Hedaturu to Najima; Shudan Ishiki; The Do spirit of Japan

Hedataru to Najimu

                “Each person has his or her own privacy even though they are in the same room.” (111)For me this would be awkward and I could never have privacy amongst other people. However, this is probably common in areas of America that have high population density, such as New York. Also probably how dorm life is, but I would not know from experience.

                “Keep about ninety centimeters from one’s master in order not to step on his shadow.” (110) I found the shadow game among children interesting. This game is played in America, but it doesn’t have the same connotation because America does not have this ninety centimeter rule. I admire the amount of respect that the ninety centimeter rule shows.

Shudan Ishiki

                “Out of the mouth comes evil; silence is golden” (195) When my brother was in fourth grade he had a home room teacher named Ms.Brown who would make his class write “silence is golden” whenever they were too loud: they had to fill up and entire sheet of note book paper. In general, America is a more boisterous culture and I am curious to know if teachers in Japan have the same problems with rowdy kids that teachers in America have.

                “It would have been impossible to reorganize society and reconstruct the economy quite so quickly if it had not been for the strong group consciousness of the Japanese people” (197).  I have a lot of respect for the way Japan was able to bounce back so quickly. I suspect that if a similar situation would happen in America the states would divide and there would be civil war. I think this because American culture doesn’t have any constants. For example, American culture to someone who lives in New York is going to be completely different than someone who lives in Arizona.

The Do Spirit of Japan

                “Liberation from man’s intellectual nature, from the burden of fixed ideas and feelings about reality.” (74)This reminds me of transcendentalism, which was a major part of American history. Both focus of emptiness and closeness to nature.

                “Mushin (no-mind)” (76). This type of state of mind that influenced Japanese culture is very important to painting and drawing. It is the R-Mode, which means thinking on the right side of the brain. It is important because it is non-verbal thinking; hence, it can be described as no-mind. It is important to painting because it allows your hand and your brain work together without conscientiousness.