While Japan is one of the most homogenous countries in the world, with 98.5% of the population identifying as ethnic Japanese, there are still significant minorities in the country that contribute much to society. The other day I saw a documentary on the history of minorities in Japan, from the Koreans and Chinese who formed communities here after the end of WWII to the Vietnamese refugees who arrived at the end of the Vietnam War and nikkei from Brazil and Peru who provide valuable skills at Japanese companies. Koreans have historically been the largest minority in Japan, and back during my teaching days I had several students who held passports from North or South Korea for cultural reasons, despite being born and raised in Japan. There are a high number of Koreans in J-List’s home prefecture of Gunma, which has something to do with the fact that all of Japan’s major manufacturers of pachinko machines are also based here. (Pachinko has always been a Korean-dominated industry.) It’s interesting to note the high number of highly successful Korean-Japanese in Japan, including Japan’s richest man, Softbank founder Masayoshi Son. (Pic credit)
Visiting Japan can lead to more than a little confusion. Why do stores suddenly start playing Auld Lang Syne randomly? (It’s to politely let customers know that the store will be closing and they should exit.) Why does my butt-washing toilet need a complex control panel of buttons? Is that tanuki racoon dog statue really that glad to see me? Why did that guy in a horse head mask just give me a pocket tissue advertising a maid cafe? Another eternal question is, why are there what appear to be swastikas on maps? It’s actually a manji, a 2200 year old symbol from Sanskrit used in the Hindu and Buddhist religions, used to indicate the location of Buddhist temples and totally unrelated to the Nazi version, which is pointing the other direction. As the 2020 Olympics approach, Japan is considering switching from this symbol to something less likely to cause confusion among visitors. What do you think they should do?
At J-List we like to keep our finger on the pulse of Japanese pop culture, and we recently got in those umbrellas that offer quite an interesting view, along with plenty of other fun shimapan related items. Browse them all now!
