Harlan1

Tehya Harlan
CGCC
Cultural Essay
9 May 2015
A Japanese Background Check
Where They Fit
There are numerous types of groups of people that make up Japan. The harufu are people
of mixed heritage who have gained a high profile importance over the years (Japanese Culture).
Filipino, Korean, Chinese, and Brazilian are the largest ethnic groups in Japan. The other group,
funta, is young people who have taken multiple part time jobs instead of one full time much to
the elders of the country dismay. The hikikomori is a population of young adults who never leave
home. They stay at their parents house with no job and little to no interaction of the outside
world beyond their computer screens.
The nuclear family of Japan is almost like the United States nuclear family; a married
couple, their children and maybe one grandparent living in one house. The fathers would go to
his job, not work at home, while the mother takes care of the kids and manage the family
finances (Contemporary Japan). Women would also take care of the elderly, their husbands
parents. In Japan, divorce is very low and gets lower because people are having more of a free
choice on whom to marry.
When in Rome
The Japanese have different ways of greeting the people around them. When addressing a
friend, they will give a fast and small bow (Wright). However, when they are greeting a superior
officer, they will give a slow and low bow. They would address someone with the suffix senpai,

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meaning experienced, or kohai, meaning inexperienced (Japanese Culture). Also attaching san
and sama to their last name out of respect and for children, they would attach -chan for girls
and kun for boys to their first names (Wright). They also have different sayings for the time of
day; Ohayo gozaimasu for the mornings, Konnichiwa for the afternoons, Konbanwa for
the evenings, and Hajimemashte for when they are meeting someone for the first time
(Customs).
To the Japanese, speaking in English is the way to success, so most go to study in the
western English-speaking countries and come back with stereotypical individualist outlooks
(Japanese Culture). They will assume every foreigner is a native English speaker and will insist
on using their ability to speak English with foreigner (Wright).
When the Japanese are invited to a dinner party, there are multiple steps they will take
before they begin eating. First, they will remove their shoes and change into guest slippers
(Wright). Then at the dinner table, everyone will be served, someone will make a speech and
shout Kampai which means cheers. Lastly, they will say Itadakimasu; I will receive, before
digging into their food. To be polite, they will slurp or make other loud noises to indicate that
they are enjoying their meal. When eating out, the Japanese believe that tipping their waiter or
waitress is insulting them, the server, so they never tip.
Japan has diverse a way of bathing, they will bathe in their own homes or go to one of
two places, a sento or an onsen. A sento is a neighborhood bathhouse and can be found in both
large and small areas (Wright). An onsen is a hot spring and is one of the most popular weekend
enjoyment trips. If one was invited over to a friends house, they would bathe first and try to
keep the water clean. Japan is a type of society that focuses on the group, though individual

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qualities are given in doses. They will commonly wear a surgical mask to protect others from the
wearers slight cold, worrying about exposing the other people.
It All Began
The traditional family, called ie, will have three to five generations of the family living
together (Contemporary Japan). Typically, the eldest son would inherit everything from property
and duties to social standing and obligations. The other children, both sons and daughters, would
have an arranged marriage. The mother-in-law and the daughter-in-law would have tensions
between them to see who would manage the home and their finances. For the daughter-in-law to
prove herself to the mother-in-law, a passing of a shamoji between them must happen. The
shamoji is a rice paddle to stir the rice and then feed the family members. However, if the
husbands family does not like the wife they would send her back to her family. This will also
happen to son-in-laws who are not the eldest son.
Japan has many traditional sites and food inspired by multiple religions. Their garden can
be found in Japanese temple and shrines and are greatly inspired by the Shinto religion (Japanese
Traditions). The belief of an ideal state of harmony helps the garden consist of water, rocks and
gravel, moss and mini plants of Bonsai. The architecture is influenced by Buddhism and
Shintoism. It gives it the unique features of a building like sliding doors called fusuma, made of
lightweight wood and bamboo, and mats called tatami, made of straw or woven grass. A
Japanese tea ceremony is a meditative like performance of offering tea to well-regarded guests.
By being deeply influenced by Zen Buddhism, all the skill and art of preparing the tea and the
elements have special and symbolic meaning. Sake, rice wine, is a drink that is frequently drunk
at traditional meals to toast with for health and long life to their dining companions. The food
that is regularly eaten in Japan is rice, fish with vegetables. Sushi, rice flavored with vinegar and

