Response From Gravity

Changing Impressions

2009-05-15T08:54:00.000-07:00

When I first started to join groups, I stood from the outside...

I think that my changing impression around my end of 4 months in Japan is losing all my previous impressions or opinions. I had read so many books, seen so many shows…I study East Asia…

But maybe I could have never been more wrong.

Just learning cultural aspects from the past are not good enough and even though I tried to keep in tune with Japanese pop media it only obscured my view from all the different kinds of people that make up this country.

When I first came I felt like there was glass wall between me and every Japanese person I saw, I silly I know…they’re people too just me. But I don’t know how to explain it.

Maybe seeing everyone, made me realize I was in Japan. Through this glass I tried to communicate and even though I was showing who I truly was I still left something in between us because maybe even after all my studies I didn’t know how to interact interculturally. But that is what I learned…in this generation it is not that different and everyone is so globally aware…or affected even if they don’t know it. We are mesh and blend together. Of course there are still ethnic differences that differ us but not divide. Americans are still generally loud and out going on a wide scale here and the Japanese still express aimai- or ambiguity in communication. But I think I let these differences act as barricades. And my changing impression is that we’re not that separate after all, everything in my culture isn’t opposite of Japan’s but expressed differently. I mean I know this sounds like talking in circles but I hope you can visualize this. I stopped seeing the people of Japan as objects and as no one different from myself.

Because they speak Japanese and I have studied Japan’s history it seemed more so they were subjects than my fellow man kind even if I have never forcefully ever thought about it like that.

I noticed that the Japanese people make mistakes too, that even though there is the rigid stereotype of everyone working hard and not being so scattered in public, people still slip up and drop something, speak to loudly and most definitely…fall out of line.

That even though there is social distance and it breaks apart the language, they still physically touch often and are eager to become closer than whatever I have studied about in Japanese cultural linguistics before.

There are so many types of people and luckily for me I happen to spend time with Japanese friends that do not care if I am foreign or not, and unlike the stereotype that Japanese want to collect gaijin friends they probably would prefer I was Japanese so they wouldn’t have to keep translating for me.

In this crowd I can just sink into the society and I don’t get treated differently and this one of the main reasons why I was able to shatter the glass. Because even though I could see everything in the world around me, didn’t mean I was a part of it.

In my first post I wrote

“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? ”

I try to think if I have answered my question or not and more or less I think I know.

But then I started to join in...

I think I was already setting myself up in the beginning pointing out how everything was difference opposed to what was familiar to me even though it is in a different country.

And maybe now instead of thinking how I can live here as well, I…now…just…simply do.

And perhaps a new foreign student or passing traveler in the station will think the same thing about me as I did in the beginning.

When someone said something that surprised me or if I notice something to make me think “how very un-Japanese” then I really wasn’t immersing and was just standing on my side of the looking glass. My first impressions which set up how I would live and act here have changed or vanished from the people I have meet that have showed me the diverse and true sense of Japanese people that cannot be labeled or grouped, as I felt in beginning. And that is the whole point.

Break my own stereotypes...

My first impressions where so concerned on how to not be an outsider that I made myself one, and now my impressions of the Japanese people have changed because I take the plunge without bias opinions to set up my new friendships creating a new type of impression that is one without words with definitions to feelings.

I stopped using my first impressions as guide lines about how to join this society

and finally was able to feel what my true impressions of this society were after I experienced with out barriers of what I thought I saw...

Politics

2009-05-14T01:15:00.000-07:00

Juon Circle members

Politics is a network of ideas, leaders and the rules and ways of how activities are carried out in a group. I find the politics of a Japanese school clubs, circles, or teams to be very just that.

There are many types of extracurricular groups and their title is varied on the seriousness of the group. At my school, Kansai Gaidai a club is like a team and the members are very dedicated and the schedule and attendance is strict, and then there are circles which are casual and not as demanding. However, just like with a political stance the members often just choose one group to part take in and sometimes visit the others on noncritical group days.

But whether the group is casual or serious the meetings of both can be seen as very political. Within these extracurricular activities the Sempai, or upper classmen who act as a top choice deciding power can give out orders and act as the lead role in group leadership and even the Kohai, or underclassmen/less experienced use a more formal and/or polite way of speech when talking them to show a sense of respect and lower status. These sorts of relationships show that there is a concept of authority and commitment like in, for example, civil politics.

