A portrait of the People

It’s nearly impossible to study Japan without interacting with the locals, however having little knowledge of the Japanese language makes this a difficult situation. So when faced with the assignment to photograph a Japanese person I decided to ask a classmate of mine if it would be okay to take pictures of him. We agreed to meet up the next day. When he arrived the following afternoon, he asked me what I wanted him to do; and since I am learning about the Japanese culture I wanted it to be as natural as possible. So we sat down and just started talking.

I learned that while he seems shy he’s really talkative, a tad goofy, interested in tourism and is certified to give tours in Japan. We talked about the differences between our cultures (The United States and Japan). I found out that while the Japanese celebrate Christmas it is mostly about the children instead of a family gathering. He also gave me a better appreciation for the Japanese writing system. He said that in Japanese if you forget the kanji for a word you can always just write it in hiragana but in Chinese if you forget it, you are pretty much out of luck. We also talked about how in the United States the public transportation system is not as widely available as in Japan and how greasy some of the food is in the United States. As we talked I would snap a picture here and there, waiting for him to get distracted in order to avoid him throwing up the peace sign or just randomly posing. All in all I like to believe that both of us learned a little more about each other’s cultures.