Views of Japan

Views of Japan you won't find in guide books!

I bet visitors to Japan are almost always surprised to see many people wearing surgical masks out in public. Just take a walk down any street in Japan all year around and you will see hundreds of people wearing surgical masks. I found it rather annoying at times trying to talk to someone whose face I could barely see! I hated it when my son had to wear one everyday to school after the Great Fukushima Earthquake because the teachers insisted wearing one would “stop the radiation.”

Many wear a surgical mask to protect themselves from illnesses that may be floating around at the time, such as the flu, or to ward off cedar pollen that causes so many across Japan to splutter and sniffle during spring.

The most common reason for the Japanese to wear a surgical mask used to be when they were sick, and being the considerate lot they are, wanted to keep their sickness to themselves. However things are changing and the humble surgical mask has become somehting quite different. 

More Japanese people today are wearing surgical masks for cosmetic reasons, say to hide blemishes and pimples or to cover up their face on a bad makeup day, but even more are wearing them as a fashion statement and to appear more alluring to men!

Oh, I know I love a masked woman. Not!

A recent survey of people wearing surgical masks in Shibuya, Tokyo discovered that nearly 30% were wearing them for reasons other than sickness or allergies.

One school girl when asked why she wears a surgical mask said, “Wearing a surgical mask makes me look cuter. It gives me a mystifying appearance because only my eyes are showing.” A clerical assistant said, “It leads guys on, they want to know what my face looks like under the mask.” One high school girl’s reason for wearing a surgical mask was, “I don’t like having to show facial expressions for people. They can’t read my intentions.”

The Japanese have a fear of showing their emotions and the surgical mask has become a fashionable way to hide their intentions and emotions from others. 

The above images are from Picomask a company quick to cash in on this growing fashion trend. Available in a huge range of fashionable designs, some even have swappable coloured elastic!

Ponds in Japanese gardens.

Second to the importance of stones in the Japanese garden is a stream, pond or waterfall. Water is abundant in Japan with it’s very mountainous terrain and the inclusion of a waterfall or pond represents in miniature the swift rivers, lakes and falls of Japan. In the  Heian period (794-1185) spacious gardens with ponds based on Chinese ideals were built by the aristocracy. Members of the noble class used to drift leisurely along on these huge ponds in dragon boats, admiring the views. 

Islands placed in ponds, sometimes nothing more than a series of small stones, reflect the country’s archipelago scattered across the sea. 

Ponds in Japanese gardens are nearly always irregular in shape and depth which creates a natural look, but there are also certain shapes that add a layer of symbolism based on the Buddhist and Shintō religions. One such popular shape is that of a gourd while another is that in the shape of a cloud. There are also shapes that evoke the kanji for certain words such as 水 (water) and 霊 (spirit). The shoreline of such ponds is usually low with sparse plantings and pebbled edges. Reeds such as Equisetum hyemale (tokusa) are often planted in such ponds between the stones.

The edges of ponds are planted with aquatic plants such as Lysichiton camtschatcesis (mizu bashō), or Acorus gramineus (sekishō). Sekishō is probably one of the most common across Japan found around ponds. A native grass, it tolerates being submerged in water and grows naturally in wet places along rocky mountain streams.

Other popular aquatic plants are the Japanese irises: Iris ensata (hana shōbu) being the main one. The religiously important lotus, Nelumbo nucifera (hasu) are planted in shallow ponds and are often found in old castle moats and wells today. They are also popularly found in ponds and large clay pots in Buddhist temples.

Aquatic plants aren’t allowed to cover an entire pond, no matter how big or small, as the idea of a pond is to reflect the colours of the plantings at it’s edge, the stone placements, and the sky. Ponds are also placed close by buildings and religious structures to offer a clear reflection of the architecture. Often a stone lantern is placed at the edge of a pond and positioned so that it’s reflection is easily seen from an advantageous viewing position, either from a seat or the end of a pathway. A stone lantern placed at the edge of a pond also serves a double duty as it can provide light at night that reflects and dances across the water adding interest.

Larger ponds tend to have a pebbled shore with sparse plantings and in some Buddhist temples a ford of large pebbles is left to divide a pond at a narrow section, referring to Ama no hashidate - the Bridge to Heaven.

As in the rest of the garden, the placement of stones around a pond is extremely important and follows some well established rules. Smooth round stones are used to portray a slow flowing area, emphasising erosion. Sharp craggy rocks are placed usually at the start of a waterfall or in an area that portrays a jagged shoreline, emphasising wild, wind swept cliffs etc.

The use of stone in the Japanese garden (part one).

The veneration of stones in Japan can be traced back to neolithic times, and so it comes as no real surprise that the single most important element in a Japanese garden is stone. Stones used in gardens are chosen based upon their religious significance as well as their natural beauty. 

