Japan Exposé!

Thursday, July 21, 2011

The Seductive Nature of Japanese Culture

SECRETS OF JAPAN'S APPEAL TO WESTERNERS

Boyé Lafayette De Mente

TOKYO – When the first Westerners of record stumbled onto Japan in the 1540s, the discovery of the islands resulted in an influx of foreign traders and Christian missionaries, both intent on expanding their empires in Asia.

Among the many things that astounded these first European visitors to Japan was the incredible quality of its handicrafts and arts and the ability of Japanese craftsmen to copy any Western product not only perfectly but to improve on it in the process.

European traders who took up residence in Japan from the mid-1500s on began to ship large quantities of Japan’s arts and crafts to the capitals of Europe, where many of them became collectors’ items. Europeans found their aesthetic appeal both seductive and fascinating, and still today that appeal is one of the secrets of Japan’s attraction to visitors from around the world.

What was the source of Japan's traditional quality standards? How were the Japanese able to raise the quality standards of their handicrafts to that of a fine art? This too, relates to their skill in copying and improving upon things they copy, but in this case it goes back well over a thousand years.

Beginning around 300 A.D. Chinese ideas and products began trickling into Japan, mostly through Korea and via Korean immigrants to the islands. Along with these products came the ancient Chinese custom of the master-apprentice approach to the arts and crafts.

But the Japanese didn't just imitate the Chinese and Koreans. They institutionalized and ritualized the master-apprentice training methods, adding to it the concept of kaizen (kigh-zen) or continuous improvement. Within a few generations these products had been totally Japanized and their quality raised to the level of fine arts.

As the generations passed, these institutions and rituals were further strengthened by the introduction of the Zen principles of dispensing with the superfluous and harmonizing life and nature, resulting in masters who could actually achieve virtual perfection in the arts and crafts.

This was the Japan that Westerners first encountered in the 1500s and again in the 1800s, by which time, the Japanese were so conditioned in the principles and practices of quality that they didn't have to think about it. Achieving it was simply the Japanese way of doing things.

Another important factor that continues to distinguish Japan’s traditional arts and crafts, as well as many of its modern products, is a look and a feel that is unique, that grows out of the psychic of the Japanese that precedes their contact with Korea and China—something that was programmed into their culture by Shinto, their native religion, which holds that all things have spirits and a beauty of their own and that it is up to craftsmen to bring both of them out.

The influence of this "Japanese thing" on Westerners varies from very weak to very strong, depending on their sensitivity and aesthetic development. But it influences everyone to some degree. To the sensitive person, it has a calming, soothing effect on the intellect and the spirit, and creates a harmonious repose with nature.

Westerners who visit Japan, even for a few days, are invariably touched by this unique facet of Japanese culture.

Visitors to Japan do not have to go out of their way to experience this extraordinary influence of Japan’s arts and crafts—and to take some of it home with them if they choose.

Examples of Japanese arts and crafts can be seen in shops, in Japanese style restaurants, in traditional inns, and in hotel arcades. Every department store in the country carries a range of the very same arts and crafts that so impressed the first European visitors more than 400 years ago.

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Boyé Lafayette De Mente has been involved with Asia since the late 1940s as a member of a U.S. intelligence agency, journalist and editor. He is a graduate of Jōchi University in Tokyo, Japan and Thunderbird School of Global Management in Glendale, Arizona, USA. In addition to books on the business practices, social behavior and languages of China, Japan, Korea and Mexico he has written extensively about the plague of male dominance and the moral collapse of the U.S. and the Western world in general. Recent books include: CHINA Understanding & Dealing with the Chinese Way of Doing Business; JAPAN Understanding & Dealing with the NEW Japanese Way of Doing Business; AMERICA'S FAMOUS HOPI INDIANS; ARIZONA'S LORDS OF THE LAND [the Navajos] and SPEAK JAPANESE TODAY - A Little Language Goes a Long Way! To see a full list of his 60-plus books go to: www.authorsonlinebookshop.com. All of his titles are available from Amazon.com.

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Karate for Western Preteens & Teens!

The Extraordinary Merits of Modern-Day Karate

By Boyé Lafayette De Mente

TOKYO—Most countries in the world today remain awash in irrational and violent behavior because their cultures are incapable of instilling in people the mindset that is necessary to build and sustain rational, positive, humane, and constructive societies.

I believe that the physical, emotional and philosophical discipline offered by Japan’s modern-day version of karate (kah-rah-tay) training could go a long way toward reducing many of the evils that continue to afflict mankind—if not eliminating some of them altogether—and I advocate making training in this former martial art mandatory in all elementary and high schools around the world.

