For a wide variety of reasons, I just feel that keeping this blog entirely about Japanese culture is played out. That is, I am not an encyclopedia; I am a person. I want to write about people as much as possible. Also, I have been privileged to deal with more and more Japanese people: helping them with their problems, translating where it will help, pointing out ways to improve English, and so on. It’s not about me; it’s about them.

The March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami were, in one sense, part of a long history of natural disasters striking Japan. In another sense, this was disturbingly new: the damage to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, and the subsequent evacuations, rubbed salt into Japan’s raw wounds. Even the Kobe earthquake felt like a lesser event in terms of lasting impact. You can rebuild from an earthquake, but how can you rebuild from a nuclear disaster if no one is allowed within 30 km without a radiation suit? This is to say nothing of the great concern for the long-term health of the children, though the short-term problems have been thankfully minimized. No one has died of radiation so far, and workers continue to battle with the reactors to maintain a semblance of control.

The tsunami’s devastation was far broader than this. This was like Hurricane Andrew (the one that hit Florida a couple of decades ago) brutalizing a long length of coastline. This, people know can be rebuilt, but it’s going to take, conservatively, a decade of work to really bring it back. It won’t be an issue of just restoration, of course; they’ll want to make it better than ever.

These are Japan’s twin (or triple, if you want to count the nuclear as an added twist) disasters in the age of high speed internet and a truly wired and networked world. The entire civilization seems to have come together in a new-found sense of unity and purpose, far outstretching the limits of government intervention. Even though Japanese people are still predisposed to cooperating with the government’s efforts, they do not seem to be, or feel, like enough.

That’s where we come in.

Together, With Japan

The modern Internet gives us Westerners who have a piece of Japan in our hearts, be it for personal reasons, cultural appreciation, or some other form of admiration, actual ways to contribute. Some of this is just expressing our moral support for Japan and the people in it, and trust me – this helps. They are heartened by our best wishes. It’s good to see.

Beyond this, what we can do is to strive to make the Internet a bridge for cultural communication. As my experience teaches me, language – and getting around the language barrier – is part of this, but it is a means to an end. Even culture isn’t the “end” of the process.

The objective, and the purpose, is to connect with Japanese people. That’s what it’s all about. That’s what I want to really go for.

My reasons are professional as well as personal. My interests, and post-secondary education, are very focused on Japan, and my efforts in education (basic Japanese for Westerners; English for Japanese natives) fit very well with this cultural outlook. But the personal reasons are still very important. I want Japan to succeed; simple as that. I do not view such success as threatening or a bad thing in any way. I want to work with the right people and make things better.

A Celebration of the People of Japan

This blog’s new focus will be people. That is, people in general, but also, specific people as opportunities permit.

In the past, I have even done little biographies of entirely fictional characters. I mean, that’s fine, for a certain crowd, but hey, I want to be primarily about living people whenever possible. ^^ Seriously, it’s something I want to do. I want to make people the focus.

Also, I want to play up how we, too, can be part of Japan, even from a distance. This is the power and magic of the Internet. I have long brought “a piece of Japan” into my own life from my redoubt in Nova Scotia, Canada. Bridging my cultural interests back to Japan, and helping real people with real problems, just feels right.

The Future

In the days ahead, you’ll be hearing more about the people I’ve been helping and supporting with my skills, moral support, and often, just lending an ear to listen.

This post is my indulgence. When I write about others, I want it to be about them, not about me. This is something that was always in my soul, but working with Japanese people has helped me to express this properly: I want my efforts to be about what I can give to others, not what I can demand for myself. Of course, where that really works is when you have other people doing the same. Then you’re helping each other and, soon enough, you’re really starting to change the world, piece by little piece.

Together, with Japan and the people within it, we are changing. It is up to us to make these changes happen for the better and to face the future with the power of the human spirit. By combining our individual as well as cultural points of view, we can turn this into something even more special than it already is.

Together, we can build a better tomorrow. – J

The biggest dilemma for a blog like this is trying to say something useful without trying to come off as an absolute authority, which seems to be the cause of most flame wars. I know a few things about a few things, but some people are like, if you don’t know everything, just shut up. I can’t live like that.

Blogging has to be a mix of fact and personal opinion. Otherwise, the content would belong in an encyclopedia. So a blog must be a personal act.

One thing I try to be careful about is to not blog in a way that is political. There are simple reasons for this which hardly require explanation. It’s just best left avoided.

Anyway, I’ve tried to do blog posts here that are from a fairly objective standpoint, providing a fairly neutral stance, trying to shed some light on matters relating to Japan’s culture. But, this is still a blog. After spending some time meditating (or more to the point, procrastinating) about what to write here, I think I shall write more that is my opinion… so long as it is clearly marked as such, and not presented as fact.

Lo and behold, Sensei’s Corner has been born.

