Japan: Homestays & more

Japan has been our first real "pause" on Pac Rim. We have been here in Kyoto for 20 days, and have one week left for a total of just about a month. It has been amazing to have a chance to get into a routine and of course having my own room in a homestay has been nice too! Pac Rim is inherently chaotic but thus far, Japan has provided some opportunity for calm. Wow I have not blogged in so long and honestly have so much to say about Japan so bear with me in this incredibly unorganized blurb of information!!!

My host family is great. They are an older couple, and all their kids are out of the house with children of their own, so it's just the two of them living at home. My host mother speaks a little bit of English and is dedicated to learning as much as she can. She volunteers at the International Community House for opportunities to speak with tourists, and frequently skypes with English teachers to get practice.

On days that I don't have class or field trips with the group, my host mother takes me around to museums, temples, shrines, or to get lunch. The photo of us above is at her friends inn, where we went to have tea. While it is difficult to communicate, she has been an excellent resource for learning about the opinions/views of a person who was born and has lived in Kyoto for their entire life. One interesting thing that she shared with me was an "inferiority complex" Japanese people have with Americans. I was telling her about our field trip to a Zen Buddhist temple where we were taught to meditate and learned about the lifestyle and training of monks, by an American monk who has been a monk in Kyoto since he was 20 years old (he is around 75 now). I thought this was honestly really bizarre, the fact that he was American and white. In fact, the whole time he was talking to us about his journey to becoming a monk and what it means to practice Zen Buddhism as a monk I couldn't stop thinking about that and that he was living AS A MONK in this entirely different culture and country than the one he was brought up and born in and what that means, if anything?? To me it's actually really weird, not to be offensive. But then again people from all over the world are Christian or Catholic so why is there a line between who can practice what religion? But anyways, it was still bizarre. And I was telling my host mom about how I thought it was weird and she said that Japanese people really respect American monks because of the inferiority complex existing between them and American people, as a result of losing World War II. She says that Japanese people look up to Americans as smarter, more capable, and overall better. Thus, she felt that Japanese people most likely would not think its odd for an American to be a respected monk but would admire him even more than they would a Japanese monk. 

Meeting out host families was so stressful and nerve-racking! I think part of it was the buildup, we had been anticipating this moment for a long time, and knew next to nothing about our families. Our flight landed and we drove about two hours to Kyoto, practicing our greeting in Japanese so ideally we would be able to say it perfectly when meeting out host parents. Once arriving at the center where we would meet, we had about two hours of preparation time (again, some more ridiculous build up!!!!)  while out host families completed a hosting orientation in the room next door. When everyone was ready, we had to walk in a single file line to the room where our families were waiting, and were called out ONE BY ONE along with the names of our families, and in front of everyone would recite our greeting and bow. Honestly I hated every moment of it and felt so pressured because everyone was listening and I couldn't remember my greeting under that kind of pressure, and I totally botched it and it was horrible embarrassing! I felt so bad, and felt like learning any Japanese was going to be impossible for me and my host family would feel like I wasn't even trying. Luckily, as I wrote above, my host mother is dedicated to learning English. So I later learned that one of the biggest reasons she volunteered to host was to be able to speak English on a daily basis for a month! So while I still have learned the basic phrases of Japanese, she enjoys speaking English and the pressure I had felt upon arrival was quickly dissolved. 

The food has been 98% DELICIOUS and 2% nearly impossible for me to eat. I love eating rice with every meal, I am obsessed with matcha flavored anything (tea, latte, cake, candy, ice cream...etc). I cannot go a day without something matcha flavored. I love miso, tempura, sushi obviously, and I am also almost addicted to udon noodles. I eat them every day too even if I'm not hungry because I just can't help it. But then there are some things that I just cannot stomach. Like crab innards and fish guts,  both served by my host family, who kindly understood when I couldn't finish the meal. 

Here are some interesting things I have learned/been asked by talking to some local people or my host family: 

1. My host mother asked why Donald Trumps eyes are so white but his skin is so orange. She thought it was a medical condition but I told her it was just because he spray tans too much.

2. A student from a local university asked me if I felt like America was my country anymore under Trumps presidency, and said that he thinks people in America must feel strange and like they are living in a different place now, or maybe that they don't belong anymore. I was impressed with this assumption and his way of articulating it given the language barrier. 

3. My generation, in Japan, is not politically active at all. This is great contrast to South Korea, or the United States where my generation is the one protesting in the streets and voicing their opinions more than ever.  Here, it is the older generations protesting (which we have seen a bit of, since there is an election tomorrow, 10/22). Talking with a university student, he said that he thinks it is because people do not feel like they can make any change here. Their vote doesn't matter, the government will stay the same as it is. He says that people in Japan feel like "if you don't like the government here or the way things are done, than you can just leave Japan". 

Kyoto is an fascinating city. A contrast between incredibly modern yet ancient at the same time. There are the high tech toilets with heated seats and a million other options to keep you comfortable while using the loo, shiny new modern buildings, modern remakes of traditional style homes, and delicious prepared snacks readily available in every 7-11 or any other convenient store alike. In contrast there are so many temples and shrines scattered across Kyoto. As well as old traditions that are still a part of daily life. My host family is very traditional in terms of what they cook, the style of their home, and their daily practices. For an example, they have an area set up in their home to pray and a traditional styled tea room, and my host mother offers her ancestors tea at every meal time. 

