Reaction paper 2

                For this reaction paper I want to focus on the thing that mainly caught my interest recently in Japanese culture, their religious beliefs.  It was fascinating to see how their beliefs are truly shown throughout their everyday life and traditions, which I believe you don’t see as often in the United States. What really surprised me was how they usually claim to not have a belief. First I will discuss and compare the Japanese beliefs then I will discuss their relevance within their everyday lives.

                What surprised me the most was how when most Japanese are asked whether or not they have a religion, they say that they do not have one. “Many Japanese people claim to be non-religious, if asked directly. They have no strict allegiance to a particular religious organisation, and if asked whether they believe in a god or gods they my reply ‘no’, or ‘only if I want something’.” (116 Hendry). It’s hard to understand being able to have more than one religion, let alone that a group of people whose beliefs influence their everyday lives would say that they are not religious. In America, religion isn’t as flexible allowing for believing in more than one religion. Religion is also often fought over. I believe there is much more religious freedom and flexibility in Japan, while there is more discrimination of those from other regions.

                What’s also interesting is how these religions in Japan influence individuals on a daily basis. American religions usually don’t influence everyday life, American religious traditions usually affect only when going to services, such as church or weddings. Besides that there aren’t many other traditions that would affect daily life.

                Those are the things I found interesting that we have learned in class recently. They caught my interest due to how different they are from traditions and our beliefs.

Which culture do you think religion influences more, American or Japanese?

Movie Reaction

Movie Reaction

I think what really got me about the video was it made the disaster seem more real. Even saying that now I know that I will never be able to fully understand such a tragedy since I wasn’t there to experience it firsthand. The movie did a good job of putting the disaster in perspective in a way, showing the individuals experiences person to person and their feelings on the overall event. I also found it very interesting what the women had to say about the reporters, how they would always look for those who had lost family or where orphaned. This movie, as opposed to those news reports, focused on individuals stories about the event along with the aftermath and their reactions.

The common trend seemed to be that most everyone didn’t expect that large of a tsunami, and explained how it was just hard to grasp. Japan being a place where earthquakes and what not are common place, it shows how big of a natural disaster it had to be to catch these people off guard. As the filmmaker and her friend walked through the destroyed buildings they use to go to school or go to on a regular basis really shocked me. There was so much damage, and just trying to imagine that happening to my high school or neighborhood is hard to imagine.

                Something that really got to me was how the one woman was explaining how people are talking about the disaster as if it is over, while it is truly still happening. It must be harder and harder to get help and work through these times when the tragedy is being talked of as if it is of the past, when everything isn’t nearly back to how it used to be. I didn't realize there was such destruction during this tsunami, since the US mostly covered the issues at the nuclear power plant. But it seemed the news reporting’s interviewing the people weren't acknowledging everyone as well. It really showed that as a community, it truly is a hard time. 

How would your community react to such a situation?

How would you react to losing everything?

My Neighbor Totoro

My Neighbor Totoro is another one of Miyazaki’s films.  This film is a great animated movie that Miyazaki animated and directed. Like Spirited Away, it was quite popular, though this one towards a younger crowd. This movie truly shows how group oriented Japan are, and show a lot of traditional Japanese values.

The movie starts out with a family moving into their new home, a father and his two daughters, driving through the rice patty fields and welcoming the neighbors as they go. Upon arriving, the neighbor’s grandmother, called Granny, came over to help them move in. The two sisters, Mei and Satsuki, search the house. Upon opening a door leading inside, they see a bunch of black puff balls swarming around and then hide into the walls. They find these are ‘soot sprites’ that Miyazaki also has in Spirited Away, which were living in the house since it was empty. Mei, Satsuki, and their father later go to visit their mother who is sick in the hospital. Later, when the younger sister Mei is exploring, she sees a little totoro, which she follows and ends up at a huge camper tree. She falls into a hole in the trunk of the camper tree and finds another large totoro. There, she falls asleep. Her older sister later finds her asleep in the bushes, wondering how she fell asleep there

One evening, the sisters decide to go meet their father at the bus stop. He had missed the first bus so they had to wait a while for the next one.  While waiting, Totoro comes to wait next to them, shocking the girls. Satsuki sees he doesn’t have anything to cover him from the rain, so gives him their father’s umbrella. Then they see him get onto a cat bus that runs off into the distance. They stand in shock as their father gets off the bus.