Now, I’m not a very active teacher, though I’d like to do more to change that. I’m actually between jobs. I’m going to be the webmaster of a startup corporation that has heavy family involvement. It’s a good project. It just hasn’t finished starting up just yet. That’s life. I’m trying to do things in the meantime.

I write this as an explanation for why I’m not spending all of my time doing things that would prevent me from blogging a single word. Put simply, I do not live a perfect life, with a perfect income and perfect happiness. I’m working to deal with it. If anyone wants to complain about it, I will note your complaint and then move on with living life.

Even so, well, not everything I’ve done has exactly been a waste.

A couple of mornings ago, I heard from a former student from one on one tutoring I did over Skype. This was a way back, like, last year. Once he dropped off the grid, he was working his rear off to help get the money to go to Japan and enroll at a language school, which is where he is now. He only regained internet access about, oh, five days ago.

So, I told him not to feel any concern about my having been dropped like a hot potato. (I’m kidding.) I’m just another guy here. I just had a natural interest in if everything had worked out. Well, he wants to study at university in Japan, so this is a stepping stone in that direction.

I asked him if my lessons had prepared the groundwork for him. He said, yes; in particular, my lessons on Japanese particles were serving him very well. This made the “Sensei” in me very happy.

You see, it is the nature of language courses and language schools that everyone is working on a tight schedule. This is the same for language instruction to native speakers in high school. Once you reach a certain point, instruction in basic grammar and spelling and vocabulary stops. Your mistakes may get flagged and marked, but we get past “correction” to the point of simply punishing those who didn’t learn 100% what they ought to have at a lower level. These students fail upwards, and are the kinds who are cranked out of school without functional literacy. Many more simply come out with bad English, which is another thing I’d like to address more and more – just not on this blog.

With Japanese, particles are a core feature of the Japanese language, starting with “Watashi wa Jeremiah desu”. Yet it took me years as a translator, and some frustration as a tutor, to truly understand the particles and the roles they play to the point of being able to smoothly and reliably instruct others in it.

Not to dwell on the fine details but, I’ve read explanations that portray “Watashi ga” as if WATASHI was in ALL CAPS, and “Watashi wa” as if Watashi is in regular writing. This is badly astray. I mean, in some sense, there’s a point, but this is way, way off from the grammatical roles of “wa” and “ga” and will lead the unsuspecting student to a frustrating lack of full comprehension of short, basic sentences.

Suffice to say that this makes effective learning harder.

So, knowing that this young man was benefiting from my particle lessons gave me a sense of relief, because I know from past discussions with him about his research into language schools, and independent research, that language schools will not teach this thoroughly or properly. In other words, if you come in not knowing it, you’ll be bouncing into walls unnecessarily for a long time, and brute forcing the problem is a lot harder than just understandings the “shinjitsu” (objective truth).

So yes, the Sensei in me is happy. He’ll be benefiting from what I taught him for literally years to come.

Moving On

Anyway, aside from telling that story, the point of this was to tell anyone interested that I’m going to be doing more classical blogging. That is, I’ll write in the first person, give opinions, present more of my mind to you, the readers, and hope that this entertains thee.

As I said, I’m in between jobs, and I never really managed to find a business for teaching Japanese in the locale where I live (and where I will work in the family business as fate would have it), so I’m not doing this for money. I’m just trying to keep it clean, speak my mind as much as public decency permits, and have a little fun with it, and try to make sure you have a little fun with it.

We’ll see how it goes. – J

This post is part of a blog series on Brazen being sponsored by Entrustet. As a member of Brazen Careerist, I was asked to make a post about what I want my legacy to be. Here is my answer.

While it may be somewhat premature for a young blog like this to be involved in a discussion about legacy, this blog, which has undergone a couple of early revisions and refinements in its “vision,” now has a clear focus. That focus is Japanese culture.

The national culture of a relatively tightly knit, economically advanced, culturally robust nation is something with a great deal of facets.

In modern times, there is certainly anime and manga, which were my original routes to Japanese cultural knowledge. There is also modern fashion and school culture. For me, there is also the Japanese language itself, which is, for me, a clearer window into Japanese society. Through knowledge of the language, I am much closer to understanding the culture as Japanese people experience it.

In times past, Japan underwent radical societal and cultural changes, followed by long stretches of slower change, making Japanese history divisible into periods. We have the legacy of the samurai and the warring states period, the era of prolonged civil war; we have the Meiji Restoration, which dragged Japan into the modern era, where it came to thrive beyond the reformers’ wildest imaginations before breaking against the shoals of conflict in World War II. This brought Japan into the form it is known by today.

The chief legacy of this blog is to be a witness to events past and present. Insofar as culture is concerned, modern popular culture combines the old (samurai) with the new (schoolgirls) in entertainment without so much as a conscience. Western culture influences Japan greatly, but Japanese culture influences the West as well. You cannot spit two feet and not hit a Naruto fanboy these days, after all. Then there is Pokemon. In times past, there was Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, full of Japanese cultural ideas intertwined with… mutant turtles, New York, and pizzas. Truly a modern combination!

