl’s sins and then be thrown away) or simply showing off one’s wealth, nowadays it is common for young girls to display a variety of porcelain dolls placed along the traditional steps. The most important dolls on display are the dairibina, or in English, the royalty. These two dolls are found at the top on nearly every display. Added to the collection are some musicians, two armed warrior gaurdians, and servants. Some girls even play hostess to their friends and to the dolls; kind of like a tea party. On this day girls are also taken to shrines to be blessed with luck and good health. Hanami The most beautiful and appreciated festival is the “Flower Watching” matsuri. Hanami is celebrated in April. Throughout the Spring families and friends get together and go on picnics to enjoy the blooming flowers, especially the Sakuras-or cherry blossoms. During this time people attend carnivals, flower displays, kimono shows as well as eat yakitori, dango, oden, sushi rolls, inari-zushi, and teppanyaki BBQ (these foods will be explained later on). Some people even dress up in kimonos for the ocassion!

Kodomo no Hi On May 5th, children’s day is celebrated. However, until 1948 it was known as Boy’s Day as an equivalent to March 3rd’s Hinamatsuri. Today the festival is celebrated by displaying warrior dolls inside the home of young boys, flying coinobori (coi fish flags) outside their home, and eating chimaki (rice cakes wrapped in cogan grass or bamboo leaves) and kashiwamochi (rice cakes filled with bean paste and wrapped in oak leaves). Most consider the national holiday misnamed since courage and strength usually honor boys. Despite its past significance it is becoming more accepted as every year passes.

The little kids seated on the giant coi are wearing origamied samurai hats !

Tanabata Every year on the 7th day of the 7th month, providing it doesn’t rain, the princess and the shepherd boy meet with the king’s consent. “How this,” one is may be asking. As legend has it, one day the “chief god’s” daughter met a young cowherder. After meeting several more times they realized they had fallen in love and all they could think about was eachother. The young cowherder forgot about his cattle and they ran all over the kingdom, dotting the sky with stars. The young princess began to neglect her duties as royalty in order to spend more time with her beloved. This made the king of the gods

very angry. So much so, that he forbade them ever meeting again! Distraught, the young princess cried and cried. She cried a river, which is now known as the Milky Way. Seeing her anguish from being seperated from the young man, the king agreed to let them see each other once a year, on the 7th day of the 7th month. In return, the young pastor needed to keep to his sheep and the princess mustn’t neglect her duties. They both agreed. Every 7th of July a bridge appears so that the Princess and the Cowherder can both meet. However, if it rains the river floods and their desire to meet each other is not fulfilled. This is why every 7th of July people write their wishes on slim colorful papers and tie them to bamboo branches. It is their hope that their deepest desires will come true, just like the Princess’s and the Cowherder’s did.

People’s wishes are written on the colored papers Bon Matsuri From August 13th till the 15th, a buddist festival honoring one’s ancestors is celebrated. An altar is prepared infront of the family’s buddist altar to welcome ancestor spirits. The preparations

for

this festival involve cleaning out their graves, burning incense, and clearing a path from the altar a stack of hay –near the family’s house- to provide food for their ancestor’s horses or oxen, in other words, their transportation. A priest

to

usually comes to read a sutra. On the 13th a welcome fire is lit, and then on the 16th a send-off fire is prepared. The fires are intended to light the spirts way. Another name for this festival is The Festival of the Dead. ShichiGoSan On the 15th of November 5 year old boys and 3 or 7 year old girls are taken to a shrine to be blessed. This festival started because of the belief that children were more prone to bad luck at certain ages. The children dress up in traditional clothing and then go to the shrine. When they finish, some parents buy their child a candy called chitose-ame or in English, thousand-year candy. This candy can be bought at the shrine. Omisoka The last festival in the year lands on the 31st of December. Around this holiday people are usually busy cleaning out their homes, buisnesses or schools in order to get mentally and physically prepared for the up coming year. At around 11 p.m. of the 31st, people gather for the last time that year to eat a bowl of toshikoshi - soba / udon. The reason for this is because people associate the meaning of toshi-koshi, which is the crossing over from one year to the next, to the passing of New Year’s Eve to New Year’s Day. This matsuri is considered the second most important holiday of the year.

There are other holidays celebrated in Japan but these are the most common ones, which are celebrated nationally and have become a part of Japan’s culture.

