Having the privilege to experience another country and culture for four months has given me much perspective and opportunity to grow as an individual.
Our semester started earlier than that of the Japanese students, so we had an easeful transition into our new daily routines. Once the Japanese students began their semester on campus, I was able to witness the emphasis on visual appearance that pervaded not just the culture of the Japanese youth, but modern Japanese society as a whole. In my entire semester at Kansai Gaidai, there was not one day where I saw a Japanese student in what the U.S. would consider “typical, casual college attire” (sweats, leggings, pajamas, gym attire, relaxed wear); rather, these students would typically dress to the nines, following the most modern and fashionable trends. You could additionally notice many people bringing shopping bags from luxury brands onto campus for the school day (many of these students live outside the city of the campus, so they would take the metro or other means of public transport daily). Outside of school and in the cities, it was very rare to ever catch an individual in “athleisure” or “casual wear”.
I personally was not too bothered by this, as I enjoy to “dress up” and look “put together” or “nice”, in my own way, on a regular basis. However, the pressure to consistently put in effort and show up in this manner can prove to be somewhat tiring, if even slightly. I also did not see the point of carrying brand-name shopping bags to school. It seemed to be a bit shallow and materialistic, in my opinion. From the lens of Japanese society, however, external perceptions are of great importance. Most public actions and manners of appearance within Japanese culture serve to maintain a good public image and social position with surrounding peers. To be properly dressed and show good taste is a way of silently communicating to others that one is fit and ready to engage in society. These visual cues matter even more in a society that is, compared to the United States, more nonverbal. Dressing or behaving improperly could lead to ostracization, a highly undesirable outcome in a society that heavily emphasizes on one’s ability to “fit in”, follow rules, and “maintain order”.
This is one of the many experiences which have reminded me that, because of nuance, whether cultural or just plain situational, there is no concrete “right” or “wrong” to hold on to in this world. Many human behaviors, actions, and ideals are better seen from a neutral standpoint than to immediately project our judgements, which come from societal conditioning, onto what we see. This way, we can attempt to continue moving forward with more compassion and understanding for those we may have nothing in common with.