New Year in Japan. I have been doing lessons about New Year in Japan these last couple of weeks. And I`m enjoying them a lot. Lessons that are genuine are always the best ones, when there is no pretence, no role play of stupid conversations that do not relate to the students` reality in anyway (but which form such a big part of their English lessons with the textbook).
The reason these New Year lessons are a success is that I genuinely don`t know about New Year in Japan. When I ask them a question in English, it is a real question that I have. This is real communication in English for them – the whole reason they have been learning their whole lives! And in general they respond well to it, because it is not fake.
I like it, because I have learnt so much about New Year from my students. And I`m going to try to write as much of it as I can remember here:
New Years Eve (less important than New Years Day, unlike England).
People will eat “toshikoshi soba”. As far as I can gather, this is soba noodles but made with special noodles that are circular (to represent the coming-around of the New Year/ completion of the last, I think). (Edit: The internet doesn`t mention circularity so I may have miss-heard/ understood this. It says soba noodles because their longness represents longevity).
New Years Day (for family – families will get together – like xmas in England).
Hatsuhinode – people will get up/ stay up to watch the first sunrise coming up over the Pacific Ocean on the beach.
Hatsumode – people will visit a shrine. They will pray/ make a wish for the year and throw a coin into the special box at the shrine.
They may also take a fortune slip at the shrine. If it`s lucky they will believe it, if it`s unlucky they will generally forget about it.
At big shrines there will sometimes be a ceremony (old Japanese is spoken – and nobody will understand the meaning (similar to Latin in church services I suppose). Also in the more Chinese shrines there is the tradition of a person dancing with the head of a lion – shishmai. The lion will bite the head of a few people in the audience. If the lion bites your head, this is considered very lucky.
The dream that you have during the first night of the new year is also considered to be very significant. If you dream about Mt. Fuji, a hawk, and/ or an eggplant this is considered to be very lucky and is a good omen for the coming year.
There are also special traditional games that are played at New Year.
Takoage – children will fly kites.
Karuta – this is a card game that people will play.
There is a traditional game, similar to badminton played with decorated special raquets and a shuttle cock that people (mainly girls) will play.
There is also a spinning top game that children will play; you pull the string and it sets the top spinning.
Nengajo - Japanese people will also send New Year cards to arrive on New Years Day. This is similar to a postcard. Families may send about 100 of these cards. Children might send a few. Typically they are printed with a message from the family (not hand-written like our xmas cards). The picture on the card will always have the symbol of the Chinese animal that represents the coming year, on the card – this year you couldn`t move in the shops for these funny cartoon cows (oxes, I think they are meant to be!). When you send it at the post office, the post office will print a number on the card. This is like a lottery. A couple of weeks after New Year the lucky numbers will be printed in the national newspapers and published on the internet. You can win things like a fridge, down to some stamps if you receive a new year card with those numbers.
Not all families will send New Year cards – if there has been a funeral in the family that year, then that family will not send new year cards/ cannot send a Happy New Year message (because of the death in the previous year).
Otoshidama is a very important custom to the students – adult relatives of children will give the children (up to age 18-20 presumably) gifts of money (presented in special envelopes). Typically my students received about \10,000 – about 50 quid.
There is a lot of special food associated with New Year.
Osechi – this is like a platter of lots of different types of food. (Typical Japanese – small, bitty). It will typically contain – Kaboca – ground up fish paste, chestnuts, black beans, egg and fish paste together, herring roe Osechi is a favourite at New Year.
Mochi – the rice cakes. A lot of these are eaten at New Year in many different forms. They are eaten in ozoni (the clear vegetable soup), with anko (the red, sweet azuki bean paste), with natto, covered in the sweet green soy bean flour. The strange texture takes some getting used to but I like them.
For the Japanese, mochi are a guilty treat. Something they shouldn`t have too much of or else they`ll get fat. To me, it seems strange something that is only made of rice is unhealthy but the Japanese definitely have a different view of what is bad for them. Apparently, the special rice used to make mochi is more calorific. And the fact the air has been compressed out, means more calories. It is a worry for the Japanese!
New Year decorations:
These are all put out to attract the presence of the gods into the family house.
Kadomatsu is a decoration made from 3 bamboo canes and some pine. It is put outside the front gate.
Kagamimochi is a decoration made from 2 mochi stacked, and a orange (mikan) placed on top. With a small decorative flag sometimes aswell. People will eat this decoration on January 11th traditionally.
On perhaps the coming days after New Years Day people will go shopping. Fukubukuro is a tradition. Shops will sell bags of surprise goods. It is common for people to buy these surprise bags. They come in all different price ranges.
In work places, there may be an enkai to celebrate the New Year. However, this didn`t happen in my case, because there is also the tradition to have the bonenkai (the end of year party) at the end of the last year. As enkais are usually expensive, some work places do not have this new year party as well.
Tuesday, 20 January 2009
Wednesday, 14 January 2009
The Eccentricities of Christmas in Japan
This is a delayed entry given that both Christmas, and New Year have passed now. But I just couldn`t let the strangeness of Japanese Christmas go by without a mention.
Christmas is distorted in Japan, as one of my J.T.Es said. This is a phenomenally HUGE understatement of the century. Chriistmas in Japan is nearly unrecognizable to me and my experience of it in England. But, the fact there are still Christmas trees, and it is still called Christmas on top of all the other oddities, is what makes it so damn weird!
It is, I would say, definitely true to say, that Japan is a very consumerist society. Yuji told me that the celebration of Christmas has been propelled into the Japanese consciousness not by any Christian missionaries (who have had very limited effect here), but by the shops, department stores and businesses – all marketing it very intensely in November-December. They want more purchases and the shopping associated with Christmas, and therefore Christmas, is obviously a very beneficial (financially-speaking) occasion to promote.
For some reason the key market at Christmas time is the young couple. Since the 1970s (when Christmas was first started to be celebrated in Japan) shops and businesses have created, out of thin air, Christmas Eve as some sort of alternative Valentine`s day night. Over this time I suppose a sense of guilt/ duty has been created in the Japanese men to take their partners out for a romantic dinner, buy them flowers etc. You can see this marketing everywhere – all the advertising posters have soft pictures of couples bent over a Christmas cake (more about that later), all the restaurants have boards advertising their Christmas menu for two. Just bizarre. Bizarre because Japan has taken this festival of Christmas, but for some reason has not taken the idea that it is a time for family, but completely invented it as a celebration of romantic love!!! Interesting to see how certain ideas are picked up as they are spread around the world, and other ideas are completely not seen and forgotten.
