Keihan Chronicle

It's been more than 3 months since I stepped Japan for first time, even though that just looked like a few weeks for me. When I started this blog, I told that my first impression of this country was that it didn't impress me as much as I expected. The truth is that during this time I've been learning a lot of things, but in general my impression hasn't changed that much.


Is not that I think that Japan doesn't have interesting things, but quite the opposite. I felt that I'd need several years to start realizing how Japan really is. As for what I could experience until now, I felt very comfortable with Japanese lifestyle, in some aspects even more than in my own country, but I also felt that I wasn't able to experience Japan as much as I would have liked. The international student routine has much to do about it, since it generates some closed circles and schedule limitations difficult to break through.


Luckily, since I'm extending my stay for the next semester, I'll have a long break to travel, observe and get immersed into some new aspects of Japanese society, and I'm really excited about that, because my working field as an amateur anthropologist will widen in a high degree. Now I'm just glad to have learned how to improve my observation skills and use the adequate techniques to understand better my surrounding. I'm sure that these things will be very useful to me from now on.

When I arrived Japan, on August 28th, there was a strong pre-election campaign running for the polling day, only two days later. There were candidate banners in every corner, houses picturing in their fences the portrait of their favorite candidate and even loud vans crossing the towns spreading the goodness of their party representatives. It really made sense, because that was not only a general election, something important per se, but also was a very delicate moment for the government, not being in its best days. As we all know, the result wasn't less surprising.

It is worldwide known the short period of holidays that most Japanese people enjoy, but even though the wide spreading of this cliché, the truth is that Japan also represents one important source of tourists, easily identifiable wherever they go. Domestic tourism, because of its low cost and because it doesn't require long periods of time, is a popular practice in Japan, and touristic spots are always full of national tourists, who still surpass in a large number those from foreign countries.

Within the holiday periods, probably spring and autumn stand out because of two of the major natural events in Japan, the cherry tree bloom (桜) and the red leaves (紅葉). Those acts of appreciation of nature are very important (at least more than in most of western cultures) and are tied to Japan's national essence, culture and tradition. By admiring these annual phenomenons the Japanese somehow, consciously or not, pay tribute to their shinto roots, based on the worshipping of nature, and also to the buddhist heritage that gives a special value to the fleetingness and imperfection of all things: like the falling petals or leaves, everything will perish in this life, and this condition holds a sense of beauty developed in Japanese culture and arts during centuries, giving birth to well known literary concepts as mono no aware or wabi sabi.

In religion terms, Japan seems to enjoy a considerable degree of freedom when compared to other countries, especially those with monotheistic traditions. The fact of being a society based in animistic and polytheistic beliefs of Shinto, combined with such a flexible doctrine as Buddhism, has maybe made Japanese modern society more open minded and less dogmatic than countries with Christian or Islamic traditions, for example. Thus, the Japanese tendency to syncretism softened the taboos of mixing believes of different nature, and this is easily demonstrable by seeing how many Shinto shrines can be found inside Buddhist temples or by checking the hybrid wedding system that takes its aesthetics mainly from Christian tradition.

Even knowing this, I was amused when some time ago I saw in a Tsutaya shop a stand and several posters advertising a manga with a cover showing Buddha and Jesus Christ shoulder by shoulder, dressing in a casual way and behaving as tourists.

When thinking about the theme for this post I thought I could give it a chance and buy a copy to see what was it really about, and the result wasn't less amusing than my first impression. 聖☆おにいさん, or "Saint Young Men" by Nakamura Hikaru brings us a humoristic view of two of the most important religious figures of history changing all the context without any kind of reservation.

The initial plot is simple: Jesus and Buddha are tired of living so long in their respective paradises and decide to take a break by living in the modern Japan like two ordinary young men. They share an apartment, go shopping to the konbini, use the subway and ask themselves which cell phone should they buy among a lot of other "ordinary" activities. Their personalities are also very human and ordinary, and the only things that makes them different are they physical traits (crown of thorns, long hair and beard for Jesus, and big ear lobes, cranial protrusion and third eye). Jesus even seems proud for being mistaken for Johnny Depp by a group of schoolgirls, while some mistake Buddha's hairstyle for a punch perm. Typical traits attributed to these characters, like patience or generosity are also continuously parodied in this manga.