Also, Mei and Satsuki’s mother was supposed to visit home, but they find from the hospital that she can’t because she had gotten a cold. This greatly upsets the girls, and causes Mei to go running off to try and take a gift to her mother. Everyone from the town goes off looking for her, everyone pitching in. Satsuki went for miles and miles looking for Mei, and finally goes to ask Totoro for help at the camper tree. He calls the cat bus, and the cat bus takes Satsuki to where Mei is. Everyone is relieved to have found Mei and everything goes back to normal.

Something that is shown quite well in Totoro is the feeling of community that Japan has, the whole neighborhood pitching in to try and find Mei and what not. Also, the importance of family is greatly emphasized.

In the original concept for the movie, there was only going to be one daughter, but upon starting the film Miyazaki decided to have two. The younger sister’s name is Mei, or the American version of May. Then the older sister Satsuki is named after the Japanese version of May (Toyama).

Also, Totoro was considered the spirit of the forest. The tree that he was living under had rice straw and ribbons tied around it to show that it is sacred. The worship of this tree and nature itself is a reflection of Shintoism, hence why the family bowed to the tree and Totoro helped Mei. It is believed that respecting the spirit is what protected Mei.

Are there any sacred areas common around the US?

Is family and community as important in America as Japan?

Toyama, Ryoko. "Totoro FAQ // My Neighbor Totoro // Nausicaa.net." Totoro FAQ // My Neighbor Totoro // Nausicaa.net. Studio Ghiblink, n.d. Web. 15 Oct. 2012. <http://www.nausicaa.net/miyazaki/totoro/faq.html>.

Spirited Away

Spirited Away is one Hayao Miyazaki’s most well-known movies. Hayao Miyazaki is a famous Japanese director and animator who contributed to many different animated movies that generally follow similar themes. Spirited Away in particular won many different awards, including “‘Best Animated Film’ award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences… Best Film at the 2001 Japanese Academy Awards, Best Animated Feature (among other awards) at the 2002 Annie Awards, Best Animated Feature from Critics' Awards in New York and Los Angeles, Best Asian Film at the 2002 Hong Kong Film Awards, and Best Film at the Cinekid 2002 International Children's Film Festival,” (Anime News Network). Also, on February 11^th of 2003 Spirited Away became the first “Japanese animated feature” to be awarded an Oscar nomination in Best Animated Film (Anime News Network).

          Spirited away is about a 10-year old girl name Chihiro who is moving from her old home. The movie starts out by her and her parents getting lost and stumbling upon an abandoned theme park. Within the theme park, her parents get turned into pigs because of them “pigging out” at an stall filled with food. This is just the start of her adventure into the spirit world. She first meets a boy who helps her into the spirit world and tells her she needs to find work that she finds at the bathhouse. Chihiro is able to find work from Yubaba, the witch running the bathhouse. The deal for getting a job at the bathhouse though, Chihiro has to give up her name, changing it from Chihiro to Sen. This is the start of her job at the bathhouse. She encounters many different challenges, including a stink spirit that turns out to be a river spirit, and a No-Face spirit who desperately wants Chihiro’s attention (SparkNote). The whole storyline is much more in-depth and continues, but to be able to discuss some of the themes and avoid spoiling the whole plot I’ll move on.

          Something in many of Miyazaki’s films is animism. This is shown in Spirited Away in mant different ways, one being the soot-sprites. These are little soot creatures that work in the boiler room, portrayed as living feeling creatures. Chihiro even sees one of the soot spirites struggling with some coal and it getting squished, where she quickly goes to help out. Upon rescuing the creature, it seems relieved. Then, when the other sprites see how she helped carry the coal for the one sprite, they all drop their coal hoping for help! Giving these inanimate objects feelings shows the belief that everything has a spirit.

