My experience of two weeks in Japan, which has passed too quickly for my taste, allowed me to immerse myself in an ancient culture imbued with wisdom. In addition, I learned a great deal from this very pleasant stay in the land of the Rising Sun. There two in particular that I learned. The first is that it is possible to relax, even in a highly industrialized society. The second lesson I learned, although I already knew from one point of view 'Western', said to admire the beauty and find happiness in simplicity and in small gestures.
First, the calm of the Japanese population surprised me a lot, especially in a large industrialized city like Tokyo! The people of Japan are very polite and their label wants them to express their impatience not in public. So no one hears cry and we see no rush on the part of people in a hurry. Immersed in the crowd calm, I felt good. Since Japan is very crowded, chaos would move if it was necessary that everyone is impatient. As so aptly Braën sir, "replace all Japanese by the same number of Parisians and you will see a huge difference." The lesson I take from this is that even in an industrialized country focused on speed and high technology, you can relax. Basically, these are our stress and our pace of life are staggering engines of shoving and shouting matches which we often witness.
Then the land of the rising sun, people appreciate the beauty in small everyday actions and simple. Here, I learned this lesson in the sense that the services, hugs and kisses, kind words of greeting and encouragement and smiles are beautiful and make everyone happy. There, the simple beauty lies deeper. Daily activities are so important they are sacred. For example, when the Japanese take a moment of their day drinking tea, they transform into ceremony. A tea master prepares the precious drinking and smoking bowls filled with gestures of high precision and a great delicacy as well as tools (whisk, spoon, kettle, bowls) with beautiful color and location vary each season. This ceremony is marked by a transcendence that can relax and forget for a few moments the tumultuous day that has just left to enter another world, that of tea. For us it is just the opposite: we need protocols with larger drums, trumpets, big shows, parades, fireworks and speeches to talk about ceremonies. Otherwise, the only ceremony that is sacred to us is the celebration mass. In addition, the simple beauty is found in Japanese architecture and gardens. Indeed, the land of the Rising Sun, we do love old buildings and skated wearing dark colors. Concerning gardens are for the most part, rockeries or foams. This simplicity is beautiful and soothing. For cons, the Kinkakuji is the ultimate symbol of extravagance: since it was rebuilt, the gilding Kyotoites hate too bright and they do any more this temple. In sum, the simple beauty through small gestures of everyday life transformed into ceremonies and through architecture discrete temples and gardens was fun.
Finally, I want to say that wherever I have lived in Japan has been very rewarding. Certainly I have learned, but there is still much to learn from the Japanese wisdom. I loved this country so I want to return someday.
ありがとございます!
Thanks!
ノエ ミ
Noémie
