Yeah, it’s really not so different.

A couple of people’s comments on my first post in Japan made me realize that I’ve been focusing on the aspects of my experience that are unusual in the context of American life, making it seem as if this is an entirely alien world. I’ve gotta apologize for that; my observations have been focused on the differences between Japanese and American life, but only because that is what has stuck out to me as interesting and worth describing. In actuality, these differences are the exception to the rule in terms of similarities with American culture and lifestyle. The reality is that if anything the Japanese lifestyle may be more similar to an American lifestyle than a European one is. People aren’t as driven on the whole as they are in the states (despite the hours they work, that’ll come in another post), but they do wish to succeed and make a good living, raise a family in a nice school district with a solid job. People very much wish to own things and accrue wealth in tangible form, like houses and cars, and spend like Americans do. People have no qualms about moving about the country, settling down in areas far from their own and environments very different from the one they grew up in. People like to travel, and especially to enjoy travel within their own nation, seeing its wonders (particularly natural ones).

In a lot of ways, Japan is very similar to the US in the 1950’s, or at least my conception of it. There are of course significant differences (sexism for one; Japan is, without question, a more sexist society than the US [the corporate structure is not as accepting of women and there is still a segregation of many activities, not by rule but more de facto, although perhaps this is changing] but nevertheless it is not anywhere near as sexist as 1950’s United States, if Mad Men is at all accurate heh), but some important similarities that may come from the influx of American culture during the immediate post-war period. Perhaps this has had a lasting effect on perceptions of life goals, self worth, and gender roles. Hard to say without real research; even if I see aspects of that society here now, 50 years have passed and, as I mentioned, there are great and unsurprising differences that have risen since. Nevertheless, while the fundamental culture may be very different, the Japanese mentality and lifestyle has a great deal of similarities with American equivalents, and I don’t mean to paint the opposite picture. My observations may be focused on the contrasts, but the reader should be cognizant of the countless similarities among which the anomalies stand out. Japan is not just an unusual place, it is also very familiar to an American traveler with an open mind. It is friendlier, cleaner, safer, and more considerate (with a few negative extremes to compensate, heh), but on the whole very much the same. You still go to the grocery store and buy your groceries, you still turn off the lights and go to sleep, you still go to home depot (or its equivalent, Conan) to buy whathaveyou, or restaurants for a nice meal, or restaurants for a quick meal, or shopping centers for clothes, gifts, etc. Despite all the differences, life is pretty much the same.

Just be sure to bring handkerchiefs; paper towels and tissues are painfully scarce.

oh also, a quick question, are my constant tangents (my parenthetical comments and such), too much? I mean obviously they are grammatically heinous and poor form, mimicking more my style of speech than any proper flow, but lacking the intonation of speech is it sufficiently understandable? Or are do the constant distractions make it unreadable? It takes long enough to bang these things out, I don’t really plan them and don’t really edit for proper style & grammar i.e. avoiding run-ons, separating and organizing thoughts, etc. so… hey.