Education Before Japanese children begin school, most are taught at home with their parent’s example, books, music and government provided TV shows. Then, around 58% of the children enroll in local kindergartens. 77% of the children enrolled attend private schools. When young children go on fieldtrips, it is common for them to wear bright colored hats so that teachers can spot the children in their group more quickly. In Japan nearly 99% of the elementary schools are free because they are public schools. Primary school encompasses 1st to 6th grade. Lunches are given at nearly every school. A basic meal includes bread, rice, and milk. After lunch the students clean up since lunch is eaten in the classrooms. Homeroom teachers teach almost all the subjects in one classroom, except for subjects like P.E. which are taught outside or in a gym. Junior High School covers from 7th grade to 9th. Once the student graduates from ‘middle school’, they can officially work and conclude their studies if they wish to do so; however, most students continue their studies. Classes sometimes have as many as 40 alumni. Junior High students have different subjects given

by different teachers. Students go from class to class with their classmates all through the day. The homeroom teacher in Junior High doubles as the class’s counselor.

Junior High English class High school years are from 10th to 12th grade. To enter a high school, whether private or public, the students must take entrance exams. Depending on the reputation of the school the tests are harder or easier to pass. Although the costs of a public high school are at least half the cost of a private school, both charge a fee. During a student’s high school years it is mandatory to join an after school club. Clubs vary from photography, to sports, tea ceremony training, tutoring, origami, kendo, among others.

The clubs are usually funded by the school and administrated by a student council. The four main members of the student council are

elected by their peers and are usually upper classmen. Each club’s representative is an upper classman as well. Japanese call anyone who has more experience in the same area they’re working senpai, even if they are only one year ahead. Superior High School takes on a more serious note since it is indirectly university preparation. The way a high school achieves a higher academic ranking is by more of its students entering prestigious universities. This is why most high school student’s days are so packed. Some start school at 7:30 then finish at 16:20 only to keep on studying cram courses or other university prep materials till 11 p.m. at the library. The ambition to get into good universities is engrained in them all throughout their short lived lives. The highest achievement for any high school graduate would be to get into Tokyo University, since it has the highest level of education in the country. It is such a goal, that even mangaka (Japanese comic book writers) mention the difficulty and the ambition that their characters have to get into “Tokyo U” (such as in “Love Hina” and “Nana”). Once accepted into the University and graduated having finished a career, they search for jobs. The career that is most studied is Business Administration.

Trasportation

Japan’s transportation system is very efficient especially within the metropolitan area. There are long and short distance buses, trains, ferries, and taxis. Included in the railway system are the shinkansen (bullet train) and the subway system. These are all great ways to get around; however, the most common way of transportation for everyday life is the bicycle. Whether it’s to go to the mall to school or to get to the closest train station to get to work, people ride their bicycles. Sometimes because of rush hour it is faster and more convenient to ride a bike. Unless it is specified, bikers are not allowed to ride on the sidewalks however this rule is ignored by the great majority. The bullet train is the fastest train in the world. It has a monorail system. The shinkansen in Japan connects almost all of the major cities to Tokyo, the capital. Below is a network connection map:

There are different categories of speed for each different line. Some examples of the Tokaido/Sanyo shinkansen speed classes are as follow. The Nozomi only stops at the most important stations. This category reaches Tokyo from Osaka in about 2 ½ hours. Second, there is the Hikari class, which stops at a few more stations than the Nozomi class. Riding this class, it would take approximately 3 hours to reach Tokyo from Osaka. Last but not least, is the Kodama class; this class stops at every station. Like these examples there are other lines that have different train speeds. Costs vary depending on the distance traveled and on the type of train used. Buses are used to travel short and long distances in Japan. For short trips, depending on the bus’s system, your fee depends on how far you traveled. When one gets on the bus you pick up a ticket (2). When one is close to where they are getting off then you compare the number on one’s ticket to the fare board above the ticket machine (3). This will indicate how many yen one has to pay. If one doesn’t have exact pay then change machines (5) are available by the fare box (6). In some districts such as Kyoto, they have flat rates. This means that no matter where you travel it is the same fee. There are also long distance buses, also known as highway buses. They function

much like the shinkansen except that they are much slower; however, the prices are 20 to 50% cheaper than train fares. To save even more money some take over night trips avoid paying accommodations at their destination.

