Interviewing "Japan"
We can learn a lot about different places around the world by taking the time to talk to people and ask them questions that interest us. Comparing different countries as well helps us get a better overview of what’s going on in other places and how other people’s cultures affect their life style. On Saturday April 26th at ISA my group interviewed Matsui Tomoko, a college student coming from Japan. We got together and asked her a series of questions involving topics like women’s issues, education, religion, health care and a couple of miscellaneous. She was open and answered all of the questions to her best capability. We were so into the interview, or you can just call it a conversation because she even got in a few questions herself.
Maybe going to collage in Japan isn’t as hard as we think that it might be. Matsui Timoko enlightened us on going to college in Japan. She said, “They just study in high school to get the name and be able to say I go to this University.” According to what she’s seen in Japan, people only try really hard when they are in high school, so that they do well and are able to get into the best university. She confessed that in Japan once you get into collage you don’t do much. She said “Once you’re in collage they don’t care about getting good grades.” Matsui compared collages in Japan with the ones in the U.S. and said, “I think it’s good here. You go to school to study real hard.” Matsui recalled how collages in Japan were. “As long as you don’t get F’s and you pass your classes you can graduate.” She feels like going to collage in the United States is better than going to collage in Japan.
We sometimes think that religion is a base for some people’s lives maybe it is, but according to Matsui it isn’t even practiced on an everyday bases in Japan. My first question to her; what was her religion? Her answer,” oh hmm, I don’t think that I have a religion, no.” Surprising but true. Most of the time I see or know of people whose parents are of a certain religion but they themselves don’t practice it or they follow a different way of life. Matusi herself told us that she didn’t know her own parents religion and wasn’t sure if they had one. Here in the United States we see people living their lives according to the ways of their religion, their spiritual beliefs or something of the sort but in Japan it’s not that way. Matsui recalled” Most people don’t practice their religion, don’t pray, you can’t talk about it.” She informed us that religion is not talked about; the only time that this is seen is during special happenings like weddings and funerals. “People in Japan are not affected by their religion only on special occasions is when people have to do rituals.” I guess that with time religion became something of very little importance in peoples every day lives but still managed to remain at the corners of peoples lives with ceremonies and celebrations. It seems a little weird to me and maybe even heart breaking to hear that their religion is not something influential and that their beliefs might just be becoming distant things. I think this because I guess I’m just used to seeing things be a certain way here in the United States.
One of our last topics that we discussed were women. We asked questions about education, marriage and how they are seen compared to men. “Girls go one way, boys go another in collage. I never noticed and I asked my self when did this happen.” There are certain classes or courses that only men assist and others that woman go to. It’s like the available careers are gender oriented, nothing like it is here, where it all depends on what the person likes or what they choose to do. In her eyes at a certain point in her life male and females branched off into the groups or classes that they are best seen to go to based upon society most likely. But on the other hand some things seem to still be the same here and in Japan. “Woman are always stronger than men, in charge of money but career wise woman are weaker”. Here we see that woman are not given a choice when it comes to what they wish to do unlike men when it comes to education in Japan. That might be because there are rules and maybe its even part of the culture who knows but it is sometimes seen that when it comes to things in a household the one to have control or be in charge at least in some aspects is the woman. In Japan it is the woman who is charge of the financial things I have seen it to be the same here. What is not seen is pressure when it comes to getting married. Matsui told us “There is pressure when you need to get married.” I’m guessing that it is only normal for woman to be dependent upon a man as she said “If a girl might want help with a bag they might pretend that it is heavy and make struggling noises”. In her opinion women are more restrained to what they do in Japan. There are certain things that the woman can do because that’s what society wants from them and then there are things that don’t look right when being done by a woman. She likes the freedom and the independence that is formed around the woman while she strives to rely on herself. For example the woman here in America. For the most part we strive to do things on our own with out male help
Through this interview, I was able to learn a little bit about a country that I know I might never get to visit. I enjoyed doing this interview because I met somebody new which I enjoy doing. One thing that Matsui said that really sticks to me and makes me laugh is when she said that when woman might want help with a bag, she will make struggling noises, so that someone will come over and offer her help. I think that if I had another chance to interview her I would ask her if she ever regrets coming to America, and if she had a chance to go somewhere else, where would she go. The interview was fun. She even asked us a couple of questions. I would be glad to do something like this again.