Changing Impressions of Japan

This has been my fourth time in Japan, but this has been my longest journey here because I am here for half year exchange. However, I renewed for extension, so I am hoping to stay here next semester for grand total of almost a full year.

I really love Japan, or else I would not be coming back here so often. My first few times in Japan were to see Japanese friends who I made over the internet, and then my third time to bring my American friends here as a fun summer trip that we planned. But now, this trip had a totally different purpose, for I to finally come here and study abroad. I did not want to return to Japan as a tourist but as a student. So, I made sure that it would happen with lots of work. My return trip to Japan will be as a graduate student or for a job, which is the next I will return for even longer.

My impressions on Japan have always changed depending on situation. Coming to Kansai Gaidai is a totally different experience because I am finally studying Japanese here, and I have the chance to interact with many Japanese and foreign students from around the world.

I was not sure how Kansai would be at first. I was wondering whether or not it would meet my expectations  as study abroad school, but I think it has. It changed my impression on Japan. I finally learned to communicate better with people in Japanese, which has led to an easier life in Japan. Communication is the number one way to properly make good impressions on people. If I want people to know who I am, I must overcome the language barrier. Overcoming the language will make my life easier and change my past impressions to better ones. When I came here and interacted with friends, some could not speak English well, and my Japanese as well was terrible, so I felt as though I was making bad impressions, but if my Japanese becomes better, than I will make better impressions on them as well. Moreover, we can finally communicate to each other effectively, and my impression of Japanese people will change.

Not being able to communicate at all leaves bad impressions for me. I feel stupid at times, and I ask myself "why am I here?!," "I could be enjoying a great conversation but can't..." I hope this will change finally or at least improve to some extent. Thus, my impressions of Japanese people will be better, and I won't feel left out of all the important and unimportant conversations.
So, my impressions of Japan will be good instead of bad like they once were.

Old photo from a few years ago in Nara.

Random Stuff

This last free choice blog is about Japanese toilet, wig vending machine, and Fushimi Inari.
The first is of a dog-wig ball machine. I have no idea why this thing exist for Japanese consumers to decorate their pets. Its purpose is simple, to give your dog the "Mohican" and/or "Afro" look. I wonder how the dog will react to this kind of wig. I was tempted to buy this for my dog back home; however, it could create some choking hazard.

This next picture is of an advance Japanese toilet at Yodabashi Camera in Kyoto. I thought it was very interesting because I have never seen a hydraulic toilet to help person off the lid. It is a industrial handicap toilet for helping anyone with getting on and off the toilet. I was not able to closely inspect the toilet, but its make is Toto, universal Japanese toilet company.

Next pictures are of the infamous Ronald McDonald on Japanese T-shirts. One is basically saying "if you are Japanese, then you eat rice." I think it is along the lines of American's eating McDonald's constantly. I am not entirely sure, but its a funny t-shirt along with Ronald versing the Kernel Sanders. Both have Japanese comedic relief as joke.Ronald has been remixed into a horrifying internet joke with all the McDonald's commercials made in Japan http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRvrFTB2UYw&fmt=18. This is one of the thousands of videos, but this one is very popular because Ronald fighting zombies in Resident Evil modification and other game modes to games such as Grand Theft Auto.Ronald is popular when it comes to Japanese gaming community.

Chinatown Yokohama Versus Kobe

This free choice blog is a brief comparison between Yokohama and Kobe Chinatown. The first three images I took at Yokohama Chinatown and the two images in Kobe China Town.

History:

Chinatown Yokohama (Chukagai) opened 1859 when Japans biggest port in Yokohama opened little trading with the world until the Meji Restoration with Commander Perry. Many Chinese settlers settled in Yokohama and opened business, which eventually grew into enormous town with many settlers from China and Hong Kong. 

Kobe Chinatown (Nankinmachi) was establish about the same time 1868(Meji restoration) when Japan opened to trade with the West. Both Chinatowns had been struck by earthquakes and wars before, which stopped development for brief periods of time. 

