What is Japan...

[Void]

I haven`t been posting for quite a time. And for quite a time JRef feels different than it used to be. Perfectly normal. I am not even sure why i keep visiting this page and look through some posts

I`ve never been to Japan, i never was excited about it, never married or dated japanese, not fan, not scholar, nothing exceptional.
And i asked myself: "What is Japan for me?"

The very first acquaintanceship started from things commonly known to lots of people from school. Red drop over the white, Hiroshima, paper cranes, kamikaze... And few emotionless paragraphs in a history textbook about Russian-Japanese war and WWII.

In a while few bits brought by news and magazines occasionaly fell into the puzzle, another small stereotype, - technology, robots, toyota and such...
There were also some strange words like karate, ikebana, tycoon, kimono...

In a mean time world becomes if not obsessed, but sort of enchanted by
"japanese". It becomes fashionable. Design, food, philosophy, gardens, martial arts, technological achievements. "Ah, Japan!" - dreamingly rolling eyes would say some

"Japan. So what? People like people. Country like country. With it`s dignities
and flaws..."
Appealing philosophy, religion and teachings? Maybe, but nevertheless they should be viewed through reality of modern days as well.
Elegant poetry? sure, but fits only certain occasions.
Laconic design and paintings? Accomplished cue, but eye needs rampageous colours, chaos and irregularity also...
It is hidden within lines of a garden, anyone caught it? within dot separating
short words of a verse from a world behind them. Within blazing strokes of the blade, fading among its veins...

sword that another separate story... separate? or, perhaps, whole?
Domo arigato, (sp?) Mounenory-san and Takuan-sama. For a moon in a pond, for motionless consciousness... there is no magic powers, only hard work
what was then? anime, i guess. It grabbed me, shook thoroughly and holds since then...

This is another side of Japan, but not as image of a state or counry over the map, but her people, with their history, hopes, dreams and fantasies, symbols and cliches, humour and sadness, shame and dignity.
Altogether with those pieces of cinematograph i had a chance to watch, some are masterpiece, some just - intricate thought, some - just day-fly video tapes

It is also kana, looking at workbooks a friend of mine exclaimed "gee, it is not
really impossible to learn!" =) aha, and even other characters can make some sense in a while... with due efforts

Diverse, controversial, incomplete images of a country where i`ve never been.
Some parts i like, some leave me indifferent, some grew in, some i don`t understand, and lots i just don`t know. And just an abrupt, crumpled description of what is Japan for me.

Anyone can answer: What is Japan for you?

 

[Pachipro]

Void nice to see you back again. I was wondering what happened to you. Missed your philosophical posts and again you post a good thread.

Hmmm. Good question and something I really have not given much thought to until you brought it up. To me Japan is home plain and simple. I have no other way to put it. It is a place where I never thought of going to until my friends got stationed there and went there to be with them (we were in the military). That was my only reason for going. I went as a teenager at 18, became an adult there and stayed until my mid-thirties.

After a while the customs, language, culture, food, people, all grabbed a hold of me and never let go. I left the military and stayed while my friends went home; something that I thought would never happen even in my wildest fantasies.

Japan is a place that I am very comfortable in and a place where I will retire to live out my life regardless of the cost of living, crowds, living conditions and the fact that I am, and will always be, a "gaijin". It is something that is not easy to put into words and something that many people, my own family included, will never understand.

I do not expect to be accepted as Japanese nor do I want to. I just want to live there in peace and privacy to enjoy the country for what it is and for what it has to offer me. The beauty of the country itself, it's rich and deep history, culture and philosophy, it's festivals, food, travelling by train on outings with friends, singing karaoke in neighborhood bars, kotatsu tables and tatami mats and futons, "doramas" on TV, and countless other small things too numerous to mention. They may sound silly to some, but not to me even though I may be singled out and asked for my "gaijin" card on an occasion or two.

Even though I now live in the states with my Japanese wife I feel as if I am only working in a foreign country for a while before returning "home". And I still "go home" on a yearly basis for a week or two to visit my Japanese "parents" with my wife who treat me like their own son. After so many years of visiting the same house it does actually feel like my own house. Weird but difficult to explain.

Some may state that I am only looking at Japan through rose-colored glasses, but I beg to differ as, with any other country and culture, Japan does have it's flaws, it is not perfect, but it's positives far outweigh the negatives for me in that I feel more at home in Japan than I do here in the country of my birth. Again, very difficult to put into words.

The only similarity I can bring up is "Shogun ", by James Clavell and the movie "The Last Samurai " where in both cases the foreign "visitor" to Japan was, after a while, completely captivated by the Japanese culture and philosophy and adopted it as his own. Some may say that those two instances are only fiction, but there is some truth to it that I have no explaination for but is something I can definitely relate to.

So, to answer your question, to me Japan is home and always will be. And it is everything you said and then some.

 

[ArmandV]

To me Japan is home plain and simple.

Great response, Pach. I feel right at home there, although I've only visited it four times. I never lived there. But I like it enough to consider living there in retirement, which would make for a good topic of discussion.

How would one arrange to retire to Japan? I am sure there's no such thing as a "retirement visa." Naturally, on the financial side, one can make arrangements to have their Social Security check direct deposited in an account in the U.S. that can be accessed in Japan (besides a person's investments, 401K, IRA, etc.).

You and I are close in age. We have plenty of time to research this.