Although the politics of a group there all systematic and have many parts so they do not have one person to dictate but as in real politics there is decision making, voting and rule making. It is a group of people working together for a goal or way of style for a group of people but also having more experienced members to help guide organization of such goals and make sure they are being carried out.

For example one of the clubs or “circles” I joined at Kansai Gaidai is very layered in order.
This group is called Juon circle and the photo above is me with some of the members with the title of the circle written over our bodies. In this club their goal is to make music together, share creative energy and generally arrange concerts to perform at. They decide on what dates are good for a concert, divide into bands/give production roles and practice and help each other. The Sempai arrange meetings and discuss important dates and take the members opinions into consideration before the final decision is set, but with the “higher” title the Sempai have the responsibility to hold all information and be there for their members. The members themselves follow the structure of the group but also can vote on who gets to be the lead in difference kinds of affairs that concern the group.

This group is good example of a community working together and making decisions, which to me these affairs are politics. Perhaps for these reasons this is why clubs or circles in Japanese institutions are serious and beneficial because there is a strong political structure that keeps them together.

Below is a link to some information and mostly surveys and opinions of Japanese students about clubs/circles and how it seems to be a certain society and obviously having its own inner politics.
http://www.tjf.or.jp/eng/content/japaneseculture/13club.htm

Sports

2009-05-10T23:54:00.000-07:00

The thought of sports generally provokes a feeling of activity, health and determination. Maybe these are team orientated or maybe they are singular players when collected add to a bigger picture. Still, whatever these activities are, I’m the wrong the person to ask. I have to be honest here, I am not a very sports savvy person and the thought of hand-eye coordination, competition and the possibly of objects leaving the ground and into the air generally frighten me.

Though, when I am confronted with the question of sports in Japan I can regularly see them around my campus or if I walk through the streets, people playing against each other, for fun or health or both. Japan is no less an active country than the next. Although I think my general disinterest in “sports” makes me a bit blind to the types popular or significant in the culture.

I can see the hype of foreign sports such as Base ball and soccer and I am familiar with Japan’s own traditional sports such as Sumo and various kinds of Martial Arts. But I have no personal grasp on them or experience enough to feel a passion to write about them.

When I look at Japan I always try to catch the different details that are always present but no one really appreciates.

That is when I thought of cycling. The idea of cycling as a sport is pretty uncommon here but there are bicycles everywhere, I even have one. The mountainous scenery that is Japan has with long trails to follow it, it is seemingly perfect for the sport.

I have a friend who is a competitive cyclist in Tokyo. And when ask him from a Japanese perspective, what does cycling mean to him he responds by saying he likes the self control, that even though in a competition the other cyclists there really is no third party. Just the track, trail or what have you and cyclist.
Because outside the races cycling mainly is just that. Cycling is mostly a competition with oneself and seeing how far one can push the body into endurance.
How that makes it a Japanese perspective I am not completely sure because I am sure that is common feeling among all cyclists.
But the in depth description what I got was that even though cycling is a person against self sport compared to other countries there is more of a brotherhood feeling in Japan, and that possibly can be applied to many sports, how humble teams and supporters become of one another. My friend told that many foreigners not only come to cycle in Japan for its beauty but because of the less competitive or selfish atmosphere.
When he had cycled in the United States and Europe he said many people even on practice or leisure are competing to beat one another. To win.
Although he describes to me that in Japan they are pushing each other to faster same sponsor or not because they are all cyclists, making them the same nearly because everyone enjoys this cycling feeling or spirit. What makes it different in Japan is that it is more about respect and feeling and self satisfaction through trying then how many medals one can win.

For me, when I think about cycling in Japan or bike riding in general it seems to fit.
Japan is a country of old and new, traditions, buildings and etc.
A bike is still a modern invention but from this day in age with cars and motorcycles it has a bit of an old era feeling. I feel that both complement each other well in their paradoxes. As I said before, I wonder what the future of cycling in Japan will be like, since bikes are so commonly used. However, maybe that is it’s secret, cycling may be popular but as a secret kind of sport that can be so great and remain timi.

Here is a link to Japan's cycling website
http://www.j-cycling.org/about/
and a link to a thread about cyclists in Japan and their thoughts
http://www.tokyocycle.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=367

Gender

2009-05-10T23:50:00.001-07:00

Gender, visually, it is a hard concept to grasp, or snap, because no matter how expressive it might be, between neutral insight and what is real can be hard to elate upon.

