1. Japan
I have decided to compare England to Japan. I made this decision because it is a culture I know little
about, but also I felt it would be interesting to compare to compare two island nations, and search
for any inherent similarities, which may be due to our isolated status, even though we are opposite
sides of the globe.
First I feel that to attain any kind of understanding of the Japanese culture we must first delve into
the Islands History and Religion-two entities that are in all cultures, closely entwined. The Japanese
archipelago has been inhabited for at least 30,000 years, but due to the controversial issue of racial
ansectory -archaeology is often contested and a comprehensive understanding of earlier
inhabitation has yet to occur. The image that so often springs
to western minds of historical Japan is that of blood soaked
samurais and feudal lords-this image originates from the Edo
period, a time of political turmoil in which the strict Caste
system was created “Whether in Edo or the country side, every
individual knew exactly what his position in society was and
how they were to behave”1. The Samurai’s Bushido (a code of
conduct) helped keep them the most powerful class and re-
enforced the feudal system, that was until the establishment
of the Shogonate c.1700, who banned international trade,
meaning merchant focused on internal trade, and samurai’s
fell into debt. This ban on international trade is the first hint
we get of Japans infamous Xenophobia. To this day Japan is a
Monoculture as opposed to the Uks increasingly diverse
multicultural; a walk through a British city street would bring
you into contact with people from all over the world, whereas in Tokyo a foreigner or gaijin would
experience stares and giggles.
While this Xenophobia may seem the quaint remnants of a bygone era, a time when Japans only
interaction with the outside world was through
dejima, a manmade island where the Dutch east
India company was allowed to stay between
1641-1853; we must remember Japans more
recent history, where there Xenophobia and
expansionism have led to atrocities that still
resound within the world today. The Nanjing
incident of 1937, for example where the
Japanese slaughtered 150,000 to 300,000
civilians.The Yasukuni-jinja shrine
commemorates the soldier who died in this war-
proponents say it honours those who died for
japan and its emperor, proponents that it
celebrates Japanese aggression and honours war criminals- politicians tend to avoid ceremonies
Yasukuni-jinja
1
Insight Japan-discovery channel

2. there and whenever the prime minister visits governments throughout Asia respond with vocal
disapproval. The Japanese pre-emptive attack on pearl harbour spelt the beginning of the end,
resulting in the 1945 bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and a Japanese surrender
Japans religion is vastly at odds with its nationalistic tendencies. The native religion-Shinto (神道)
hasamalgated with Buddhism native to china and Korea to such an extent that it is common practice
to have a Shinto style wedding and a Buddhist funeral. Festivals or Matsuri are a common part of
Japanese life style, and often take place around a shrine; there are no official dates and festivals vary
from region to region. Booths with attractions such as goldfish scooping, sumo wrestling and
karaoke can invariably be found nearby, along with foods s such as takoyaki and dango. One festival
that occurs all over Japan is the Cherry blossom
festival-Hanami (花見), the blooming of which the
Japanese observe obsessively.Seats beneath trees
are often reserved months in advance, and while
you might expect this to be a quiet, peaceful event it
is usually raucous and drunken. Hanami is not
celebrated in Britain, but in the US capital; of
Washington DC, with the1912gift of Japanese cherry
trees from Mayor Yukio Ozaki of Tokyo City the
festival is celbratedin much the same way as the
Japanese. Christmas-a Christian festival is not
celebrated, but New Year- (大晦日) Ōmisoka is.
Thehouseiscleaned to get rid of impure influences and a visit to the localbuddst shrine is a typical
activity-to hear the bells rung 108 times, to dispel the 108 earthly desires.
The most famous part of japan and the one that draws the most tourism is the Capital City Tokyo,
ancient Edo. Tokyo is the largest metropolitan area in the world, within which lie 23 special wards,
districts, towns, villages, 26 more cities, five towns, and eight villages, each of which has a local
government.The districts within Tokyo all offer a unique atmosphere; from the high class
westernized Ginza (silver place),to the nightlife in east Shinjuku, which attract tourists, to districts
more famous to the natives, such as the high fashion Harajuku district and Shibuya, the sakariba
(party town) for Tokyo’s youth.
Youth culture in Japan is as big as it is in
the west, if not more so, ironic considering
the average age of its population isone of
the highest in the world. Youth is seen as
the time when one can be their selves,
free of the responsibilities of adulthood-
“fashions are rapidly adopted and then Shibuya crossing-often known as
“Scramble Crossing”
shed as induviduals are attracted by the new and the desire to keep up with their
peers”2. One of the things japan is well known for is their love of idoruor idols;
2
Eyewitness Japan

3. massively popular young people- usually teenage singers, who appear in media regularly for about a
month or so. Idols are expected to be young and wholesome, and females especially are usually
have a “cutsie style” to make them appear young, as they are often shunted into retirement in their
mid-twenties. A new type of idol has become increasingly popular since 2007- virtual idols, thanks to
a voice synthesizer called “vocaloid” and the carefully crafted appearance of its iconic singer
HatsuneMiku.The government has recently utilised this idol trend with the introduction of “study
kings and queens”- attractive young people who give lectures on the internet-typically on
NicoNicoDouga, the Japanese equivalent of YouTube. This is an invaluable resource for Japanese
student-as another part of youth culture is studying, and lots of it, as every child must sit gruelling
entrance examples to high schools and universities. “Cram schools” are a common activity- but
expensive, which the government worries may be creating an increasingly large “elite class”, where
the rich will always have the academic edge, so created these fashionable idols to attract all classes
of young people to studying. The Japanese education system may be highly competitive, but it is
often observed that all exams are based on is wrote learning, meaning little development of
analytical skills, indeed jobs which focus on creative design often have to be staffed by foreigners.
In regards to the language Japanese or Nihongo is spoken by roughly 125 million primarily in japan.
The written language is in either Kanji- many derived from Chinese characters, but also the syllabic
Hiragana and Katakana which is what all young children are taught, and knowledge of individual
kanji continue to develop throughout their lives. Japanese is a highly contextual lingual, much like
English, with a complex system of Honorifics, altered to your relationship
with whomever or occasionally whatever is being mentioned. While English
has relatively few Japanese words integrated into their language, and in that
case generally they are names for different pieces of Japanese technology –
e.g. Sony or Toshiba; due to japans isolation status until the 20th century
there is a surprisingly large amount of “loanwords”, often revealing
interesting glimpse into the Japanese psyche-for example there is no
Japanese word for “privacy” so it is said as “Puraibasi”, but also more
modern words such as “internet” are turned into”internetto”. There are also
a vast variety of dialects meaning that a person from the southern city of
Osaka may be unintelligible to a Tokyo dweller.
Kanji for “japan”
Famous people outside of Japan may include Yoko Ono, Princess Masako and Kitano “Beat” Takeshi-
The wife of a Beatles star, a refreshingly independent Princess and a famous film writer, maker and
actor respectively. Other Famous people and institutions may include Studio Ghibli- widely hailed as
“the Japanese Disney”- who together with their founder and artistic director Miyazaki Hayaohas
created animated films of worldwide renown, such as “Spirited away” and “Princess Mononoke”.
In conclusion Japans culture and heritage are a fascinating study for the westernmind, with a mix of
National and foreign influences and a rich, absorbing history. It is possible to find many parallels to
British Culture, especially as Japan embraces the West with such vigour many fear its unique culture
will be lost, but undoubtedly it is the differences that make Japanese culture so intriguing.