Traditions and Main-Stream Culture

You must be curious about the title. If there is such as thing as 'main-stream', that means...

Yes, there is also a 'sub-culture'. But we will talk about that in the next post.

When I say 'main-stream', I think about Kimono, respect and determination that the Japanese holds to every individual. When I see 'Japanese traditions', I think about tea ceremony, karate, judo and kendo.

The Japanese are civilised, strict, particular and any-other-good-adjectives-you-can-think-off group of people. They have very strict, everyday life, rules to live with. A single small mistake may be deemed as imperfection to the society. This may sound good to some (like me) but bad to others (I shall not name).

I am quite a lawful citizen, I think. Therefore, the strict rules that the Japanese live with is a positive motivation to me. My thought of these rules and regulations is that they are the reason for quality production of goods. It may also be the reason behind high quality of life that the citizens enjoy.

I find the that there are certain similarities in the Japanese and Chinese culture. This may be due to the early immigration activity where it is popular for the Chinese from mainland China to migrate to nearby countries, an example being Japan.

I sort of made that inference from the cultural activities of both nationalities. Calligraphy, tea ceremony and 'martial arts' are some examples of cultural activities shared by these two nations. I realised that the Kimono of Japan is also similar to that of Chinese costumes from the olden days.

A simple Japanese Kimono.

Chinese clothings from the olden times (i.e Ming Dynasty).
















I think the obvious similarity in these costumes is that they are conservative, which reflects both cultures very well.

Now, remember I mentioned about 'martial arts' above? So why the punctuations? Well, I think I wouldn't really call the Japanese Karate, Kendo and Judo martial arts, but that's the closest I can get.

These cultural activities have become popular sports nowadays and is spread all over the world. These sports are now made official and is compete-able. However, in the olden times, these activities were used as spiritual practices and understanding of the body and mind of the individual, just like Chinese martial arts.



Karate competition. At the same time, do observe the formalities before the match starts.

Kendo is a sport where swords are used. In the modern times, bamboo made swords are used to replace the original ones so as to prevent life threatening injuries.
The words in the picture reads 'Kendo' in Japanese, but it can also be read as 'Jian Dao' in Mandarin, which holds the same meaning.



Judo styles. Judo is about using strength to counter speed. But at the same time, Judo is not all about strength. People who practices Judo uses the mind to anticipate moves, and with slow speed and strength from the whole body (not only one part of the body) counter the attack of the opponent.
*note: I am not trying to promote the card. I just thought this is quite and interesting video.