saki's blog

Assignment -Sexuality

2007-01-11T18:19:00.000-08:00

In the book, White mentions that Japanese teens, to American eyes, seem cute innocent, asexual and serious. Girls dressed well but not sexually and exuding giggly virginity, and boys similarly forming groups of single-sex friends. Though, in the following sentence, she also states that these teens are actually experienced. On reading this section, I noticed one major point that has obviously changed from the time White wrote her book. The fact that teens in Japan are sexually experienced from a rather early stage of their life is still unmistakably true, the way they dress and the air they create has become sexual and people who they group together are not always the same sex as them. In fact, though maybe not generally true, it seems quite easy to tell by there appearance whether they are experienced or not. What is more, having an experience in sex is becoming more of a rite of passage or else, some kind of authority.

Concerning the statement of schoolgirl prostitution, I learned a rather surprising reality from a friend who is tutoring a high school girl. As many students agreed on the fact that schoolgirl prostitution has recently decreased in the previous class, I also believed that this illegal trend has dropped in number, or otherwise thought teens these days had enough sense to realize the illicitness of prostitution. However, according to my friend, the teenager he tutors appears to have many “daddy”s, or in other words, companions. The term “daddy (or papa)”, as the teenager says, means a man older than her who buys goods or gives her money in exchange for her prostitution. It never occurred to me that teenage prostitution is carried out so simply without doubt and, moreover, that it happens pretty occasionally. Although I wish these deplorable deeds to reduce, regretfully, it seems that reality does not work so easily.

Assignment -Friendship

2006-12-14T10:21:00.000-08:00

As White states in the chapter of friendship, I agree with the idea that the sempai-kohai relationship is still a distant, based-on-seniority type relationship. Although you may have a sempai who is really friendly and who you can get along with very well, there is always an invisible space between the older and the younger. It is an extremely rare case for a sempai and kohai to become a shinyu, or a best friend. One cause for this peculiar gap may be the term sempai and kohai itself. I believe the notion that the kohai are to be obedient and diligent in carrying out the wishes of the sempai, is still unconsciously binding both the senior and junior, which makes it very difficult for either of them to build a close relationship. However, my case with a junior friend from high school proved that it is not impossible to become a close, intimate friend with a kohai. At first, naturally enough, my kohai was especially reluctant about talking in tameguchi, a way of conversation without using honorific language. As a sempai, I, in fact, did not really have trouble in taking away the awkward space, but especially for a junior, it seemed to take more time in getting use to the non-sempai-kohai relationship. Nevertheless, eventually, my kohai got used to the situation and now we often go shopping or karaoke together, just like a normal shinyu.

In the “Friends and Lovers” section, the reaction of the group members of a girl who has gone steady with a boy may have changed since White’s time. She states that the girl with a boyfriend may be seen as remote, even unavailable, to her friends who feel betrayed. However, recently, it is not uncommon for a girl to have a boyfriend and at the same time, be in an all-girls group. In fact, it seems normal to share the fact that she has a boyfriend with the other girls. Still, this is a personal observation, and I myself having a boyfriend when I was in high school, what is more, a girl’s school, I did not have the courage to spill out the truth. Consequently, the negotiation between heterosexual relationships and same-sex friends is still tricky, even now.

Assignment -Material Child

2006-11-30T18:40:00.000-08:00

In the chapter "The Material Child", White describes the Japanese teens as intensive collective shoppers. I think this is still very true. In my case, I always have something that I want to buy and most of the times I have difficulty in paying only from my own account, or from what I have earned by part-time jobs. It says about children having six pockets, having two parents and four grandparents filling the child’s pocket with cash. Nowadays, less people live with their grandparents, so it is hard to tell if they have the double income from them, but they would still be able to be treated with “okodukai”, something what we call the pocket money from our relatives, when they go and visit them. However, I disagree on the point White makes, which many parents are in debt, making term payments on piano, computer, or motorcycle, all items creating status for their teens. I rarely hear parents in debt because they bought so many materials for their child. Usually, parents get angry when their child use too much on what they buy or electricity and telephone bills.

