Culture of Japan
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
After several waves of immigration from the continent and nearby Pacific islands (see History of Japan), followed by a heavy importation of culture from China, the inhabitants of Japan experienced a long period of relative isolation from the outside world under the Tokugawa shogunate until the arrival of the "The Black Ships" and the Meiji era. As a result, a culture distinctively different from other Asian cultures developed, and echoes of this persist in contemporary Japan.
The Japanese language has always played a significant role in Japanese culture. Nemawashi, for example, indicates consensus achieved through careful preparation. It reflects the harmony that is desired and respected within Japanese culture.
Although the Japanese are better known for their physical comedy outside of Japan, they have intricate humor and jokes. Because this humor relies so heavily on Japanese language, culture, religion, and ethics, it is generally considered to be very difficult to translate.
Image:Tsunami by hokusai 19th century.jpg
Contents |
[edit] Comparative Cultural Studies
The Japanese culture is often perceived as "uniquely unique". This leads to the widespread application of cultural "us" and "them" studies of Japan, wherein Japanese culture is placed next to Western culture (particularly the culture of the United States, rather than considered independently. Such studies have a tendency to overstate the importance of certain aspects of Japanese culture, as they are particularly foreign to a Western ethnocentric observer, and gloss over vital parts of the Japanese culture as they are not remarkable from an ethnocentric perspective.
Among the founding works in modern Japan studies (and of Nihonjinron), and one of the foremost comparative cultural studies of Japan, is the 1945 book The Chrysanthemum and the Sword, Ruth Benedict proposed that Japan has a shame culture (external reference standard) rather than the guilt culture (internal reference standard) that is common in the West. According to Benedict, inter-relationships between people are heavily influenced by concepts of "honor", "obligation", and "duty" in a way that is much less true in the more individualistic West. Finally, The Chrysanthemum and the Sword asserts that generalized conceptions of morality and desirable behavior are less developed in Japan, where particular and situational obligations to family, school, and friends tend to guide behavior. See: Japanese values.
[edit] Clothing
Kimono (着物 lit. "something one wears"?) are the traditional garments of Japan. Originally, the word "kimono" was used for all types of clothing, but eventually, it came to refer specifically to the full-length garment also known as naga-gi (長着 lit. "long-wear"?), that is still worn today on special occasions by women, men, and children. It is often known as wafuku (和服 lit. "Japanese clothes"?). Kimono often come in a variety of colors, styles, and sizes. Men mainly wear darker or more muted colors, while women wear brighter colors and pastels, and often with complicated abstract or floral patterns.
In day-to-day life, the Japanese people usually wear the same types of clothing that are worn around the world. "Western" style clothes are called simply fuku (服?), "clothing". These include, most notably: business attire for most working adults, school uniforms for most children, and the more general combination of trousers (especially jeans), skirts, t-shirts, sweaters of various styles, Western-style undergarments, Western-style footwear, and other clothing that is popular in many countries around the world. Japanese casual wear tends to be brightly colored, and shirts frequently display slogans in English or other foreign languages, particularly German and Italian. Slogans are often translated by amateurs whose second language abilities are imperfect, leading to minor errors which may be humorous to native speakers <ref>www.engrish.com</ref>.
[edit] Food
Through a long culinary past, the Japanese have developed a sophisticated and refined cuisine highly sensitive to the change of seasons. Modern Japanese enjoy a variety of traditional Japanese food, including the staples of rice and miso, as well as many seafood dishes (sushi and sashimi for instance), and a multitude of foreign dishes. One can easily find Chinese, Korean, and Thai dishes as well as non-regional American, French, and Italian foods. Japanese cuisine is a product of its environment and people. The ease of acquiring fresh ingredients led to sushi, high temperature and humidity led to varieties of pickled and fermented food like natto and soy sauce, and adaptation of foreign cuisines led to ramen.
[edit] Language
Understanding the Japanese language is essential to understanding Japanese culture. Both traditional Japanese culture as well as the modern popular culture is based on spoken and written Japanese language.
Japanese is known to be related to the nearby Ryukyuan languages, forming the Japonic language family. An earlier theory that it is a language isolate related to no surviving tongues is generally deprecated by scholars. However, beyond that, its classification remains controversial. The most widespread theory is that the Japonic languages are not related to any other language family; however, other controversial theories have tied it to extinct languages from Manchuria and the Korean peninsula, to a Ural-Altaic super family (along with Korean and the Uralic languages such as Estonian, Finnish, Hungarian, and Samoyedic), or to the Austronesian languages of the South Pacific.