Aside from the consumerist aspects of taking your partner out, and buying Christmas presents the Japanese are entirely confused about what they are meant to do for Christmas. It is something that has been imposed on them by the shops, and therefore, once the purchasing aspects have been done, there are no real clues, this side of the world, as to what else should be done.
The nation have a vague awareness that Americans eat chicken (err…) at Christmas. So typically that is also something that Japanese people have adopted at this time of year. Yuji cooks a chicken for his family. (Quote from Yuji – “we eat chicken ….. but we don`t know why…..” said wistfully). (It is impossible to buy a turkey in Japan by the way).
I laughed a lot when I saw a brochure advertising their Christmas food in one of my local supermarkets: on the centre fold there was a big photograph of a magnificent roast chicken (and presumably a few roasted vegetables) with large plates of sushi displayed around it with pride! What I get a feeling of, is that families may have a meal of chicken, with their other favourite foods that they like – ie sushi (as it is one of the most popular food choices for the Japanese – and me!!) Apparently, (I don`t know if this is true – there can be queues of people outside KFC on Christmas day, because that`s what the Japanese know that Americans eat!)
The Christmas Cake makes up a very significant part of Japanese Christmas. Also, important to the English Christmas (though to a lesser extent proportionally due to all the other stuff in England). Though English Christmas Cake and Japanese Christmas Cake are two entirely different beasts/ genera/ phyla!
I do not know WHERE the Japanese got their inspiration for their Christmas Cake – but it can`t be from this earth. It is as different from the English version as is possible to get – a light sponge, and whipped cream concoction decorated with cut fresh strawberries. Sometimes there is a token Santa figure which may form part of the decoration but this isn`t hugely necessary.
Though, I have just remembered that, in thinking about this before with someone, I realized that the strawberries and whipped cream may have been initially used for their colours – red and white – Santa.
This cake is everywhere in the run-up to Christmas. Every family will have one. All the students will mention it when I ask them “what is Christmas in Japan?”. Looks pretty yuck to me. Primarily because it is TOTALLY out of season!
With the huge exception of Christmas time I have found food shopping in Japan to be a very seasonal experience. It is obvious to know which vegetable is currently in season because they dominant the vegetable department and they taste so damn good. But, the strawberries in mid-winter are a crazy, major deviance from this.
These obviously fake, out of season, very forced fruits are displayed on shelves surrounded by holly and pictures of Christmas trees. It is very, VERY bizarre to see.
The cake instantly looked like something to eat in summer for me. I was very confused by it. I didn`t eat out of principal (and lack of opportunity more like!)
The universal-across-Japan Christmas drink is champagne. I think I have the same reaction of – “that`s a bit odd that everybody does that”, to the Japanese reaction when I say that champagne is a universal-across-England drink for New Year, because they don`t do that in Japan.
Aside, from the shopping, buying, and eating and drinking there really is nothing else to Christmas in Japan. Which is a bit sad really, and why I didn`t really want to spend Christmas here.
The reason why it`s a bit sad is that there are bits of Christmas here, but just the surface parts. The Christmas colours are still red and green. Holly is a Christmas plant. Of course, they have Santa Claus.
Many of the parts of Christmas that are significant for me, are not here. Which is a little strange. For example the Christmas cards.
Although there are Christmas cards sold in shops, to send Christmas cards is by no means a widespread custom in Japan. I discovered this when I decided to send Christmas cards to all my friends in Japan – as it would be something that I would do in England. I thought it would be a nice way of showing some English culture (and they were really thrilled with their cards – the first ones they had ever received). I discovered, when I tried to buy the Christmas cards, that they are only sold as individuals, not in the big multiple packs you can buy in England. This just shows that if you are going to send a card, you probably will just send one, (maybe to your lover! Seeing as that`s what it`s about here!)
Christmas cards are another aspect of this funny festival that the Japanese celebrate, but that are confusing to the Japanese. I realized this when I was doing a fun making Christmas card lesson just before the holidays. They had to be told EVERYTHING. The Christmas card opens “this way” (plus demonstration of opening). (Understandable I suppose, because the Japanese do read books and magazines back to front).
They had to be told – “The picture goes here. The writing goes here.” The students were all very confused that there should be no picture where the writing was. Boring! They almost all wrote all over the whole inside of the card, and drew pictures inside too. Even my J.T.E, after showing her my draft of the worksheet to help them with the format of the card,forcefully insisted I should have some little picture next to the writing!
What they drew as a picture on the card was interesting for me to see basically what Christmas is, to them. Often santa was drawn in the form of an anime character santa (who looks rather different from the Father Christmas figure I`m used to). They drew Christmas trees – and it is true most families do have a Christmas tree (never real of course though – I doubt you`d be able to buy them here).
Christmas trees are decorated in a similar way to England. But I was interested to learn from Yuji that many people often take the Christmas tree down, ON Christmas day!! How funny is that! Just shows it is not an important festival really.
And why should it be, really? Why is it here at all? Thinking rationally I should not be put out that Christmas is just a time for consumerism here because why should it be anything more than that? Christmas has no part in Japanese culture, no part in Japanese history. I did feel a little put out though, in the run-up to Christmas. (But I think that`s because the superficial reminders I was getting here – xmas trees etc, reminded me of everything else that was not here, that I was missing).
Objectively, I should be glad Christmas is not really here. And I AM glad about that. I like a culturally diverse world. I AM glad that the Christian missionaries have been solely unsuccessful here. Very glad!!
The sad thing is though, that this strange distorted, consumerist Christmas that the Japanese people don`t really know why they celebrate, and in general don`t know what they are supposed to be doing, seems to be growing, and taking over the traditional Japanese New Year. I have been doing lessons about Japanese New Year with my classes at the moment. Students and teachers could come up with a huge number of traditions – special activities, food and decorations that happen at New Year when they really thought about it. And I learn something new in every lesson – it`s really interesting.
In some of my classes the students find it difficult to recall though. Arai-sensei regretted the fact that now, this biggest festival in the Japanese year is becoming a bit diminished over the general population because of the rise of Christmas. It used to be that all the family would have holiday, and be together, but now some people are working. He was saying that my lessons were important to remind the students all about New Year and how it is special!
