Politics

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

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

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

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

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

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

• http://photoguide.jp/txt/Nagashima_Yurie
• http://www.fujifilm.co.jp/photomore/interview/nagashima_200507.html
  

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

seems to be down