Japan Group Study

Hello I’m Rhea Cochrane a third year at the University of Calgary. In spring 2019 I will be participating in a Japanese language group study with 20 or so other students. A few things about me that would be nice to know is that I’m very much an introvert. I like to take time to myself to read or stay on my computer. Though I’m not very good at it I also like to play video games and I often play with my PSVita, or even my Xbox-one. I also greatly enjoy board games/ card games and going out to board game cafes with my friends. I don’t have any pets because my little brother is allergic, but I do enjoy cats and wish to have one of my own someday. I don’t do many sports activities nowadays, but when I was younger I enjoyed tennis, swimming, dance and netball. I’m going to University of Calgary for a  multidisciplinary major in Communication and Culture as well as a Japanese and English minor. I wish to go back into school after I finish my degree next year for a teaching degree for ...

For my section of the group project I will be going in depth about the traditional celebrations. These include holidays and festivals like the firework festival or events like sakura viewing. I’m interested to see what locals were able to do at these festivals and what they meant in their time. Transitioning into what they mean in today's Japanese society, from a modern cultural perspective, and how 21st century values have changed the traditional practice for better or worse. I also wanted to see the traditional clothing for these festivals like kimonos or yukatas and if they are still used just as much in today's society as they were back then. Also looking at the meaning of the patterns on the traditional wear and what they mean metaphorically. Most of these events took place on or around religious or spiritual grounds. I want to find out the significance to why they are practiced there, and if the traditional practices still hold true in current eras. Some questions I tho...

Group 5 started to divide up the different cultures. We found common topics that might fit under the three broader initial topics of Traditional Culture, Modern Culture, and Pop Culture. With this, we tried to find and discuss some of the more interesting subtopics that could have intriguing information to present to the class. Some of the more interesting sub-genres that we came up with were: fashion, art, music, anime/ manga, shrine/ temples, architecture, gaming, and technology amongst others. We found the idea of a timeline and comparison through the different ages to be a good starting point for formatting our presentation. From the more classical periods like Asuka and Edo to the modern day civilization of the 21st century. From then we tried to figure out who wanted to focus on what topic. Lachlan is going to start the presentation with Japanese art and art history. He plans to look into both the literal aspects of art, like paintings and drawings, but also focus on outward bra...