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Blog12

The Studio Ghibli museum was amazing and overall a great experience. I have always loved studio ghibli films, so it was an honor and a dream come true to see the museum. It felt like a magical wonderland. It was one of my favorite places on this trip.

I really like the stained glass window because growing up my mom would make stained glass windows and pieces of art. However, she has had to stop because her health has not been good enough to allow her to do it. I really miss watching my mom create her stained glass art, so it was amazing to see the stained glass in the museum. It was so detailed and colorful that it looked like if they had taken scenes straight out of the movie. It looked too complex to be glass, so I really appreciated the attention to detail on the stained glass windows in the museum.

This picture is the most memorable because it was the first glimpses of the museum that I saw. All the color and gardens hid the true magic in the museum.

[hannahgonline11]

Blog11

Only the daughter, Kaho, in my host family could speak fluent English, so we spent the day together. We had lunch with her mother at the Hawaiian cafe she works at. We had a chicken caesar salad with pancakes and strawberry and banana pancakes with whipped cream. Her mom couldn't fully understand English and I couldn't fully understand Japanese, but we were able to understand each other pretty well, with help from Kaho. After, lunch Kaho and I went to Kamakura. At Kamakura we went to a Instagram famous lemonade stand, it was good, not as good as American fair lemonade, but pretty good. Then we walked to a famous shrine and explored the shrine a little bit. Then we went to a Shiba Inu cafe because we both love animals, Kaho especially loved dogs. After that we went to Endo and walked around the city. We shared a Tako senbei that was delicious, it was worth the 30 minute wait. Then we went back to her house. We waited for her brother to get home and we all went out for dinner. I tried soba noodles for the first time in Japan, I'd had them in America before. After dinner we went back to her house and I took a shower and went to bed. It was a really fun day, it reminded me of a day that I would spend with one of my friends back home. We would similar things and would talk about similar things, like cities, our hobbies and what we would like to do with our lives.

The most surprising thing to me was when we were in Endo a drunk Japanese man came up to me and mockingly said "Hello Hi American" in an unwelcoming manner. I brushed it off because there are unfriendly people everywhere. After I was done with my shower I walked into the living room and Kaho was crying because of the drunk man being unwelcoming to me. She was sad and frustrated that people were so unwelcoming of foreigners to her country.  She wanted foreigners to come and experience her country and love it as much as she does. I told her that even in America, country built on differences, experiences people who don't want visitors or people to experience their country. I then said people who act like that and do that do not love their country as much as they think, so don't let a bad experience ruin your welcoming spirit because your love of the country cannot and should not be changed. She was very appreciative of the advice, and allowed for me to hug her. I think it was so significant because she was able hide her sadness from me because she didn't want me to worry about her. Japanese people are generally reserved and hide their emotions. At first she was upset that I saw her crying, but in the end sharing the experience and having the mutual understanding and experience allowed for us to become closer and have a more common ground. I think I will be friends with Kaho for a long time.

This picture is memorable to me because before Kaho an I went to get lemonade we were still awkward with eachother, but I feel like getting something so simple like this cup of lemonade was the icebreaker we needed to open up to eachother. The lemonade made her start asking me about America and how different lemonade is in America and it started a steady conversation that lasted all day.

[hannahgonline11]

Blog 10

Dr. Karp's class was a very important and interesting subject. I had a class that was similar to this class at Akron, Human Cultures. One of the thing the class discussed how historical, and still in modern day, that white people generally do not have much awareness of the struggling of minorities. It is a sad, but true thing. As society progresses some people become more aware of the struggles of minorities, but others choose to ignore it or deny it. I really enjoyed Dr. Karp's class, despite all the technical difficulties, because it was a discussion. He would share his experiences and then would ask students their experiences, so they could play off each other and learn from each other. At Temple University, it felt similar in the sense that it was an American college, but different because the student population was so diverse and I felt that some of the students were more mature. I felt that some of the students were more mature because they are living in a different country while going to college, which is a difficult experience in America, so I applaud them for going on to college in a different country.

