Kris Self-Reflection

This has been a strange but good trip for me. I've definitely been on longer and more difficult courses and such, but I feel like this has been very enjoyable in a different way than I'm used to. I made a lot of friends cut from a much different cloth than I've ever met before and had experiences I couldn't have had everywhere else. Getting to visit a temple and practice zazen, getting to forge friendships and live in Fururu, and getting to make friends with a professor I haven't had many opportunities to talk to before were all wonderful.

I think this trip has also rekindled my passion and interest in the Japanese language and the JET programme that I hadn't been feeling lately in a really meaningful way. I got to see how far I could push my skills, and where I was deficient in my studies or needed to improve. I think what really solidified the language in my mind more than anything else was a visit I took with Josh to a hole-in-the-wall cafe near Fururu run out of an old lady's house. It really seemed like she was running it to keep herself amused more than anything else. She couldn't speak any English, but she was interested in us, chatty and super nice. She gave us a few snacks, made tea for us and even when we were done and excusing ourselves, she took us upstairs so she could show us the sights in Hakodate from her upstairs window. We never did get her name, but I don't think it's an afternoon I'll ever forget.

Group Research Summary

To reiterate (for those who haven't been paying attention) over the course of two weeks on this GSP research trip, our group topics have been Zen Buddhism and the topic of drinking culture in Japan.

Zen Buddhism:

Zazen (Sitting Meditation) is an outgrowth of Buddhist principles which incorporates various specific Japanese values that predate it. By the time of the earliest written documents, such as the Nihon Shoki in the 8th century CE, Buddhism and the earlier animist religion of Ko-Shinto had already mixed. This has lead to various idiosyncrasies in Japanese religion, including the incorporation of ideas other than the core Buddhist tenets into the religion. For example, on our visit to the Zen Buddhist temple of Kouryuuji, we found rooms not only dedicated to Buddhas, their disciples and meditation, but also the worship of native guardian spirits- the Kami of the Shinto religion. While one would not pray or make wishes as such to a Buddha, as they are simply enlightened humans like you or me, the guardian spirits are much more like the deities more familiar to western religion, demanding worship and potentially granting wishes and the like.

In addition, the belief in Buddhism and other religions is by no means mutually exclusive. Many Japanese people find no issue and will find it anything but strange to make a visit to a Shinto shrine for New Year's celebrations, be taught Confucian values in school, and be buried a Buddhist- all while not necessarily believing in the superiority of one system over another or even believing deeply in any of these. In fact, the head monk of the temple we visited (who was very kind to show us around and put up with question upon question,) was very candid about his stance on other religions. While he may not necessarily believe in anything other than the Zen Buddhism he personally practices, he will happily work together with Shinto practitioners for events and he sometimes even attends Christian masses and prays in a Christian fashion- not for himself, as he doesn't personally believe- but for the sake of the Christian worshipers gathered there (as there may be a God, and if so, he'd wish the best for those there.)

Drinking Culture in Japan:

Drinking culture in Japan is an interesting topic compared to drinking in the west. Drinking is a very openly discussed and done thing, with much less of the negative stigma surrounding it in Canada. Paradoxically, the drinking age is much higher in Japan than in other places -set at 20- though this is likely due to cultural influence from the United States, where the drinking age is 21 due to a much greater historical stigma from Puritan Christianity and the like.

Once the requisite age is reached, however, the world of drinking opens up to the Japanese. In the same bar as us or merely from afar, we've seen time and time again the strong drinking culture embedded in the Japanese work culture- it's practically required to go out drinking with your boss and coworkers to prove you're part of the group and foster team spirit. Another interesting facet is the near all-encompassing availability of cheap and greatly varied alcohol. There isn't a requirement for a licence to serve or sell alcohol, so it's widely available in everything from vending machines to convenience stores to even the venerable fast-food restaurant Lucky Pierrot. In addition, the consumption of alcohol in public isn't illegal, so the worst you'll get for drinking as you meander down the street is a few judging looks for drinking while walking, which is considered a bit rude.