In addition, on the “sex and other media lessons” section, White researched that schools in Japan recently provided sex education and even that is vague and allusive, rather than concrete and informational. This, I believe, has clearly changed. In health classes, they give out more medical and psychological data and clear, detailed instructions rather than magazines, which provide the readers with more casual and frank information like when generally do teens have their first experience on sex and so on. Also, the notion of “omiai” is becoming, to a certain extent, old-fashioned, and many people tend to seek their ideal partner, even though it my take till very later in their life to actually find one.

Assignment -School

2006-11-09T18:59:00.000-08:00

In this chapter, as White has described as “examination hell”, I realized that the high emphasis on “going to prestigious universities” hasn’t changed slightly. In fact, the idea of taking the exams for these universities has become so common that parents consider and choose prestigious schools for their children from an early stage. As White mentioned in her book, many parents nowadays encourage their children to enter private schools that incorporate elementary, junior, and senior high schools. These so called “escalator style” schools are popular in Japan and are known for their high percentage of students who go on to a higher stage of education. Not only do these students have the opportunity to go to colleges and universities attached to the school but they also have a higher chance in being accepted to the Ivy League level universities in Japan. Moreover, “escalator style” schools usually accept students from junior high school on condition that they pass the exams the school sets. This means that children are under the examination strain from their elementary age. Along with the traditional college exam cram schools, there are also many cram schools for children who have to take these junior high school exams. Even after entering these schools, students are usually claimed to study hard and keep good scores alongside with their club activities.

Here is another recent incident that proves the heavy stress Japanese society puts on the modern teenagers. Just a few weeks ago, a fact that some high schools had illegally changed the original curriculums and failed to teach compulsory subjects, such as world history and ethics, in order to concentrate on the preparation for university entrance exams came to light. Now, ironically, students with the examinations close at hand are being forced to take supplementary subjects that are not directly needed for the exams.

I believe that the current Japanese education system should be reconsidered, for the true education ought to be a tool that aids society, and provide compassionate thinkers who strive to understand and progress without fear of taking on responsibility, for our future generation, not just a pressure to force students to enter prestigious schools.

Assignment -Family

2006-10-26T21:08:00.000-07:00

I believe a relationship between family members is something exceptionally inseparable which serious consideration is essential.

Although what White states in her book is still partially true, many conditions and situations have changed since she did her research on families. For example, the fact that fathers who are described as remote and marginal figures that carry little weight in household management is no longer accurate. With the rate of working mothers increasing, more fathers are becoming the so-called “househusbands”. These “househusbands” take charge of the household instead of the mothers who work from morning till night. Though not to that extent, my father actively participates in cooking, washing and shopping after he comes home from work or on weekends. He helps my mother, who sometimes comes home later than he does, by sharing the loads that has to be done at home. I consider this shift in the role allotment (no longer do women need to stay home all day and men, outside at work) to be the reason for the growing rate of “househusbands”.

Nevertheless, as I have mentioned above, it is considerably difficult to separate your family from yourself, for they take up a great part in your life. Since both of my parents are doctors, they usually work till late hours and there isn’t much time that we spend as a family. My parents take this seriously, and as much as possible, our family attempts to get together on meal times. We call the dining table “a place of conversation” and we talk a lot about what happened at school or at work. This “place of conversation” plays a significant part in maintaining our good relationship, and never have I thought that it was unnecessary.

Reading this chapter on family was very beneficial and it made me learn how important a family means to me.

Nice to meet you all★

2006-10-11T20:45:00.000-07:00

Hi! My name is Sakiko[沙貴子] Oshiba[大柴]. I'm a freshman in Waseda University.
I lived in Colorado for 4 years, so I'm really looking forward to studying with students in Colorado!!
During my freetime I enjoy drawing, listening to music, watching movies and going to karaoke (I LOVE singing!!)
If you find anything in common with me, don't hesitate to comment!!

Anyway, I hope we can get to know more about each other soon*＾＾*
See you later♪