ARW Fall Term

My Fall Term went so quickly... it was such a short term. Though I was busy everyday and had many many many assignments (not only those of ARW but also those of RCA, other ELP classes and English lectured classes)Especially the reading comprehensions after the essay writing were tough. I wanted much time to discuss the content...BUT  I now overcome and dealt with all those burdens!

I am now very happy to finish writing my essay which was about bowing. From the beginning to the end of the writing period, I was nervous if I were able to finish it including reliable sources and concrete idea of my own. Since the essay was a long one and had also a long time to discuss it with my section mates and with Mark in tutorials, I updated my opinions and rewrote my essay many times. Besides opinion from others, 20*20 pecha-kucha presentation greatly helped me. Though the presentation itself was very tough and challenge, it really helped organizing what to convey in my essay!

Thank you very much for  all the classes and tutorials!
I enjoyed learning and speaking and also writing English in your class!

We had fun eating Pockies!

Diamond's"Race Without Color"

The commonsense view of races tends to classify people by the color of their skin. However, Diamond claims that it is impossible for us to classify human by such traits. That is  because differing in classification makes it impossible to recognize any human races at all. Classification changes according to what kind of criteria one uses for classifying.  Those criteria can be separated into 3 types such as some traits to enhance survival, some ones to enhance sexual selection, while some serve no function at all. Even these ways of classification is meaningless because it varies from each individual. In the end of the essay, Diamond concludes that racial classification is an arbitrary system.

I agree with Diamond in that it is impossible to classify human. Human cannot easily divided into groups according to traits that are visible like the example of birds. However, I think that the concept of race or classifying human into a certain group will not disappear since it is part of our life and we accept it unconsciously. For example, when a police is detecting the identity of a human body, they tend to focus on traits of races. Also when there is a unknown human body, media broad casts the appearance which is almost about the race group that it belongs to. Therefore, we have to cooperate with “racism” all the times.

REWRITE: Interpretation of Bowing

Fig.1.  President Obama bowing to Japanese emperor. Photograph by Mandel Ngan from AFP; Los Angeles Times, 2009; Web; 1 Nov.2011.

Look at this picture. This is a picture of president Obama bowing deeply to Japanese Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko. In another occasion, he also bowed deeply to the King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia (Unruh). From our Japanese point of view, we can assume that the president is, in both cases, showing his respect to them by bowing or that he is trying to show some understanding to the Japanese culture to maintain a good relationship. However, several American media are criticizing his bow as a misunderstanding towards other cultures. According to an article by an American media called Fox, previous presidents have greeted Emperor not by bowing but by shaking hands (“Obama”). They claim that “shaking hands are considered to be a standard and universal way of greeting.” Today, there are three main ways of bowing such as kissing, shaking hands and bowing, but is shaking hands a standard way of greeting? It is true that shaking hands are used in an official business situation commonly. However it is not always true. For example in Japan, bowing is more common than shaking hands. When you came across with a clerk in a corridor, one slightly bows to the other. When one greets with a clerk, one bows deeply to he or her. By looking at these situations, it cannot be said that bowing is a universal way of greeting. Bowing may cause misunderstanding of its meaning because it is interpreted differently from each culture. In this situation of Obama’s bowing, cultural differences in greeting are causing this conflict. Westerns seldom bow and lower their heads. Japanese should be careful to convey its meaning correctly to foreigners who do not know about bowing and on the other hand, foreigners should understand more about the background of Japanese culture.

Bowing is a very common gesture around the world. Though the frequency of the use or its meaning that represents is different from each culture, we can see still the gesture of bowing everywhere. The history of bowing in Japan goes back to the early China. Usually it shows a respect to the opponent of the bowing. The custom of bowing as a greeting spread to the Asian countries since China had enough power to affect other cultures. Therefore, bowing as a greeting can still be seen today in Asia. In some cultures, bowing is deeply connected to religion. For example, Muslims pray to their God Allah by bowing and facing in the direction of the city of Makah, where is concerned as a holy city. They also prostrate to their God to show their respect to it. According to Muslim’s bible Quran, acts of worship are allowed only to God.

What about the Western countries? I have interviewed a few students from the US and from the UK who came to Japan to study at a Japanese university. I asked them whether they would bow in everyday life. All of them answered “No.”. It seemed that bowing is rare and it is performed in a special situation. As the students have answered, in Europe or in the US, bowing is not popular. People bow during the curtain call or bow to Christ. There was a specialist of etiquette in the US called Emily Post in the early 20^th century. According to her book “Etiquette”, she claimed that ladies and gentlemen should bow when they greet to people (Post). In her book, she introduces some ways of everyday use bows. She focuses on bowing in a formal place or bowing to the elders but in the end she suggests to bow casually and informally whenever you encounter a person one knows (Post, 24). Unfortunately, the culture of bowing in the US did not become common and the standard way of greeting was only to shake hands. It seems that the historical back ground of each culture affects the use of bowing. The country that put an emphasis on individuality is less likely to have a culture of bowing as a greeting. People who have individuality view other people as equal to themselves. This means that there is less hierarchical status among people. The movement of bowing requires people to put their heads down, so, it seems to them as if one is obeying to the other (Lapidos). From this reason, it can be considered why Fox criticized the President Obama’s bow.

