Is That a Sword in Your Pocket?

So, this is a picture of a samurai and his loyal assistant sometime during the years 1853 and 1867. The samurai is the man sitting at a higher level. He is obviously showcasing his superiority to the other man, his assistant. Notice the two different skin-tones. The samurai has a much paler skin tone than that of the assistant. In Japan (and in most of Asia) making pale skin was the ideal skin tone. The paler the skin tone, the more likely a person was considered beautiful and that of a higher status. So for the samurai to have this skin tone in the photograph represents his high status. The assistant, as you could see, has a very dark skin tone. Many people of lower status had dark skin due to working out in the fields and sun for long hours. So this makes me think that his job prior to being the assistant of a samurai was a field-worker. Also, the wrinkles on the forehand of the assistant makes it seem as though he is older than the samurai. In the assistant's hand, it looks as though he is carrying a parasol, perhaps the one that kept his master so pale-skinned? The samurai has a sword to both sides of him, as a true samurai would. He has a very masculine facial structure. This gives off the impression that he is a strict and strong man that will means business. He sits with a straight back, furthering asserting his position over the assistant, who is hunched over. The gaze of the samurai is going off to the viewer's right-hand side. This gives off the feelings that the samurai is better than the audience and does not need to make eye contact with those of a lower status than him. However, the assistant's gaze is directly at the audience. His eyes look as though he hates his job, he's old, and/or he's weak. The samurai is wearing a lighter color cloth, whereas the assistant is wearing a dark colored outfit. The assistant would not wear light colors for the colors would show the dirt from his work on his outfit. This was probably done to further illustrate the status difference between the two men.

My Travels to Japan

219

On one of my first days here, I was taken to an etiquette class for young ladies. Oh, how delighted was I when I first stepped into the room of all proper young girls learning the do's and don'ts of society. Though I am not familiar with the ways of the Japanese, they sit with straight backs so I definitely approve of how they hold themselves up. They're hair is neatly tied back in braids, except that one hooligan with a ponytail. I hope she got a deduction in points for going against the rules! However, I did noticed that all the ladies are sitting with their hands nice and neatly in their laps. Very good, very proper of them. Though I don't know how I feel about them sitting on the floor...


102

Ah~ preparing the girls to become helpful and productive women in the world. I highly approve of this. They are being taught the womanly ways to be a good housewife. Their white aprons are in tip-top shape as well as having their long hair pulled back. Good and comfortable footwear is always important so I applaud them for their smart senses. Everything is organized by object so the necessary skills in the household are being well taught by the Japanese people.


134

These young girls are learning the helpful skill of being taught the feminine ways of sewing. They are all wearing such colorful clothing showing off their young and lively spirit, as well as their dedication to this fine art of sewing together materials. However, any smart American woman would remember to wear tighter sleeves in order to make no mistakes of getting one's clothing caught in a machine. And look at those braids. If they were all properly trained, a bun would be much better and less of a distraction. At least some girls were properly trained to do so. They all so serious, except the second on the far right. At least she has some appreciation for this fine art.


035

What is this madness?! Women who are playing such a physical sport?! Have they no respect or decency? I am well aware that women in the United States also play such a pointless sport, but I had more hope of the women of Japan. Oh how I am disappointed. They are wearing a white shirt that could easily get wrinkled - or even worse, dirty - as well as skirts that are just below the knee. What if the girls get too into the game and decide to jump for the ball? I mean, there is a man right there on the left-hand side watching. Probably a sick pervert trying to get a view of what the young ladies are wearing underneath their skirts. That, or he is the ball boy. Either way, he is probably disrespecting the ladies. There are many people watching in the crowd in a far off distance - most likely a mix of males and females.


064

Oh, Japan. I had such high hopes at the beginning of my trip on your etiquette. Letting girls to play such a man-ish sport is completely unheard of. They are playing in their school uniforms and in such a dirty environment as well. And that person in yellow pants, is that a man? Of course a man would allow young women to play such a thing. Their manners are not as superior to those of a woman, so they would bring women down to their level. Typical male.


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For this assignment I took on the persona of an etiquette teacher from the United States. She is doing research on how the Japanese society was different compared to American society. She primarily focused on the school girls in her American school thus, she continued her ways over into Japan... this was the progress of her travels in Japan. She had set ideals based off the beginning of her trip, but as time when on, she started noticing how the Japanese girls were not fit to her model and thought of them as though they were not as mannered as the students in her school.

Tea + Hot Spring = Perfect Combination

Source!

So, in this photo, we have a bunch of women shifting through the tea leaves. The women look worn out and tired as though they have been working longer than a nine to five job (it probably was longer than nine to five). Looking at the skin and faces of the women sorting the leaves, one could easily tell that they are all of different age groups. We have what looks to be an obaasan (old woman/grandmother) in the middle area of the women, but a majority of the women look to be about the ages thirty-five to fifty-something. However, notice that there is a young child (difficult to tell what gender the child is) with the women, and a young adult looking woman at the right closest to the audience. Although the women in this group are primarily older, there are some younger people involved in this duty. The majority of the women's gaze are either down at the leaves (regretting their life choices possibly). Only two of the women are looking up, neither at the audience. The one (closest to the audience) looks as though she is taking a break from the hard work; whereas the other woman is looking straight into the distance. Her mouth is opened so that could be an indicator that she was in the process of speaking to another worker or simply talking to herself. The men, however, seem to be supervising/checking out the women, except the one closest to the women (hands on his hips). That man is staring directly at the audience. Given the man's body position, one could assume that he is the boss or of a higher position compared to the others in the picture. This picture represents how hard the employees in rural Japan worked. All the women look drained of energy but they are still continuing with their work with only one member of the group taking a break. The men are all standing up and not sorting through the leaves; this gives the impression that they are of higher status in this production line. And the child represents the curiosity (based on facial expression) that the younger generation had of the workforce.

