Prior to attending this movie showing, I knew that plastic usage is a huge problem for the environment. The film featured a mixture between beautiful shots of ocean life and contrasted this natural beauty with the amount of plastic pollution that human society introduces. It was extremely sad for me to watch especially because this issue is already so important to me. It feels almost impossible to counteract to the amount of plastic waste that we have created and are currently producing in order to save the environment. The problem of plastic is especially substantial in the United States, as portrayed by the movie, because a lot of commercial goods are packaged in plastic and America is a country of, well, consumerism. I personally have taken steps to lessen my plastic usage by not buying plastic bags, using reusable grocery bags, using only glass or metal containers, etc. Overall, I really enjoyed the movie despite its sad tone because it offered possible solutions and brought to light what people try to avoid thinking about. I believe that this is the main problem with the ignorance towards the impact that people have on the environment. Average individuals believe that they can do little to change the pace of human pollution so they think it best to try to avoid seeing the negative effects of it – which often depict animals suffering. I believe by forcing people to face the results of their own pollution would finally drive a large enough movement to change the pace of human pollution.
Author: shellcity13
Oda Nobunaga
The important person in Japanese history was Oda Nobunaga. He is said to be the “prime mover of Japan’s 16th century reunification after a hundred years of strife” which took place between 1534-1582. To rise to power he used “confucian allusions to suggest that he would bring peace to the realm” and implemented new war technologies throughout 1568-1570. Confucian beliefs mainly consisted of a devotion to mercy, social order, and fulfillment of responsibilities. It is considerably ironic that a war general would promote such peaceful idealisms all the while being a brilliant war mind. War is directly connected to bloodshed, violence, and struggle; he, however, managed to express peaceful ideas throughout his life. This makes him important as an idol in addition to his position as a famous Japanese war general. He was willing to endure the horrors of war to establish a society in which people can pursue their ambitions peacefully, and this element of his personality makes puts him among the most remembered figures in Japanese history. He is additionally a legendary war officer due to the pivotal moment where he drove out Matsunaga Hisahide’s army through a series of battles to restore power to Yoshiaki Ashikaga beginning in 1567. The battles ended the following year, 1568, where he “entered Kyoto at the head of some fifty thousand troops drawn from Mino, Owari, and neighboring provinces” and consequently rose “the curtain on a new scene in Japan’s history.” He is an important figure in Japanese history as he was not only a successful war general who strove towards his goal of living in a peaceful society emanating Confucian ideas, but also because he set precedence for governmental functioning of modern day Japan. He was able to unite the warring parties in Japan and lay out the foundation of a government that has lasted until current times. His tragic end was met in 1582 where he was assassinated by Akechi Mitsuhide. He is credited with unifying Japan as well as laying down the framework for modern day Japan by 1580. Overall, he left his legacy in Japanese history by uniting a warring prefectures in Japan, spread ideas originating from Confucian beliefs, and laid the groundwork for a functional and stable government. And, like many figures in history, Oda Nobunaga brought upon radical but beneficial change to the nation but his end was due to those who opposed his ideas. It is important to understand not only the language and culture of the country that one is studying abroad in, but it is significant that history is learned as well. I believe that in doing so, one will be more accustomed to their society, maybe gain insight to certain cultural aspects, and overall it demonstrates an element of respect for the country. It may also impress some of the natives that you are so dedicated to learning about their culture that you may even know some historical facts that they are unaware of. I plan on exploring Japanese history further before my departure to the country.
Context Cultural Dimension
English used in America would be considered to be, according to the definitions presented in the text, a very low-context means of communication. Americans are often straight to the point and leave no room for ambiguity. For instance, the first example explains a situation in which you are declining an invitation to a party and simply say: “Things are busy with my exams, but I would like to go” (128). In reality, within the scope of American culture, there would still be a follow-up question of “So, are you coming then?”. It is often times not enough to say that a plan is inconvenient to portray an official inability to go somewhere – one would have to directly say that they cannot attend in a typical scenario. This type of communication would be considered to be ‘direct’ as it uses “explicit verbal statements and represents exactly what the speaker means” (130). It is important to recognize this form of communication and how it is used in my native culture, but also to reflect on how different it is within other cultures. Japan, for example, would be considered to have a high-context form of communication. It has even been taught in introductory courses that it is very uncommon for someone to directly decline a plan to go out somewhere. The typical response is to say (as a literal English translation): “That’s a little…”. This response would be so strange to use in America as it does not provide the normal amount of unambiguity interwoven in American communication culture. Furthermore, Japan uses circular communication as it “rarely states the point directly” (131). There are other situations that are common in Japanese where high context communication is used which differs from how it would ensue with American context dimensions. An extremely common example is that, in Japanese, the subject of the sentence is not always expressed directly which can be very difficult for me to pick up on. It may prove to be a difficult hurdle to overcome while studying abroad in Japan given that it is the opposite cultural context dimension that is used in my native country, America. I, however, have gotten used to it to some extent thanks to the education I have already received and cultural insights that have been provided through my professors. Despite the preparation I have already received, however, I am sure there will still be awkward moments that will occur due to this cultural difference. When making plans with a native speaker, for instance, they may misunderstand my expression of inconvenience (that is often provided in an American conversation) to be my declination of an invitation. I will take this information that was provided in the textbook to try and avoid such situations and evaluate circumstances in which it may occur. It is helpful to take into account the cultural context dimensions that occur in every other culture that one encounters as it varies widely – especially when dealing with the differences between Japanese and American cultures!