Fig.2. A Japanese judo player called Kosei Inoue bowing before the game. Photograph by Akihiro Hirata from Mainichi cop; Mainichi Daily News, 2008;Web; 1 nov. 2011

Misunderstandings and conflicts in bowing also occurs in an international Japanese sport called Judo. Judo is a traditional martial arts and it used to require the players to bow as a rule. However, as it is mentioned above, in some cultures such as the Islamic world views this bow in Judo as same as that they are using in praying (Ono). According to Quran, the gesture of bowing is only allowed to the sole God Allah. Though Judo is not a religion and the Muslims recognize the fact that bowing in Judo games is not religious, they argue that the bow in Judo is similar to their bow as a ritual (“Judo”). For this reason some of them refused to bow to the opponent player in a Judo game. IJF which stands for International Judo Federation decided to change its Judo rules (Nakamura). After Judo was adopted as a sport for Olympic game, they decided to do so in that they wanted to make Judo as an universal and international sport. The conflict of bowing occurred in the US. An American brother and sister failed the game in the course of refusing the bowing because in the former rule, it required the players to bow in the game (Nakamura). The two brothers and his sister refused to do so. As a result, the judge made them fail concerning that they broke the rule. The two children protested and claimed to the IJF using the Civil Rights Act that the bowing in Judo forces people the ideas of Shinto thought and violates the Civil Rights of the liberation in beliefs. This conflict ended by these two children losing the court against IJF since the bowing in Judo does not represent religious beliefs but just a cultural gesture. However this gave a chance for the IFJ to rethink and make rules about the bowing. They abolished the rules of bowing duty of “bowing in front of the opponent” and “bowing to the playground” . These two duties of bowing were abolished for five reason (1) too many bows can confuse the players (2) the purpose is unclear (3) it is difficult for the judges to observe bowing (4) bowing should not be forced but acted spontaneously (5) only “bowing to each other” is necessary in a play (International Judo Federation). The change of the rule also relieved the tense between the Muslim that participated in the game.

Fig.3. Japanese have three levels of bowing; Eshaku, Keirei and Saikeirei from the left. The deeper one bow, the more respect one shows to others. Illustration; http://blog.lovedoor.jp/kinterblog; K-INTER, 2011; Web; 1 Nov. 2011

Misinterpretation in communication occurs every day, especially when people communicate inter culturally. So, what would be the solutions to prevent these issues? Three possible suggestions can prevent these issues: understanding Japanese culture, understanding the meaning in the bowing and trying to understand alien cultures. For solving the issue, both Japanese and foreigners should work together to communicate smoothly.

The first step for foreigners to prevent from causing misunderstanding is to understand Japanese culture. Knowing the basic knowledge of bowing or how Japanese greet each other beforehand is very effective. For example, to give knowledge about bowing to foreigners, guide books should contain more information about Japanese greeting not only about bowing but eye contacts or phrases for greeting. Besides guide book, there is a best seller book Kiss Bow or Shake Hands. According to the author, it provides knowledge to open borders, minds, and markets in more than 60 countries around the world. In addition to how people greet each other, the book contains many other cultural back grounds that can help one understand a country (Morrison). This kind of book that provides back ground information can help a foreigner to understand  more about other cultures. There are also some web sites that give information that would be useful in travelling Japan (“Japan”). Also Japanese government should put an emphasis on giving the travellers from abroad a pamphlet that summarizes some tips to communicate smoothly in Japan by informing the Japanese way of greeting. It would be useful if the government and airplane companies work together and distribute those pamphlets to the visitors. For the second step, understanding the meaning in bowing would be effective. It helps and leads to the understanding of each other. Most of the foreigners do not know that there are three different ways of bowing in Japan such as Eshaku, Keirei and Saikeirei (Fig.3.). If one knows that each of the meaning is different and the extent of respect gets higher as one bows deeper, one would not make serious mistakes in understanding the culture. In addition to showing the respect to others, Japanese bowing has many meanings such as apology or appreciation or welcome. Combining with the first step, foreigners can deal with these various bowing in many situations. Japanese who communicate with foreigners should also teach the meanings in each bowing when they came across with an opportunity to bow. Taking Obama again for example, Japanese around him should have informed him of how to bow. For the final step, understanding other alien culture is important. This is deeply related to the two former steps. In the Obama situation, Fox did not try to interpret the bowing from broader view such as view of Japanese but instead, they criticized the bow from western view. One sided view for a culture is very dangerous and it can be a prejudice against other cultures.

