GENSO JAPAN

This is Genso Japan.

Japan and its culture are fascinating.

They hold a reputation for being reserved while at the same time taking most of what they do to the extreme.

They are known for holding on to their tradition while at the same time embracing the world of high tech.

Part of the interest in their culture steams from the fact that even with all we have much is still unknown or at least misunderstood. Even the smallest amount of research into the culture leads to even more appreciation of what this Island nation has created.

I mean Everyone whats to travel and experience Japan but a quick search for something as basic as a hotel can result in a few options that may leave you questioning...What am I getting into?

But what if for a moment you could somehow figure out what was going on over there?

What are they thinking?

Why they do what they do?

What is it that they do?

What motivates them to do that?

With the help of native Japanese we dig for context and understanding.

We unravel some of Japan's most interesting cultural themes.

As an example Japan is known for the importance they place on their tea ceremony.

Turns out tea doesnt really have much to do with it as you would think.

So what is it?

Here is an excerpt from an upcoming episode on the Japanese tea ceremony.

You'll notice that to uncover the back story of what is going on we touch on history, tradition and even psychology.

One of the core elements in the chado or tea ceremony involved removing any obstacles that could be distracting from focus on the ceremony. For a samurai this would obviously mean removing their sword before entering the tea house. This would not be as easy. You see being a samurai wasnt just a 9-5 job but rather a way of life. Removing their sword was removing their identity. In the absence of their weapon they are no longer a proud warrior. They are for a moment something else.

Once their weapon was finally removed they would then be free to enter the main area of the tea house. Sounds easy enough, except this second step would also involve a psychological hurdle. The problem lay in the door itself.

These doors are known in Japanese as nijiri-guchi. Nijiri-guchi translates to english as, “crawling door.” This makes sense when you realize that each door is around 80 cm or 2 and a half feet high. The only way though is to lower your head and crawl.

For a samurai this lowering of your head would be similar to bowing in the way that it indicates the person is submitting to something. A samurai would not naturally do this unless imposed to by a superior or forced to by an obstacle. They would in a sense be mentally humbled by this. To enter they would have no choice but to submit.

Once they did make it through the opening they would then turn and close the small wooden sliding door behind them. As the door closed and the light from outside was extinguished they would likely find themselves contemplating the difference between what they were just minutes ago and what they are at present.

Much like the exert above we drill down on the details surrounding Japanese culture in search of meaning and understanding..... basically we want to know what they doing and how do they do it so well.

What looked like two people sharing a pot of tea unravels to be a centuries old finely choreographed exercise that is more about the guests thoughts and not so much about actually drinking tea.

My name is Adam King and I am Ruriko Numazawa. Together we'll present Genso Japan

When you hear people describe Japan they often struggle to rectify images of both futuristic and ancient worlds. The two may appear to conflict at first but in the Japanese culture the two actually work in harmony.

After each episode I'll be doing a Japanese manners and language lesson.

For instance, the word NijIRI-GUCHI mentioned in the podcast. It referes to a door that is only 2 and a half feet or 80 cm in height. Anyone going through obviously cant do so standing up.

Nijiri-guchi, broken down

“nijiri” means something along the lines of crawling and

“guchi” means opening or door.

Together you have nijiriguchi. Crawling door, makes sense.

Most people are likely aware that Japanese are big on removing their shoes before entering a house. But have you noticed that they turn and point them away from the entrance. Why do you think they do this? This practise originated from the tea ceremony. This is the type of manner I will be discussing.

After researching topics and interviewing experts whats left is the genso or fundamental element. It tends to be the interesting part.

So there you have it. Genso Japan. A podcast about the the land of the rising sun.

If you identify with something in the Japanese culture and want to expand or challenge your perspective your in the right place.

Japanese good bye sentence