Joshua Self Reflection

Whew boy, what a long and strange trip it's been! Not everyone has taken to the drinking the same way I have, and I'm probably going to need a good long sobriety period to repair the damages done to my liver. The bars in Japan and the availability of liquor is still astonishing! We've seen sixties Americana dive bars, classic Japanese sake bars, weird panda themed bars and more. The alcohol flows like water here and is virtually as cheap. The Buddhist temples here are a little reclusive, but the one we did visit intensively revealed a lot about the practice. I wish I could've chatted up more locals, but the language barrier has certainly proved difficult! Still, we learned so much about people through observation and firsthand experience that I feel we have a better understanding of the way Japanese people live. If only we had more time, practice, and liquor money!

Self reflection from Fernando

  During this trip in Japan, I had a great time and learned a lot about Japanese cultures. We get to visit many local restaurants because of our Japanese drinking culture project. It is always pleasing to see how those staffs treat the customers with hospitality and kindness. I heard Japanese service industry is one of the most successful countries before I came to Japan, but it is still shocking to observe to dedication they put in their work. While we are staying in Hokkaido, there are two times that our friends forgot their belonging in the shop, however, the staff always manage to track us down and return the lost stuff. The other thing I learned is that the streets in Japan are definitely the cleanest I have even seen. All the garbage is sorted in order to maximize the recycling. What is more amazing is that the trash cans are not as many as we see in Canada despite the streets being so clean. All of those things demonstrate the discipline of Japanese people. From our high school visit, we could see how Japanese are educated in this way since childhood. Many Japanese think not as an individual, they act selflessly upon on the benefit of group. It seems the discipline of samurai spirit is undead after all.

Peter: self-reflection

So far, we've seen so many things in Japan, and the trip is close to an end. It brought me thinking what we've learned so far and did I achieved the target that setup before we enter this wonderful land? It was overwhelming during the first couple of days, everything seems so interesting to us. We were more or less in the mood of enjoying the life in Japan, and after we arrived the HakoBA, we kind finished most of our work in Hakodate. I think the time we spend after this is the time we can truly settle down and focus on observe every details in the surrounding environment.
We had several discussion on the D2L about our own opinion of Japanese culture, that was a great way of exchange our interesting finding towards the local culture. And it did lead to some deep conversation about culture. Speaking of culture, it is such a pity that our group are not been to bar all together once. I been to bar twice with Fernando and Kris, but most of the time we were just having drink in our place, we could have done this better.

Kris' research on Buddhism

In our research thus far, we have had a number of interesting observations on the intermingling of Zen Buddhism and other religions, and specifically with the monk we visited on our temple trip. Nation-wide, the Buddhist doctrine has mixed with the animist Shinto religion, leading us to find that while Buddhas and the enlightened were held in reverence in the temple, there was a specific room dedicated to the worship of a “guardian spirit” to answer the wishes and prayers that a Buddha cannot. In other words, there was a dedicated place for the worship of Shinto Kami. This is not particularly surprising, considering the influences present in Mahayana Buddhism, or even new, considering that (Ko-) Shinto and Buddhism were already being blended together by the time of the Nihon Shoki in the early 8^th century.

In addition, the monk we visited was quite open about his feelings about the non-exclusivity of his religious beliefs, talking about combined Shinto/Buddhist burials and ceremonies and the co-operation between their religions. In addition, the monk also sometimes attends Christian ceremonies, to pray for those faithful to that particular religion. I found this particularly fascinating, as he doesn’t necessarily believe in the Christian god himself, and in fact goes in his capacity as a Zen Buddhist monk, and is praying for others on behalf of the god they believe in, rather than his own sake or within his own beliefs.

It is interesting to delve a little into the various reasons that Zen Buddhists are less picky about their affiliations. The Buddha(s) are not revered as gods as such, but are rather enlightened human beings  have an official position on the existence of other deities, so they have been more open to coexisting with native religions. This ties back in to the greater Japanese and East Asian cultural view of religion- with those not mutually exclusive being blended freely, such as Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism in China, which leads me to think back to the greater cultural facet of Japan’s adaptation of new ideas into their own. Not just in the realm of religion, but also in other aspects, such as their adaptation of Chinese noodles into their world-famous Japanese ramen, or German brewing techniques into their own beers, even to facets of their culture that are now defining, such as the massive and world-spanning Japanese automotive industry.  

