HilbertSpitzer.github.io/Culture.html at master · HilbertSpitzer/HilbertSpitzer.github.io · GitHub

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Intrigued by Culture...ehem...culture of the Japanese</TITLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY>
Contrary to what many may believe, Japan has not been westernized<a href="Culture.html#1">[1]</a>, and understanding western traditions alone can't make you understand Japan fully. Sure it has Industrialized, but it's not as though Japan contributed nothing to the Industrial revolution(such as the automatic power loom and several advancements in airplane technology), that just means Japan modernized, either way Japan's culture is still very different from a Western one<br/>
According to Soe (2007), Japan “has shown clearly that you do not have to embrace “western” culture in order to modernize your economy and prosper.”<a href="Culture.html#2">[2]</a><br/><br/>

Japan has the oldest continuous orchestra(Gagaku), oldest continuous dance form(Bugaku) and oldest surviving theatrical performance(The Noh) in the world<a href="Culture.html#3">[3]</a><br/><br/>

The Three monkeys that cover their eyes, ears, and mouth, called "Mizaru, kikazaru, Iwazaru" meaning "Don't see, don't hear, don't speak" comes from Japan<br/><br/>

At times Japan had a long period of peace incomparable to Europe, the U.S, China, India or any other countries. Such as in 794-1155(361 years) and 1639-1867(228 years)<br/><br/>

Japan has the oldest surviving monarchy<br/><br/>

In "Clash of Civilizations" by Samuel P. Huntington. Japan was identified as one of the unique civilization of the world, and was the only civilization that only had one country(as opposed to the "African Civilization" or "Latin American" among others)<br/><br/>

The Ninja and Samurai originated in Japan<br/><br/>

some historians have argued that more books were published in eighteenth-century Japan than in the rest of the world. This is, of course, an unprovable exaggeration, but there is evidence of more than fifty printing houses in Edo alone, and many of Saikaku’s novels and books had several publishing runs of ten thousand each. Other novels like Jippensha Ikku’s Adventures of Shank’s Mare were published serially in weekly installments and later published in collections. One collected issue had several publishing runs of over ten thousand as well. <a href="Culture.html#4">[4]</a><br/><br/>

Tokugawa Japan between 1700 and 1850 was more peaceful, more equitably fed, and more secure than any other society in the world. For the most part, its population was content with their lives. In the main, its people lived without fear of invasion, confident in their government to protect their livelihoods, and reasonably certain that they could enjoy justice in their lives. How many people on earth in 1750 could do the same? The Chinese to be sure, maybe the British; certainly not the French, the Russians, the Germans (or Prussians), the Poles, Koreans, Africans, Indians, Mexicans, or even the rebellious people who were just beginning to think of themselves as ‘‘Americans.’’
The century and a half beginning in 1700 was one of turmoil in the world. One has only to glance briefly at the litany of violence in the next hundred years to begin to appreciate how fortunate Tokugawa society was. In the next century or so, the world would shudder from several revolutions (American, French, German, Italian, Latin American); countless rebellions and insurrections (Irish, Taiping, Sepoy); and dozens of wars (Napoleonic, Crimean, 1812, Opium, French and Indian, American Civil, Mexican—to name but a few). Japan remained at relative peace for the entire period. <a href="Culture.html#5">[5]</a><br/><br/>

By 1925 Japan was at the forefront of the world’s democracies, being one of only a handful of nations that allowed all of its adult males to vote. <a href="Culture.html#6">[6]</a><br/><br/>

Karate originated in Okinawa(Japan), other sports that originated in Japan include Bushido, Jujitsu(an olympic sport), and Judo(an olympic sport)<br/><br/>

"Shiseido Co. Ltd. (SSDOY.PK), based in Japan, was founded in 1872 and is the oldest cosmetics company in the world"<a href="Culture.html#7">[7]</a><br/><br/>

"Kongo Gumi Constructions is the world's oldest company"<a href="Culture.html#8">[8]</a><br/><br/>

The oldest hotel in the world is Nisiyama Onsen Keiunkan in 705 CE<a href="Culture.html#9">[9]</a><br/><br/>

