Japan in blissful isolation from the rest of the world during the New Year
I often wondered why I got asked like 20 times in a year by Japanese people if we had fireworks in Western countries. Everytime I answered: "yes, of course ! It's usual for big events like the New Year or a country's national day (e.g. 4 of July in the States, 14 of July in France, 21 of July in Belgium...) or on Guy Fawkes' night in the UK". To that, they replied "Oh really ! I thought fireworks were only in Japan !" I wondered how it was possible for them not to remember seeing fireworks from all around the world for the New Year each year. We see them on numerous channels on TV, in the newspapers, on the Internet...
But Japan does not do like most other countries. There are no fireworks at midnight on 1 January (or no big ones at least - as I haven't seen any, even in the news). It is by seeing Sydney kicks off New Year revels in the headlines of BBC News or Asia sets off world's New Year party on CNN, and similar fireworks pictures on every European news channel I have here, that I realised that Japan had a very peculiar way of celebrating the New Year. There were fireworks in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Australia, etc. and will be in a few hours in Europe and the whole American continent. Even small towns here in Belgium have their fireworks. But nothing special in Japan, a country normally obssessed with fireworks in summer. I don't think the cold is a good excuse - Tokyo being much warmer than most of Europe and North America in this season.
So the Japanese just go ring the temple bell, or a few thousands couragous ones are climbing Mount Fuji. Some youth go to nightclubs like everywhere else. But where are the fireworks ? And more than that, why do they hardly show fireworks around the world on TV ? I haven't seen any mention of the Asia-Pacific fireworks so far (I checked the NHK, Asahi and Yomiuri sites). No wonder that the people stays ignorant of these things, then every single time I talk about fireworks with a Japanese, they ask me if there are also fireworks in other countries.
Does somebody have the answer ? Why do the Japanese media "hide" that fact from the public ? Why do the fireworks-crazy Japanese not have fireworks for the New Year, their longest public holiday of the year ?
It is amazing that many Japanese do not know that other countries (I'm assuming that your referring to western countries, and not ALL countries) have fireworks... But then again, Japanese Wikipedia only has this much about fireworks in other countries:
歴史
紀元前3世紀の中国で爆竹が使用されたのが起源だという説もあるが、最初期の花火は6世紀、中国で火薬が使 われるようになるのとほぼ同時期に作られはじめたと考えられている。ただし、10世紀まで花火は存在しなか ったという主張もあるが、いずれにしても、発明の地は中国であったとされる。最初期のものは、たとえばロケ ット花火に似たものを敵陣に打ち込んで火事を起こしたり相手を威嚇したりといった、武器との区別がはっきり しないものもあった。
Maby it's something like the the hole ww2 thing, governmental sensorship, these things still work in a "democratic" sociaty. A good example of that is Putin in russia, after the kursk catastrofy he did a prety solid coverup on the american envolvment, took a couple of months befor the media outside russia got the idea, and i don't know if it's publicly known in russia jet.
But if you whant a real anser you will probably have to ask a japanese news reporter, and after that plz share the info.
Probably since there was nothing about celebrations of the New Year elsewhere at all, last check of NHK and Asahi headlines. But I'm not really one to ask since the only Japanese I've ever spoken with about them during hanabi taikai actually understand the differences between American and Japanese fireworks....
I think fireworks are over-rated. I been in NY over 10 years now (it is too long for me and maybe it is time for a change) and out of courtesy to my colleague who was about to go back to Japan, I went to see Macy's firework for the Fourth of July once. For me, once was enough. I think Americans like fireworks and parades more than any people in other countries. Also, just burning up fireworks is wasteful in my opinion.
Maybe Japan needs its own Guy Lombardo or Dick Clark to get them excited? I was wondering what they do at the stroke of midnight. Sounds about as exciting as watching cement dry.
Maybe Japan needs its own Guy Lombardo or Dick Clark to get them excited? I was wondering what they do at the stroke of midnight. Sounds about as exciting as watching cement dry.
It may take more than that to get the Japanese excited. Besides, the hatsumoude tradition is built around getting up at dawn for the first sunlight and visit to a temple, so fireworks may seem too flashy, too early in the morning or an upstart add-on that would detract from the unique spirit of their holiday.
It would have something to do with danger of fires. With all the old wooden buildings and past history of fire loses, maybe there is a hidden fear of fires being started. We always had them here in town at New Years, till 2 years ago when a building roof caught fire. No more fireworks after that except on the Fourth of July , and then out over the water.
The odd thing is, and I have no idea about the fireworks, maybe it's nothing--- I do know that my girlfriend is shocked to often find out that things that something exists in the United States, let alone the fact that it was actually invented there.