Fernando's research on drinking culture

Since the day we arrived Japan, I have been doing a lot of research on our topic about drinking culture in Japan. Comparing to Canada, it is much easier to buy alcohol drinks in Japan. Alcohol drinks can be seen on the shelf of seven eleven, Lawson and other convenient stores. Similar to other countries in Asia, the Japanese government control on alcohol and tobacco does not seem to be as strict as in North America. There are even vending machines that sell cigarettes. It is shocking for Canadians to see how open the government’s attitude toward tobacco and alcohol.

      They offer a variety of alcohol drinks, from as low as three percent alcohol soda to more than fifty percent sake and whiskey. The legal drinking age is 20 in Japan. In general, a customer will need to confirm if he or she has reached the legal age when buying alcohol drinks. Despite there is such a law exist and I just reached the legal drinking age, every time I buy alcohol drinks from convenient stores and order drinks in restaurants for ‘research purpose’, the staffs do not ask me to show IDs or other proofs. This could be the reason that I am a foreigner to Japan, and therefore I am assumed to be over legal age. But still, comparing to buying alcohol in Canada, Japanese teenagers seem to be a lot easier to get their hands on alcohol than Canadian teenagers. Although getting alcohol is not a difficult thing to do in Japan, it is rare to see people drink alcohol on the street and public transportations. During the conversation with local Japanese university students, I learned drinking or eating when walking on the street is considered to be rude in Japan, unlike almost everyone holds a cup of coffee when they go to work in Canada. Japanese people do not like to drink and eat while moving around. It is also hard to see people smoke in public despite how easy it is to buy cigarettes in Japan. For most company buildings and train stations, there are some isolated rooms especially for smoking zone. It is a reflection of Japanese motto ‘Not to trouble other people’.

In the rest days of this trip, I will be focusing on drinking culture in commercial occasions and after work parties within coworkers. Like many other relationships, dining and drinking works as social lubricant, will bring people closer.

Peter: exploring drinking culture in Japan

We were finally in Japan! This whole trip is just so amazing, my last trip in Japan was 2012, and it was not so good. Because I was under 18 and the only choose is to travel within a group, I can’t travel alone at that time. The travel agency’s plan was intense, 4 cities (Nagoya, Nara, Osaka, Tokyo) in 7 days……so terrible. This time is way way way better. We have so many such interesting activities, such as dancing with Japanese collage people, wearing Kimono and taking pictures under cherry tree, etc…

So, back to the topic, we are doing drinking culture and Zen Buddhism research. Today I’m going to talk about drinking culture. First of all, it is so common to find alcohol EVERYWHERE! They don’t even ask me for ID, just a simple consent question “Are you over 18?”  “Yes”  and you are good to go. Secondly, the alcohol is fairly cheap in Japan. You can buy more variety of drink than Canada, you could get all the western liquor and plus all the Japanese drink. The convenience store are offering all kinds of alcohol, from Whisky to Wine, from Shochu to Chu-Hi and those stores are almost everywhere. So far the best liquor we enjoy in Japan is the fruit flavoured Shochu, they are so delicious! Usually the Shochu is around 15-20 degree, it is not too high to make you dislike the taste and also give you the strong enough alcohol to make you satisfied.

We often doing the drinking together as a group, it makes us get to know each other better, and warm up the atmosphere pretty quick. As a tool it is very efficient when you do not drunk yourself. So far I only have chance to visit a bar once, they have this crazy plan called “Nomihodai” everywhere, about 10-20 dollar you can drink as much as you can in usually 2 hours! I have to say that’s a great way to get yourself drunk in Japan. During that night’s visit, the bar which we went to was a small but well-decorated one, and seems like most of the bar was that kind of feeling. Small but cozy with great food as well. People can have their own time after a hard day of working and get some relax by a good “All you can drink” special.

