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Today I would like to share what I saw and liked in America.

I have traveled mid-west, east and west in the U.S.

Each state was different impression.  For example, people, their fashion, and ambience.

I felt like came different country.  Also each state have different rule. For instance, Colorado allows smoke marijuana, but not Kansas.  I think it’s very interesting.  That’s why I like travel in U.S.

But I think it’s kind of problem.  I live in Kansas State and so many people haven’t gone other country.  The 308 million-plus citizens in the United States, only 30% have passports.  I know if they live south part in America, they can go east or west. They can see different view and easy to go.  But I can tell that if you go other country, you can see more different view and it’s very important.

I found this article while researching this topic.

Hello! 

Christmas is almost here!!!

Last year I spent time with my host family.

They thought me a lot of American Christmas culture.

In Japan also have Christmas but it kind of different.  

Japanese haven't religion but they have Christmas.　　For us, Christmas is couple event.

We don’t spend with family, spend with boyfriend or girlfriend and see Christmas illumination and go to restaurant.  If they haven’t boyfriend or girlfriend, we spend family or friend.

Then, we eat Kentucky Fried Chicken. Before this season, we book a chiken.

When I talk our Christmas time foods, American surprised!

Why Japanese eat Kentucky in Christmas and we have Christmas?! 

Long time ago, many American (army) lived in Japan, there is no turkey in Japan and they ate Chicken reluctantly. And Japanese saw it and learned Christmas culture and we thought they eat Chicken in this event.

So still Japanese eat chicken and have Christmas.  

Moreover many Japanese home haven’t big Christmas tree.  I think Japanese house is not big, so we cannot have Christmas tree.

Another different thing is present.  American children get 2 or 3 presents. But Japanese children get normally just one.. 

Well, I should have grown up in U.S…

However, we can see very beautiful illumination in Tokyo!!

Hi, there!  How was your Halloween?!

Halloween originally came from the US, and in Japan we also celebrate Halloween, especially in Tokyo!
What is different between Halloween in the US and Japan?

In the US, children go around the neighborhood, knock on the door, and say "Trick or treat!" to get some candies.
Americans also decorate their houses extensively and make Jack-O'-Lanterns out of pumpkin.

Some college students go to bars or clubs and party like there is no tomorrow, but my impression is that generally speaking, Halloween in the US is for children.

On the other hand, Halloween in Japan is mainly for adults.
When I was little, some department stores and shops gave me candies, but I did not go around the neighborhood to ask for candies, nor did I make or see any Jack-O'-Lanterns.
So Halloween in Japan is not a fun day for children.

But adults are a different story -- grown-ups dress in costumes, go out to drinking places, and many of them party all night.
The central Tokyo areas of Shibuya and Roppongi become massive party towns -- a fun-filled event for adults!

Even Disneyland caters towards adults, and Disney Sea allows alcoholic beverages, so many Japanese girls go there to enjoy the Disney rides and Halloween celebration at the same time.
I feel like Halloween today has become an international phenomenon -- it is not a holiday to commemorate something special or honorable, but rather a day to give everyone an "excuse" to dress up and have fun!


   

Hi there! I hope you had a great weekend.

10/24 in Washington state near Seattle,  happened a school shooting again.

In Japan, we haven't guns and our international students are afraid of guns.　So I don't want to go outside especially at night alone.  Some people open carry and many people also concealed carry. It is such discomfort.

American always says we can protect you. But perhaps they can kill me easily. I think GUN is most different about our cultures.

Today, I will tell you how many people are killed each year by guns.

There were more than 30,000 gun deaths in the US in 2010 – about 1/3 of them murders and 2/3 suicides.  Out of the 30,000 deaths, about 6,200 of them were young people between the ages of 15 and 24. In fact, by next year, they project that annual gun deaths for young people will surpass that of annual motor vehicle deaths, which has been on a decline for the last decade.

Many people mention the need for “self-defense” when discussing the necessity for gun ownership. But guns in home INCREASE risk of gun deaths – rather than for self-defense, guns in homes are 22 TIMES more likely to be used in suicides and accidental shootings. Breaking down the number 22, for every self-defense use, there were 4 accidental shootings, 7 murders, and 11 suicides.

I want to wrap up my blog by saying that guns themselves are not evil, nor are they a pure mass-murder weapon. But in the 21^st century, I believe guns have no place in homes – most likely, it would result in accidental deaths, rather than self-defense.

Unless you are a HIGHLY trained military personnel who can remain calm, assess the situation, and take aim at the assaulter precisely in a highly volatile environment, a gun owner has almost no chance of actually defending himself or his family in such a situation.

If you care about your family's well-being and safety, I believe the best thing to do is NOT keep guns at home, but rather install home security systems and have a family emergency plan for any contingencies.

 

That wraps up this weeks post, I hope you found it interesting and compelling.

Hello again.

I would like to talk about Japanese and American school systems and students fashion.
when I come in Washburn, I thought students fashion are very casual.

This is Japanese students

We wear nice dress and big heal.

You know why?  We don't study in college. College is just fun place for us.

Japanese studies hard before going to college, then they stop studying once there.  Those going to a third-tier school don't study at all before or after getting into college.

Until we go to University, we attended a cram school five days a week,taking classes on English, literature, and history, in preparation for college entrance exam.

The cram school isn't open on weekends, but there was a room available during that time, so we all there on weekends to study there.

There were other people who studied even harder!!  Those who failed to get into university preciously attended the cram school as if attending a university, staying there from 8-10pm.

For Japanese people, getting into a top-ranked  university is very important, and one must do so to get a good job after graduation.

