Changing Impressions

So since you've been in Japan so long, what do you think now?....


After being in Japan for about 8 months as an International student studying Japanese and Japanese culture at Kansai Gaidai for the fall semester of 2009,
and the Spring semester of 2010, there have been some impressions of Japan that in my perspective has been instilled in me throughout my stay here.

The fact that everyone in Japan are very polite to each other and use Keigo(really formal japanese) is something at first I didnt understand and sort of arkward. But as time progressed I realized that Japanese people are in general polite because of their culture. In America, we are polite but not to the extreme that Japan is. We do not have Keigo although we have a form of speech that is polite. After being here for so long, I realize I will miss being treated with the utmost respect by everyone in their speech as opposed to the sort of formal speech that is used back home.

Another impression that is instilled in me is the fact that people take off their shoes when entering their house, room, bathroom and even certain places such as resturants and are given slippers. In America, there is no place that one will be allowed to take their shoes off except for their own house. And sometimes I realized that even some people go into their house with their shoes and even their bedroom and sit on their beds with it on! This is something I now see with a slight disgust and my instilled japanese notion of keeping things cleaned is something I will have to get used to when going back.

One last thing that I will miss will be able to see mountains and parks and shrines everywhere. The closest thing to a shrine or temple I have in America is a church, and since I live in N.Y.C, there is no mountains. Being able to look out my window or wherever I go, being able to know that behind these mass globs of buildings and concrete there is a park or mountain filled with beautiful scenery is something that will be nostalgic to me.

There are probably so many more impressions of Japan that I will miss and had made animpact on me and my life. There are times when hearing my fellow students talk to eachother about when they are leaving makes my stomache turn and make me think about everything but that has stopped me from really thinking about this topic. However, Japan has made a huge impression on how I view people, language, way of thinking, ways of doing things and just daily life that I will never forget. Living in Japan I believe has made me a more open-minded person and this experience with my friends from all over the world is something that in my heart I will never forget. I am forever grateful. Thank you Kansai Gaidai, and thank you Japan!

Osaka vs. Tokyo! 大阪 v.s東京

OSAKA大阪

TOKYO東京






During Spring break, my friends and I went to Tokyo for 4 days and 3 nights and what an experience it was! After coming back from Tokyo, and even during my stay there for that breif amount of time, I realized that there are many differences, some subtle some not between the Kanto region of Japan and the Kansai region of Japan.

In tokyo, people stand on the right side of the esculator, while in Osaka people stand on the left. When I arrived there I was suprised and kind of felt weird when standing on the opposite side of the esculator, when I was used to standing on the other side. Although, this may sound not like a big deal, the subtle difference was strange because it was like it was an un-written law that everyone knew and that their even was a difference threw all of us Kansai International students off.

The next difference was is an obvious one. Tokyo is very very very busy. Of course Tokyo has a higher population and is more condensed city in contrast to Osaka, but the when seeing gigantic crowds cross streets and crowd the train stations, it can be a little overwhelming. There was one time when my friends and I were taking the train back to our hostel in Asakusa, we saw at least 30 people run at top speed, up 5esculators while almost smacking the person standing on the esculator with their suitcase. It was 6:00am on a Friday. Boy, are Tokyo people busy!

In tokyo, there are many places to shop, as in Osaka. But in tokyo, the places to shop are way larger in area, more condensed with shops and named brand stores, and has stores that are only located in Tokyo. For an expample, Forever 21, Abercrombie and Fitch, CherCher store, and even the famous Final Fantasy store. All of the stores mentioned are only located in Tokyo. For us Kansai students, we thought it was unfair, but maybe one day they will open some of these stores in Osaka.


While on trains or even walking in the street or eating in a resturant, Tokyo people
seem more reserved and/or serious. People on the train barely speak and if they do it is extremely quiet, when walking on the street they seemed more busy and into themselves, and in resturants they seem much more quiet and restrained. In Osaka, when on the train, people talk much louder than in Tokyo. It seems like you can hear people laughing and joking with each other and the ride seems more relaxed. On the street, you hear people talking, swearing, laughing much more louder than in Tokyo. And also when in resturants, it is when I think Osaka people are at their loudest when enjoying their food with friends or family members. In tokyo, we felt like we had to be at our best behavior not to stand out more than we already did.

