Changing Impression of Japan

 
Each time I visit Japan or conduct a research project on Japanese culture I learn something new, intriguing, and am compelled to reconsolidate my growing experience with this state, nation, culture, and individual people. If this were not happening I feel I certainly would be at fault of a grave form of ignorance.

As I've undertaken larger projects, delving deeper below the surface of "Japanese culture" I've felt a push back. Simple questions become cause for concern and my role as anthropologist often oscillates between interviewer and interviewee. At times I have been unable to satisfy the inquisition of the guardians of Japanese culture, and my goals seem to be held aloft in an impenitrable fortress of privacy.

Yet at times I've been wonderfully surprised by the reflexive impact of anthropological inquiry. I am no activist seeking to correct some malice I see afflicting Japan, though I may not agree with all that I discover as I slowly peel the layers of this often confusing, and sometimes mysterious culture. I also cannot honestly expect that I do not make waves of impact through my work, regardless of their size and my intent of minimal bias. Witnessing the connection between my inquiry and self-reflection in the people I work with, meet, or happen upon is perhaps the most visible aspect of my work to me. There is also a sense of joint discovery as my questions have at times inspired others to look into their own history and culture.

In closing this project, and in the hope of future discourse, I am pleasantly surprised by the capacity for compassion within the human condition. The Kobe Luminarie (in Japanese), an annual requiem to those who died in the devistating 1995 Kobe earthquake, seems an appropriate example of this. Although not always a purely honest expression by all participants, events such as the Kobe Luminarie convey a sentiment that is unignorable, artful, and beautiful in the possibilities it embodies.