Table Of ContentA geek in
JAPAN
by HÉCTOR GARCÍA (Kirai)
TUTTLE Publishing
Tokyo Rutland, Vermont Singapore
CONTENTS
THE JAPAN FEW PEOPLE SEE 04
Why Is Japan Different? 06
The Initial Culture Shock 07
CHAPTER 1: THE ORIGINS OF
JAPANESE CULTURE 08
An Extremely Brief History of Japan 10
The Intricacies of the Japanese Language 12
The Ancient Bushido Code: The Way of
the Warrior 15
Meet the Real Geisha 16
Religion and Philosophy 18
Visiting a Temple or Shrine 20
CHAPTER 2: THE TRADITIONAL ARTS
& DISCIPLINES 24
Ukiyo-e: The Floating World 26
Shodo 26
Chado: The Tea Ceremony 28
Kabuki Theater 29
Zen Meditation 29
Zen Koans 30
Ikebana 31
The Martial Arts 32
CHAPTER 3: THE UNIQUE JAPANESE
CHARACTER 34
Honne and Tatemae 36
The Virtue of Humility 37
The Concept of Giri 38
Man-Woman Relations in Japan 39
I’m Sorry, Excuse Me 40
The Culture of Chotto 40
Aesthetic Values 41
Do = The Way 42
The Infl uence of Do in Modern Japan 43
Amae 44
Soto-Uchi 45
CHAPTER 4: CURIOSITIES & SYMBOLS 46
Animal Figures 48
Sakura, Cherry Blossoms 49
Why Do People Wear Face Masks in Japan? 49
The Japanese Bath 50
The Traditional Kitchen 51
Pachinko 51
Nio Protectors 52
The Manji Symbol 52
Shachihoko Monsters 52
The Naruto Phenomenon 53
Blood Groups 53
Why Do Japanese Women Cover Osamu Tezuka: The Father of Manga 102
Their Mouths When They Laugh? 54 Manga’s Golden Age 103
Big Ears, Good Luck, and Money 54 Manga Today 104
The Seven Gods of Fortune 55 The Mangaka 105
Karakuri: The Origins of the Japanese Publishing Cycles and Formats 105
Passion for Robots 56 Japanese Anime 106
CHAPTER 5: THE JAPANESE AT WORK 58 CHAPTER 9: MODERN JAPANESE MUSIC 108
A Brief History of Japanese Music 110
The Japanese Economy after WWII 60
Enka Ballads 111
Japanese Agriculture 62
Japanese Music Today 112
The Invisible Hand in Japan 63
J-Pop 113
Kaizen: Constant Improvement 64
Popular Singers and Groups 114
The Structure of a Japanese Company 65
Relationships in a Japanese Company 66 CHAPTER 10: MOVIES & TELEVISION 116
Technology and Science 67 Japanese Cinema 118
The Japanese Automobile Industry 68 The Classics 119
Workplace Manners 69 Television 120
The Importance of Nemawashi 70 The First Television Phenomena 121
Daily Life in a Japanese Company 71 Dorama TV Series 122
Diagram of a Cultural Phenomenon in
CHAPTER 6: JAPANESE SOCIETY &
Japan Based on the Actual Case of
DAILY LIFE 72 Densha Otoko 124
Positives and Negatives 74
CHAPTER 11: VISITING TOKYO 126
Safety in Japan 75
Tokyo’s Various Districts:
Life of a Family 76
Roppongi 128
Longevity 77
Tokyo Midtown Area 129
Life of a Retiree 77
Megalopolis Walking Tours 130
The Delights of Japanese Cuisine 78
Cultural Walking Tours 131
Sake, Awamori and Shochu 80
Gadgets Walking Tours 131
Personal Relationships in Japan 81
Shibuya 132
Japan’s Train Culture 82
Aoyama 133
Urban Legends 82
Harajuku and Omotesando 134
Why Do the Japanese Commit Suicide? 83 Shinjuku 136
CHAPTER 7: JAPAN TODAY 84 Akihabara 138
Ginza 140
Life of an Otaku 86
Tsukiji 141
Life of a Student 88
Asakusa 142
Life of a Career Woman 89
Ueno 143
Life of a Salaryman 89
Odaiba 144
Yakuza Gangs 90
Otaku Walking Tours 145
Subcultures and Urban Tribes 90
CHAPTER 12: TRAVELING AROUND
Aspects of Otaku Culture 92
Visual Kei 93 JAPAN 146
The Lolita Complex 94 General Advice for Travelers 148
Role-Playing 95 Essential Places 152
Japanese Popular Culture: A Chronology 96 My Secret Places 154
Basic Japanese for Travelers 157
CHAPTER 8: THE WORLD OF MANGA
INDEX 157
& ANIME 98 EPILOGUE 160
The Manga Revolution 100 CREDITS 160
The Origins of Manga 101 BIBLIOGRAPHY 160
THE JAPAN FEW PEOPLE SEE
For centuries, Japanese culture has fascinated the world as journey in this book. We’ll see that the Japanese are naturally
something mysterious and remote. In classifi cations made by reserved and don’t like standing out. How many Japanese public
anthropologists, Japan’s culture and that of other Asian coun- fi gures can you name? But if we rarely see Japan in the media,
tries are usually perceived as distinct: the Land of the Rising it’s always present in our daily lives. Every electronic device you
Sun has its own personality. Japan is also completely different use, your computers, phones, cars, trains, airplanes—Japanese
from the West. It’s like living in an alien country, and adjusting technology is inside them: Japan is inside them! How have they