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seafood/weed, and sashimi, cut and sliced raw meat, is popular worldwide. Teppanyyaki is
cooking on an iron griddle is a popular form of cuisine.
Japan celebrates with festivals at different temple and shrines having their own specific
festival (Japanese Traditions). Some of the most famous are Aomori Nebula Festival, Hadaka
Matsuri Festival and the Cherry Blossom Festival. The Cherry Blossom Festival happens in the
spring to appreciate the beauty of nature. As the Japanese watch the cherry trees bloom, they
have a picnic, drink sake and tea, and enjoy music. They would be wearing a traditional kimono,
a Japanese costume that goes from the shoulders to the ankles. It is tied with a sash called an obi
made from silk, sati and brocade. The kimono has designs of nature like cherry blossoms, autumn
leaves, and butterflies.
Don't Stop Believing
The country of Japan more often than not follows the religions of Shintoism and
Buddhism (Quick Facts). Shinto has no official founder, sacred scriptures and no official fixed
creeds (Shinto). The word itself comes from the Chinese shin tao meaning the way if kami. The
Shintos believe in the mystery of construction and balance of power, musubi, and the honest
way, makoto, of kami (Shinto Beliefs). The religion is usually associated with mountains, rocky
cliffs, caves, springs, trees and stones. Buddhism was founded around 500 BCE in India and was
mostly consent with human nature and eventual reality (Buddhism). In Japan, both religions
combined include several deities, celestial beings and other religions elements (Shinto Beliefs).
Say What?
In Japan, they write in four different types of writing; hiragana, katakana, kanji, and
rmaji and sometimes eimoji which is an English script (Ager). They would also write nonJapanese words in their own script and various symbols called kaig. The writing style the

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Japanese use is writing right to left vertically and left to right horizontally. There are about three
types of dialects of the Japanese language. The first one is kansai, it is spoken in Osaka, Kyoto
and Kube region due west (Japanese). Another is Kyushu from southern most main island and the
considered dialect is Tokyo of Kanto. The nest one is called the Okinawan dialect that is one of
the languages from the Ruukyu Island; it is closely related to Japanese but not a form of it.
See What I Am Saying?
A very popular type of literature is manga or comic books (Japanese Literature). In the
1980s about twenty to thirty percent of total yearly publication was manga. Japanese literature
uses specific language to depict gender, age, social statues, or region origins of who is speaking
or being spoken to. Writes wanted to express more academic and theoretical meanings that were
wrote or borrowed from the Chinese. They wanted to emphasize the elegant phrasing over the
expression of intellectual concepts. Most Japanese poems are short because the language lacks a
stress accent and all the words end in one of five easy vowels.
Listen to Your Heart
Traditional music of Japan is called shomyo, Buddhist chanting, and gagako, orchestral
group that is mainly enjoyed by older generations (Shukir). One of the musical instruments that
were played was a koto, a thirteen stringed instrument. It has a bridge, is made of paulownia
wood played with three finger picks seated or kneeling. The five note scale was an influence to
jazz often heard in western pop and rock music. The shakuhachi is a wind instrument made from
a piece of bamboo and sounds like a flute. The shamisen is a three string instrument played with
a triangular plectrum called a bachi. A theater called the Noh Theater arose in the fourteenth
century and is still performed in to this day. Of the actors were male and played both male and
female parts with masks.

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J-rock, or Japanese rock, got its start in the 1960s with the Beatles, the Rolling Stones
and Bob Dylan (Shukir). The genre of music started out as an imitation of western rock music
but soon branched off and when the 90s arrived, so did the visual kei. This contains gloomy
themes in the music and the performers would wear heavy makeup and complex clothing. J pop,
Japanese pop, became the most mainstream genre and some became a lifestyle than a music
genre. Big companies have been pumping out bands and artists to become idols like Utada
Hikara and have been putting the music into video games. Now, Japan is the second largest
music industry in the world following the United States.
How to Run a Country 101
Japan improved their freedom of labor, business and trade making them the twentieth
freest in 2015 (Heritage). They are an industrial and free market with few natural resources
(Infoplease). The Japanese government has a parliamentary system, an unitary state, and a
constitutional monarchy (ODonnell). In the legislative branch, their parliamentary system is
similar to Britain and Canada but they do not elect their prime minister, leader of the cabinet of
ministers, directly the Diet choose from themselves (Government). The upper house is called the
House of Councillors and the lower house is called the House of Representatives, both are
elected by the people. The Diet make laws, approve budgets, and ratify treaties. In the executive
branch, the cabinets head is the prime minister and ministries like agriculture, education,
finance, labor and transportation. Their board of Audit reviews the government expenses and
gives an annual report to the prime minister. The judicial branch includes the Supreme Court
high courts, District Courts, Family Courts, and Summary Courts. The Supreme Court is the
highest court and has a jury of fifteen justices, a grand bench, or five justices, a petite bench.
They have the responsibility for reviewing the constitutionally of the law, regulation and official

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art. The Japanese emperors position is passed down to the first male child. The current emperor
is Emperor Akibto who is said to be a symbol of the state and unity of the people, deriving his
position from the will of the people with whom resides sovereign power (Szczepanski).

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2015.

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Wright, Turner. 10 Customs You Must Know Before a Trip to Japan. Matadornetwork.com, 27
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