While such a harmless work would be probably criticized and condemned by a number of religious authorities for being blasphemic, in Japan it appears as one more product with no more aim than amusing the young readers who, like most of the Japanese, don't really care about religion. No one cares if the main character of a comedy manga is based on Jesus, Lenin, Schwarzenegger or Mickey Mouse, because all is about aesthetics. However, Japan's tendency to break taboos, even being more clear than in most of western countries, still finds difficulties in some national subjects like the Imperial Family, remaining still now as one of the more strong cultural taboos of contemporary Japan.

聖☆おにいさん is published by Kodansha under the label Morning KC with 4 volumes at the moment, enjoying a considerable popularity, having printed 13 editions of its first number since its publication in January 2008.

A scanned and translated version of the manga can be read here:

http://www.onemanga.com/Saint_Young_Men/

When walking along the street anyone finds some magazine stand with something like "Take for Free" written on it, it is natural to take a glance, especially when the covers have an eye-catching design featuring something like cute looking girls.

Last weekend I was walking near the Tôji temple in Kyoto when I found one of these stands. Without paying much attention, I took a couple of magazines out of curiosity, since some of their names (like "Collon") sounded just funny. When I took a few steps away I noticed the "18" symbol in the cover. "That's strange..." I thought, "Wait, porn for free in the street!?" that's impossible...


Out of prudence I waited to get home to take a look (they were wrapped with plastic) to see what the hell were they about, and I finally understood. One of the magazines stated "Superwork-magazine Collon for girls" as a clue. Then, a quick look was enough to know that the content of these magazines (almost the same in both) was mainly about job offers in all kind of night clubs ranging from waitresses to almost prostitution, but mainly focusing to the hostess world as depicted in the descriptions below.

Besides of the nature of these jobs, what made me think the most was the easy access to this kind of publication. I found these copies in a quiet street in Kyoto, but then I saw more in some different places, among which was a small bookshop near to the Gaidai campus. This may lead to think how many young women and students choose this way to cover their expenses and to what extent is this good for the society.

A parallel can be drawn between hostess clubs and pachinko parlors. Even though the latter are more numerous, both have an important presence in adult entertainment in Japan and both challenge the legal bounds, since gambling as well as prostitution are forbidden by law. Beyond the moral discussion that this subject can lead to, I think that the most important thing to be taken into account is the position that Japanese society and its main powers adopt towards this tendency in the entertainment world. Does it help people (workers and costumers) to fulfill their needs and hopes, or rather make them get inside a spyral of dispair as it was depicted in the aforementioned documentary? This certainly needs lots of discussion that a single blog post can't provide...

Japan has been known for a long time for its capacity to borrow things of foreign cultures and adapt them to their own tastes and needs. This behavior is not recent at all, and we can easily check it by taking a look to the Japanese history since the times of the Kojiki chronicles. Religion, language, architecture... all these have their origins in those brought in ancient times from foreign lands through China and Korea. However, all these things changed to create what we can define as "the Japanese style". The result is something that is similar to the source but at the same time different and new.

In the 20th century this behavior was not only kept, but was boosted by the industrialization: electronic devices, fashion, cultural traits, all was imported but transformed into a Japanese version. In some way globalization (or an advanced version of it) inhabits in the core of Japanese culture. That's why today we can see things like Teriyaki Burgers at McDonald's or rockabilly inspired gangs (among thousands of others examples) coexisting in harmony with genuine national creations in modern Japan.

I think I'm not wrong if I say that in Japan there are enthusiastic fans of almost every conceivable thing. This sometimes brings to some curious situations like the one I'm going to explain.

In Spain, where I come from, if there's a popular sport that stands out from the rest, it is soccer, and more specially Barça and Real Madrid, the main national teams. In Japan soccer has been becoming more popular in the last years, but it is still far from the king of the kings: baseball. However, since I arrived to Japan there's not a week I don't see somewhere some representation of the team from where I come from, Barcelona. I've never been a soccer fan and, to be honest, I find it extremely boring, but I can't help drawing a smile when I see such a familiar symbol in the most unexpected places.

