JAPAN

Definition of Culture There are many definitions of the word, “culture”. One that seems to encompass the meaning of this difficult concept is: the system of shared ideas and meanings, explicit and implicit, which a people use to interpret the world and which serve to pattern their behavior. This definition has guided the creation of this website. Rather than a list of attributes, the definition takes into account a people’s history, how that history affects outlooks on the world, and how those outlooks affect behavior. Click here for an anthropologist’s view of Japanese culture. Click here for a fun guide to “virtual Japanese culture” written for kids. Critical Demographic, Social, and Historical Information With a population of approximately 127,000,000 people, Japan is the seventh most populated nation in the world. 99.4% of people living in Japan are Japanese, with Koreans making up most of the remaining 0.6%. Click here to learn more about the Japanese population and society. Japan is an island country, located in the Pacific Ocean just East of the continent of Asia. It is approximately 378,000 square kilometers (roughly the size of Germany). It is about 1/25^th the size of the United States, and is smaller than California. 3/4^th of the land is covered by mountains, making Japan very susceptible to volcanoes and earthquakes. Click here to learn more about the geography of Japan. The history of Japan is organized into 10 periods, starting with the Joman Period (10,000 – 300 BC. The earliest inhabitants of Japan were hunter gatherers. Rice cultivation began in the Yayoi period, around 300 BC. During the Yamato Period (300 AD – 593), the first constitution was established, and Buddhism was introduced. From the 12^th to the 19^th century, Japan was ruled by samurai, or warrior class. During this time the country was ruled by isolationist policies and was largely cut off from the outside world. Around 1920, a democratic government was formed, and Japan is now a part of the United Nations. Click here for a concise history of Japan written for children. Click here for a timeline of Japan, with links to detailed explanations of the different periods. Expectations for Schooling There are five stages in the Japanese educational system: kindergarten, elementary school, lower secondary school, upper secondary school, and university. Public education is free for children ages 6-15 (through lower secondary school). Although it is not mandatory to continue on to upper secondary school, approximately 97% of students do so. Because it is necessary to graduate from a top university in order to get a job in a leading company, competition on entrance exams is very high. Many students feel pressure to attend the best elementary and secondary schools, and attend “cram schools” after regular school to prepare for entrance exams. Click here to learn about a day in the life of Japanese school children. Topics include school lunches, homework, recess and difficult issues for Japanese youth.. Click here to visit the web site of an elementary school in Japan. Included is information on daily life, uniforms, the teaching staff, the school building, and special activities such as digging for sweet potatoes and attending ski school. Click here for an overview of the Japanese educational system, including links to major public and private universities. Factors That Have Influenced Immigration to United States Japanese immigrants first started coming to the United States during the 1870’s and 1880’s. At this time, unemployment and bankruptcy were rampant in Japan, and many people came to Hawaii, drawn by the lucrative sugar industry. Some immigrants went to the mainland, but because of the sugar industry and better race relations, most Japanese living in America in 1900 lived in Hawaii. Eventually, more and more Japanese did go the mainland, and by 1920, half of the 220,000 Japanese living in the United States lived on the mainland. Both groups were affected by racism, however. In Hawaii there were laws keeping Japanese from skilled jobs, and in California, laws stopped them from purchasing land. On December 9^th, 1941, when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, life became much worse for Japanese Americans. They were considered to be the enemy, and were taken into custody. On the mainland, over 100,000 Japanese were taken into custody in internment camps. After the war this first generation of immigrants was released, but most had lost their homes and businesses. The second generation of Japanese Americans, however, were able to recover, and by 1969 the average income of Japanese American exceeded the national average by 32%. Click here to read a more detailed story of Japanese immigration to the United States. Click here for a website from the Smithsonian that tells an illustrated history of Japanese immigration to the US. Including first person accounts and many pictures of artifacts, this site is a great resource. Variability Within the Group Although a popular stereotype of Japan is conformity – buttoned down company men packed into the subway, a rigid educational system, etc, there is variability within Japanese society. For example, many young people are feeling a need to define themselves as individuals, and are adding a new dimension to Japanese culture. In addition to this issue, regional variability has long influenced Japanese society. These differences are influenced by geography, ethnicity, and social class. Click here to read about how some Japanese youth want to change Japan. Click here for an in depth look at plurality in Japanese culture. Characterization of Language Structure and Discourse Rules The Japanese language consists of Japanese words, words borrowed from China, and, in smaller part, words borrowed from western societies. For much of Japanese history, there was not a system of writing. About 1,500 hundred years ago, kanji (Chinese characters) was introduced. Each character has its own meaning. In addition to kanji, Japanese is now written using Hiragana and Katakana. Symbols in these systems represent syllables rather than meanings. The Japanese language is governed by strict rules of politeness and honorific rules. For example, if one is introducing their brother (someone in their group) to others, the sentence would be different than if that person were introducing someone out of their group. It is important to keep in mind issues such as age and class standing when conversing in Japanese. Click here to read about ten differences between Japanese and English. Click here for an overview of the Japanese language system, including grammar, writing systems, and regional dialects. Click here to learn and listen to some common daily expressions in Japanese. Click here to see pictures from my trip to Japan!

Mt. Fuji, a symbol of Japan The Shibuya district in tokyo Japanese school children Elementary School Entrance Ceremony Japanese immigrants Immigration terminal in Los Angeles Japanese youth Kanji symbol for “dragon” Hiragana symbls for “Hiragana” Katakana symbols for “Katakana”