to life here is no easy matter. Even the smallest detail can be managed to spread their creations all over the world in such a
strange and fascinating at the same time. Japan’s people have discreet, harmonious way, with us barely noticing? In this book,
been able to preserve their past while adapting to new times I try to sort out the keys to Japanese culture, the way of life of
and have turned their country into a worldwide fi nancial and its inhabitants, the business culture of its companies, and its
cultural leader. I am one of those people who feel passionate infl uence on the rest of the world. We’ll fi nd out what the Japa-
about Japan, so I set off for it with loads of questions, seeking nese are like, how they think, how we should relate to them.
answers. Living, studying, and working in this archipelago helped We‘ll learn about the origins of manga, anime, martial arts, Zen
me gradually to understand the country, its people, its compa- meditation, and other elements of Japanese culture that have
nies, its technology, its culture, its way of thinking, and so forth. reached the West, sparking great interest and passion.
I decided to write about it on the Internet, so I could share my You can read this book in two ways: by skipping around and
experience of discovery and new understanding step by step, as reading those chapters that interest you most, or sequentially.
I lived it every day. With this aim, I created a blog, www.kirainet. I would recommend reading straight through, since some points
com, A Geek in Japan, where I continue to post as I learn and are supported by concepts explained in earlier chapters and
discover new things. can’t be fully grasped without them. But above all, enjoy it:
My blog became something of a phenomenon thanks to the I hope the book will help you better understand Japan and its
enormous interest elicited by the unknown, for Japan has hardly people’s way of being. Of course, the ideal ending for this book
any presence in Western media, despite being for decades the would be a trip to Japan. So I encourage all of you to come here
second-largest economy in the world. Why doesn’t it appear in and enter a world completely different from the West. It’s an
the news very often? We’ll begin to appreciate why through our experience you’ll never forget.
GEEK
Normally used to refer
to enthusiasts who
want to know as much
as they can about the
latest in technology.
However, a broader
defi nition might be: a
person fascinated by
learning and discovering
new things. “A geek
in Japan” would then
be something like:
someone fascinated by
Japan, and with learning
and discovering all
about its culture and
traditions.
To Iwasaki Miwa
—Héctor García Puigcerver
(Top) Delivering food by bicycle in the Gion district of
Kyoto
(Above) The graceful way past and future merge is one
of the beauties of Japan.
(Left) Ramen restaurants are among the best places to
restore your energy. Cheap and good!
-5-
WHY IS JAPAN DIFFERENT?
History and geography have been enormously important in 3. After the Edo Period, Japan became an imperialist power
defi ning the different cultures that coexist in the world. As far as that came to a dramatic end with the country’s defeat in World
Japan is concerned, the fact that it is an archipelago is funda- War Two. When it recovered, it rapidly became the world’s
mental. The history of Japan and the shaping of its present-day second-largest economy.
culture might be summarized briefl y in three points that you Besides history, another essential element in defi ning a
should bear in mind as you read this book: people’s culture and their way of thinking is language. Japanese
1. The great infl uence of China, source of the character is a language with three alphabets, different levels of formality,
system used in the Japanese language, its religions, and, histori- and connotations that make it quite different from Western lan-
cally, of its system of governance. guages. Many words that are part of their way of life and value
2. Japan was closed to the outside world for centuries by dint system are said to be “impossible to translate.” Over the course
of a law forbidding foreigners to enter and Japanese to leave. of this book, we will try to explain many of these key words.
