Sunday December 16, 2001
When I lived in Japan, between 1989 and 1991, there was no internet, no email, and no weblogs. Because I could neither read nor speak Japanese, and because there was no English-language bookstore or library in our village, I felt extremely frustrated in my quest to understand my adopted land. My Japanese coworkers graciously took me around the countryside, but we lacked the ability to discuss in any detail the history or significance of the places they were showing me.
As for social customs, I pestered my liaison, Murakami-sensei, with questions. "Why do the Japanese do this? Why do the Japanese do that?" She did not understand that my questions stemmed from genuine curiousity and a desire to understand. She interpreted them as attacks on the Japanese way of doing things. As I grew to know her over two years, I realized that she reacted defensively partially because she did not know the answers. She had no curiousity about her own country, its history or customs. Her biggest goal in life, the one thing that consummed her, was to remarry. Also she did not know the answers to many of the questions I asked, so unwittingly, I showed up her ignorance of her own culture. Fortunately, her mother did know the answers. I don't know whether she went home each night and asked her mother, or whether the questions came out in her general complaints to her mother about having to deal with this inquisitive foreigner, but I did learn a lot as a result. But, as soon as I became aware of how she resented the questions, I stopped asking them.
So left with few tools for research, I had to put my analysis and interpretation on hold. I tried to observe as much as I could and tried to capture the concrete details of daily life.
Now, almost ten years later and back in Texas, I'm at a point in my life where I have some extra time to reflect. The two years I lived in Japan have never really faded in my mind. They are, I believe, the two most significant and deeply-felt years of my life. I write this now, not to wallow in the past, but out of need to understand the things I did and saw there, to clarify the events that so shaped me.
I think, most importantly though, I have never lost my interest and curiousity and love of things Japanese. I do not belong to the "been there, done that" generation. And I'm glad to say that my life in Japan was the springboard for more study and inquiry.
Posted by M Sinclair Stevens
January 02, 1989
Comments
I wish we had known each other earlier in Japan. Of course I had the same curiosity, but mine was satisfied by the tireless professors at Beppu Daigaku who loved to answer any question about the culture. More than that I had the luxury of being able to access any number of books on Japanese culture and literature from the stacks in the Daigaku library. I spent hours reading works by Yasunari Kawabata and Yukio Mishima, among others. And then, the professors at the Daigaku, some from the art department, introduced me to various other rather unconventional but, in their way, very traditional Japanese. Again, I could write a whole book on my experiences with them and what they opened my eyes to.
Comment by: jbl. Posted March 4, 2002 06:01 PM.
Actually, we met the very first week I was in Beppu-shi, at the English Summer Seminar for Senior High School Students. But I don't remember getting to know you until the following year when you moved to Tokyo and we began writing to each other. That same year, LW went back to the US and I took over tutoring two children. Their mothers, who I believe were professor's wives, were so much more intellectual, and truly happy and proud to teach me about Japan. I wished so much that I had known them when JQS was still there. And all three children would have benefitted from the cultural exchange as well.
Even though you and I lived only a couple of miles from each other, we lived in different worlds. The world of the university and the world of a vocational-technical school provide completely different views into society. That's why it's important for me to record your experiences and make this a truly collective memory.
Comment by: M Sinclair Stevens. Posted March 27, 2002 09:05 AM.
there is no picture to see the reality
Comment by: zamzilah. Posted June 30, 2003 04:02 AM.
Hiya, tired but sober on a Saturday night, I was looking for information on a Japanese film I saw recently called "Page of Madness", (a silent movie from 1926) and as you do, taking diversions I came across your site. I was in Oita from 1989 to 1992 on the JET programme, at the Girls' School in Oita city. I have been back in England for 9 years and live not far from places you have just been to ... I was christened at Bramall Hall! The coincidences are beyond belief right now. I hope your parents' wedding anniversary went well. I am trying hard to remember if our paths crossed, they must have done. So I shall finish for now by complementing you on a wonderful website.
Comment by: Becky. Posted July 26, 2003 02:23 PM.
I would very much like to know if you could add a website to your list of Links to Japanese related sites. Maybe in the gallery or homepages on your home page. The site is called JPASSION.NET the URL is www.jpassion.net The site discription is: Dynamic imagery of funky Japanese street fashion, culture & informative features by Japan photographer Pat Lyttle, conveying a passion for Japan. The key words for the site if you use them are: japanese street fashion, japanese fashion, japan images, japan pictures, pat lyttle, japan, passion for japan, japan street fashion, fashion in japan, jpassion.net Please feel free to take a look at the site & let me know if you like it or not your link page. Kind regards to you & your informative site.
Comment by: Pat. Posted September 10, 2003 11:44 AM.
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I have never lost my interest and curiousity and love of things Japanese...my life in Japan was the springboard for more study and inquiry.