japanese culture for me...
I need to write. Badly. As in life-saving mode. Or else, all will fail and I will face the most certain death. So, I’m going to jot down bits from memory.
I’ll begin with Japanese television serials and soaps. Why are they called “soaps”? I began my love affair with the Japs ever since “Oshin” dominated the living rooms of almost every Indian home every Thursday night. A tale of a little girl and her travails and the ills afflicting her family; it brought a tear to all our faces as we watched each episode with heartbreaking anticipation every week. Her tiny lips and innocent smile, childish voice and questioning nature touched my soul. I badly wanted her life to go right. But, with every passing episode, it felt like her life was always taking a turn for the worse. DD stopped telecasting the serial after a few seasons, and i left Oshin as a young girl...
Later, many years later, I watched Oshin in its entirety in Singapore - at a time when I was a young bride living in the lonely confines of her home in a strange land with very few friends -and found that I could relate to her adult life a lot more. It was almost like the author took pity on the girl and ensured that the latter part of her life turned out well. This began my love-affair with Japanese serials - a journey I set forth on with glee and much anticipation. I watched the remaining serials and their handsome characters, real-life stories and people with an eagerness that overtook any emotional or major event occurring in my life at that time. It also reminded me of the Malayalam cinema back home.
Isn’t it surprising that the same culture that gave the world Ninjas and Samurais and manga comics, could also adopt a realistic approach towards life? These soaps were so down to earth and natural....A part of Japanese culture that I didn’t get to see earlier made its presence felt in my life quite strongly - it makes me think of the Japan and its people with fondness even today. I miss those serials and wish that I had access to more of these stories and dramas now...
My hunt for Manga comics last week ended in disappointment. I don’t know what I expected, but I had hoped that they would open up a similar world. More so after reading about the new format called the graphic novel and its popularity in the world of books today. Maybe, I didn’t get hold of the right books, or enough of them, but they didn’t elicit a similar yearning in me as those endearing soaps did...was i looking for a similar experience? The style of cartooning is interesting, but not any different from what you see on the channel, Anime. Anime reflects a 3-d version of the same style, a more interesting rendering.
Movies about Japan like Lost in Translation tell you that this is a culture that is techno-friendly, but also traditional and Asian. A curious mix of the two worlds. No wonder Pico Iyer loves the place, and the characters in this movie did, too. '
I’ll begin with Japanese television serials and soaps. Why are they called “soaps”? I began my love affair with the Japs ever since “Oshin” dominated the living rooms of almost every Indian home every Thursday night. A tale of a little girl and her travails and the ills afflicting her family; it brought a tear to all our faces as we watched each episode with heartbreaking anticipation every week. Her tiny lips and innocent smile, childish voice and questioning nature touched my soul. I badly wanted her life to go right. But, with every passing episode, it felt like her life was always taking a turn for the worse. DD stopped telecasting the serial after a few seasons, and i left Oshin as a young girl...
Later, many years later, I watched Oshin in its entirety in Singapore - at a time when I was a young bride living in the lonely confines of her home in a strange land with very few friends -and found that I could relate to her adult life a lot more. It was almost like the author took pity on the girl and ensured that the latter part of her life turned out well. This began my love-affair with Japanese serials - a journey I set forth on with glee and much anticipation. I watched the remaining serials and their handsome characters, real-life stories and people with an eagerness that overtook any emotional or major event occurring in my life at that time. It also reminded me of the Malayalam cinema back home.
Isn’t it surprising that the same culture that gave the world Ninjas and Samurais and manga comics, could also adopt a realistic approach towards life? These soaps were so down to earth and natural....A part of Japanese culture that I didn’t get to see earlier made its presence felt in my life quite strongly - it makes me think of the Japan and its people with fondness even today. I miss those serials and wish that I had access to more of these stories and dramas now...
My hunt for Manga comics last week ended in disappointment. I don’t know what I expected, but I had hoped that they would open up a similar world. More so after reading about the new format called the graphic novel and its popularity in the world of books today. Maybe, I didn’t get hold of the right books, or enough of them, but they didn’t elicit a similar yearning in me as those endearing soaps did...was i looking for a similar experience? The style of cartooning is interesting, but not any different from what you see on the channel, Anime. Anime reflects a 3-d version of the same style, a more interesting rendering.
Movies about Japan like Lost in Translation tell you that this is a culture that is techno-friendly, but also traditional and Asian. A curious mix of the two worlds. No wonder Pico Iyer loves the place, and the characters in this movie did, too. '