Neighborhood Makinohonmachi

I have been living in Hirakata for two years now. I am from a country side of Mie prefecture so my first impression of Hirakata was more like “urban”, although 大阪人（osaka people） says Hirakata is not “urban” but “country”. So in order to talk about my neighborhood Makinochonmachi, I would first like to introduce why Hirakata is “city”.

 

              In Hirakata there is the station called “Hirakatashi” station. Japanese call it “shieki” because it is located in the middle of Hrakata. Hirakata station is big station because almost every train stops at Hirakata. Moreover, keihan trains come and go at least once every 3 minutes. This is very different from my hometown where they only have train once every 30 minutes. From this point I feel Hirakata is more on “city” side.

              Now that I’ve explained why Hirakata is a city, I will talk about Makinohonmachi. I live in an apartment and my neighbor is also a Kansaigaidai student. However, I barely know about this Katahoko Honmachi(place where I live) so I will talk about Makino Honmachi since I have friend who lives there.

           

If you live near seminar house, Makino Honmachi is pretty close and you can go there by crossing the bridge. From Makino Honmachi you can still see Kansai Gaidai building. However, as you can see from this picture, there are so many apartments and houses that are closely located. This Makino Honmachi has super sanko, which is a super market near the bridge. My friend told me that she goes to this supper market very often because they sell it in reasonable price.

What surprised me the most in this Makino Honmachi was that people were like that of my hometown. When I was busting her house people came to her house to おすそわけ（giving away something）vegetables by saying つまらまない物ですが(this is boring thing). I thought this was only custom in country side so I was really surprised. Furthermore, even there are more convenient transportation or houses that are really closely built, how Japanese interact with neighbor does not really matter if you are in city or country. The important thing I learned from this is to form a good community by doing おすそわけbecause we are Japanese.

☆Link about Osusowake if you want to learn　more:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ukvje_NI-1w

What is Japanese Culture?

↑観音寺(Kan non ji) in Kyoto

When people were to ask to determine their own culture, it is not easy to describe because they have to look their culture from objective point of view. For me, Japanese Culture had depth: unique culture that tries to balance tradition and trend in order to preserve and advance. 

     

First of all, shrine defines what Japanese culture. Since it’s consists of different purpose and history which relates deeply to the culture it allows people to learn about the history from the temple and try to pass it on to the next generation: preserve.



↑ Japan's traditional house with pillar (more than 100years old)



↑My grandfather who is manistay of our house.



Secondly, material and structure of architecture shows Japanese culture as well. Not only shrine but also traditional houses in Japan consist of strong wood, pillar in the middle to support the building. This structure can be seen in the family structure as well. The third picture is my grandfather who is the central pillar in my family. He is the one who usually keeps track of what is going on or what to do next. My family consists as a family because of his existence and by admiring him it allows us to pass ritual to next generation which is important part of Japanese culture: advance.



↑ Formal Japanese cuisne that can be seen in Ryokan



Lastly, there are two different type of food: formal and casual. As you can see from these pictures, Japanese culture can to change in situation to situation. However, the important tip for Japanese dish is always use fresh material such as fish. Therefore, Japanese culture try to protect the tradition even there is trend.         

↑ Casual Japanese dishes that can be seen in Izakaya

From preceding points, Japanese culture is usually hidden behind objects or feelings such as pillar and gratitude. Moreover, despite the fact that Japanese culture is changing the formation in today’s world to adjust on the necessity or trend, the root or principle of this culture is deeply connected to tradition due to appreciation in the history that makes Japanese culture as it is.