Both Chinatowns offer unique foods to their region. Yokohama Chinatown offers Nikuman/Meat buns while Kobe offers its famous Butaman/Pork buns. However, the biggest difference is in size because Yokohama Chinatown is one of the biggest in Japan and Asia while Kobe Chinatown is very small, but they both offer a taste of traditional Chinese food and own style such as different buns.

http://www.chinatownology.com/chinatown_nankinmachi.html
http://www.chinatownology.com/chinatown_yokohama.html 

 

This is one of the main entrance gates into Chinatown in Yokohama.

 

Entrance Gate to Kobe Chinatown

Hike

This creative blog is about my hike that I took with my seminar house. The hike was planned as entertainment by my seminar house resident assistants', so seminar house residents could easily join and have fun without any expensive cost. Even though it was very tiring with all the long walks up numerous stairs, it was a great experience to see the nice forest and mountains near Hirakata City. I will explain one by one with all these fantastic photos. I shot a mix of color and black and white. The reason is that not all leaves have changed yet and, I think black and white can express more than color depending on situation.

The picture of above was taken next to a river. There is a long trail that follows a local river on the trail path up the mountain. The river was not completely polluted with garbage or anything. Going up the river trail path, there was man sitting and fishing, but it seemed like he would not be able to catch anything that day because the river was so clear, and it looked like no fish were in sight; however he was nice enough to tell us that we could fish there any day. The trail path near the river had many steps and small walk ways, so we passed a lot of Japanese Cub Scouts and others walking the path.

Only a few trees had changed to Autumn colors. This was one of them. I decided not to capture in black and white because colors would not stand out well. It was similar to some kind of oak or pine tree with the leaves. It's size was only about 20 feet height, so it was not monstrous tree.

 This is a small spider that was enjoying bugs. These spiders were everywhere along the path, but I do not think they were harmful or intruding anyone. They cut down on the mosquitoes around the trail, and spiders created a calm atmosphere.

 Theses are signs that were near the exit of the first trail path with directions to train, next, and previous paths.

 This is a photo of the exit of one the trail paths in the mountains. It is near a river bed with a waterwheel in the next photo. It was a beautiful and peaceful site, which will look nicer once the leaves have changed colors.

 Here is the waterwheel that was churning. It was blocked off, so there was no way to get close to it. It set a very tradition Japanese river setting that is away from bustling city and people in nature.

 This sign has information about the huge bridge, which spans over part of the mount gorge. It is 50 meters high and 280 meters long. The suspension bridge is made from metal and , steel, so its structure can with stand winds and earthquakes.

 The bridge sways a lot once towards the middle, so it may seem dangerous and unstable, but it was very fun to enjoy this kind of height and scenery.

This is a picture from the center of the bridge at the valley below. It was very beautiful, but I think it will look better once all the leaves have changed in a few more weeks around the 21st of November. Then, this site will be even more amazing and enjoyable to the viewer.

The purpose of this blog is to encourage site seeing in mountainous regions of Japan. Mountains are everywhere of course, but I did not appreciate them until now. Fuji-san is, of course, the most famous mountain in Japan to climb, but  it takes too much time to visit, so why not explore local mountains instead. I hope to discover more locations like this that are local and accessible. Hopefully, they have huge bridges as well.

Nachtwey and Leibovitz, Two differences

http://www.doobybrain.com/2010/03/19/james-nachtwey-photographs-tuberculosis-patients/
http://www.biography.com/articles/James-Nachtwey-38952

http://jezebel.com/5162918/vanity-fair-not-in-favor-of-naked-men
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/episodes/annie-leibovitz/life-through-a-lens/16/

James Nachtwey is a war photographer from Syracuse, New York. He served in the marines and was inspired by Vietnam War photos. He became a freelance photographer after moving back to New York from New Mexico where he was a newspaper photographer. After his first international assignment, he became renowned for traveling around the world and taking war-time photos in Russia, Africa, Asia, Middle-East and Central-America. (Bio)

I think that he is a amazing war-time and poverty photography because he travels to hostel locations where he has to encounter death and where he has the chance of facing death himself. He puts himself on the line to capture depressing and action moments that reveal the world. For example, the photo that I choose shows a man suffering from tuberculosis. The picture is solely captured by an invisible man. I think this best describes his photos. He is able to take pictures without the person focusing on the camera. He is able to capture the right expressions that reveal the true person and the moment. His photos aren't photo shopped, so they are always perfected I think. He takes numerous photos, yet he is a professing when picking out the exact photo to show the world of what he encountered. The next photographer that I am going to discuss is Annie Leibovitz. She is a totally different photographer, yet she is just as renowned as Nachtwey in her own way.