Now, let's go take a trip to the hot springs since we are done with sorting leaves!


Sources?

So relaxing, no? This hot spring is located in the Hakone area. It was an ideal location for the foreigners to stay at during their stay in Japan for it was a lavish hotel developed around hot springs, perfect for those long trips to Fuji-san (Mt. Fuji). Notice how the Japanese used the surrounding nature as an influence on the structural design. It was built within the forest to produce the scenic view if the guests were to look out their windows and to give that feeling of privacy. It was away (who knows how far out back then) from the city to add to the feeling of privacy. If you look, only the rooftop of one of the building sections could be seen from this angle. Because this hot spring is surrounded by all the trees with no visual indicator of city nearby, it represents the once isolation of Japan from the outside world. Unlike the many hotels popping up to cater to the globetrotters, this hotel/hot spring stayed true to the Japanese style of architecture to attract the globetrotters, who may have wanted the "traditional" Japanese style instead of the "modern" Japanese hotels.

The Who and Where

So, just to go along with my title, I'm going to talk about the picture of a person first and then the place. :)


Source? [Number 04]

So, let me just start out by saying that the main reason why I chose this picture is because it's the one that related to me the most. Being an addict to fashion and all things stylish, I have done the double mirror thing...

With that out in the open, let's analyze the girl, shall we? Girls, then and now, spend a good amount of time getting dolled up for something (like a hot date, just for fun, habit, or other reasons]. This girl obviously cares about her fashion choices (that is if she had one) for she is using mirrors to check out her hairdo. Japanese women cared deeply about their hair so much that they would either have it professionally styled and/or get it done every few days. In order to prevent their hair from being messed up as they slept, they would have their heads elevated from the base of the neck.

Notice how the girl stares at herself in the mirror. She's staring directly down at the mirror, concentrated on her hairdo. Notice the way she had posed her body, perfectly still in order to best get a glance at any loose hairs. Her one arm is relax and gentle (the one she is looking at) and the other is stiff. This allows her to have complete control over the line of view. To me, it seems as though there is a wrinkle on her forehead. Looking at the picture more closely, there are a few strands/chunk of hair that came loose. This could be causing the girl to be frustrated for she spent all that time on her hair, getting her hair done, or the hairdresser messed up the hairdo. Her mouth is also slightly turned down, adding to the frustrated look.

Now for the place!


Source (again!)[Number 15]

I absolutely love the beauty of this picture! My first impression of it was how simple the architectural was and how involved the Japanese with nature.

The houses are made of a very simple design. Instead of the roofs being made of tiles or shingles like in the Americas, the Japanese roofs were made of thatch, giving a more naturalistic feeling. It was even more available than shingles, which made it easier for those in the lower classes to get a hold of them. The Japanese had worked around nature in order to build their villages. Notice how the trail leading upwards has rocks in the way as well being uneven. The trail even follows the way of nature, rather than forcing nature to do what the humans want (to make their lives easier by having a shorter/more direct walking path by making the path go straight through the hills.) Basically, Japan is one with nature and respects the beauty of it.

Party Rock!

Source

This is a picture of the Dutch having a dinner party with the Japanese during the early 1800s. The reason why I choose this one was how the Dutch were portrayed. All the Dutch men are eating down and eating while the Japanese (only three) are standing up and attending to the men.

Let's start with the outside the room, beyond the focus point of the dinner. The boats outside are the same big black ship that the foreigners used. The Japanese at that time did not use giants ships, but rather small-sized boats. For example, if you look closely over the green railing corner, on the right-hand side, there appears to be a small, yet simple light tan (fishing?) boat. This is, judging by the minimalist design of the boat, belongs to the Japanese.

Now, let's move on to the actual room, shall we? Here we see seven Dutch men sitting at a table eating a meal that is including a meat of some sort, chicken, something to drink, possibly rice, and what seems to be liquor. Notice how they are helping themselves to their own food and drinks. In Japan, for those of you who do not know, it's impolite/rude to pour your own drink. (Yes, they might not know that and just being themselves/following their own cultural customs, but I found this interesting.) The two Japanese women are standing behind the men serving them possibly more food, while the tanned male across the room is bringing more to the guests. And last but not least is the neko-chan (or cat). Because there is a cat laying down in the room with everyone else present, this makes me believe that this was taking place in a home (since Cat Cafes weren't invented back then).

There's a Party in My Tummy!

Source: Google Images. http://www.fourhman.com/blog/images/pocky-romance.jpg

For this assignment, I decided to do Teaching for Japan but then I switched it to Ganguro, an advertisement Ben Stiller did in Japan, and then a Britney Spears Suki Candy commercial. I finally landed on everyone's favorite Japanese import... POCKY!

Right off the bat, one could see this beautiful woman in a romantic, floral-filled field as she gazes into the distance. Her clothing and the Pocky she is holding are both the same color. However, what pops out the most in the picture is the bright blue Pocky box in the right hand corner.

So let's go into more detail about this woman. As she stares into the distance, she gives off that innocent look of being in love. The words, "それはそれはハッピーなデコ," encourages that romanticized feeling of love. Is she necessarily thinking of a lover? Most likely. Is it human? No, it's the Pocky. She has an innocent love for this delicious biscuit treat. To add unto this image of innocent love, her outfit and fields of flowers are shades of light hues, majority of them being the color pink. Pink is the color symbol for innocence, happiness, and sweetness. All these adjectives are non-verbally describing the taste and feeling of the Pocky that she is promoting. The word "happy" even appears in the text, further assuring us of the happiness it will bring.

To put it frankly, this type of Pocky will bring you happiness if you eat it as well as give you the feeling of an innocent love you may had once in your life.