Colour, grain, shape, texture, and size are all extremely important in the placement of stones in a Japanese garden. Stones weathered by the elements, scarred by volcanic activity, or polished smooth by centuries of water evoke images of nature. 

There are many classifications of stone shapes and specific placements in a Japanese garden each with their own use. The most common is that of the tall standing stone. A single imposing standing stone can give a garden a sense of dignity, especially when standing alone in gravel or with sparse plantings.

Being a series of volcanic islands, stones in Japan are primarily volcanic: andesite, granite, chlorite, basalt, and limestone are commonly used in Japanese gardens. Granite in particular is a favourite for stone walls, garden edging, stepping stones, tsukubai (stone water basins), statues, and stone lanterns.

Japanese gardens create a sense of nature in miniature, balanced and harmonious. Stones tie the gardens to nature, giving the impression of mountains and cliffs surrounded by trees or of rivers and streams meandering through valleys.

The shapes of the stones are placed with great care to ensure that the eye is drawn in a particular direction. Leaning to one side, or standing upwards towards the sky, stones placed in a Japanese garden create the dynamics of the garden determining the direction in which the eye of the viewer is led through the composition of the garden.

Stepping stones and garden edging are chosen based upon the same principles, being similar in texture and type and blending with each other. Straight hard edges are especially avoided with smooth rounded stones being preferred. These evoke energy and movement as well as elegance and refinement.

Buddhaspeak of the Japanese Buddhist priests pt. one

When Japanese Buddhist priests talk among themselves in a situation which could be easily overheard, they use a coded slang system peppered with religious terms and boisterous x-rated slang that the uninitiated would have no idea of the meaning of. As it turns out, the slang of the Japanese clergy is the oldest form of slang spoken in Japan today.

I found Buddhist slang to be the liveliest of the systems of Japanese slang in Japan, even more so than that used by the Yakuza.

Full of cryptic religious metaphors and classical naughty puns, even experts of Japanese slang are left scratching their heads. Many terms are centuries old and taken from ancient Buddhist texts, designed to also have a religious meaning.

It came as something of a shock to me when I started out in Japanese Buddhism that the various respected Buddhist sects have their own highly developed slang designed to disguise their materialistic ways. As Buddhists we were expected to renounce worldly ways and shun the pleasures of the world. Not so the Japanese!

Everything from women and sex, to money and whoring. There are secret terms and codes for it all!

Some of the more common slang terms I came across were:

kishiko (place of truth) for toilet,

moku (eyes) for money,

ryõgyaku (spiritual globes) for testicles,

nazu (caressing) for bondage,

kotsuen hokki (sudden enlightenment) for erection,

bodai no gokui (ultimate stage of enlightenment) for ejaculation,

hibutsu (hidden Buddhas) for vagina,

bonnon (Brahma’s voice) for screaming out during sex,

koan (Buddhist riddles) for kissing,

jõgyõ (pure practice) for sexual relations with only the one same male partner,

and geten (non-Buddhist texts) for pornography. 

The Japanese priests penchant for little boys has a highly developed system of slang surrounding it too. I think there are probably more terms relating to sexual interactions with young boys than any other subject. Zennanshi (nice young boy) is the most common slang term for a Buddhist priest’s young male lover. A sexually active priest is called a zokubutsu (worldly Buddha) and he might take part in nembutsu, or chanting to the Buddha, (masterbation) with his young boys. A young boys penis wet with sperm is called a nurebotoke (wet Buddha). Jõdõ (entering the priests hall for a meal) means oral sex with a young boy. Then there is sandõ (three roads of transmigration) for oral, anal and masterbation with a young boy.

The best one of all is when a priest is termed a bakebotoke (transformed Buddha). I used to think it had a true religious meaning until I learned that it mean’t a priest who wears women’s underwear under his robes or dresses in drag during his breaks!

Looking through my wife’s school yearbook, my aunt from Scotland asked, “Why is nobody smiling at all? Everyone looks so angry or upset, some even look constipated! And the teachers look as if they are in the military, with stern looks and rigid postures.”

My wife replied, “Because they are happy.”

The Japanese do not smile often, and when they do it is not for the reasons that people from other cultures smile. Most other people smile when they are happy. Japanese people do not. 

The Japanese are taught not to express their feelings, and so smiling is frowned upon. Japanese culture is a silent culture. No matter how many problems they bear, they bear them silently.

When a Japanese person makes a mistake and is embarrassed or is upset, then they might smile! It’s not a smile of happiness however, but one of shame. It is a facade. A mask. It hides their true feelings. 

Leaving school

My son announced to all his classmates today that he was returning to Australia. 

Only three friends said they would miss him and wished him a safe trip. Two are originally from Thailand, the other from Cambodia. The only foreign students in the school besides my son.

None of the Japanese kids said anything at all. He was very upset that two of his “friends” in particular had nothing at all to say to him, not even a good bye.