Annie Leibovitz was interested in becoming a painter until she traveled to Japan with her mom and realized that she wanted to become a photographer. She took night classes on photography and made her big break after speaking with the editor of Rolling Stones magazine over her portfolio. One of her first big photo shoots was of John Lennon and Yoko Ono before Lennon was shot, hours later. She has taken photos of hundreds of celebrities and of photographed even political figures such as the president and cabinet. She is one of the most renowned photographers in the world.(PBS)

The photo I chose is of two photos both shot by Leibovitz. First is a cover shot Vanity Fair, and the second shot is of comedians in the same pose. I found this interesting because she would do the same shot again, but the difference is that the guys are in suits because their skin is not pale enough for a "nude" photo, and that Leibovitz is huge on exact lighting of her photos. (Jezebel)

Both of these photographers are the best in the world I think because I have always seen their work in the media and magazines. They cannot be really compared to each other because they both handle photography differently. They both travel to different locations and focus on different things such as battle field, celebrities, poor, third world countries, political figures... They both use their skills to capture people in real or unreal situations to showcase around the world.

Japanese Portrait

These Japanese portraits are simple, yet they show a complex person. My Japanese friend is a Kansai Gaidai student; however, he is misleading person when he is hanging out with me and other foreign students because other Japanese students think he is foreigner sometimes because of speaking skills and looks (I will explain in more details in final paragraph). He speaks English as well as other Kansai students who have studied abroad because he enjoys watching political news shows in English and reading English websites. He watches The Daily Show, which is quite odd because it is satire news show with real news, a mixed combination. He is able to understand 90% percent of everything except some jokes that only native speaker of English will understand. Along with The Daily Show, he enjoys watching South Park. He can understand most of the jokes, which are usually related to making fun of America. I think his English comprehension is outstanding for a student who interacts with foreign students most of the time.

His English is very coherent for someone who has never gone abroad; however, he is planning on going too Los Angeles soon for vacation. I think that he will have no problems while overseas in America because of his proficient English speaking and reading skills.  I hope that he is able to have a nice time when in America. 

He does and doesn’t look Japanese. I am not sure how to explain this, but he is sometimes questioned by Japanese people when he and I meet up with others to go somewhere. Maybe, Japanese people think that he is foreign because he enjoys hanging out with study abroad students and speaking English or maybe because of his looks. He says sometimes he does not look like typical Japanese. I am not sure how to define the “typical” Japanese person. It is usual girls that ask “nihonjin desuka?,” meaning “are you Japanese?” I think he really represents true Japanese man because he does not try and look or act like “host” or “pretty boy.”

These portrait pictures only show his face and nothing else. He is pretending to sleep or to look off in distance; however, he has a lot of potential to become great English speaker and teacher someday because he is always interacting with study abroad students. I think old phrase “don’t judge a book by its cover,” works well in explaining him because I had no idea when I first met him that his English communication skills would be so great and political knowledge about US and Japan.

Neighborhood Hiraka

 This first picture is of a river that runs straight through parts of Hiraka City and appears in my neighborhood. I am not sure on the purpose, but I assume that it protects people during rainy season or typhoon season when water levels may pose a threat to the neighbor hoods and city areas.  I also think it serves as some kind of drainage for house water, but not polluted water.

I really like this river though because it is peaceful with lots of wild life. People can easily access it at some sections with stairs to walk their dog, throw their kid into the water, or to sit on the edge and relax. It is clean and enjoyable for everyone. Some parts are not pretty, but river represents city life: flowing peacefully yet always busy with work, school, or izakaya.

The spider's picture was taken at school. I think spider has a remote connection to the river because river contains many bugs, insects, toads, and other wild critters. I am not even sure where the spider came from. The point of the spider is that Japanese people don't harm bugs out of fear. Japanese people seem to gaze at them endlessly and work around them. When I ride to school through Hirakata, sometimes Japanese people are staring at spiders living in the branches of trees. "It's just a spider," I want to say to them in Japanese, but I think that they appreciate it like the river because it can protect them from other bugs, and like the river, protect them when it floods. It is hard to say what the Japanese mind thinks about.