The Politics of Parking

Commuting by bike is a common way for the students at Kansai Gaidai to come to school. The parking lots reflect this by quickly filling up and becoming a nightmare, but there is a method to the madness.

The east gate has quick access to two parking lots, sensibly named the east parking lots. The smaller of the two lots is closer and also features covered parking; while the further and larger lot is less crowded, but not as convenient. Unless signaled into the further lot by one of the guards most students will park at the smaller, closer lot. This results in a surplus of bikes and a need for some order.

The roads are off limits, the sidewalks however have changed from a dividing line or "no man's land" and have become part of the parking lot. The inside of the lot is divided into rows with painted lines to show where parking is supposed to occur. However these spaces quickly fill up and a "policy change" has resulted in continuing the line of bikes past where it should end. While for a time it can be a parking lot for the people maintained by the people, eventually the school intervenes to maintain order. Of course with age comes wisdom, and what can the younger generation do right?

Sports, sports and more sports

Japan seems to have an affinity for all you can do shops. All you can eat, all you can drink, and with round one all you can sports?? All of the sports that Japan loves are represented here as well as some more obscure sports. It is a rather casual place and also somewhere where there are some odd combinations. The oddest would be all of the smoking areas, Japan seems to take their love for cigarettes everywhere and while playing some tennis and a game of volley ball is nice Japan does not want to give up nicotine to enjoy these events. Baseball is of course popular in Japan, it may once have been America's pass time however Japan seems much more enthusiastic about the sport than most Americans, and baseball is well represented at these places. A line of batting cages and another to practice pitching almost always had a line to wait in before you could take your turn. While baseball is a great hands on sport the fishing pond on the third floor of the building seems to be something that would only happen in Japan. The sports center also housed a decent sized arcade, which has DDR for people who want to exercise and play video games and also serves as a place for the kids to be while the adults play games they can't. The four story building with roof access is full of sports, caters to every taste, and is distinctly Japanese.

Gender

Visual K bands are an extreme representation, but the gender lines in Japan are blurring. Looking at a Visual K band it can be difficult at times to say for sure that all the members are in fact men, despite the fact that they all are. While not a common sight while walking around the city aspects of their more feminine style can be seen. One of the most apparent changes men do as they groom themselves and shape their appearance, is pluck their eye brows. I admit to grooming my eyebrows, but just enough to make sure that I do not have a uni brow. Controlling the shape and thickness of eyebrows seems to be a more common thing for men to do in Japan. In a general grooming survey for Japanese men about 28% of the 515 men asked said that they were grooming their eyebrows. Since it seems like a common practice I had assumed that Japanese girls maybe found a more groomed man more attractive, but when I asked Yuki, a girl that lives in the dorms with me, she said that guys with their eyebrows plucked too much look a little strange. There are even pages in magazines dedicated to showing a man how to pluck his brow, and the men's grooming section is just as large as the women's grooming section. So maybe they are just more well groomed, however there is a fine line between well groomed and looking feminine.
I would like to thank my friend for letting me take a picture of his well groomed eye.
http://whatjapanthinks.com/2007/10/16/japanese-men-and-personal-grooming-part-2-of-2/

Religion

The two main religions in Japan are Shintoism and Buddhism. However most Japanese citizens would not consider themselves to belong to any religion. Regardless of that fact, temples and shrines always have people visiting them. Most of the time these people are praying for help with something in their life or just sight seeing. To a foreigner everything connected to these religions can seem a little strange. Buying a fortune and if it is a good fortune tying it to a post in hopes that it will come true seem like a fun diversion, but not something that is connected to religion.

The Japanese religions seem more concerned with people's day to day lives than our western religions. This focus on the day to day is reflected at the temples and shrines by the things that one can do and buy there. Kiyomizu temple sells paper dolls that after bought a person writes their problems on and drops it into a bucket of water. When the doll dissolves in the water the problems written on it also disappear from the writer's life. Fushimi Inari just a few minutes away by train has two stones that people pick up and depending on if they feel heavy or not the person lifting the stone is able to tell if they will be able to get rid of their problems or not. Every shrine and temple also seems to have a gift shop type area that sells charms to help in different aspects of a person's life.

Japanese people are said to be born shinto and die buddhist, and from an outsiders perspective the religions they practice during life seem to be a helpful guide from point A to point B.