I hope he soon forgets about how Japanese behave and their closed mindset towards outsiders. 

To the Japanese, animals are belongings, not living beings

Be warned, the above link has some very graphic and heart wrenching images.

I’ve said it a million times, I am disgusted by the treatment of animals in Japan and the idea that animals are just throw away belongings. I see it every single day and it disgusts me that a so-called “enlightened” race, with a culture supposedly built on Shintõ “respect for nature” and Buddhist “compassion for all living things” can treat animals so cruelly. 

From the treatment of pets, to animals in crowded little concrete zoos, and the barbaric hunting of whales and fish in our oceans - the Japanese have no compassion for animal life.

‘yõgozaimasu’ That’s the standard early morning greeting in these parts. If you have studied Japanese, you would have learned “ohayõ gozaimasu” (お早うございます) as the proper polite form of greeting.  But in these parts it is more common to hear “yõgozaimasu.” It is a shortened form that has stuck in these parts.  By these parts I don’t mean the whole city, just this little area where we live. You see, while Japan is a small group of islands, the geological barriers between regions coupled with various waves of immigration over the centuries, led to the development of various regional dialects. As you can see from the map above, there are a great many regional dialects and even sub-dialects in Japan. It is very similar to the Philippines. I travel a lot all over Japan and I come across people from different regions often. Some dialects are similar to others, while some sound closer to Korean than Japanese (the two languages are related). The people of the north sound very different from the people of the south, while those on other islands sound different again. Wikipedia has a complete explanation on Japanese dialects.  Then there is the way in which people behave and the variations in etiquette that are observed. People in the Shõnan area are very different from people in say Tõkyõ in their behaviour and etiquette. People in the mountains behave differently to those living primarily in the plains. Some differences are subtle, some not so. This makes learning the culture all that more interesting!

‘yõgozaimasu’

That’s the standard early morning greeting in these parts. If you have studied Japanese, you would have learned “ohayõ gozaimasu” (お早うございます) as the proper polite form of greeting. 

But in these parts it is more common to hear “yõgozaimasu.” It is a shortened form that has stuck in these parts. 

By these parts I don’t mean the whole city, just this little area where we live.

You see, while Japan is a small group of islands, the geological barriers between regions coupled with various waves of immigration over the centuries, led to the development of various regional dialects. As you can see from the map above, there are a great many regional dialects and even sub-dialects in Japan. It is very similar to the Philippines.

I travel a lot all over Japan and I come across people from different regions often. Some dialects are similar to others, while some sound closer to Korean than Japanese (the two languages are related). The people of the north sound very different from the people of the south, while those on other islands sound different again.

Wikipedia has a complete explanation on Japanese dialects. 

Then there is the way in which people behave and the variations in etiquette that are observed. People in the Shõnan area are very different from people in say Tõkyõ in their behaviour and etiquette. People in the mountains behave differently to those living primarily in the plains. Some differences are subtle, some not so. This makes learning the culture all that more interesting!

This is a good example of why Japanese will never be able to speak English. Alcol, アルコール, arukōru = alcohol.  Foreign words are translated into katakana so that they correspond to Japanese phonetics. This often ends up with Japanese translating the katakana back into romaji (Roman letters) just as they pronounce them and believing that is the correct pronunciation. I should point out that this method of transliteration of foreign words into katakana was introduced by the Shingon monk Kõbõ Daishi over 900 years ago.

This is a good example of why Japanese will never be able to speak English.

Alcol, アルコール, arukōru = alcohol. 

Foreign words are translated into katakana so that they correspond to Japanese phonetics. This often ends up with Japanese translating the katakana back into romaji (Roman letters) just as they pronounce them and believing that is the correct pronunciation.

I should point out that this method of transliteration of foreign words into katakana was introduced by the Shingon monk Kõbõ Daishi over 900 years ago.

overheard conversation

As I was sitting on a bench by the river, two young women sat down on the bench behind me and started chatting. 

I paid no attention as I was busy shooting the birds in the river. 

It soon became apparent to me that they were chatting louder. I stopped to listen in on what they were saying.

Girl one: “Would you go out with a gaijin?”

Girl two: “I dunno, they aren’t trustworthy.”

Girl one: “My friend went out with a New Zealander, and he had lots of money.” 

Girl two; “Ah, that’s good!”

Girl One: “Besides, gaijin have bigger chinchins. Would be so good to have a bigger one instead of the little soft ones.”

At this stage I was feeling rather embarrassed so decided it was time to move to another location. 

This weirdo in an old Imperial Army uniform, complete with sword and gun, was marching through Shõnan Olympic City. 

He ordered a chicken tatsu burger at MacDonald’s, marched to the drink vending machines, and purchased a drink.

As he was leaving, he stopped to give me a quick salute saying, “Revere the Emperor of Japan, all foreign invaders out!” 

flickr: http://bit.ly/qRWGUT