Introduction
Konnichiwa!
I am really excited to begin sharing my experiences and stories of my trip to Japan with so many people. The shear volume and breadth of readers who I have invited to join me on my adventure to the "Land of the Rising Sun" is exciting and intimidating; there are a lot of different people who will be reading this, including friends, family, colleagues, teachers and professors, and all of them have a different experience of my writing styles. I am keenly interested in how all of you will enjoy (or not) this blog. I am greatly looking forward to your comments.
For those of you who don't already get semi-regular correspondence from me, I have one warning for you: I like to write...a lot. I mean A LOT. So when you come in to see if I've made any updates, don't be expecting a quick paragraph with a synopsis of the latest adventure and maybe a picture. I suggest you come prepared to sit for some time as I talk about what I've been doing, what I'm thinking about, lots of pictures (I hope) and a fair amount of humor.
Aside from the pictures I'll be posting with my updates, I'm planning on making small albums of places and trips that I take while in Japan. See the sidebar on the right, "Albums," and click on the links to see slide shows (hosted by photobucket.com) which I will try to update regularly.
A note on leaving comments: I have left commenting open to the public, so you don't need an account on blogspot.com to leave a message. I encourage everyone to leave a message should you feel the desire! If you want me to know who's commenting, though, please leave some form of your name or nickname so I'll be able to recognize you. It doesn't have to be the full name obviously, just something that will clue me in on who you are. If you want to stay anonymous, that's fine too. If you want to contact me outside of this blog, feel free to e-mail me. Most, if not all of my readers should already have one of my two addresses. Since this is a fully public blog I am not going to post either of them up here, but if you need it let me know and I'll get it to you.
I have been thinking about what kind of writing I want to put in this blog, and have been trying to keep in mind the interests of my readers. I decided I would try to keep this blog focused on the actual events, encounters, and experiences of my trip and leave theoretical musings to a minimum. This doesn't mean I am going to be refraining from cultural commentary here, it just means I'm going to try to keep it light for my readers.
The title of the blog, "Narrow Road to the Deep North" refers to the title of Matsuo Basho's most famous travel log/poetry collection. Basho is Japan's most famous haiku poet. I love haiku, especially Basho's ability to convey sublime moments of beauty in his poetry. In quoting Basho's famous travel log, I am hoping to set the tone for my own journey to the northern reaches of Japan: a tone of contemplation, reflection, and recognizing the beauty around me.
With all that said, let me finally move on to the topic of day.
Why Am I Going to Japan?
The first time I even began to consider Japan is, ridiculous enough, because of certain video games I would play while in middle and high school. The major franchise that brought me to explore the country of Japan is the "Final Fantasy" series, a popular role playing game (RPG) which has games for such platforms as SuperNintendo (Nintendo is, by the way, also a Japanese based corporation), Sony Playstation (also Japanese), Playstation 2 (yep), and others. The "Final Fantasy" series remains one of my favorites, though I play much less than I used to. Anyway, once I learned that this really amazing game and these systems all came from some far off country called Japan, I was naturally curious and wanted to learn more.
It was when I began to do a little research and learn more about the country and its history that I really began to fall in love with it. My first and strongest fascination were the samurai, the Japanese "knights" or warriors who ruled Japan with an iron first for hundreds of years. I've always been interested in religions, and I found Japan's native Shinto and imported Buddhism and Confucianism to be fascinating (Christianity is of course another imported religion, but I am already intimately acquainted). I loved the architecture, especially the tall pagodas and shrines. I loved the language (though truth be told I love listening to almost all foreign languages), and found kanji and the native Japanese hiragana and katakana scripts to be exotic and beautiful. I just loved it all, and I dreamed of one day going there.
When I suddenly found myself in college, I was presented with a wonderful opportunity to make this dream a reality. I knew going into college that I wanted to study abroad for a semester, and for a while I was trying to decide between going to Japan and going to a Spanish speaking country like Spain, Costa Rica, or Chile. I decided that, while I would love to really improve my Spanish and get closer to fluency, once I graduated from college it would be near impossible for me to make a trip to Japan. I didn't know any Japanese and trying to live and travel in a country where you don't speak the language is near impossible without help. At least with Spain, I know enough Spanish that I could make a month long trip and have only minor difficulties getting around, as I definitely know enough Spanish to have basic conversations. In the end, going to Japan as my study abroad experience, where I would be taken care of by the school, was the smartest choice I could make.
After going through college and growing a bit individually and intellectually, my interest in Japan has become a bit more refined. While all of the things I mentioned above still hold true, some things have changed a bit. I have become much more interested in gender issues and hyper-masculinity, which makes my interest in the violent samurai class more critical. I am also interested to see how this history has left its mark upon the still hierarchical culture of Japan. I am curious to see how gender roles, feminism, and multiplicity of sexual expression are constructed in Japan.