I knew that Spanish soccer league is famous in a lot of different countries, but I didn't know it was to that extent. As an example I can say that in the last weeks I've seen much more Japanese people wearing Barça T-shirts or backpacks than those of the Hanshin Tigers. Even without leaving Hirakata, I could find a Mickey Mouse Barça themed lamp and a PS3 bundle pack with the picture of the famous player Leo Messi printed on the box, both in a popular shopping mall near to Hirakata-shi station.

It is a known fact that Japan produces and consumes tons of popular culture of all kinds: Manga, music, fashion... anything that one could imagine. A lot of the merchandise produced by the entertainment industry that is mass consumed by all kinds of people, however, is finally rejected for those who bought it. Their reasons may vary: maybe the purchase of a certain good was tied a certain fad, or simply people don't have enough space in their shelves to collect all they buy. Whatever is the reason, the truth is that loads of this material ends either in the trash can or otherwise in the second hand shops.

In the latter case, it is somehow hard to imagine why people would bother to sell for a few money some CD or book for which they paid a few thousand yen, which are sold for a price that goes from one third of the original until barely a 3% in the most extreme cases.


Second hand shops of this kind of material (mostly CDs, DVDs, books, manga and videogames) are widely extended in Japan, and their shelves are always full of old and new stuff. There, all these things get a second chance in hands of enthusiastic collectors, casual buyers or just bored commuters. In any case, this is an important way of popular culture consumption, maybe the most affordable one.


However, even though for a mere 105 yen anyone can get a manga volume in a nice edition and take it home, there are still lots of people who prefer read them from the beginning to the end standing in the crowded corridors into a practice that seems to be one of the Japanese "national sports", the so called tachiyomi (立ち読み).



Ok, tachiyomi is something like that except for the bizarre alien suits

The fast changes in the Japanese entertainment industry feed this kind of places in what becomes the natural destination for these things that are not brand new anymore. A question that could be asked later would be: What will happen with all these CDs an books a few months after being purchased? Will they return to its origin in an undefined loop or will remain forgotten in some basement? For now these questions are not easy to answer, but what is sure is that all this represents one more layer of the vast Japanese pop culture, maybe not the most superficial, but certainly an important one.

I live in Hirakata, the same town that holds the Kansai Gaidai University. If we look to the facts, Hirakata is a city with more than 400,000 inhabitants, and it's not an inconsiderable cipher at all, especially when compared with my hometown, with almost the half of population. However, when I talk about Hirakata with some Japanese friends from the university I usually hear expressions like "Hirakata is a countryside town".

At first this is kind of shocking, but when you take a walk around you understand what they mean. No matter how big is it, you can get a similar feeling to the one you get when walking across a small town. Silent alleys, paddy fields in the most unexpected places, almost no people on the streets... Where are these almost half million people hiding? Even when in the center, around Hirakata Station, big crowds of people are rarely seen. In short, as for what I've been able to see in the month I've lived in Hirakata, it is a city with almost no urban feeling.

Is Japan different?

This question could get very different answers depending on who you are asking to. As for someone who came from a distance of more of ten thousand kilometers in the west, the most expected reaction when landing would probably be one of surprise and excitement for getting into a new culture. Books, history and the peoples themselves have always divided the world into East and West as the opposite, and most people on both sides do believe in this distinction, picturing the other side as something exotic or even bizarre. Is this distinction real or not? Who knows, again it depends on the point of view.

Somehow I believed in this difference, and I expected to be shocked by it in some way, but my very first impression of Japan was that I was not as impressed as I thought I would be. Is true that the differences between Japan and my country are evident: signals written in kanji, futon instead of bed, chopsticks instead of forks, bikes everywhere… But I realized that people do the same things everywhere, in a different way, but the same things after all.

Maybe that’s because I’ve read and watched a lot of material about Japan in the last years, and things here are already somehow familiar to me, or maybe is because in this two weeks in Hirakata I’ve not been able to see Japan in its whole glory, but again, I’ve not been at all as shocked as I expected I would be. This is only a first impression, and there’s still a long way to go in my Japan experience, so this could just be a snap reaction of the first moment and fade away as I discover new things. Time will tell.