Japanese Popular Culture

There are a lot of stuff in Japan that is very popular among the Japanese people. The one I have noticed the most is the whole 'cuteness' culture, or by some people called 'kawaii' culture. When I got here I knew very little about the big industry Japan is focusing on different things that are made for the younger generation. The first picture I've chosen this week is taken in SATY, the big mall in Hirakatashi.

I was surprised when I saw one whole store dedicated entirely on Hello Kitty. This is just one of the examples that is the kawaii culture. I find it very fascinating for how a country have built a whole industry for just the cuteness. In one of the following articles I found online - Japan smitten by love of cute. In the article the author discusses the cute phenomena. For instance, she quotes a Japanese professor that believes that cute proves the Japanese simply don't want to grow up.

I can relate to what he means. Sometimes it does feel like you are being treated like a child over here. Especially when even the warning signs are in cartoon or in manga form. Everything here is illustrated in manga drawings or with pictures of small and cute kids. The picture below is a great example of how they mixed something serious with something cute. This sign is a warning to not swim, but still the same time, it is very cute. I feel like the warning doesn't feel as important when it is illustrated like this.


So how come the kawaii culture doesn't hit big in the rest of the world? In Japan you do have a huge variety of things for the younger generation. Places like arcades, game halls, different stops where you can win teddy bears and so on. Sometimes I feel like a kid in a big toy store. This can of course make the Japanese younger generation be kids a longer time, but still it can create problems for them in the future. To see a manga kid telling you to use condoms with a big grin don't really give you the serious impression as you hoped it to be. There's nothing wrong with kawaii, but what happens when I am 40 years old, I would get tired of all cuteness, and honestly, I would feel like a pervert in a toy store, and no thank you, that I can do without.

/Quang

Neighborhood Hirakata

Konbanwa!
Since the last post I've been experience a lot in Japan, it barely feels like I have been in Japan for almost 3 weeks now. This weeks theme is my neighborhood Hirakata. Hirakata is for me very different from what I expected when I got here. I expected a big city with skyscrapers and futuristic buildings and so on. What keep bugging me since I got here, is how everybody complains how cold it is here. Where I'm from (Sweden), this is the beginning of the Swedish spring. What I like about Hirakata is how the whole town feels so small but in the reality it is the same size like the biggest cities in Sweden. I like to bike a lot here, and one thing I notice during the evenings is how everything is so quiet and dark. And this is only when I finish my afternoon class, the house are dark and I bet most of the japanese are working late.

The pictures I've chosen this week is how even though Japan is way ahead of it's time, we can still see a lot of the old japan, the traditional japan. The last picture shows how hard working japanese people are.


These two pictures are from the park right outside the seminarhouses. In the park there are a couple of stations where you can work out, and usually these places are occupied by seniors working out during evenings. No wonder Japan has the highest life-length in the world.

This store is one of the most visited by the exchangestudents. Even though the vendingmachines where you can buy beer is the most affiliated with this store, it's the woman who owns the store that fascinates me. I've been in that store a couple of times now, and it's surprising everytime I see that woman working there. She has to be at least 85 years old, and still, she is working there. How long do japanese people work? This store is open long during the evenings but is closed during the day. Even though Hirakata is bigger than most cities in Sweden, it feels way more smaller. I guess Hirakata is considered to be a small city in Japan if you compare it with rest of Japan.
/Quang