I was never found of such a college system in Japan, and because i believe one should play while growing up but study hard after growing up, I came to the U.S for my studies.

HI,there!!  

Japan has incorporated many components of American life since the end of World War II.  We eat American food on a regular basis, use English words in daily conversation, and appreciate all things American.  When I was in Japan, I thought I had a decent understanding of what American life is like.  However, after coming to Kansas, I have realized that my “understanding” was completely off the mark.  Now, I understand that Japanese culture is indeed totally different from American culture.  I hope that as I spend more time here in Kansas, I will be able to understand American culture more thoroughly, and perhaps even form a “cultural bridge” between Japan and the U.S.

strange country Japan

Hi there! I hope you had a great weekend!!
I slept all day for most of the weekend.. I am so lazy by the way!!

Anyway, today I will write about Japanese food.

Japanese eat cuisine from various countries around the world. 

When I was in Japan, I often ate Korean, Chinese, Italian, and so on.  Hence, you can eat food from practically every region  in Japan. 

Another thing to note is that Japanese food is quite complicated to prepare.  Making Japanese food requires you to boil, steam, roast, fry, etc.  In my impression, food in Kansas is relatively easy to prepare.  

I have been eating American food almost everyday, and sometimes the lack of variety makes me crave cuisine from other parts of the world, especially Japanese food.  Because Japanese food is healthy and more flavorful.  Also, because the Japanese eat a wider variety of healthier foods they have an average life expectancy of 85 years old, but American is 79 years old.

They should eat healthy food and lose weight if more people had a healthier diet and exercise.more, then their life expectancy would go up.

For Japanese, the food must be presented beautifully.  In America speed and quantity seem to be more important than presentation and healthiness.  

Here are examples of Japanese and American foods.

Hello again!

Since arriving in America, I have been in a constant state of culture shock.  Although Japan and the U.S. share many similarities, Japanese culture is in fact totally different from American culture, especially when it comes to customs.  Hence, based on my experience so far in the U.S., I would like to explain the differences for each of culture below.

First, bowing is an important Japanese custom. Japanese always bow when they greet someone.  For example, we usually bow if we catch someone’s eyes; businessmen bow even when they are just on the phone.  When we say goodbye, we bow over and over again.  Also we have basically 3 types of bows.  When you greet someone, you should bow by dropping into a 15-degree bend from the waist. When you return a favor, do 30-degree bend from the waist. Then when you apologies someone, do 45-degree bend from the waist.
But in my impression so far, Americans greet each other simply by saying just “Hi” or “Hello”, very simple. They definitely don't bow to each other, nor do they give seasonal greetings, as the Japanese often do.

Tokyo!!!

l

This is where I am from!!!

Hello, I hope you are having good fall break!!

We Japanese have no particular religion.  When I was in Japan, I remember having discussion with my friends about religion. 　Surprisingly, we had similarly negative views on religion.  In Japan, there are some religious groups that force people to join their community, and in the extreme case, there are religious “cults” that are borderline insane, such as the “Aum Shinrikyo” which was responsible for a sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway in 1995.  As a result, we often tend to regard religion as a dangerous thing.  I once asked my mother about why I don’t belong to any religion.  My mother told me that we have rights to choose our own religion freely.  I don't go to church because my mom told me that would change my way of thinking.  The fact that going to church might affect how I think and behave made me cast religion in a negative light. That is why I don’t belong to any religion.  In contrast, Kansas appears to be quite religious in nature.  I even had the chance to go to church, which was actually the first experience for me.

I am trying to understand American religion and culture. Because of all this, when I first came to America, my first impression was the religion aspect of American life. This is one of our cultures differences. 

              

Hello again! Today, I am going to talk about prejudice or stereotype in America. 

When I decided come to Kansas, I was preparing for discrimination. Because in the movie (Brokeback Mountain, or Giant), the country side (south part in US) people do color discriminate. The civil war  they wanted to keep slave, south part is the cradle land of the KKK. That is why, I believed when I come Kansas, I would be discriminate by white people.

But it is just prejudice and different.

I really surprised that people are very kind. My image was they would ignore me.

Well, actually when I talk with white people I still feel something is wrong. Because when I lived in Tokyo, I had never had foreigner friends.

Same as Asian country, when I talk with Chinese, I ask them about Japanese impression.

We think each others don`t like one another country, Japan between China. This because of media.

I have American, African or Chinese friends.

That is why i like America (melting pot country)
I am very happy to know that people are so kind here in Kansas, and the rest of America.  

Opinion of American through Japanese comic strip

Hi there!!! I gonna talk about Opinion of American through Japanese comic strip.
Japanese perceive America as special.
For example, aｎ actor appearｓ on American movie, we call them Hollywood Star.  Moreover, an obscure pianist　winｓ a prize in America, they get popular in Japan. Because they  won a prize in America. 
Japanese love America and everybody wants to go to America.  If you come to Tokyo, you are very popular even if you are geek....
This is short comic (Charisma man) It talks about White men (geek) go to Japan and he get very popular.
It is very funny!! 

He is Canadian, but same would happen to an American. Also we can not distinguish where they from (until we hear them speak). So when we find foreigner,  we call American. No matter what, even if European, White and Black people are American for us.  We are very nice to American, however American look down on us in Japan. It is in my opinion.  Even if they are rude, we can forgive them because American.   We forgive them even when they are very rude and inconsiderate to us, but we still love America. 

Hi, there. I am Mao Tohge.

I want to show you how Japan and America are similar but also very different cultures. From music and food too the old traditions of Japan. I would also like to clear up any stereotypes Americans have of the Japanese. My intent of this Blog is to share my point of view on these topics. I hope you are as excited as I am!!