The sight of gender that has really stricken me is the amount of girls that go to my school and I suppose seeing a flood of high heels though the gates every morning has made me realize…no. See how the gender roles are changing in Japan. Maybe at first it wasn’t the amount of women that surprised me until I realized the lack of men and that for a pretty well known school women are definitely not the minority.

Gender roles have been a prominent part in Japanese history, and women especially have been tied to certain ones in the family situation. I feel that a woman’s gender role also reflects and alters the role that she is traditionally associated with in the home life. So in some sense an individual’s gender can add to the build of the structure to their future family and in some cases this can either be socially be looked down upon or not.

In grocery stores it is still largely women shopping, kitchen appliances geared toward a more feminine buyer, so old gender roles are still active but they are quickly changing.

Many girls that I go to Kansai Gaidai with have no interest in care giving and are really using university to find their own independence and career path.
Like my friend above (who I have permission from to post her picture) Women are
going to university and Japan having large amounts of female students study abroad and they are taking hold of many chances so it is pretty evident that women in Japan are gaining empowerment.
My friend above also has enlightened me on some new slang called “Career Woman”, as “Salary Man” have been a long standing term for mean in the business field but now there is term for women.

So far these changes in Japanese society have altered many things such as marriage life, the more Japanese women are entering higher status jobs, schools and careers the more the aspect of young marriage is disappearing and the more want there is to find a husband to meet their own success.
A graph as these changes can be shown here:
http://www.blacktokyo.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/fig2_7.gif

These are not necessarily bad because they are being alter but it does cause a stir in Japanese society.
Although, the more women in Japan that are serious about entering university the more perhaps the gender roles will change and if they continue to succeed at higher education and careers than these changes will become a part of Japanese evolution and less a making the changes seem like controversies.

Here is a link to a well written and interesting report about the beginning changes of gender roles, particuarly women, in the 1990's
http://members.tripod.com/~marklsl/Writings/japan.htm

Japanese Religion

2009-04-09T05:55:00.000-07:00

Shinto and Buddhism are the most prominent religions that are practiced in Japan, or at any rate a strong sense of connection to. Within these religions there is spiritual attachment to hope, luck and such that the shape the factors of life.

Shinto can be called a religion and can be called somewhat an ideology because there is not so much a focus on the afterlife but on how to live one’s life and living through purity and cleansing. Shinto is not based upon a superior being with a perfect realm after, but by the beliefs in many gods and the philosophy of their stories and creation. In Shinto these aspects are supposed to be taken to heart and practiced everyday and even activities of fortune telling.

Buddhism is based on the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama or Buddha, but the aesthetics of purity, devotion, daily meditation, and awareness of one’s own actions are also important Righteous paths and application of spiritually in everyday activities are also characteristics that reflect on self power and purity with Buddhism.

Currently in Japan a strong practice of religion is not very common and seems that in these modern days the only time when it is very visible and important to the Japanese culture are on special holidays such as New Years and matsuris; festivals where there are rituals and ceremonies based off the spirituality of these religions.

Although that I see every day, every time I pass a group of people I see constant application of religion, a small but always existing form of belief.

Charms and omamori/お守り, which means honorable protector, are everywhere. Generally these are bought at Buddhism and Shinto shrines, temples and etc…and they are supposed to bring good luck and fortune and even keep the holder away from bad luck. These charms and omamori are made for many occasions and situations ranging from love life, school/business, all the way to health and protection.

But what is interesting is that in a society were religion is not practiced intensely, these symbols are constantly being used and believed in? Cell phones, bags, and cars are all places where these can be seen most often.

The first two pictures are ones of charms, one for love and other meaning a bond for friendship between the giver and receiver.

The second two are omamori, which inside the cloth is a prayers written inside.

Besides the first one which is from Kiyomizu Dera in Kyoto the others were either hanging from cell phones or bag straps.

Despite their cultural background I wonder why these are so popular and important.Is it that in Japanese society wishing and hope is the same as the charms being and application of encouragement and even safety for life’s complexities?

…However, when I asked my Japanese friends they quickly answered that they can not merely do these things (school, love, hard work, etc)

... alone.

And maybe that realization of benefiting yourself means a connection to something else, existing together.

Links:

http://www.sonic.net/~anomaly/japan/mamoru.htm

http://www.khulsey.com/travel/japan_kyoto_kiyomizu-temple.html

Globalization in Japan

2009-04-01T08:59:00.001-07:00

In this day in age the world is connected through all mediums. Exporting, importing and sharing aspects that make a modern aesthetic to the world’s people.

