Donning a hakama and substituting a convenient butter knife for a wakizashi I set out for the countryside in hopes of finding the true spirit of Japan`s traditions. Perhaps I would also hone my skill as an artisan of death with my trusty sidearm.
An hour into my walk and I was yet to find the long, winding roads calling me to my destiny. However, I did stumble upon a teahouse in which I might be able to lighten my wallet in exchange for a calming, comfortable atmosphere.
Perhaps I should have taken the sign promoting it as a teahouse as a warning. It was not the establishment I was expecting. After being ousted rather violently I continued my journey.
Perhaps it was the mild concussion I sustained after being hoisted out by the waistband on my undergarments, but my continued journey produced no sword emporiums, an excess of garish and noisy pachinko parlors, and vending machine after vending machine...I did find solace in a refreshing can of Mitsuya Cider (TM).
I]ll spare my beloved readers the analyzation, but will once again state that much of the traditional culture that many feel is missing was more the tradition of the minority (if not the elite) that that of the overarching notion of Japan. Many seem to take unchanging physical manifestations as a sign of tradtion rather than the customs themselves.
To give a more concrete example, last year I attended a lecture concerning David Rumsey`s Historical Map Collection. One of the maps shown was less a dry, overly-lined geographical map than a colorfully detailed picture noting where travelers could find places in order to make the most of their trip. Who exactly had access to such maps was not revealed, and it it could very well be another example of activities kept from the general populace, but judging from the number of agencies not only dealing in international but domestic travel show that the business of providing informed access to areas unknown to Japanese folk is quite alive and well.
As with the "teahouse" above and the example of travel, tradition doesn:t seem to be so much a matter of keeping secrets closely guarded within specific communities, but what becomes reproduced (or poorly mimicked...damn the teahouse once it has the potential to do so.
1 comment:
Hmmm... This post is a bit different and not as satisfying as your usual work. Yes, I agree that many Japanese traditions started out as activities of the elite. But is that still true today? Tradition, as a part of culture, is always changing.
I wonder instead of guessing about the number of Japanese who travel if you could do some research and find some statistics?
It seems as though you should have known what you were getting yourself into at thew teahouse. Perhaps a post about Japan's sex industry might have worked for this week's theme...
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