Free Govenrment Money

This should come as a surprise to no one, but there is a global economic crisis, as it is being billed by most major news networks. So the Japanese government is seeking to remedy this by offering an economic stimulus to residents. A relatively small amount of money, about 120 U.S. dollars, is being given to everyone in the country in the hopes that people will spend it and stimulate the ailing economy. This includes foreigners living in Japan (as long as they registered as a resident before the first of February). I'm sure that there was (and is) heavy debate as to whether or not this was (and is) a good idea. My opinion is that it was a good move, especially giving money to the foreign exchange students. Because the amount is fairly small, most students won't think to squirrel it away and will instead go out and spend it. Granted, that might only serve to stimulate the alcohol industry in Japan, but it is better then nothing. Below are the letters that went out to all the foreign residents eligible for the stimulus.

Clubs

To tie into the theme for this week, sports, I am going to talk about clubs, specifically sports clubs. This afternoon I attended a meeting of the Kansai Gaidai Archery club. Sadly I left my phone in my room charging, so I was unable to get any photos of the event. I'll try to get more and post them later, but for now you must deal with drive-by photos of the baseball club/team. One thing that I was repeatedly told by people who had already studied abroad was how seriously the Japanese take their clubs. I kind of dismissed it until we watched the movie High School Baseball in class. In the movie baseball is shown to be THE most important thing in the students lives. And at the archery club at the end of practice the members got together and stretched, then talked about the practice going so far as to detail the degrees that they were off when shooting. It was a little overwhelming for a newcomer.

An observation about sex

When it comes to sexuality Japan is somewhat odd. Japanese society, culture, and people seem very conservative about sex. People get very awkward when it comes to sex, or even simply members of the opposite sex. More then once I've had a few Japanese girls come to sit down with me, ask if I have a girlfriend, and then crack up giggling and flushing immensely. Similarly, a few of my male Japanese friends have gotten awkward around some of our female peers, Japanese and foreigner alike.

On the other end of the spectrum, however, there are things like love hotels that dot the landscape and pornographic magazines that sit out in connivance stores, or even something like this;

A CD case that would not be allowed for sale in a retail store anywhere in the U.S. sitting in the middle of a Tower Records where anyone can get their hands on it. And then there are the stores that sell just pornographic material. If you travel to Den Den Town, the electronics district in Osaka, after eight o'clock at night porn stores are the only things still open. And they have things in them that are... unique to say the least.

Religion in Japan (seriously, right in the middle of it)

Many westerners do not think of Japan as a very religious country. I believe that this was demonstrated in this very class, when one of my western peers kept talking about how Japan didn't take their religion seriously because they referred to the Shinto stories as mythology (ignoring the fact that it was a translation and might not be what the original intent was or that you could just as easily talk about Jewish, Christian, or Islamic mythology). They may think, however, that Japan is very spiritual. Now perhaps this is merely splitting hairs, but I do think that there is a difference. I think that most people see religion as very strict uniform thing. Alternatively, spirituality is more of everyday things. As such, I can see how people would see Japan as spiritual. The main way I think this is represented is the small shrines that dot the Japanese landscape. Not just on the rural dirt roads, but all over the place. I pass at least two on my way to school each day. Photographed below is the larger of the two, one that is what most people think of when they think of a shrine. There are others, however, that are small wooden boxes with various statues in them. I've never seen anyone take care of them, but they are always in very good condition so someone must.