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I'd say in the past few years, Japanese authors are gaining further international exposure. Although the process of translating a Japanese text into another language would inevitably result in losing some of the reading experience, a good story is hard to lose. Here, I will give a very short list of 3 authors who have made an impact in the past year. Of course, the order of these writers doesn't matter.
1) Natsuo Kirino
Genre: Crime, psychological thriller, horror
To date, 4 of her novels have been translated into English. These are: "Out", "Grotesque", "Real World" and "What Remains". In particular, I thoroughly enjoyed "Out" - a dark yet fascinating story of four women caught up in murder, danger and desperation. Natsuo Kirino's writing pulled me right into its spell and I can tell you, it was hard for me to not think about the story until I had read the very last page. Realistic characters. Realistic Plot. No happy endings guaranteed. Unsurprisingly, this same book has been made into a movie in Japan and the rights have been purchased for an American remake.
2) Koji Suzuki
Genre: Psychological thriller, horror, science fiction, supernatural
Meet the creator of "Ring" - the much hyped about horror film series. However, the books are more aligned to the psychological thriller genre. I'll be honest and say I have yet to see the Japanese movies so I have no idea how the two compare other than the plots had some major changes. These books had rich plots and I enjoyed (?) the constant eerie atmosphere the Koji Suzuki's writing created. Koji Suzuki also has other works in the US market such as Dark Water (also made into a movie).
3) Haruki Murakami
Genre: Literature, supernatural
Since his debut, Haruki Murakami has taken the Japanese literary world by storm. Several of his works have already been translated and introduced into the international market. Compared to the other two Japanese authors I've mentioned, it was only recently I picked up one of his works - "After Dark". To be honest, I am uncertain as to how best to describe his work. The style is unique and mellow; it is rich with interesting metaphors, imagery and descriptive language. Perhaps it's best to just go pick up a book and start reading.
Normally I'm not the sort who would read such literature, but Haruki Murakami managed to keep me interested throughout his story.
Do you have any author recommendations? Have you read any of books written by the above authors? If so, please share your thoughts and opinions.
Image Source: LINK
When I last travelled to Japan, one of the most intriguing things was discovering a whole new species of vending machines. In Australia, you're typically used to the ones which sell snacks and drinks. However, Japanese vending machines take things much much further.
In Tokyo, I came across vending machines which sold hot cans of coffee as well as hot snacks such as mini pizzas.
Source: http://granades.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/tommy-lee-jones.jpg
In Osaka, I found more seemingly "scandalous" vending machines which sold cigarettes and alcohol. The first thought which popped into my mind was that these crazy Japanese vending machines were going to be a concoction for social disaster. Perhaps evidence of this is an article from Japan Today (LINK) where a 10 year old boy was able to purchase a pack of cigarettes from a vending machine despite safety precautions.
Meanwhile, in Kyoto, I came across vending machines which sold porn, fresh and used panties. You can say I was quite taken aback.
Have you ever come across any strange Japanese vending machines?
What was the strangest product you have ever seen sold in a vending machine?
To see more photos, click here.
To see an interesting list, "18 Odd Items for Sale in Japanese Vending Machines", click here.
Hikikomori is a social phenomenon which captured worldwide attention for around the past 10 years or so. The English equivalent term would be "social withdrawal". Basically what happens is that a person just snaps one day, returns home and locks themselves in a room and stay in there. In many cases, for years on end.
To better illustrate the Hikikomori, I'll use a case study from BBC.
Hiroshi Sasaki (video link).
After having troubles with school, he gradually played truant. However, eventually this led to him shutting himself in his room for over 2-3 years. He sleeps all day and stays up all night. As a result, he has very, very limited contact with his parents - whom he lives with.
How do his parents perceive this? They appear to blame themselves rather than their son (video link). They emphasise that it was because they had pressured him too much to study. As a result, he collapsed under the pressure and resorted to shutting himself in to escape.
However, this is only one of a diverse range of cases. There are many others where the causes were things such bullying, shattered romances and unemployment.
During the past few years when there was plenty of media coverage, there was plenty of speculation about the causes. After all, the symptoms were easy enough to identify.