Really, though, the idea behind this blog was to take my past as a translator, my present as a writer and blogger, and my hoped-for future as a more extensive teacher of the Japanese language, and give people a reason to care about Japan. After all, language is merely a bridge, or as I said, a window into another culture.

Culture is a reason to care. It is a source of inspiration that gives us the motivation to look beyond the shallow and embrace a more rewarding and more fulfilling depth that brings us closer to a richer, more vibrant life. You don’t need to be Japanese for this; I certainly am not. I simply bring Japan to me, and embrace some very nice parts of it with my heart.

So, I want the legacy of this blog to be, at once, entertainment and food for the mind, and showing people greater depth and a vibrant array of stimuli to inspire a hunger for deeper knowledge. That knowledge – in snippets, anecdotes, stories, features, and so forth – deepens the enjoyment that readers can derive from Japanese culture.

Thus, when I think in terms of legacy, I don’t think in terms of Google cached blog posts or readership numbers (though those are nice) or even money (which is also nice), but in terms of etching something invisible, but real, in the hearts of the readers. I want my legacy to be carried on, and improved upon, long after I log off.

This blog uses Kos-Mos as one of its theme character.

Because I’m Not Alone Out Here.

I really wish I had the time and energy and opportunity to blog more extensively. There’s a lot of things I’d like to say about a lot of subjects. Because my efforts must be limited, I can at least praise others who fight the good fight.

Besides, in a case like this, discovering a new blog can be very interesting. I just plain don’t know them all.

Music Critiques Included

What really struck me is that this blog – which has guest authors (lucky…) – does reviews of songs included in reviews of opening and ending themes (OP’s and ED’s for short). I mean, in all seriousness, I wouldn’t dare stand up as an actual music critic of J-Pop as if I know the artists and their work extensively, or for that matter, as someone who understands music on a deeper level. I think I have taste, but taste does not a critique make.

This review of the Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 ending theme is a good example. I just wouldn’t know the context to place the song in, even though I watched this anime and sort of liked it.

Take Their Fall Anime Watch List…

That watch list is here. I mean, I don’t think I’d focus on seiyuu (voice actors/ actresses) like this, simply because I’m not a hardcore enough fan to track them seriously from show to show etc. (I’m highly appreciative of their talents, but I know my limits here.)

Which is not to say I’d see eye to eye on everything they’re cranking out, or rather, this watch list is from September and my own eyes assess things for me from live watching, and some series can pleasantly surprise, even when I’m not expecting much. The Iron Man anime was an example; I never expected to find episode #4 that interesting.

And No, I Don’t Know Them

And I’m sure they have absolutely no idea I’ve written a review about their blog. That’s fine. This isn’t a back-scratching society, it’s appreciation of a good find.

I’ve added The Deathseeker to my blogroll out of sincere appreciation, and I expect I have much good reading ahead of me.

I keep finding sites that cover Japanese culture that, without naming names, because that would be impolite:

• Lecture Japanese people on what they shouldn’t say to non-Japanese.
• Lecture Japanese on how they are prejudiced and narrow minded.
  
• Lecture Westerners about how Japanese culture isn’t that great.
  
• Lecture Westerners about how Japanese swords are nothing special.
• Lecture everyone in general about how Japan stomped over Asia in WWII.
  

With all due respect, I really can’t link to you in good conscience.

First of all, a lot of cultural misconceptions are a result of how the Westerner chooses to hear something said by Japanese people. Moreover, quite a lot of what is said that is found to be offensive is meant innocently and without a trace of maliciousness; I cannot say that about most “prejudice” in the world I encounter.

Finally, making yourself appear to be an expert in Japanese culture by trashing it, showing people your coolness credentials and making it seem like all of your critiques are founded on vast knowledge the reader possesses, is really arrogant business that has no place in learning. Well, not just learning; dealing with other cultures in general.

I’m not ashamed of liking Japanese culture. I don’t go believing wild things that have no basis in fact because I truly enjoy discovering the truth. I spent so many years learning the Japanese language because I wanted to have greater access to truth, and frankly, even to Japan’s national myths.

What, you don’t think France doesn’t have a lot of national myths? The U.S.? Even meek Canada? Let’s be real here: every country has its areas that it is not well versed in. Some are not the result of a lack of education in some area; they are the result of myth creation to hold nations together. It’s normal, frankly. To single out Japan for it is pretty lame.

So please, if you have a culture site or a site about Japan that doesn’t have a chip on its shoulder about Japan, let me know. I want to find you and link to you. I just don’t think you need to flaunt putting down other cultures to be considered an expert. Mere objective neutrality would do, but I guess that’s not as cool to some?

Either way, I’m going to try and stay positive and focused here.