My first impression of Japan is that…this is no longer a book, a movie or an anime. Not a fake Habachi grill and scoring some low priced pocky at the local Asian food market.
Or whatever the mass market has sold to my interest.
Or whatever the mass market has sold to my interest.
Or how much this culture and history are so different from my own that I have all I want to do is know more and more and not only understand its complexities but in Japan’s own tongue.
My first impression of Japan is that this is some place real.
My first impression of Japan is that this is some place real.
Some where I finally have the chance to touch it. Although whatever previous opinions and knowledge are second hand and what is first had, is big enough to carry both of them or more. And even though I can walk on the streets myself instead of looking at them from street snaps and Google earth I feel woozy in everyday structures.
Rigid terms of manners and interaction. The nail sticks up saying isn’t really applied and the beautiful straight line architecture and precise procedures for everyday life are just as complicated and chaotic inside the ones who live here every day and there is much less straight laced East Asian imaginations coming to life.
My impression is everything I have read, and the rules that I was given to follow in orientation.
Keeping to the left and no eating and drinking on the streets…
Be quiet on the train and direct eye contact is rude…
Be quiet on the train and direct eye contact is rude…
Having an open mind I can assume that such things, especially in the younger generation, are in reality less opaque then what Westerners are told.
But what is this guided, clean and systemic aesthetic? I still see…
Maybe it’s the outgoing Kansai region that emphasizes being known to speak loud and eat well surrounded in Japanese tradition…
My first moments in Osaka, driving to school…I am from the outside and looking and reflecting on the other side. Literally. Tired and lacked any perception of time I sat looking out the window from a point of passenger direction I was not used to. It’s so different here but it’s not culture shock.
It’s the fact that everything is so unique but together the elements are nearly the same.
The strategic “boxed curves” of nearly every car, the confident passing a pedestrian on a bike.
Never a slip.
It’s not simply the vending machines, the bright advertisements and layered fashion among the small sidewalks shines and traditional graveyards.
The roads, streets and the paths that we follow to get here and the ones we take to understand this culture. I take note on the sidewalks, crossings, and train tracks.
The hallways we follow to get we are we need to go
The transportation and that when I look at everyone’s face I wonder where in this place they fit into and where are they going. How do they live here, and how can I also?
The process of getting around Japan is not so much difficult but strangely just a unique way of its own to travel. To me.
Not a link but a video, not the lyrics but the music video
This visual was close to my impression, nearly how I almost saw Japan at first.
Art-School music video: Lost in the Air
Great beginning to your blog. Interesting observations and impressions. I like your photos. Like the video a lot as well. I look forward to your future posts.
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