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Dylan Gibson
Oct. 19, 2021
Another photo from Kumagaya. This is a big map outside of Kumagaya Station's North Exit, depicting, from what I understand, Kumagaya and the surrounding area in 1936. It's a bit difficult to see, but if you zoom in you can see Kumagaya on the left side with Tokyo in the upper left behind it, and to the right of Kumagaya you can see Kami-Kumagaya, from there, if you look to the bottom-right you'll see Kumagaya City Hall and furthest to the right is Ishiwara. Underneath Ishiwara you can also see several schools (elementary, middle, high school) and a hospital. It's quite difficult to see in this photo, but the mountain at the far back right is Mt. Asama, and you can see Nagatoro as well. On top of that, there's the Arakawa River running through the background of the entire map and a bridge connecting to Onuma Park as well. There's tons of stuff to see in just this one map, I love looking at old maps and historic things like this. I could stare at it for hours and still find new and interesting things.
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開智国際日本語学校(Kaichi International School of Japanese)
Oct. 19, 2021
[English/日本語] Things that surprised foreign students when they came to Japan. ~Fashion Foreigners who come to Japan for the first time (both tourists and international students) often wonder what kind of fashion they should wear during their stay in Japan. Therefore, I would like to introduce some episodes about Japanese fashion. Japanese who don't wear well-fitting clothes What surprises foreigners who travel to Japan in summer is that Japanese people wear oversized clothes even in summer. Foreigners, especially Westerners, tend to wear T-shirts or running clothes on top and short pants on the bottom. So why do Japanese people wear oversized clothes? It has to do with the heat and humidity of the Japanese summer. Summer in Japan is humid and hot. Therefore, wearing tight-fitting clothes can cause skin problems due to steaminess. Oversized clothes are chosen because they are well ventilated and functional, which helps to eliminate steaminess. Foreigners who enjoy summer vacations in Japan sometimes develop skin problems after a while and rush to buy new clothes. If you are coming to Japan in the summer, be sure to keep this in mind when choosing your clothes. he Aesthetics of Hiding In summer, more and more female students at Japanese language schools wear revealing clothes, but this is mostly the first-year students. However, this is mostly the case for first-year students; second-year students, like Japanese, do not expose their skin as much. So why do Japanese people not expose their skin so much even in summer? In Japan, showing skin or anything that is considered "sexy" in other countries is often seen as "vulgar". For this reason, Japanese women seem to be childish to foreigners. In Japan, there has always been an "aesthetic of concealment," which means not showing everything to others so that they can imagine your beauty. Also, in Japan, there is a culture of "kawaii," or childishness, which gives a good impression. This trend is slowly changing these days, but it still persists. The Unique Fashion of High School Girls One thing that has nothing to do with the "hidden aesthetic" is the fashion of high school girls. Most high school girls in Japan wear a uniform designated by the school. Most Japanese high school girls wear school uniforms, and they are passionate about how to make their uniforms look cute. A typical example is the length of the skirt. They wear short skirts even in the middle of winter in order to make their legs look longer and more beautiful. I heard a male exchange student say, "This is great because we don't have high school students like that in my country! Be careful not to look too much or you will get caught by the police. They also like brand-name items, and even high school students sometimes have high-brand purses and bags. Some of these items are given to them as gifts by their boyfriends, but they also work hard and have part-time jobs to buy them. That is how desperate Japanese high school girls are for fashion. What do you think? I will continue to introduce Japanese fashion in my next article. I will not be able to talk next week due to circumstances. 留学生が日本に来て驚いたこと。~ファッション編~ 日本に初めて来る外国人(旅行者も留学生も)は日本滞在中にどのようなファッションをすればいいのか悩むことが多いそうです。そこで、今回から日本人のファッションについていくつかのエピソードを紹介します。 フィットした服を着ない日本人 夏に日本旅行に来た外国人が驚くのは、日本人が夏でもオーバーサイズの服を着ていることです。外国人、特に欧米系は、上はTシャツやランニング来て、下は短いパンツをはくことが多いです。では、なぜ日本人はオーバーサイズを着るのでしょうか。それは、日本の夏の「蒸し暑さ」に関係します。日本の夏は湿度が高く、蒸し暑いです。その為、フィットした服を着ると蒸れてしまい、皮膚トラブルを起こすことがあります。オーバーサイズの服は風通しもよく、蒸れを解消させてくれる機能的な面でも選ばれています。日本で夏のバカンスを楽しんでいる外国人は、しばらくたつと皮膚トラブルを起こすことがあり、急いで服を買いなおすこともあるそうです。夏に日本に来る際はその点に注意して洋服選びをしましょう。 隠す美学 日本語学校では夏になると肌を露出させた服を着る女子学生が増えます。しかし、これは1年目の学生が多いです。2年目の学生たちは日本人同様に肌を露出させなくなります。では、なぜ日本人は夏でもあまり露出をしないのでしょう。日本では肌を出すことや、外国で「セクシー」と言われるものは、「下品」だととらえられてしまうことが多いです。そのため、日本人女性は外国人から見ると幼く感じるようです。日本は昔から「隠す美学」というものがあります。「隠す美学」とは、他人にすべてを見せないことによって、美しさを想像させることです。また、日本では「かわいい」という、幼いことが好印象だという文化もあります。このような傾向は、最近は少しずつ変わってきてはいますが、まだ根強く残っています。 女子高生の独特なファッション 「隠す美学」とは関係ないのが、女子高生のファッションです。日本の高校生はほとんどが学校指定の制服を着ています。女子高生たちは自分たちの制服をいかにかわいく見せるかに情熱を注いでいます。代表的なのはスカートの丈です。足を長くきれいに見せるために、真冬でもスカートを短く履いています。男子留学生からは、自分の国ではそのような高校生がいないので、最高だ!と話しているのを聞いたことがあります。あまり見すぎると警察につかまってしまうので注意しましょうね。また、ブランド物が好きで、高校生でもハイブランドのお財布やバッグを持っていることもあります。これは恋人からのプレゼントされたものもありますが、それだけではなく、購入するために一生懸命アルバイトをしていることもあります。それだけ、日本の女子高生はファッションのために必死になっていると言えます。 いかがでしたか?次回も引き続き日本のファッションについて紹介します。※来週は事情によりお休みします。
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Dylan Gibson
Oct. 18, 2021
I found a few more photos of my trip to Kumagaya. Being as it's the "Rugby Town" of Japan, it's only natural that it has a big statue of a rugby ball! It's kind of a cute statue and it reminds me of something from a movie, although I'm not sure which movie it is I'm thinking of. Apparently there's supposed to be a few of these statues found around other parts of Kumagaya, but I don't remember if I saw them or not. Obviously I saw some of the other statues, like the one over the canal, etc., but I don't remember seeing more than one of this statue. Perhaps at one of the other exits of Kumagaya Station. Also, the statue is apparently called "Rugby Boy" ("ラグビー少年" in Japanese), for anyone curious!
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