Hopefully, this weirdo Christmas won`t overcome New Year in Japan, because I think that would be a shame.
Christmas is distorted in Japan, as one of my J.T.Es said. This is a phenomenally HUGE understatement of the century. Chriistmas in Japan is nearly unrecognizable to me and my experience of it in England. But, the fact there are still Christmas trees, and it is still called Christmas on top of all the other oddities, is what makes it so damn weird!
It is, I would say, definitely true to say, that Japan is a very consumerist society. Yuji told me that the celebration of Christmas has been propelled into the Japanese consciousness not by any Christian missionaries (who have had very limited effect here), but by the shops, department stores and businesses – all marketing it very intensely in November-December. They want more purchases and the shopping associated with Christmas, and therefore Christmas, is obviously a very beneficial (financially-speaking) occasion to promote.
For some reason the key market at Christmas time is the young couple. Since the 1970s (when Christmas was first started to be celebrated in Japan) shops and businesses have created, out of thin air, Christmas Eve as some sort of alternative Valentine`s day night. Over this time I suppose a sense of guilt/ duty has been created in the Japanese men to take their partners out for a romantic dinner, buy them flowers etc. You can see this marketing everywhere – all the advertising posters have soft pictures of couples bent over a Christmas cake (more about that later), all the restaurants have boards advertising their Christmas menu for two. Just bizarre. Bizarre because Japan has taken this festival of Christmas, but for some reason has not taken the idea that it is a time for family, but completely invented it as a celebration of romantic love!!! Interesting to see how certain ideas are picked up as they are spread around the world, and other ideas are completely not seen and forgotten.
Aside from the consumerist aspects of taking your partner out, and buying Christmas presents the Japanese are entirely confused about what they are meant to do for Christmas. It is something that has been imposed on them by the shops, and therefore, once the purchasing aspects have been done, there are no real clues, this side of the world, as to what else should be done.
The nation have a vague awareness that Americans eat chicken (err…) at Christmas. So typically that is also something that Japanese people have adopted at this time of year. Yuji cooks a chicken for his family. (Quote from Yuji – “we eat chicken ….. but we don`t know why…..” said wistfully). (It is impossible to buy a turkey in Japan by the way).
I laughed a lot when I saw a brochure advertising their Christmas food in one of my local supermarkets: on the centre fold there was a big photograph of a magnificent roast chicken (and presumably a few roasted vegetables) with large plates of sushi displayed around it with pride! What I get a feeling of, is that families may have a meal of chicken, with their other favourite foods that they like – ie sushi (as it is one of the most popular food choices for the Japanese – and me!!) Apparently, (I don`t know if this is true – there can be queues of people outside KFC on Christmas day, because that`s what the Japanese know that Americans eat!)
The Christmas Cake makes up a very significant part of Japanese Christmas. Also, important to the English Christmas (though to a lesser extent proportionally due to all the other stuff in England). Though English Christmas Cake and Japanese Christmas Cake are two entirely different beasts/ genera/ phyla!
I do not know WHERE the Japanese got their inspiration for their Christmas Cake – but it can`t be from this earth. It is as different from the English version as is possible to get – a light sponge, and whipped cream concoction decorated with cut fresh strawberries. Sometimes there is a token Santa figure which may form part of the decoration but this isn`t hugely necessary.
Though, I have just remembered that, in thinking about this before with someone, I realized that the strawberries and whipped cream may have been initially used for their colours – red and white – Santa.
This cake is everywhere in the run-up to Christmas. Every family will have one. All the students will mention it when I ask them “what is Christmas in Japan?”. Looks pretty yuck to me. Primarily because it is TOTALLY out of season!
With the huge exception of Christmas time I have found food shopping in Japan to be a very seasonal experience. It is obvious to know which vegetable is currently in season because they dominant the vegetable department and they taste so damn good. But, the strawberries in mid-winter are a crazy, major deviance from this.
These obviously fake, out of season, very forced fruits are displayed on shelves surrounded by holly and pictures of Christmas trees. It is very, VERY bizarre to see.
The cake instantly looked like something to eat in summer for me. I was very confused by it. I didn`t eat out of principal (and lack of opportunity more like!)
The universal-across-Japan Christmas drink is champagne. I think I have the same reaction of – “that`s a bit odd that everybody does that”, to the Japanese reaction when I say that champagne is a universal-across-England drink for New Year, because they don`t do that in Japan.
Aside, from the shopping, buying, and eating and drinking there really is nothing else to Christmas in Japan. Which is a bit sad really, and why I didn`t really want to spend Christmas here.
The reason why it`s a bit sad is that there are bits of Christmas here, but just the surface parts. The Christmas colours are still red and green. Holly is a Christmas plant. Of course, they have Santa Claus.
Many of the parts of Christmas that are significant for me, are not here. Which is a little strange. For example the Christmas cards.
Although there are Christmas cards sold in shops, to send Christmas cards is by no means a widespread custom in Japan. I discovered this when I decided to send Christmas cards to all my friends in Japan – as it would be something that I would do in England. I thought it would be a nice way of showing some English culture (and they were really thrilled with their cards – the first ones they had ever received). I discovered, when I tried to buy the Christmas cards, that they are only sold as individuals, not in the big multiple packs you can buy in England. This just shows that if you are going to send a card, you probably will just send one, (maybe to your lover! Seeing as that`s what it`s about here!)
Christmas cards are another aspect of this funny festival that the Japanese celebrate, but that are confusing to the Japanese. I realized this when I was doing a fun making Christmas card lesson just before the holidays. They had to be told EVERYTHING. The Christmas card opens “this way” (plus demonstration of opening). (Understandable I suppose, because the Japanese do read books and magazines back to front).
They had to be told – “The picture goes here. The writing goes here.” The students were all very confused that there should be no picture where the writing was. Boring! They almost all wrote all over the whole inside of the card, and drew pictures inside too. Even my J.T.E, after showing her my draft of the worksheet to help them with the format of the card,forcefully insisted I should have some little picture next to the writing!
What they drew as a picture on the card was interesting for me to see basically what Christmas is, to them. Often santa was drawn in the form of an anime character santa (who looks rather different from the Father Christmas figure I`m used to). They drew Christmas trees – and it is true most families do have a Christmas tree (never real of course though – I doubt you`d be able to buy them here).
Christmas trees are decorated in a similar way to England. But I was interested to learn from Yuji that many people often take the Christmas tree down, ON Christmas day!! How funny is that! Just shows it is not an important festival really.
