about me, part i (of many)

so. me blabbing about my culture and not so much about myself. and since this blog is titled, "the japanese in me", i thought i'd get into some stuff about me. not that you care, but i do, i suppose.




i was born in tokyo, japan but moved to chiba when i was two years old. i attended first grade in japan, then moved to america when i was six. thrown into a completely different culture complete with a different language, i had difficulty adapting. once i learned the english language, i then spent five years in the states until i had to move back when i was eleven. i then went to school in japan for two years, where i learned the degrees of hierarchy and respect. then i moved to the states again, where i have been since i was thirteen. i'm twenty now, so that means that i've been in japan for eight years and in the states for twelve. it's fun, but it's just been a back and forth thing for me. half my life was spent on airplanes, moving from house to house (even within the same state).


i've become really fascinated with my culture in high school, where i learned to appreciate individuality and celebrate diversity. i started to identify myself as japanese (not japanese-american) and i was proud of it. when i got to college, i learned much more about diversity and other cultures, and started to delve into my own much more than i ever had. i used to think, "it's okay if i like america better; i live here." and don't get me wrong; i like it here. but i used to neglect japan because of my absence from it. it soon started to show in my lack of vocabulary and forgetting of kanji (japanese characters/form of writing). if anything was a shock, it was this. i didn't want to forget japanese. i didn't want to make a fool out of myself in japan. i still wanted to be connected with what i identify myself.


i started reading more japanese, bought kanji books, translators, listened to japanese music (which, by the way, if you know what/who to listen to, is a great source of awesome music), wrote poems in japanese, and exposed myself to the myriads of subcultures in japanese culture. eventually, i started to regain pride and what i like to call "culture fluency" for my own. i'm so glad that i've saved myself from what could have resulted in an identity crisis.


i consider myself japanese, and am proud of it. i'm in college here in the states, but i have this gut feeling that eventually, i'm going to end up in japan. yeah, yeah, yeah... the economy is going sour and there's not much of a future for my generation in japan. blah, blah, blah. and i'm supposed to care? had i not had the choice to leave japan, i'd be stuck there anyway. and besides, why should a dent in economy deviate me from pronouncing who i am? please. woosies.


in short, i love who i am and what culture i possess. people who haven't accepted their culture for what it is-- you are missing out. and cheating yourself of your own identity.

japanese girls, part i

type 1: traditional. conservative. that is all i can say about them. basically, these are the majority of the girls in japan. these are the ones who talk with their eyes looking down; they are the ones who don't talk to guys (because they think that any kind of contact with the opposite gender = showing interest and attraction); they are the ones who blush every time a guy talks to them.


so the thing in japan is, that guys and girls are totally heterogenous, or, not mixed. in short, the guys are with the guys, the girls are with the girls. why? i swear this is the culture in which "going to the bathroom together" formed. they stick together as a team and talk about the guys, but never really talk to the guys. now, this would seem kind of ridiculous in the states, because, well... if you like them, you gotta show them that you exist. you gotta make some kind of initiation. nope. not in japan. you shy away and hope that the guy somehow spots you. think what you will, but that is how japanese girls do things. and 98% of the time, it's the guy asking the girl. and even when the girl does do the initiating, i've yet to hear really great success stories about the girl-ask-guy thing. so what does that tell ya?




type 2: over-the-top fashion + sex = bad. these girls lose their virginity when they are 12 or 13. it is ridiculous. and unfortunately true. i mean, you think japan, oh, it's so educated they should know better. not really. these girls will run away from their home and try to make a living by promoting pornography and prostitution. sometimes, that's the only way they can survive. sometimes, that's the last resort she had to go to. and other times, these girls are just dumb. thick make-up, "what-the-hell?!" outfits, and "you must be joking" lingo. this group of people have is capable of creating as many words as shakespeare. they've already started ages ago, and their colloquialism is almost not japanese. what can you say? you got the other extreme of the quiet, traditional japanese girl, gotta have the other extreme to balance the beam out.