One last thing that was startling to me was that it seemed that a lot of people in Tokyo speak english! Yes of course, I know Tokyo is the country's capital and Industrial capital too. But the amount of people that not only spoke english but fluenty with no accent at all was really shocking. It seemed that either there were people who spoke fluent english, and there were people who didn't speak english at all. My friends and I encountered 10 people during our trip that spoke english fluently. One time when my friends and I were on the train heading to Shibuya at night to see the nightlife scene, we were talking to each other about all the things that we can do there. All of a sudden this young Japanese guy, that looked around our age, spoke to us saying "So what are you guys up to tonight?" was very suprising. After talking to him for about 5 minutes or so, I asked him if he was Japanese, and he said yes. When I asked him how was his english so good, he just told me he studied. That was it. And of course these just studying english japanese people we encountered spoke it fluently that we were suprised and not at the same time. My friends and I wondered at that time that how can people who study abroad to learn japanese live in tokyo, where a lot of people speak english? In Osaka, not many people besides college students speak english, and most are not even as fluent as the people in Tokyo.

In all, there are much more differences and similarties about Tokyo and Osaka, but my experience there made me realize that there are slight differences in the culture,
and way of doing things that are not the same in the Kansai area. Of course the dialect as well. Tokyo people speak the standard Japanese called Kanto-ben. And Kansai people speak Kansai-ben. As an internation student of course we are learning the standard Japanese in class, but when we get out and speak to our japanese friends outside of class, Kansai-ben is where it is at!

なんでやね～?！ Kansai-ben 　　=What are you doing? (nan de ya nen)
なんをしてんの？！ Tokyo-ben =What are you doing? (nan o shite iru no)
あほ Kansai-ben = Stupid/Fool (aho)
ばか Tokyo =Stupid/Fool (baka)

Hanako-the ghost in the girl's bathroom

The boogy man is going to get cha!....

In japan there is a famous and well known ghost named Hanako. She is a young girl who resides in the 3rd stall of the girl's bathroom. Usually, she is believed to be in almost every girl's bathroom in Junior High School. When I asked a couple of the Japanese Kansai Gaidai students, they told me that in their old school there was a Hanako. When I asked them if they believed it, many stated that they did at the time but now isn't so sure. Fewer said yes and even fewer said no.

So what is the story of Hanako? There are many slightly different interpretations of Hanako throughout Japan but here is one version in a short article about Hanako by Ron Hogan.

"She’s called Toire no Hanako-san, or Hanako of the Toilet, and she’s a Japanese ghost that haunts girls’ bathrooms all over Japan. The third stall on the third floor of any school? That’s her toilet, and don’t you go using it, missy!

Unlike the other Japanese urban legend about Sony’s built-in failure clock, there’s nothing much to support the existence of Hanako. She’s just a girl in a red dress with bobbed hair. If you knock on the third stall door and ask if she’s in there, she’ll say in a meek voice, “Yes, I am here.” If you open the door up after that? Well, she grabs you and pulls you into the toilet, where presumably you die. She’s also been seen as a lizard, a summonable ghost like Bloody Mary, and a giant bloody white hand that will pull you in, depending on where you are when you hear the legend of Hamako. Sounds like classic urban legend stuff to me!"

http://www.popfi.com/2010/04/15/hanako-of-the-toilet-a-bathroom-haunting-ghost/

Another slightly different version of who Hanako is in another article by Billy Hammond. "There is a story about a school ghost named "Hanako-san"(Hanako-chan) that is familiar to most elementary school students in Japan. According to a show I saw on TV about it, variations of it exist throughout the country. In most of the stories, a young girl named Hanako hangs out in school restrooms, mysteriously opening and closing doors of the toilet stalls. If her name is called, she appears and then frightening things occur.

