Early Impressions of Japan

My first impression when I arrived in Japan during the summer to visit relatives was from the window of the Narita Airport Express train.  As the train departed the airport heading towards Tokyo, it was startling to notice the contrast between the countryside and the sprawling metropolises.  Since space in Japan is hard to come by in the large cities, every available space is put to good use.  I was surprised to see rice patties in the middle of Tokyo.  Many small back allies like this can offer an array of miniscule food and retail shops that are “off the beaten path”.

As we neared Tokyo, my attention was drawn towards the myriad of neon lighted signs and billboards that dotted the horizon, each trying to advertise their product or establishment in as flashy and concise wording as possible.  The majority of the signs were in kanji, but a surprising amount were written in katakana.  As I read the signs to myself, I could not help but chuckle at the content of the signs—it is almost like a game to read and decipher the katakana into the intended English words.

Arriving at Kansai Int. Airport for orientation week, I once again had the opportunity to view the sights of Japan from the window of the school shuttle.  After having been in Japan for just over two weeks, I am continually looking at every sign and have found that be able to read katakana is a valuable skill and helps with anything from ordering food on a menu to understanding just enough information to get by when all other print consists of kanji. 

I was also intrigued not only by the amount of foreign words that have been integrated into the common vocabulary in Japan, but also by the slightly altered meanings that they possess as well as the abbreviations that the words have undergone.

The pronunciation of the adopted words must also be pronounced in the Japanese syllables, otherwise the people might understand what it is that you are referring to.  A humorous facet of adopted foreign words into Japanese is the tendency of the words to be shortened to the point that the original word is almost undistinguishable.  One such phrase is derived from the English language but is entirely in the style of Japanese abbreviation—the term “costume play” refers to a group of individuals that like to dress up in costumes for fun.  This phrase seems to be a Japanese usage of English and is known as “cosplay”.  

A rather humorous store name.

And of course one cannot help but chuckle and be intrigued by the interesting English phrases that are everywhere from signs to t-shirts that have been humorously dubbed “Engrish”.  It is my take that of the most outrageous captions I have seen on articles of clothing, the people wearing the clothes must not truly understand the full meaning behind what is written on their clothes.  In truth, some must not even understand any of it. 

The caption on a shirt my sister bought for me at a store in Japan