Another theme of Miyazaki’s is the blurred line between good and evil. All of the antagonist in Spirited Away are truly just misunderstood, while good characters are not completely flawless. The perfect example of this is the No-Face spirit Chihiro kindly lets into the bathhouse while it’s raining outside. At first, the spirit just wants to help and please Chihiro for her kindness, giving her token’s needed for the bath house. But unable to get her attention, No-Face goes around causing issues by creating gold out of thin air. When he is finally about to find Chihiro, he tries to offer her gold which she refuses. This sets No-Face on a rampage. When finally confronted by Chihiro, No-Face becomes angry. But then, after calming down, he accompanies Chihiro, back to a normal non-threatening creature (SparkNote).

The importance of names and identity is shown throughout the film. The main example of this is how one exchanges their name, essentially their identity, to become ‘enslaved’ at the bathhouse. And to be able to escape that contract, Chihiro had to be able to remember her true name and not the name given by Yababa (SpakrNote).

What difference do you see between this kind of animated movie and those of Disney? Is either one better?

SparkNotes Editors. “SparkNote on Spirited Away.” SparkNotes.com. SparkNotes LLC. 2004. Web. 2 Oct. 2012.

"News Spirited Away Captures Oscar." Anime News Network. Anime News Network, 23 Mar. 2003. Web. 08 Oct. 2012. <http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2003-03-23/spirited-away-captures-oscar>.

Reaction To Video Session 1

The video chat meeting was very interesting and something I had never gotten to experience before. The concept of bringing different cultures together to discuss culture itself is an interesting idea and I think it will lead to good conversations and ideas. I am looking forward to discussing more with the Swedish students the ideas we are learning in class and getting their feedback. I think it also helped going into smaller groups to allow for move discussion and not having to worry as much about being overwhelmed by the large amount of people video chatting. The only issue we had was some audio ones, which I believe we will be able to work out soon to allow for better communications and conversations.

The discussion topic was who should take care of the elderly and how gender roles play in society. We determined that it seemed Sweden and America were on the same page with women’s role in society and how they have been gaining power recently. We discussed that perhaps as women work more for their jobs and for power they will be able to become equal in society with time.

 We also got to discuss how America and Japan differ in how they take care of the elderly. Because of the IE system that use to be used in Japan, the elderly grew up believing they would eventually get taken care of similar to how they had to take care of their parents, which is a very different view from the United States, who greatly value independence. But because Japan’s idea of family is very close-knit and grew up putting the whole in front of the individual, it makes sense the elderly believe they should be taken care of. While the independent nature of America, the elderly tend to prefer to live on their own and take care of themselves as long as they can.

Reaction

Learning about Japanese culture has been a very interesting an eye-opening experience. What shapes Japanese culture is very unique, quite different when compared to American beliefs. The ie family system used in Japan was the topic I wanted to look at and compare the positives and negatives to American culture. Growing up in the US made it hard to wrap my head around the idea that one individual wants and desires where set aside to be able to accommodate the needs of the structure as a whole. The way the ie system is very different in how it focuses on continuity of a lineage and its associated business. This structure promotes the need to use ones family to uphold a business, especially with a male leader, has had a large impact on the culture. With only males being the head of the families, this essentially lead to only men being allowed to be in charge of businesses. Family and children were seen more as parts of a whole instead of individuals. This also lead to things such as arranged marriages since family’s wanted to strengthen their family and their business by becoming connected with families of the same class in that business. The marriages became more of a business deal, again less focused on the individual’s desire to marry and more on concentrating on strengthening the family as a whole. This concept of arranged marriages does not, for the most part, exist in the US. The family structure isn’t based on upholding the family name and business, but promoting each individual to follow their own aspirations. Since arranged marriages are still happening occasionally in Japan, it shows the ie system has not gone away completely. Though the ie system may be efficient way of business, it stifles individuals chances to find what they truly want to do and limits them to only the family business or to only be able to do things that will uphold the family name.