This tale has created so much fear among elementary school students that some students refrain from using the restroom to the point of failure. Japanese elementary school restrooms have a reputation for being poorly lighted and smelly, which may contribute to this as well.

In response, the Asahi Shinbun (May 13, 2002) reports that progress is being made to address the 5 problem points of school restrooms, which are summarized as "dirty, smelly, dark, frightening and being in disrepair".

According to the article, Izumi City in Osaka has recently revamped the facilities for the lower grades. They have put sensors to allow automatic flushing of the boy's bathroom urinals and sound effect devices to muffle noise in the girl's bathroom at the city's Midorigaoka Elementary School. They have also installed Western-style toilets with hot water washlets there. Other improvements include increasing the height of stall walls to the ceiling to prevent peeping as well as stronger lighting.

The cost of all these improvements? Over 20,000,000 yen (about $156,250.00 U.S. at 128 yen to the dollar) for a single school. They have finished improvements at 4 of the city's elementary and intermediate schools.

What about Hanako-san? She needn't worry - there are still lots of other school restrooms left in Japan that haven't been targeted for renovation."

http://www.tanutech.com/japan/hanako.html


In my Death in East Asian Thought class that I am taking this semester, my professor told us that perhaps Hanako is a representation of how stressed students are in taking exams during that age, so maybe a little girl went suicide because she couldn't handle the pressure. Or maybe according to Frued, it represents young women's fears in their upcoming menustration. Who knows? Maybe all of the above or maybe she is real.


So do you believe in Hanako? I am not sure if there is a Hanako in college, but all I know is that when I enter a bathroom in my college in Osaka, I will not call out her name to see if she is real. Thank goodness we have the western styled toilets in our school! Unless....she can still haunt those too...

Life as a student in Japan

Life as a student in Japan I believe is a very interesting and rewarding experience because coming from a westerner's perspective, there are a lot of differences and similarities when studying abroad in Japan as opposed to studying back in our own country's college.

A typical day for a Kansai Gaidai student is to wake up early for Spoken Japanese and/or not Japanese Reading and Writing class, which is taken places between 9:00am to 12:00pm depending on your schedule. Japanese classes are scheduled Monday through Friday, with the exception of Japanese Reading and Writing which is held only 3 times a week. After morning classes of course depending on your schedule you would have 2 other chosen Asian Studies/Business/Politics/Art classes to go to. These classes ranging in different periods are between 1:15pm through 4:40pm.

In between classes, students are seen in the computer lab finishing papers or browsing the interenet, in the lounge talking to various international students or japanese friends, or taking a nap, or eating lunch. Outside you can see more students talking outside or in the smoking area. Throughout the campus there are many oppurtunites to speak japanese to the japanese students that are running to class, eating lunch at the shokudou(cafeteria) or hanging about.


As a student here, this school has a type of homely atmosphere in which one can be comfortable and relaxed. Comparing this type of atmosphere to my own college back in New York City, there is a sort of diferent air to it. Of course, students are taking among a huge variety of courses in different things related to their major. However, most of the students tend to go straight home as apposed to hang out on campus with their friends. My college back home has a air of busyness quality to it, in which making new friends to practice another language, like it is here is very strange. However, this is study abroad and what I mentioned before is normal and expected.


After classes are over, International students usually ride their bikes home or walk or take the bus back to the seminar houses (there are 4), to their host family's house or back to their own apartments. In my college, students usually take the bus or train or walk back to their apartments, dorm or house but not to a host family's house.

However the big difference in studying abroad than going to school back home, is obvious yet true. Being in another country, forced to speak another language, with a different culture and ways of doing things can make a student feel overwhelmed. However, school is where we learn most about Japan and its culture and language, so we learn how to cope with the things we don't understand around us (in our regular classes) and learn how to communicate to get around (Japanese classes) that makes our lives here always exciting knowing that there is always something new to explore and discover. Back in our own universities, of course we know what to expect because we grew up in that culture, we speak the native language of our country and things are less exciting and risky and experince things that are more normal to us. I believe that every person should experience studying abroad in another country because I believe it makes you a more rounded and open-minded person and it makes you have an experience of a lifetime that you will never forget.