Dr. Honguchi's class was not very enjoyable. I had a class at Akron with a similar idea of study, so I had a little knowledge of anthropology and how people study anthropology. I felt like I didn't learn anything. I felt that the professor just talked at us and didn't ask for questions or discussion points. She was like the talking dolls that you pull the string and they talk at you, they stop only when the string runs out, she stopped to breath. If I was an anthropology student in her class I would get frustrated because they was no room for discussion. Yes, the professor was fluent in English, but she was not fluent in the art of engaging with students and discussing the course material with students.

Dr. Karp allowed for people to discuss with everyone and share their life experiences, so that everyone could learn from everyone. Dr. Honguchi just regurgitated information at the students and basically said memorize this to pass. There are good points and bad points to both teaching styles, however what you remembered from a class vs the life experiences from a class are correlated to a memorable discussion rather than a wall of information that gets thrown at you and not discussed.

I met one student from Guam, who transferred to TU because he didn't like the only university that was in Guam. He wanted more variety and a change of scene. I also met a girl that was from an island near Guam. She said there was no University on her island, so she came to Temple University because it was fairly close by and not too expensive.  They both really enjoyed Temple University and had positive reviews of the University.

My experience at the robot restaurant was interesting. Normally, I can't stand light shows, extreme loud performances, and small spaces between they cause me headaches. So, my parents solution was to drink a cocktail, and it helped, I was able to relax. I was able to enjoy the show and fully appreciate the choreography, music, and the overall performance of the show. As a person who used to volunteer to do pit band in high school and saw a lot of the behind the scenes of a large scale production it was nice to see the a complex performance that was well thought out and had little to no flaws. So in the end I enjoyed the performance, but maybe next time give people a little warning, so they have time to mentally prepare for the craziness.

This picture was very memorable to me because I remember being in awe that the behind the scenes crew could maneuver the giant dinosaur with little problem. The dinosaur took up most of the stage and when it came time to make the dinosaur get off the stage it happened with no problems. The planning by the stage crew in the robot restaurant was very impressive.

[hannahgonline11]

Blog 9

A.

C. I got it because I didn't want to lug around a big bag, or anything that was outrageously big. Also, I hadn't done a single gachapon since getting to Japan, so I wanted to join almost every other person on this trip and get a gachapon. So, I bought a gachapon from my favorite video game franchise, but Final Fantasy. I used to collect pins like the one I got from the gachapon and decorate my laptop bag with them. I don't know why I stopped collecting them, but I think I will start collecting them again.

2. The most memorable thing was meeting my brother for dinner, we had ramen. I am normally a homebody, meaning I don't like going out all that much and prefer to spend my time at home with my family, so it was nice and slightly overwhelming. I almost cried, to see someone very from my own family. I am very close with all of my family, they mean the world to me. So it means a lot that my brother would fly over to Japan, despite his fear of flying, just to go on vacation with me.

B. I got my souvenirs at a gachapon in Akihabara. Its is a Final Fantasy pin, more specifically it's the character Seifer Almasy from Final Fantasy VIII.

This is a picture of the first meal I shared with my brother when he got to Tokyo. My family loves to eat dinner with each other as much as possible, so it was special to me that I got to eat dinner with a family member after over a week of not seeing eachother.

[hannahgonline11]

Blog8

I really enjoyed the sushi lessons. I really enjoy sushi and I learned about the history of sushi several years ago. I have always wanted to learn how to make sushi, so it was a dream come true having sushi lessons. The instructor was a lot of fun and was very passionate about sushi. As I get older I find that I learn by doing really well, so I feel like I learned how to make sushi really well because it was a hands on experience and I was able to watch and then do what the instructor did. It was nice to have an example and then attempt it. The sushi lessons was one of my favorite activities on this trip.

