A look into the Japanese Culture – FINAL DRAFT
A person as a part of a community generally is not aware of how different his life and habits may seem to others. In this writing project I will describe and explain the Japanese Culture. Even though, I live far away from Japan their culture amazes me. Luckily, I do not need to go far away to learn from Japanese Culture, this research will gather facts from three concrete sources:
- A Japanese Culture Festival field notes
- Interviews done to people in the Japanese Culture Festival
- A book about Japanese Culture known as: “A Geek in Japan” by Hector García.
Whether you live in North America or in South America (my case) you will find that Japanese Culture has many interesting points and good things to learn from. Also you may be surprised by other habits that are only possible in Japan or when interacting with a Japanese person.
In July 8, 2017 a Japanese Festival known as Kokoro Fest was held in the in the cultural centre of a university in Quito, Ecuador. Sure there are some Japanese or anime related festivals, but what makes this one special is that it is actually organized by Japanese people. I first came to know about it two years ago when my Japanese teacher—one of the main organizers—talked about it and made me part of it. It surely was a great experience, I was in charge of the Curry, an adapted Japanese meal from Britain. However, this time I will have the chance to explore the Kokoro Fest from an outside perspective and describe it to you.
A man was standing in the stage of a middle sized auditorium that has mostly white shapes, he was wearing a formal clothing that looked surprisingly comfortable—something that doesn’t happen when someone from occidental culture wears something formal like a tuxedo. Shiozuru Ryohei was wearing a Japanese formal clothing known as Yukata and he was speaking on behalf of the Japanese Embassy. As someone who has lived some years in Ecuador by now, he explained how aware he was of the differences between cultures. One of the most notorious examples he gave was that in Japan you can walk at night without fear of being robbed. I’m not sure of how things are in the country you live, but in Ecuador you just cannot walk at night without the fear of being robbed or worse. The Japanese Embassy representative also talked about the biggest phenomenon for what Japan is mostly known for, anime. He mentioned three anime series that represented the love Japan has for robotics, their ancestral believes and the idea of helping whoever is in trouble. In the end of his presentation, Shiozuru Ryohei talked about how World War II influenced in their culture, developing a cooperation spirit that would raise them from the ashes. Part of this spirit was to give priority to investments in cooperation economy rather than military forces. By the moment the presentation was coming to an end I saw a logo displayed on the stage screen, it was a beautiful and creative idea. The combination of two symbolic icons of both cultures—Ecuadorian and Japanese—which were the Andean Condor and the Origami Crane known as Orizuru. This logo was created to commemorate the 100 years of collaboration between Japan and Ecuador that will be celebrated the next year.
Now that we reached the Origami Crane topic, I would like to share an interesting fact I learnt from my Japanese teacher, if you fold one thousand origami cranes the legend says you will be granted with a wish. Is there something you want so bad that you would fold one thousand origami pieces?
The Japanese Embassy representative recommended to visit their stand, so I decided to go and visit that one, on the second floor, before the other stands. It was on a white room filled with an exposition of photographs about Japan’s most representative places and practices. On the bottom of the room there were some tables with some papers. Those papers were quizzes to find out how much you know about Japan, I decided to test my knowledge, sadly I forgot to come back to the stand later to get my grade. On the same floor there was also a Yukata stand, where you could try the experience of using the formal Japanese clothes I mentioned before.
When I went back to the first floor I found more Japanese related stands, this floor shared the same white style as the one I described before. The first stand I could see was about Origami, and ancient art about paper folding. There were also stands about anime accessories, Japanese language, Japanese writing and a Japanese game known as GO. The next white room, had five more stands: Cosplay (costume play), a “Travel to Japan” agency, Ikebana (art with flowers), Karate and Japan related stuff like books and accessories. At the end of this room was the entrance to stairs that leaded to Japanese food. In this room, also white, was a lot of people and the smell of food was all around it. The people selling the food were all Japanese.
I will focus on describing three of the stands I just mentioned given that I had the opportunity to interview the people who where there.