This period of isolation, known as the Edo Period (1600–1 867), Once we have grasped them, we will have a good general view
was fertile for the creation of indigenous Japanese traditions, of how the Japanese “think” and how we ourselves should
such as kabuki, geisha and ukiyo-e. behave in their world.
禪
家 ZEN
IE
お風呂
OFURO
義理
GIRI
芸者
JAPANESE
GEISHA
本音 建前 CULTURE
HONNE/
TATEMAE
謙遜
HUMILITY
武士道
BUSHIDO 先輩、 後輩
SENPAI/
KOHAI
浮世絵
書道
UKIYO-E
SHODO
-6-
THE INITIAL CULTURE SHOCK
When I boarded the plane for Tokyo, I could already feel how fi rst time. What is so special about Japanese trains? Well, trains
things were starting to shift. Obviously, the plane was full of in Japan are a phenomenon: there are trains everywhere, there
Japanese people, who besides being different from us physi- are a thousand different kinds, there are train enthusiasts, maga-
cally are also very distinct in their manner. Silence reigned, and zines and books about trains, and I’ve even seen stores that
in the quiet I noticed the fi rst small details of a certain Japanese specialize in selling only train-related products. One of the things
style: for example, most of them removed their shoes as soon I like most about Japanese trains is that they are incredibly punc-
as they sat down. tual, and when I say “incredibly” I mean it. Whereas in Europe
Japanese fl ight attendants also behave differently: they or the United States a ten-minute delay is hardly considered a
provide our fi rst experience of how the Japanese treat their delay, a two-minute delay here can be disastrous. For instance,
customers. You feel extremely well cared for, as if you were a the average delay for Shinkansen trains over the last 20 years is
king or a god. For the Japanese, customers are very important, only 18 seconds. Amazing!
they are addressed in a highly formal language, attention is paid It takes about an hour and a half to reach the center of To-
to them at all times, and they are greeted and seen off with kyo. Trains here are quite fast, but you soon realize that Tokyo is
bows. In the plane, we have the opportunity to taste Japanese huge and also rather vague in concept. From now on, whenever
food and practice with chopsticks. And we can look at printed I talk about Tokyo, I’ll be referring to the whole metropolitan
Japanese in the newspapers that are offered to us. Though we area, which includes close to forty million people. It’s almost like
may not understand the language, we can see how different or the entire population of my native Spain in one urban area!
similar the newspapers are to our own. For example, the sports Narita airport is in Chiba prefecture, east of Tokyo, and if
section shows how much they like baseball, a sport that became you arrive during the day you’ll be able to see how radically the
popular in Japan due to the infl uence of the United States. landscape changes. You’ll see small rice paddies and notice the
Horse racing is another sport that fascinates the Japanese and style of the little Japanese houses, how almost all the cars are
is well covered in the media. Finally, a detail that caught my eye either black or white, the roads are narrow, and there are many
was that, instead of having a crossword puzzle or chess problem elevated highways. You’ll see posters and illuminated advertise-
in the puzzles section, Japanese newspapers have go—a game ments everywhere near train stops, though you may not “get”
with many enthusiasts in both Japan and China that is starting to them. You’ll also see the Japanese using their mobile phones
spread throughout the world. like crazy to send emails and connect to the Internet while
At Narita, Tokyo’s international airport, we are welcomed with others read manga, and most of them supplement their scarce
signs showing famous manga and anime characters, and it is hours of sleep with an improvised nap of a few minutes. In
now that we Western otakus really start to feel the thrill of our short, you’ll begin to feel you are in a different world. Welcome
arrival in Japan. After taking a small, futuristic-looking elevated to the world of Japan! How did this country and its people come
monorail from one side of the huge airport to the other, and to be like this? Let’s study the causes, starting with their origins,
after collecting your luggage, you board a Japanese train for the with the birth of Japan.
“For the Japanese,
customers are very
important. They
are addressed in
a highly formal
language, attention
is paid to them at
all times, and they
are greeted and
seen off with bows.”
Matsuri celebrations draw
thousands of people, all
dancing, eating, drinking,
and asking the gods for
good fortune.
-7-
CHAPTER 1:
THE ORIGINS
OF JAPANESE
CULTURE
歴
史
歴