Today, the world is getting smaller and smaller by transportation and technologies. This means that one has more opportunities to communicate with those from other cultures. Since one lives in a different society and cultivates different cultures, it is natural for us to come across with difficulties in communications. According to Barna, people tends to assume that one can communicate easily since there are some similarities that seems common among cultures however it does not apply in every situation (Barna, 5-1). Therefore, knowing that other cultures are different and trying to understand that other cultures are the step to communicate inter culturally. This can be applied not only to bowing. If President Obama, Fox or Muslim Judo players considered more seriously about knowing other cultures, conflicts would not have occurred. Hence both foreigners and Japanese should try to make an effort to communicate smoothly with each other. In order to accomplish it one should understand other cultures, understand the meaning in the bowing and try to understand alien cultures.

Works Cited

"Bowing Guide" International Judo Federation. Web. 1 Nov. 2011. <http://www.intjudo.eu/Rules/IJF_Referee_Manual_Introduction/Bowing_Guide_>.

"Japan: Top 5 Customs to Know Before You Travel - a knol by Chishikiyoku Project." Knol - a unit of knowledge: share what you know, publish your expertise.. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Nov. 2011. <http://knol.google.com/k/japan-top-5-customs-to-know-before-you-travel#>.

"Judo Bow Not Religious, Judge Rules - Beliefnet.com." Inspiration, Spirituality, Faith, Religion. - Beliefnet.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Nov. 2011.

"Obama Draws Fire For Bow To Japanese Emperor | Fox News." Fox News - Breaking News Updates | Latest News Headlines | Photos & News Videos. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Nov. 2011. <http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/11/16/obama-draws-bow-japanese-emperor/>.

LaRay, Barna. "Stumbling Blocks in Intercultural Communication." Intercultural Communication: A Reader. 7th ed. Belmont: Wadsworth, 1994. Print.

Lapidos, Juliet. "Obama's getting flak for bowing in Japan. Early Americans bowed all the time. - Slate Magazine." Homepage - Slate Magazine. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Nov. 2011. <http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/explainer/2009/11/how_ceremonious_you_are.html>.

Morrison, Terri, Wayne A. Conaway, and George A. Borden. Kiss, Bow, or Shake Hands: how to do business in sixty countries. Avon: B. Adams, 1994. Print.

Nakamura, Isamu.” Bowing in international judo- A comparative cultural study－” 2008, 1 Nov. 2011. PDF file

Ono, Sokyo, Charles E. Tuttle Co., Tokyo, 1962, and pp 1-6.. "U.S. Judo Training Center - Bowing." U.S. Judo Training Center - Home. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Nov. 2011. <http://www.judochampions.com/bowing/>.

Post, Peggy, and Emily Post. Emily Post's Etiquette. 17th ed. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2004. Print.

Unruh, Bob. "Obama bows to Saudi king." WND HOME PAGE. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Nov. 2011. <http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=93696owing/>.

Shreeve's "Terms of Estrangement"

Shreeve mainly discuss how people use race and how people consider the idea of race. He shows it by giving some examples of the actual use in police and in medical research moreover he cites several experts’ views both approval and disapproval. However, he does not clearly show his own opinion or tendency to which ideas he agrees. At the end of his argument he shares an idea from Smouse. According to Smouse, he complains that though there are genetic differences between groups of people, classification is just a matter of perspective and the result of dividing can be changed easily by the criteria of the question.

In some part, I agree with the idea of Smouse that the classification of race is nonsense. However, the practical use of race such as medical research is still important. For example, the shape of the body is so much different from each race and that difference affects the possibility of being sick. Also the dose of medicine that one takes would be different according to the average size of its race one is belonging to.

Gould's "The Geometry of Race"

              Gould argued his idea by using racial classification by two different scientists called Linnaeus and Blumenbach. Linnaeus was the founder of taxonomy, and established a theory that people can be divided into four different groups; American, European, Asian and African. Blumenbach who was a German anatomist and naturalist added the Malay to his theory and made a minor change. Though his change of the classification was trivial, the new system radically changed the structure of order. It was changed from geographical model into hierarchical model. Blumenbach believes that human derives from one single region and spread to the world. Also, he believes that there is no superiority or inferiority among each group. The skin color is easily changed by natural causes and the form of head is attributed to the mode of life and art. Racial variations are caused by such outside causes and the differences are obvious because they are inherited for generations. In my opinion, Gould tried to say that the classification of human is meaningless because the classification is imagined and does not have scientific evidence. The classification of both Linnaeus and Blumenbach ignores the race between each group, however, if one tries to classify into more small groups, it would be divided into each individuals. Therefore I think that the bigger topic of this essay is implying that classifying human is nonsense.