We are staying in Kyoto for four days, but today we spent the day in the neighboring metropolis, Osaka. The city is the third largest in Japan and used to be known as Japan's "kitchen" because it was a rice trading center, being a large port city. So we were excited to eat there!
As we entered the gate to the main courtyard, a group of Japanese school girls, all dressed in uniform, passed by us quietly in single file. Then they all started saying "hello!" to us in typical Japanese accent, and we all waved and answered back. Then someone from our group yelled "photo!" They replied back saying "photo!" and screamed hysterically as if they were American school girls on a field trip to a Justin Bieber concert. We were celebrities! Their teacher took our camera and we all posed in front of the castle with the girls in front, making peace signs as we love to do in photos in Asia. The excitement and laughter just created a delightsome atmosphere that highlighted the friendship the Americans have with the Japanese. For me, it made the 12-hour flight to Asia worth it right there.
We also visited a business in Kyoto called Interac. It is a language-teaching company that brings in English teachers to Japan. It's an important company because all Japanese schools teach English. Our host, Shigekazu Akiyama-san, gave us the perfect introduction to Japanese culture:
We visited Osaka Castle, a huge fortress built by samurai clans for the shogunate. We were all impressed by the size of the moat surrounding the castle, even though the water level was very low. But we were more impressed by who we met...
- To show respect, the Japanese don't look people in the eyes for long periods of time.
- They say "yes" a lot to mean "uh huh" or "okay," and that throws Americans off a bit.
- Conversely, they don't really say "no" because they don't like to offend; instead they say "maybe" or "I'll consider it," which also throws us off sometimes.
- The Japanese avoid confrontation because of the concept of "wa"(倭), or harmony (think of ying yang). For example, Shigekazu-san told us that in America, we don't say "sorry" when we hit someone's car in an accident because that could be an insurance liability. But in Japan, you would definitely say "sumi masen" -- I'm sorry -- to avoid confrontation and not dishonor the other driver.