The first level of the skytree was nice, it gave a very nice overview of the city, and allowed for people to get a view of how massive Tokyo really is. Also, it was cool to see the sky change from sunny, to sunset to night. It was like seeing the city come alive at night. We could see the gradual change from minimal lights being on in the city to the night sky being lit up from the neon lights covering the city. We do not have city light like Tokyo so it was amazing to see the change on lights overtime.  The second level was too high up for me, my fear of heights kicked in and it was hard for me to go to the edge of the walkway to take pictures. I did get close to the railing because I wanted a picture and I knew that I would regret not going closer for the picture. I almost cried, but I powered through it to get not very good pictures, but pictures non the less.

This picture is the most memorable because it was one of the few pictures I took on the top level. I was still a good foot away from the railing, but I was not clinging to the inside wall like I would in most situations involving height. The picture is not very good, the reflections are horrible and the bars obscure most of the city, but it was memorable for me because I somewhat faced my fears.

[hannahgonline11]

Blog7

For our free day in Osaka we wondered around the downtown area. It was really nice to go slow and take the sights in at a slower pace and feel emerson into the city. At one point I went to a cafe and got lunch, and it was nice to sit down relax and eat at a slower pace. The group I was with went into several clothing stores and a few 100+ yen stores. It is always fun to see the differences in customer service at places, Japan always wins with better customer service, and it's interesting to see what items are at the 100 yen store because in America there is the common idea that dollar stores in America are junk stores, but in Japan they have decent quality items.

The least interesting thing we did was get lost in the underground train area. We kept going around in circles is the underground subway area and we ended up getting frustrated. So in the end I pulled up where we needed to be and we walked through the rain to get to the station because I didn't want to lose signal and get lost underground again. It was frustrating especially for me because I could ask for directions in Japanese, but I felt that I would not be able to follow their Japanese well enough to be able to get to where we wanted to be. It was not fun, but it was a wake up call that people can get lost in Japan and something it takes time to figure out how to get yourself where you need to be. It's best not to panic and try to logically figure out where you need to be and then find out which route is the best to get you where you need to be.

This picture is the most memoir for me because it was taken shortly before we got lost. I remember thinking seconds before taking this picture that it was so cool because we got to experience a rainy day in Osaka, I wanted at least one rainy day before I love the rain. I find the rain to be calming. I loved the cloudy atmosphere with the bright lights and the classic salarymen sprinkled in the picture. When I looked back at my photos of this day, this one was my favorite.

[hannahgonline11]

Blog6

I am interested in music, fashion, and learning about other cultures.

I am interested in music because it has always been a big part of my life. I grew up with a grand piano, guitars, and music constantly surrounding me. So, it makes sense that it is something that brings me a lot of joy. Music can change my mood, for example from sad to happy or frustrated to accepting of the situation. I played the flute and piccolo throughout middle school and high school, and I had to put it down during college for lack of time. But, I still find myself playing the flute when I am really frustrated and need an outlet to relieve my stress.

I am interested in fashion because I have always tried to make myself look presentable and show a good image. One of the first things I notice about a person is their personal style, for example if they wear a lot of colors or if they wear a lot of patterns. I can usually tell a person's personality from their clothes. My mom says that I should be more daring with my fashion choices, but I use clothes as my security blanket because I have low self esteem, and think of myself as unattractive. So, if I feel like I look presentable, then I will not be as self conscious of myself, even though most people don't look at me or even care about me.

I really like learning about different cultures because America is not a very old country, so its traditions are not very well established or even created yet. So, I have always liked history, and it makes sense that I would like places that have a lot of history and traditions that come with history.

In Japan I plan on visiting a music shop, so I can see how it differs from American music shop. I know that CD culture is still very prominent in the Japanese music industry whereas in America downloading music and streaming services are the most popular way of listening to music in America. I think it's awesome that people still collect CDs in Japan, in America some people collect records and some still collect CDs, but streaming is much more popular.