And why should it be, really? Why is it here at all? Thinking rationally I should not be put out that Christmas is just a time for consumerism here because why should it be anything more than that? Christmas has no part in Japanese culture, no part in Japanese history. I did feel a little put out though, in the run-up to Christmas. (But I think that`s because the superficial reminders I was getting here – xmas trees etc, reminded me of everything else that was not here, that I was missing).
Objectively, I should be glad Christmas is not really here. And I AM glad about that. I like a culturally diverse world. I AM glad that the Christian missionaries have been solely unsuccessful here. Very glad!!
The sad thing is though, that this strange distorted, consumerist Christmas that the Japanese people don`t really know why they celebrate, and in general don`t know what they are supposed to be doing, seems to be growing, and taking over the traditional Japanese New Year. I have been doing lessons about Japanese New Year with my classes at the moment. Students and teachers could come up with a huge number of traditions – special activities, food and decorations that happen at New Year when they really thought about it. And I learn something new in every lesson – it`s really interesting.
In some of my classes the students find it difficult to recall though. Arai-sensei regretted the fact that now, this biggest festival in the Japanese year is becoming a bit diminished over the general population because of the rise of Christmas. It used to be that all the family would have holiday, and be together, but now some people are working. He was saying that my lessons were important to remind the students all about New Year and how it is special!
Hopefully, this weirdo Christmas won`t overcome New Year in Japan, because I think that would be a shame.
Monday, 12 January 2009
Shintoism - Japanese Religion. Or Not.
I have arrived back in Japan after 2 weeks Christmas in England and I think I am experiencing culture shock here for the first time. I think this is because of the very abrupt change that I have experienced now, as opposed to (in hindsight) the gradual adjustment into Japanese society I experienced when I first arrived here (being with all the other jets, the Tokyo orientation, meeting an English speaking supervisor, meeting other Japanese people one by one).
Whereas now, I had come from a brilliant weekend in London with my friends, to 24 hours later – back in my Hitachi flat on my own. Though, simply arriving in Japan the country and my flat did not give me culture shock. I knew exactly what to expect, that I needed to go in and sort out the place, get it warm etc. And that was OK, I was prepared for that, and I was fine doing that.
The culture shock happened the following day; a day of too much difference, too soon (on top of no rest/ stop time since I arrived). I had been invited to accompany a group of “seniors” on their annual New Year visit to a very special shrine. A shrine to the “number 1 God” in Shintoism, so I was told. When I originally accepted the invitation I had assumed that it would be a visit to the local shrine, as that is typical to do at New Year, but I later found out this annual trip for this group (a majority of men) was to this special shrine in Tochigi prefecture – a 4 hour coach ride away.
This first negative aspect of the trip – the excessive length of journey time in comparison to the amount of time spent in the destination was, – like the Japanese approach to taking holidays (5 day trip to Europe), I knew, going to be something I hated. I cannot STAND the way people take time off, a holiday, and cram in the visit to a place where there is no time for wandering, exploring, talking to local people in a place, doing something that varies from the well-trodden picture-taking route that all visitors to the place add to.
So I knew that over 4 hours outward travel, 2 1/2 hours there, 4 hours return travel was never going to be my idea of fun, but I thought I would go because it was the chance to experience the activities of a very important time in Japanese calendar.
The start of the journey reminded me of the community nature of Japanese society - which is difficult to fully describe unless you actually live it. I realized that in this particular case, it wasn`t just the destination that was the sole purpose of this day – it was the fact all this local community were doing something they valued as important, together. The Japanese love being part of groups and communities, and it is a part of Japanese society that I do really like as well. Many people had bought some food (rice crackers, chocolate, hard-boiled eggs, satsumas) and drinks to share, and these were distributed down the bus to everyone that morning.
And of course the drink was distributed aswell. At the bus stop I noticed Tomobe-san`s friend had bought a can of beer. I was a bit surprised to see this at 6.45 in the morning – and I think he was equally surprised to see my reaction “no way! Not for me, - only in the evening!”. I clearly didn`t know what was to come, and what was customary on group trips to shrines like this one.
That man cracked open his can at perhaps 7.30 – 8 in the morning, marking the beginning of a day of continuous drinking for the two men sitting beside me in the back of the coach. A short while later, paper cups were passed back and then a big bottle of sake was passed back. Sake, rice wine, is a celebratory drink in Japan, very popular with everyone. Rice has so much importance, and is so strongly bound to Japanese culture that I wasn`t hugely surprised to see this bottle. New Year is a celebration afterall. Because of specialness of this drink, and this time of year, I thought I should accept a small glass out of politeness, which I did.
From then on, my feelings about the trip started to change. The two men beside me kept this huge bottle and were continuously refilling their cups with this strong drink, becoming increasingly drunk with more and more slurred speech. I was shocked to begin with, and as they continued became more and more disgusted with what I was witnessing.
It`s not as if I felt so appalled by this behaviour because I am a believer myself – obviously, I think that all religion is ultimately a load of crap. But, I am very respectful to sites of religious significance and have a feeling that others should be respectful of religious sites too, (because of the meaning that they hold/ have held to some people).
Maybe nobody in Japan is a serious believer in Shintoism, therefore nobody`s drunkenness or excessive picture-taking in the shrine will offend anyone now. In which case, if no-one is bothered by the lack of respect/ reverence, then nobody really believes in it seriously. So, here-in lies my big question – why do all the Japanese continue to visit shrines, and tell people they are Shinto?
During the course of the journey I was keen to find out more about Japanese Shintoism from Tomobe-san. I tried to read a bit about it before I came here but it does seem to be a very amorphous, strange religion. The 80,000 gods, the hierarchy of gods, the reverence of certain sites of nature that can also be gods (like Mt Fuji I think), how it seems to combine with aspects of Buddhism aswell. It is all very confusing.
Tomobe assured me that he prayed at his small shrine in his home (every Japanese home has one), every evening. But I just don`t believe a word of it. There is absolutely no sincerity in his voice and there never is when I talk to anyone about this subject. “What can you pray about?” I asked. “We can ask for anything, for anyone and yourself!” he said accompanied by lots of laughter (this was said before he got drunk). There was no sincerity and that`s what convinced me of the fact, he doesn`t really believe in any of these gods, that they would do anything for him. Visiting the shrine, for him, and likely most of them, was just an empty ritual, that they`ve been doing all their life.
