JAPANESE CULTURE
Written by Yangzhi Xiong
Japan’s culture is a vibrant and multifaceted blend of traditions and modernity, deeply rooted in a respect for nature, spirituality, and craftsmanship. From the simple yet profound haiku to the serene practice of origami, Japanese culture reflects an intricate merge of simplicity and depth. The influence of Shintoism, with its belief in kami (spirits inhabiting natural objects), shows Japanese people’s reverence for the natural world. Japan’s social customs—such as bowing and removing footwear—showcase a society where etiquette and mutual respect are woven into the fabric of daily interactions. This essay will delve into the tapestry of Japanese culture, exploring its poetic beauty, spiritual depth, and enduring social values.
Poetry(haiku)
Even in Kyoto,
Hearing the cuckoo’s cry,
I long for Kyoto.
— Kobayashi Issa
This is a classic piece of haiku by Kobayashi Issa, a form of traditional Japanese poetry that have three phrases with 5,7,5 phonetic units (similar to syllables) respectively. In this poem, Issa expressed his nostalgia of his time in Kyoto as a student. Even though he is physically in Kyoto, that time and experience in his life is gone and never retrievable, just like all the other beautiful or painful experiences in our own lives.
Haiku as we know it is a reaction to the waka 和歌(わか) poetry of the medieval Japanese court during the 17th centurty. It is concise, often humorous, and very relatable compared to the more serious, aristocratic, and elaborate waka. Its theme was originally restricted to the description of nature, but later expanded beyond nature to include daily scenes and people. However, nature is still a very common theme in haikus.
古池や蛙飛びこむ水の音
— 松尾芭蕉
Old pond
Frog jumps in
Sound of water
— Matsuo Bashō
You have probably heard of this famous poem by haiku master Bashō (1644-1694). Within the description of daily, ordinary scenes, he was often able to leave a spiritual and philosophical touch. His elegant poems appealed to the public and helped establish haiku as the most popular form of poetry in Japan. As suggested by Encyclopedia Brittanica, “haiku remained an art of expressing much and suggesting more in the fewest possible words”.
Good haikus are thought to be made up of mainly three qualities: a blurring of subject and object, genuine feeling, and egolessness.
やれ打つな蝿か手をする足をする
— 小林一茶
Don't kill the fly!
He is waving his arms,
His legs
— Kobayashi Issa
In this haiku by Issa, it’s easy to get a little confused about who the “he” is. He might be the man shouting promptly “Don’t kill the fly”, waving his arms to try stop the action. He could also be the pitiful fly, who is waving his legs and arms in anxiety to avoid being killed, ready to dodge a strike. The blurring of the subject and the object gives people space for imagination and makes the poem an interesting read. This principle might reflect influences from Zen Buddhism, where humans are perceived as inseparable from nature. In this non-dualistic approach, the self and the nature are seen as one, dissolving the boundary between human being and the natural environment. Some even argue that Japanese language itself is just suitable for mixing subjects and objects. Pronouns and subjects are often left out, word order is fairly flexible, and verbs can apply to several things at once. (Aya Francisco). This is also connected with the other quality: egolessness. The poet is part of the scene, not the one dominating or creating it. Emotions are not expressed directly, but embedded in the rather objective description of the object. It’s the particular combination of elements that creates the vibe and conveys the mood. Due to the shortness of haiku, the events described are often very small, a fragment of a story, a glimpse into the author’s experience, but enough to bring the readers into the scene and feel the same state of mind.
If you are very interested in haiku, here are some good places to visit:
https://www.tofugu.com/japan/haiku/#qualities-of-haiku
https://www.dreamerswriting.com/35-haiku-poem-examples/
One Hundred Famous Haiku by Daniel C. Buchanan
Animation/movies
Japan is also famous for its anime and manga. Hayao Miyazaki is one of Japan’s most acclaimed animators. His studio Ghibli, founded in 1985 with the name meaning “desert wind” in Libyan, produced some of the most influential animation pieces. Howl's Moving Castle, Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, Laputa: Castle in the Sky, My Neighbor Totoro, Kiki's Delivery Service, The Wind Rises, and his final piece The Boy and the Heron… Sound any familiar? I bet you have definitely watched several of those in your life. Ghibli films are known for their wild imagination, attention to detail, and heart-warming themes. They appeal to the audience through romanticized depiction of daily life, whether its chasing around a house in the suburb, driving in the woods, buttering a loaf of bread, or returning home and greeted with steaming, delicious meals. The simple and tranquil moments that people living in the city, burdened with work, and faced with various distractions find attractive and relaxing. The main characters are often just part of an ordinary community, but they have the strength and kindness to embark on journeys of self-growth and adventure. Their purposes might be elusive but never indecisive, their thoughts pure and determined, and their actions assertive and courageous. The stories are stripped of the draining complications in life and left with only the innocent and the non-hesitant, evoking the most kindness and positivity in the viewers; and the scenes could be melancholy or grand but never suppressive or heavy. Those were also found in a lot of other great Japanese animations, such as Your Name, and Suzume.