I am also more interested in how much the US and other "Western" countries have influenced - and continue to influence - Japanese culture. Of all the Asian countries, the US has had the most intimate relationship with Japan, beginning in 1853 when Commodore Perry, in classic US arrogance, forced Japan to open its ports and allow trade with the US, ending almost 200 years of Japanese isolationism. Since the conclusion of WWII, after Japan's total defeat in the wake of the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan was forced to an unconditional surrender. The US was intimately involved in the restructuring of the Japanese government and economy, much like our own purported attempts in Iraq, but here the transition and subsequent flourishing of Japan stands in stark contrast to the miserable state of Iraq.
The atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki has always been of particular importance to me. For me, it is symbolic for many reasons. It is a stark depiction of the complete inhumanity of war, of US imperialism/arrogance (apparently one bomb wasn't enough), and of the frightening implications of the pursuits of science and knowledge in general. This last point is the most sobering for me, as a scientist in training.
Leo Szilard was the man largely responsible for the creation of the atomic bombs in the US. A link to a Wikipedia article about Szilard can give you a quick synopsis of his involvement. Though he was well aware of the implications of his research, he had hoped that the mere threat of such a powerful weapon would be enough to deter war. He was dismayed when President Truman decided to use the bombs against Japan. Einstein was another scientist who was influential, at least in the beginning, with the creation of the bomb. Though Einstein did not actually work on the Manhattan project, his signature of support on the letter authored and signed by Szilard encouraging the pursuit of this research was influential in getting the Roosevelt administration to create the project in the first place.
Apart from all of these musings, I am hoping that at the very least my trip to Japan and back will offer me new perspectives; of Japan, of the US, of humanity, of myself. I am hoping I will learn much more about myself from this trip, and I am excited to share all of these experiences with you.
Check back around April 1 for an update of my actual flight and first day in Japan. In the meantime, I wish you the best.
See you later! Mata aimasho!
When I suddenly found myself in college, I was presented with a wonderful opportunity to make this dream a reality. I knew going into college that I wanted to study abroad for a semester, and for a while I was trying to decide between going to Japan and going to a Spanish speaking country like Spain, Costa Rica, or Chile. I decided that, while I would love to really improve my Spanish and get closer to fluency, once I graduated from college it would be near impossible for me to make a trip to Japan. I didn't know any Japanese and trying to live and travel in a country where you don't speak the language is near impossible without help. At least with Spain, I know enough Spanish that I could make a month long trip and have only minor difficulties getting around, as I definitely know enough Spanish to have basic conversations. In the end, going to Japan as my study abroad experience, where I would be taken care of by the school, was the smartest choice I could make.
After going through college and growing a bit individually and intellectually, my interest in Japan has become a bit more refined. While all of the things I mentioned above still hold true, some things have changed a bit. I have become much more interested in gender issues and hyper-masculinity, which makes my interest in the violent samurai class more critical. I am also interested to see how this history has left its mark upon the still hierarchical culture of Japan. I am curious to see how gender roles, feminism, and multiplicity of sexual expression are constructed in Japan.
I am also more interested in how much the US and other "Western" countries have influenced - and continue to influence - Japanese culture. Of all the Asian countries, the US has had the most intimate relationship with Japan, beginning in 1853 when Commodore Perry, in classic US arrogance, forced Japan to open its ports and allow trade with the US, ending almost 200 years of Japanese isolationism. Since the conclusion of WWII, after Japan's total defeat in the wake of the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan was forced to an unconditional surrender. The US was intimately involved in the restructuring of the Japanese government and economy, much like our own purported attempts in Iraq, but here the transition and subsequent flourishing of Japan stands in stark contrast to the miserable state of Iraq.
The atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki has always been of particular importance to me. For me, it is symbolic for many reasons. It is a stark depiction of the complete inhumanity of war, of US imperialism/arrogance (apparently one bomb wasn't enough), and of the frightening implications of the pursuits of science and knowledge in general. This last point is the most sobering for me, as a scientist in training.
Leo Szilard was the man largely responsible for the creation of the atomic bombs in the US. A link to a Wikipedia article about Szilard can give you a quick synopsis of his involvement. Though he was well aware of the implications of his research, he had hoped that the mere threat of such a powerful weapon would be enough to deter war. He was dismayed when President Truman decided to use the bombs against Japan. Einstein was another scientist who was influential, at least in the beginning, with the creation of the bomb. Though Einstein did not actually work on the Manhattan project, his signature of support on the letter authored and signed by Szilard encouraging the pursuit of this research was influential in getting the Roosevelt administration to create the project in the first place.
Apart from all of these musings, I am hoping that at the very least my trip to Japan and back will offer me new perspectives; of Japan, of the US, of humanity, of myself. I am hoping I will learn much more about myself from this trip, and I am excited to share all of these experiences with you.
Check back around April 1 for an update of my actual flight and first day in Japan. In the meantime, I wish you the best.
See you later! Mata aimasho!