I remember in United States, there were programs that showed New Years in each country, so effectively, each hour they showed people celebrating New Years in a different country.
I don't see that same attention given to outsiders in Japan. I'm sure that some people would care, I think that governments and people are two distinct entities, so I think people would find things outside of Japan fascinating, so I don't say, the Japaense people do not care for outside influence--- but I think, overall it is an effect of society as a whole.
Our greatest pretenses are built up not to hide the evil and the ugly in us, but our emptiness. The hardest thing to hide is something that is not there.
-Eric Hoffer.
The odd thing is, and I have no idea about the fireworks, maybe it's nothing--- I do know that my girlfriend is shocked to often find out that things that something exists in the United States, let alone the fact that it was actually invented there.
Don't tell me. My life in Japan was a succession of meeting people surprised at everything I said about "outside Japan", as if they had just discovered that there was an outside world, and that not everything in Japan was uniquely Japanese and made in Japan. It reminds me of the book Wild Swans, by Jung Chang, where the author explains that during the dark Maoist years of China, the starving population was told that the world outside China was decadent, immoral and living in abject poverty, and that China was the apex of civilization. It's not as extreme, but I do feel that the Japanese government, schools and media are trying to give the people that image that Japan is the apex of civilization, and anything outside is decadent or barabarian.
I don't see that same attention given to outsiders in Japan. I'm sure that some people would care, I think that governments and people are two distinct entities, so I think people would find things outside of Japan fascinating, so I don't say, the Japaense people do not care for outside influence--- but I think, overall it is an effect of society as a whole.
In a free and democratic country, the government and media should be two clearly distinct things. So how comes that Japanese TV and newspapers try to "hide" what happens around the world ?
In a free and democratic country, the government and media should be two clearly distinct things. So how comes that Japanese TV and newspapers try to "hide" what happens around the world ?
The dark side in me, the horrible pessimisstic side that feels lonely in Japan would say that it perserves the idea of the perfection of Japanese society, and the defect that exists as the exterior world.
It is amazing that many Japanese do not know that other countries (I'm assuming that your referring to western countries, and not ALL countries) have fireworks... But then again, Japanese Wikipedia only has this much about fireworks in other countries:
Then:
日本の花火の歴史
It is odd to me that the Japanese think such obviously international things are unique to Japan, such as the four seasons and fireworks.
It is your distortion to say that
the Japanese think such obviously international things are unique to Japan, such as the four seasons and fireworks. It is odd to me that the Japanese think such obviously international things are unique to Japan, such as the four seasons and fireworks.
The wiki article is just the history of it in Japan.
the Japanese think such obviously international things are unique to Japan, such as the four seasons and fireworks. It is odd to me that the Japanese think such obviously international things are unique to Japan, such as the four seasons and fireworks.
The wiki article is just the history of it in Japan.
The Wikipedia article about fireworks in English (here) has the history in China and the US, the a list of usages in Britain, the US, the New Year worldwide, India and Hong Kong. However, the Japanese version, which is even longer than the English version (which certainly reflects the interest of Japanese people in that matter), only has a brief mention of fireworks being first introduced to Europe in the 13th century. There is not a single mention of the modern usage outside Japan. There is no mention of the New Year tradition in all Western countries, including Russia and Latin America, no mention of India, Hong Kong or whatever.
I don't ask for a detailed explanation for every country, but in such a long and detailed article, with more than a full screen for the "History in Japan" and another full screen for the list of major Japanese fireworks, they could have at last had one line mentioning that fireworks are common for the New Year in many countries around the world.
You have noticed that the French version is many times shorter than the Japanese version. Contrarily to the Japanese version, it does not have 2 pages of history, but 1 paragraph. I am sure that if that section was expanded (just a matter of time for Wikipedia), it will become more like the English version. But the Japanese version is already longer than the English one !
Sorry, I don't like to think it is mental retardedness, so I prefer to believe in the "conspiracy theory". History has shown that at one point of their development all government of "nation-states" have practised propaganda to make their "nation" look greater and more civilised than others. This ended with WWI, and in some cases WWII in Europe.
It has not yet stopped in the USA (with "patriotism"), and visibly in Japan too. The US uses religion, military power and its flag to raise patriotic feelings, mainly to achieve politico-economic goals (e.g. the invasion of another country so that big business can profit from it).
