Past and Future(and Monkeys)

Being charged with the task of comparing Japan's ancient habits with their futuristic technology lead me into compiling an essay on the subject instead. I hope this suffices.

Past and future as one: a concrete handicap access elevator attached to an ancient castle

Much of Japanese culture and customs are based off of convenience - things that are convenient for the very structured lives that they lead, not convenient for laziness. This is what creates the gap between what is considered "past" and "future". This use of convenience is exemplified in Japan's two major religions: Shintoism and Buddhism. Most Japanese people are not religious in the way Western culture suggests we should be, ie. to pick one religion and follow it zealously. Instead, they embrace the most "convenient" sections of each religion, typically taking from Shintoism during happy occasions(birth, marriage) and from Buddhism during sad occasions(death). This is because the nature of each religion best suits the respective occasions and the Japanese people believe that they are better off this way. I tend to agree.

A Shinto wedding at Atsuta shrine

For a very technologically advanced country, much of Japan - on the surface - does not look the part. Just taking a step outside will not shock you with crazy-high buildings or super-fast cars(although Tokyo may be an exception here). Instead, Japanese people focus their technology on things that need to be advanced - the train system, for example. The trains are efficient, fast, comfortable, and stretch across the entire country. Why was so much work put into make efficient trains? Because they're used.

Garbage collection, doing laundry, making food, and getting around on bikes, on the other hand, all seem like they belong in the past. However, they haven't been upgraded because they don't need to be. They all work fine. Using recycled water to bathe in or even wash your clothes in might be off-putting to foreigners when they see the toilet with the remote control and built-in sink right beside them, but it's there because it doesn't need to be changed. People don't need to fly around on hover bikes because normal bikes get the job done with very, very simple technology. I could definitely do with the cheap vending machines on the corner of every block in Vancouver, though.

Another reason why so much "past" is preserved is because Japanese people adore their own ancient culture. For young people, as with most ethnicities this generation I would imagine, rich, old culture is becoming less and less prevalent in everyday life. However, while I would say many young people in the Americas don't care, young Japanese people love most things that deal with their ancient culture and look at it almost with a sense of nostalgia or a longing to cling to it. Ancient ceremonies or things attached to them, like yukata/kimono, tea, prayer, animals, etc., while they have no current meaning, are still worn, drank, practiced or displayed. That is why you can find a stone shrine next to an electronics shop, a crumbling temple metres away from a massive train station, or a 5-floor elevator installed inside a castle.

Me trying to look intimidating after donning a yukata

I suppose that's all for now. I've fallen way behind on posting the pictures I've taken, so I'll probably work on some other way of showing them to you guys. Plus I have like gigs of video that you must see, but no video editing program! I must remedy that. Sit tight.

A proper update will come next week I believe, as things will be happening. For my own reference, places I've recently been to have been Inuyama Castle and Monkey Park, Nagoya Castle, Okazaki Castle, a proper izakaya(ごきぶりホイホイ）, and my school festival(bunkasai).

I will leave you with some random images, and as promised, monkeys.