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.