Japan: Changing Impressions.

For this final, reflective post I have decided, for my first picture, to include another portrait, because that's what we started with, and I thought it only fitting to end with one. It is a picture of me, taken in Umeda, in Osaka. I feel it is symbolic of several things. First of all, there is the road sign in the background displaying Japanese kanji, which drive the point home that I am really in Japan (both for you and for me). Secondly, there is a hotel in the background called "Hotel Il Monte" - this, for me, represents the "internationalisation" of Japan, and how both English and other foreign languages and cultures are so popularised here in their re-interpreted Japanese forms. This is something you can see every day when you walk down the street - you can see shops with French signs in their windows; English/Engrish on every corner; Chinese and Korean restaurants; Thai massage parlours. You can find it all here. And finally - the ubiquitous Coca-Cola logo, as profound a symbol of the globalisation of Japan, if there ever was one.

Why does this photograph represent my changed impressions of Japan? Well, before I came here, I was under the impression that Japan was still very much concerned with its own history and traditions, and the mainenances and proliferation thereof. And while Japan still remembers its cultural roots (visible in temples, shrines, household customs, geishas in the street and many other features of Japanese everyday life), it seems to me to be a country which has merged its identity in many ways with that of other countries and cultures. The commplex result is the marvellous, multifaceted mélange that has so quickly become commonplace to my eye, yet never fails to charm me.

This final picture is very possibly my favourite that I have taken in Japan. For me, it very much represents my changed impression of Japan. When I used to think of this country, I used to think of towering skyscrapers, bright, flashing lights, fast-paced lifestyle and cutting-edge technology. Certainly, all those things can be found there. However, between myself and that front, I found houses and little gardens and those Japanese dogs that everyone has, and boxy little cars, and just people, regular people. That's the thing about Japan. Everything you see, you could pretend was really in your own country, but it looks subtly different somehow, subtly foreign, though you can't pinpoint why. Despite this, the important thing to remember is, this isn't another planet; we are not living on the Moon. These people are just people, like you and I.

Politics and Conflict in Japan

I have been accused of pettiness for this, but in all honesty, the aspect of Japanese society that I have had the most difficulty adjusting to is the public attitude to smoking. A lot of people I know, when they heard this, didn't believe me, or thought it was a stupid thing to get hung up about, but it's just absolutely disgusting. I hate it. I hate that in restaurants you're eating your food and all you can smell and taste is tobacco smoke. I hate that I can't go to an izakaya, a restaurant, even some trains, and not come out with my clothes smelling the same way as when I went in.

As you can see, non-smoking areas ARE available in many restaurants, but the unfortunate fact is that as much as you can get a non-smoking table, quite often there is simply no partition between smoking and non-smoking areas, so it doesn't even matter which section you're sitting in, you're still getting a lungful of toxic chemicals with every bite of your meal.

Given the fact that in Britain there is in fact a law against advertising or endorsing tobacco products in any kind of way, I was shocked to find that in Japan these kinds of advertisements are very common. See the pictures below:

I have to admit, the first time I saw advertisements like this I was very shocked. To see something so harmful and antisocial, touted in such a way, making it seem "cool"
, "elegant" or "sophisticated", seems so old-fashioned and counter-intuitive to my mind. Then I did some research.

According to this website, in 1995 50% of men and 10% of women smoked ,and in 2007 the figures has changed to 43% for men and 13% for women, according to this source. And whereas any smoking-related PSAs, television commercials or billboards are mainly to do with trying to get people to stop smoking, the only similarities I have been able to see in Japan are these kinds of advertisements, which do not focus on helping people to stop smoking, but only on how to be better to the environment and "smoking etiquette" when it comes to others. There was also a survey done in Japan, the results of which I found quite confusing: smokers seem to either not smoke at all, or smoke every day, not just sometimes; although 54.8% of those surveyed find other people smoking annoying, 35.8% don't feel any particular unpleasantness due to smokers; and with 51.4% of smokers not willing to try nicotine-based medications in order to try and quit, it looks like this situation is not one due to end any time soon...

Finally, according to this site, Japan's Minister of Finance owns a 66% share of tobacco profits in Japan; there's a town which hosts a 「たばこ祭」 (tobacco festival) every year (complete with "Miss Tobacco Festival" contest!); and there are many images of the ridiculously prevelant tobacco advertising boldly displayed for all - including impressionable children and teenagers - to see. Shocking...