on Japan

What made Justin come to Japan was its interesting culture. Before coming to J. F. Oberlin University, Justin studied at Ateneo De Manila University in the Philippines, and majored in business management. He became fascinated in Japan when he watched a Japanese television comedy on the Internet. The slapstick comedy was so different to comedy in his own country. He also became interested in Japanese comics and Japanese animation, and he could learn a lot about Japanese culture through these. He feels that, although Japan and the Philippines are geographically close, the cultures are completely different. Also, what made him come to Japan was a friend of his who was an ex-RJ student at J.F.Oberlin University. He told Justin he had a “fruitful experience” in Japan, and Justin decided to see what Japan was really like for himself. He also wanted to look into the uniqueness of Japanese culture.

Justin was very surprised to find that J. F. Oberlin’s technology was more advanced than his university back home. Firstly, he was amazed that there were escalators and elevators available for students instead of flights of stairs. Secondly, he was surprised that the toilets were also equipped with bidets; but he mentioned that he does not like them and never uses them. Although he stated that “everything is automatic”, he was amazed that students did not come by car to school. He exclaimed that he had never seen so many people using a bike to commute to school. Nevertheless, he still marvels at the great technology here at J. F. Oberlin.

Justin has only been studying at J. F. Oberlin for a month, so he is experiencing many small problems, and still has culture shock. One of the things that he has not got accustomed to yet is rush hour. He was very surprised to see how so many people could be packed into one train. The trains are so crowded in the early morning and early evening that it is very difficult to stand up properly. Additionally, the housing in Japan is much smaller than in his own country, but he soon got used to that. However, the custom of taking his shoes off at the front door is still troublesome, as he has to take off his shoes every time he comes home, and put them back on when he goes out. Yet, he thinks positively about this issue, and thinks this custom of taking off shoes off before entering a home has a strong merit: your home stays cleaner this way. Justin is getting used to all these problems day by day, but as he has been in Japan for only a short time, he finds that the language barrier is the biggest hurdle, and he has trouble getting around. He regrets that he did not study enough before coming to Japan, and now wishes to improve his Japanese skills.

Justin advises people who are planning to study in Japan to learn Japanese as much as they can before they come, as it will make their stay here more comfortable, and they will be able to communicate with many kinds of people. Moreover, he recommends that they should also research the culture of Japan. He also recommends that people should, “Bring what they need” because everything is quite expensive in Japan. Also he advises “not to expect too much”. He was disappointed when he went to a place called ‘Akihabara’, an area where people go to buy electronic goods, and found it was not as entertaining, unique and cheap as he expected. Despite this, he is still having a lot of fun in Japan. Although, he has not yet discovered the uniqueness of Japan, he hopes to learn more Japanese, and be able to have a deeper understanding of Japanese culture during his stay in Japan.