Lyndsey Keegan

✌ A Note On Japanese Traditions

• Unshakable Culture
  

      So today, walking around Kyoto I noticed some homeless people. Then remembering something that “Uncle Bob” (A SEND missionary who I had worked with the past few weeks) had said, I was in awe. The people here in Japan are so rooted in their culture that nothing will undermine it, even homelessness.

     There was a woman sitting on some newspaper trying to sleep by the train station. She was there yesterday as well, but I had only passed by. But today there was also a man in the corner. He positioned his newspaper on the ground and took off his shoes and laid down…I looked down at the woman, noticing she had done the same… Before either of them got onto their newspapers, or should I say their “homes”, they took off their shoes, in reverence to cultural traditions (which says that shoes would make the home dirty, therefore they are not allowed to be worn in the house). I found this to be shocking and humbling at the same time.

• Question Answered
  

     I was informed today by an elderly Japanese man why nearly all the Japanese hold their hands up in a peace sign ✌ gesture while being photographed. He said it doesn’t really stand for peace when they do it. It is a “V” for “Victory”; Victory over one’s self. This connects with the huge focus they have on self-discipline. I always wondered why they did that, and now, the question has been answered.