The Origami stand was one of the most notorious, on the top of the table that was covered with a blue tablecloth were standing different sized Master Yoda figures, dragons and many other creations. All of them made of paper with an incredible attention to details. The creator of all the little paper wonders was Jonathan Oña. It turned out that he has learned about the origami practices 10 years ago when he got sick with flu during vacations. In order to escape from boredom he started reading his dad’s books about origami and that’s how he began. When I asked him about the relation he sees between origami and the Japanese Culture he said that it has helped him to improve his memory, and he believes that this is a reason for children in Japan to be taught origami at early ages. He also noticed himself becoming more organized through the practice of Origami figures that would demand around 300 steps.
Jonathan thinks that the Japanese Culture is underrated for being only and commonly related with anime and cosplay, and in his case with origami. But, as he says, Japanese Culture goes beyond, and the benefits that can come out from its influence are enormous, specially in spiritual and philosophic fields.
Almost in the front of the Origami stand was a stand surrounded by many papers with symbols beautifully written. If you wanted your name written in Japanese you only had to pay $0.50 dollar cents. Karen Kogushi, one of the calligraphers in the stand, said that calligraphy is part of Japanese education and that even when she sincerely admitted that she does not like the practice, she manifested that one of the main purposes of it was to become a calm and thorough person. Kenji, Karen’s brother, also contributed to the interview, he manifested that from his point of view there is little influence from Japan in Ecuador. Besides food, like sushi, he has not being able to find much more from Japan in the three years he has been living in Ecuador. He thinks that the reason for this can be that there are not many Japanese people currently living in Ecuador, therefore there is not much cultural interchange. But he sees this situation as a work in progress and hopes to see more Japanese restaurants in the future as well as other cooperation projects.
At the beginning of the second white room that was on the first floor there was a stand that stood out. Although there were interesting pictures and illustrations on the table, what stood out the most was a blue haired person with a semi-militarized Japanese outfit. He was Guillermo Guevara, who started in the world of cosplay (costume-play) back in 2009. He is an Industrial Designer and he has been able to apply many of his career knowledge into cosplay. It has also helped him to meet people who share the same interests, that is how he met his wife.
Guillermo explained that there is a misconception about the idea of cosplay being originated in Japan. As a matter of fact, the cosplay practice was born in the United States and it was not known by its actual name neither practiced in Japan until it was spread and named by manga artist (mangaka). Guillermo admires the Japanese Culture a lot. He likes the value of punctuality that Japanese people have as well as the level of life organization. He also talked about the relevance that Japanese old people have—as people of great experience and source of knowledge—and that is sadly contrasted with the way older people are considered in most countries in Latin America. Another important point Guillermo likes is the sense of belonging and pride Japanese people feel about their country, culture and even history. As for the character he was “cosplaying” he manifested that was “Shokudaikiri Mitsutada” from a Japanese video game known as “Touken Ranbu”. However, his cosplay was not entirely complete because of norms of safety of the event and the current conditions. He also mentioned that the video game “Touken Ranbu” brings to life famous historical swords from Japan.
Sadly, I wasn’t able to witness the Kendo demonstration that was included in the Kokoro Fest schedule. However I will share information from someone who lives in Japan and that has a close perspective of it. Hector García, he is from Spain and wrote a book about Japanese Culture known as “A geek in Japan.” In his book Hector talks about Kendo, a martial art that makes use of a sword and it means “sword way.”
“Through the practice of any martial art perfection, inner peace and improvement of the relationship between master and disciple are sought.”
–Hector García
The martial arts in Japan are used to improve the life and values of the person who practices it.
I have being able to share a little part of Japanese Culture with you. It is incredible how an event can hold so much culture. With no doubt, occidental and oriental cultures have differences, but thanks to the ease of communication and travel that technology has brought to us we can take advantage and learn the best practices to improve our lifestyle.