Visiting the shrine at New Year is cultural. Having a small shrine in your home is cultural. It`s attractive. It`s not religious at all I don`t think. So, why do people say that it is, why do they say Japanese people are shinto? That is the biggest thing I can`t understand. Why don`t they just call themselves atheists and be done with it? At the shrine the people I was with were, by far and away, most keen on taking my photo in front of everything that they knew to be important in the shrine. Even posing me throwing my coin into the shrine alter and praying. That`s hardly the actions of people who believe, surely. The others who weren`t with me were also taking pictures, and many, once the prayer was done simply moved to the next stage of the conveyor belt that is a shrine visit: to watch the ceremony.
Though, we arrived a little early for the ceremony we were scheduled to be a part in. I followed the group into a room inside the shrine where we could get some green tea. It was a crowded room, full of people sitting on the floor around largish pots. These were used as ash trays. Most people were sitting and smoking as they waited.
There was no sense at all that this place was anything special or held any special meaning for these people. It`s just another task of life that is done. So why not smoke and carry-on as if everything was normal. There was certainly no deeper contemplation of the meaning of life or ANYTHING remotely like that in these people.
Tomobe thought I was confused because of the polytheistic aspect of the religion, but what confuses me is the pretend belief people have. How can there be any sincerity of belief in this place when everyone behaves like this? All I can think is that shintoism means nothing to the Japanese today. It is just something that is part of their history, and the practices you can see at New Year are empty rituals that are carried out every year; to visit your local shrine/ or nearest big shrine to the number one god (as I did). To throw your coin. To say a prayer (more like – make a wish would be a better way of describing this event, I think). To watch the ceremony, if there is one.
(Incidently, this part was the only part of the shrine visit I enjoyed – sitting in silence, and I could at last attempt to meditate and contemplate things, without being hassled for a photo as I was all before. (Though I did have to deal with Tomobe falling into me periodically because he couldn`t sit up straight because of his state of drunkenness). I had thought the whole visit to the shrine would be very conducive to meditation and contemplation – how wrong I was! It was an entirely superficial experience).
I was disgusted by his state, but evidently nobody else was (although, he did hide it well – he just looked tired and spaced out). You could say that my feelings about being drunk in a religious building result from my cultural experience of religious buildings: churches. Obviously, going to church drunk, would just never happen. But I think drinking and smoking does suggest a lack of respect, or simply a lack of meaning of this place.
I was hanging back in the shrine after the end of the ceremony (in which I was given a branch of leaves and had to stand up and do some bowing at the alter along with my group). I wanted to take in the surroundings of this shrine. Afterall, I had been posing for photos for much of the rest of the time since arriving, and hadn`t had much chance to appreciate the place as a result.
But, it was clear, that once the performance was over, there was nothing left for people there. The conveyor belt of a shrine visit moves on: time to move on to the next step on the trail: Lunch. No time for individual appreciation, or exploration of the place, of course.
Lunch; soba noodle soup, and tempura, and that Konnyaku jelly-like starch vegetable for a starter was eaten the small restaurant/ café place at the back of the souvenir shop. I`ve almost become desensitized to this now. At EVERY SINGLE place of enjoyment/ interest there is always a large souvenir shop where you can buy boxfuls of local omiyagae (usually bean cakes or mini cheese cakes are most common) you must buy for your collegues/ to prove that you have been to the place.
So after lunch, the obligatory stop at the souvenir shop for everyone to buy their omiyagae, a group photo (in front of the coach I think) and then we all tramped back on to the coach. A total of 2 hours 15 mins at the shrine, and then back on the coach for the 4 hour journey back to Ibaraki.
I was getting sad at this point. The cumulative cultural shocks of being offended, surprised and shocked by their behaviour, and being crammed on this bus where the drinking continued as if it had never been interrupted, by a supposedly “special” once-a-year visit to a “sacred” shrine.
Cans of cocktail were cracked open, and more sake glugged out into the paper cups. I was recounted the story of the third man in our back row who was so very drunk on this trip last year. They all laughed as they told me this, but I was just disgusted.
They thought I was looking upset because of my fortune paper I picked out. (This is another typical feature of shrines. You pay \100 to pick out a piece of paper from a big box of papers on which your fortune is written. Most Japanese clearly think this is rubbish because I didn`t see many people do it. But, I was encouraged to get one because they must have thought I would want to do this new cultural experience). My fortune paper was I think the worst one. I could tell that from their slightly strained reactions as they read it, as they were thinking how they could explain this in a positive light to me. Apparently, it was entitled “latest luck”. My luck will come later in life. Obviously, I don`t believe a word of that crap (like them I suppose – not that they would admit it), and I didn`t care a less about it.
But, they seemed to think it was that, that was bothering me. They kept on telling me – “you`ll be the BBC announcer!” (as I had told them, it was my ambition to work for the BBC in the future).
Those fortune papers were superstition, and as I`ve been writing this, I`ve come to think that that is all Shintoism is to the Japanese now. A superstition to go and pray at the shrine/ make a wish each New Year. That`s why they do these rituals that they do. Not because it holds any real meaning for them. Just because it is part of their culture, been done by all Japanese people for generations. That; respect and wanting do continue the tradition done by their elders, and the shallow superstitious feeling about it, is what I think motivates most Japanese people in visiting their shrines.
As it became dark and we were nearing Hitachi the three men I was sitting with were desperate for me to come to the Izakaya with them. More drinking! I was incredulous. By this time I was quite upset, and just had to escape. Luckily I could as the bus made a stop at Taga station and I got out as quickly as I could and caught the bus home.
I was shocked very much by the behavior that day. But perhaps that`s because I was viewing the day through the glasses of a British/ European/ Western culture. Where religion is taken so seriously these days. I don`t think it is very common for a (for example) Christian, and not take that as a serious part of their lives these days.
But here, religion is a completely different phenomenon from it`s counterpart in the west. Day to day it has no meaning. Once or twice a year there is a ritual (New Year and O-bon in August) to visit the shrine, where Japanese people go through the motions. But it is definitely nothing more than being an aspect of their culture. This doesn`t mean that they don`t want to do it, of course. They actively want to visit shrines, but it is for a cultural reason only (comparable to me going to a carol service at a church at Christmas, I guess).
