28 December 2010
Looking Back on 2010: Japan
Posted by Roland under: Personal .
Admittedly, my views of Japan are probably skewed. The only times I get to go are when I’m there on vacation. Let’s face it, (ideally) any place you go on vacation would come off as an awesome place. So vacation Japan, I know really well. Working and daily life in Japan, maybe not so much. I did spend six months studying abroad, but even that was a bit of skewed time as the university took really good care of us and pretty much forced Japanese students to be friends with us from the get go (I wouldn’t have the courage to make friends with a bunch of strange foreigners off the bat…well, unless they were all attractive Japanese girls, but that’s another story). We were given apartments nicer than the usual student and classes weren’t that bad (even though Japanese university in general isn’t as bad as America). So in addition to my vacation experience I also have a romantic view from my study abroad time.
So yes, I might not have the firsthand experience of the daily life in Japan, although I’ve been exposed to it enough over the last couple years. The inordinate amount of Japanese television I’ve watched, as well as keeping in touch with a few friends has let me know that after the romantic view of Japan we all have, there’s bad stuff that you’d be exposed to also.
But there’s still something that keeps drawing me back there. One thing is the graciousness of its culture. On this last trip, people I had just known online through random blog comments were not only willing to meet me in person, but also one of them was willing to schedule a day’s tour of Kyoto. All that, just based on a few conversations on a Japanese blog. It’s also testament to the internet but probably more to the graciousness of the Japanese people.
There’s a question if people are legitimately that nice, or if people are just used, culturally, to being good to guests, regardless of the hardship. That’s not to say I was a difficult guest, but there always a part of me wondering if the person really wants to be nice or if they’re being nice because the culture dictates it so.
It’s a question that affects a lot of Japanese culture, where action is done for form’s sake many times. The traditional Japanese politeness most people receive when they visit on trips is the culture there. But as I found out from my time abroad, if you spend enough time with people, they’ll let down their guard and reveal their real selves, which in the end, is just as flawed as you and me. We are human after all.
But I still find myself taking the plunge into the artificial reality of Japan. Maybe I’m a sucker for it all, it’s quite possible. Who doesn’t like being taken care of treated? But as I find myself getting drawn more to actually staying in the country, will I uncover something worse beneath all the layers of niceness?
It’s all like the Matrix. Which pill do you take?