Massacres and Mental Health in Japan – Learning from Each Other

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Tuesday February 25, 2014 · 2:18 PM PST

2014/02/25 · 14:18

As societies, Japan and The United States has so many opposite characteristics. The right to own guns is one of these difference.

A couple of days ago, journeyman wrote this diary about the recent car rampage guy in Nagoya. There were many discussion about it and I wanted to add a Japanese perspective on this.

Follow me below the Orange Galaxy.

YellowFroggyAttack

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Wednesday February 12, 2014 · 2:04 PM PST

2014/02/12 · 14:04

I've written three diaries so far on the Japanese mind, and have learned a lot from your reaction in the comments. Last time, I used the movie “The Graduate” as a comparison point and that made a very interesting discussion. Today, I'd like to talk about “The Graduate” from a Japanese point of view. Whether this gives you an insight into Japanese thinking is for you to decide.

The movie “The Graduate” was made before I was born. I watched it on TV a long time ago. I didn’t remember much. But when we went back States few years ago, I happened to watch the movie with my in-laws. Recently I found the book in English in used book store. Then I wrote about the movie in Daily Kos in my last diary, and many people had strong feeling about it.

Until people commented on my diary, I hardly remembered the movie except for the plot points I used. Because of the Daily Kos reaction I dug up the book and finish reading it. I was hoping I would not end up hating Benjamin, as some people suggest, and have to take everything back I wrote. Luckily, (?) my impression hasn’t changed. Benjamin was sure emo, but I'm still rooting for him.

More below the exploding orange.

YellowFroggyAttack

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Tuesday February 04, 2014 · 3:10 PM PST

2014/02/04 · 15:10

Today, I’d like to talk about Japanese love stories, and how a few of them compare to ones in the West.

First, let me introduce Lafcadio Hearn.
He was born in 1850, and was one of the first great writers to bring Japanese literature to the West. He is famous for his collections of translated and re-told Japanese legends and ghost stories.

His wife, a Japanese, told him a ghost story about a woman who was dying. On her deathbed, she made him promise never to marry again.
For a while, the husband mourned, but eventually he met a woman he loved and got married again.
After the wedding night, his ex-wife's ghost came to their bedside, and killed...

the new wife.

Huh?

Follow me past the orange ghost.

YellowFroggyAttack

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Friday January 31, 2014 · 4:35 PM PST

2014/01/31 · 16:35

Hi, I wrote the recent diary, “Japanese Mind- Story of the Crane”, and I am very happy for all of your warm responses, and putting me in Community Spotlight and Rec List. I am so grateful for all the comments, I learned a lot from them.

In my first diary, I talked about the Japanese lady who had her first baby. She didn’t want her husband to witness the childbirth, and made him promise, but the promise was broken. Now she wants a divorce.

I compared this story to Japanese folk tale called Tsuru no Ongaeshi (鶴の恩返し)The Crane Returns the Favor".
The wife didn’t want her husband to see her when she was most naked, meaning her true form, the crane.
She made him promise, but the promise was broken.
She left him forever.

I wrote,
“I think in Japan something needs to be secret all the time.”
I thought this might be a key to the Japanese mind.

In the comments I got, I realize some of you thought I was criticizing the wife for feeling betrayed because of disrespect for her boundary and breaching the promise.
Worst of all, I didn't want you all to think I am saying Japanese would be unique in this.

So I thought about it again. The point I really wanted to make was:
“You must pretend nothing goes on, when clearly something is going on.”
Because when I encountered the wife's question on the website, what made me most uneasy was that she was talking to total strangers, when she should have talked to her husband.

I’d like to quote a different story, the story about King Midas, but not the one most famous in the west about the gold, but the one about the ass's ears. I think this story shows my point better.

Follow me below the origami spaghetti.

YellowFroggyAttack

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Wednesday January 29, 2014 · 1:23 PM PST

2014/01/29 · 13:23

Hello! I'm new here. I'm the wife of Kossack Hatrax. I'm from Japan, and English isn't my first language, so please bear with me. I'd like to write some diaries about Japanese culture and the problems of the Japanese mind.

There's an internet site, in Japanese, called Chiebukuro (the wisdom box).
It's similar to Yahoo! Answers: people ask questions, and others answer them.

I’m Japanese, born and raised, but I always get culture shock by reading the answers.

Today, I encountered this one.

Follow me below the twisty thing.

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Massacres and Mental Health in Japan – Learning from Each Other

Japanese Thoughts - The Graduate

Japanese Mind 3 - All's Fair in Love Stories

Japanese Mind 2 – The Crane Wife Strikes Back, and King Midas

Japanese Mind- Story of the Crane