When I think about Japanese culture, I think about tradition, discipline, vibrant colors, hard working, and, of course, Shogun/Godzilla! My initial thoughts take me to Shogun. I remember this movie with Richard Chamberlain…not sure why, however. I also remember watching Godzilla as a young child. This movie was strange to me – most likely due to the poor quality of the special effects. I remember laughing at it. Because I’ve never been to Japan my impressions are strongly influenced by the media – books, TV, movies.
I do feel a sense of strong tradition and great passion for one’s cultural beliefs when thinking about Japan. One can’t argue about the history as Japan has been around for thousands of years. This isn’t something the U.S. can compete with. The strong sense of family (the elderly especially) are a great part of the Japanese culture. I’ve seen this during my visits with my sister-in-law. Although KO is Korean, I feel that this cultural belief extends throughout Asia. The kimono is another example of a grand sense of long history and tradition. It’s a celebration of sorts – again, the closest I’ve come is with my Korean sister-in-law when she wore her kimono during a family celebration. This form of dress is often used during holidays, celebrations and weddings.
When thinking about Japanese culture, I also think about their strong influence across the business and auto industries. They’ve been on the fast track with technology and the auto industry for quite some time. It demonstrates a culture of influence across the business track. Japan hit hard times in the 1990’s but showed an ability to bounce back – perhaps something our economy will need to do now. The Japanese culture is sustaining and often dominating through a quiet approach. They have a desire to build and influence the world (not uncommon) but they also appear to celebrate their long standing traditions through a sense of independence. Although, I’ll assume that the younger generations are typical in that they may appreciate the historical culture but would rather move and look forward to future prospects.
The Western influence is everywhere – fast food, iPods and clothing to name a few.
One thing is for certain, while searching out cultural differences, similarities also pop up which demonstrates our commonalities as people and overall human nature.
What makes me laugh? A good comedy, especially a live one! And, as noted above, the original Godzilla movie makes me
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2 comments:
Hi Noelle! I agree...the strong respect and sense of one's personal responsibility with elders is a wonderful aspect of Japanese, and like you say Asian in general, culture and societial structuring.
Yes- Godzilla! I too think it's hilarious and grew up occassionally watching those movies on rainy afternoons as a child. Mothra's still my favorite character within the series. Did you watch "Ultraman" too?
Best, Lachlan
Godzilla was very formative for me, too, when I was a kid. And of course the many war movies that showed americans (white people) killing a lot of japanese... I grew up in LA and there were many asian people in my schools as I grew up, so it always seemed weird to me to think of them as 'enemy' -- and of course they were not, because the kids I knew were all american born. Early life lessons like these are part of how we grow up free of cultural stereotypes, I guess.
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