In the last post, when I said that there probably is more to the whole cuteness thing, I meant that there HAS to be more. It can't be possible to delude a whole nation, can it?
One thing that I have noticed here is the emphasis that is placed on outward appearance. Not just in terms of dressing up everyday, but the need for everything to be in its place at all times. One time, shortly after we got here, we decided to stay out all night in Tokyo. One of the girls was feeling sick and wanted to lie down on the seat at a restaurant we were at. The waiter came over and looked really uncomfortable and strongly implied that it would be better for her not to do so. We told him that she was feeling really sick and needed to lie down. After a lot of hesitation on his part, he went away looking chagrined and in mild pain--everything in its place.
This is probably untrue and completely off, but I wonder if this adherence to custom has anything to do with the Peace Constitution of Japan. Perhaps conformity is stressed so that conflict is avoided...to maintain peace. Harmony.
Maybe people buy into the cuteness and the masking of enforced social structures because subconsciously, they see the "danger" in challenging status quo and allow themselves to be mollified and subdued.
This is not to say that Japanese people can't think for themselves; they very well can! But at my school, I feel like the students aren't really encouraged to think outside of the box and challenge authority and all that. In my conversations with my friend from Waseda University, it seems to me that the students there are definitely taught to challenge everything they are given and so, within him, there is a strain of rebellion that is refreshing to see and hear.
I worry for the people at my school who don't get an opportunity to challenge things. I worry about the girls who see college as a place to meet their husband so that they can settle down into housewife-ly duties after graduation. I don't want to impose my American values on anyone (I really don't like that imperialist junk), but still, part of me cringes.
Maybe I am mistaken about everything I mentioned above. The language barrier has made it difficult for me to cross the threshold from shallow conversation to deeper stuff. I hope I am mistaken.
I praise God that I have the freedom to write all of this down...that I have the freedom to be wrong and to be corrected.
One thing that I have noticed here is the emphasis that is placed on outward appearance. Not just in terms of dressing up everyday, but the need for everything to be in its place at all times. One time, shortly after we got here, we decided to stay out all night in Tokyo. One of the girls was feeling sick and wanted to lie down on the seat at a restaurant we were at. The waiter came over and looked really uncomfortable and strongly implied that it would be better for her not to do so. We told him that she was feeling really sick and needed to lie down. After a lot of hesitation on his part, he went away looking chagrined and in mild pain--everything in its place.
This is probably untrue and completely off, but I wonder if this adherence to custom has anything to do with the Peace Constitution of Japan. Perhaps conformity is stressed so that conflict is avoided...to maintain peace. Harmony.
Maybe people buy into the cuteness and the masking of enforced social structures because subconsciously, they see the "danger" in challenging status quo and allow themselves to be mollified and subdued.
This is not to say that Japanese people can't think for themselves; they very well can! But at my school, I feel like the students aren't really encouraged to think outside of the box and challenge authority and all that. In my conversations with my friend from Waseda University, it seems to me that the students there are definitely taught to challenge everything they are given and so, within him, there is a strain of rebellion that is refreshing to see and hear.
I worry for the people at my school who don't get an opportunity to challenge things. I worry about the girls who see college as a place to meet their husband so that they can settle down into housewife-ly duties after graduation. I don't want to impose my American values on anyone (I really don't like that imperialist junk), but still, part of me cringes.
Maybe I am mistaken about everything I mentioned above. The language barrier has made it difficult for me to cross the threshold from shallow conversation to deeper stuff. I hope I am mistaken.
I praise God that I have the freedom to write all of this down...that I have the freedom to be wrong and to be corrected.
posted by jenchen at 3:54 AM
6 Comments:
yah you never know, you may be surprised!!
but yes hahaha i thought about our John11 passage about Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead and he goes, "unbind him and let him go" and the freedom from the things that bind us...like cuteness?
anyways random
love ya jen! you shall sleep over next semester sometime, there's an orange retro couch with your name on it.
it IS possible to fool an entire nation. it happens all the time :x
(and p.s. allie's couch is dirty!)
amen.
thanks--this is really interesting to think about. makes me wonder what God's thoughts on this are.
in ed114a (my early childhood ed class), we watched a movie where preschools in hawaii, japan, and china were compared to each other. the teachers from each school got to see a film of a day at each school and they recorded the teachers' reactions too. the american teachers were concerned about exactly what you said--that the japanese teachers didn't encourage their students to think out of the box and for themselves. haha. cultural differences--gotta love them =)
again, nice post jen, profound.
that orange couch is from forest house!
hm, thanks for the specificity of the example. this made me think. (btw, hello!)
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