People can use the same things the way people in other cultures do.

However in Japan the use of globalization is very inventive. It’s not how products and images are but it is how they are used. What I’ve notice here in Japan is that image and presentation is nearly everything and valued very importantly. No matter the status or lack of symbolic weight, if it is displayed in an appealing manner than that is how the image will be portrayed.

This is a poster of what many people can recognize as the Unites States new President..Obama. Globally Obama is recognized for change and progression but in this poster,

It’s just Pachinko.

An iconic figure, history changing and prestigious is used to lure in gambling pachinko customers.

Link:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sanchome/3265100069/

Photographing Japan

2009-03-09T05:09:00.000-07:00

Yurie Nagashima 長島有里枝

(Image borrowed from
www.scaithebathhouse.com)

In class we were given a project to research of list of selected Japanese photographers who grasp Japan in their work. Researching the list I came across Yurie Nagashima, who maybe the hardest one to find out about on the internet and in the library I had difficulty finding her books. However from pictures selected from her works that I found on online exhibit listings I fell in love…no I fell curious to know more about her work.

It is said that Nagashima is Japan’s first leading female photographers who opened the doors and encourage or amped the female participation in Japanese photography.

Nagashima got her first recognition while still attending college at Musashino Art University in 1993. With the debut of one of her first pieces displaying family portraits…in the nude, gained her much attention and was received the Parco Award at the Urbanart #2 contest. After graduating in 1995 she continued her education but moved to the United States and attended California Institute of the Arts and graduated in 1999 with an MFA degree in Photography. After living in the United States for a few years she eventually moved back to Japan and started her career as a photographer.

The subject of Nagashima’s work isn’t a certain place, activity, or simply Japanese people. Her work is concentrated around the people who are closest to her, the people who are an influence in her life and creation of the culture and the world in which she lives in. Who she experiences Japan with and who she speaks Japanese to.

Family, boyfriends and even she are all people, Japanese, working, living and breathing but in her photos she captures people in the raw…seeing how most her portraits are shots of the subjects themselves in the nude. A bit of a photo book portraying everyday people…except without clothing. It it is the people she wants us to see, to appreciate and connected with. Not their clothes, their style or even lack thereof.

In my mind her photos are vivid and clear.

(Images borrowed from http://www.switch-pub.co.jp/library/photo/026/)

Nagashima’s work in relation to Japanese Visual Anthropology is difficult to describe because she steers away from symbols, labels and bold statements but shows the people themselves in every day environments. What is interesting is that if she is said to start the wave of Japanese female participation in photography…why this? And why did it become such a trend?

They are not capturing culture but their antics describe it. Nearly representing what young female Japanese adults would want to photograph. What in this culture made nude, simplistic images so important? Maybe to young Japanese females the timid aspects of love, family, and the people around them is what occupies the mind the most.

I feel Nagashima represents Japanese people in relation to culture as simply people and not a gimmick of where she comes from.

So many mainstream marketed ideas and symbols can be said about Japanese culture.

Hello Kitty, Temples, Samurai, Pokémon, Ninjas, absurd fashion, kawaiii and hentai/pervert culture.

Strict laws and seemingly everyone obeys, not obscenity, stand in place, and low crime.

How do those blend, how do those juxtapositions hold hand in hand in this country?

I feel like Nagashima is ripping Japanese people a part from these associated attributes of Japanese culture and defiantly showing them back as people

With lovers, homes and lives.

(Image borrowed from www.wavephotogallery.com)

(Image borrowed from http://www.fujifilm.co.jp/photomore/interview/nagashima_200507.html)

In her photos they are no longer adorned with mainstream Harajuku fashion and traditional sushi dishes alongside Geisha. Or whatever any travel book or foreign lens TV segment would show.

With nudity she makes people simply people and lashes out towards to the thought and laws of Japanese discrepancy in a back handed sort of style.

And in that aspect, in that artistic grasp of capturing the people who so happen to live in Japanese and obviously being a part of culture…she is very successful.

From her photos I feel more drawn to the people who contribute to culture than what I think culture has done to the people.

Can I write and pit out a million adjectives that properly describe Japanese culture from looking at these pictures? No.

But can I feel in what ways they are similar, shared but all the more different from my own.