I suppose it is surprising for me to be complaining that people aren`t serious about their religion. There are obviously serious problems, wars, human rights abuses in the world today because of religions. But, I also hate superficiality and pretence. I come across superficiality in several different aspects of Japanese society (for example, superficial holidays to places because they only spend 5 minutes there). People should be honest about why they do things and why it is important to them, I think.
Objectively, I can see that my strong negative reaction is perhaps a bit strange. Given that I am not at all religious. But, I think I am quite spiritual, in the sense I really value the inner calm I get from sitting quietly and emptying my mind (or thinking about things). I love getting that feeling knowing it comes from me only, and I love talking about religion and not-religion with my various meditation, quaker and christian friends. In fact I do miss that aspect of my life from university.
In Japan you cannot get this experience, or have this sort of discussion when you relate it to religion, because they would relate it to what they think is their religion – shintoism. And there certainly isn`t any meditative aspect to a visit to a Shinto shrine I experienced.
Parts of Buddhism is also related to Japanese shintoism but yet meditation isn`t really practiced as part of that here either. Again, the Buddhism aspect to the “religion” of the Japanese is in fact, a cultural one. From what I gathered from Tomobe-san, the Japanese follow shintoism in life but they believe aspects of Buddhism once a person has died. This practically evident in the fact people have Buddhist gravestones, (and perhaps they “believe” in a cycle of continuous reincarnation until nirvana is reached – but I haven`t asked anyone about that yet).
I asked Tomobe-san about meditation (as it seems to me an important part of Buddhism) but he said for him sleeping is like meditation. Fair enough. I often used to sleep a little in meditation at Durham I think. I knew he wouldn`t meditate. To be honest, I can`t imagine the majority of the nation have time for such a thing with all the work they do! (exaggeration).
There are obviously many extremes to Japanese society, which foreigners have an impression of. One of those impressions is that of the Buddhism and the meditative calming space of the Japanese zen gardens. I wonder where this impression comes from. I don`t often see this meditative aspect to Japan and Japanese people at all (they work too hard).
In fact the only time I do experience this calmness is during tea ceremony. I love tea ceremony. Watching the tea being made is very calming and the whole thing is very much like a meditative experience. I mentioned this too my supervisor. She said that is also why all Japanese like it so much – for that same reason as me. I love tea ceremony because it is an aspect of traditional Japanese culture that is so strongly held up today (tea ceremony clubs at all schools are very popular, and women take lessons in the art aswell – all the variants of it are very complicated). I can tell it has some genuine meaning to the Japanese. It is a part of their culture - well valued and respected and upheld by all.
What I object to is the superficiality of many aspects to Japanese culture and religion. I value and respect things and people that are genuine and honest.
When I told Tomobe-san about my incredulity at all the drinking that was going on in the back of the bus he kept saying that the Japanese religion was flexible.
It`s not a flexible religion they have – it`s a non-existent one! The shrine visit is for cultural history – surely! Why do they keep this pretence of religion? They pay a lot of money to travel on this trip to the shrine, it takes a long time, they bow and make a wish.
It obviously is important to people because everybody DOES do it, EVERY year. People obviously know what to do. They knew what the different aspects of the shrine visit meant. But, that doesn`t mean they believe it. It means they know the history – they know what people used to believe – they know how the historical beliefs of people created the cultural objects/ rituals that we can see/ participate in today – and what they value. That history and that culture that is created, and is THEIRS. That`s why they do it I think. And that by no means necessitates that they believe it. Because they don`t!
This was an annual visit, to allegedly, a shrine of real religious significance. From my cultural standing point if you had any belief of the significance of this big trip, or reverence towards this important shrine, you would NEVER behave like this, never show such a lack of respect to a supposedly religious place, by becoming so drunk.
Now that the trip is over I am left with the feeling, that perhaps it was the travelling as a group that was the most highly valued part of the trip. I certainly didn`t feel that the Shrine, the Shinto religion has any real significance, importance of deep meaning to this group of people (and therefore most Japanese). My supervisor did say to me that she thought that if you pray when drunk the gods would not grant(?) your prayer. But, the manner in which she said that sentence it was like it was a superstition rather than a proper religion. I think that is the best way to describe it - Shintoism is a superstition that is held by all Japanese and they visit the shrine for this, and cultural reasons.
Whereas now, I had come from a brilliant weekend in London with my friends, to 24 hours later – back in my Hitachi flat on my own. Though, simply arriving in Japan the country and my flat did not give me culture shock. I knew exactly what to expect, that I needed to go in and sort out the place, get it warm etc. And that was OK, I was prepared for that, and I was fine doing that.
The culture shock happened the following day; a day of too much difference, too soon (on top of no rest/ stop time since I arrived). I had been invited to accompany a group of “seniors” on their annual New Year visit to a very special shrine. A shrine to the “number 1 God” in Shintoism, so I was told. When I originally accepted the invitation I had assumed that it would be a visit to the local shrine, as that is typical to do at New Year, but I later found out this annual trip for this group (a majority of men) was to this special shrine in Tochigi prefecture – a 4 hour coach ride away.
This first negative aspect of the trip – the excessive length of journey time in comparison to the amount of time spent in the destination was, – like the Japanese approach to taking holidays (5 day trip to Europe), I knew, going to be something I hated. I cannot STAND the way people take time off, a holiday, and cram in the visit to a place where there is no time for wandering, exploring, talking to local people in a place, doing something that varies from the well-trodden picture-taking route that all visitors to the place add to.
So I knew that over 4 hours outward travel, 2 1/2 hours there, 4 hours return travel was never going to be my idea of fun, but I thought I would go because it was the chance to experience the activities of a very important time in Japanese calendar.
The start of the journey reminded me of the community nature of Japanese society - which is difficult to fully describe unless you actually live it. I realized that in this particular case, it wasn`t just the destination that was the sole purpose of this day – it was the fact all this local community were doing something they valued as important, together. The Japanese love being part of groups and communities, and it is a part of Japanese society that I do really like as well. Many people had bought some food (rice crackers, chocolate, hard-boiled eggs, satsumas) and drinks to share, and these were distributed down the bus to everyone that morning.
And of course the drink was distributed aswell. At the bus stop I noticed Tomobe-san`s friend had bought a can of beer. I was a bit surprised to see this at 6.45 in the morning – and I think he was equally surprised to see my reaction “no way! Not for me, - only in the evening!”. I clearly didn`t know what was to come, and what was customary on group trips to shrines like this one.