In Japan, hanami is the time in spring when the cherry blossom bloom in which millions of Japanese people such as, Kaishyain(company employees), families, friends, students, and even tourist come to Japan to see and enjoy the beauty of the flowers, and have a picnic underneath the trees to drink and socialize. It is a old traditional custom for Japan to flower watch the cherry blossoms, and from my experience in going to Kyoto to Kyomizudera, I can see why. The cherry blossoms bloom in Japan from mid-Januaury to early May, starting from the lower regions of Japan like Kyuushyu and then, it works it way up throught the main land until the top.

The origin of hanami started when "Emperor Saga of the Heian Period adopted this practice, and held flower-viewing parties with sake and feasts underneath the blossoming boughs of sakura trees in the Imperial Court in Kyoto. Poems would be written praising the delicate flowers, which were seen as a metaphor for life itself, luminous and beautiful yet fleeting and ephemeral. This was said to be the origin of hanami in Japan." (1)

When I went to Kyoto, I noticed on the trail to the actual temple, there were many stands with people selling sweets, and ice-cream, various types of foods to yukata and kimono and charms. Most of these stands where colored with pink and green decorations which were colors that symbolized spring in Japan. When I reached the temple, and after I paied 500yen ($5.00 dollars) for the entrance ticket, there were thousands of people who were walking around taking photos of the beautiful scenery of lit up cherry blossom trees. In that particular place, drinkin sake was not allowed, however people were socializing with each other, taking a lot of pictures, praying at the temple, and just enjoying the scenery. There were people of all ages and from all different places from Japan. There was a couple of times I heard Okayama-ben(Japanese dialect from Okayama) and regular Kanto-ben (standard Japanese)and of course Kansai-ben(Japanese dialect from the Kansai area). There were also a good amount of forigeners sprinkled about which also varied from old to young. After you enter the temple and finish walking around its many paths of beautiful cherry blossom trees and reach the end of the trail, the exit from the temple leaves you back to the many stands that littered the paths leading back to the temple. Hanami is a very visually inspiring and breathtaking event that I would recommend even people who live in different coutnries, to come to Japan and witness at least one time in their lives.







(1)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanami
(2) first picture taken from: http://chip.lv/onelife/uploads/2008/03/cherry_blossom_.jpg

Annie Leibovitz and James Natchwey

Annie Leibovitz and James Natchwey are both very talented photographers that are famous in their both respective fields of photography. Leibovitz is well known for her photography of famous celebrities and vanity fair art, while Natchey is well known for his famous war photography of various wars and poverty from all around the world. Leibovitz photography is more artificial in a way that it is very pretty, and pop culture related. Natchwey’s photography is more natural and he uses black and white for his pictures. Both artists’ uses several different techniques in their photography to portray what they want convey to their audience. However there are a few similarities in the tactics that these photographers do to get the images they want to capture.



Leibovitz in this photo uses an array of bold lighting to compliment her model’s dress and pose and in a way in which she blurs the image of the background behind her in such a dramatic way, so that the focus of the picture is on the model and her appearance. The background colors is a very earthy brown and yellow which is very appealing and classic to the setting of the picture, but is not such a bold color as to over compliment or clash with the model and her outfit. The model’s dress in this photograph is very flashy and yet very elegant which draws out and creates a certain type of illusion of the model’s personality to the audience, which then the observer’s attention draws to her first before the rest of the picture. The model herself is very relaxed but not overly-posed, as if this shot was taken right before the curtains had closed down. However, even though the model is the main focus of the picture, her face is not directly facing the camera, which ironically plays off with her surroundings and makes the picture in itself seem more natural, more open to herself and her setting which makes it more appealing to the observer’s eye. Leibovitz photograph seems to capture the essence of elegancy and fame, and creates such a rich and famous attitude and personality to the extent that people will be in awe of the beauty of the star, her appearance, her richness, her outfit and yet also leaves enough to the imagination to them, so that they would wonder what is she looking at, what kind of person she is and where this photo had taken place.



