In Response to David Green, "As Its Population Ages, Japan Quietly Turns to Immigration"
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Ueno historically belonged to the Shitamachi district of Tokyo. At the time Tokyo was divided into the Tamanote and the Shitamachi. Aristocrats and rich merchants lived and worked within the Yamanote, white poorer working class citizens could be found in Shitamachi. During World War II, an open-air black market was created in the area. This market is now known as Amerya-yokocho and is no longer a black market, but a regular street market for the tourists and the people in the Ueno neighborhood to visit.
After arriving at Ueno Station I walked to Ueno Park. Ueno Park contains remnants of its past during the Edo Period, though most previous structures were destroyed during the Battle of Ueno. Today, Ueno Park is Japan’s most popular city park and attracts people from all over the world, especially during cherry blossom season. During my time in the park I chose to sit and observe from a lovely park sitting area. From my observations I concluded that the park was very family-oriented, as there were children everywhere. Additionally, many men coming from work were relaxing on park benches. This made me think there were more business-like structures within some walking distance of the park. While sitting in my comfortable spot, a man next to me who had been meditating for some time asked me what I was writing about. I believe he was curious about me because I was clearly not from Japan, but I also did not seem like the many tourists walking by on their way to the park’s many museums. I told him I was studying in Japan for a few weeks and came to the park to observe for an assignment. He told me that he lived just outside of the park and came to meditate there everyday. He asked that I tell the entire group of people I came with to visit the park, as it is his favorite spot in Tokyo. After sitting for a while I wanted to visit the park’s famous shrines and temples. The first I visited was the Buddhist Bentendo Temple. Here I noticed that before entering the temple, people would light a candle-like object and stick it in a box of pebbles. In the first part of the temple there is a place for shoes to be taken off before entering the sitting area. While I was there a Buddhist monk performed some ceremony that required the banging of a gong. During my time here I noticed four or five mom and son pairs come visit and pay their respects. The mothers were teaching their sons how to properly bow after putting their coin in as an offering. I was not able to find any information on this ceremony or as to why there were so many mother-son pairings. Next I went to the Tosho-gu Shinto Shrine. Here, one washes both of their hands and their mouth before entering. Unlike the Buddhist temple, after offering a coin, one uses a series of bows and claps. I exited the park and entered a residential area surrounding one side of the park. The streets here were very quiet. The homes appeared to be for middle-class families. There was a high school nearby, signaling the likelihood that this was an area for people with children, not the elderly or the youth. I really liked this neighborhood, but the few people I did pass seemed surprised to see me walking by. Tourists clearly never walk through this part of Tokyo, as they would have no reason to, so I looked out of place. Stepping a few streets over I found myself entering the Amerya-yokocho market and the sound contrast was incredible. I came from quiet streets to la oud, packed, vibrant market area. The market was filled with fresh fruit, fresh fish, food of all kind, tourist souvenir booths, nice purses and shoes, etc. Merchants of all kinds came to sell their items here. This area was packed with tourists and Japanese citizens alike. Most signs had both Japanese and English written on them. I bought a fan and fresh fruit from a couple of merchants. I found myself very easily lost in this area. My maps couldn’t really locate my exact location, finding the train station was very difficult, and there was no space to sit and figure it out. The market is very fun and exciting, but also overwhelming and intimidating.It was really incredible that outside of a serene park and a quiet neighborhood, this loud market existed. Miki later told me that this market is really popular at the New Year and you can watch the crowds on the television. It is intimidating to think of the market being any busier than it was while I was there. Overall, the Ueno area was an incredibly beautiful and nice part of Tokyo. The park is something I would recommend to anyone visiting Tokyo. In Response to Daiki Shibuchi, "The Yasukuni Shrine Dispute and the Politics of Identity in Japan: Why All the Fuss?"
- This debate instantly reminded me of the current debate in the United States regarding the tearing down of Confederate monuments. Though these issues cannot be entirely comparable, there are similarities to be discussed. - Is it even possible to "de-enshrine" someone? - Does the Prime Minister care that his actions are internationally frowned upon or does the international community's opinion on a Japanese shrine not matter to him? In Response to Mindy Kotler, "Sorry Japan, Yasukuni is Not Arlington" - The Japanese enshrined war criminals and the US buried Confederate Soldiers in its most cherished burial grounds -- are these issues comparable? - Arlington Cemetery is a nationalistic symbol within the US, but has no religious attributes. Yasukuni is primarily religious, but was made nationalistic by the nature of the people enshrined there. Why did the Meiji Empire choose to blur the line between nationalism and religion? - Kotler points out that those buried at Arlington are not war criminals and are all honorable discharged. However, the US military and many of the men buried at Arlington has committed heinous acts in war. These acts are not considered war crimes, but does that mean that Arlington can claim it is not dishonorable? During World War II, American and British prisoners of war faced intense torture practices while held captive in Japanese prisoner camps. The Japanese military utilized horrific methods, of a caliber I would struggle to write about. The U.S also committed heinous war crimes, such as the dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but (despite creating Japanese internment camps) the United States never turned to torture during World War II.