Music Review
I looked up and found the musicians with the highest gross value in Japan and discovered that one of the biggest is actually a rock band. That is very unexpected for me probably because pop and rap is so popular in the United States that I expected to see the similar situation in Japan. That is probably because of my cultural bias lens, which is an interesting element to experience consciously. I am, however, pleasantly surprised by it because heavy metal and rock are my favorite types of music so to know that it is very popular in Japan excites me. Maybe it is possible I could find more current Japan rock bands to actually attend concerts during my study abroad duration. I would have never even considered that to be an option but it seems like it would be a great experience. B’z, one of the biggest artists in Japan, I found actually did a show with America’s Aerosmith (who are a big band as well) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvsvSl8WL-U). Also, I thought that the B’z band was a bit out-of-date given I could only find videos made in 2010-2013 so I decided to look more into top selling songs in Japan. Through a different website, https://www.billboard.com/charts/japan-hot-100, that a boy-band is number one on the song charts in Japan. This is more like what I was expecting but the music is still vastly different than typical American pop music. It is softer, has more focus on vocals rather than different sound effects, and does not have a prevalent chorus. The number one song, King&Prince, for example is very mystical sounding and the music video is strikingly similar to the style of the BackStreet Boys (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHnYd9LOCo4). The second song on the top Japanese music charts is Kyun and it is actually another group of singers but female (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzuLe89upbQ). This is noticeably different than American music given that popular American artists usually sing solo rather than in a group. It may be due to a cultural difference of Americans believe to gain power from their individuality and Japan’s belief that power comes from numbers. I found, among the top songs, a group called BlackPink and it seems to be very similar to American music styles and is vastly different than the top trending songs. The women are singing individually and there is a lot more emphasis on the background music and beat where most the other songs were mainly focused on exclusively vocals, feature a chorus, and there is a generous amount of English in the song (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2S24-y0Ij3Y). Overall, it seems that there is a decent mix of English usage and Japanese usage in top trending songs in Japan which verifies my prior reading and understanding that Japan is decently influenced by American culture. I will be continuing to find music from Japan’s top charts to learn more about the music that I like personally and possibly do research on any concerts that are happening that I may be able to attend.
Week 4 Journal
In response to the activity in MSA I will organize the following attributes to being universal, culture, or personal. Eating with chopsticks is cultural, women walking five steps behind men is cultural, walking rather than the riding the bus is personal, feeling sorry after accidentally stepping on someone’s foot is universal, respecting your elders is cultural, making a slurping sound when eating soup or noodles is cultural, wearing warmer clothes when it is cold is universal, being depressed after the death of a loved one is universal, sleeping with a light on is personal, shaking hands with someone you first meet is cultural. In relation to my answers, the text suggests the same answers to those I answered with. Challenges I may come across in Japan are cultural differences that I did not think of to take into account and small details of everyday life that are normal to Japanese but foreign to me. For instance, I need to do cultural research, as the text suggests, from native people, literature, film, and newspapers. Some information that I seek to find is how to appropriately approach strangers (in order to strike up as many Japanese conversations as I can) and how restaurant etiquette. One of the biggest things I desire to do in Japan is eat great food; with that being said, I need to know the regular procedures in those settings because they most likely differ than American restaurants. I have heard, for example, that waiters and waitresses will not constantly ask the customers if they need anything in order to give privacy and time to enjoy the food. They also need to be flagged down for service which is seen decently rude in American culture. Another important thing is how tea is served, I have experienced times where they give the entire tea kettle and cups – it took me by surprise and I would like to be prepared for times like that. Another cultural aspect I need to personally research is how business is carried out and typical arrangements of stores. I also would like to do a lot of shopping during my study abroad duration and in order to be comfortable doing so, I should know information like common form of pay (it is usually by credit card in the United States for example), how the store attendants react towards customers, and the workings of farmers markets as well. I would like to explore as much as I can and I like to cook my own food so I believe it would be a valuable experience to get local produce rather than relying on convenience stores during my stay in Japan. As a side note, I believe one of the challenges I need to personally tackle is my use of chopsticks. I have gotten better with them over the years but I am still not where I would like to be – I would rather avoid the situation of being ‘that American that needs to use a fork’. I want to be completely immersed in Japanese culture and customs while I am there.
