About Japanese culture

I am Yuko. I am Kitasato University student. Nice to meet you.

I am taking the class to learn foreign country and Japan. But, actually, I do not know about Japanese culture or foreign culture. So, I decided to study it. First, I study Japanese culture. By this, I want foreign people to know about Japan. So here are a few...

Japanese language is very difficult. Because there are many different language to express own mind. Kanji , hiragana , katakana , etc. In addition , there are many ways to express what you want to say. For example, Japanese words be used as I have much. To tell the truth, I mostly use “watashi” . This is most proper expression in any situation for man and woman. As another words, there are 'boku, ore, uchi, watakushi', etc. I think that it is one of the reasons to trouble foreign people [when learning it]. To learn English is very difficult for me , but I think it is more difficult to learn Japanese for foreign people.

This site gives a brief introduction to the Japanese language: http://www.youlearnjapanese.com/

The next examination is about food . Most foreigners are not good at natto. - a type of femented whole soy beans. I think that it seems to be strong smell . And I think that most foreigners do not like sliced raw fish . To tell the truth, I do not like sliced raw fish . Because, raw fish is fishy. So , I can eat if it is seared or boiled . As another way , you can change taste of food by using seasoning . Soy sauces used best with sliced raw fish. A good soy sauce has a big influence in the taste of food.

My third examination is about neighborhood . It is important to take the effort to talk with your neighbors. But, recently, I think that Japanese people do not participate in town councils and other neighborhood activities. I feel Japanese people retire from [interacting with ] other persons. Japanese people are [sometimes] shut in own world. In fact, though I saw my next door neighbor, I do not know a detailed character. Therefore , if something is happened to me , next door neighbo will not save me. So, Japanese people should become more positive to neighborhood . Town councils and local children’s associations conduct such programs as park cleaning , parties and other events. We can learn about your community through such events.

☆Conclusion☆

There are many different things between Japan and foreign countries. So, when you visit another country, you will worry so much. But, I think that many different things means many different [and interesting] findings. So, we should study about own culture and other ones too.

[Editor's comments: Yuko has hit upon one of the most important realizations that come from learning about another culture - -either by studying it as foreign langauge or by living or travelling to another land --It seems she wants us to see that the more we learn about other cultures, the more we come to understand and want to understand our own. Thanks, Yuko, for reminding us all of that wisdom. db]