As simplistic and perhaps as other-worldly as it may sound, this is one training program that all children could be enrolled in at an early age that would go a long way toward instilling in them many of the cultural attributes that are the most desirable and admirable in human beings—and the only thing their parents would have to do is enroll them in this program and keep them in it from around the age of five to fifteen or older.

The story of karate as a Japanese fighting art began on the historically independent island kingdom of Okinawa after it was conquered by a Japanese warlord in 1609, and the residents were forbidden to have weapons of any kind.

Bereft of weapons, Okinawan warriors soon developed the ancient Chinese version of karate [“empty hand”] into a more formidable martial art, making it possible for them to inflict serious injury or death on a person using only their hands.

During the following decades of Japan’s Tokugawa shogunate era [1603-1867] karate was gradually subsumed into the training of the samurai who ruled Japan and Okinawa. Later, after the fall of the Tokugawa Shogunate in 1867 and dissolution of the samurai class in 1870, karate became a part of the training of Japan’s imperial army and police forces.

By the early 1900s a few farsighted martial arts masters who were not associated with training the military or police forces began to teach karate as a sport aimed at developing the character of the individual, with special emphasis on respect for others, concentration, self-confidence, diligence, a sense of order, perseverance, honesty and courage.

But this type of enlightened training did not become widespread in Japanese society because of the militaristic nature of the post-samurai government—a situation that did not begin to change until some two decades after the establishment of a democratic form of government in 1945/46.

Today most people around the world are familiar with the word karate as a result of movies, video games and comic books which continue to present it as a fighting technique, but in real life most training in karate is aimed at building the kind of character and behavior that all parents would like to see in their children.

The popularity of training in modern karate is now growing in Japan, and the number of karate training centers around the world is increasing [there are over 3,000 in the U.S. alone] as more parents come to understand that its remarkable benefits include improving the character, personality and behavior of their children.

The World of Martial Arts Information Center lists these benefits as: learning the value of time, the importance of perseverance in achieving success, the dignity of simplicity, the value of character, the power of kindness, the influence of example, the obligation of duty, the wisdom of economy, the virtue of patience, the improvement of talents and the importance of respect.

Since ordinary people now have the opportunity to influence beliefs and events on a scale that was not even imaginable until the advent of the Internet, I suggest that this amazing power be utilized to introduce millions of people around the planet to the extraordinary benefits of modern-day karate with the goal of getting it incorporated into a universal Earth culture.

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Japanese Invent Self-Heating Clothing Fabric!

Scientists Announce Electrifying Concept!

Boyé Lafayette De Mente

TOKYO—We have noted before that progress Japanese scientists are making in several basic fields could result in some industries becoming obsolete and fundamentally altering the way people work and live.

This often amazing progress in discovering new technology is epitomized by scientists at five collaborating Japanese universities who recently announced that they had succeeded in creating a thread-like material that converts light into electricity, which in turn warms the thread, making it an independent source of heat.

This new heat-making material is so sensitive to light that it generates electricity and heat when exposed to the light of an ordinary lamp.

At present the electricity-heat producing filaments, a project supported by the Ministry of Environment, are too short to weave into useful garments, but the researchers say they will be able to create large sheets of the fabric within five years, making it feasible for use in clothing and other applications.

Star, Inc., the start-up company responsible for manufacturing the fabric, notes that the energy conversion efficiency rate of the electrified thread is now just three percent, but that it will soon be able to increase this rate to 10 percent.

The company also says that once it reaches the mass-production stage the new fabric it will be cheaper to produce than standard silicon solar cells, a development that could impact not only on clothing and other fabric items but also on a variety of other applications.

Star Inc. says the first large sheets of energy-producing fabric will most likely be spread out on unused rice fields in the winter to produce electricity for nearby homes and other things.

This means, of course, that the sheets could be spread out over any unused area—from open country, fields, and vacant lots to the tops of office buildings. Self-heating clothing, the company adds, will come later.
The fact that it will be possible to use the self-heating fabric to manufacturing clothing is something like science fiction becoming reality...especially for people living in cool and cold climates who would not need thick or multiple layers of clothing to stay warm.

Other Scientists Going to the Bugs!

As also mentioned before, Japanese researchers have turned the mimicry of insects and other small life forms into a science, creating new products based on the structures found in such things as thistle seeds [which gave birth to Velcro]; the hair on the feet of geckos [which resulted in the use of carbon nanotubes to mimic the hair and produce a powerful peel-off tape]; the fine irregularities of moths eyes to create anti-glare acrylic film [this moth-feature helps prevent preying birds from spotting them].