Shintoism
Shintoism, indigenous to Japan, is a polytheistic and animistic religion centered around supernatural entities called kami. They are believed to inhabit forces of nature and prominent landscapes. The element of Shinto constitutes an attractive part of Japanese culture and plays an important role in Miyazaki’s works. For example, in the award-winning movie Spirited Away, Kamajī, the old man with six legs was a shadow of Tsuchigumo, a humanoid spider in Japanese folklore. In Japan, spiders symbolize industry and progress, and in the animation, Kamajī worked tirelessly boiling bath water for the owner of the bathhouse Yubaba. Kamajī lives underground and uses soot sprites for labor, comparable to Tsuchigumo’s other meaning: humans living underground covered in dirt. Characters like Totora in My neighbor Totora, Kodama (tree elves) in Princess Mononoke, the radish spirit, the river spirit, and Yubaba in Spirited Away all have their origin from Japanese folklore or Shinto beliefs. Miyazaki himself had the habit of greeting the invisible spirits in the morning when he arrived at his studio. His rich spiritual world might be the unfailing source of inspiration that nourishes his wild imagination.
The element of Shintoism could be seen across many Japanese creations. One of such examples is the manga series Natsume’s Book of Friends, which tells a healing story of an orphan boy’s interaction with yōkai, a class of supernatural entities and spirits in Japanese folklore. The yōkai are often the spirit of animals or plants. As the main character interact with various yōkai, he found himself often touched by their stories of friendship and love and was gradually healed from his childhood trauma.
The creation of kami reflects Japanese people’s deep connection to and respect for nature, whether it’s the spirit of trees, mountains, or birds. The belief that all living things have a soul makes the world around us feel all the more vital and amiable.
If you want to have a look at Ghibli movies or get to know more about Hayao Miyazaki, here are some good resources to get started:
https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20200123-studio-ghibli-an-indispensable-guide
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zi7jIZkS68
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kJM7hfdeSI
Two great Chinese websites:
https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1Zu4y1k7FN/?spm_id_from=333.788.recommend_more_video.2
Art
Origami (“folded paper”) is another feature usually associated with Japan.
"When you fold, the ritual and the act of creation is more important than the final result. When your hands are busy your heart is serene" - credited to Akira Yoshizawa, the grandfather of modern origami
Beyond its amazing craft and aesthetic beauty, origami even found its place in the engineering world. The aerospace engineers who designed the “Eyeglass” Telescope picked up the idea of folding a flat surface into a dense 3-D structure. They worked with origami artists and successfully folded a 5-meter glass lens down to 1.5 meter through origami. Robert Lang was a prominent figure in mathematical origami who discovered the four core mathematical principles of origami in the 1980s, revolutionizing the art form. Based on those four principles, you basically can fold anything! He also developed a website called Treemaker, which can take the stick figures you draw and give you the crease pattern. Fold along the dotted line, you had the basic shape of a deer, a spider, or a tree frog.
This is Robert Lang's well-received Ted talk on the art of origami:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYKcOFQCeno
You could definitely try origami and experience the charm of this easy-to-access art form at home!
Here are some simple guides to making origami:
https://origami.guide/instructions/easy-origami/
Social conventions
To conclude, I’d like to share some of Japan’s social conventions learn from a Japan travel website (the original website link is in the reference, I’ve slightly modified the language and added some additional information).
Bowing
One of the most obvious social conventions in Japan is bowing. People bow when they say hello, goodbye, thank you, or sorry. It is a sign of respect, remorse, gratitude and greeting.
“If you meet someone in Japan you may wish to give them a little bow, but you do not necessarily need to bow to everyone who bows to you. Entering a shop or restaurant for example, you will be greeted by shouts of irrashaimase (welcome) and a bow from the staff as a sign of respect to you as the customer. As the customer, you will not be expected to bow back as you could be facing a long bow-off because the staff will feel necessary to bow back. Instead, you could adopt the casual head-nod version of the bow as a sign of acknowledgement when thanked for your purchase.”
In these days, Japanese are also very familiar with handshakes. Therefore, it’s super acceptable if you choose to shake hands with people you first meet.
Take off footwear
Another convention in Japan is to take off footwear when entering a traditional ryokan(guesthouse), a home, temple, or occasionally, some restaurants with tatami flooring. In the past, people would sleep, sit, eat on tatami-mat floors, so it’s important to keep the floor clean of dirt brought from outside. If you’re lucky to take a visit to traditional Japanese homes (minka), taking off your footwear can both keep the inside of the building clean and show your respect to the host. Upon entering a building or a house, you might find a level that is slightly higher than the rest. That might indicate that you need to take your shoes off. But no worries, there’ll often be signs or people there to remind you. After you take off your shoes, don’t wander around but step straight onto the main floor. If you like, you could turn around and reposition your shoes neatly.
Before eating a meal, it is conventional in Japan that you put your hands together and say “Itadakimasu” (I humbly receive). After the meal, it is polite to say “Gochiso sama deshita” (thank you for the meal). Also remember not to stick your chopsticks in your bowl or pass food around with them. On one hand it just looks a bit uncouth, on the other it’s considered bad luck: a bowl of rice with chopsticks stuck right up is traditionally left for the deceased in Japanese funeral, and it resembles the incense people used for religious worship. Also, please resist the temptation to douse your rice in soy sauce when having a Japanese meal. The Japanese people are very proud of their rice, and this seemingly innocent action may offend some ryokan/restaurant owners. Besides, rice has long been a staple in Japanese diet, and Japanese chefs have been really experience in making rice. It will definitely surprise you with its good taste. Rice also has a strong presence in Japanese spirituality, where dishes and beverages made from rice serve as offerings to the gods. For example, in Shinto culture, rice and sake (rice-based alcohol) are two of the most common ceremonial offerings to ancestors during rituals and weddings.
References:
https://www.insidejapantours.com/japanese-culture/social-conventions/