That man cracked open his can at perhaps 7.30 – 8 in the morning, marking the beginning of a day of continuous drinking for the two men sitting beside me in the back of the coach. A short while later, paper cups were passed back and then a big bottle of sake was passed back. Sake, rice wine, is a celebratory drink in Japan, very popular with everyone. Rice has so much importance, and is so strongly bound to Japanese culture that I wasn`t hugely surprised to see this bottle. New Year is a celebration afterall. Because of specialness of this drink, and this time of year, I thought I should accept a small glass out of politeness, which I did.
From then on, my feelings about the trip started to change. The two men beside me kept this huge bottle and were continuously refilling their cups with this strong drink, becoming increasingly drunk with more and more slurred speech. I was shocked to begin with, and as they continued became more and more disgusted with what I was witnessing.
It`s not as if I felt so appalled by this behaviour because I am a believer myself – obviously, I think that all religion is ultimately a load of crap. But, I am very respectful to sites of religious significance and have a feeling that others should be respectful of religious sites too, (because of the meaning that they hold/ have held to some people).
Maybe nobody in Japan is a serious believer in Shintoism, therefore nobody`s drunkenness or excessive picture-taking in the shrine will offend anyone now. In which case, if no-one is bothered by the lack of respect/ reverence, then nobody really believes in it seriously. So, here-in lies my big question – why do all the Japanese continue to visit shrines, and tell people they are Shinto?
During the course of the journey I was keen to find out more about Japanese Shintoism from Tomobe-san. I tried to read a bit about it before I came here but it does seem to be a very amorphous, strange religion. The 80,000 gods, the hierarchy of gods, the reverence of certain sites of nature that can also be gods (like Mt Fuji I think), how it seems to combine with aspects of Buddhism aswell. It is all very confusing.
Tomobe assured me that he prayed at his small shrine in his home (every Japanese home has one), every evening. But I just don`t believe a word of it. There is absolutely no sincerity in his voice and there never is when I talk to anyone about this subject. “What can you pray about?” I asked. “We can ask for anything, for anyone and yourself!” he said accompanied by lots of laughter (this was said before he got drunk). There was no sincerity and that`s what convinced me of the fact, he doesn`t really believe in any of these gods, that they would do anything for him. Visiting the shrine, for him, and likely most of them, was just an empty ritual, that they`ve been doing all their life.
Visiting the shrine at New Year is cultural. Having a small shrine in your home is cultural. It`s attractive. It`s not religious at all I don`t think. So, why do people say that it is, why do they say Japanese people are shinto? That is the biggest thing I can`t understand. Why don`t they just call themselves atheists and be done with it? At the shrine the people I was with were, by far and away, most keen on taking my photo in front of everything that they knew to be important in the shrine. Even posing me throwing my coin into the shrine alter and praying. That`s hardly the actions of people who believe, surely. The others who weren`t with me were also taking pictures, and many, once the prayer was done simply moved to the next stage of the conveyor belt that is a shrine visit: to watch the ceremony.
Though, we arrived a little early for the ceremony we were scheduled to be a part in. I followed the group into a room inside the shrine where we could get some green tea. It was a crowded room, full of people sitting on the floor around largish pots. These were used as ash trays. Most people were sitting and smoking as they waited.
There was no sense at all that this place was anything special or held any special meaning for these people. It`s just another task of life that is done. So why not smoke and carry-on as if everything was normal. There was certainly no deeper contemplation of the meaning of life or ANYTHING remotely like that in these people.
Tomobe thought I was confused because of the polytheistic aspect of the religion, but what confuses me is the pretend belief people have. How can there be any sincerity of belief in this place when everyone behaves like this? All I can think is that shintoism means nothing to the Japanese today. It is just something that is part of their history, and the practices you can see at New Year are empty rituals that are carried out every year; to visit your local shrine/ or nearest big shrine to the number one god (as I did). To throw your coin. To say a prayer (more like – make a wish would be a better way of describing this event, I think). To watch the ceremony, if there is one.
(Incidently, this part was the only part of the shrine visit I enjoyed – sitting in silence, and I could at last attempt to meditate and contemplate things, without being hassled for a photo as I was all before. (Though I did have to deal with Tomobe falling into me periodically because he couldn`t sit up straight because of his state of drunkenness). I had thought the whole visit to the shrine would be very conducive to meditation and contemplation – how wrong I was! It was an entirely superficial experience).
I was disgusted by his state, but evidently nobody else was (although, he did hide it well – he just looked tired and spaced out). You could say that my feelings about being drunk in a religious building result from my cultural experience of religious buildings: churches. Obviously, going to church drunk, would just never happen. But I think drinking and smoking does suggest a lack of respect, or simply a lack of meaning of this place.
I was hanging back in the shrine after the end of the ceremony (in which I was given a branch of leaves and had to stand up and do some bowing at the alter along with my group). I wanted to take in the surroundings of this shrine. Afterall, I had been posing for photos for much of the rest of the time since arriving, and hadn`t had much chance to appreciate the place as a result.
But, it was clear, that once the performance was over, there was nothing left for people there. The conveyor belt of a shrine visit moves on: time to move on to the next step on the trail: Lunch. No time for individual appreciation, or exploration of the place, of course.
Lunch; soba noodle soup, and tempura, and that Konnyaku jelly-like starch vegetable for a starter was eaten the small restaurant/ café place at the back of the souvenir shop. I`ve almost become desensitized to this now. At EVERY SINGLE place of enjoyment/ interest there is always a large souvenir shop where you can buy boxfuls of local omiyagae (usually bean cakes or mini cheese cakes are most common) you must buy for your collegues/ to prove that you have been to the place.
So after lunch, the obligatory stop at the souvenir shop for everyone to buy their omiyagae, a group photo (in front of the coach I think) and then we all tramped back on to the coach. A total of 2 hours 15 mins at the shrine, and then back on the coach for the 4 hour journey back to Ibaraki.
I was getting sad at this point. The cumulative cultural shocks of being offended, surprised and shocked by their behaviour, and being crammed on this bus where the drinking continued as if it had never been interrupted, by a supposedly “special” once-a-year visit to a “sacred” shrine.
Cans of cocktail were cracked open, and more sake glugged out into the paper cups. I was recounted the story of the third man in our back row who was so very drunk on this trip last year. They all laughed as they told me this, but I was just disgusted.
