!Special Lecture「Japanese Culture」In Three Case Studies… Or, “So, what`s it like to live in Japan?”

Student and faculty guests from the College of Charleston are visiting our university this week. We have a very long, close and important reltionship with this college, so the Center for International Education is rolling out the red carpet and pulling out the top guns for a sample Japanese class, lecture on Japanese business and lecture on Japnese culture. I have been tasked with the last. So how am I supposed to explain the complexities of Japanese culture in 90 minutes? To be honest, the longer I have been in Japan, the less I seem to understand.

Around the time I was conscripted for this lecture, I had the pleasure of meeting my cousin's daughter's husband (or first cousin once removed-in-law), Preston. After talking for a while, Preston asked me, "so, what's it like to live in Japan?" I was taken back by this question, no one has asked me this in a long time. I tried to briefly explain my family, neighborhood, job and research. Then it dawned on me, why not organize my lecture in a similar way and call them case studies. So I will be talking about my neighborhood (with a focus on my research of its fall festival), my major research subject (Deaf communities and sign language) and my passion (the Hanshin Tigers).

Thanks, Preston!

I am providing some resources below for my lecture audience (and others who might be interested) with more details about the case studies.

1) My Neighborhood (in Kadoma-shi): Focus on the Fall Festival

Sources:

祭り Matsuri Photo Exhibition 写真展: https://visualanthropologyofjapan.blogspot.com/2024/01/matsuri-photo-exhibition.html

Japanese Anthropology Workshop (JAWS) Newsletter No. 53: https://visualanthropologyofjapan.blogspot.com/2025/04/announcement-new-jaws-newsletter.html

Distributed Multimodalities: Ethnographic Experiments in Memory and Performance: https://distributedmultimodalities.carrd.co/

Distributed Multimodalities on VAoJ: https://visualanthropologyofjapan.blogspot.com/search?q=Distributed+Multimodalities%3A+Ethnographic+Experiments+in+Memory+and+Performance

Fall Festival on VAoJ: https://visualanthropologyofjapan.blogspot.com/search?q=fall+festival

2) My Primary Research: Deaf Communities and Sign Language

Sources:

「A Primer on Deaf Communities in Japan: Identity, Sign Language and Diversity」@YCAPS, Getting to Know Japan Webinar (2024): https://visualanthropologyofjapan.blogspot.com/2024/06/announcementa-primer-on-deaf.html

The Embodiment of the Deaf in Japan: A Set of Heuristic Models for Identity, Belonging and Sign Language Use (2023): https://visualanthropologyofjapan.blogspot.com/2024/01/theres-nothing-like-holding-real-book.html

Sign language, what is it? An ESCAP guide towards legal recognition of sign languages in Asia and the Pacific (2022): https://visualanthropologyofjapan.blogspot.com/2023/05/new-publication-from-united-nations.html

Representations of Deaf People in Japan: Inspiration, Outrage and Real Life (2021): https://visualanthropologyofjapan.blogspot.com/2021/05/representations-of-deaf-people-in-japan.html

Barrier-Free Communication for the Deaf in Japan: A Local Initiative for Medical Interpretation Services in Japanese Sign Language (2021): https://kansaigaidai.repo.nii.ac.jp/?action=repository_uri&item_id=8036&file_id=19&file_no=1

Performance, Sign Language, and Deaf Identity in Japan (2019): https://www.anthropology-news.org/articles/performance-sign-language-and-deaf-identity-in-japan/

Living Partial Truths: HIV/AIDS in the Japanese Deaf World (2006): https://visualanthropologyofjapan.blogspot.com/2007/08/hivaids-in-japan.html

Deaf and Sign Language on VAoJ: https://visualanthropologyofjapan.blogspot.com/search?q=deaf+sign+language

3) My Passion: Hanshin Tigers

Sources:

Hanshin Tigers Webpage (in Japanese): https://hanshintigers.jp/

Food Terrorism and Japanese Baseball: A Hanshin Tigers Case Study@SWCAS 11/4/23: https://visualanthropologyofjapan.blogspot.com/2023/11/food-terrorism-and-japanese-baseball.html

Hanshin Tigers on VAoJ: https://visualanthropologyofjapan.blogspot.com/search?q=hanshin+tigers

The last day of the holidays; classes begin tomorrow... Aside from preparing for classes, these are some of the things I did today - in two-frame style...

We received a box of daikon (大根) from my wife's brother in rural Aichi Prefecture...

I documented the worn handicapped parking spot at our locl convenience store...

I encountered a black cat, but she didn't cross my path. Still, I went to our local shrine (scroll VAoJ for the many photos of the shrine) to pray for a successful semester, good health for family and friends and world peace...

I bought some pineapple candy (パインアメ) to ring in the new semester and spring training for the Hanshin Tigers...

My Office Door on Devil's Night...

Remembering good friends and praying for a Hanshin win tonight...

