I took this picture a while ago, but in thinking about that last post, it came to me again in a different light.
To me, hot dog assembly seems like a pretty self-explanatory thing. But what about in a society that makes it a point to tell children how best to get in order to line up to go outside together for their class exercises done in unison? Maybe there's a serious fear for well meaning mothers that they'll be making hot dogs for their kids, and the kids will break down in anguished tears because they must be the only children in Japan with a mother so degenerate as to prepare them with barbecue sauce or chopped onions or something. What kind of pressure to conform are these people living under?
As a foreigner I'm pretty much expected to behave in an societally unacceptable way. C'mon, I wasn't lucky enough to have been born on the blessed island and at some point I'll be expected to leave because, well, I'm not Japanese. So I really have no idea how it feels for people who have grown up in this whale-bone corset of a society.
2 comments:
I don't mean to sound so down on Japan here. But two tequila lemonades will bend a fella's writing style. And I do worry about what this place does to people.
But I also still get a kick out of being here.
And I will try to update more often, Jeff. But I've been busy lately.
Understandable, Japan seems to be a pretty hectic, though enjoyable, place. :) Its good to see a few updates, thank you. Hope your days are treatin ya better than tuesday.
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