(Image borrowed from w3art.es)

For information about the Photographer I used

Although her personal website
http://www.denshikosodate.com/

seems to be down

Japanese Pop-Culture : Visual Kei

2009-03-01T08:38:00.000-08:00

This is going to be difficult as is explaining anything in the music and fashion world. What is alternative and who is elite enough to describe its essence…

This is Visual Kei. Wait. Correction…this is about Visual Kei. Some say it is music and some say it is a particular sense of fashion or combined its illegitimate child.

I am hesitant because this is a music genre and clothing element I like to incorporate in my life and have been since I was in high school. However, despite how many years I think I may know, it is always different from another or another can think it is different because people tend to think their own opinions are best. Although, this is not about my feelings on how arrogant some people are about subculture but I will give fair warning that this is just my personal observation and if there are any other point of views or even corrective critical reviews please comment!

Okay.

Visual Kei.

A genre that branched out in Japan what is said in the 1980’s popularly lead/birthed by the band X-Japan. It is a style movement that incorporates music and fashion/image. It is called Visual Kei after all…and Kei in Japanese meaning style it is a very visual, eye catching and complex looking style.

What can describe this as a fashion sense is that is takes influence from Punk/Rock/ Gothic but in a much more clean sense with everything much more elaborate and planned out. Taking an average outfit and multiplying it. Bigger hair, taller shoes, more accessories, more layers and different patterns, styles etc…

Its rebellion. Cuts, hems, hair etc are not in order or form but asymmetrical and eccentric. Visual Kei can be described as dark, edgy but glamorous.

The music began as rock and over the 90’s became influencing but a lo t heavier and darker, goth influenced. But has progressed to many types of punk, mental, pop-rock that spreads over many types of genres.

But what is pop-culture? Especially in a country that absorbs all sorts of it very well. Or it seems.

Influences characters in movies, manga/comic books and attitude, rock and roll lifestyles and body modification…All in a tough but glam and flashy aesthetic. These influences like seen in the pictures bounce of their audience which is generally a younger generation searching for this niche and cliques that they feel comfortable with or accepted by.

The first photo is of a girl standing outside of a very famous, and crowded, brand store called Sex Pot Revenge that makes clothing suited towards a Visual Kei interested crowd with a lot of black, chains, punk stamp-age and pre-made tears and rips put together with safety pins…which is why it is so pop and media based because it is a theme mass produced and easily bought image. It is cool, looks interest and does take a bold person to wear it but this how I see an example of pop-culture in Japan. That in the states if something that’s supposed to rough and punk is sold in bulk it’s seen as a joke and fake. But in Japan its okay, how else would you get it? What you do doesn’t justify the clothing but having it and wearing it with confidence is important. Having the attitude and having the look. Relating to darker ideas but don’t have to perform them.

When you think pop-culture, the word pop must mean or seem that is expected by society. But Visual Kei is kind of a rebellion to be different, out of suits and uniforms although many of these people end up dressing the same and creating their own “individual” group. So the line of what is pop-culture and what is mainstream seems a bit blurred. As much as it is different, so are many other types of Japanese fashions but this , fashionably, seems to be less about the body and how to flatter it then how to transform it and create the image of something outrageous and daring. Within this pop-culture clothing and image is very important, that is why it is visual. These fans and supporters almost create an allegiance together. Meeting up in the style, going out together in the style, hanging out watching each other.

Visual Kei has created its own culture and society.The second picture is a group of friends, who probably busy with school and part time jobs have this opportunity to dress in that they think is best and meet up and feel a part of this group but succeeded in looking different to the mass outside as well. The second half of this phenomenon, Visual Kei, is the music but like other music people get creative and create their own versions which lead to sub genres and more.

But Visual isn’t reading, it’s the eyes experiences. So I have created a list of Youtube videos from bands I like, and bands that come from different sub genres that are known in the Visual Kei scene.

Bands known to start the revolution

X-Japan http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZq2bga2G-E&feature=related

Buck-Tick http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EPO6YdbsrE&feature=related

Visual Kei pioneers in the 90s that really guided the movement

Malice Mizer http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JakCKf02JPs&feature=related
Dir En Grey http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rIKqtoX2gRk

Current types of Visual Kei

The Gazette http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2p7dup4-ab4&feature=related
Sadie http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QeuiV7iIpRc
Phantasmagoria http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udcJmsreIP0&feature=related
Alice Nine http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiigVY7aAOc
Sug http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahDNJlBDslM
An Cafe http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wk-flGcBELo&feature=related

Also an interview done by An Cafe about Visual Kei that gives some insight from the artists themselves

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNBFjAq0a4Y&feature=PlayList&p=57C86A09D781EB3D&playnext=1&index=91

Here are some Visual Kei clothing brand websites because they seem to be the brands more popularly worn.

