Some December Pictures!
Here are a few pictures from December including Osaka, Kyoto and Kobe!
Here are some pictures from December, descriptions go:
AB
CD
EF
GH
A) Night-time bustle in Shinsaibashi/Namba
B) Saturday on a Crowded Osaka train
C) Old-style Street-side Buildings in Kyoto
D) Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto
E) Christmas in Kobe
F) Luminarie Festival in Kobe
G) Lazy Monk Collects Coins on Bridge
H) Ever wonder what that cool foreign-language shirt of yours actually says?
posted by Ryan @ 12:50 AM
8 comments
8 Comments:
haha that is hilarious, did you know that Loser or was he just off the street? Your pictures look great and i am so jealous!
have fun!
He was just a guy standing in a bar and I just asked him to pose for a picture. People seem to not find that request too strange here.
Ryan, you're the greatest.
x Kelsey.
And you can never have too many pictures. I love the pictures.
So Ryan, I've been reading this book (surprise, surprise) that suggests that counter-cultural rebels are not only hindering rampant consumerism but actually fueling it. The book is called "The Rebel Sell."
In one chapter the authors argue that Westerners often look to other cultures for solace believing that only their culture is pushing consumerism when in fact other cultures are highly consumeristic any way.
Let's see:
"Yet the suggestion that this sort of consumerism is a distinctly Western phenomenon that has been imported to Hong Kong is preposterous, as anyone who has spent any time at all in the rest of Asia can attest to. Consumer culture has a much higher profile in Singapore, Taipei, Shanghai and Tokyo than it does in Los Angeles, London or Toronto, and there is no question that Asian consumerism is entirely homegrown. Most Asian societies not only have a strong traditional appreciation for the value of physical goods, they also identify a set of culturally coded prestige goods, whose consumption confers special social status. Most Westerners simply don't have enough knowledge of the culture to recognize these codes, and so fail to understand just how competitive consumption in Asia can be."
("The Rebel Sell" 262).
They use the example of different types of goldfish in Hong Kong to illustrate their point.
Also, Heath and Potter write that "Westerners will often tell their Chinese acquaintances, with great pride, how little they paid for their watch, clothes of their car. This inevitably provokes disappointment. In Asia, the goal is to tell everyone how much you paid for these things."
Ryan, what do you think?
Is this true?
Thanks, Kelsey.
NOTE: The following comment may be very boring if you're not Kelsey.
Yes, Kelsey, this is definitely true (though I don't quite undersatnd your opening sentence). I don't think people realized how heavily East Asia is based on consumer culture. I think you need to see the big department stores here to fully understand, it's relentlessly unashamed consumerism base.
There's not the shame in being rich here that people see in the West. That said, I think the consumerism and strife to be rich and successful definitely fuels a lot of the hard-working nature that's characteristic of Asians.
I would also agree that it's an Asian phenomenon but think that there is Western influence in there, if not only to provide a platform for this mass consumerism to take place.
Although consumerism may be stronger in Japan, I definitely think it was more noticeable in Hong Kong (maybe just because I'd never before seen such unbridled capitalism at that point).
A good example of the consumer-based nature of society here is the fact that most people here carry around shopping bags from expensive stores, even if they hadn't purchased anything there. They're just trying to give the illusion that they were just shopping at Guchi or Prada, but really their shopping bag will just contain their purse and gloves and some paper.
On that note, it's really funny. At first I would see a 15 year old girl on the subway at 10am with one of these bags and think, 'Were you really just shopping at Versace this morning??' but quickly realized that something was up.
replace the word "only" in the opening sentence with "actually."
that should help. a bit, at least.
but thanks for your response because i was really curious ;)
love you, klc.
but then there are two "actually"s. so just omit "only". omit it entirely!
my god, mcgill would be ashamed.
x klc.
Actually I've heard McGill has really low standards so they'd probably still be really proud.
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