Joshua: Finding Zen is A Confusing, Embarrassing, and Often Painful Journey

Our expedition into religion here in Japan has born fruit; we visited a Soto Zen temple in downtown Hakodate and met a monk who speaks English fairly well. He explained the nuances of zazen practices and how Buddhism fits into the modern world. The details of which we will now delve into; Zen Buddhism, unlike Mahayana Buddhism from which it is derived, is founded on personal emptiness as opposed to worship of deities and Buddhas to find enlightenment. This personal approach to finding Nirvana is difficult to grasp, and even a relatively fluent English speaker could not explain the path by which they travel. Save to say, extensive meditation and soul searching of different methods, such as sitting in an ungodly uncomfortable cross-legged position with your feet touching your stomach because one guy did it once upon a time for an hour and a half (I’m not bitter but my whole body hurts now), they find their personal path to Nirvana.  This search takes years, but somehow the monks remain cheery and hopeful, and their thigh muscles are so huge they could probably life a freight train so that probably adds to their confidence.

The temples themselves are extremely important as well, providing a peaceful and serene environment where they can effectively find inner peace. The walls are intricately carved cedar beams and the whole building smells of fresh cut wood and incense. The lights are dim, with the whole room lit by reflections on ornate golden structures. This environment is simultaneously intense and tranquil, and upon entering you immediately feel some sort of powerful energy. Perhaps this is why the lineage of Buddhism perseveres despite many centuries of change.  These Zen temples are very different from the Mahayana temples in Canada, which are always brightly lit and lively. This change in atmosphere is difficult to adapt to, but I must say the peace and quiet was a welcome change after a week of intense drinking cultural immersion and long days. The monks were also extremely generous; they offered all the wisdom they could and, intrigued by Chinese Mahayana Buddhism in Canada, asked many questions in return. Their thirst for knowledge and understanding is rivalled only by the most diligent of scholars and I suppose they are exactly that. One must be diligent if they are to meditate for so long every day for decades. If given an opportunity to meditate with the monks of the temple again, I wouldn’t hesitate for a moment. Enlightenment awaits, and the Soto monks in Hakodate are eager to find it.

Introductions: Joshua

Hello! My name is Joshua and I'm a student at the University of Calgary in East Asian Languages. I decided to take part in this trip to Japan to improve my understanding of Japanese language and customs. Additionally, the exploration of drinking culture in Japan is of some fascination as it is potentially mirrored to Canadian custom.

This trip is also a great opportunity for me to sight see and research historical events and regions in northern Japan. This field of study is of great importance to me and I hope that by visiting locations of great significance I may seek out a greater understanding of the origins of such a proud and culturally rich society. Such locations shall include Zen Buddhist temples, especially since it is a pivotal section of my research there. Additionally, there is also a unique nightlife in Japan which I would love to take part in studying, and so it will be a major component of the cultural studies of which I plan to undertake there. With a pint in hand we can learn the land.

I hope to share many amazing stories and pictures from landmarks, temples, izakayas and more throughout this journey I am about to go on!

Introduction: Peter

Hi there, I'm Peter, an East Asian Studies student with a Japanese minor in the University of Calgary. I'm been interested in Japan for a long time since I was a child, the most important entertainment for me in those days is to watch the TV anime. There was such a variety of Japanese anime in that time (sadly they been replaced by domestic cartoon several years later), and many of them are now been considered to be classic and high-quality in both the narrative and animation. I was fascinated by those masterpieces.

So ever since I have the chance to choose what I really like, I get into this major. I already have plenty of the information that I explored in the University and my daily life. I was been to Japan once in 2012. It was such a great experience, that everything around you gives you a sense of interesting. I felt that I was back to age 5! By visiting a country which you are truly be attracted is the most immense way to get to know their culture. I'm looking forward to our trip, and hope I can be reliving that amazing experience once again!

