MLO 2: Culture
2.1. Students develop a comprehensive understanding, appreciation and knowledge of Japanese culture: perspectives (ideas, beliefs, attitudes, values, philosophies), practices (patterns of social interactions) and products (both tangible and intangible, for example, art, history, literature, music).
2.2. Students develop analytical and critical thinking in areas, such as how Japan’s cultural background influences modern Japanese life, how to compare their own culture with the Japanese culture, or how Japanese culture relates to other world cultures in an age of global inter-relatedness.
2.2. Students develop analytical and critical thinking in areas, such as how Japan’s cultural background influences modern Japanese life, how to compare their own culture with the Japanese culture, or how Japanese culture relates to other world cultures in an age of global inter-relatedness.
2.1You can learn a new language without ever having to go to the place where it originated from. However I think that it is impossible to learn a new language without learning at least a little bit about the people who made it and speak it still. Simple time greeting, the use of improper nouns, different vocabulary for both sexes in a language can reveal a lot. Japanese is probably one of the easier languages to disassemble like this because of kanji. The pictographic alphabet taken from Chinese can tell you a lot about the use of certain words. For Kanji for tree is a picture of a tree. The Kanji for forest is three trees grouped together. The Kanji for liking something is the symbol for a woman next to a child. Now without ever having been to japan you could assume a lot just about the symbolism of the words. What I am trying to say though is that in order to truly speak a language you must learn to move within that languages culture. What may seem polite in your own culture could come across as brazen or rude in another. Not only the language courses taught in Japanese but also the culture classes taught in English helped me to improve my Japanese ability. It’s easy to look at an action taken by someone and filter it through your own personal view. But when something you see from another culture seems extreme or outlandish it can be hard to pull back from your own bias. That’s why I feel it was important to take Japanese culture classes like film discussion, and the history of anime and manga. These classes were informative about Japanese culture like just watching movies and reading comics could never be. Our teacher would show us a movie or story from Japan and then disseminate the actions taken by the characters. Motivation is the driving force behind all human actions, figuring out the motivation behind an action helps to better understand the action. Why is the samurai going on a suicide mission? Death is bad but so is failing to meet the expectations of those above and below your station. In the character’s mind his actions make sense because he is motivated to do so by those around him. Understanding people’s motivation is key to learning about their culture.
2.2 Japan has a long history. As an island nation they have until very recently been almost completely cut off from the rest of the world. This isolation has created a very tight knit society. There are a lot of unspoken rules in Japan that if not followed will see you ostracized from the group to where you are now an outsider. You do not want to be an outsider in Japan. When you first meet someone they will tell which groups they are associated with. In Japan it’s not who you are it who you are a part of. Your company, your school, your team, your family, these are what make the Japanese so close. This need to belong somewhere is perhaps not unique in the world, but nowhere else in the world to I think it is practiced to the extent it is in Japan. A long history of xenophobia has not stopped Japan from being a massive pop culture factory. Not only are Japanese cultural icons exported all over the world but also made a part of the cultures where they land. Japan too has taken to assimilating aspects of other cultures that it likes, for example fashion and music. I have placed below a sample of the work I did in one of my culture classes.
2.2 Japan has a long history. As an island nation they have until very recently been almost completely cut off from the rest of the world. This isolation has created a very tight knit society. There are a lot of unspoken rules in Japan that if not followed will see you ostracized from the group to where you are now an outsider. You do not want to be an outsider in Japan. When you first meet someone they will tell which groups they are associated with. In Japan it’s not who you are it who you are a part of. Your company, your school, your team, your family, these are what make the Japanese so close. This need to belong somewhere is perhaps not unique in the world, but nowhere else in the world to I think it is practiced to the extent it is in Japan. A long history of xenophobia has not stopped Japan from being a massive pop culture factory. Not only are Japanese cultural icons exported all over the world but also made a part of the cultures where they land. Japan too has taken to assimilating aspects of other cultures that it likes, for example fashion and music. I have placed below a sample of the work I did in one of my culture classes.