#12

1. When they are asked about their religion, most Japanese answer they are Shinto and Buddhist. Why do they belong to two religions at the same time?  Why don’t they think it’s contradictory?  Cite more than 2 times from the textbook and explain why you think so."Shinto is involved in nature worshiping, (201)" and also, " Shinto does not have strict doctrines (201)." This pretty much sums it up.

2. What is iitokodori? Cite once from the textbooks and explain what it is. Choose the scene from this film in order to explain the negative effects of iitokodori. "Foreign culture (127)." Pretty much iitokodor is just adopting foreign culture. In the movie Daigo adopted different aspects of peoples families while preparing the bodies for the grave. 

3. Daigo was a cellist, but his orchestra was dissolved, and he takes a job as “Nokanshi.”  What kind of job is “Nokanshi”?  From the film, what is the general perception of this job? How does Daigo feel about his job? Describe the transition of Daigo’s wife perception toward his job.The job is taking care of dead people. People don't think highly of it until they see it for themselves. 

4. Japanese funerals have many rituals and customs.  In your opinion, what is the biggest difference between the Japanese funerals you saw in the film and the kind of funerals you have been to?  Their funerals seem better. totally more professional 

5. What other Japanese key concepts do you see in this film. Explain what and why you think so. gambari. Daigo worked hard at his job.

6. What did you learn about the Japanese culture through the film?  What do you think about the movie overall? too much. And the movie is one of my favorite movies. Sorry about my answers being so short. This week is my finals week since i wont be here during UA scheduled finals. I would like to say though that this class has been one of my favorites. You allow students to move in their own directions while answering questions which is not too common today. Many teachers usually attempt to mold students into the same shapes but for you that's not the case. Keep it up. 

#9

Homework is
1) Blog entry #9---Topic of your paper
    Answer the following questions
      ① Which Japanese key concepts from textbook is interesting for you? 

      ② Why do you think so? Explain the reasons comparing with your culture.
      ③ What topic or content are you going to write about in the final paper?
           ( "I haven't decided" is NOT acceptable!)
three key concepts seem to be my favorite: Soshiki, Bigaku, and Chinmoku. 
           
First is Soshiki. This concept incases the thing most people fear, that is,  death. With a brief explanation i really feel like the only reason Soshiki seems so intriguing to me is simply because of one movie; Departures. This movie showed Daigo to have skills-when preparing the bodies for barrel-  that were so relaxing and soothing to the soul to watch, that it was like seeing bright and glories rays soaring down to the place filled with so much darkness. His skills shed light on the darkness of death; therefore death became peaceful rather then a stressful seen.  
Second and third are Bigaku and Chinmoku. I paired these two together because i think real beauty is found in truth of ones soul. Bigaku deals with beauty and Chinmoku, nonverbal communication. Though both Japanese and American cultures think of beauty mainly as looks and appearances, I think there is a deeper beauty to be had in all things;that is the beauty of the truth of things. blah  blah blah it's complicated.