Flash! - Ah-ah, Savior of the Universe!

Well this week I have been given the privilege to post about any old (or new) thing I want. Thank you Professor Fedorowicz. We learned quite a lot in class this week about the Blogging scene as a whole, we even had Garr Reynolds give a presentation on it. After desperately trying to integrate everything I had learned into my two blogs, I had little time to come up with anything amazing this week. Perhaps it is just a bit more quirky than other topics we will explore in this class, but this is the stuff that I am thinking about. I hope you find it as interesting as I do, because at the moment I'm thinking of starting a completely new blog based off of one of my following subjects. This week I present you with GRAFITTI, and HYGENE, in Hirakata. Hey, sounds like fun! It also sounds like a battle between contrasting elements of society. One might say Graffiti sullies a public object, where as someone else might say it breaths artistic life into mundane public objects. The same could be said for cleaning of public space: Cleanliness is godliness, but incessant cleanliness can be a bit too much. Each has its reason, its own pros and cons. Let's get started with the first of the two.
Meet Flash! You may already know him/her from their various tagged locations, in and around Hirakata-shi. Between my roommate and I, Flash is a common name. We often talk of locations we have seen tags, even who we think Flash really is. Since coming to Japan I have quickly learned how to identify a Flash tag, even admire their determination to become well known. Who is Flash really? "Have you seen flash?" Perhaps some select persons know the true identity of our local artist, but the reality is that their fame is not legal. Then why should they be so bold as to self promote their illegal activity? If anything it only increases the chances of getting caught; however that in itself it the answer to the questions. The more bold Flash gets, the more people begin to notice (just as my roommate and I have). It is the perfect marketing strategy, become a well known graffiti artist: become a well known artist. Flash's fame is also the artists Fame. Whether people who know the artist or not, Flash is popular.

Perhaps the best tag I have seen up to date was on the side of a Coke machine outside Gaidai's east gate. It read: "Flash! It Must be tonight!" What ever that meant, that night has since long gone. The tag however, remained there for quite some time. I was lucky enough to see it with my own eyes before it was torn down. Be it a fan or law enforcement that removed "It Must be Tonight!" I do not know. What I do know is that the message was sent to all those with the privilege to have seen it.

In the case that Flash does get caught, I'd assume it would do more good for them than harm. This, I believe, is the M.O. (Modus Operandi) behind Flash's crime. If caught there would be news of this, thus making Flash apart of history and increasing popularity. Though I could not find the sentence for Graffiti in Japan, I'd assume it is a nominal one in comparison to other crimes. After such sentence is served, this could be used for the artist's benefit. It could be the platform needed to land an important job as an artist. Therefore I respect all of what Flash has to offer the world, and find s/he is quite an interesting stranger.



Next on my agenda (and a bit more brief than Flash) is this guy to my right here--------->
This is one of the many respected employees at Kansai Gaidai. He is involved with the custodial duties on and around campus. In this picture one can see that he is raking the leaves. Seems natural enough. The problem is that most of these said leaves have gone elsewhere (most likely in to his colleague’s trash bins). He is at this moment raking the leaves trapped within the Ivy at the Tree's base. "How nice," one might think or "How thorough,” however I think it is a bit excessive and anal. I do not condone this mans actions, but feel he could be put to better use. I have seen this many times around campus before: three women raking the grass into three small piles of leaves, also two men scraping moss out of the grout (and Gaidai has a lot of grout). Therefore have come to the conclusion that Gaidai is either: A) directing its funds into the Anal Retentive Custodial Reformation Act, or B) Hiring too many custodians, leaving a lack of necessary duties to fill a full work day. It is most likely the later, but A) would make for a better argument against Gaidai's usage of its funds.

Local Sights

Now that I have introduced the astetics of Japan, allow me to introduce my local interests. The two pictures chosen for today's post were taken no more than a quarter mile from my apartment complex. They do not represent my neighborhood in its vast glory, but piece together some interesting observations of cultural value.
These pictures were taken durring the snow storm we had about a week and a half ago. I woke up and realized that I had to adventure out into the cold and document this rarity in Hirakata. The day was filled with snowmen, snowball fights, and families enjoying the snow together. I say families because I was surprised at the ammount of adults enjoying the snow with their children.
Where I live in snowy New England parent can almost never be seen taking part in their child's snow fun. Perhaps it is the fact that a Japanese parent must keep a close eye on their child making a tiny snowmen on the side of the narrow street, or just them enjoying a decent snow fall with their child. This makes me draw comparrisons between Japanese family values and American. This introduces my first picture: Mother, Father, and Child. All of them collaborating to build a snowman.


The next interesting neighborhood item I have to offer is a house of plants. In Japans crowded lifestyle their is little room for non-necessities. However this does not stop one with a passion for plants. Here we have one of many plant houses in my neighborhood, its lack of interior space has required the exterior to be utilized. This however creates an unfavorable condition for the plants. Out side it is botanical Darwinism, only the strong will survive the winter season. Here is a perfect example of one of natures tests.

Welcome to my life...in Japan

With this being the first post of my anthropological studies in Japan , I would like to explain its purpose. I have created this Blog as a requirement for my Visual Anthropology of Japan class. I am currently studying abroad at Kansai Gaidai University on exchange from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. I have been studying Japanese for about three years now;however this is not my first time in Japan. After high school I home stayed for three weeks in Okayama prefecture, therefore I had some previously formed opinions of Japan. As a amature Anthropologist I feel that this should be stated at this Blog's start.

Since my arrival in Japan it has been three weeks. I came along with my childhood friend to live in an apartment. I have willingly chosen to live on my own while attending Kansai Gaidai due my understanding of the rules at their seminar dormitories; also my desire to be independent clashes with the unity of a home stay. Therefore I am as independent and free as I'd like to be.
Enough of my introduction, it is these fine pictures that I am required to explain.

My impressions of Japan this semester have been analytical and also anthropology minded. At least as much as they could have been. Take for instance photo one: This is a shot of Kyoto as the sun is setting. I think that this is one of the best pictures I have ever taken; however this was taken at the beautiful Kyomizu temple. I did not want to put just another picture, of another temple, on another travel blog. This is true beauty, not the exploited beauty that is Japanese temples in the contemporary society. That is not to say that the temples of Japan aren't beautiful, but just image search Kyomizu tera and you'll see it for yourself. Not quite as good as being there, because I was very touched by its beauty.

The next picture I have posted was also taken at Kyomizu temple, yet still there is no temple. I took this picture because it was also very beautiful. A single red tree surrounded by green ones. I also took this picture because I noticed that people were too preoccupied with their sight seeing that they were unaware of this tree right above their heads. At the spring of the holy water I even saw a man take a picture of the cup in his hand as he was about to drink it. This interested me because he was documenting every passing moment of his trip, but doing many stereotypical things. Anyways this is just what I've observed.