From what I gather, there seems to be a link between hikikomori cases and pressure/stress itself. Whatever adversities these people face, and often face alone, would no doubt place them under significant amounts of pressure/stress. It sort of paints the image that a person is being continuously cornered in life and has no idea of how to get themselves out of it. Then, when they have the opportunity to run - they run and hide. Perhaps running away and hiding is easier than enduring. Thus, locking themselves away becomes habitual.
And habits are hard to break.
The response to the hikikomori epidemic has been mixed.
Some claim that there were around 1 million male sufferers. If this was the case, then that means around 1 percent of Japan's population is suffering from this psychological disorder. Other statistics claim that around 80% of hikikomori sufferers were male, the rest were female. However, no matter how much I research the facts and figures, it all appears sketchy. The only way researchers can really tell how many cases there are is if people report them. So even if 1 million cases were reported, how many are left unreported? Meanwhile, others claim that the number of cases are limited to the hundreds of thousands.
Nonetheless, the problem appears to be widespread and something which the authorities should perhaps look into.
From cases like that of Masayuki Okuyama, hikikomori sufferers not only hurt themselves in the long run (by further isolating themselves from society), they hurt their families too. In Okuyama's case, his son Youichi became recluse at the age of 15. After refusing to leave the house, he turned violent towards his own parents. Even assaulting his father while his father slept on the sofa. Okuyama even quotes his son saying: "Please die. I want to claim your life insurance money. So die."
While the hikikomori are more anti-social than violent, the longer the problem is left alone, the riskier the situation becomes.
Parents often simply "wait-it-out" hoping that it's just a phase their children will grow out of. Some may seek counseling but all measures taken are just as passive. Even worse perhaps, is the attitude that families often feel "ashamed" if one of them becomes a hikikomori. They would internalise the problem and refuse to seek help.
With a lack of communication between parents and hikikomori sufferers, the problem becomes like a kettle waiting to boil over and screech.
In past, there have been hikikomori related crimes. An extreme case being the "Niigata girl confinement incident" where a 17 year old male hikikomori kidnapped a 10 year old girl. He confined her in his apartment room for 9 years.
People may accuse the hikikomori of being psychos or even blame their families for not seeking help sooner. However, how to help those where there is little understanding (due to lack of communication) is difficult. However, the solution isn't impossible. It takes time yes, but it also takes effort and effective communication.
Interestingly enough, due to the uprising of the hikikomori epidemic, an industry has bloomed. Specialist counseling services have opened up to help hikikomori sufferers recover and reintegrate into society.
Meanwhile, tofugu.com reports an interesting "Stare Therapy" DVD. The DVD aims to help the socially awkward to "adapt" to having people stare at them - which may hopefully encourage them to get over the fear that they are constantly being judged. Basically, the DVD contains several short videos of women staring into the camera / at you. What "clients" do is select a video and endure the stare for up to a minute.
So, what do you fellow readers make of this?
Is it perplexing as such cases rarely occur in Western society? Isolated hikikomori cases have been reported in other Asian countries such as Korea, Taiwan and China. Personally, I hope that specialists will be able to find some way to help sufferers recover faster or easier.
After all, imagine spending 5 years of your life locked up alone in a room. The fact that many of the victims are children or teenagers makes it even sadder to imagine a good portion of their childhood is... wasted away.
For further reading, check out New York Times' article: Shutting Themselves In.
Perhaps if you're a stranger to Japanese culture - and you're dumped into everyday Japanese life all of a sudden - you'll realise one thing: the question "What blood type are you?" pops up a lot. It's almost as typical as "So, what nationality background are you?" in Western culture.
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Japan is well known for its stance when it comes to having a homogeneous society. However, after World War II there was a significant change to the gene pool. More children of mixed ethnicities surfaced. However, what did the Japanese call them? Certainly not just Japanese for they werent purely Japanese children.
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Japan Today has reported that keen English students of Japan have turned to Barack Obama's speeches in hopes of improving their fluency in the language. As a result, Barack Obama's book and its CD accompaniment has become a national best-seller with 420,000 copies sold.
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It seems like it'll be a very, very long time before any form of resolution is set when it comes down to the issue of whaling. However, rather than blubber on about the pros and cons of whaling and Japans impact on the ecosystem
Id rather present some interesting history related to Japans modern whaling practices. Well, at least its interesting to me.
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Comment by KaTchI
on Me, myself, and I: using the correct pronoun
Japan Slate