Class Reflection

Among the stories I personally covered in the class, the article talking about My Mizu was the most impactful to me. Water is a staple for survival and I drink so much water on a daily basis that I don’t think twice to bring my reusable water bottle with me. The subject of this article was very relatable because I had noticed that it was difficult to find somewhere to refill my big water bottle. I would often resort to buying a PET water bottle or just waiting the entire day to fill up my bottle if I was not at the Stanford Center. This article also revealed to me that is not common for Japanese citizens to participate in sustainable protests and rallies. A lot of these articles and this class did in fact change a few of my views about Japan and Japanese society. During my first visit to Japan last summer, I thought Japan was a very sustainable country because they did not have any trash cans in public. I assumed that they barely produce any trash but this is a false assumption. I also did not realize how homogenous of a country Japan is! Although, I thought that Japan was mainly traditional in things such as the arts, but they are also very traditional socially which I did not realize before. I am really grateful that in the U.S. people are supported to voice their opinions and fight for what they believe in. Of course this is good and bad and can lead to conflict sometimes, however I think it’s important and we are very lucky. I am also grateful for the diversity within the United States. There is not much diversity in Japan because it is a very homogenous country, but I think diversity leads to innovation and an understanding of other cultures.