Japanese fashion has many subcultures and it is always great to see many different types of fashion because it opens your eyes to new things or ways of presenting your clothing on yourself. Looking at other fashions can help people learn about the history behind fashion and help people learn more way of wearing their clothes.

I am currently studying abroad in Japan so I am learning about the culture, but I would like to return to the so I can learn more about the culture and the history of the country. May be one day I will live here for an extended period of time, so I can experience the culture as a part of every day life.

The most interesting experience was meditation because my mom has always done meditation for as long as I can remember, and I would only do it for short periods of time. So, forcing myself to meditate for that long was a challenge, but it was really peaceful. During meditation my mind was able to breath and, I was able to not think about the almost overwhelming past few days and I was able to clear my head. After clearing my head, I was able to relax and think about what we had done the past few days and reflect more on the sights and my emotions. I thought about how this has been such a great experience that I will never forget. I will treasure this trip forever.

This picture is the most memorable because it is the piece of leaf that was given to me by the monk after the fire ceremony. Watching the fire ceremony was an amazing and life changing experience. So to receive a nice a present after the ceremony was a surreal moment for me.

[hannahgonline11]

Blog 5

The scavenger hunt made me pay attention to the facts about the historical sights more. However, I feel like I was not able to take in the sights as much as I would have liked because I was focusing on answering the questions. I wanted the experience of immersing myself in the atmosphere and experience the temple in a more spiritual way. The difference between Adachi-San and Yamaguchi-San was that Yamaguchi-San was more organized and had a stronger more set in stone plan. Where as Adachi-San was more flexible, but lacked a strong enough plan. I felt that Yamaguchi-San was more passionate about Nara as a historical town. Yamaguchi-San would take time to look at the sights of the city even though he does the same tour several times a month. It was wonderful to see someone love their town so much. Adachi-San was passionate about the history of Japan, but I felt that he was not as passionate about Kyoto. He listed historical facts like a textbook. Adachi-san was very quick to move through sights and experiences and didn't take time to appreciate the natural beauty of Kyoto or the historical sights, so it was disappointing.

The surprise dinner was an interesting experience. I don't not like horror movie, so it was not fun to be jump scared. Although, Yuki sensei provided some comic relief. The restaurant was not the best, they took way too long to get food out for how quickly they were making and handing out drinks, and the food was mediocre at best. But, it was nice to have an experience that we cannot find in America. It reminded me that there is the overly exposed "weird" side of Japan that the media likes to latch onto and not comprehend just exploit. The media does not like to understand why Japan has these experience restaurants instead they like to just label it as weird. Whereas in reality Japan sees it as an experience and it should be treasured. Although I didn't fully enjoy the experience, I appreciate the experience and will remember the experience for the rest of my life.

The picture of the Buddha is very memorable for me because it highlighted how massive the statue was. It was a surreal experience to walk into the temple and see a Buddha that was as big as a building. I had to stop and just take in everything that was in front of me. It felt almost spiritual to stand in front of the Buddha. I have so much respect for the people who take care of the shrine and statue for keeping both in such good condition.

[hannahgonline11]

Blog4

The person who built the kinkakuji was Ashikaga Yoshimitsu.

The most interesting thing today was the Golden Temple, also known as the Kinkakuji. The temple was so beautiful and so memorable that it is something that will always stick out in my mind. The temple gets covered in gold leaf every 30 years and it is due for another coat in 3-4 years, but it still looks untouched and in pristine condition. The temple itself is beautiful, but also the grounds of the temple are lovely and full of history. The grounds have wells used to make tea for the shogun's party; they have a tree that is 600 years old and was originally a bonsai tree that belonged to the shogun. Also, the bowl that is surrounded by buddhas that you try to flip coins into is a fun aspect of the temple grounds. The grounds were so beautiful and well taken care of that it is so heartwarming to see that it is so loved and visited by so many people, not only from Japan but from around the world.

