A Christmas Post about Japan

      It took a three hour subway/ train trip to the airport, a nine hour plane ride, four hours on the vastly slower metro/ train system of northern California, a four hour nap, followed by a eight hour drive from Santa Cruz to San Clemente, but I'm now back home for Christmas. While adjusting to the extreme jet lag I find myself still with lingering thoughts about my experience in Japan.

 Since I didn't not get a chance to upload all my pictures to this blog or really get into the more important things I learned, I thought I would start by doing a quick blog on my perspective of Japan's celebration of Christmas.



Upon landing in Japan I was immediately struck by the commercial nature of the city of Tokyo. The constant hordes of shoppers and business men alike, roaming the stores to the tune of American christmas music made me assume that the Japanese celebrated christmas just like any American did. This false and ignorant assumption was furthered by the Christmas trees and other decorations I saw through out the places we visited in Japan.





We also saw Santa Claus taking various forms:

Yes, thats the colonel 

Outside toy shop in Ginzo

Delivery man in Yokohama

Toy store

As our trip continued it became clear to me that Christmas wasn't the same as in the United States. When I talked with some Japanese students from Yokohama National University I was reminded that Christmas traditions range from country to country. When the topic came up during one of our dinners with them, I asked what they did for Christmas? They're response was hesitant as if to not understand what I meant. Finally one student replied that, he was not Christian and therefor he didn't celebrate it.  To hear a Japanese student implying that Christmas was an actual religious holiday was interesting to me. Setting aside the "War On Christmas" argument produced by many right wing groups in the US, I was seeing perspective of the United States as a christian nation. Even with my own christian traditions Ive found myself thinking of how Christmas is becoming more and more commercial. Thus my earlier assumption that the Japanese valued Christmas on the same value we in the US did seemed plausible.







However, after talking with the YMU students as well as my teacher we learned some differences.

- Japanese tradition of Santa does not go down the chimney. He comes through the front door leaving gifts                   for sleeping children

-Most students dont have a winter break that covers the Christmas holiday.

- Most restaurants are still open

-small gifts are given

-family dinners not required

Christmas tree in Kyoto Train Station

People sitting down to look at Christmas tree.

My impression from students and my instructor was that Christmas was treated like St. Patricks Day is in the United States; celebration with no greater value in terms of tradition. From my perception it seems like the value placed by both secular America, and religious America are not present in general Japanese society's celebration of Christmas. This is to say there isn't really a emphasis on family, spirit of giving or charity that the secular/religious Christmas tradition encompasses in the US. Instead it seems to be hopeful catalyst to encourage people to purchase things.

In Tokyo Metro Station

Given that advertisements and decorations through out Japan even though it is not a valued holiday, I am curious in gaining a broader understanding of
Christmas tradition in Japan.

Taking a quick look at this article on wikipedia we see a history of Christianity on the island nation. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_in_Japan

Statue to Portuguese Franciscans

With early missionaries establishing christian populations as early as the 15th century we definitely can understand some form of christmas celebration to be celebrated by the small number Japanese Christians. However how did the society at large come to represent this holiday in its streets and stores?

Jack Frost?

 The answer to my question lies in a much broader and interesting discovery I made in Japan. I didnt really understand what kind of influence the occupation of Japan had on Japanese culture but I think the answer to Christmas tradition in Japan lies within the legacy of the US occupation. With the United States soldiers living within Japan as an occupying force, their came significant influence that can still be seen today. There is even a major concentration in college aimed at studying American influence. With this value in mind it would be easy to place christmas tradition as a direct American influence on Japan. This is heightened by the closeness of the two economies; with a fundamental emphasis given to the value of consuming and purchasing as important part of the capitalist system.

Santa hat on horse and man?

Wreaths along walk to hotel

Totoro toys

Hopefully, this gives some insight in Japanese society. I know that my methods and research in not fully conclusive or thorough, but I hoped to give some starting foundation of understanding Japanese culture further.

Merry Christmas

A little too forward.. I just wanted coffee

Day 2 and 3 of Japan Trip

     We spent most of our day in a museum for the memory of the Japanese soldiers who were captured during the Pacific war. The museum did not allow for pictures but it included many original texts from WWII and recreations of Japanese prisoner experience. 

