Japan and Japanese People

November 25, 1994 Compared with the United States of American, Japan could be New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and all of New England minus Maine in size and population. The population is 120 million, a fifth of the USA, though the size is a twenty-fifth of the USA. In addition, the habitable place is limited; therefore, my country looks very crowded. Actually, Japan is a mountainous country. The mountains are precipitous and sharp, but are measured only in hundreds or a few thousand feet. Even the Japanese Alps, including Mt. Fuji, are around 10,000 feet high. There are narrow rivers, valleys or a few basins, so the country is divided into many small pieces in 47 provinces. Small pieces means small scale, but small things can express sensitive feelings, I believe. For example, in the Japanese traditional flower arrangement, "Ikebana," a small world must be expressed involving a river and a mountain with a few flowers. Also, Japanese monochrome drawing, "Sumi-e," is expressed with several simple lines using one color, black. We take pleasure in the gradations. Nowadays, I think Japan is a confused place in some respects. About one and a half centuries ago, we were forced to open our door of isolation. This brought various systems, culture and people rapidly into our country, which made us lose our identity. As we, Japanese people, put importance on building our country in the world, they didn't care about the culture or thinking. I think that this is one reason why Japanese do not have rigid opinions, which causes us to be shy. I regret. Yet, some of the Japanese spirit lost but some of it was preserved; therefore, I I believe we can rebuild our culture and mind someday.

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