But actually as I am writing this I am wondering if that is traditional or cultural. Is there a difference? Surely there is. In my own mind I always think about tradition as being deeply rooted in history and remaining the same or as similar as possible to how it started in the beginning. Whereas I perceive culture as being ever-changing with the times and effects of modernization and globalism. Not to say that history is not an important foundation of culture. I suppose I could say that the things I am labeling as traditional are just cultural differences, shown in tradition. Either way I find it fascinating how these cultural traditions remain so strong in a country that is so modern. 

What I imagined Asia to be prior to experiencing Japan has been, as much as I hate to say it, very stereotypical. Based on my experiences in Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia in 2014 (my only experience in Asia up till now), I imagined "Asia" to as chaotic, messy, dirty,  and as much as I HATE this word, "underdeveloped". The use of that term can be saved for another whole blog post. My point is I pictured Asia to have crowded streets and poor sewage systems. I don't even think I realized I had this stereotypical image in my head until I got to Japan. Japan has disrupted this simple minded assumption. Upon arrival, I saw things that reminded me of Italy, from fashion to different pastries. Sometimes it feels like there is a stronger European flair than an Asian one. This brought up the question of "what is Asia", a question we spent all of last month dissecting in Russia, Mongolia, and Korea. It has also highlighted how huge and vast Asia is, and how incredibly broad the term "Asia" really is. And now I am actually shocked that the word "Asia" or "Asian" even exists to describe more than just a continent. For an example, "Asian cuisine" or calling people "Asian. I will probably never again tell someone "I'm Asian" because that is such a ignorantly broad statement, I'm  a quarter Chinese, not a quarter Asian and I actually resent the fact that Asian is even used as an adjective. It is harmful overarching statements like these, or like "Western", that lead to assumptions and generalizations (like the one I had about Asia being chaotic and dirty) that cause real damage and build real divides; like "West" and "East". "The Western part of the world is 'developed'. The East is 'developing'". Not an uncommon theme to come across in academics today, nor is the one that the East is exotic, foreign, and therefore consistently "othered". Generalizations do cause harm and do embed ideas about superiority, by defining what "developed" means and imagining it to be a universal path fit to all parts of the world (who even said we get to define what "developed" means...). Well anyway, next time you go to use the word "Asian", maybe think twice! Asia is huge and includes many cultures, all of which are very different despite our assumptions. 

Moving on to another topic completely, Kyoto is magical. To me it feels a little bit timeless, despite the modernization of Japan, Kyoto is a cultural sweet spot. I have loved learning about Shinto Buddhism, where Kami (click link to learn more about Kami) are worshipped and represent not just a God but a spirit that is believed to be in nature, whether it be a tree or a stream, a mountain or the wind. Shintoism is a sect of Buddhism and is incredibly popular in Japan, with nearly 90% of the population calling themselves Shinto. The respect and deep importance that the Japanese put on nature has cultivated a relationship between people and nature that strives to be harmonious. Going to any shrine in Kyoto, there is something to be felt. At Shrines, worship is not directed at a specific statue or figure, but rather the area the Shrine is in itself. For an example, a Shrine may be built on a mountain, so if someone goes to worship the Kami (spirit) of that Shrine, they believe that the mountain itself is the spirits abode and therefore the spirit is everywhere in that space. Kami may be represented by figures, like a stone fox (ex: Inari, the Kami of Fushimi Inari Shine...my personal favorite in Kyoto). There are so many stories about different Kami that are truly believed to be reality in Japan. Ancient tales that maybe we would call "myths" are truth here, and I find so much beauty in that. Shintoism views people as inherently good, blaming all bad things on evil Kami. The belief is that spirits really are everywhere. I am not religious. But when I visit these shrines, especially on a misty day, I do feel something. The stillness and the silence of shrines opens up my eyes to things I don't usually notice. The outside world seems to stand still and the jagged branches of tall trees along with the droopy limbs of willows appear a little sharper against the gray sky. There is so much belief put into these spaces as being sacred, and they are. Ancient history can be felt here, in a way that I have never really felt it before. It is probably one of my favorite parts about Japan. It is eeri, but in the best way. I have an incredible amount of respect for this religion and culture, and a new appreciation and understanding for the film "Spirited Away". 

The close relationship between the Japanese and nature is also displayed in Zen Buddhist gardens, photos aren't usually allowed in many Zen gardens so I only have a couple. 

They are designed to reflect the real natural world,  in a mini version.The positioning of the rocks is done with great intention, to represent maybe mountains or other land figures. Most Zen gardens are against white walls in open spaces within a temple complex, we have visited a few of these but photos were not allowed. After learning about the careful planning of these gardens, I truly see them in a different light. I wish I could show a picture to give a better image of what I mean by reflecting the natural world, once my professor told me that my mind was blown and my perception completely changed! It is really hard to get this idea across in a blog. But the point is that the Japanese respect and honor nature as a spirit, as something to be coexist in harmony with, to appreciate and worship. 

To conclude, here are some other photos of my time in Japan thus far. Thank you for reading!! If you have any questions about anything that I am not covering in blog posts, don't hesitate to contact me and ask!