Sex Pot Revenge http://www.sexpot-revenge.com/
Algoquins http://www.algonquins.co.jp/
H.Naoto http://www.s-inc.com/hnaoto/main.php

"Japanese People"

2009-02-22T05:50:00.000-08:00

One striking aspect about Japanese people is how much respect of tradition is deeply rooted inside their bodies and to a foreign eye are noticeable through everyday activities. Part of this respect is celebrating landmarks and folklore, being one with old surroundings as part of a daily passing. A reminder of the past is always present, and perhaps because this country is so old that there is too much contained. Many people and little space, the new and the old are constantly being layered and lost within each other.

From my perspective I grew up in the West of the United States and currently live and go to school In Connecticut in the East where it is one of America’s founding states with old history and first steps of immigrants. Out West sometimes there are old Native American buildings and carvings but things just simple looked out from hiking trail. In the East old institutions and places are only visited for tourist reasons and not done very often. The only time to every touch history without a guided display is again, hiking and climbing though what was forgotten.

These places and/or their stories don’t hold an everyday place in the local’s lives.
However, in Japan old temples and legends can be seen and felt if not every day through the hustle of work and school then on down time of weekend.
The question is, that on a Sunday day off, why not stay or home or shopping? If the weather is bad why not visit someplace in doors?

The first photo is of a couple at Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto on a rainy day, where there only thing I could really understand in passing is that the woman said she loves to come here. A rainy day would be a good day to opt out on a mostly outdoor spot but clearly it’s important.

The second picture is a girl reading outside of Osaka Jo Castle, also in raining weather although granted that this was only misting…she sat their content in front of the castle glancing over as elderly women dressed in kimono crossed the street.
I can’t be too sure what this says about Japanese people on a whole or maybe people who like to do some cultural exploring on rainy days.

But it seems to me that these places and their meanings go somewhere deeper than my day visit can understand and it maybe something not too profound or conscious to the people who live here. As Japan is known for technology and fast cities like Osaka and Tokyo, what I see and feel more often is just simply enjoying their environment, the past and present of what is. Taking things like a Temple and finding a regularity, a weekly a joy that maybe people for hundreds years have done before as well. Simply enjoying the presence of an old form that can represent Japanese history and developed culture is an aspect of Japanese people that stands out. Especially to this American where these kinds of places just normally stand.

There is a connection that doesn’t need a excuse and maybe to me that’s why historical places in the States seem very gimmicky because there are few who just appreciate than just stare at it.

Neighborhood Hirakata

2009-02-15T01:16:00.000-08:00

3 weeks ago on my first night out around Hirakatashi eki/station my friends and I stumbled upon a very sincere individual. There were other performers with bigger voices, bigger instruments and larger amounts of "fans" or people stunned while passing by. However the deep voiced and quiet one sitting by himself under a stairwell was the one we got attached to, and who we continue to go see every Wednesday night.

This is ドンコる mixed spelling of hiragana and katakana it's pronounced Donkoru. Sometimes alone and sometimes with a friend on the bass box we get to weekly listen to his guitar mix and flow with the surrounding performers.

All over Hirakatashi eki on any given night and especially on the weekends the sounds of singers and musicians, dancers and beat boxers, skaters and bikes clash against the walls. Around this area there are many busses and if you sit and watch nearly every time a bus passes a field of vision you can see a new type of performer making up for lost time on the other side. Sitting and watching or walking around it seems something so natural.

I live in NYC nearly part time and most of the time when I see performers there is always something profit associated. CDS, a hat and or an open guitar case…but that may how they make their living despite the many that do it because they love to. And seems to be particularly true for these performers at Hirakatashi. It’s just about creation and expression. These groups of mostly a younger generation are not making a profit but spreading their name, getting out of uniforms and doing something for themselves as we get to watch. And maybe that’s a big difference, the weight of uniform either in school or work in Japanese institution.

At Hirakashi eki all the suits from all different places are returning and coming home…passing through this…And all the performers who probably equally drudge through the day are finally out in their own skin. The only thing I can do and should do is sit and watch, clap and support.

And that seems to be the only thing they want.

Early Impressions of Japan...hmm Early Feelings

2009-02-08T06:06:00.000-08:00

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 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.

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…

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.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39DFXgnXcBY

Art-School music video: Lost in the Air