Culture Day

There are innumerable holidays in Japan. Today is one of them: Bunka no Hi - Culture Day. This really means nothing other than a day off, but we are particularly lucky that this year it falls perfectly in time to follow the results of the US presidental elections. Right now, we are all gathered at my old school, the Stanford Center, watching TV, eating pancakes, and checking the internet for the latest predictions. Japanese television is happily broadcasting ABC, so we can watch as the states are colored in.

Most of us here (well, I think all of us, actually) are desperately hoping that Kerry will win. There is a completely different feeling about American politics from abroad than from in the States. For instance, everyone outside the United States cannot understand how anyone in the US could possibly vote for Bush. I, too, often wonder at the large difference in opinions. I think it has to do with viewpoints. Those in the US are focused on things in the US and they see things from the viewpoint of their own town, state, and country. While those abroad, both Americans and others, can see the US from the outside, from the international context. There is more focus on how the US government interacts with other countries, how US culture is transmitted throughout the world, and how Americans as people are percieved by others.

I won't press my political views, but let me just say that from the viewpoint of Japan, the US, and particularly its current president, has an ego problem. That is, they think that the US thinks it has all the right answers, and will not listen to common sense or compromise.