Other creative break-thru products Japanese scientists have copied from nature: a multi-colored film patterned after the patchwork of colors on the wings of jewel beetles which change depending on the angle of view; swimwear that mimics the skin of sharks; and the front ends of Japan’s newest “bullet trains,” copied from the shape of owl wings.

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Japan First With Nationwide Chain of Inns!

Japan's Second Tokugawa Shogun Responsible for Inns!

Boyé Lafayette De Mente

TOKYO—The mix of modern and traditional lifestyles in Japan is one of the most remarkable facets in the Japan experience—facets that incorporate some of the most sophisticated facilities and amenities in the world today with a lifestyle that is more than a thousand years old...and remains emotionally, intellectually and spiritually fulfilling to an amazing degree.

There are, in fact, many extraordinary things about Japan that the rest of the world generally knows nothing about. One of the most interesting of these things is the fact that Japan had the world’s first nationwide network of inns for travelers…a network that appeared virtually overnight in the late 1630s.

Furthermore, all of the inns in the network— altogether numbering over 6,000 ordinary inns and over 400 luxury inns—were located specific distances apart on all of the major roads in the country, at “post stations” which in effect were small villages or towns…most of them built around the newly constructed inns to provide a variety of other services for travelers.

This extraordinary phenomenon began in 1635 when the recently established Tokugawa Shogunate government in Edo [Tokyo] decreed that some 250 of the clan lords, whose fiefs were spread around the country, would spend every other year in Edo in attendance at the Shogun’s Court.

This security measure required that the clan lords maintain residences in Edo; that they keep their wives and children remain in Edo at all times; and that on their semiannual treks to Edo they would be accompanied by a designated number of samurai warriors and attendants, based on the size and wealth of their domains.

The Maeda lord, the richest of the fief lords, maintained four mansions in Edo with a combined staff of 10,000 people, and on his trips to Edo brought an additional 1,000 warriors and attendants with him.

These extraordinary troops of lords, clan staff, samurai warriors and personal attendants were known as Daimyo Gyoretsu (die-m’yoh g’yoh-rate-sue), or “Processions of the Lords. The dates of their travel to and from Edo, the routes they took and when and where they stopped overnight were all fixed by the Shogunate.

When on the road the colorful, coordinated processions had the right of way. Ordinary people on the roads and in the villages and towns they passed through were required to get off of the road and bow down as the processions passed. Anyone failing to abide by these strict rules could be cut down by the lords’ samurai warriors.

This shogunate mandated system continued for some 240 years [until the1860s], and was a primary factor in the political, social and economic life of the Japanese for all those generations!

Keeping the inns supplied with staff, food, drink and other items to accommodate the lords and their entourages—plus the hundreds of thousands of other regular travelers [businesspeople, salesmen, sumo wrestlers, entertainers and gamblers] who quickly took advantage of the network of inns, and keeping the inns and post stations in repair, was second only to agricultural in the Japanese economy.

On just the Tokaido (Toe-kie-doh), or “Eastern Sea Road, between Kyoto and Edo, there were 111 honjin (hoan-jeen), or luxury inns for the lords and other high-ranking guests, 68 waki-honjin (wah-kee-hoan-jeen), or semi-luxury inns for the next level of travelers, and 2,905 hatago (hah-tah-go) inns for ordinary travelers.

A few of these historic inns still exist, and hundreds of others have survived in a succession of reincarnations.

No one can say they have fully experienced Japan until they have spent several days and nights in a traditionally styled Japanese ryokan (rio-kahn), or inn—especially one in an area that is so scenic it is spellbinding.

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Japanese Art of Face-Reading Goes High-Tech

HIGHT-TECH BRINGS FACE-READING UP-TO-DATE!

Boyé Lafayette De Mente

TOKYO—The ancient Asian art of face-reading has gone high-tech in Japan. Japanese scientists are now applying high-speed photographic technology to the art, adding a new dimension to understanding human feelings and human communication—a development that could eventually change most human interactions.

This new development is being led by electronics manufacturer Omron’s Keihanna Technology Innovation Center [KTIC] in its O’kao (Honorable Face) face-sensing technology project.

The KTIC has over one million photos of the faces of some 9,000 people that reveal different facial expressions that are then related to meanings and moods—taking the art of face-reading to a level never dreamed of before.

The researchers say the new technology can be applied in many ways, from linking people with devices and machines to revealing a person’s innermost thoughts that may be contrary to what they are saying—going beyond a sophisticated lie-detector to virtually reading a person’s mind.

