Coda

Over the last nine weeks, what I enjoyed the most about this news class is the variety of topics we covered. One week we’d be talking about political strife between Japan and South Korea, and the next week, we’d be talking about J-pop star fan culture.

Out of the articles I covered, I’d have to pick the story about Japan’s controversial “Rising Sun” flag upsetting South Korea as the most interesting. Since I travelled to South Korea and met their locals, I was lucky enough to hear both sides of the story firsthand.

Talking to my Japanese host family and a few Doshisha college students, the sentiment was that the flag was “just a flag”, and the South Koreans should let go of something that happened a lifetime ago. Meanwhile, the 19-year-old South Korean fan I met described the Rising Sun as a “war symbol”. She was very persuasive, describing the Olympics as a place for all countries to drop conflicts, making the use of the Rising Sun seem almost preposterous.

These interactions made the news story feel more authentic, like I was living and interacting with it all. It was not as far-removed as hearing about the failed nuclear plant I’d never visited, or the immigration test I’d never taken.

Reading up-to-date news stories about Japan definitely made Japan feel more “real”. Over these nine weeks, I was exposed to the darker, less-glamorous sides of the country. Whereas before, I might have viewed Japan as a utopia where everyone is polite and all the restaurants serve amazing food, now I know how much strife is bubbling under the surface. Those smiling J-pop-star girls are actually part of a much larger, questionably-ethical industry that often upsets their fans. Picturesque rural towns are actually suffering from an extreme aging problem, and anti-immigration sentiment makes moving to these towns not easy for even city-borne Japanese.

That doesn’t mean I have any less appreciation for Japanese society or culture… in fact, it seems even more impressive how much has been maintained despite all the problems. But, my view of the country is more complicated than it was before. Like every real issue, there is no simple solution.

As an American, I’ve suffered the problem of “America-centrism”. This describes the belief that what happens in the United States is the only relevant news in the world, and that American way of doing things is the only reasonable way.

Reading Japanese news stories definitely changed this. For every news story that was distinctly Japanese, the United States seemed less and less like the whole world.

For example, the American school system, where students often talk with equal standing with the teacher, is all I’d ever known. But now I know that’s not the way it is in most of the world. Also, I’ve been so used to thinking that immigrants were a limitless supply: just open your gates to let in the number your want, and they’ll come. But that’s a uniquely American situation! Japan’s work visa applications got 1% of the desired amount, and I bet many other countries are in the same boat.

Overall, this news class has been one of my favorite experiences in Japan. Open-ended, diverse, relevant, fascinating: all the things I like about a class! Thank you, Mike-san :)