Homework questions
1) We discussed the Japanese concept of "wrapping." Do you agree with the web site's description? What do you do that can be called "wrapping"? Give examples and reasons for your actions.
1) We discussed the Japanese concept of "wrapping." Do you agree with the web site's description? What do you do that can be called "wrapping"? Give examples and reasons for your actions.
2) Regarding the discussion of "Death and Funerals": answer these questions in your blog.
a. Where do you go when you die?
b. Explain why do Japanese have death memorial services 1 month, 1 year, 3 years, 7 years, etc. after a person's death?
Answers
1) Analyzing Japan from this "wrapping" standpoint is very popular in many textbooks about Japanese culture. I have heard about the idea before. The way the website described this behavior makes sense to me. So many things in Japan are all about presentation - the way they look and act from the outside, compared with what's really going on inside. In some cases, maybe you're never allowed to see all the way into the true heart of a matter. But the hints provided by the surface allow you to imagine or figure it out by yourself. To me, this tendency often gives Japanese matters a sense of mystery and subtlety. Maybe you have to be alert and sensitive to figure out what's really happening under all those layers.
Partly, I also think "wrapping" is what makes Japan a beautiful place: even something like a small package of drain cleaner or sugar are considered in great detail. A good's appearance and ease of use are taken into account when it's packaged. If you compare the way products are wrapped in Japan versus the way they are wrapped in America, I think you can see America's "do it yourself" approach: in America you almost never get pre-measured amounts of product, you're expected to parcel it out by yourself when you're using it.
Also, think about how an oyster "wraps" a grain of sand until it becomes a pearl. The thing that started out as being boring, and annoying to the oyster, turns into something beautiful - or at least it becomes less annoying. Maybe this is a nice metaphor all the "wrapping" of all types that goes on in Japan.
2) a. I practice Shinto, worshipping the Inari kami, which is kind of odd for an American. Shinto often doesn't want to deal with death, because the kami dislike "impure" things and death is considered impure. But, I came up with an idea on my own about what happens after death, which kind of follows along with some Shinto ideas I've studied. I think people mostly stop being aware after they die (with the exceptions of kami, ghosts, Buddhas, and that kind of thing.) The energy that human, animal, and plant spirits are made of goes into the universe, and gets broken down like a fallen autumn leaf turning into soil. Then bits of the purified energy get distributed into new living things when they are born. It's kind of like recycling, where old stuff is turned into new stuff.
b. I actually don't know why there are these carefully spaced out rituals for the dead in Japan. I tried to look it up, but couldn't find one good answer. I saw a bit of research that says "the mortuary tablet of the dead person is thought to have the personality and worldly passions of the deceased until the last anniversary (the thirty-second or forty-ninth year after death)" - that's from a book called 'The Japanese Mind: Understanding Contemporary Japanese Culture.' So maybe the dead have to be taken care of by their family regularly, until they finally become ancestor spirits? I'm not sure.