Author Archives: Maria Gao

Etiquette – Japan

“In the Japanese culture, not only is it rude to stick chopsticks upright in your food, it’s also ‘bad luck’ when you go for the same piece of food or clash chopsticks. You are also not supposed to pass food chopstick to chopstick, if someone offers you food, you’re supposed to receive it with your bowl, not your chopsticks.”

The informant was born in Kanagawa, Japan, a bay area close to Tokyo. He grew up in Hawaii but still retains much of Japanese culture and traditions. As a child, the informant was berated by his parents when he played with his chopsticks at the dinner table. His parents told him that passing food and clashing chopsticks resemble what people did at funerals. In most Asian cultures, the dead gets cremated. After the body turns into ash, close relatives all pick out the bones with their chopsticks and pass them down until the bones get put in a special jar. When offering food to the dead, one would purposely put chopsticks upright in the rice so the ‘spirit’ can come back and eat the food with given chopsticks.  Thus, it is very disrespectful and looked upon as being bad luck when one places chopsticks in any of the aforementioned manners at a dinner table.

Since hearing these stories, the informant grew up respecting these traditions. He thinks these traditions are there for a reason and that when people mess around with chopsticks at a table, they’re defacing something sacred and disrespecting the dead as well as the dinner hosts.

I think this is interesting because all Asian cultures, Chinese, Japanese and Korean all have these ‘chopstick rules’. While I know you’re not supposed to pass down food chopstick to chopstick or clash with someone, I never knew the reasons why. It also speaks a lot about these cultures historically and geographically. It shouldn’t be just a coincidence that they all have the same traditions and superstitions.

Proverb – Japan

Japanese:

?????-

English Pronunciation/Romaji:

Isogabamaware

Literal translation:

You’ll go around if you’re in a hurry

Meaning:

Don’t take short cuts because it ends up being longer

The informant heard this proverb from his grandfather when he was a child. Born in Kanagawa, Japan and a resident of Hawaii, the informant is still very much attached to his Japanese roots. The informant told me that most Japanese proverbs are taught when people are young and when the kids grow up, they stop abiding by these proverbs simply because some are considered ‘untrue’ or outright old-fashioned. For example, though the informant grew up listening to this proverb and believed it was true when he was a kid, he no longer believes in it now because he “take(s) short cuts all the time”.

I find this proverbs practice similar to what we would do with fables. We tend to educate children while they’re young with life lessons in hopes of instilling a sense of morality so that when they grow up, they know right from wrong and can be a honorable member of society.  In this sense, folklore has a huge impact on what we perceive as a good ‘childhood’. One filled with fairytales and fables.

Tradition – Japan

Japanese:

?????

English Pronunciation/Romaji:

Toshikoshi soba

Literal meaning:

Cross year soba eating

Japanese:

????

English Pronuncation/Romaji:

Shimenosoba

Literal meaning:

Conclude the meal with sob

The informant was born in Kanagawa, Japan, a bay area close to Tokyo. He grew up in Hawaii but still retains much of Japanese culture and traditions. One tradition the Japanese practice during New Year is to celebrate the incoming year with ‘soba’, buckwheat noodles. Since noodles are long, they represent longevity. Longevity of family, of marriage, of life and of happiness. Therefore the tradition is termed “Toshikoshi soba”, cross year soba eating.

The second phrase, ‘conclude the meal with soba’ is where the New Year Tradition also takes its roots. It is a phrase with a play on word soba which people associate with closing out the old year and starting a new one. In this case, using soba, or noodles also makes sense because noodles are ‘stringy’ threading together the past and the future.

If one examines this practice histo-geographically, one can see that other Asian cultures also has similar traditions. Perhaps this is a monogenesis phenemenon which originated from one single region a long time ago.

Proverb – Japan

Japanese:

?????????

English pronunciation/Romaji:

Sarumo kikara ochiru

Literal translation:

Even monkeys fall off trees

Meaning:

Everyone has his or her bad days

“There’s a monkey… and you know, monkeys are supposed to be really good at going from tree to tree. So this monkey is basically jumping from tree to tree and he falls off. Well, monkeys aren’t supposed to fall off trees because they’re tree masters. But it just shows that everyone has their bad days, even if you’re supposed to ‘never make mistakes’.”

Informant read this in a book full of proverbs in Japanese when he was young. He’s heard it used many places many times, mostly in academic settings or work-related situations. The informant first heard it in elementary school. He usually tests well consistently but when he performs below his usual standard, his teacher would often tell him “Sarumo kikara ochiru”. This made him feel ok about making mistakes and that it’s fine to have a bad day once in awhile.

I find this proverb very concise because its imagery is so fitting to its meaning. It’s also a proverb that everyone can relate to. I bet there’s also an English proverb relaying the same message that I can’t seem to recall at the moment, but I am almost positive that it’s out there, exemplifying different versions and varieties of folklore.

Contemporary Legend – Japan

“When you go to school in Japan, a lot of times each school would have their own ‘seven wonders’ or ‘mysteries’. Every school makes up these ridiculous stories, but the most common one that people always hear about is this ghost story about Hanako-san. Basically it’s about this girl that got trapped in a bathroom at school and died. People using bathrooms after school hours alone usually attribute any abnormal sounds or creaks to Hanako-san, making it the most popular out of the other wonders.”

The informant, who was born in Japan and grew up in Hawaii, learned of these wonders when he took summer classes in Japan. He thinks that these ghost stories are just a way people use to get students to stop loitering around campus after school.

I agree with the informant. However, I also see how most people would easily believe in Hanako-san. With ghost stories especially, context is a huge factor. If I was, say, a middle school or high school student all alone after school at a place I’m not supposed to be, I would be very nervous and my senses would probably be extremely heightened and sensitive. Not to mention bathrooms are scary places if they’re not well lit and empty. The quietness on top of the unfriendly cleanliness of cold hard bathroom utilities is sure to make anyone second-guess themselves regardless of what they might think outside of that context.