Synaxis TV

There are few times when I am really conscious of my hispanic heritage, and this is one of them.

My sister played the song “Gasolina” for me when I saw her this past spring break several months ago. She told me that everyone would go crazy for it at the latin parties she went to and she just didn’t get it. But I tend to like kitsch and irony, so I started listening to it with some regularity. Shortly thereafter I heard them play it at a coffee shop I was a regular at in Lafayette as well as the song “Oye Mi Canto.” I knew that reggaeton, which is the genre that these songs fall under, was blowing up, but now it’s finally gotten what can sometimes be a death nell — an article in the NY Times.

Reggaeton hits like “Oye Mi Canto” (“Hear My Voice”), an expression of Latino pride, and Daddy Yankee’s “Gasolina” (“Gasoline”), about girls who like to party, are now part of the house mix at Hollywood dance halls like Ivar and more upscale dance floors like White Lotus.

The article talks about the intense spread of this music style, but this couldn’t have prepared me for the surprise of hearing these songs all the way over here in Japan. I’ve heard “Gasolina” on the radio and at two clubs, and one of the clubs also played “Oye Mi Canto.” I still remember the night they played “Oye Mi Canto.” As they played the chorus my eyes got watery as I felt a connection to my heritage — and to the world.

Boriqua (HA!) Morena (HA!)
Dominicano (HA!) Colombiano (HA!)
Boriqua (HA!) Morena (HA!)
Cubano (HA!) Mexicano (HA!)
Oye Mi Canto

I didn’t think that this stuff would be so great, but it’s kind of nice. A little dry and crumbly, but pretty much like a cookie. There was something that tasted good about it. It comes in chocolate, fruit, and cheese. I can’t imagine the other flavors being that good. I got chocolate, of course.

Each block is 100 calories, so people eat this as food on the go. There is a good Realplayer commercial on their advertisement site.

The Japanese weather channel is playing “Survivor” by Destiny’s Child.

What a day.

I was up super late with SuzieCF so I never went to bed. I took my keys over to the apartment, dropped my bags off at the Purdue Memorial Union, dropped my car off at my new apartment, then walked back over to the Union.

I did get some sleep on the shuttle to the airport. I closed my eyes for a second and then we were there — that was nice. Nothing unusual regarding the trip from Indy to Chicago.

In Chicago I called my landlord, the bank, Evie, and a couple of friends (to tell them some very interesting things that happened to me). Getting onto the plane was a little confusing, but I eventually got on without any problems.

I wasn’t able to sleep on the plane much but I did get some rest. I watched Million Dollar Baby, which was incredibly good. Other than that, I worked on my journal notes and wrote in my diary. They played some decent music. Most of the time I just had my screen on the map. The food was pretty decent too, but I’m used to microcrap. I think my favorite was the little turkey sandwich with dijonnaise. The little pizza was pretty good too, but that’s always good.

Getting around with my luggage after I got to Narita wasn’t so bad until I switched trains and later when I came to my room which required a transfer. There were a lot of places that didn’t have escalators going down. And some places had elevators but you had to have a special key. I’m sure people thought I was crazy. The most exercise I’ve had in a year no doubt. Near the end I thought my arms were broken. It didn’t help that I went down a wrong street either.

Now I’m in my place and meeting some of the people I’ll be living with. Everyone seems pretty cool so I don’t think I’ll have any problems. I think most of the people here cook their food because eating out is so expensive. Luckily there is a decent store nearby.

I almost forgot that when I was going through customs they showed me a list of all the things you can’t bring in to make sure I didn’t have any of them. Some were not surprising, like marijuana, but some were, like Playboy. I love Japan.

I recently learned that the song “Turning Japanese” by the Vapors is about masturbation.

When I was in Japan, I thought it was odd to see American stores like Wendy’s and Denny’s or even McDonalds and KFC. But it hit me one day that we are surrounded by products from other parts of the world here and never think anything of it. The most immediate product consists of electronics by companies such as Sony. But another product which has integrated itself into our country is Hello Kitty.

Cats are revered in Japan the same way that dogs are here, so it should come as no surprise that such a well known Japanese product is based on a cat. Surprisingly enough, however, Hello Kitty, just a year older than myself, is only celebrating it’s thirtieth anniversary which they are billing as “Thirty years of cute.”

One of the places I am sad I did not get to visit when I was in Japan was the Sanrio Puroland (Sanrio is the maker of Hello Kitty and friends). Some of their pictures make it look as if the cute would have bled from my eyes and imploded my skull. The most curious thing to me, given my interest in religion, is their decision to name it Puroland, which I take as a reference to Pureland Buddhism. To make my state of perplexion more lucid here are some words from an introduction to Pureland Buddhism:

Pure Land Buddhism is a religion of faith, of faith in Amitabha Buddha [and in one's capacity to achieve Buddhahood]. Amitabha Buddha presides over the Pure Land, a “paradise” in the west, the land of ultimate bliss, named “Peaceful Nurturing.” In the Pure Land, there is none of the suffering and defilement and delusion that normally blocks people’s efforts toward enlightenment here in our world (which the Buddhists named “Endurance.”)

The immediate goal of Pure Land believers is to be reborn in Amitabha’s Pure Land. There, in more favorable surroundings, in the presence of Amitabha, they will eventually attain complete enlightenment.

The essence of Pure Land practice thus consists of invoking the name of Amitabha Buddha, contemplating the qualities of Amitabha, visualizing Amitabha, and taking vows to be born in the Pure Land.

One of the questions I get asked the most is why I have such an interest in Japan. It is a difficult question to answer, particularly since my interests in Japan now aren’t necessarily related to the reason I initially became interested in Japan — an association of Japan with technological advancement when I was younger.

It is also difficult not to notice the sharp presence of Japanese commodities in our culture: from Pokemon, Hello Kitty, and the Power Rangers, to manga, anime and sushi. This presence has come to a head of sorts in recent movies such as Lost in Translation and Kill Bill, but these obviously aren’t Japanese products. Rather, they are American interpretations, experiences, and adorations that are capitalizing on Japanese cultural commodities. What is more interesting, though, is that they seem to be the tip of the iceberg.

A recent article in the Washington Post about Japan’s “Empire of Cool” shed some light on a much greater presence than I had initially considered. In fact, overall interest in Japanese culture is at an all time high. The author was surprised to find some 80 students in an Iowa high school studying Japanese. But when asked why they were studying Japanese, many of them quickly pointed to manga and anime, and this unfortunately creates a problem for those of us with a different kind of interest in Japan.

One divisive point you will find among those with an interest in Japan concerns their stance towards anime. When I studied Japanese in Tokyo one of my fellow students said his one roommate request was that he not be placed with someone who was obsessed with anime. I don’t share the same loathe that “Nigate” does, but I do maintain a differentiation between myself and others who are interested in Japan solely because of its pop culture products and am guilty of a slight uncomfortable twinge when in their presence.

Anne Allison noted in the introduction to her book “Permitted and Prohibitted Desires: Mothers, Comics, and Censorship in Japan” that it is sometimes difficult to get people in anthropology to take the study of Japan seriously. Maybe this pop culture persona of Japan is part of the reason why.