As the semester begins its last half here in Japan, papers are being written. I've mentioned before the classes I'm taking in a previous post, but this is a paper, intended to be a short response of 300 words, that was to ask the question below. The question's response quickly ballooned into a much longer answer, but I feel I answered it better with 850+ words than I would have with 300. I've included links in the transcript below, so I hope some of you will watch the videos my response is referring to. They are all available on YouTube, and worth the energy.
What does it mean to be Japanese (and/or American), when these national identities form around an international component?
Various forms of media have been used as a tool, and a means, to cross-culturally pollinate understanding and self-reflection between seemingly opposite cultures of the world. Media affords us the ability to use satire, comedy, opinion and various other formats to question the different perspectives that make up our understandings of ‘truth’ concerning the differences between cultures arbitrarily divided into ‘East’ and ‘West.’
What it means to be of a particular culture depends on what parts of that culture you value, see as a valid demonstration of that culture, and understand as being vital for that cultures existence. Very few definitions of a single culture will adhere to all individuals living within, and identifying themselves as a member of the culture. The examination of an opposite culture (or a perception of an opposite nature) from your own has the ability to allow self-reflection on how you understand the supposed different culture from which you come. By approaching a cultural concept you feel as opposite of your own, you immediately begin to relate to the culture as being the things you are not, if it is truly opposite.
