Politics in Japan

"Keeping our lifestyle - Komeito"
Ever wondered what it would be like if the Church of Scientology controlled the third-largest political party in the British Parliament?

In its modern form, Soka Gakkai is (cough) an apolitical, (wheeze) peace-loving religious organization that most definitely has not bought its way into the heart of the occasional media outlet.*
Unofficially, its members are expected to make "donations," "special donations," and "helpful financial support" to the Komeito Party, to put up posters of Komeito politicians outside their homes and businesses, and to vote for said politicians in any election that comes up.
Unofficially, it preaches a message to its followers that includes heartwarming nuggets of spirituality such as:
- Taking over Japan and founding a Soka Republic
- Anti-Nichiren sentiments (another sect of Buddhism, which SG claims/claimed to be an offshoot of)
- Support for a fully-armed and militarily-active nation
Unofficially, Soka Gakkai bullies its critics into leaving them alone, or worse.
Given the significant influence the organization has in both politics and Japanese society as a whole, Komeito and Soka Gakkai likely aren't going anywhere anytime soon.
*That journalist, not necessarily that publication.

Neutrality, Humanity
Some friends and I went to Hiroshima a few weekends ago, taking special care to visit the Genbaku (A-Bomb) Dome, Peace Park, and A-Bomb Museum.
As we entered the museum, I half-expected either a guilt trip or a cold, academic experience, but instead was surprised to find that whoever wrote the placards, captions, and displays had instead made it a point to give voice to all viewpoints on the war, as well as the events leading up to and following the detonation of the atomic bomb over Hiroshima.
As the museum tells the story: Japan waged a brutal war of aggression on the rest of Asia, essentially mortgaging its people's future in the process. The United States targeted a major population center, taking a keen interest in its aftereffects and potential for further use. The Enola Gay dropped the bomb, and all the world became a much worse place for it.

Grief neither speaks a language nor hangs a flag.

Gender in Japan

Would they look cute in BDUs and flak jackets?

Despite modern Japan's pacifistic stance on world conflicts (barring recent Komeito-type rumblings), students in middle and high school have been wearing Prussian and British military uniforms since the early part of the 20th century.
I visited a middle school's music festival in a town near Gifu a few weekends ago. Before coming to Japan, I'd thought the uniforms looked pretty cool. What guy wouldn't want to look bad in black? And of course, the sailor seifuku is really cute. But since coming here and witnessing girls and boys teetering on the edge of adolescence, gaining their first real awareness of the way the world works, I can't help but wonder what kind of effect this is having on their psyche.
As a kid, I went to Catholic schools that had uniforms, so I know what the pro-uniform attitude is based on: removing dress as a means of expressed social status and distraction from education. However, the use of militaristic designs leads me to believe that the education system is steering the students towards a homogenous view of Japanese society.
I will ask some Japanese students, as well as my friend in Gifu who studies the Japanese school system, and likely add to this post at a later time. (By "later" I mean "some time after grades close.")

Throw Me A Ball? Throw Me A Bone!

If someone were to ask you about your high school's baseball or football team, who would you think of first? The coaches? The players?
An integral part of Japanese sports teams (at least at the high school and college level) are the female members who support the players from the sidelines and supply sheds. The "manejaa" (manager) take care of chores and sort of act as team-specific cheerleaders.
Manejaa join teams for various reasons; some are acting on their school spirit, some are genuinely interested in sports team management, and some just want to watch the hunky guys do their thing on the field. (And maybe ask them out.)
I can't help but imagine that having girls around drives the players to work harder, too - who wouldn't want to impress the cutie in the tracksuit tossing your practice pitches?
Further reading: http://www.okayama-u.ac.jp/user/flec/english/neil/pubshtmlfiles/neilpubjalt06.htm
(scroll down about halfway and start reading just before the italicized paragraph.)

Religion in Japan

A Closet Full of Beliefs, But Not A Stitch To Wear
There seem to be two sentiments here regarding religion: it's either so far ingrained into the Japanese lifestyle that they themselves don't distinguish between the two (i.e. Shinto and, to an extent, Buddhism), or that it is treated as a sort of household appliance that you keep in a cupboard until you feel like you need to use it (i.e. Christianity or otherwise.)

The second floor of this building is some kind of Christian reading room. Given its size, I doubt it is an actual church. (Then again, Makino Sake Dojo didn't look like a good place to eat...) Regardless of its specific function, its purpose is to lead people to discover a higher purpose and achieve spiritual enlightenment, right? So perhaps you'd expect the general vicinity to have an uplifting feel to it, or to have at least some kind of spiritual effect, whether it reminds you of the Judeo-Christian God or of your own personal set of beliefs. (My theory is that this is what many Japanese are going after when they decorate with Western religious paraphernalia.)
So what's going on downstairs?
The greater goal of the establishment directly under it is to rent you a DVD illustrating the results of a meeting between 2 secretaries and a tentacle monster.
What does Western religion mean to the Japanese? Given its relatively recent arrival in Japan (4oo years plus change for Catholicism vs. B.C. Shinto), can it be taken as seriously? I see ads on trains for generic-looking wedding chapels and think not.

It's Just Not Done.
On the other hand, Japan still takes some tenets of its native religion pretty seriously. At Itsukushima-ji, a world-famous Shinto shrine, three rules set down in ancient times are still obeyed to the word:
1) No agriculture of any kind
2) No births
3) No deaths
However, the old rules preventing women, seniors, and commoners from setting foot on the island's soil appear to have been repealed, as the site is now one of the most popular tourist spots in this part of Japan. Back in the mukashi mukashi, the main shrine was built on stilts over the water so that worshippers could pay homage to the gods without being "on" the island.

At high tide, the water reaches the shrine, and the structure appears to be floating. See those three stone lanterns past the great red torii? The unclean masses used to row through the giant gate and park their boats right up against the shrine. The gods chuckle over our silly technicalities. さすが人間。
Make no mistake! Those other three rules are still in effect. We didn't see any cemetaries near the shrines or rice paddies between the buildings - sights I'd begun to take for granted in this country. I'm not so sure about rule #2, though. I assume the welcome staff at the ferry terminal are keeping an eye out and turning away any women in their third trimester.

Sports in Japan

Japan's baseball season lasts from April to October. So why, in the dead of November, is the Kansai Gaidai team still swinging away? Devotion, my friends, devotion.

I had a conversation with a team member standing by the sideline. (Not the one in the picture.) The actual dialogue makes for an awful read, as it took several tries to get our ideas across the language barrier, but here is as accurate a paraphrase of the conversation as I can manage:

It's almost December. Baseball is a spring and summer sport, right?
Usually American teams will practice only during the regular season, right? So it's not so serious. We are a club, too, so we are more serious about it. Does your college's baseball team practice in the fall?
I don't know. In America, a team is just a team. Team mates aren't necessarily friends. It seems like lots of people want to do it as their job.
In Japan, a sports team is not just a team. We are all friends, too, so we go out and eat or drink together. Even if there isn't a practice, we will probably meet other members of the team. That's why we call it a club.
So it doesn't feel like a job?
We do our best at baseball, like a job, and it is difficult like a job, but everyone loves baseball and has a good time practicing and playing. So even when it's cold like this, we're happy to be here.

Many thanks to this gentleman (whose name I unfortunately forgot) for accomodating me and my shoddy third-language interview skills.


Nobody is warming the bench tonight. Devotion!