 

[Pachipro]

Already done most of the research Armand. Your SS Checks will be sent to you in Japan by the US government that you can deposit in your Japanese bank and it will clear within a week. You can also have the same thing done with your 401k's and investment checks. They can, and will, mail you a check anywhere in the world.

In a way it is easier for me as I have a Japanese wife. But even if one is single one can always get a working visa teaching English. I knew plenty of people over 50 and 60 teaching in Japan. It is possible even though many companies have an age limit.

If you want PM me or we can start our own thread on "Retiring in Japan". Sounds weird when many Japanese are retiring to the Phillipines.

 

[ArmandV]

If you want PM me or we can start our own thread on "Retiring in Japan". Sounds weird when many Japanese are retiring to the Phillipines.

Just sent you a PM. We can also start a thread on this as I am sure there may be others thinking along the same lines as we are. Since I have two degrees, it shouldn't be too difficult.

Phillippines? It does sound weird. I supposedly have family there from the Spain branch of the family, but I've never had any desire to go there.

 

[yukio_michael]

I'm not sure if I had a concept of Japan before I got there... I certain had seen my share of movies, much more most recently before I got there. I had never planned on moving to Japan... dating a Japanese girl, living in Japan, but there I was, and I think--- with a mindset that became a self fulfilling profecy, I thought I would be unable to stay--- and perhaps didn't appreciate it enough while I was there. It felt like, as pachipro said... home, and I had gotten it into my mind to treat it like home, rather than like a vacation--- soaking in all the sights.

That said, it has made me appreciate my surroundings moreso. I see things in my city where I live now that remind me of Japan. I see embankments and concrete next to forrested areas and I think of Japan.

Japan to me is a place where everything matters... Everything has relevance and meaning in Japan, from surfing, to "the peace movement", to blue jeans, to snowflakes, to battleships, to uniforms, to cherry blossoms, to rock & roll.

Everything has an extended meaning because the Japanese lack one very important and somewhat foul emotion: sarcasm. No one seems to do anything in an ironic "post-over-it" NY sort of way... This produces a group of people who sometimes take themselves, and their pastimes, more seriously than it seems need be--- but it's a refreshing change from the bland blase' seen it all world of the US youth.

Japan is a land of EXCELENT drinks. From melon soda, to Chu hi, to Aquarius, to Calips, to Happoshu (and with the cost of beer what it was---- a frugal choice), to Sake, to the best tasting apple juice I've ever had... Japan has great food in general, unless you are looking for italian--- I never found myself bored of what I could eat, everything tasted great to me (with the exception of natto and goya)... Chinese food in the fami-resu tasted like CHINESE food--- instead of the sweet-sauce laden Amerianized versions you mostly get here... I found few thai and no vietnamese restaraunts--- but I know they existed. There were always new izakaya opening up near where I lived. Japan was the first place where I tried horse meat, now a delicacy, during the war it was eaten as a substitute for beef, or venison. Fancy all the parts of the chicken? You'll find them at most yakitori restaraunt... And of course, the mainstay, nigiri sushi--- w/ powdered (yet good) green tea (still better than what we have here), the convetor belt that carries the sushi around the restaraunt--- lazy families, moms & dads, children, the businessmen at the "bar" area where you sit closest to the belt on a stool--- and you press the button in the booth to say "Hai--- nama biiru onegai shimasu~~"... draft beer please. ; )

Japan can be... infuriating--- It's people can be rude, childish, suspicious, unwelcoming, and outright racist. They can also be kind, compassionate, mindful, caring, generous & overall, some of the most special people I have met in my life.

You have no idea what bureaucracy means until you have experienced Japanese bureaucracy.

Sakura city, close to where I lived is home to...

The National Museum of Japanese History (Kokuritsu Rekishi Minzoku Hakubutsukan), generally called Rekihaku, opened in March of 1983. It is the only museum of Japanese history in Japan which supports systematic research and exhibitions of Japanese history and culture. Located in the corner of the Former Sakura Citadel Park, this fortress of history occupies a grand total of 35,000 sq.m. on a site of 130,000 sq.m.

It's quite beautiful to drive through Chiba prefecture and see the museum poking it's head out through the treetops and bamboo. If you get off at the Sakura city station, its just a little walk away--- stop in at the ice cream parlour on your way there, its right down the street--- Off the top of my head--- I write this before I dash off to work, these are just a few of my memories of Japan.

These are my thoughts at the moment, I want to reitterate that of course Japan can be completely frustrating--- generally speaking, people seem to have an idea of Japan that is nothing like daily life there. Everyone interested should take some time to see it--- as much time as you can--- as a week in Tokyo won't show you all there is to living in Japan---

Making a meal out of 300 yen at the local 99yen shop and walking the frozen streets (the ice thawed--- I never saw any snow plows---) as my girlfriend yells abuani, abunai~! --"dangerous!"... and we hold on to handrails and lower ourselves down the street---

Yanki kids who work as paper-deliver-boys, driving their mopeds (lots of mopeds!), running up and down the stairs at 2:00am.

Endless ammounts of manga, everywhere, anywhere you look, thrown out in stacks in the street--- everywhere.

Beer, cigarettes, hot-corn soup, in "automatic selling machines" everywhere. Vending machines, everywhere you go. Joyful honda, Parko Tokyo, Hysteric Glamour, Jusco, ShopQQ, Lawson, ...and yet, I saw no fami-mart.

...to be continued.