The Paradox of Japan

After 6 weeks of living in Japan, I am now well past the visiting tourist stage and am trying to create some semblance of a daily routine here in Kyoto. As noble as my efforts have been, each day seems to bring some new and unexpected twist or turn in my unfolding story other than what I originally set out to do for the day. It wouldn't be an adventure otherwise.

The number of times I have set out on my bike for a particular destination and either ended up at the wrong place or only to find that my destination was closed on that day is too many to count. My sense of humor and ease of quiet patience has deepened to the point that I accept whatever the day brings. So many unexpected finds and people I would not have otherwise met have been the result of flowing with this process. Navigating the city by bike and still trying to gain some understanding of the narrow maze of streets continues to be a daily challenge for me.

Just a few days ago I was trying to navigate my way to a Tai Chi teacher’s studio. I had plotted the destination on my phone before leaving while I still had wi-fi. I succeeded as far as getting myself to the two cross streets near the studio and then surrendered to asking a local man for further assistance. He could not make any sense of the location so then proceeded down the street to enlist the assistance of four other locals.

At this point, there was a huge debate involving five smartphones and lots of shouting and pointing in Japanese. All the while, it turned out I was only four houses away from my destination. These experiences are a daily occurrence and I have discovered a new level of patience and understanding in the flow as the days unfold at their own will.

As I am more of a resident now than a visitor, I am discovering for the first time what a complete paradox Japan is to me. So many of the aspects that have always drawn me to this culture such as the Japanese arts, the beauty of the people and its aesthetics, the simplicity of zen, are also counterbalanced by equally confusing and perplexing rules and very constrictive ways of doing things. I wouldn’t say this bothers me. It is simply a paradox that I am on the early end of the learning curve. On the one hand, I have a much greater appreciation for the almost complete freedom of life and expression we have in America, yet the paradox is largely people are unhappy and we have alot of problems. The paradox in Japan is there seems to be a much greater level of restriction and rules on what we might consider personal freedoms, yet for the most part they seem to be a pretty happy and peaceful culture. It is next to impossible to obtain a gun in Japan, yet they have had essentially no gun related violence in decades.

As an example of a paradox, this week I was fortunate to be introduced to a Master “Shodo” 書道calligraphy teacher “sensei”. Japanese calligraphy is a beautiful art form that I was very interested in learning and exploring during my time here. I was invited to attend a weekly class where I learned that traditional Japanese Calligraphy is a very disciplined and formal process. The person who invited me has been studying since she was 4. The class was held in a traditional Japanese tea house. The full hour was practice in “seiza” position, the formal, polite way to sit on Japanese tatami floors. To sit seiza, one places knees on the floor and sits on top of the bottom of the feet. The tops of the feet should be flat on the floor. Sitting seiza can be painful or physically impossible for someone who is not accustomed to it. I can assure you it was. I fought back tears as my ankles grew numb. All the while, the teacher had a peaceful smile while sitting in the same position. This is a paradox to my American mind, but very much in keeping with the Japanese way. I see the beauty and tradition that comes out of these seemingly disciplined practices, yet it is still a bit foreign to my cultural upbringing.

These are the things I am here to explore and learn over my year here. Whether I embrace certain ways or not, I am being enriched by these experiences of living in a quite opposite world from my own experience. I am happy to say that my marks were good enough that the teacher invited me to be a weekly student in calligraphy.