Header Image: Tourists gathering around one of the famous ponds at Oshino Hakkai The Imagining the Global dyad “local/global” was very pertinent during my research days on the north side of Mt. Fuji. There I was able to visit some very historic areas and to observe and work with the Fujisan Club, a non-profit organization that leads trash […]
From amusement parks to neighborhood dogs: a mix of global and local culture in Japan
While being strapped into a roller coaster called Eejanaika at the Fuji-Q Highland amusement park, I could almost swear that I was at Six Flags or the Santa Cruz Boardwalk back in California, given the lines of smiling tourists in shorts and flip flops, smells of churros and soda pop, and muffled, indiscernible words blasting […]
Old wood, New niches: Change and Continuity in Japan 2014
During our field research situated on the Kenmarubi lava flow, I gained a small insight connecting directly to our program’s “continuity/change” dyad. This area was heavily deforested before and during World War II for timber, so there was a need to reseed the area and develop a new forest. Because this area is extremely rocky […]
From Common Lands to Highland
As I write this post I am sitting on a bench surrounded by excited children, massive golden cat sculptures, and a giant blue roller coaster with cars shaped like a ukulele-playing hamster riding on a cloud. In the distance there is a hazy but still majestic Mt. Fuji. Immersed in these sights and sounds, it is […]
Culture, Consumerism, and the Cult of Mt. Fuji: Reflections on Overseas Scholarship in Japan
Looking around, I had a strange feeling at the Sendagaya Fuji-zuka shrine in Tokyo. Utilitarian scaffolding and other metallic construction equipment were strewn about the grounds at the Fuji-zuka (“Fuji mound”)–a religious miniature replica of Mt. Fuji, of which there are many and which are often constructed from actual stones taken from Fuji herself. A typical […]
Portland, LA, Beijing …next stop: Tokyo. Expanding horizons and finding connections
Sunday, July 13th, 2014 Today marks week one in Tokyo. Despite what the calendar says, my time in Tokyo has been so teeming with new culture, outings, readings, and people that I feel as if I have been here for several weeks already. After studying abroad at Peking University last fall, I expected to […]
Natural Culture, Cultural Nature
I have officially been in Japan for one week, but it feels like it has been at least a month. Each day is packed with something new, be it stumbling upon a small town’s sacred ritual, meeting with Japanese experts, eating an octopus pancake, or exploring the many wonders of Tokyo. The day’s adventures always […]
Finding the Local in the Global: Japanese Karaoke
Week one in Japan has been filled with invaluable lessons and experiences, all of which relate to at least one of the three themes of Imagining the Global in some way or another. Examples of the local-global dyad are not only found inside of the classroom and during structured activities, but we can also find […]
Navigating Foreign Landscapes and Ambiguous Terminology
Exploring the three themes nature/culture, global/local, and stasis/change is foremost an experiment in the power of terminology. It’s difficult to even begin looking at representations of “nature” in Japan, for example, without first discussing the infinite understandings of what it means to be natural. That being said, my goal is to base my analysis of […]