Into the World:
The Random Thoughts in My Mind

I have always believed (and probably always will) believe that language is a tool of expressing culture . Language detached from culture can never be truly considered a true language as it is then effectively detached from all cultural nuances essential for generating deep conversations. Thus, a person without cultural knowledge associated with a particular language can never be considered fluent in that particular language no matter how effortlessly the person can speak it. The above logic is the fundamental reason I am against all efforts to introduce English ( or any other language, for that matter ) as the working language for a non-English-speaking environment. Because English, as known by her native speakers, ignores all socio-cultural customs of the non-English-speaking locality…this is especially true in Japan, where the various unwritten social rules of embarrassment and isolation so commonly used is practically unknown in the Western world where English originates. However

The rain gets stronger, the wooded mountains more isolating, and the journey on the slow local train continues into the rural areas as night falls on the flatlands of central Japan. Every time the train stops and temporarily shuts down her engine, the only noise that can be heard is the sound of the rain showering the ground. There are no longer any malls, or even any stores and houses, outside the passing landscape, and seeing pedestrians of any sort is quickly becoming more and more of a rarity.

Outside the windows, the mountains seemed to rise out of nowhere. Heading out of each tunnel, the traveler is suddenly blinded by the bright colors on the slopes. With not a single piece of dirt, the golden yellow and the bight green leaves of well-preserved old growth is dotted by the occasional pink blossoms and uncharacteristically fiery red. The concentrated eyes of the traveler are forced to refocus to find these dissidents of nature amid the equally beautiful majority. And as the traveler continues to glance through the rising landscape, the insignificantly little yet respectably resilient human habitation comes into his eyes. The old wooden houses with black tiles are seemingly decorated by the movements of the hardy (aging) farmers picking through the nearby fields. If it were not for the well-worn little trucks taking the produce to the faraway markets, no one would be able to tell that this is no longer feudal Japan… Inside the warm and nearly empty trains, children spok

Recently, I watched a lecture on increasing realization of civil rights in China and the media's role in the realization. The lecturer made a strong point that the increasingly unstoppable dissent by journalists in officially sanctioned press, combined with spread of the info through SNS , is forcefully breaking down the propaganda apparatus maintained by the Communist Party (cited by the lecturer as "the most sophisticated in human history"). He notes with optimism that the media, backed by intellectuals, is institutionalizing dissent and slowly eroding the established cultural attitudes of the Chinese people. Foreign ideas, passed on through the media and SNS, is infusing foreign ideas rapidly into the Chinese mind...All very clichéd arguments that have been made by "Chinese experts" for years now. But a little side-note I picked up in his argument (and I want to discuss a bit) is that he notes the same thing did not happen with Japan's "free pres

In a previous post , I argued that the lack of social openness in Japanese society nullifies many of the redeeming qualities associated with her abundant political freedoms as a relatively mature democracy. As a continuation of that thought, I have to further examine the underlying social force that results in that lack of social openness. I ask: what exactly causes a nation so full of technical innovation to not show a slightest hint of it on the socio-political aspect? Why is the country so conservatively exclusive in social behavior despite having been interacting with the most modern philosophies for the past couple of centuries? The answer, I believe, lies within the steadfast hold on a sense of stability through hierarchy so central to any Confucian society. Those with seniority are supposed to supply the young ones with wisdom and money, while the youth will pay back by absolute obedience to the orders from the elders. Rebellion by the youth is considered the main cause of

As my planned departure from Japan getting final approval from the company, the last days of my (current period of) working life in Japan has truly become a matter of question. Amid my lack of motivation and the company's lack of incentive to give me any significant work, I wonder if staying here until I truly must depart for England is in any way a wise decision....unfortunately, so far, the answer to the question has been mostly a big, absolute "No." Here is the current situation. After informing my superiors that LSE will start for at the end of September, I was frankly told that my stay in sales position will last until the day I physically leave the company. The rationale is that, rather than transferring me to another department ( even if one where I can immediately be put to use ), I should master the "art of sales" so that next time I look for a job anywhere in the world, I can immediately put my "negotiation and speaking" skills to effecti