This past semester I had the amazing experience of studying abroad in Japan. I lived in a town called Hirakatta, which is a bit more than an hour away from Osaka and around two or three hours away from both Kyoto and Nara. My four months learning and traveling in Japan taught me a lot about the Japanese people and culture. Here are a few of the most interesting things I observed while living in Japan
1. Sushi
One of the things I was most looking forward to experiencing in Japan was eating sushi, of course! The first thing that I realized in Japan is that sushi is the most prevalent food in Japan, and every single person loves eating it. I asked every single Japanese person I met, and they all told me that they eat sushi at LEAST once a week.
2. Shinto Shrines
I was extremely lucky because my location was so close to Kyoto which has many stunning strictly Shinto temples. When I visited the temples such as Fushimi Inari and Kiyomizu dera, I found that many Japanese people visited the temples and would always wear Kimono's, traditional Japanese clothing, to pray to their Shinto deities. Every single Japanese person seemed to pray at a shrine the exact same way. First they would clean their mouths and hands, then go up to the temple, put money in, ring a bell, bow etc. It was fascinating.
3. Anime and Manga
Ever since I was a child, I have been interested in watching anime and reading manga. I was lucky to visit the place where the most popular anime and manga are created! While in Japan I observed that every single person loves reading and or watching anime. I asked so many people if they knew Naruto, Full Metal Alchemist, and Tokyo Ghoul, among many more . . . and every single person said, of course they loved it and in fact they were obsessed! I was fortunate to be in Japan during halloween which has become an extremely popular holiday in Japan. As I would have assumed, every single person I saw was dressed up in some sort of Anime or Manga cosplay! Forget being a simple witch or cat for halloween in Japan!
DEAR READERS,
hopefully you might have noticed by now, that, the three observations that I have written were lies. In Japan sushi is very common, however not every single person likes it or even eats it once a week! Many of the shrines that I visited in Kyoto were not strictly shinto at all. For example Kiyomizu Dera had both Tori gates, which are shinto, and Buddha statues. Not all Japanese people wear Kimonos when they visit shrines, and also praying to Shinto Kami (gods) is not an exact ritual, in fact, praying to these gods is extremely lenient and people do so in many many different ways! Lastly, anime and manga is very popular in Japan however not every single Japanese person reads, watches, or even likes it! I did spend halloween in Japan and people dressed in many different costumes that did not include anime and or manga characters.
When visiting another place with a completely different culture it can be easy to make assumptions and generalizations. We tend to view culture from the lense at which we see the world, the viewpoint to which we have always known. I urge everyone to take a step back, experience culture with open minds. When people can fully realize that everyone has their own culture, their own history and background, they can more easily cherish moments that they are spending in another place. I urge people to be conscious that your way might not be the right way, and your thoughts about another place, might not be the true way of another culture.