Going to the Japan Series...

Hanshin beat the Yokohama Baystars three games in a row in the Central League Final Climax Series. The Japan Series starts on October 25. Still waiting to see who they will face from the Pacific League (Nippon Ham Fighters or Softbank Hawks).

「阪神タイガース セ・リーグ優勝」Hanshin Tigers: 2025 Central League Champions!

Image: https://hanshintigers.jp/

(More) Potato Chip Baseball Cards - 2025 Second Series

We bought three packs and got 6 cards, none of which were Hanshin Tigers... Hopefully we will have better luck next time. Especially since, as of the time of this post, the Tigers are at M4, or Magic 4. This means when the Tigers win 4 more games they will be the Central League Champs!

See also: https://visualanthropologyofjapan.blogspot.com/2025/07/where-to-get-baseball-cards-in-japan.html

Where to get baseball cards in Japan? Forget the bubblegum, think potato chips and kaki no tane... (and updated 7/14/25)

When I was growing up in America, I would often buy baseball cards that came with a stick (and scent) of bubblegum. But here in Japan, you can get baseball cards when you buy a certain brand of potato chips and a certain brand of kaki no tane (small, crescent-shaped rice crackers flavored with soy sauce and chili). Here are a couple of recent purchases...

I bought 3 small packs of chips at my neighborhood convenience store in Kadoma-shi. You get two cards per pack. Unfortunately I didn't get any Hanshin Tigers player cards this time.

*******

I found these kaki no tane at a convenience store in Kyoto. I had never seen these before. You get one card per pack. I was lucky to get one Hanshin Tigers player card, Nakano Takumu. My daughter and I enjoy opening up the packs and seeing which players we got, and then eating the snacks. Go Tigers!

UPDATE! 7/14/25:

Recently when we bought potato chips we got a "lucky card." We sent it in the the company and received a small folder to keep our cards in good condition.

The Latest Hanshin Tigers Merch

Bonus(?):

This picture pretty much says it all... 7 losses in a row. And on Umeno's birthday no less (he did get a hit, but was tagged out when he tried to steal second). Maybe they need to eat more bananas...

Did you see me yesterday at the Koshien Stadium 100th Anniversary Celebration?

Photo sources:

https://koshien.hanshin.co.jp/classic_series_2024/

https://news.ntv.co.jp/category/sports/79a2b568dade4aeb8aaa449cd7ba2bb0

https://hochi.news/articles/20240801-OHT1T51271.html?mode=photo&photoid=1

https://hanshintigers.jp/news/topics/info_9492.html

Hanshin Tigers Victory Parade in Osaka (11/23/23); photos by Gern Blanston

As I, along with my fellow faculty, staff and students, were required to work on the Labor Thanksgiving national holiday, I was fortunate that my good friend, Gern Blanston, was in town. He went to the Hanshin Tigers Victory Parade in Osaka. The photos on this post are by him (Thanks Gern!). He reported to me that because of the crowd size, it was difficult to get good photos of the parade itself. So he focused on the crowd. 350,000 fans were reported to go to the parade in Osaka. You can find many photos of the parades in Hyogo and Osaka for Hanshin (Central League Champs and winner of the the Japan Series) and the Orix Buffaloes (Pacific League Champs), both Kansai teams, online.

Information about the Victory Parades for the Hanshin Tigers (and Orix Buffaloes): https://hyogo-osaka-victoryparade2023.com/

The Tigers Win!

My office door...

Hanshin Tigers 2023 Central League Champs!

Oh so happy...

https://hanshintigers.jp/

VAoJ S2023RT Arc: Work continues after the game (6/25/23)

The first izakaya... A neigborhood shop catering to Baystars fans. I wasn't so fond of the menu (lots of pork liver and other intestinal dishes) or the atmosphere...

But I did like this altar of sorts...

Note: Yamato Maeda played for the Hanshin Tigers from 2009 to 2017 and was very popular. His cheering song included the melody from the anime classic Space Battleship Yamato (宇宙戦艦ヤマト, Uchū Senkan Yamato; known to me as the English dubbed Star Blazers growing up the USA). He started playing for the Baystars in 2018 and is popular there, although he doesn't play as much these days.

Disclaimer: This photo is modified, doctored or changed (whatever term you want to use). The original button was white and I couldn't get rid of the glaring light on it in the photo. I couldn't find a photo of the button, so I used a different one. Is visual anthropology an art or a science? Both. And the visual anthropologist should be honest. Even if the photo was modified for artistic purposes it is still scientific data. I beleive the meaning and symbolism of the photo and what is represents is still pretty much the same.

The second izakaya... Even though this is a chain shop, it was still pleasant, comfortable, friendy, delicious and seemed to have many regular customers 8 as well as some new ones who attened the baseball game earlier. I was given free edamame when I got there. The mayo yaki soba was especially good.