Japan — The Strange Country

This is an interesting video about Japan. The most interesting part of it is that the author took down the English version of it. I’d like to know more about his decision to do so, because I suspect that there is a deeper story in it than the story of the video itself.

When we first watch this, we assume that the author is being self-critical, but he says this video represents a “foreigner’s point of view”. This is rather confusing. What he ends up telling is what he thinks is a foreigner’s point of view, so we are not sure who is telling the story. If this is indeed a foreigner’s point of view, it’s not being self-critical. It would be a foreigner pointing his finger at another nation. If we were to view it that way, the story is highly skewed and biased, verging on racism, because it does not put all the issues in a proper International perspective. So, we can accept his arguments only as self-criticism. If the video is being self-critical, stating that this is a “foreigner’s point of view” is a cop out. As one commenter pointed out on Vimeo; he is trying to avoid taking responsibility for his own opinions (which is typically Japanese).

I personally think that: he really wanted to promote self-criticism among the Japaneses, he also wanted to tease themselves, wanted some fun. Maybe, in order to increase the good reception of his video, he purposely made the video funny. Well, the video was made based in facts, but…he was gross. I don’t liked the way that he used to promote the quarrel. He used a funny way to represent the Christian figure of dying and going to the Heaven. If exist something that we have to be extremely careful to talk about, it is religion. Specially when the quarrel involves people of many different beliefs. I also was surprised how he could make fun about the nuclear bombings. I was a bit shocked because it.

The Last Episode (Ending) of Doraemon

Have you heard about the story that is said to be the last episode of the Doraemon series? It is unofficial, yet it is very famous and widely distributed using forwarded emails since the 90's. Although the widely-known English version of the story is quite shorter than the original version which is written in Japanese, it still contains the main part of the story.

Several years later, I found this on Winny. This is the slightly different version of the ending, but the interesting part is the fact that this is presented in form of manga (comic). Again it is unofficial, it is created by 田嶋・T・安恵.

Origami

Origami (origami) (from oru meaning “folding”, and kami meaning “paper”) is the traditional Japanese art of paper folding. The goal of this art is to create a representation of an object using geometric folds and crease patterns preferably without the use of gluing or cutting the paper, and using only one piece of paper.

Origami only uses a small number of different folds, but they can be combined in a variety of ways to make intricate designs. The most well known form is probably the Japanese paper crane. In general, these designs begin with a square sheet of paper whose sides may be different colors or prints.

Anime

Anime (アニメ, Anime) taken from half of the Japanese pronunciation of "animation", pronounced [anime] listen in Japanese, but typically pronounced /ˈænɪmeɪ/ or /ˈænɪmə/ in English) is animation in Japan and considered to be "Japanese animation" in the rest of the world.Anime dates from about 1917.
Anime, in addition to manga (Japanese comics), is extremely popular in Japan and well known throughout the world. Anime itself is considered a form of limited animation. Anime can be released either by television broadcast or released directly to video, in which case it is often called OVA or OAV (Original Animation Video).
Anime can be hand-drawn or computer animated. It is used in television series, films, video, video games, commercials, and internet-based releases, and represents most, if not all, genres of fiction.

Studying in Japan

More than 100,000 international students are currently studying at universities, junior colleges, professional schools and other educational institutions in Japan. Their number has been increasing rapidly since the 1980s, with two thirds of the students coming from China.
Visa Matters
Short time studies at Japanese language schools are permitted on a tourist visa. All other foreign student in Japan need a student visa in order to study in Japan. Visa applicants require an educational institution as their sponsor in order to obtain a student visa.
Student visa holders are not allowed to engage in any paid activities, unless they get the permission of the school and the immigration office. Even then, students may work only a set maximum number of hours per week. Working on a tourist visa is prohibited.
Language Schools
Japanese language schools exist in many cities across Japan, ranging from informal conversation schools to government recognized institutions that offer preparatory courses for students to enroll at universities.
There are language schools for all proficiency levels, and courses of different durations from just a few weeks to more than one year.
Universities
The Examination for Japanese University Admission for International Students (EJU) is a standard examination in existence since 2002, simplifying the process of admission to Japanese universities for international students.
The examination covers the Japanese language, science, mathematics, Japan and the World and is held biannually in Japan and selected cities outside of Japan. The examination can be written in Japanese or English (except the section on Japanese language; some testing sites don't offer tests in English).
Almost all national universities, about two thirds of the public universities and roughly half of the private universities use the EJU as admission criteria for international students, while the others apply their own entrance exams.
Naturally, most university courses in Japan are only available in Japanese, although quite a few universities offer one or more English courses at a master's and/or doctoral level. Only a handful of universities offer English courses on the undergraduate (bachelor) level.
Scholarships and Exchange Programs
Scholarship programs for international students are provided by the Japanese government, local governments, the Japan Student Services Organization (JASSO) and private organizations, foundations and companies in Japan and abroad.
Likewise, there are various governmental bodies, organizations and educational institutions inside and outside of Japan that offer short term exchange programs for secondary and post secondary students to study in Japan and experience life in Japan.

History and Art

Much has been written about the history of Japan, but as we all know, history is not always true. To see actual history, we must look at what is painted, carved and printed as art! This means that the common people are the ones who really know what is happening in their own country and their artistic work shows it.
We can see, in the carvings of netsuke, paintings and woodblock prints, the views of foreigners that the old Japanese had. They showed the strange dress and manners of the foreign people. The government was, generally, against foreigners and any of their ideas. The common people, however, wanted the products and benefits that the new visitors could give to Japan.
The arrival in Tokyo Bay, in 1853, of an American fleet under Commodore Matthew Perry, started many changes in Japan. Much foreign technology was adopted and shortly after that visit, the Meiji Restoration began Japan’s growth into a position of world power. In Yokohama, which was often called “The Wildwest of the Far East” due its violent nature, the foreign visitors were exciting art subjects and not considered as enemies at all. Their inventions charmed the people.
The designers, carvers, printers and publishers of woodblock prints are what we can consider as the real historians of that time. We must always look at art to show us the true sprit of a nation. That is one of the reasons that I like Japan so much. It shows me its real feelings, culture and heart through its splendid art and customs!

Arubaito

There are three kinds of employees in Japan: full time, part time, and arubaito.

The last type, the name for which comes from the german word for “work” (arbeit), refers to contract-less employees who are paid by the hour and work irregular or semi-temporary schedules, as differentiated from full company employees, who have benefits like twice-annual bonuses and vacation time, and semi-official part-timers, who also have some formal benefits.

One of the biggest trends in post-bubble Japanese society is the tendency of younger workers to shun traditional full-time employment, instead being content to work informal jobs staffing video rental stores and gas stations, tutoring at evening cram schools, and so on. According to a new government report, an amazing 35% of the workforce now occupies these “non-regular” employment positions, exchanging freedom to change jobs at will and less on-the-job stress for lower job security.

Why so many would choose to work as freeters (as these part-time and temporary workers are called) puzzles older Japanese, who of course benefited greatly from the stable economic growth of the postwar period. The reasons ‘baito is so popular are many, but one big one is that many Japanese have come to value their own leisure time over work.

This is a good thing of course, although I personally consider the industriousness of the Japanese people as a whole to be no less than a National Treasure for the country, and something that I hope will continue into the future.