Japan - a country of modernity and future

Strange? Horrible? Funny? Interesting?

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There are many feelings associated with Japan. 

Japan is considered not only as a country of many unusual customs, but it is also a global symbol of technological progress. Country of blooming cherry amazes foreigners linking modernity with attachment to tradition. Japan is definitely a country of controversy, and by any means I do not want deny it, even if I love and respect Japan.

Today I want to describe a way of Japanese unique MODERN life :). 

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1. SHINKANSEN

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Here it is! The dream of every Pole that uses the services of PKP! Shinkansen- so called "bullet train" has an annual average of delay which is the only 36 seconds! Shinkansen has a top speed of up to 300 kilometers per hour normally, although the record established by the Japanese people is over 500 km / h. All tourists will be surprised by incredible cleanliness, silence and comfort prevailing in these trains. Although ticket prices are actually high, it is worth it, believe me! :) Unfortunately, even the beautiful sides of Japan have their own bitter aftertaste. In Japan, it is famous a case of suicide, after arriving late two minutes at the station. Japanese people can not imagine Japan without these trains, where many workers are at the mercy of Shinkansen trains going to work.

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2. WORKAHOLISM
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In Japan workaholism is not a problem or disease, it is a lifestyle. Every Japanese person without exception is totally dedicated to work, which is for us- foreigners incomprehensible. This obsession forces Japanese people to work overtime hours, to show their respect to thier boss. It is also popular, sleeping or just pretending to doing it, in the presence of boss, which is considered as a sign of respect and dedication to the company. The company in the Japanese life becomes a replacement for family and is accompanied by a sad phenomenon of karoushi- death from overwork. Causes of death are exhaustion and stress, weakening heart function, or leading to karoushi jisastu- the suicide caused by overwork. Every year in Japan there occur from 15 to 30 thousand cases of karoushi. This situation is difficult to change because of the attitude of Japanese people, who often think that karoushi is nothing more than worthy death, there are even cases in which  families of the dead are proud of this fact. The dedication for sake of others and economic growth than is beyond of  human strength. 
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3. RABU HOTERU VS. CAPSULE HOTEL
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Many Japanese people are working up to 16 hours per day, not returning home, but sleeping in hotels. In the bast case workers are spending with family weekends, but actually most of them see each other once a month or even less. This lifestyle has given the need to create a capsule hotel, another surprising invention of Japanese people. The capsule hotels are are cheap accommodation, limited to renting small "capsules" consisting only beds. One of capsule walls is made of glass, there are also separate floors for men and women and shared bathrooms. 

And what it is this Rabu Hoteru? Japanese life is filled with work and is deprived of privacy. Small apartments in large cities, with thin walls are not favorable to a romantic atmosphere. So to satisfy the sexual needs of Japanese people, either with a hired woman for money, or with girlfriend, or wife they choose to go to love hotel. These unusual places aimed for love trysts often have a an odd design. Japanese people love using European architecture creating Rabu Hoteru, so if you are in Japan, and you see a medieval castle, or a baroque palace, watch where are you going! Also, the rooms are designed with a great imagination to meet erotic desires of Japanese people.

Here you have a couple examples :

See you next time! \(*3*)/

Merry Xmas? Why not? :)

Hello! :)

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Today I want to mention a few of Japanese holidays, which we can experience only there. 

As you probably know, by many European,s Japan is considered as a country of many odd customs, and it is really difficult to deny it! To understand those habits it is required a lot of knowledge form books, manga, anime, websites but also the ability to proper analysis of the collected information.

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Examples of Japanese holidays

1. HANAMI

The first interesting festival in Japan is Hanami, what means "flower viewing". This is a traditional Japanese custom to admire the beauty of blooming cherry flowers. Pink petals of sakura became an international mark of Japan, you can easily found many pictures of this country, surrounded by a pale pink flowers. Hanami is a custom practiced for centuries and the Japanese people are participating in this festival with great enthusiasm and nondecreasing excitement. The cherry blooming usually takes place in March or April and lasts a surprisingly short time, from a few days to over a week. Hanami is a festival contemplating the transience of time, such as trees in the blink of an eye lose their beautiful flowers, it reminds Japanese people about how short and fragile life is.

2. OBON

Now I would like to mention about another festival celebrated in Japan. Its name is Obon, the buddhist festival of the dead, which usually takes place between 10 and 15 August. One of the characteristics of Obon is letting paper lanterns on the surface of water for lead the souls of dead people to the afterlife. According to the beliefs of Japanese people during Obon souls of the dead are returning to earth to visit thier families and the loved ones. During Obon it is performed the Bon-odori, a dance to commemorate the dead. This dance is accompanied by fireworks and loud music and because of that, the celebration begins to resemble a festival. A form of this festival is misleading many tourists who are not used to the celebrations of of the dead in such an energetic and joyful way.