Pop-Culture To understand present day Japan one must turn back a couple of pages in its history book. Just two generations ago WWII hit Japan. The after effect was Japan being forced to be receptive to new types of styles and music. At that time it was mainly American artists. Now though, Japanese youth are seeking their own styles and music. There is such a variety of styles to be seen especially in Tokyo neighborhoods like Shibuya, Akihabara and Jibuya. In Shibuya, there is an area called Harajuku, this place has become known as a nest of brilliantly creative ideas. French fashion designers, musicians and even singers, such as Gwen Stefani, have taken to these young people’s peculiar styles. In Harajuku there are four main styles that have stood out above the rest; those are the “gothic lolita” style, the “kawaii” or cute style, “decora” style (characteristic of accessories and bright colors) and the “punk style”. The punk style originated in London during the 70s. The other styles were

born in Japan. Apart from these “cosplay” or costume play has become very popular especially on the weekends in Jibuya. This consists of fans dressing up as they favorite anime, manga or video game character. The character to the left is Cloud, he is from a very popular video game called Final Fantasy. The group below are dressed up as the main characters from a manga/anime called Death Note. They all did a great job. They look just like the characters!

Manga and anime are so much apart of the culture that most school children draw in manga style. When one sees drawings then one may automatically assume that they are for children. This is a mistake since there are different manga made for different publics. There are manga dedicated to young boys, young girls, teenagers, specifically teenage and college boys, specifically for teenage girls, for adults, for adult men, and many other branches. A magazine dedicated soley to finding talented mangaka to publish weekly is Shonen Jump. Shonen manga are mostly pointed towards boys since they include adventures that involve bravery and honor and such. It is said that if a mangaka can get published

by this magazine then they will most likely succeed. This is the magazine where famous anime like Dragon Ball Z and Naruto were first published.

Foods The main foods eaten in Japan are rice and seafood. This is because this is what is most available in the country. Typical Japanese cuisine could be considered anything that has a base with these two things. For example, sushi, sashimi, and tempura all have seafood and are well known Japanese foods. Ramen, udon, and soba are liquid based in the bowl one can find small pieces of a vegetables, meat, seafood and strings of pasta. A popular festival food is yakitori. This is much like a chicken brochette, marinated with certain condiments then cooked on the grill. Although the concept of eating and walking at the same time is not very accepted socially it seems like carnivals are the exception. Another typical food is the onigiri. An onigiri is a rice ball stuffed with miso, tuna, or anything else to the consumer’s likening. For school some parents, or the students themselves, prepare an obento, or lunchbox. These are not your typical lunch boxes. Some Japanese people get really creative and make very unique lunches, like making bear

onigiris, octopus wieners, or by adding cute accessories. The pictures show nice children’s obentos; however, most are simply leftovers or rice, vegetables and a little meat.

Japan’s culture is ever changing and even more so since it introduced other cultures into its own. Every day life is what makes the Japanese what they are whether it is experiences or an emotion that is what forms a culture. In twenty years this report will probably be terribly outdated and there will probably be information enough to fill twenty more pages. Until then, this has been a report about Japan’s culture in a nutshell.

References: Japan’s Geography: http://www.japan-guide.com/list/e1000.html Hinamatsuri: http://www.docoja.com:8080/jisho/mainword?dbname=histg&mainword=Momo_no_sek ku http://web.clas.ufl.edu/users/jshoaf/Jdolls/hina.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matsuri#Doll_Festival_.28.E9.9B.9B.E7.A5.AD.E3.82.8A.2 C_Doll_Festival.3F.29 http://www.japanxtreme.es/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/hinamatsuri.jpg Matsuri in General: http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Festival_japon%C3%A9s#A.C3.B1o_nuevo_.28.E6.AD.A3. E6.9C.88_Sh.C5.8Dgatsu.29 Goldfish Scooping: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GoldfishScoopingGame http://japanfunfacts.blogspot.com/

A fun carnival game during summer festivals! Omisoka Matsuri: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C5%8Cmisoka Shichigosan matsuri: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shichi-Go-San Education: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_Japan (general) ematusov.soe.udel.edu/classrooms/japan.htm (middle school) www.cusd.chico.k12.ca.us/.../japan/clubs.html (clubs) Transportation: http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2210.html (bicycles) Food: http://laruku.foros.ws/t955/info-comidas-tipicas-japonesas/ http://www.pbs.org/opb/meaningoffood/food_and_family/obento/