       The museum fit perfectly into the Nagamine Project's area of study, as much of the material was in regards to Japanese involvement in Manchuria. Its narrative of the World War II story was a very neutral commentary; giving voice to the experience of prisoners, while not glazing over the atrocities and misdeeds of the Japanese Empire. In addition the museum's narrative positioned the progression of war as being the fault of Japanese extreme nationalism taking control of the government.  According to Prof. Christy this is a stark contrast to another museum we would visit later, which constructs narrative of Japan being forced to pursue agressive policy because of the encroachment of imperial powers. Later I will write about that museum, but for now, here's some pictures of the rest of the day.

First we had a late lunch. This is a traditional Japanese dish, that will find the name later. It has cabbage, meat, egg and a special batter.

We did all the cooking ourselves. First mixing the material together then placing them on the grill in, like a pancake.

 Making sure not burn it you add a special sauce, some fish flakes and your good to go!

After eating we headed to the museum. With a healthy combination of walking and trains we made our journey.

All  of us follow our fearless leader like sheep. Since theres 15 of us we form a giant train of Americans, that gets a lot of looks from people. 

A Japanese Michael Myers?

An interesting looking man, asking for money.

All the metro signs look the same to me..

Basketnest building

The trees seemed to have a nice Fall look to them

Asking directions from a form of law enforcement

The Japanese have rules against walking while smoking and eating, so these men are in charge of enforcing that policy.

A monument to the early Franciscan missionaries who for longest time were the only westerners allowed in Japan.

This is a ground view of Tokyo City Hall

After seeing the museum, which was in a skyscraper, we went to an observation deck to look at the surrounding skyline.

This the view of it from the observation deck

If you look hard you can see the top of mount fuji through the smog.

The middle of the museums building had a hole it that went straight up 65 stories up. I tried to get a picture of the look down but the angle didn't work out. It was very eery. At the bottom floor there was skylight that allowed us to look up and see the sky through the building.

In Japan

12 hour flight down, I am now in Japan. The flight was probably one of the longest I've been on. With little space, I sat in the middle of the of the plane in a middle seat. I spend most of the time watching the on demand movies that each seat has.

Upon landing I was relieved to have no problems with customs.

 From the airport we boarded a train to a capsule hotel in Tokyo. The capsule hotel required that we take off our shoes and store them in a locker before we were given room assignments. When they gave us our rooms we were given sandals to wear.




The rooms were very small but had room for one person to store their laggage. The room also had a spot for locking valuables as well as a small TV. My favorite part was the Japanese robes we were given for the public bathhouse. All in all the capsule provided a  great hideaway for jet lagged travelers who just needed a place to rest for the night.

The rooms were stacked one on top of the other with a latter leading to the top room.

The next day we woke up early around 7:00am Japan time. I slept most of the night but considering  we got in at 2:00am I still didn't have a lot of sleep. Nonetheless we journeyed into Tokyo station to get our rail passes.

While waiting for the train agency to process our passes, we went out into the city to see some of the sites. 

 Along the way, we met some activists who were getting people to sign petitions against the current nuclear policy in Japan. This man spoke decent English and called for us to act in "solidarity" with him against the nuclear energy through out the world. 

Along the way to the Imperial Palace we also stopped at public park

A statue of Saigo Takemori 

The wall of the imperial  palace

 The signs warned not to clap because it was a budhist shrine.. not Shinto

A fountain that brings healthy children

 
Next we visited the Imperial Palace. Although not picture but equally as interesting is a building that was Mac Arthur's wartime occupation headquarters. It was said that he could see the Emperor's house from his office, which given Mac Arthur's personality this was probably intentional.

 The entry to the Imperial palace used to have a large open space, but after a large demonstration on May Day, the Japanese government planted pine trees to keep people of the grass.

Two bridges of the Imperial Palace. Before WWII the Emperor come out from his palace on a white horse. This is where people were able to see him. 

Intimidating lion station. He has a partner station nearby. The open mouth symbolizes the "o" part of the "uhm" in Buddhist chants. His counter part has a closed mouth for "m" part. These two are common in the entry points to sacred spot in Japan.

This are charms you can burn in the shrines . Each one has a different meaning. 

This is memorial for the Earthquake of 19? and also the firebombing of Tokyo

bad ass picture of a samurai that died defending the Emperor

Our last stop was the Ginzo District  to shop for various things and get the feel of the city.

This shop was overwhelming.. but I got some good Christmas gifts

Protesting nuclear power on the anniversary of Fukushima 

Occupy wall-street protesters were also in attendence

                        

 After a long day. We get beer from the vending machine with all the change we collected during the day. Its very cheap and convient and surprising the these vending machines are in a lot of places.