3. HADAKA MATSURI

Well to be honest it is a little more unusual holiday. Hadaka Matsuri is nothing else but a naked festival. The tradition comes from the eighth century before Christ and participants of this festival are men exclusively who kept wearing only loincloths. This festival is celebrated in January or February, in several Japanese cities. Forms of celebration  differs from each other, but usually the festival begins with younger men, only later the rest of men  joins them. Custom consists of racing wearing just a loincloth, pouring on them cold water, singing religious songs and visiting temple to repeal evil.

4. Christmas holidays

Yes, believe me it is really happening. 
Many of us are complaining that  mass media and malls every year are too soon starting so called "Christmas season". The Japanese are Shinto and Buddhism followers so they are far from celebrating the Christian holidays, right? Nope, mistaken! Japanese people begin celebration in mid-November, when whole cities are possessed by Christmas spirit and every shop is luring the Japanese people with colorful presents. Japanese people love the "Western" tradition and are easily charmed by a holiday mood, despite the fact that only 0.7% of them are Christians. 

To the joy of the Japanese people the priests of Buddhism and Shinto do not mind the presence of Jesus, Mary, and angels in every corner of cities. During Christmas Eve the Japanese are willingly going out to date, or spend their evenings with family and the loved ones. What is more surprising the Japanese have even a "Christmas" menu in McDonald's and KFC.

It's a real Christmas madness!

バイ バイ ! :)

Problems :(

MIAU

~I had technical difficulties with the last post, unfortunately the technology does not love me :(

I am sorry for its poor quality! ~

Manga and anime

Japanese world of fantasy

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In today's post I decided to bring up the issue of manga and anime which enjoys worldwide fame. For those who are not familiar with these terms, I will give at the beginning small explanation. The word “manga” comes from the way the decorating  drawings, but nowadays the manga is known as Japanese comic book.  While the anime is nothing more than animated version of the manga, however, anime does not necessarily must to have its counterpart in the manga and vice versa.

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Really often love for Japanese culture blooms in young hearts precisely due to the manga and anime. Persons in the age group of 20-30 years certainly remember in their infancy series such as Pokemon, Salior Moon, Dragon Ball, Naruto, or less popular Yu-Gi-Oh, Shin-chan, Sonic, Beyblade, Digimon, and a few other that were broadcast on Polish channels (usually on Polsat, TV4 or Hyper).

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Manga is not cartoon for children

In Poland, there is a widespread irreverent approach to manga and anime, comparing them to cartoons for children. However, in this post I would like to expressly deny this classification. It is true that there are many types of manga and anime starting with those for children, but also adventures containing violent scenes, school romances, ending with the horror ones and with erotic contents. On this occasion, it should be remembered that the first manga was created as a kind of erotic books for adolescent boys. With this in mind it is better to reflect what your child is watching when mentioning the anime.

  

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Although in Poland, the popularity of manga and anime is growing at a tremendous rate the most of fans still chose watching rather than reading (which I deeply regret). Myself I have so far read more than 80 titles of manga and watched at least once over 40 series of anime, but this result I still consider as insufficient.

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Manga and anime, and the singularity of the Japanese perception

Manga and anime will probably never stop to amaze me. Of course, like everything else in this world, it is not possible for each volume of manga and episode of anime, to be called great, or at least bearable. But manga and anime still have an unique charm, which you will not find in European productions. Of course between Japan and Europe there is an enormous cultural gap, and the first clear difference that I noticed, was an omnipresent death in Japanese productions. In contrast to the well-known american happy ending in Japan do not avoid death even in the anime targeted to a younger audience. Although usually death causes our sadness for me Japanese people have the unique gift of creating interesting plot, where the saddest death brings the desired catharsis. In this area, I would call Japanese people masters of death, because it is surprising how for the purposes of the manga and anime authors are able to work out a elaborated scenery and plot, which is worthy of our Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings. Of course there are many other reasons for my fascination towards manga and anime, but talking about them I will leave for another occasion.

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I recommend

While writing this post I would like to encourage you to try several titles of anime and manga:

1.For those that never have watched anime and have not read manga –

I recommend to start with reading : 

Death Note (very good story based on Dostoyevsky's Crime and Penalty, one of the most recognizable titles), for fans of adventure: FullMetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, and for those who admires school romance type manga : Watashi ni shinasai 

Anime for the beginners :

is best to start with a short series so I suggest : K-project, for the more ambitious ones : Code Geass, and for those who like a lighter atmosphere : Toradora

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Please remember that the majority of anime is only shortened version of  the manga’s storyline (therefore it often loses on value), so for those who do not want to ruin all the fun, I suggest to start with reading. 

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For those who are more experienced with products of the Japanese imagination, I  suggest these titles (if you did not already have read / seen them):

Anime: Gintama (trolling masters of trolling!), No game, no life (well done, full of details, nice masterpiece), Suisei no Gargantia, Samurai Champloo

Manga: One Piece (despite the ugly drawing), for fans of Samurai I recommend Samurai Deeper Kyo, Makai Ouji- Devils and realist, and for those who also read the Korean manhwa: God,  Cavalier of the Abyss, Noblesse

  

And Korean :

 

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Hope you enjoy it :) see you next week !