Reaction Paper #2

Reaction Paper #2

            We have discussed many more topics about Japan since the last reflection paper we had to write; here are just a few of the topics that I found to be most interesting.

            One of the points I enjoyed learning about was Soshiki, which is the ritual funeral practice in Japan.  Even though the Japanese never really consider themselves to be religious, when a funeral comes around Shinto and Buddhism practices come into effect.  A funeral director will cleanse the body and apply make-up to make the body look nice without embalming it at all.  The body will almost always be cremated, and after this the family mourns for 49 days because it is believed that is how long it takes for their dead ancestor to reach the afterlife.  The family is in a sovereign state for the entirety of this period.  I find this extremely different from what my family practices.  Although we are all very sad that a loved one has passed, this only lasts for a few days.  After the funeral takes place and the body is buried, we celebrate our loved one's life by having a party.

            Another topic I found interesting was Sempai-Kohai, which is basically the respect given to different people.  Basically, if you are older, you automatically get more respect than a younger person, which is also typical in the United States.  What I was surprised to hear was that in the job market just because you have much more skill than someone does not mean you will get a better job.  Being older typically means you will get promoted over someone with more skill, which still puzzles me.  I suppost it could be because someone older could have a stronger relationship with someone in the company, making them a better asset to the corporation they work for.