Interviews:
- Jonathan Oña, personal interview July 8, 2017
- Karen and Kenji Kogushi, personal interview July 8, 2017
- Guillermo Guevara, personal interview July 8, 2017
A look into the Japanese Culture – ROUGH DRAFT
A person as a part of a community generally is not aware of how different his life and habits may seem to others. In this writing project I will describe and explain the Japanese Culture. Even though, I live far away from Japan their culture amazes me. Luckily, I do not need to go far away to learn from Japanese Culture, this research will gather facts from three concrete sources:
- A Japanese Culture Festival field notes
- Interviews done to people in the Japanese Culture Festival
- A book about Japanese Culture known as: “A Geek in Japan” by Hector García.
Whether you live in North America or in South America (my case) you will find that Japanese Culture has many interesting points and good things to learn from. Also you may be surprised by other habits that are only possible in Japan or when interacting with a Japanese person.
In July 8th, 2018 a Japanese Festival known as Kokoro Fest was held in the in the cultural centre of an university in Quito, Ecuador. Sure there are some Japanese or anime related festivals, but what makes this one special is that it is actually organized by Japanese people. I first came to know about it two years ago when my Japanese teacher—one of the main organizers—talked about it and made me part of it. It surely was a great experience, I was in charge of the Curry, an adapted Japanese meal from Britain. However, this time I will have the chance to explore the Kokoro Fest from an outside perspective and describe it to you.
A man was standing in the stage of a middle sized auditorium that has mostly white shapes, the man was wearing a formal clothing that looked surprisingly comfortable—something that doesn’t happen when someone from occidental culture wears something formal like a tuxedo. Shiozuru Ryohei was wearing a Japanese formal clothing known as Yukata and he was speaking on behalf of the Japanese Embassy. As someone who has lived some years in Ecuador by now, he explained how aware he was of the differences between cultures. One of the most notorious examples he gave was that in Japan you can walk at night without fear of being robbed. I’m no sure of how things are in the country you life, but in Ecuador you just cannot walk at night without the fear of being robbed or worse. The Japanese Embassy representative also talked about the biggest phenomenon for what Japan is mostly known for, anime. He mentioned 3 anime series that represented the love Japan has for robotics, their ancestral believes and the idea of helping whoever is in trouble. In the end of his presentation, Shiozuru Ryohei talked about how World War II influenced in their culture, developing a cooperation spirit that would be raise them from the ashes. Part of this spirit was to give priority to investments in cooperation economy than military forces. By the moment the presentation was coming to an end I saw a logo displayed on the stage screen, it was a beautiful and creative idea. The combination of two symbolic icons of both cultures—Ecuadorian and Japanese—which were the Andean Condor and the Origami Crane known as Orizuru. This logo was created to commemorate the 100 years of collaboration between Japan and Ecuador that will be celebrated the next year.
Now that we reached the Origami Crane topic, I would like to share an interesting fact I learnt from my Japanese teacher, if you fold one thousand origami cranes the legend says you will be granted with a wish. Is there something you want so bad that you would fold one thousand origami pieces?
The Japanese Embassy representative recommended to visit their stand, so I decided to go and visit that one, on the second floor, before the other stands. it was on a white room filled with an exposition of photographs about Japan’s most representative places and practices. On the bottom of the room there were some tables with some papers. Those papers were quizzes to find out how much you know about Japan, I decided to test my knowledge, sadly I forgot to come back to the stand later to get my grade. On the same floor there was also a Yukata stand, where you could try the experience of using the formal Japanese clothes I mentioned before.
When I went back to the first floor I found more Japanese related stands, this floor shared the same white style as the one I described before. The first stand I could see was about Origami, and ancient art about paper folding. There were also stands about anime accessories, Japanese language, Japanese writing and a Japanese game known as GO. The next white room, had five more stands: Cosplay (costume play), Travel to Japan, Ikebana (art with flowers), Karate and Japan related stuff like books and accessories. At the end of this room was the entrance to stairs that leaded to Japanese food. In this room, also white, was a lot of people and the smell of food was all around it. The people selling the food were all Japanese.