Kris Introduction

My name is Kris, and I'm a linguistics student at the U of C with a Japanese minor. I'm happy to have been able to be selected for this trip, since it will not only help me complete my minor, but also be an excellent experience for my career development, as at the end of my degree, I am aspiring to work in the Japan Exchange and Teaching programme (JET). I haven't been able to allot the time or funds to make a trip to Japan until now, so I'm very happy to be able to be able to go, and for credit as well.

For my course project, I'll be working on an overview of the Shinto religion over history, and with our group historical project on Zen Buddhism, I'm hoping to gain some insight on both Japanese society and culture, as well as getting to experience two prominent religions which are of great interest but still completely foreign to me. I'm looking forward to getting to see and visit places on this trip that I would only be able to read about otherwise, and I think that will be of great value to my personal and group research topics.

Introduction Fernando

Konnichiwa! My name is Fernando. I am a student in University of Calgary who is currently in applied math major and Japanese minor. I have strong interests in math (mostly because there is no essays or lab reports due all the time), but also gained fascination by the beauty of Japanese culture. Despite the fact that I have studied Japanese for a couple of years by now, I seldom have any Japanese conversation out of class(lack of opportunity, but more likely due to insufficient proficiency). So, I am quite excited to immerse myself into a Japanese speaking environment. In order to learn or advance at a skill, you must endorse yourself in it first. Learning a culture does not just happen in the classroom; meeting the people and exploring the country where the culture is originated would be best for learning. Through this program, I hope I can have deeper knowledge about Japanese culture and enhance my Japanese. For our group study program project, our group is doing research on Zen Buddhism and drinking culture in Japan. During the stay in Hokkaido, we hope to reach a whole new level on Zen, as well as discuss the significance of drinking culture in contemporary Japan.

Group Research and Discussion

Our topics for the group research project include, in the historical domain, the historical development of Zen Buddhism over the ages and for our cultural research topic, we will be studying drinking culture in Japan. These topics were chosen by our group as a whole, due to a general interest in these subjects as well as a number of media sources bringing the interesting differences between Canada and Japan, such as the opposing drinking cultures, such as the phenomenon of salaryman drinking culture, including work parties and the general culture of frequent drinking to repress societal stresses. Nationally indoctrinated alcoholism is recurrent and common worldwide, so it is little surprise to hear of it in both the proud nation of Japan as well as our own nation of Canada. Specifically, in Japan, dining and drinking with your coworkers and business clients is very common, as it is an important way to enhance the relationships. Certain Japanese societal circles (the workplace, university clubs, etc) run more smoothly with the help of alcoholic lubrication in the form of after-hours “drinking parties” to facilitate team-building and bonding—it’s called nomication, a portmanteau of “nomu” (to drink) and “communication”. A common saying in Japan is, “if you want to work your way up the corporate ladder you have to drink”. This was how many older generation workers established relationships and considered this the normal way of doing business. On the other hand, as one of the two traditional religions in Japan, Zen Buddhism can be found in commonly in Japan cultures, such as tea ceremony, Zen garden and so on. Through the practice of various Japanese arts, many of the moral and spiritual values of Zen were taught and transmitted in Japan. By examining Zen Buddhism over history, we intend to seek its reflection on the evolution of Japanese religions in general, as well as the contemporary mindset of Japanese People.

We plan on conducting our field research with a combination of various methods, such as visiting many temples and religious institutions in addition to places such as museums for our historical research section on Zen Buddhism, and experiencing hands on the culture of Japan, namely through the imbibing of specific libations as opportunities present themselves. This will hopefully include the visiting of various places to experience the nature of drinking culture in Japan firsthand, including various bars, izakaya, nomihoudai et cetera.

While it is difficult at this particular juncture to say what the individual members of our group are to expect to find in the course of the historical and cultural research we will be conducting for this course, we do expect to find that the Japanese people are not so different as to ourselves; They drink hard when they can and work tirelessly when they must. Like the Buddha, they understand balance in their day to day. Through our observing and research, we are hoping to understand the significant role of drinking plays on social occasions and cultural aspects in contemporary Japan, as well as how Zen Buddhism is practiced in Japanese lifestyles.