Do you think the focus on the whole over the individual is a bad thing?

Or is the focus on individual damaging the whole?

Hayao Miyazaki

                Hayao Miyazaki is an animator and director who were born in Tokyo in 1941. Some films that he directed and animated were Nausica, Spirited Away, Kiki’s Delivery Service, Totoro, and Princess Mononoke. He is internationally recognized and has won awards such as an Oscar for Spirited Away in 2002. After his release of Nausica, he co-founded Studio Ghibli, which is where he has been working for the past years. Something that is predominant in Miyazaki’s films is a female protagonist. This for a Japanese filmmaker would seem like an odd thing, considering Confucianism and the idea that women are “inside the house”. The films usually portray a young female heroine who doesn’t fit social norms. Miyazaki believes that the difference between a man with a gun and a woman with a gun is a “powerful thing”. A theme usually seen in his films were the struggle between nature and humanity. Animism is also shown through his films, giving a voice to many different objects and characters. A good example of this is when the main character in Spirited away ends up accidentally stepping on a 'soot sprite' who reforms, becomes annoyed, then goes back to work. This method of giving character to nature and people alike would lead to the next prominent theme in Miyazaki’s film, where the antagonists aren’t completely evil. They are either misunderstood or misguided. His films aren’t black or white, with definite good and evil, but all gray area where the antagonist usually learns from their previous errors (Bernard).

Notice the beautiful landscape

                His films are filled with beautiful landscapes and animation, and themes that “hymns the beauty and mystery of the natural world. Miyazaki believed that “before they are stuck in classrooms, kids should be outside messing around with fire, climbing trees and tying ropes… Experiencing the sort of outdoorsy, unstructured childhood Miyazaki’s own generation enjoyed”. Miyazaki feels strongly about nature, which explains why his films represent nature as a living feeling force. He says how he “was frustrated because nature – the mountains and rivers – was being destroyed in the name of economic progress”. Though Miyazaki hasn’t appointed a successor at Studio Ghibli, his son Goro directed a hit film Tales from Earthsea (Schilling).

Soot Sprites

                In an interview, Miyazaki revealed how he creates his films without a script. He would start working on a film before the story was completely finished. When asked about how he is able to arrive to a stories conclusion Miyazaki replies with “It’s not me who makes the film. The film makes itself and I have no choice but to follow”. When asked about how his stories tend to be very free and independent of logic, Miyazaki responded with “You can't make a film with logic. Or if you look at it differently, everybody can make a film with logic. But my way is to not use logic. I try to dig deep into the well of my subconscious”. His films are made for children with “a lot of devotion”, which appeals to the adult audience as well. He claims that “the single difference between films for children and films for adults is that in films for children, there is always the option to start again, to create a new beginning. In films for adults, there are no ways to change things. What happened, happened” (Mes).

Questions:

                How do Miyazaki’s themes relate to various Japanese beliefs?

                Do you believe it makes sense to not have a definite bad character within a film?

Bernard, Anna. "Hayao Miyazaki Themes." Outsider Japan. PB Works, 2010. Web. 17 Sept. 2012. <http://outsiderjapan.pbworks.com/w/page/29870735/Hayao%20Miyazaki%20Themes>.

Shilling, Mark. "An Audience with Miyazaki, Japan's Animation King." The Japan Times Online: News on Japan, Business News, Opinion, Sports, Entertainment and More. Japan Times, 04 Dec. 2008. Web. 17 

Sept. 2012. <http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/ff20081204r2.html>.

Mes, Tom. "Hayao Miyazaki." Midnight Eye Interview:. Midnight Eye, 7 Jan. 2002. Web. 17 Sept. 2012. <http://www.midnighteye.com/interviews/hayao-miyazaki/>.