The picture of the Kinkakuji picture was so memorable because it highlights the golden color of the temple. The surrounding tree makes compliment the gold color well, and the blue sky contrasts with the temple as well.

[hannahgonline11]

Blog 3

The person who built Osaka Castle was the shogun Hideyoshi.

The plastic food sample class was an enjoyable experience. Since I am a history nerd, I liked learning about the history of fake food samples. Initially, the fake food samples were made out of wax, but today they are made out of rubber, probably more economical. It was fun to learn how they make the food look more real, adding lacquer to things to make it shiny, or mixing the plastic orange balls for a short amount of time to limit stringy glue. The teacher was passionate about fake food samples, and it showed during his presentation of the history of fake food samples, and during the process of making the samples. It was refreshing and lovely to have a teacher who loves what they do. The entire process was really fun and an unforgettable experience.

[hannahgonline11]

Blog2

The great Torii on Miyajima island is made from wood that does not rot even with all the rising and lowering of the tide daily.

Exploring Miyajima island was a fantastic experience. On Miyajima island, there is a place to go hiking or an aquarium, but instead, I explored the shopping area of the island as well as the other attractions on the island. The other attractions were the five-story pagoda and several ancient buildings, but equal as historical, from around the same time as the shrine. The island also had a collection of traditional style shopping area. The street had a lot of specialty shops like a shop dedicated to matcha products, or a shop that was dedicated to Japanese baked goods. In addition to shops, there was also food; a few choices were grilled oysters and traditional Japanese pastries. I enjoyed being able to experience a small traditional area on Miyajima island. I got to walk around the shops and walk between attractions seamlessly. I wanted to find a domain that mixed tradition with modern amenities, and I found it, so I was able to enjoy the old architecture style while enjoying the ac in many of the shops.

[hannahgonline11]

Blog 1

I asked our tour guide, “What was your favorite aspect of the peace park?” She responded with all the trees because they came from all over the world because Hiroshima did not have any trees left after the bomb dropped, so they asked for donations from other countries. In return, several countries donated trees to Hiroshima, so they have a collection of trees from all over the world.     

The peace park is a beautiful place that was created from a horrific tragedy. Over the years in school in America, we always learned that the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were terrible tragedies that caused the end of World War II. They always told us that a lot of people lost their lives in the way, but it was, for the most part, glossed over because it made America look bad. See the peace park, and all the memorials that were built for the people who lost their lives during the explosion was a surreal experience. It put into perspective how many lives were lost and how many people were unidentified. They had to move the bodies very quickly, so disease did not spread, so a lot of people had to be cremated without identification. It means that a lot of families never got to lay their loved ones to rest, which is heartbreaking. Seeing all the clothes of people and children put the tragedy into perspective that people of all ages were significantly affected by the bomb. Hiroshima did a great job of making something terrible into something beautiful that those affected by the bomb can lay to rest peacefully and be remembered. 

   The Hiroshima Carp baseball game was a fun experience. I have been to baseball games in America, but a baseball game in Japan is a very different experience. I have never seen a city be so dedicated, supportive, and so full of affection for a sports team. The crowd was constantly cheering on the individual players, and always sending positive and good vibes to the players. The atmosphere was full of team pride and full of sheer love for the sport. Hiroshima loves their team even when a play does not go well. It was amazing to see an entire stadium cheer for a team and know all the chants and be able to do them in sync. It was so cute to see Yuki sensei be so happy to show her home team and share the experience of attending a baseball game in Japan. Attending a baseball game in America will never be the same.