I will focus on describing three of the stands I just mentioned given that I had the opportunity to interview the people who where there.
Origami experience
This was one of the most notorious stands, on the top of the table that was covered with a blue tablecloth were standing different sized Master Yoda figures, dragons and many other creations. All of them made of paper with an incredible attention to details. The creator of all the little paper wonders was Jonathan Oña. It turned out that he has learned about the origami practices 10 years ago when he got sick with flu during vacations. In order to escape from boredom he started reading his dad’s books about origami and that’s how he began. When I asked him about the relation he sees between origami and the Japanese Culture he said that it has helped him to improve his memory, and he believes that this is a reason for children in Japan to be taught origami at early ages. He also noticed himself becoming more organized through the practice of Origami figures that would demand around 300 steps.
Jonathan thinks that the Japanese Culture is underrated for being only and commonly related with anime and cosplay, and in his case with origami. But, as he says, Japanese Culture goes beyond, and the benefits that can come out from its influence are enormous, specially in spiritual and philosophic fields.
Calligraphy as an art
The calligraphy stand was was one of the most visited, it was a table surrounded by many papers with symbols beautifully written. If you wanted your name written in Japanese you only had to pay $0.50 dollar cents. Karen Kogushi, one of the calligraphers in the stand, said that calligraphy is part of Japanese education and that even when she sincerely admitted that she does not like the practice, she manifested that one of the main purposes of it was to become a calm and thorough person.
Kenji, Karen’s brother, also contributed to the interview, he manifested that from his point of view there is little influence from Japan in Ecuador. Besides food, like sushi he has not being able to find much more from Japan in the three years he has been living in Ecuador. He thinks that the reason for this can be that there are not many Japanese people currently living in Ecuador, therefore there is not much cultural interchange. But he sees this situation as a work in progress and hopes to see more Japanese restaurants in the future as well as other cooperation projects.
Cosplay as a lifestyle
At the beginning of the second white room that was on the first floor there was an stand that stood out. Although there were interesting pictures and illustrations on the table, what stood out the most was a blue haired person with a semi-militarized Japanese outfit. He was Guillermo Guevara, who started in the world of cosplay (costume-play) back in 2009. He is an Industrial Designer and he has been able to apply many of his career knowledge into cosplay. It has also helped him to meet people who share the same interests, that is how he met his wife.
Guillermo explained that there is a misconception about the idea of cosplay being originated in Japan. As a matter of fact, the cosplay practice was born in the United States and it was not known by its actual name neither practiced in Japan until it was spread and named by manga artist (mangaka).
Guillermo admires the Japanese Culture a lot. He likes the value of punctuality that Japanese people have as well as the level of life organization. He also talked about the relevance that Japanese old people have—as people of great experience and source of knowledge—and that is sadly contrasted with the way older people are considered in most countries in Latin America. Another important point Guillermo likes is the sense of belonging and pride Japanese people feel about their country, culture and even history.
As for the character he was “cosplaying” he manifested that was “Shokudaikiri Mitsutada” from a Japanese video game known as “Touken Ranbu”. However, his cosplay was not entirely complete because of norms of safety of the event and the current conditions. He also mentioned that the video game “Touken Ranbu” brings to life famous historical swords from Japan.
The way of the sword
Sadly, I wasn’t able to witness the Kendo demonstration that was included in the Kokoro Fest schedule. However I will share information from someone who lives in Japan and that has a close perspective of it. Hector García, he is from Spain and wrote a book about Japanese Culture known as “A geek in Japan.”
In his book Hector talks about Kendo, a martial art that makes use of an sword and it means “sword way.”
“Through the practice of any martial art perfection, inner peace and improvement of the relationship between master and disciple are sought.”
–Hector García
The martial arts in Japan are used to improve the life and values of the person who practices it.
To conclude, it is incredible how an event can hold so much culture. With no doubt, occidental and oriental cultures have differences, but thanks to the ease of communication and travel that technology has brought to us we can take advantage and learn the best practices to improve our lifestyle.
Jorge Calle 