Friday, December 9, 2011

Sightseeing in Japanese Culture

Something that has really interested me ever since I came to Japan is the way that Japanese people flock to their own historical sites and sightseeing attractions.  As for me, I have always felt that Americans tend to somewhat neglect their own landmarks.  In my hometown of Salem, Massachusetts, we have several tourist attractions—museums commemorating the witch trials, wax museums, fortune telling, even a world famous art museum.  However, it kind of seems as if no one is interested.  Some Americans will travel to Salem to see them, but most of our tourists are foreign and those of us that live in the town are somewhat less than enthusiastic. 
I’ve been to several Japanese landmarks since I’ve been here.  In Kiyomizu-dera, I had to fight against crowds of tourists—the grand majority of them Japanese—to take pictures of its world-famous view, or to drink from the wishing fountains. 

At Kinkaku-ji, it was almost impossible to get a picture of the temple because there were always tourists blocking the view—again, most of them Japanese. 

Most of these attractions have also been very commercialized (this is not exclusive to Japan, but it is interesting).  At Ginkaku-ji, you could buy anything from bookmarks to cell phone charms of the famous temple.  Lots of Japanese tourists snapped photos of themselves posing with their traditional peace-sign pose.  At Kinkaku-ji, there were vending machines selling soda and Hagen-daas ice cream.  Even the bright yellow Omikuji machines at the temple seem kind of out of place—neon yellow and metal next to stately wooden temples. 

It’s not only old ladies and school children on trips who frequent these places—they’re very popular date spots as well.  And yet, the younger generation doesn't seem too interested in the history of these places--they mostly just want to snap photos and buy phone charms.  I went to Kinkaku-ji with a few Japanese friends, and we passed by a waterfall that looked as if it was a bit special.  I asked them if there was any significance to it, and they just said "Uh... it's a waterfall? We have no idea."  I wonder why this is.

No comments:

Post a Comment