Introduction to Japanes Culture Essay

What Are the Distinguishing Features of Akizuki and Lion Orchard?

Firstly, the town of Akizuki is in a quite remote location, and far away from any other neighboring towns. As a result, most of the buildings and the feel of the buildings there, in general, are traditional-styled, rather than the modernized ones frequently found in most cities. Interestingly, in order to preserve the traditional style and atmosphere that the town has, certain things such as the fire hydrants are placed in traditional-styled placeholders. In other words, the hydrants are placed in small, shrine-like buildings. The remoteness of the town also results in buses rarely stopping by (only in the mornings and evenings), and also the non-existence of conbinis in town. I really find the non-existence of conbinis to be quite surprising and interesting because conbinis have all the things that you would need, be they staple food, cooking ingredients, magazines, and many more, and the fact that they do not have any conbinis anywhere means that they have to rely on stores in various locations to obtain the type of items they are selling respectively. This is not only rare (especially in Japan), but also somewhat inconvenient, at least for people who have lived their whole lives in big cities.

As for the Lion Orchard, the general distinguishing feature is that you are allowed to pick out strawberries as much as you like for a certain amount of time (similar to all-you-can-eat restaurants, the only difference being the farm offers strawberries instead of various foods). Furthermore, they also serve various species of strawberries. There are the sweetest ones, the moderately sweet ones, the slightly sour ones, and many other varieties to fit many types of tastes. It is perhaps interesting that they managed to breed different kinds and species of strawberries, and stay consistent with the traits that make them different. One last aspect that I would consider to be unique of the Lion Orchard is the strawberry costume, ready to be worn by any visitors at any time. It is an interesting way to keep the customers and to make some nice pictures, it can even act as a free promotion for the Lion Orchard itself through the social media.

When You Hear “Japanese Housing Culture”, What Do You Think of? (What Kinds of Houses or Way of Living Do You Imagine?)

Most Japanese people I have interviewed have answered with tatami mats, shoji (paper screen doors), and a typical Japanese veranda with a garden that is designed to fit the designs of ‘nature’ and harmony’. True, most Japanese houses actually have these traits, and they are what makes Japanese houses unique in the first place.

Are the answers to the question above the same or different from what you’d imagined as “Japanese housing culture”?

Funnily enough, my image of Japanese housing culture is slightly different than the answers that they have given. What I thought was more of the westernized Japanese houses, the one that you would most commonly see. They still share some traits such as a place to take off any footwear from the outside, wooden floors, etc. I didn’t think at all that they would answer with tatami mats and shoji due to the fact that I thought not so many Japanese people are still living in traditional-styled houses. However, my expectation on Japanese traditional housing is quite close to the answers that they provided. Due to some anime and Japanese shows that I have seen even way before I came to Japan, my conception of Japanese traditional houses are mostly spot-on. To be honest, Japanese housing is somewhat interesting to me because they, in general, do not take a huge amount of land or area and are mostly small enough, yet still provides comfort and does not feel stifling. Compared to the house sizes in Indonesia, they are considerably smaller. In Indonesia, proper houses, at least, occupy huge plots of land are still quite big, even the smallest of sizes are still comparably bigger to most Japanese houses.

Do You Think Japanese Traditional Housing Is a Part of Japanese People’s Everyday Life? How Are They Compared to Your Own Culture?

Japanese traditional housing is definitely still a part of the lives of Japanese people. The model of Japanese houses still provide sufficient technology to create convenient houses, even in today’s age; it is still relevant, and it is continuously being developed due to this fact. For example, the design of Japanese houses accommodates the change of temperatures and tries to maintain the level of comfort, regardless of the season (it can be quite breezy in a hot day while being somewhat warm during winter days). In Indonesia, however, the problem with Indonesian housing is that the technology that we used to make the house is not only outdated but also inconvenient if compared to other models of houses, such as the more modern ones. Traditional housings in Indonesia is so varied due to the various cultures that exist in Indonesia, however, all the houses share one thing in common: impracticality. Admittedly, some of the houses are actually quite sturdy and still comfortable enough. However, most of the time, they take up too much space and require huge plots of land, and it would be very inefficient to try and make them.

Another fact about Indonesian traditional houses is that due to the colonization of Indonesia under the Dutch, most of our current buildings are under Dutch influences instead of original, traditional Indonesian models. The influence of the Dutch is also perhaps the reason why most of the houses in Indonesia are not that well-developed to suit the current needs in society.