Whenever you walk down the street in Japan, it seems that you can always find a billboard or poster advertising some candidate or some political party.  In illustration of that fact, I found this poster while hiking near Mount Kurama, a strange decision, for this poster would never be seen by large numbers of people, as it is neither near a railway station or a town:

It also confuses me that the poster here (and others that I've seen) are bilingual:

 

This could be just another manifestation of the Japanese manner of putting English on signs in order to make them more interesting or exotic, of course, and I think that is what it must be, because the foreign population in Japan really makes little impact on the policies of Japan.  This could also be though a remnant of regulations left over from the establishment of the Japanese constitution.  I really don't know.

However, I think the way these posters are set up is an interesting window into the way politics would like to be viewed in Japan.  Whether or not they ARE viewed that way, of course, would take more research to discover.

The person featured is not an accurate photograph, rather a sort of 1950s style color wash drawing, very idealized, almost, and the pose, too, with the candidate looking off into the distance, with his inspirational phrase next to him.  I cannot understand the first part, but the second part is interesting:

日本は変わらない -- I read this as "Japan will not change" or perhaps "Japan must not change" (again, any help with the translation would be helpful)  

In the context of the first part of the sentence, this might sound less strange, but to me at least, it seems like the stylized image and the sentiment of stability and peace are inspiration to those who feel their lives require that promise.

 

Current Mood: listless

 Four months of living in any place certainly gives one a different perspective on the moods and motives of its people.  After living in China for four and a half months, it was only during the last few weeks that I really got accustomed to the rhythms of life in Beijing and starting understanding the flow of life rather than resisting it.  Japan was a different matter.

When I first arrived, I knew that I was really going to like Japan.  But there were quite a lot of things that confused me about it, regardless.  I wondered why stores were labelled in English, and why katakana was so prevalent, and why exactly there was a giant crab on that skyscraper.

After four months, though, I have begun to understand that Japanese culture, though full of whys still makes sense, as long as you can keep in mind the things we've been studying in class this semester, especially things like the Japanese Version.

I think that that documentary really got closer than any other to explaining exactly what is going on when we see something that LOOKS familiar but takes a form we are unused to.

For example, after studying the kawaii ideal and shojo power, it doesn't seem so odd to walk down the street and see a girl holding a handbag that looks like a skirt or wearing a pair of shoes that look like animals:

Even Colonel Sanders, who both amused and confused the hell out of me when I got here, seems to make more sense now:  



After all, in America, we did used to have the mascots for all these fast food chains standing outside the stores.  You still do see Ronald McDonald some places, and that's no stranger.  The problem is that we are seeing this things out of the context we are familiar with, and wondering why they are there.  Upon reflection, it isn't so odd; the dissemination of culture through globalization makes us not flinch when we see a sushi place or a Chinese restaurant, and I believe the desire to understand other cultures is perhaps greater worldwide than it has ever been before.

Every journal post I've done has either helped me think more deeply about Japan or forced me to expand on my previous knowledge.  Stereotypes are easy to believe, especially in Japan, where the culture can seem almost overwhelming at times.

Obviously, though things make more sense, there will always be things you see and at first don't really comprehend.  But since that is a part of every culture, I don't see why we should blow it out of proportion just because it happens to be Japan.  Japan's mystique is sometimes overrated, and it is obvious that they hold as many stereotypes about us as we have about them.

Current Mood: accomplished