nipponDAZE | First Impressions

First Impressions

What were my images of Japan when I was a child? Thanks to social studies, we have that picture in our mind of national costumes and iconic landmark (France: the Eiffel Tower; England: Big Ben; Spain: bullfighters; the Netherlands: wooden shoes and windmills). Even as a child, Japan fascinated me more than any country in the world.

Dolls

When I was 5 and I lived in the Philippines, my best friend's Dad brought her a doll from Japan. It came in a divided wooden box with the kimono-clad doll on the left side and four geisha-style wigs on the right. The doll had four faces. When you put on a wig, it covered three of the faces. So you could change the doll's expression by turning her head and adjusting the wigs.

Clothes

When I was in kindergarten, another student wore a yukata, tabi, and geta for show-and-tell. What wonderfully exotic clothes. How I longed for tabi and geta. And a lacquered paper umbrella. And a folding fan.

Natural Beauty

When I was 10, we moved to Okinawa. Coming from the desert (Albuquerque, New Mexico), I was overcome by the brilliant greens of Japan. Everywhere was a terraced garden. And the sea. My first experience living near the sea. The little traps cut into the stone at the beach to catch fish when the tide went out. Small trucks and smaller winding mountain roads. A vegetable garden surrounded with a swath of salt to keep out the snails. And what gigantic snails! hobu snakes. Mysterious tombs in the hillsides and warnings never to touch any unexploded bombs, if we came across them. Pulling down the storm shutters when the typhoon's came and feeding the baby birds that were nested there thin slices of lunch meat and bread until they were old enough to fly away. The dark crowded shops in town, redolent with the scent of lacquered wood and paper. batik. sumi-e.

Architecture

tatami. fusuma. futon. zabuton. Little gardens with little trees. stone. water. lanterns.

Food

persimmons. spring rolls. green tea. rice. nori. sushi. bento. chopsticks. Eating food in season.

Posted by M Sinclair Stevens
November 17, 2002

Comments

Thanks, M, I very much enjoyed this post. I often feel like you are more "Japanese" than we are, in a good sense of course.

Comment by: Kiyo. Posted November 19, 2002 07:33 AM.

Despite my intense interest in Japan, I don't feel the least bit Japanese. On the other hand, I don't feel particularly American either. Maybe it's because I grew up moving around, but I don't feel a strong attachment to any country.

There are lots of things Japanese that make more sense to me than things American. But there are lots of things that don't. I don't think I'd have made a very good Japanese person, as I've always been the nail that stick stubbornly out.

Comment by: M. Posted November 19, 2002 01:14 PM.

M, you mentioned before something like, back to UK, or something like that, you feel more home to UK? Where does this "Britishism"of yours comes from?

Comment by: Ken Loo. Posted November 20, 2002 07:12 AM.

My husband is from Manchester, England. Every other summer, we go to England to visit his family. Growing up I always like the England I read about in story books. My husband's family actually lives in a little town outside of Manchester, one so small that you have to hail the train at the station so that it will stop. It looks just a picture book.

England and Japan are similar in many ways: they are island nations; they have old cultures and traditions; they both have strong class systems; they have beautiful gardens and avid gardeners; the people tend to hold in their true feelings, to be reserved.