Japanese researchers at Meiji University School of Science and Technology (MUSST) are taking this new innovation in a different direction by linking facial movements to operating electronic devices, giving the impression of virtual thought-control.

MUSST’s main project is a robotic face [called Kansei or “Sensibilities”] that has a data base of half a million words with facial expressions that relate to meanings of the words.

The creator of the robotic face, Prof. Junichi Takeno, says his goal is to discover the mechanisms of consciousness. At this time his robot face has 36 expressions—probably more than the average person thinks he or she is capable of expressing.

Among the practical applications of the new face-reading approach: enhanced security systems; photo booth cameras that manipulate colors and contrasts to make the subjects more attractive; turn electronic devices off and on; manipulate household appliances that have embedded chips; and act as backups for drivers who become fatigued or whose attention is distracted—in other words, the ultimate remote controls.

Face-reading as both an art and science was originally studied and institutionalized in China some 3,000 years ago by physicians who began to relate facial features with intelligence, character, personality, sexuality and other human attributes as part of their health-care practices.

From the health-care industry, face-reading became a skill that was used by the Chinese military, was used by the Chinese military, by employers, and by men seeking more amorous female partners—the latter use making it especially popular among ordinary people. [Many of the readings are sensually oriented.]

From around the 14th century A.D. Japanese priests and others who had occasion to visit China picked up on the face-reading theory and practice of the Chinese and introduced it into Japan.

I began studying the art in Japan in the mid-1950s after being inspired by the face-reader brought in by the military in 1939 to help decide what kind of training new recruits were best suited for. He was living in Chiba at that time and readily agreed to be interviewed.

I subsequently wrote a book entitled Face-Reading for Fun & Profit, went on a lecture tour in the U.S., and appeared on the then popular What’s My Line television show in New York.

This activity helped promote the use of face-reading in the corporate world of American, with some companies using face-readers in their recruiting efforts as well as in their decisions to promote employees to higher positions.

Everybody face reads. In fact, it is the very first thing we do when seeing or meeting someone for the first time, and throughout life we continue to read the faces of people we are talking to or listening to, and everyone automatically makes judgments about the character, veracity, etc., of these individuals.

But there are over one hundred precise readings based on the size, shape and quality of the facial features, and without special knowledge or training most people recognize and react to less than half of this number.

I [naturally!] recommend my own book, which has been republished under the title of Asian Face Reading – Unlock the Secrets Hidden in the Human Face, as a good starting place. It is available from bookstores and Amazon.com.

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The Return of Japan's Castle Culture!

Something Very Old is Now Very New in Japan!

Boyé Lafayette De Mente

TOKYO--There is something about castles that attracts Westerners…especially those with central European backgrounds. But Japan, not any of the European countries, has been the all-time leader in the number, size, sophistication and prominence of castles since the 8th century.

This extraordinary phenomenon came about because the ancient clan system that appeared in the early history of mankind survived in Japan until 1867, when the, last ruling-clan dynasty, the Tokugawa Shogunate, lost power and its great Edo [Tokyo] Castle was replaced as the seat of government.

During the Tokugawa era [1603-1867] virtually all of Japan’s other 270-plus semi-independent clan domains had their own castles, and while over a hundred of them were destroyed during the civil war that ended the Tokugawa regime in the 1860s, many of the largest and most impressive ones survived—and others have since been rebuilt and/or renovated.

Surviving and refurbished castles in Japan’s southern islands of Kyushu and Okinawa in particular have now turned the clock back to the age of clan lords, making the castles among the most popular attractions in the country. In 2007 the Kumamoto Castle in Kyushu had over two million visitors during its 400th annual anniversary. The Shuri Castle in Okinawa, which dates back to the Ryukyu Kingdom days [1429-1879], had 1.96 million visitors during the same year.

The secret of the renaissance of these two castles is not only a renewed interest in their historical prominence and the incredible sophistication of their design and special features [like their ramparts, numerous escape tunnels and magnificent gardens], it is because local interests combined their resources to reintroduce the food served to the lords of the castles during the feudal era—from main courses to desserts—and now serve these dishes to visitors in authentically decorated dining areas in the castles.

The dining hall in Okinawa’s Shuri Castle has recipes for 160 kinds of desserts that the castle lords could choose from when they were entertaining guests, and now offers several of the most popular of the sweets to present-day visitors. To add to the authenticity and ambiance of the castle dining experience the main courses and desserts are served in local-made lacquerware and pottery.

There are dozens of surviving castles in Japan that are larger, older and more imposing than the Kumamoto and Shuri castles, and many of them have also added to their appeal as historical artifacts by offering a variety of daily cultural events and experiences to their visitors. These include such things as theatrical performances and lessons in ikebana [ee-kay-bah-nah] flower-arranging.