World War II remains in the past for both countries and I want to focus on the progression of both countries after the war. Japan progressed into the country we see today, with no further instances of torture. In fact, their ‘Human Rights Watch’ specified problems primarily focus on the country’s lack of involvement in other states who struggle with human rights concerns. Torture hasn’t been utilized in Japan since World War II. However, after World War II the United States moved toward the utilization of torture, reaching an all-time peak after 9/11 when President George W. Bush initiated the ‘War on Terror’. My research will be directed to understanding the progression of both states after World War II in regards to the use of torture as a method for interrogation. I want to understand how the United States could condemn the use of torture in one war and progress to use those same methods in another. Did the U.S. only oppose torture practices because it was US servicemen being harmed or are there other reasons for the justification of U.S. actions after 9/11? How did Japan rapidly progress from a state with rampant human rights issues, including the use of torture during World War II, to a model state in regards to preventing severe human rights violations from occurring? How did World War II shape these opposite progressions? I find torture or enhanced interrogation to be the most direct violation of human rights. In the US, Japanese torture of POW’s is a story we are told repeatedly, but there is no mention of US torture practices in our history textbooks. I want to learn more about this progression because it remains so important to what these two states represent today. In Response to Anne Allison's, Chapter 2 of "From Lifelong to Liquid Japan":
One spot in Allison’s “Precarious Japan” that stuck out to me was near the beginning when she recalled a conversation with a Japanese salesman in the 1980s. The salesman is quick to boast of his superior work ethic and willingness to work extra hours without pay. He explains that he does not mind working extra hours as he is doing this FOR his company and FOR Japan. His desire to work longer hours does not at all involve a desire for more money, but instead lies in his desire for honor and strong devotion to his country. I find this interesting because Allison discusses the rise of consumerism and capitalism in Japan, so earning money through capitalism did become a part of the Japanese narrative during this period of economic growth. However, contrary to American ideals, monetary gain and power were not the only driving factors in a Japanese man’s desire to work for capitalistic endeavors. In the United States, most people work to earn money in order to maintain a certain living standard and overtime work will almost always require some kind of reward or there will be no desire to perform extra hours. In Japan, this is different. There is motivation in serving one’s country through contributing to the growth of the economy. This is considered an act of honor. This aspect of Japanese identity appealed to my interest, but it wasn’t until I watched the lecture that I realized an interesting factor contributing to this contradiction of motivation between the United States and Japan. Japan’s recent history has primarily consisted of a struggle between belonging to the West or to the East. This motivational difference, I believe, illustrates this battle between the two sides. The Japanese economy moved toward capitalism and big business, but Japanese traditional ideals or values remained important within Japanese culture. The idea of honor is an ancient Japanese value that still remains despite the new shift to a more Western society. Japan’s identity should be allowed to contain both aspects of Western and Eastern culture. In Response To: Yoshio Sugimoto, “Nation and Nationalism in Contemporary Japan,” Sage Handbook of Nations and Nationalism (2006), pp. 473-487.
National homogeneity remains an important part of modern Japanese culture despite a growing multicultural and ethnically diverse population. Sugimoto suggests a cooperation or intertwining between these two seemingly opposing aspects of Japanese society and I tend to agree. Though nationalism maintains the ability to exclude various groups of people within any society, as seen throughout the history of the world repeatedly, I believe ethnic diversity and celebration of multiculturalism can strengthen a state’s national identity. The United States pretends to pride itself on its status as a nation of immigrants while utilizing an exclusive version of nationalism to stifle the success and growth of certain groups of people. This example of a multicultural nation embracing nationalism is not what Sugimoto or I encourage a newly diversifying Japan to embody. Instead, Japan has the opportunity to build a stronger sense of nationalism and state pride through an encouragement of multiculturalism. Japan’s national roots remain an important aspect of Japanese society and bringing immigrants or other ethnicities into that narrative can be challenging, but it is not impossible. Japan utilized Western technology and ideas to modernize and establish itself as an economic hub outside of the traditional, geographical Western society (Sugimoto, 475). Japan modernized without losing its sense of tradition and national pride. The country remains loyal to its historical values and ideologies while incorporating newer ideas from outside its own cultural context and this combination has strengthened Japan’s position on a global scale and stimulated its economy. This same thing can be done in Japan with the influx of different groups of people. Japan has the opportunity to thrive with both national homogeneity and ethnic diversity as important aspects of Japanese society. I believe it is a sad notion that nationalism must be separate from multiculturalism because this suggests that humans must be separated by race, religion, or ethnicity to create a society with strong cultural values and traditions. Multiculturalism should be celebrated as a tool to create a better national identity, a more inclusive nationalism. Growing up in a conservative neighborhood in Texas I became aware of two things: 1) how it feels to be on the outside and 2) why people I disagree with feel the way that they do. I came to Seattle to escape a community that intentionally silenced people like me. My identity at the time came from being one of the few liberal voices in my high school and I constantly faced a sexist and racist society demonizing me for my beliefs. I never felt comfortable being myself in this environment; I still haven’t told many people at home that I’m bisexual.
My experiences in Texas taught me what it feels like to be the unheard. I use this awareness to relate to people everyday. I am incredibly privileged and I will always strive to be more aware of that privilege because people not as privileged as myself are the unheard in many aspects of their lives living in the United States. Living in a community that promoted such different beliefs than my own, I learned how to understand how other people feel and think. This doesn’t mean I believe every thought and feeling is justified because I can understand it, but it instead means I know where a conversation can be started. My greatest passion in life is advocating for human rights. Specifically, I hope to one day contribute to the fight against torture. To me, torture is the most basic violation of human rights and to live in a country that has a long history of torture based on racial and religious discrimination is disgraceful. Japan and the US have a haunted history of torture and other violations of human rights and I am interested to explore this further in regards to political and personal narratives. I believe an evaluation of human rights implications will benefit our understanding of the relations between Japan and the United States. I'm Laura and I am a rising junior studying political science at the University of Washington. This summer I will be traveling to Tokyo with the Honors Program at UW to study political narratives in Japan and the US. This will only be my third trip out of the United States (including Canada), so I am nervous but excited!
I am most excited to study a different perspective of historical and political events that have shaped our world, while experiencing a culture so different than my own. We will be visiting Kyoto and Hiroshima during our stay in Japan and I believe this will contribute to my overall understanding of Japanese culture. If anyone has suggestions of where I should go while in Japan, I’d love to hear them! |
Laura Gumz |