Japan did the same to invade the rest of East Asia from 1895 to 1945. Nowadays, Japan prefers "socio-cultural propaganda", because it lacks a strong political voice in the world and an army. I do not doubt that the aim of the people with power in Japan is too keep the nationalist ideals that Japan is superior to its Asian neighbours. The difference with the past is that the establishment wants to show that Japan is culturally superior, but not just to Asia but the whole world. To achieve this, it must inculcate false ideas, creating an myth of Japan's uniqueness, with strong nationalist symbols that the people already like, such as cherry blossoms, fireworks, the 4 seasons, Japanese food, etc. They must also keep the mass in the ignorance of basic facts about other countries and cultures. You can't make people believe that their culture is superior if they know that its symbols are also common in other countries.
The best way for a modern government (or powerful business people) to spread these ideas are through education and the media (there may be other ways, but these are by far the most efficient, as the whole country is affected and thus people will not doubt it may be false).
In the US, just look at how the war in Iraq was advertised and you'll get an idea of what "propaganda" means there.
In Japan, just look at the absence of media coverage of "nationalist symbols" outside Japan, such as fireworks for the New Year around the world, or cherry/plum/peach blossoms in Korea, China or Europe, and the completely abusive coverage of the same topics when it happens in Japan. Strange, isn't it ?
Then, how do you explain that Japanese school children in all the country are told since a very young age that Japan is "special" (maybe they don't always use the word "unique") for having 4 seasons, or that Japanese people descend from more "civilised" farmers, while Westerners descend from "barbarian" hunters ? (see article). Funny that I have never heard these strange theories in other countries, even in Asia. That's obviously because of the education system. It's already not normal that all school teachers in Japan have so little freedom to teach what they want, and must follow the "officially approved books" exactly. I know one another country where the same happens : communist China.
In Western Europe, teachers can write their own materials, and two teachers rarely teach the same thing, because they don't stick to books, and books are not limited to "officially approved" versions. It's obvious that the Japanese government has done everything it could to control every single thing taught at school. No wonder that for most Japanese school is only about passing exams and not learning !
Note that the USA also uses propaganda in schools, but more about inculcating partiotic feelings by singing the national anthem to the flag, something that Japan has unfortunately decided to copy under the "Koizumi-Bush let's be nationalist friendship".
In the UK, a big part of the media is spreading lies and myths about the EU. So much that the European Commission (= EU government) has had to make a special website Euromyths to dispel the lies, rumors and misconceptions.
Of course, there is no government keeping Japan in check. In fact, it is the Japanese government and big businesses which keep the media in check with their kisha clubs.
So you are saying that Japanese media do show fireworks in various places for the New Year. Let's see what you have found :
The 2 first links showing fireworks in Taiwan, Hong Kong and London are from MBS, a radio and TV company broadcasting only in Kansai (from what they say on their website, and indeed I had never heard of it in Tokyo). It is obviously not one of the "big 5" channels available nationwide : NHK, Nihon TV, TBS, Fuji TV and Asahi TV.
Then you show me a picture from Asahi Newspaper, but it's a fireworks in Osaka.
The last link has no picture. It's a very small article from the Yomiuri Newspaper about fireworks in Tokyo Disneyland for the New Year (should I specify that there are fireworks every night at Tokyo Disneyland/DisneySea ?)
In some way you confirm what I was saying, that the major TV and newspapers in Japan don't even mention fireworks outside Japan. Thanks for telling me about MBS, which like often in Japan shows that the Kansai can be a wonderful exception to what is standard in Japan.
...
In Japan, just look at the absence of media coverage of "nationalist symbols" outside Japan, such as fireworks for the New Year around the world, or cherry/plum/peach blossoms in Korea, China or Europe, and the completely abusive coverage of the same topics when it happens in Japan. Strange, isn't it ?
I don't know why you didn't mention Konoike no neko's post.
Originally Posted by Maciamo
Then, how do you explain that Japanese school children in all the country are told since a very young age that Japan is "special" (maybe they don't always use the word "unique") for having 4 seasons, or that Japanese people descend from more "civilised" farmers, while Westerners descend from "barbarian" hunters ? (see article). Funny that I have never heard these strange theories in other countries, even in Asia. That's obviously because of the education system. It's already not normal that all school teachers in Japan have so little freedom to teach what they want, and must follow the "officially approved books" exactly. I know one another country where the same happens : communist China.
...
This is because you have tons of cute friends even forgot the name of subjects they studied.
I know your role here, but it would be better if you're to be more realistic.
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Japan in blissful isolation from the rest of the world during the New Year
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Originally Posted by ArmandV
Besides, the hatsumoude tradition is built around getting up at dawn for the first sunlight and visit to a temple, so fireworks may seem too flashy, too early in the morning or an upstart add-on that would detract from the unique spirit of their holiday.
I was surprised last year that there was no fireworks !! 
~ Parempi hullu kuin tylsä - Better crazy than boring ~
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