... and in case you were wondering, i belong to type 1.

mannerisms: part 1

underline it, highlight it, circle it: if you ever decide to come to japan--to live or even just for vacation-- know at least the basics of japanese mannerisms. othewise, be ready for unpleasant surprises. japan is nothing like the states.


people:

strangers you meet eyes with on the street here in the states acknowledge your presence, and may even smile or greet you. how sweet, right? not in japan. we keep to ourselves a lot. if you smile at them, they will think you are weird. if you say hello, they will think you are insane. why? it's not that we japanese people aren't friendly. trust me, we are. we are once we get to know each other. and these meetings happen in some given setting. thus, some random and sporadic event such as a greeting on the street is considered rare, and most of us won't respond: we'd simply ignore you and go about our busy business. that's another thing you should know about us: we are busy people. it doesn't matter if we aren't really busy; all we really need to do is look busy. and this is another reason why casual greetings on the streets don't mix well with japanese culture. so seriously, just do yourselves a favor and avoid random "hello"s and "how do you do"s. ...unless you have a question (like asking for directions). we'd be more than willing to help you.


restaurants:

customers are god. that's just the motto of a japanese restaurant. no matter how shitty you treat the waiter(esse)s, they will continue being kind, professional, and apologetic. it doesn't matter if it was the customer's mistake; it's now the restaurant's mistake. and dependent on restaurants, the waiter(esse)s at some places bow each time you interject to take and order or pick up plates, other places verbally let you know they are coming. also, they don't come by to ask how the food is or the infamous, overused phrase, "how's everything going over here?". they feel as if they are interrupting the conversation that the guests are having. even when the guest is alone, the restaurant does not want to disturb the customer's solitude. and when you're done, you go to the register to pay your bill. the waiter(esse)s only come to drop off the bill, not to come pick it up.


another things about restaurants in japan: if you can't stand smoke from cigarettes and the like, good luck dining out at all. japan allows smoking indoors. a common scene you see in japan is both father and mother of two or three young kids smoking in a family restaurant. seems disgusting and unfathomable to those not used to indoor smoking, but this is common in japan. the restaurants come with a smoking and a non-smoking section, but it doesn't really matter, because the two areas are not really separated; it's just like this invisible line that the restaurant decided to draw. so the smoke still trickles into the non-smiking section. that's just how japanese restaurants work.




more mannerisms to come. and look out for a series of quirks in japanese culture as well. good day, fair people.

anime

let me get this out first and foremost, so that everyone knows: not all japanese people are interested in anime!.


every anime lover i've met overseas in the united states asks me, "do you watch anime?" as if it's the question that will make or break the friendship. and i always have to say, "no... i'm not into anime..." and then i get answers like, "oh... that's too bad" or "what?! you don't watch anime and you call yourself japanese?! what is wrong with you??". oh, so since i am japanese, i am obligated to know about anime and must be able to recreate the plot and reiterate the storyline to any stranger. right. it's not happening.


this is not to say that there aren't any anime lovers in japan. needless to say, there are some people who are pretty hardcore about that kind of stuff; i just happen to be the japanese girl who doesn't follow anime trends. i recognize some anime titles and know a bit about the storyline, but i can honestly say i do not know enough to be recommending anime, that's for sure.


a lot of times, i see anime on tv in the states. there are anime shows in japan, too, but it's not like that's all that's on tv. as a matter of fact, in comparison to sports shows/games aired on japanese tv, anime amounts to only a fraction of the importance. in japan, we mostly read anime. that's what the shows sprout from anyway. and the comic books are much more fun.


there is nothing wrong with liking anime. there is nothing wrong with it at all. it's just a problem for me when i meet someone who assumes that i know everything there is to know about anime because i am japanese. not all japanese people are gurus at anime. anime is not the problem; the assumption that japanese people must know everything about anime is the problem.

purpose

i can't help being attached to japanese culture. and i am proud to be japanese. here, you get to see japan through the eyes of a 20-year old japanese girl. enjoy.