hankyoreh

Kim Do-hyeong, Tokyo Correspondent

Living in a foreign country means you’re always having new experiences and discoveries. I’ve been here as the Hankyoreh’s correspondent in Tokyo for not two full months yet, but I’ve already had various personal encounters that have given me plenty of food for thought about Japanese society. It would be hard to describe it in one picture, as I do feel like I’ve already seen diverse representations of this country that would be hard to frame.

Here is what I have a hard time understanding about Japan. I tried to change the Internet connection we have at our office from ADSL to a fiber optic cable, but it was so utterly complicated and time consuming getting that done with Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT) that eventually I just gave up. I needed the building owner’s permission and "construction" would take a month. I asked why I needed my landlord’s permission, but the best answer I could get was that it’s the rule.

My next problem, one even harder to understand, also involved NTT. It turns out the fees required to put all the phone lines in my name from that of the previous Hankyoreh correspondent was going to total more than 5,000 Yen (US$43). Eventually I paid up, also without ever getting to hear why I would have to pay just to change the name of the user.

When I applied for a credit card at a bank, my application was rejected. This time, the answer was that they were not supposed to tell me why. I still want to know why a credit card I was issued by one bank was rejected by another one. I see ways Japan falls behind even at coffee shops. The coffee is fabulous compared to the price, but the air inside is far worse than Korea. There are smoking sections but they are not very clearly defined and the air is bad. Japanese smokers are still living in heaven.

I’ve also seen things that touched me and made many new discoveries. When I first got here, I felt the urge to have the type of traditional Japanese food that is served in pots, and so went to a restaurant that specializes in that style. I hadn’t had any in ages and it tasted wonderful, but when it came time to leave the person who runs the place escorted me out the door to see me off. I was given a small plastic umbrella. There’s a light drizzle, I was told.

Not too long ago, education minister Ibuki Bunmei said, in a public context, that for eternity Japan has been ruled by Japanese, making it an "extremely homogeneous" society. He does not seem all that wrong when I think of how the Japanese I notice are especially interested in the same qualities and aesthetics. You can see it even in the way high school girls in Tokyo all hike their school uniform skirts up so high you can see their thighs, to the point that it looks ridiculous.

On the other hand, the more you think about it, Ibuki’s statement oversimplifies things. I have only been covering Japan for a short period of time, but I have been able to meet plenty of people who have shown me something of the flexibility and diverse ways of thinking that exist in Japanese society. There is the thirtysomething Mizusuna Jun, who lives on so little she can’t even dream of saving, but is very active in the cause of "creating a society where everyone lives well." There is Kato Koichi of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, who says he is worried about excessive nationalism and wants Japan to treat the issue of Japanese citizens kidnapped by North Korea and the North Korean nuclear issue as separate concerns. It has been a joy meeting people like this.

Figuring out this country that we call a "subtle and fussy neighbor" is not easy. And if we Koreans apply our own prism, we find ourselves focusing on the wrong things.

I’ve promised myself I’m going to meet, and then show, the bare face of Japan, one without any makeup. This will require that I use an "intrinsic approach," one that means I see the Japanese in and among the Japanese. If this approach was useful in understanding and analyzing North Korea, wouldn’t it be useful in understanding Japan?

[Translator’s Note: The "intrinsic approach" (naejaejeok jeopgeunbeop, sometimes translated as "imminent approach") has been advocated by some scholars familiar with North Korean society who claim it cannot be understood from the "outside" and can only be understood in its own context.]

Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]