Good Morning Blog (おはようございます)! As I was reading Yoshio Sugimoto’s The Cambridge Companion to Modern Japanese Culture, I became intrigued by the different complex layers of Japanese culture. Specifically, I wanted to dive in a bit more about the more “hidden” elements of Japanese culture and also look at how Japanese culture influences pop culture in America.
In The Cambridge Companion to Modern Japanese Culture, Yoshio Sugimoto goes over in what exactly defines Japanese culture. As someone that lives outside of Japan, it was interesting to see that the author made a point that Japanese culture isn’t as homogenous as originally thought by foreigners. Like many places around the globe, Japan has multiple dialects and inhabits different ethnic groups, such as the Ainu people, which are completely different from the Yamato minzoku/Wajin people. The difference between these “hidden” aspects of Japanese culture and the ones that we (foreigners) typically see as Japanese culture is that only one of them is actively promoted by the national government. For example, the development of Tokyo-ben Japanese as the Standard Japanese, which pushes away the usage of more regional dialects. On a side note, I found this interesting article about what kinds of dialect are often spoken in anime.
As someone that lives in America, the majority of my exposure to Japanese culture has been through “cultural goods” (Sugimoto 9), which include anime, manga, video games, fashion, beauty, food, and much more. It’s interesting to see the cultural effect Japan has on American culture, especially since there hasn’t been any non-Western country to have this magnitude of an effect on American culture. Some cultural goods, like sushi, are things that are initially Japanese but have been so integrated with American culture that we don’t necessarily think of it as being foreign. The same thing can be seen with the Mexican taco. A more recent phenomenon is the growing trend of matcha green tea and matcha green tea lattes. Until recently, this drink was primarily served in Asian restaurants. But now, places like Starbucks and most recently Dunkin have all now been offering the drink at their establishments.
As I continue further in this course, I hope to learn more about the various layers of Japanese culture. But here were two components that I thought were interesting to share and talk about. In the future, it would be fun to take a look at Japanese fashion and the Japanese writing system.
Bye for now, さようなら
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Yoshio Sugimoto, The Cambridge Companion to Modern Japanese Culture 1-15
Hello Allison,
ReplyDeleteIt's crazy how global our world has become. I can consume Japanese, Chinese, Indian, Mexican, etc. food without even having to leave the city. Your comment about the Mexican taco reminds me of a point made by Amy Bentley about the conflation of consuming foreign others as "culinary tourism." For example, Mexican food is an instance of how “foreign” food has become a staple “American” food, even in areas with anti-immigrant and anti-Mexican political sentiments.
I find it interesting how you noted that "there hasn’t been any non-Western country to have this magnitude of an effect on American culture." It seems that these years, Korea is beginning to have just as much, if not more soft power than Japan. The effects of the hallyu wave have been tremendous with South Korea successfully building an entertainment empire spanning the entire globe.
Hi Sophie!
DeleteThanks for your comment! And yes, I should have also mentioned South Korea, within the past few years they are having just as much as a cultural impact as Japan.
Thanks again!
Hey Allison,
ReplyDeleteI agree that Japanese culture such as the cultural objects you mentioned, food, beauty products, and video games, have become infiltrated into American society. But I also think about how these objects are also subject to localization and may become more "Americanized" than they are Japanese.
Also another point to bring up, you mention that Sugimoto explains in his text that Japan is not at all homogenous, and there are a lot of aspects to being Japanese. I think the text briefly mentions this, but it also makes me wonder how accurate the Japanese cultural objects we consume in the US are actually representative of Japan, as there are so many different traditions, food, entertainment different individuals consume.
I think that your observations of how American culture has sort of integrated many Japanese cultural exports is really interesting. It almost parallels how Goto-Jones and Sugimoto were both talking about how Japan was impacted by the United States during and after World War II. The exchange of cultures here is fascinating, especially looking at how that relationship has changed over time in tandem with each country's shifts in world power at different points in history
ReplyDeleteHey Allison,
ReplyDeleteI liked the specific examples you gave as cultural exports from Japan--I think using food to do that is quite an effective way of serving your points. I'm curious as to what your stance on this "collectivization of culture" is. Is it beneficial to the world? I'm of the opinion that it is, since I think that being able to understand other cultures could lead to less stereotypical views and more equality. However, I also noticed that you mentioned the Japanese government is trying to cater to this appearance of nationalism rather than accepting the other cultures. I'm wondering if you know anything more about what effects that has on cultural perceptions?