The Saga Castle, built in the 1600s and one of the most famous clan fortresses during the Tokugawa era, offers kimono classes and provides younger visitors with the opportunity to dress up like shoguns and princesses.

Many of the best-known of Japan’s surviving castles that are open to visitors are in well-established tourist destinations. These include: Hiroshima Castle, Himeji Castle, Matsumoto Castle, Matsue Castle, Hikone Castle, Hirosaki Castle, Matsuyama Castle, Inuyama Castle, Kochi Castle, Nagoya Castle, Nijo Castle, and Ueno Castle. If you are in any of these cities a visit to one or more of these historical treasures is a rare opportunity to see and feel the power and glory that made feudal Japan one of the wonders of the world.

Nijo Castle is high on the list of places to visit when you are in Kyoto. While it is designated as a “castle” it is, in fact, a “castle-mansion” that was designed and built as the residence for Tokugawa Shoguns when they visited the Imperial Capital of Kyoto from Edo during the 264-year-long Tokugawa reign.

You can find detailed information about these castles on the Internet. Just Google them.

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Japan's Amazing "Water City"

THE AMAZING STORY OF OSAKA

Boyé Lafayette De Mente

TOKYO--Osaka, at the mouth of Odo River on Osaka Bay, is not high on the list of most foreign visitors to Japan—primarily because they know little or nothing about the city beyond its reputation as a business center. That is a major loss. Osaka has the oldest history and the greatest story of any of Japan’s leading cities.

In the 7th and 8th century—some one thousand years before the appearance of Yedo/Tokyo—Osaka was known as Naniwa and was the gateway through which the culture and technology of Korea and China flowed into Japan. It was also the port for envoys and commercial travelers to and from other Asia countries.
In A.D. 645 Naniwa became the first permanent imperial capital of Japan. Prior to this the capital was moved each time a new emperor took over. During this era huge engineering projects were carried out to control and direct the flow of several rivers that dissected the area of the city. Canals were dug to connect the rivers and enhance the flow of goods and people within the city. Huge warehouses dotted the banks of the rivers and canals. A total of 808 bridges connected the land-sites of the city.

During the clan wars that led to the victory of Ieyasu Tokugawa and the founding of the Tokugawa Shogunate in Yedo [Tokyo] in 1603, Naniwa/Osaka would have become the shogunate capital if Tokugawa’s opponent, the Hideyoshi clan, had won the civil war.

Now the third largest city in Japan [after Tokyo and Yokohama] Osaka has retained far more of its historical look, feel and character than either of these two cities…much of this in its huge shopping and entertainment districts, where thousands of picturesque shops, restaurants and bars carry on the traditions of the past.

During the Tokugawa Shogunate [1603-1867] Osaka’s transportation needs were served by a fleet of river and canal boats that were owned and operated by families. The whole network was taken over by the city government in 1907 and turned into a public transportation system. During its peak the system had 31 piers in key areas of the city.

Osaka still has its rivers and canals [they make up over 10 percent of the area of the city] and is served by eight piers and a number of private riverboat companies as well as the public company. Passage on the city-operated river boats is free, and they average over two million passengers each year.

Osaka Suijyo Bus Ltd. is the largest of the privately-owned waterbus services. It offers a variety of regular cruises on boats of different sizes and amenities, as well as charter boats for individual trips that take in different areas and attractions in the city.

The glass-covered Osaka Aqua-Liner is one of its most popular boats for visitors because it takes in an impressive list of the city’s attractions, from shopping and entertainment districts and Osaka Castle [constructed in 1583] to the famous Nakanoshima [Interior Island] business district. Its home-base pier is near the huge castle.

One of Osaka Suijyo’s river boats is patterned after the Santa Maria that Columbus sailed to the New World in 1492. Entertainment on the Naniwa Tanken Cruise includes story-telling by a rakugo [rah-koo-go] artists—a form of story-telling that goes back hundreds of years.

Other sites on the river and canal cruises include famous temples [including the Shitennoji, Japan’s oldest Buddhist temple] and landscaped gardens that date from the 7th and 8th centuries, world-class museums, and an aquarium that houses denizens of the Pacific Rim waters.

Each July Osakans stage the Tenjin Matsuri [Tane-jeen Mot-sue-ree], one of Japan’s three largest and most famous festivals, that is designed to celebrate the city’s rivers and canals. Activities include huge fireworks displays, traditional dancing on the river boats and bonfires on river floats.

Osaka beats Italy’s famed Venice by any measure.

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