March 04, 2005

Japanese Plum Blossoms and Pre-Spring Impressions

Last week was the first spring wind. Those who have lived in Japan know the seasons here are marked off by wind, rain and blossoms. With each change comes a change in temperatures and temperments. Wind and rain are somber markers. I like blossoms. For a week or two barren trees light up and reveal their true selves. Then they hide in a cloak of green and later strip to bare branches for most of the year. In case you think blossoms are all bright light, their death is as much a marker as their appearing. Plum blossoms (above) are less well known than Cherry blossoms, because the season doesn't change when they appear. You could see them as false hope that winter is ending -- or as a promise the spring is coming soon.

This morning we woke up to a "spring snow." My wife called it that. I'm no weatherman, but I can't help but see some humor at this new sign of spring. We have three inches of snow on the ground, and it's still coming down. The plum trees are completely clothed in white. But spring is right around the corner. In fact, it's starting on Sunday, according to a real weatherman on TV. Yesterday the same guys on TV predicted that Cherry blossoms will appear in Tokyo on March 30. We're all looking forward to that. My parents are coming at the end of the month, so it's great timing.

On another note, I carry a digital recorder around with me for learning Japanese. I was thinking of recording thoughts (before I forget them) and posting them here sometimes. I gave it a try a couple of days ago at Starbucks. I held the recorder practically inside my mouth so the person at the next table wouldn't be disturbed. Today I listened. It sounded like a psychotic killer rambing to himself in a prison cell. The actual content was ok, but it's more raw than what I usually write here.

Here's an example...

Every thought that I have, I have to think in complete sentence. Maybe people like that are the ones who become bloggers or writers. We need some way to get it all out on paper, to talk, rather than keeping it inside.

Life here hinges on the testing system. People who do well go to the right colleges, get the right jobs and are promoted to positions of "power." [Not sure that's the right word.] Those who don't do well don't expect as much. They accept lower positions, content to be followers under a leader who probably did better on the test. It's less likely that people will compete. The workplace is not a place to compete but a place to accept your standing, the track you're on, and the promotions your likely to receive. It's not likely that you'll aspire above your standing. Competition takes place between equals [people who see themselves as equals anyway]. Once you find your standing in the hierarchy, you're not equals [in that context], so you can't compete. You do your role, and together you make the whole machine work. Your company competes against other companies (because the companies are equals). If you find that you are equal to another person within your company/circle/family (e.g., when the system breaks down), then you compete. It's a (benevolent?) caste system. You test into your "place" and then stay there (moving along the appropriate track) for the rest of your working life.

----------
Like I said, these are raw thoughts. I have changed the order and edited some of the rougher spots, but I left the contect basically the way I recorded it. I don't always think in complete sentences, and the real world is complex and changing. In the past, though, Japan was a kind of caste society. These impressions partly came from wondering how well that past still explains the present.

See my other website to save on long distance calls from the USA

Read my tips about credit cards that earn free travel

Posted by jw at March 4, 2005 11:24 AM
Comments

Thoughts arise to pass away, just like sensations, just like emotions. I don't think that trying to force yourself to think in complete sentances will help you to become a writer, rather just the opposite. I've noticed that when people try to conciously intergrate a new word into their vocabulary they end up misusing it, but when they just allow a word to enter there conciousness they find themselves using it naturally. I think that cognitive growth comes most easily when we watch ourselves grow, working hard to maintain that awareness. The hard thing is to not interfere.

Posted by: Matthew Broudy at March 4, 2005 01:15 PM

I usually find that when I think of what to write, it is always better than what is actually written. So lately I've practiced freewriting, which is writing down everything that comes to mind. It's a sort of stress reliever and it makes sure that no essential thought gets left out.

Posted by: Bri at March 5, 2005 11:39 AM

Hisashiburi! Thanks for visiting my blog! I always think about getting one of those digital recorders. Its better to catch a thought in the moment than to try to force it after the fact...always ends up sounding a bit contrived. I live in inaka, and i do alot of meandering thru rice fields and bamboo groves... Its amazing the places your thoughts will take you.But matthew is right. Thoughts fade even as they occur, which is what makes capturing one so difficult and so beautful. Like Haiku. Simple thoughts and observations with none of the filler. A moment frozen in time. It is the pure simplicity of a thought, before we try to make it into something else we have seen or heard, that is beautiful.

About the testing society...I teach elementary junior high so I get to see how students are catagorized and prepped for their future positions. The thing about 'doing well' on these tests is what 'doing well' actually means. It is unlikely that people will rise above their 'caste' because 'the nail that sticks up gets hammered down'. ( a Japanese proverb.)

If a student shows more ability than another student, and this becomes too obvious, it is not encouraged. Original thought and critical understanding are often problematic in this system. Students instead are expected to memorize and regurgitate what teachers teach, without question. I often find students have a hard time understanding english because they have been taught only to memorize certain phrases without any understanding of what the words actually mean. Students who ask questions are often seen as troublesome, and instead of expaining the answer, teachers will say just memorize it.

People are taught from an early age to blindly accept what authority, the members of the vertical society above them, say. To do what is asked of them without question.

Their value lies in how well they do what is expected of them.

Posted by: Melissa at March 6, 2005 03:09 PM

I can't wait to take pictures of the Japanese spring. It's my first spring since I've had a big interest in photography, and the springs are so photogenic (I've lived in Japan for 12 years now, and I'm just now realizing this? Heh. Of course, I'm only 16 now.).

Posted by: Jon at March 8, 2005 10:09 PM

Just wanted to let you know I love your blog. The pics and the writing is just wonderful.

Posted by: Craig at March 9, 2005 11:44 PM

I don't often post comments. I already have a monopoly of most of what gets written here. But thanks to those who have taken the time to write. I do read everything (except the comment spam) carefully and appreciate the encouraging things you all say. Arigatou!

Posted by: Andy at March 10, 2005 03:53 PM

I like very much your gaze on these so impermanent flowers, whose scent is stronger than the beauty of the sakura.
I brought some of your plumtrees to my blog posted at the other side of the world, in New York (http://yukiguni.blogs.com ), which unfortunately is only in Spanish.
Thanks for sharing your breathing.

Posted by: Yukiguni at March 15, 2005 12:39 PM

There's something so unique about this blog - I love it!

I especially like it since it's exactly what I set out to achieve with mine. It's exactly not what I achieved, but that's only through hapless ineptitude.

I find your writing fascinating. It inspires me.

And yes, I'm another one who NEEDS to get a digital recorder!

www.sophisticreation.co.uk

Posted by: Dave Thackeray at March 17, 2005 10:12 PM