[hannahgonline11]

B#13

Summary

The chapter discusses the importance of fieldwork, and in hand ethnography, for an anthropologist. It is essential to understand the difference between anthropology and sociology. Anthropology is more research and fieldwork with a focus nonindustrial societies while sociology is more about criticizing and commentating on modern society. Field work can be a few months to several years for an anthropologist to make their observations When in the field an anthropologist takes on the role of a clown because they may not fully speak the language correctly or they may not fully understand the culture. So, they look silly in the eyes of the people they are studying. An anthropologist could fall into the role of expert, which could cause problems because they may not get the full experience of the culture. Often, however, anthropologists could play an expert and a clown. Fieldwork varies depending on the situation. There are many possible methods of doing fieldwork, there is no correct way of doing field work because there are many possibilities for human error in the form of gender bias, language, or their informant is not giving them a broad view of the culture. Also, it is crucial to pick what they want to learn about, so they do not get a small aspect of several things. When reporting observations, it is important not to write everything as law and take everything with a grain of salt because an anthropologist is not a member of their culture; they are an outsider. It is also important to have historical context if looking at ethnography of the past so that anthropologists can understand the conclusions of past anthropologists. It is vital to understand and translate culture into a persons’ own words without offending the culture or the people; anthropologists must ask and answer a vague question to themselves when writing their findings. It is essential that the anthropologist understands and highlights the emic and etic, the person living the culture emic, and the observer, etic. It’s necessary to incorporate both perspectives in reports, so there is more than one point of view present. When reading the finding of any anthropologist, it is crucial to know that every person’s experience is different.

Analysis

“To put it differently, research has an inductive and a deductive dimension (37)”.

People often forget that there are many methods of research because often we, as students, are forced to do research the deductive method, reading and drawing conclusions based on what you read. The inductive method, going out and observing and partaking in research, is often forgotten. Usually, science majors and sometimes other majors do inductive methods of research; science majors through experiments and other majors sometimes put out surveys. A lot of research is done through the deductive technique because it is hard for college students to research the inductive method because of lack of knowledge or even lack of resources. I wish there were more inductive research opportunities because it is crucial to learn by going out and doing because especially in anthropology it is one thing to read about a culture and another thing to experience a culture.  

“This level – life as experienced and described by the members of a society themselves – is sometimes spoken of as the ‘emic’ level. Its counterpart, the analytical descriptions or explanations of the researcher, is the ‘etic’ level (47)”.

Anthropological findings often have the point of view of the researcher and the “informer,” a person that lives and has experienced the culture since birth. It is essential to have both points of view so that there is a greater understanding of the culture, and people can see what an outsider and a person from the culture thinks. There may be aspects of a culture that an outsider of the culture may find weird or abnormal, so it is vital to have the view of the informer to explain. As hard as anthropologists work to remove bias, it is hard to eliminate bias without being too clinical completely. Also, anthropologists observe humans and humans have emotions, so it would be against human nature to not include feelings when writing about humans. However, it is important not to offend the people the anthropologists write about, and it is crucial to give people a view of a culture and its people that is based on observation and not entirely on emotions. Anthropologists do this by including informers points of view with their own.

Questions

When doing field study do you take the people being observed feeling’s into consideration during and after the study?

Do they stop the field study if a person becomes uncomfortable?

[hannahgonline11]

B#12

“To be polite with the Japanese, bow whenever you say thank you or when you want to excuse yourself (150)”.

In America, when we say thank you, generally we make eye contact with the person we are thanking, and we may say "thank you" several times. When we want to excuse ourselves, we will say “excuse me” and walk away or apologize for having to leave and walk away. Bowing in America is not a common practice when   bowing is mentioned most people think about bowing to a member of the royal family, but not to another person of equal status. In Japan, bowing is a sign of respect, bowing to elders, bowing to superiors, bowing to ancestors, and even bowing to people when thanking them or when leaving. Bowing shows the person you are bowing to that you are respecting them. I wish that people in America would show more respect, we do not have to bow, but it would be nice to show more respect when leaving and especially when thanking someone.

“Traveling on trains you will be able to visit almost any place in the country in comfort (151)”.

