Japanese Anthropology Essay

In February of 1942, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066; this gave the foundation for the mass relocation of more than 110,000 persons of Japanese ancestry to internment camps. This mass relocation caused Japanese Americans -on the West Coast- to be removed from their homes for the majority of World War II. After a year of surviving in addition to waiting in the camps, the Japanese Nisei were allowed to join the 442nd Regimental Combat Team. Making up the entirety of the regiment, the Japanese Nisei fought for their country during the events of World War II. During these events, the Japanese Nisei compromised their self-pride along with their lives for their country. Notwithstanding the fact of facing the battle on two fronts -the prejudice at home plus the fight on the enemy’s front- the Japanese Nisei of the 442nd RCT (Regimental Combat Team) came back from the war as Japanese American citizens, not “Japs.”

The Japanese American National Museum is located in the heart of Little Tokyo, surrounded by many ramen diners, mini malls, and japanese boutiques. The museum opens up chronologically, starting off by displaying the migration of the Japanese with their aspirations to start a new life in America. After many displays of progress and struggles, the bombing of Pearl Harbor resulted in Japanese evacuation and eventually the internment of the Japanese as the United States entered World War Two. After many emotional and disheartening displays of life in the internment camps came the reparations and apologies from the American Government. In the last gallery there was pictures and displays of the modern era Japanese arts and culture.

For the most part, traditional cultural values and constructions are strongly honored among the people of Little Tokyo and those living in Japan. For example, many of the people I spoke to maintained monogamous relationships and grew up in homes where it was highly valued. Moreover, divorce is uncommon for these relationships, unlike here in America where divorce rates are exceptionally high. It likely has something to do with the way the Japanese people present themselves out in the public sphere. The store owner told me the Japanese are very mindful of appearances, and how people would think of you because of it. Certain things like divorce may in turn cause

In Japan, religion is not shared amongst a community or even discussed openly but is a private family affair. There is no one preaching or readings from sacred writings or religious prayers at schools because what they believe is based on a moral code. That if they live the way of passion and love that nothing shall hurt or harm them or their family. By how they live, Japanese social and cultural values are difficult to tell apart.

This is completely different from US religious beliefs in many ways. For one, all the religions practiced in the United States worship a specific god or gods. Another thing that’s completely different in Japan than in the US is that they are more accepting of different religions. The other religion that is widely practiced in Japan is Buddhism. Brought over by missionaries in 552 AD and emphasizes simplicity to beauty, devotion to study and severe self-discipline. All the concepts of both of these religions are not concepts that American religions emphasize. Religion is huge for the Japanese and in most houses Shintoism and Buddhism are both practiced and shrines are usually done of both religions. There are many other cultural customs in Japan that are different from those in the US.

This assignment inquires into four published articles that proclaim on results from inquest conducted on what the Shinto religion is, their past beliefs with how that has affected their new beliefs and their old and new rituals. The articles, however, fluctuate in their definitions of when Shintoism started being recorded. Kevin Ratay (2002) suggest that Shintoism has played a large role in the lives of the Japanese people, ever since the Jomon period in 200 B.C. Other articles define the starting record of when Shintoism begun differently and, therefore, offer different results. This paper examines different researches on how Shintoism has changed throughout time in relation to three other research articles to suggest that Shintoism hasn’t changed as much as we think.

Pocky, Anime, manga, kanji. Have you heard of any of these? If not… where have you been? All around us teenagers, children, and even adults are being drawn into Japanese culture through TV, books, and even food. Japanese comics, called manga, take up more and more space on American bookshelves, and they've infused new life into the publishing industry. Japanese animation, anime, is on more and more movies and TV screens and influencing popular toys and games.

