rising sense of "individualism"
Made Better in Japan
by Tom Downey
“For decades, Japan simply imported the wares of foreign cultures, but recessions has led to invention. The country has begun creating the finest American denim, French cuisine and Italian espresso in the world. Now is the time to visit.”
Japanese people tend to be perfectionists in some areas such as cuisine
During the 80s Japan had chefs come from the world - creating “haute bourgeoisie heaven”
In cooking new goal is not a “cuisine” but “how to make the whole dining experience better”
Tokyo has 247 stars in “the Red Guide” for restaurants (more than a lot of other famous cities)
Tiny restaurants, personal interaction = “firmly rooted in Japanese tradition”
Japanese chefs are “the most highly trained and technically adept in the word”
Other chefs think quantity/expand while Japanese chefs think connections/quality
Hotels are usually more international but others with majority Japanese guests adopt “native customs” (perfectionist hospitality)
“devotion to craft”
RE-MADE in JAPAN Introduction
by Joseph J. Tobin
“Everyday life and consumer taste in changing society”
Domestication
Though Japanese are very productive, they are also very consumeristic (particularly in Western things)
Japanese are not just Masters of imitation/adaptation, they are engaged and creative, inventing
Now Japan is “prototypical late-capitalist, post-modern, mass culture, information-based consumer society”, “First truly postmodern land”
“...Japanese domesticate the West by consuming Iowa beef and Maine lobsters at a French Restaurant in Hawaii, by bring home high-status souvenirs from trips abroad, by incorporating romantic English lyrics into their popular songs, and by spending a day in the Old West of Tokyo Disneyland.” (9)
Gender roles: where in the past men were considered the producers and women the consumers now it is balanced where both consume and produce.
(odd fact...) “Christmas Cake” - a woman over 25 “losing appeal” like a cake on december 25th.
How the West has made it into Japan:
Rural vs. Urban
Tokyo = Japan’s West and the countryside = Japan’s Japan
Middle class and consumerism
There are many different levels of middle class within the “middle class” of Japan
Carnivalesque: Japanese culture does not attach guilt to high consumerism (they spend a lot and for numerous reasons including repayment, power, “investments in future favors” etc...)
Individuality in Japan
Contact with the West = “awakening of individuality”= “spiritual breakdown of the soul” = “the modernization of the soul”
Boundaries have changed as well:
Japanese people have adopted/domesticated even things like McDonalds so much that on trips one might go there for a taste of “home”
Modern Japanese are torn between “modernity and nostalgia”
Country bumpkins are proud to be a part of a “traditional” Japanese lifestyle
1.) Self-exoticization : making themselves as Western as possible (eyelid operations)
Before the West, Japan had been “borrowing” from China, Ainu and, Korea
Japan-China relationship is complicated. China’s influence/relations with Japan are undeniable
Returning from Westernization
by Tom Downey
“For decades, Japan simply imported the wares of foreign cultures, but recessions has led to invention. The country has begun creating the finest American denim, French cuisine and Italian espresso in the world. Now is the time to visit.”
Japanese people tend to be perfectionists in some areas such as cuisine
- obsessive
- "insane”
During the 80s Japan had chefs come from the world - creating “haute bourgeoisie heaven”
- lots of imports then
In cooking new goal is not a “cuisine” but “how to make the whole dining experience better”
Tokyo has 247 stars in “the Red Guide” for restaurants (more than a lot of other famous cities)
- previously mostly kaiseki and sushi
- now more other cuisines as well
Tiny restaurants, personal interaction = “firmly rooted in Japanese tradition”
Japanese chefs are “the most highly trained and technically adept in the word”
Other chefs think quantity/expand while Japanese chefs think connections/quality
Hotels are usually more international but others with majority Japanese guests adopt “native customs” (perfectionist hospitality)
“devotion to craft”
RE-MADE in JAPAN Introduction
by Joseph J. Tobin
“Everyday life and consumer taste in changing society”
Domestication
Though Japanese are very productive, they are also very consumeristic (particularly in Western things)
Japanese are not just Masters of imitation/adaptation, they are engaged and creative, inventing
- DOMESTICATION (not westernization, imitation, etc...)
- domestication is a more active role
- imply Japanized (because westerner’s are not necessarily familiar with the “westernized” Japan, this idea is apparent in Language as well)
Now Japan is “prototypical late-capitalist, post-modern, mass culture, information-based consumer society”, “First truly postmodern land”
“...Japanese domesticate the West by consuming Iowa beef and Maine lobsters at a French Restaurant in Hawaii, by bring home high-status souvenirs from trips abroad, by incorporating romantic English lyrics into their popular songs, and by spending a day in the Old West of Tokyo Disneyland.” (9)
Gender roles: where in the past men were considered the producers and women the consumers now it is balanced where both consume and produce.
- Also in the past the West was masculine (colonial) while the East was feminine (symbolized in Madam Butterfly)
(odd fact...) “Christmas Cake” - a woman over 25 “losing appeal” like a cake on december 25th.
How the West has made it into Japan:
- Missionaries
- omiyage
- trips to the West
- foreigners in Japan
- during the Occupation
- American TV and movies/music (later on with the Nostalgia Boom)
- now it is Japanese advertising industry
- through cities
Rural vs. Urban
Tokyo = Japan’s West and the countryside = Japan’s Japan
- despite the shift of generations into the city, they still carry with them values of the country and sometimes even dream to return
Middle class and consumerism
There are many different levels of middle class within the “middle class” of Japan
- nyu ritchi (nouveau rich)
- danchi (apartments)
- kikkai binbo (machine poor)
- nyu binbo (new poor)
Carnivalesque: Japanese culture does not attach guilt to high consumerism (they spend a lot and for numerous reasons including repayment, power, “investments in future favors” etc...)
Individuality in Japan
Contact with the West = “awakening of individuality”= “spiritual breakdown of the soul” = “the modernization of the soul”
- privatization of urbanized intellectuals, their taste became more western
- now it has gone from individuality to alienated (obsessed with pleasure, elders call Shinjinrui”, the young are like another species)
Boundaries have changed as well:
- no tatami mats in modern buildings (no clear distinction of inside and outside)
- boundary shifts on an individual level as well
- family level (the new lifestyle does not always include older generations or children)
- foreign or Japanese (though this boundary is constantly shifting)
Japanese people have adopted/domesticated even things like McDonalds so much that on trips one might go there for a taste of “home”
Modern Japanese are torn between “modernity and nostalgia”
Country bumpkins are proud to be a part of a “traditional” Japanese lifestyle
- this pre-modern image of Japan has been fetishized
- besides agricultural income, farmers can also use their lifestyle/home as a tourist attraction for nostalgic city folk (authenticity is consumed!)
1.) Self-exoticization : making themselves as Western as possible (eyelid operations)
- make up for the inferiority/self consciousness (introduced by contact with the west)
Before the West, Japan had been “borrowing” from China, Ainu and, Korea
Japan-China relationship is complicated. China’s influence/relations with Japan are undeniable
- constant struggle of identity and “authenticity”
Returning from Westernization
- jikkan (“retrospection through actual sensation” - the senses trigger connection to “authentic” Japanese culture)
- however the younger generation cannot find the connection/sentimentality in this sensation (they are, rather, very materialistic and focussed on the new almost to a point where it is parodic, but is the joke on the west or on Japan?)
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