In America, travel is different depending on where you live. In the city, people can use public transportation relatively easily. In some instance, people fly as a form of transportation, but if you live in the midwest as we do, it is normal to drive everywhere. My family considers it reasonable to take a four-hour drive to go to a store or to visit someone that lives a state over. In Japan, the train system connects a lot of their major cities, which makes traveling across the country convenient. Owning a car in Japan is very expensive, and driving long distances can be tricky because the country is mountainous, which can cause roads to be dangerous. So it makes sense that they would have an excellent train system that allows them to tunnel underneath mountains instead then make roads going on or around them. I wish America would start to build more elaborate train systems because it would make traveling more comfortable, even if the train system were confined to one state. It would be nice to take a train from Akron to Cleveland rather than driving between the two cities.

Kyoto

“Kyoto was the second capital city of Japan, and today it might be one of the most beautiful cities you’ll ever visit (153)”.

Hiroshima

“Hiroshima became world-famous after being destroyed by the first atomic bomb dropped on a populated area (153)”.

[hannahgonline11]

B#11

“Harajuku is the fashion district where most of Japan’s young urban tribes circulate (135).”

In America, there are several fashion hot spots, but the most famous are New York and LA. New York has all the business and money and is headquarters to a lot of clothing companies, LA is where all the celebrities live, so it’s full of fashionable people. However, fashion is all over the place in the states, each area of America has a different, but distinct style, unique to their area. In the states, fashion is different or each person. There are common trends, but a lot of people have their styles, some people may incorporate some trends into their style and ignore other trends, in favor of things they are more comfortable wearing. If a person is into a particular style, like gothic fashion or steampunk fashion, they create their communities near where they live so they can meet and interact with people who have similar tastes like them. There is no clear place where people in fashion subcultures congregate, in America. Abroad, Harajuku has the reputation of being a crazy fashion capital, and it still holds that young people with different fashion interests will gather there. Initially, the area was for transportation for the Olympics during the 1960s, the area is just north of the very popular and crowded Shibuya. It is normal that teenagers would want a space all their own to meet and be away from adults and overly crowded places. Teenagers, especially those with different tastes, want to be away from the normalness of society, so it makes sense they would meet in an area that is not overly crowded like Shibuya.

“Asakusa is Japan’s most traditional district, with temples, pagodas, the Kaminari Gate, souvenirs (142).”

In America, there is not a lot of traditional areas or places because the history of the country is questionable in the sense that a lot of the history before British settlers came, a lot of places that were sacred to Native Americans is not well documented and the structures that were there are often not standing today. The buildings built by colonists are not very old because a lot of them were built not even 500 years ago, so their history is not very old. There are historic building across America that are not old but have an interesting architecture that should be preserved for future generations to admire. In Japan, some buildings are thousands of years old because a lot of the old buildings were saved and are being preserved. So, Japan can have a traditional district, and people respect the area and help to maintain the beauty of the older buildings and character of older traditions in Japan.  I wish America would have done better in preserving the history of the Native Americans because they had amazing cultures, but we can only hope they protect what is left of historic buildings across America.

Shibuya

“Together with Shinjuku, Shibuya is one of the liveliest places in Japan (132)”.

Ueno

“Ueno is another traditional area  in Tokyo (143)”.

[hannahgonline11]

B#10

“Tarento-talent- These are celebrities who appear on television without having any outstanding ability- they are neither singers nor comedians nor actors but personalities (120)”.

In America, we have TV personalities, but they usually are also not very well known singers or actors. Strictly TV personalities are not as common, Americans figure that it’s better to have someone who has a small audience, like an actor or singer, than someone utterly unknown on TV. People on TV could become famous for their personalities, like Simon Cowell, but they often over exaggerate their TV personalities for the camera. In Japan, there are a lot of variety shows, something that is not present in America, so if they do something funny on a variety show, or if they have a distinct personality on a variety show they could very quickly gain fame and expand their horizons into acting, singing, etc. Variety shows do give people a lot of opportunities to make or break a career in Japan. I wish America would put variety shows back on TV because they are incredibly entertaining and fun to watch.

