Album

Picture 108

This is my friend’s garden and I got a chance to go there on my break. I am so glad that it was sunny on that day because sometimes it is chilly even the season is autuam. My friend is very rich as you can see by seeing the picture. She really has a large garden and in the garden, there are pond, trees, rocks and lantern. The pond is blue and you can see the floting leaves and trees that are reflecting on the water. Accoriding to my friend, this is a traditional Japanese garden that tried to express ‘nature’ in one place. Japanese tend to admire the nature and they think that the nature is very beautiful thing. She said that on her free time, she views this garden and have a green tea and be relaxed.

  Picture119

I took this picture while I was walking on the street. At first I thought this is so weird because fish is swimming in the sky! I asked the man who were passing by and he said that this is Japanese traditional event held in May 5^th. This event is called ‘Kodomo no hi’ (children’s day) in Japanese. In this event, people celebrate their children’s growth and health. This fish is called ‘koinobori’ and it symbolize strength and success in life. Chinese legends say that carp become dragons when they swim up whitewater rapids and Japanese represent this belief by konobori.

  Picture 238

Today, I went to girl’s high school in Tokyo. Some children are wearing kimono but some were wearing sailor-style school uniform. When I first saw this, I felt weird because Japanese style and western style is mixed up. However, in this period, Japan was already opening the country and absorbing western culture. The reason why Japanese started wearing this sailor-style is because it is easier to do sports. In addition, everyone is tying their hair just in case that their hair does not disturb them.  In this picture, they are taking turns to perform calisthenics.

Picture 219

Today, I went to my primary school were my friend’s daughter goes. They seemed that they were having lessons about etiquette. Teachers were wearing kimono and the students were wearing one-piece. One-piece is western way of clothing. I was so impressed that every student was sitting on their knees.  To me, I can’t believe it because I can’t stand up after sitting like this. On the back, there was Japanese calligraphy. The way it was written was so strong and I felt power in the words (although, I couldn’t understand what was written in it). In this school, it seems that everyone have to tie their hair up. In the middle of the picture, there is a girl sitting and waiting for the other girl to serve her foods. It seems that they were having a test or something because the teacher is looking at them and making sure they are doing the right thing.

  Picture 103

I took this picture because everything was so perfect! This picture really has a Japanese feel to it.

The trees were changing colors and you can hear the river off. The woman in the picture was so beautiful too. In Japan, we define white as a beauty and this woman is representing it. She was sitting on the bench, having a cup of tea and gazing at the boat. In her hand, she is holding a traditional umbrella. She must be having a good time.

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In this album I took on the persona of a woman who came to visit a friend in Japan. It was interesting for me to act like a foreigner since I am Japanese.  Trying to look in a foreigner’s view, I chose some pictures that are mainly connected to the ordinary people’s life and see how the western culture is getting in to the people’s life. I also chose some pictures that are still preserving Japanese traditional culture. Traveling Japan, she found out that in some parts of places, people are still maintaining the nature. But in some other places especially in the schools, she found out that Japanese are taking in some western cultures. However, she realized that Japan is not just taking in those culture but they are having reasons to it. Japanese thought that kimono is not good for the sports so they absorbed western clothes. Therefore, we can see that Japan was wisely making a choice what to take in.