Even now, disciples wearing white clothing -kimono for ascetic training, come and go there refer a part of culture (JNTO, 2014). The religious center of Japan is in Kiso, the area of Mt Ontake. For the domestic religious tourists, Leah pointed out that the Japanese concept of tourism for a trip from the pilgrimage, so for them, the most important place when they are visiting is the land of temples and other religious places (Leah, 2008). In the case of Mt Ontake can not be recovery to normal travel order in a short term, it can be expected that there would be a increase in other domestic important religious sites. For example, the tourist who was scheduled to visit this religious center in Kiso may choose to visit Tokyo's religious center instead.

The Shinto religion is seen in two different lights by Japanese scholars. One is the view that the role of Shinto in Japanese history as a periphery religion and reliant on Buddhist ideals for its success. The other is that Shinto may seem to be a very primitive religion, but it has also maintained a long history of rituals and institutions that represent Japanese culture and its ability to absorb other religions and cultures. Both arguments are relatively strong, however I argue that Modernization mixed with consolidation of the Shinto belief system during the Meiji Reformation played a major role in separating Shinto from other religions, primarily Buddhism. While it may have been dependent on Buddhism in the past, during the Meiji Restoration Shinto was clearly separated out from any other religions and put on a pedestal. I will first describe how Shinto was largely believed to be an extension of Buddhism before the Meiji period, and then I will outline the many possible causes as to how Shinto began to solidify during the Meiji Reformation.

And how did it contribute to what can be observed in Japan today? It will focus on identifying how the three religions mentioned previously have shaped the modern Japanese culture, as well as how the Japanese society operates as a non-religious community. This essay will be sectioned by religion instead of time for sake of clarity of the essay, as it discusses three different religions instead of focusing on one. This paper will discuss primarily about the idea of syncretism, “the combination of different forms of belief or practice”, according to merriam-webster.com, that revolve around Buddhism, and its surrounding religions found in the Japanese belief system. The establishment of syncretism between different belief systems and how it made a difference will be

Western Influence on Japan Japan, as a nation, is a continually changing society. Ever since western nations became involved with Japan, its changes over recent times have increased at a substantial rate. Japan now faces cultural, economical and social differences as a result of the western involvement. The involvement was initiated by the Japanese themselves, beginning during the Meiji Period1 through current times.

Many religions are popular within the Japanese culture. Two of the most influential religions, Shinto and Buddhism that help shaped a lot of Japanese values are Shinto and Buddhism, played a large role in shaping Japanese values. Numerous similarities and differences run between these two religions; nonetheless, the Japanese often believe in more than one religion at the same time. This is possible due to the polytheistic nature of most popular religions in Japan. It is not hard to say that religion is a big part of Japanese culture because a lot of religious beliefs can still be seen in their everyday lives.

All around the world, religion is a dominant idea for many cultures; exemplifying a certain way of life, serving as a basis for faith, and bringing charity to the world, religion is a extensive concept. For several cultures and countries religion may vary according to demographics, socio-economical class, and ethnicity. Main concepts of religion in Japan are natural and superstitious based. The leading religion in Japan remains Shinto, while other religions have come and go, interweaving themselves among the Japanese society.

The culture of a place is an integral part of its society whether that place is a remote Indian village in Brazil or a highly industrialized city in Western Europe. The culture of Japan fascinates people in the United States because, at first glance, it seems so different. Everything that characterizes the United States--newness, racial heterogeneity, vast territory, informality, and an ethic of individualism-- is absent in Japan. There, one finds an ancient and homogeneous society, an ethic that emphasizes the importance of groups, and a tradition of formal behavior governing every aspect of daily living, from drinking tea to saying hello. On the surface at least, U.S. and Japanese

     The Japanese culture has allowed for very little diversity. This started very early in their history. The social controls used to eliminate diversity are the family, the power of gender, the poor treatment of minority groups, the corporate Japanese mentality, and the respect required by people in authority. However, due to globalization and the shrinking of the world, Japanese society is starting to make the change to diversity. The individualistic mentality shared by the new technology driven younger generation is putting pressure on the old Japanese status quo. The transformation is happening very slow, but as the population ages and the old conservatives are being replaced by the new liberals, the old way