Portrait of a Japanese Person

My old roommate and her parents at graduation

Some girls I met at the sports festival

A Japanese shop owner who spoke English
and sold Turkish clothing.

A girl who had dressed up for job hunting.

All of these people are "Japanese".

I had taken a number of photos of random, or just-met, Japanese people, thinking, "these would make nice portraits" but not realizing fully that I would have to talk about these people as well. Since coming to live with her approximately six weeks ago in January I have come to get a feel for my host mother's personality. Mitsuko Hidaka has been hosting students for 18 years, so I will not be surprised if she has popped up in another anthropology blog somewhere.

When I asked her why she hosted, she said it started because her husband had owned an international business and was fluent in English. However, after his death five years ago due to throat cancer, she still hosts students. Considering her age (70) and the fact that she lives alone I asked her why she continues to host, thinking maybe she is a bit lonely. However, Mitsuko said she loves to hear the sound of English being spoken (though later she said she likes a Spanish accent the best) and that the school asked her to continue, as she had gotten good reviews in the past. I figure that her love for travel and extremely energetic nature also add to the reasons.

In this picture my host mother is making
stringing beads into an ornate pattern,
 possibly for a vest.

I also asked her a question that, in addition to her fondness of foreign cultures, seems to refer to some misunderstanding about Westernization. I asked, “Which do you prefer; Japan or America?” She said, “Of course Japan, but America is better for sightseeing.” This made me think about what is culture, and how can anyone paint one portrait of a “Japanese Person”? What makes someone Japanese or American or Swedish, etc? My host mother likes Korean fashions, but has her own, Japanese style, and owns a kimono for formal events. She likes to learn English, but would rather speak in fluent Japanese. Though my breakfast might resemble a ‘western’ breakfast, the dinners are never something I would have eaten at home. In fact, I was once greeted with a plate full of chewy octopus legs.

Watching TV at the time; here we were watching
a program that, to me, seemed like a drama for
people who had strange symptoms of illness; like the show
House only a placid Japanese soap opera.

To me, the idea that Japan is losing its culture is absurd, or that change is bad, namely because we fail to see that change occurs everywhere, and adaption is normal; it's not loss. I feel like there are general things that make my host mother Japanese; her heritage, the constant cleaning of the house, taking of shoes in the entryway, cooking, language, body language, etc. However, I often confuse my friends because I often refer to her as my "mom", not my Japanese mom, which I often clarify shortly afterwards. Taking a portrait of a Japanese Person is extremely difficult, because a Japanese person isn't any one thing. It's difficult to define what a core of someone's identity really is, no matter how homogenized it might seem.. However, I can say that perhaps this could be a snapshot of Mitsuko Hidaka. This is my portrait of my host mother.