The people’s faces in Natchwey’s photograph cannot be seen but the point of the picture is more than understood. It is clear that these two men are suffering from poverty and malnutrition. The use of this photo being in black and white to me seems to make the image more intense and raw as appose to it simply being put in color. The black and white brings out the important aspect of the point of the picture as to dramatize and highlight the important parts of the picture in such a way that the observer cannot miss. The man showering in this picture is doing so in a way that majority of us who are privileged are very used to, however, not in his certain condition. Natchwey in this photo captures a very malnourished man showering, briefly nude but with sadly all of his bones in perfect vision for the observer to see. He didn’t need to capture him stretching or doing something that would emphasize his state of being, but something more natural which makes the picture more powerful. He also didn’t have to capture the men’s faces but the emotion is evident in the picture without it because capturing the man’s state of being is louder than words. The other man in the wheelchair next to him with the man’s hand on his head action is not quiet clear, but Natchwey captures this moment in such a way, that it leaves the obvserver to question what exactly is going on in this picture. Is it a clinic? Is that man a doctor or a nurse that is helping the other man? All of this is something that Natchwey leaves up to the audience to figure out.

Annie Leibovitz and James Natchwey similarities are that they are very hands on with their work. Leibovitz when taking pictures blends in with the crowd of people she is taking pictures of and, takes so many random pictures of them doing natural things that through the course of the day, they don’t even realize they are getting photographed. While Natchwey because of his setting doesn’t necessarily blend in with the people around him, but more like respectfully shoots quietly in, out, and around the situation. Both photographers capture and emphasizes to the full extent their respective fields of work through their photographs. Annie Leibovitz captures the glamour and beauty which speaks to you when you look at her pictures while James Natchwey’s photos does the same but with the different type of message.

"I have been a witness, and these pictures are

my testimony. The events I have recorded should

not be forgotten and must not be repeated."

-James Nachtwey-

(quote taken from: http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://s45.radikal.ru/i107/0812/28/7f3a84182470.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.graf.ge/lofiversion/index.php/t361.html&usg=__xFVWV3MHFlfrBXcrv7bkWPfTK6k=&h=363&w=539&sz=40&hl=en&start=229&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=YIJvUliakvHEuM:&tbnh=89&tbnw=132&prev=/images%3Fq%3Djames%2Bnachtwey%26start%3D216%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26sa%3DN%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26channel%3Ds%26ndsp%3D18%26tbs%3Disch:1)

Neighborhood Hirakata枚方市の近所

A window into society
Our enviroment
Public and private spaces
The world that surrounds us
Recording social interaction
People's perceptions
Special moements...

After living in Hirakata-shi (枚方市)for the past 6 months I have come to realize many unique and interesting things about this small suburban type area. It is a very tranquil and peaceful place to live in. Coming here for the first time, everything looked so new and unfamilar to me but, as the months rolled by I started to appreciate and notice some things about my surroundings. If one would come to Hirakata, one would notice all of the houses and apartment buildings that are scattered around the place. Even though Japan around the world has the reputation of being one of the most modern and technologically advanced country in the world, this place still manages to keep its traditional aspects intact, such as their traditional Japanese houses. Even the apartment buildings still manages to have some kind of Japaneseness to them. Hirakata has this type of homely atmosphere when walking down the narrow streets.　You can see kids playing in the park with their familes and friends, (in which the name of the park till this day I do not know the name of. We ryuugakusei(留学生international students) call it beer park) Obaachans (おばちゃんOld ladies) carrying tons of plastic bags coming back from grocery shopping, junior high school students racing their friends on their bicycles (自転車), and even the occasional loud and fashionable daigakusei(大学生college students)rushing to class from getting off the bus. Hirakata is a modern and yet traditional community. On the other hand, sadly for me Hirakata as I know it does not celebrate festivals here unless, one might count the little fairs that randomly spring up in the beer park from time to time. Comparing this to my busy city life in N.Y.C, Hirakata is a very calm and sort of close-knit community. You can see how this might be a small problem for us excited and adventurous ryugakusei（留学生international students). One example would be respecting the community by being quite after 10:00pm on any night, especially after coming home from drinking from karaoke or coming back from partying in Osaka(大阪). However, there is a place where we ryugakusei can be more loud and ourselves. If you head down to Hirakata-shi eki (Hirakata train station枚方市駅), you can see more young adults and teenagers there. For example,　you can see young people breakdancing at all hours of the nite, shopping at saty(a mall), friends going or coming from the infamous ringu (Karaoke place), or friends laughing and talking from coming from a local izakaya(bar).This area is more popular with us ryuugakusei to talk with each other and the local residents. In all, Hirakata is a good place for one to focus on school or their daily lives and relax in. It has a certain charm and like I stated before, homelyness to it. Even with us ryuugakusei, whom have come thousands of miles away from different countries from around the world, after a few weeks I honestly think that we can genuinely call this place 'home'.