My Country’s Economy
Japan’s economy in 1945, due to WWII, was severely crippled but has gradually regained its stability over time (http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/timelines/japan_modern_timeline.htm). It makes sense that the Japanese economy would not be as strong after losing WWII as wars are extremely expensive – especially on a global scale as it was. Even after such a devastating blow to their economy, Japan was steadily able to get itself back onto its feet. It is actually projected in 2019-2023 that Japan will be in the top 10 countries for having the largest GDP(http://statisticstimes.com/economy/projected-world-gdp-ranking.php). GDP stands for stands for “gross domestic product”; it is often used by economic analysts to measure the health of an economy (https://0-www-imf-org.library.svsu.edu/external/pubs/ft/fandd/basics/gdp.htm). So, Japan is economically excelling in modern times despite the relatively recent hardship it had in the past 100 years. In addition to WWII crippling the economy, Japan is known to have a multitude of natural disasters that end in costly repairs as well as funds spent to prepare for such disasters. The types of disasters that frequent Japan are mostly typhoons, tsunamis, and earthquakes. Experiencing small earthquakes is one of the regular aspects of life for the Japanese as because “Japan is located along the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, which is the most active earthquake belt in the world” (https://www.livescience.com/54434-why-so-many-earthquakes-strike-japan.html). For instance, its economy not only survived but thrived after experiencing the devastating Tohoku earthquake in 2011 which was the most powerful earthquake in Japanese history (https://www.hks.harvard.edu/sites/default/files/centers/mrcbg/files/mrcbg_fwp_2012-15_Porter_Doyukai.pdf). The Tohoku earthquake in 2011 was followed by a tsunami and led to a nuclear power plant explosion as well. All the damage that occurred was immensely expensive and was very recent – less than 15 years ago! Not to mention the massive amount of funding that the Japanese put into ‘disaster preparedness’; they integrate proper procedures in the event of various disasters in school, build accordingly, have shelters ready to go, invest in several back-up generators for buildings, and educate employees on procedures to follow in the event of a disaster (
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/tag/disaster-preparedness/). Japan’s economy has had several hardships in the past and constantly strains against the elements of nature. In spite of this, Japan’s economy has been able to retain its stability. Its success, however, is still ranked lower than that of the United States. Their currency, yen, is worth less than the American dollar. The 1 yen is worth $0.0090 of a US dollar (https://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/h10/hist/dat00_ja.htm). It is not uncommon to see common clothes costing about ¥1,000 which seems staggering to an American but this amount actually only equates to about $9.00 (https://www.xe.com/currencyconverter/convert/?Amount=1000&From=JPY&To=USD). This will be an aspect that I will personally have to adjust to and do mental conversions to get a good grasp on if something is expensive or not while I am abroad.
Week 2: Story Map
Who Am I?
Week 2 Journal Entry:
Before studying abroad in Japan, I should reflect on myself and what I want to gain from my experience abroad. I should also evaluate myself to predict and prepare for obstacles I may encounter. As an exercise, I will list about eight words that describe me: introverted, humble, quiet, passionate, organized, hardworking, observant, cautious, and kind. If I had to pick just one or two words, I would choose passionate and observant to describe me. Once I have something that I really like, such as a video-game or project, I usually grow very attached and passionate about it. I also chose observant because I tend to be very aware of the details in my environment, other people, their moods, and behaviors; I believe it is a big part of me. I did not have trouble thinking of eight words to describe myself mostly likely because my personality encompasses a lot of polar-opposite traits. For instance, I know I am introverted, but I am also ready to put myself into new situations so I can get the most out of life. I am also cautious, but I love the thrill of a good roller coaster or exploring a hiking path much less traveled. I would even describe myself as ‘undefined’ as I feel I am still growing as a person and it’s hard to pinpoint exactly who I am. I actually hope for some of my traits to develop and change during my time abroad. I would like to become more outgoing and confident, and I believe this is a perfect opportunity for this. I look forward to exploring new places, experiencing a vastly different culture, and talking with natives. I really would like to make new friends in Japan and learn more about Japanese culture. I feel like I am ready for the leap into a new environment, but I am sure it will come with obstacles and I will need to adequately prepare. I feel like this class will help substantially but I should also evaluate myself and what I can do to relieve myself of stress. So far, I know that I am most relaxed when I am alone but I do find comfort in talking to close friends. I consider myself lucky to have the friends I do and I am fortunate to be studying abroad at the same time as one of my friends. In relation to Japanese culture, which will become my host-culture once I start my program, I feel like my personality coincides well. From what I have gathered so far about Japanese culture, it is centered around respect, tradition, and etiquette. I do not act impulsively and consider myself humble – two attributes that seem to mesh well with Japan society. I hope to go to Japan multiple times in my life, so hopefully this study abroad experience will not be my last venture to the country. I am actually interested in the JET program, where one teaches English in Japan. I would consider it to be one of my life’s aspirations as I feel that living in a foreign country for a duration would be valuable in shaping me as a person and bring substantial meaning to my life.
13 Hours Later 