“Japanese dorama usually take on burning issues in modern Japanese life in order to deeply touch the audience (122)”.

In America, the counterpart to doramas would be soap operas, which often to some degree try to relate to the audience. Most soap operas have scenarios that are outrageous that people watch them to escape daily life. However, there is a slight shift in having situations in them that people can relate to even if the scenario is a tiny part in one episode. Soap operas have the reputation of being drawn out and overly dramatic in America because people often find everyday life too dull for TV, so TV producers feel the need to go to the opposite side of the spectrum and go overly dramatic. In Japan, doramas are geared more to appealing to the audience and creating a story or character the audience can connect with. People sometimes describe Japanese people as unemotional, but they do not understand that Japanese people show their emotions differently than other cultures. The way they express their feelings shows in their doramas, like the moms never say they love their kids, but they do make them a homemade lunch. Or in a romance dorama, the man characters rarely say “I love you” to each other instead they stand by each other during hard times, when most people would leave the other person because the situation is too difficult to handle. The small moments allow the average Japanese viewer to connect with the story or characters because it often how people show their affection to each other in Japan. From my own experience, I enjoy watching doramas because they show a different side of the culture. I can relate to some of the characters because I am a shy person, so I do not like to show affection outwardly, I do it subtly. Also, they are usually pretty short and easy to binge watch.

“Akira Kurosawa’s movies brought Japanese Cinema to the international scene. Seven Samurai and Sanjuro were two of his most successful films (118)”.

Kaiju Movies

“The prototypical Japanese movie genre, devoted to gigantic monsters like Godzilla and Gamera (119)”.

[hannahgonline11]

B#9

“The world of videos games is so important that many musicians become famous making music only for this format (112)”.

In America, music in video games is not nearly as well known nor does it make people’s careers. Occasionally, video games will use well-established songs in the game; it feels like often music for a video game is a second thought, not critical. The songs put in American video games are usually very simple and lack anything memorable or even likable about them. In Japan, people make careers out of making music for video games. Video game designers put more thought and priority on music in video games; the music helps portray the story that the video game is trying to tell. So, the music needs to fit the mood of the scene and not outshine the dialogue or the story of the game. The music in Japanese video games is so memorable that it makes people able to make careers out of something that is mainly behind the scenes job.

“J-pop songs being generally easy to sing, the popularization of karaoke at about the same time gave the genre a boost (113)”.

In America, we have a term to describe a catchy song “earworm” we will say that song is an earworm if it stays in your head after the song is over. American pop music often uses the earworm tactic when creating a pop song; the chorus is where the earworm lyrics would usually be placed. The chorus is normally where everyone sings along to a song because it is the most memorable part of the song. Karaoke is not as popular in the US because it requires people to sing in front of other people that they may or may not know. People are critical of everyone, so people are often hesitant to sing in front of others. My siblings love karaoke, but both of them were in choir in high school, so they have little training in singing. They do not sound like dying animals when singing like I do, therefore why I do not like karaoke. In Japan, people do karaoke a lot, so naturally, they would be better singers because practice makes perfect. J-pop does not entirely focus on making songs that are the most technically difficult to sing, so that helps with people liking them during karaoke. The earworm style of the song is popular in J-pop because it is an effective way of gaining people’s attention and making sure their music is well known. The music market is saturated with artists; therefore it is difficult to make yourself standout, so an easy way is to make music that is catchy and easy to sing so that people can sing along to, like in karaoke.

Misora Hibari: The Enka Queen

“Misora Hibari is considered by many people as the enka music queen and the most important Japanese music artist of all time (111)”.

X Japan

“Heavy Metal group that gained popularity in the nineties (115)”.