First Impressions of Japan

Since I have been here in Japan for the past 5 long and adventorous months, I came to realize that I have come to the point in which I can understand and appreciate Japanese culture a lot more than when I first arrived.

Of course the first thing to come to everyone's minds when it comes to Japan is Anime, Manga, Cosplay, Karaoke. Of course that's what I thought too but, after going to school in Kansai Gaidai University


and traveling around the Kansai Area, and experiencing Japan with my own two eyes, I have come to believe that this country holds a lot of unique and interesting traditional places and not so traditional places that would have any new comer who comes to Japan jaw drop in awe.






Sightseeing in the ancient capital of Japan, Kyoto in one of the most famous
Temples called Kyoumizu-tera. I discovered how now, even after centuries when this temple was built, the Japanese people still have a grasp of their old customs and traditins by going to see and pay respect to these temples.







After experiencing my first Fetival in Japan called the Aki-matsuri(あき祭り）located somewhere in Korea town Osaka, celebrates every year the coming of the Fall season in Japan. I witnessed how involved the Japanese comunity (young and old) were keeping their traditional customs and ways alive by participating in these kinds of events. Seeing how the men still carried their centuries old shrine on their backs and wearing traditional garbs chanting while parading down a two-way street was spectacular to me. Also seeing how the women wearing traditional clothes and dancing and cheering the men on was exciting and new to me. Every where you would look there was something new and interesting to see, smell, touch and buy (fesitval food).
Even when most of the world's perspective of Japan and myself before thought of Japan of being a highly techinical society, after witnessing this festival, it is clear to see that they are still rooted to their old ways of celebrating their ancient customs.

However, festivals, temples and shrines are not everything that has recreated my image and impression of Japan since I have been here. There is one cultural aspect of Japan that was deeply rooted in Japanese society centuries ago and still is now. It is something that everyone in the world has heard of, seen, and most likely tasted. And that is, alcohol or known as in Japanese as Osake お酒.






Osake is located pretty much anywhere. From your everyday neighboorhood 711, to the random izakayas (Bar) sprinkled around pretty much everywhere,(such as Torikizoku located in Hirakatashi) is something that I didn't realize I would see a lot. Even in vending machines people can buy beer or liquor anytime they want.(Well in between the hours of 8am to 12am) By the easy access and availabilty of Alcohol that is apparent everywhere in Japan, it is obvious to see that the cosumption of it is clearly a normal thing. When I came here I was shocked by the availibilty and how convienent all of this is to the Japanese society. But after living here for some time I learned to know that it is so common to drink in Japan, that even salarymen often go with their bosses afterwork and drink together in Izakayas on weekends and weekdays. This now to me is something not uncommon but something just normal and apart of their culture.

The above I have listed is just a peice of what my impression of Japan is to me. It is indeed a techno savvy, massive consumer of fashion, products, music and other goods and is a very modern country as a whole. However, my impression of the whole of Japan is something more. I am in awe that they can be one of the most well known modern and advanced country in the world, that can still hold on to their deep roots of heritage culture, traditions and culture that was thriving many centuries ago and is still in full throttle still today.