Although it is not thought to share a common linguistic ancestor in Chinese, it has borrowed a great deal of vocabulary from that language. The Japanese writing system itself was developed from transmittance of Chinese classical writing in 400 CE.
The habit of modifying Chinese symbols to better fit in with Japanese symbols, has resulted in what the Japanese call wasei kanji, and continues today as they modify English (or words from European languages in general) words, which they refer to as wasei eigo.
The Japanese writing system is actually four writing systems used in tandem: kanji, which are logograms adopted from Chinese writing; the two kana syllabaries, hiragana and katakana, which developed from kanji; and the Latin alphabet, called romaji when used to write Japanese, is also common.
[edit] Religion
Religion in Japan is traditionally syncretic: many people in Japan do not proscribe to any single religion with particular fervour, but incorporate the beliefs and traditions of multiple religions into their daily lives. In Japan, by far the most common religions are Shinto and Japanese Buddhism. Religion in Japan tends to be quite "relaxed", with everyday Japanese individuals spending little time concerning themselves with what aspects of their lives are spiritual and what are day-to-day. It is often difficult for outside observers to disentangle religion, superstition, and tradition in Japanese culture: this distinction is often not even recognised by the Japanese people.
[edit] Visual Arts
[edit] Painting
Painting has been an art in Japan for a very long time: the brush is a traditional writing tool, and the extension of that to its use as an artist's tool was probably natural. Native Japanese painting techniques are still in use today, as well as techniques adopted from continental Asia and from the West.
[edit] Calligraphy
The flowing, brush-drawn Japanese language lends itself to complicated calligraphy. As in other East Asian countries, the rendering of text itself is seen as a traditional artform as well as a means of conveying written information.
[edit] Sculpture
Traditionally, Japanese sculpting techniques were derived from Buddhist and Shinto traditions. Wood, often lacquered, gilded, or brightly painted, is the most common traditional sculpting material. Bronze and other metals are also important. Other materials, such as stone and pottery, have had extremely important roles in the history of Japanese sculpture.
[edit] Ukiyo-e
Ukiyo-e (浮世絵 lit. "pictures of the floating world"?) is a genre of woodblock prints that, to many, characterize pre-Meiji Japanese art. Because these prints could be mass-produced, they were available to a wide cross-section of the Japanese populace - those not wealthy enough to afford original paintings - during their heyday, from the 17th to 20th century.
The widespread popularity of ukiyo-e prints lead to their recognition as a very Japanese artform, which in turn has lead to significant modern mimicry of ukiyo-e stylings in advertisements, posters, and other art including manga.
[edit] Ikebana
Ikebana (生け花?) is the art of Japanese flower arranging. It has gained widespread international fame for its focus on harmony, color use, rhythm, and elegantly simple design. Ikebana is widely practiced in Japan today, as well as around the world.
[edit] Architecture
Traditional Japanese architecture is distinct, with influence from China colored by characteristics from other sources, and original Japanese innovations. Traditional architecture affects many modern buildings, and can be seen in more pure form in Shinto shrines, Buddhist temples, and historical buildings.
Modern Japanese architecture is well-known in the world, with the works of such architects as Tadao Ando and Shigeru Ban achieving global fame.
[edit] Media
In Japan, about 100 million television sets are in use, and television is the main form of home entertainment and information for most of the population. The Japanese have a wide variety of programs to choose from, including the various dramas (police, crime, home, and jidaigeki — historical dramas), anime, news, game, quiz, and sports shows provided by the Japan Broadcasting Corporation (Nippon Hoso Kyokai--NHK) general station, the NHK educational station, and numerous commercial and independent stations. The violence of samurai and police dramas, and the satirical humor of the cartoons as well as many depictions of sexuality have drawn criticism from mothers and commentators.
[edit] Popular culture
Japanese popular culture not only reflects the attitudes and concerns of the present but also provides a link to the past. Popular films, television programs, comics, and music all developed from older artistic and literary traditions, and many of their themes and styles of presentation can be traced to traditional art forms. Contemporary forms of popular culture, much like the traditional forms, provide not only entertainment but also an escape for the contemporary Japanese from the problems of an industrial world. When asked how they spent their leisure time, 80 percent of a sample of men and women surveyed by the government in 1986 said they averaged about two and one-half hours per weekday watching television, listening to the radio, and reading newspapers or magazines. Some 16 percent spent an average of two and one-quarter hours a day engaged in hobbies or amusements. Others spent leisure time participating in sports, socializing, and personal study. Teenagers and retired people reported more time spent on all of these activities than did other groups.