Karakuri Ningyo were invented in Japan. It is a mechanical doll designed to do all sorts of activities such as carry teacups to the people or shoot arrows to a target. Karakuri means "magic tricks" or "marvel device". "Ningyo" means "puppet" or "doll". This puppet was developed with human behavior to do magic/marvel tricks, entertaining the guests in the tea ceremony. When the host makes the tea and pours it into the teacup, Karakuri Ningyo will carry the cup full of tea to the guest. Once the guest picks up the teacup, Karakuri Ningyo will stop moving forward. After the guest empties the cup and gives it back to the puppet, the puppet will return back to the place where the host poured the tea. <br/><br/>

The experience of committing suicide by the monks began in an elaborate process of 1,000 days (a little less than three years) of eating only nuts and seeds to eliminate all body fat. Some folks would consider this a normal Hollywood celebrity diet. Over-zealous exercises were employed. For another 1,000 days, the monks only ate bark and roots and began drinking a poisonous tea made from the sap of the Urushi tree, normally used to lacquer (eliminate) their bowls. In other words, there was profuse diarrhea occurring among the participating monks. Though the vomiting and diarrhea was important to later mummify themselves, the ideal outcome of drinking the sap of Urushi trees was to make their body poisonous and inedible to maggots. In turn, their body would not deteriorate by natural processes. Finally, a self-mummifying monk would lock himself in a stone tomb barely larger than his body, where he would not move from the lotus position. His only connection to the outside world was an air tube and a bell. Each day he rang a bell to let those outside know that he was still alive. When the bell stopped ringing, the air tube was removed. After staying in the stone tomb, another 1,000 days ensued. Then, some unfortunate monk was summoned to open the tomb and see if his body was mummified. If all was well, and mummification had been achieved, the monk was declared a Buddha and the body was put into the temple for viewing. Despite the lordship bestowed to the corpse, it was just a decomposed body and nothing more. The dedication and spirit of going through such a horrific process was still magnificent to the Japanese. <br/><br/>

"WHEN Commodore Perry convinced the Japanese to open ports to the west in 1854, their country had been isolated for two centuries. Europeans and Americans were amazed by what they saw. Traders started carrying back objects and works of art, and western artists and artisans began making work influenced by the Japanese aesthetic and techniques. This is obvious in the colours and compositions of Edouard Vuillard, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and above all Vincent van Gogh. Between 1886, when Van Gogh arrived in Paris to stay with his brother Theo, and 1888, when he left for Provence, the brothers acquired hundreds of ukiyo-e or woodblock prints. Some of them can be seen on the walls of his radiant paintings of the period.
But Japonisme, the name given to works influenced by Japan’s arts, was not confined to the creations of painters. Designers of textiles, furniture and gardens were also inspired by their Japanese counterparts, as were gold and silversmiths. Westerners were captivated by the attentiveness, poetry and wit of Japanese observations of nature"<a href="Culture.html#10">[10]</a><br/><br/>

<a name="1"/>[1]The Japanese Today; Change and Continuity by Marius Jansen and Edwin Reischauer page 172<br/>
<a name="2"/>[2]Soe, C.(2007) Annual Editions: Comparative Politics. Iowa: McGraw Hill<br/>
<a name="3"/>[3]Five Hundred Fun Facts About Japan" by Dorothy Perkins<br/>
<a name="4"/>[4]The History of Japan Greenwood Histories of the Modern Nations, 1096-2905
author : Perez, Louis G. Page 70<br/>
<a name="5"/>[5]The History of Japan Greenwood Histories of the Modern Nations, 1096-2905
author : Perez, Louis G. Page 71-72<br/>
<a name="6"/>[6]The History of Japan Greenwood Histories of the Modern Nations, 1096-2905
author : Perez, Louis G. Page 129<br/>
<a name="7"/>[7]<a href="http://seekingalpha.com/article/35995-five-good-looking-cosmetic-stocks" target=_blank>here</a><br/>
<a name="8"/>[8]<a href="http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2011/s3155918.htm" target=_blank>here</a><br/>
<a name="9"/>[9]<a href="http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/travel/2011/1119/1224307791100.html" target=_blank>here</a><br/>
<a name="10"/>[10]<a href="http://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero/2011/05/japonisme" target=_blank>here</a><br/>
</BODY>
</HTML>