They thought I was looking upset because of my fortune paper I picked out. (This is another typical feature of shrines. You pay \100 to pick out a piece of paper from a big box of papers on which your fortune is written. Most Japanese clearly think this is rubbish because I didn`t see many people do it. But, I was encouraged to get one because they must have thought I would want to do this new cultural experience). My fortune paper was I think the worst one. I could tell that from their slightly strained reactions as they read it, as they were thinking how they could explain this in a positive light to me. Apparently, it was entitled “latest luck”. My luck will come later in life. Obviously, I don`t believe a word of that crap (like them I suppose – not that they would admit it), and I didn`t care a less about it.
But, they seemed to think it was that, that was bothering me. They kept on telling me – “you`ll be the BBC announcer!” (as I had told them, it was my ambition to work for the BBC in the future).
Those fortune papers were superstition, and as I`ve been writing this, I`ve come to think that that is all Shintoism is to the Japanese now. A superstition to go and pray at the shrine/ make a wish each New Year. That`s why they do these rituals that they do. Not because it holds any real meaning for them. Just because it is part of their culture, been done by all Japanese people for generations. That; respect and wanting do continue the tradition done by their elders, and the shallow superstitious feeling about it, is what I think motivates most Japanese people in visiting their shrines.
As it became dark and we were nearing Hitachi the three men I was sitting with were desperate for me to come to the Izakaya with them. More drinking! I was incredulous. By this time I was quite upset, and just had to escape. Luckily I could as the bus made a stop at Taga station and I got out as quickly as I could and caught the bus home.
I was shocked very much by the behavior that day. But perhaps that`s because I was viewing the day through the glasses of a British/ European/ Western culture. Where religion is taken so seriously these days. I don`t think it is very common for a (for example) Christian, and not take that as a serious part of their lives these days.
But here, religion is a completely different phenomenon from it`s counterpart in the west. Day to day it has no meaning. Once or twice a year there is a ritual (New Year and O-bon in August) to visit the shrine, where Japanese people go through the motions. But it is definitely nothing more than being an aspect of their culture. This doesn`t mean that they don`t want to do it, of course. They actively want to visit shrines, but it is for a cultural reason only (comparable to me going to a carol service at a church at Christmas, I guess).
I suppose it is surprising for me to be complaining that people aren`t serious about their religion. There are obviously serious problems, wars, human rights abuses in the world today because of religions. But, I also hate superficiality and pretence. I come across superficiality in several different aspects of Japanese society (for example, superficial holidays to places because they only spend 5 minutes there). People should be honest about why they do things and why it is important to them, I think.
Objectively, I can see that my strong negative reaction is perhaps a bit strange. Given that I am not at all religious. But, I think I am quite spiritual, in the sense I really value the inner calm I get from sitting quietly and emptying my mind (or thinking about things). I love getting that feeling knowing it comes from me only, and I love talking about religion and not-religion with my various meditation, quaker and christian friends. In fact I do miss that aspect of my life from university.
In Japan you cannot get this experience, or have this sort of discussion when you relate it to religion, because they would relate it to what they think is their religion – shintoism. And there certainly isn`t any meditative aspect to a visit to a Shinto shrine I experienced.
Parts of Buddhism is also related to Japanese shintoism but yet meditation isn`t really practiced as part of that here either. Again, the Buddhism aspect to the “religion” of the Japanese is in fact, a cultural one. From what I gathered from Tomobe-san, the Japanese follow shintoism in life but they believe aspects of Buddhism once a person has died. This practically evident in the fact people have Buddhist gravestones, (and perhaps they “believe” in a cycle of continuous reincarnation until nirvana is reached – but I haven`t asked anyone about that yet).
I asked Tomobe-san about meditation (as it seems to me an important part of Buddhism) but he said for him sleeping is like meditation. Fair enough. I often used to sleep a little in meditation at Durham I think. I knew he wouldn`t meditate. To be honest, I can`t imagine the majority of the nation have time for such a thing with all the work they do! (exaggeration).
There are obviously many extremes to Japanese society, which foreigners have an impression of. One of those impressions is that of the Buddhism and the meditative calming space of the Japanese zen gardens. I wonder where this impression comes from. I don`t often see this meditative aspect to Japan and Japanese people at all (they work too hard).
In fact the only time I do experience this calmness is during tea ceremony. I love tea ceremony. Watching the tea being made is very calming and the whole thing is very much like a meditative experience. I mentioned this too my supervisor. She said that is also why all Japanese like it so much – for that same reason as me. I love tea ceremony because it is an aspect of traditional Japanese culture that is so strongly held up today (tea ceremony clubs at all schools are very popular, and women take lessons in the art aswell – all the variants of it are very complicated). I can tell it has some genuine meaning to the Japanese. It is a part of their culture - well valued and respected and upheld by all.
What I object to is the superficiality of many aspects to Japanese culture and religion. I value and respect things and people that are genuine and honest.
When I told Tomobe-san about my incredulity at all the drinking that was going on in the back of the bus he kept saying that the Japanese religion was flexible.
It`s not a flexible religion they have – it`s a non-existent one! The shrine visit is for cultural history – surely! Why do they keep this pretence of religion? They pay a lot of money to travel on this trip to the shrine, it takes a long time, they bow and make a wish.
It obviously is important to people because everybody DOES do it, EVERY year. People obviously know what to do. They knew what the different aspects of the shrine visit meant. But, that doesn`t mean they believe it. It means they know the history – they know what people used to believe – they know how the historical beliefs of people created the cultural objects/ rituals that we can see/ participate in today – and what they value. That history and that culture that is created, and is THEIRS. That`s why they do it I think. And that by no means necessitates that they believe it. Because they don`t!
This was an annual visit, to allegedly, a shrine of real religious significance. From my cultural standing point if you had any belief of the significance of this big trip, or reverence towards this important shrine, you would NEVER behave like this, never show such a lack of respect to a supposedly religious place, by becoming so drunk.
Now that the trip is over I am left with the feeling, that perhaps it was the travelling as a group that was the most highly valued part of the trip. I certainly didn`t feel that the Shrine, the Shinto religion has any real significance, importance of deep meaning to this group of people (and therefore most Japanese). My supervisor did say to me that she thought that if you pray when drunk the gods would not grant(?) your prayer. But, the manner in which she said that sentence it was like it was a superstition rather than a proper religion. I think that is the best way to describe it - Shintoism is a superstition that is held by all Japanese and they visit the shrine for this, and cultural reasons.
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