In the late 1980s, the family was the focus of leisure activities, such as excursions to parks or shopping districts. Although Japan is often thought of as a hard-working society with little time for pleasure, the Japanese seek entertainment wherever they can. It is common to see Japanese commuters riding the train to work, enjoying their favorite manga or listening through earphones to the latest in popular music on portable music players.
A wide variety of types of popular entertainment are available. There is a large selection of music, films, and the products of a huge comic book industry, among other forms of entertainment, from which to choose. Game centers, bowling alleys, and karaoke are popular hangout places for teens while older people may play shogi or go in specialized parlors.
[edit] Geinōkai
The Geinōkai (芸能界) is the world of Japanese entertainment, encompassing everything from movies and television (including talk shows, music shows, variety shows, etc.) to radio and now the Internet. Geinojin (芸能人) is a term, often used interchangeably with tarento, which refers to members of the Geinōkai. Tarento is an adaptation of the English word 'talent' and refers to a rather large group of people who appear on television from night to night, but cannot be quite classified as actors, singers, or models (and are thus given the more vague appellation of "talent" instead). Tarento usually appear on variety shows, talk shows and may later move into acting or singing if they are successful.
Many non-Japanese tarento have also appeared on Japanese programs. Notable non-Japanese tarento are Patrick Harlan (United States), Dave Spector (United States), Thane Camus (United States), Bobby Ologun (Nigeria), Adogony Baudouin Euloge (Benin), Zomahoun Idossou Rufin (Benin), Osuman Youla Sankhon (Guinea), Kent Gilbert (United States), Kent Derricott (Canada), Peter Barakan (United Kingdom), Panzetta Girolamo (Italy), Yinling ( Taiwan), etc.
[edit] Sports
Popular professional sports in Japan can be categorized into either traditional sports like Sumo wrestling or imported sports like baseball and football (soccer). In addition, many amateur sports are popular in Japan, such as table tennis, tennis, volleyball, basketball, golf and rugby. Popular amateur sports native to Japan include martial arts like kendo and judo. Professional wrestling is also very popular in Japan.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- This article contains material from the Library of Congress Country Studies, which are United States government publications in the public domain. - Japan
[edit] Footnotes
<references/>
[edit] External links
- Japanese Society and Culture
- J-LOG - All about Japanese pop culture and travel]
- MusicJAPAN+ - Web Magazine of J-Pop Music Culture
- Japanese Culture Articles including Kendo, Ukiyo-E, Sumo Wrestling, Art, and more.
- Romances from Old Japan -(Early Japanese short stories and folk tales; Pre-1919 and thus public domain. Full text and is illustrated.)
- Electronic journal of contemporary Japanese studies
- Japan SAQ (Seldom Asked Questions)
- Noh mask master Shigeharu Nagasawa Noh Masks / 長澤重春能面集 Old Japanese
- Plastic Bamboo - Latest pop culture news from Japan in English
- Japanese Culture Guide @ Picturetokyo.com Culture A-Z
Afghanistan • Armenia • Azerbaijan • Bahrain • Bangladesh • Bhutan • Brunei • Cambodia • China (People's Republic of China (Hong Kong • Macau) • Republic of China (Taiwan)) • Cyprus • East Timor • Georgia • India • Indonesia • Iran • Iraq • Israel (See also Palestinian territories) • Japan • Jordan • Kazakhstan • Korea (North Korea • South Korea) • Kuwait • Kyrgyzstan • Laos • Lebanon • Malaysia • Maldives • Mongolia • Myanmar • Nepal • Oman • Pakistan • Philippines • Qatar • Russia • Saudi Arabia • Singapore • Sri Lanka • Syria • Tajikistan • Thailand • Turkey • Turkmenistan • United Arab Emirates • Uzbekistan • Vietnam • Yemen
bg:Култура на Япония de:Kultur Japans es:Cultura de Japón fr:Culture japonaise ja:日本の文化 pt:Cultura do Japão vi:Văn hoá Nhật Bản something kinda ohhBold text
