#HogsAbroad Student Blogger Spotlight: Culture Class in Japan

One of our #HogsAbroad student bloggers shared this update from the Intensive Japanese summer program:

みなさま、おはようございます (good morning everyone)
 

The picture above is the inside of the chapel at Seinan Gakuin Univeristy. This university is a Christian university founded in the early 1900s by a Southern Baptist minister. Despite its religious roots, I don’t think many Japanese students come here. The three most commons questions I have been asked are if I come from Texas, if I am religious, and are there really so many guns in America. 
As for the first question, it’s easiest to just say I live near Texas, since they do not have any grasp of where Arkansas is. They usually know California, Hawaii, New York, Texas, and Florida, at least geographically. 

As for the second, they are more curious than prying, since religion in Japan is very different than America. Buddhism is the most conspicuous religion here, but even then, there seems to be very little societal focus on religion, and least at the university and surrounding areas here. 
The third question though is the most interesting, in my opinion. In Japan, guns are extremely regulated. I highly doubt any normal citizen could obtain one under most circumstances. The Japanese sometimes seem nervous about their upcoming study abroad programs in America because of the amount of guns in the country. However, they are also somewhat excited, since they want to shoot a gun for the first time in their life. What surprised me the most was that the students majoring in English at the university were shown a video about the Columbine massacre. It’s very hard to explain the nuances of guns in America, especially since the words are hard to transfer from language to language. 

I have also been cross pollinating in their culture as well. As I mentioned before, the drinking culture is quite strong in Japan, so I often have to decline alcohol being offered to me since I’m only 19. (the drinking age in Japan is 20, but is almost never enforced) Additionally, there is a strong tradition of well… Tradition. Tea ceremonies, karate, and traditional clothing often make up a big part of the cultural fiber of Japan. One of my friends, Ning, who is Chinese, invited me to traditional Japanese karate. Karate in Japan is very ritualized, very hierarchical, and very hard. They thought it was amusing that my fighting style veered more towards boxing in the beginning. It’s a very hard art to master, but I found the level of commication between myself and my student instructor amazing, considering that he knew no English. 

Another part of the culture here in Fukuoaka is centered around the beach and leisure time. The city strikes me as the San Francisco of Japan. 

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Read more from Kendall at https://misadventuresinjapan.wordpress.com 

To find out more about Japanese intensive summer programs, visit http://studyabroad.uark.edu/japanese