Final Blossay: Yuru-kyara and Food

Yuru-kyara (ゆるキャラ), or “mascots”, are a popular staple in the visual culture of Japan. Yuru-kyara is the contracted form of yurui mascot character (ゆるいマスコットキャラクター), which signifies the generally unsophisticated and laid back nature of these creations. There are a wide variety of these creations, most of which are referred to as gotōchi-kyara, or local mascots. These characters exist specifically to advertise and promote a region or small area, which I will elaborate on later. The most popular yuru-kyara are the ones who appear in mascot suits, also known as kigurumi, but many other exist solely as 2-dimensional advertisements. Many of these characters are either considered cute or fall into a category known as gurokawaii (creepy-cute.) 

The cuteness factor is what tends to promote these characters to celebrity status and help them commercially. These characters have assisted much of the Japanese economy and revenue system over the years, and in 2012 a reported $16 billion was attributed to yuru-kyara driven sales (merchandise.) Because they have become so marketable, many corporations have taken to using them in order to help build clientele and establish popularity.

There is a noticeable difference between yuru-kyara and corporate mascots. To be considered a yuru-kyara, a character must fit these three criteria, decided by mangaka Miura Jun:

1. It must convey a strong message of love for one's hometown or local region
2. The character's movements or behaviour should be unique and unstable or awkward
3. The character should be unsophisticated or laid-back (yurui) and lovable

The second rule implies that yuru-kyara should exist in kigurumi, however there are agreed upon yuru-kyara that only exist 2-dimensionally. The most important aspect of yuru-kyara and gotochi-kyara are that they are designed by amateur artists, sometimes even young children, which is where the “unsophisticated” name comes from. This is what separates them from corporate mascots, mascots for sports teams (especially baseball), and characters who are a part of Sanrio such as Hello Kitty. Another noted difference between yuru-kyara and commercial characters is how the character originates. With businesses like Sanrio, the merchandise is released first, and then once a character attains a certain amount of popularity, they are given television shows and book series. Yuru-kyara and gotochi-kyara are generally revealed before merchandise is created to gain a fan base.  This may have something to do with how yuru-kyara are generally considered crude and sometimes ugly to people because of their pro-bono origin, but commercial mascots have more money poured into design and professional artists to create a character that will immediately sell.

These characters can exist in the seemingly mundane areas of life in Japan. Many corporations have hopped onto the yuru-kyara trend after noticing the success other characters and companies have had with the fad. Airports, trains, and even prisons have adopted these characters into their aesthetic.  The three aforementioned locations can be a source of high anxiety for visitors, so the yuru-kyara exist as a buffer between something that may frighten or set someone on edge. In the specific context of Asahikawa Prison, Katakkura-chan exists to soften the prison’s hard exterior, and help lessen the stigma of people who reenter society after leaving the prison.

One of the main reasons I have seen for why yuru-kyara are so popular is that they inherently lessen stigma and soften taboos in Japanese society which usually remain under wraps.

The popularity of these characters is most often attributed to the creation of Hikonyan, the yuru-kyara of Hikone Castle in Shiga Prefecture. 

Hikonyan was created to celebrate the 400^th anniversary of the castle’s creation in 2007. Hikonyan increased tourism to the castle by about 200,000 visitors annually. His design is based off of a white cat, who is said to have saved li Naotaka, the Daimyo, from a lightning strike during a storm. He also is wearing a replica of a helmet which belonged to the li family is contained in the castle’s museum. Merchandising sales for Hikonyan as of 2008 (during its first year in existence) was recorded at $21 million. 

This popularity and increase in tourism is what ultimately lead to the yuru-kyara boom Japan has seen in recent years. Prior to 2007, there were still many yuru-kyara, but Hikonyan ultimately paved the way for gotochi-kyara to take over much of Japan. We can thank Hikonyan for some of the more popular gotochi-kyara, like Kumamon and Funassyi. Kumanon was created in 2010 to popularize the Kumamoto Prefecture after the completion of the Kyushu Shinkansen. 

 After his creation, he only earned the entire Prefecture around $26 million, which compared to the sales Hikonyan brought in to a small area was a disappointment. Following Kumamon’s win of the 2011 Grand Prix, which I will go into detail about later, his sales skyrocketed to a whopping $120 million within the first half of 2012. In total, as of 2014, he has earned the area an additional $1 billion in revenue. Use of Kumamon for products also carries no licensing fee, which sometimes bolsters the amount of revenue a character brings in. Due to his popularity and ability to sell product, Kumamon was drafted to assist with relief in the earthquakes that hit the Kyushu area in April 2016. He alleviated much of the tension and sadness of the area by making appearances, and businesses were able to produce products using his image without needing to obtain permission first (previously, Kumamon was free to use with the signing of a document.) The disaster relief Kumamon brought into the area was nothing short of impressive, and has opened people eyes to the good that yuru-kyara can bring. Of course, there is always some people who only see the bad in these cheerful creations.

            The free-for-all that is Kumamon’s licensing led to an oversaturation of products plastered with his image. While many people attributed this to his high rate of image recognition (87.4% of Japanese people,) many find that opening a product with his face on the outside, but nothing denoting Kumamon on the actual product can be annoying. It is also much easier for people to create fake/bootleg Kumamon. A game show in China came under fire for their character Lucky Bear, who arguably is a direct knock off of Kumamon.

Since the earthquake, it is much easier for people to obtain permission (or even create sans-permission) for Kumamon products, which in turn makes it easier for people to copy designs without consequence. Problems with yuru-kyara are unfortunately more in number than those as well. Many taxpayers are upset with their money going into the care of these kigurumi, especially since that care can cost up to $8,400. For bigger characters like Kumamon this is not such a big deal, since he attends almost 2,000 matsuri and other events a year. For smaller, more local characters however, they are only brought out a handful of times a year. On top of that, many towns and cities want their own yuru-kyara to promote their small area. The Rumoi Subprefecture, for example, is a small area with a population of around 53,000 people. This subprefecture had one gotochi-kyara per every 6,500 people. To combat this issue, the government devised a way to keep all 8 gotochi-kyara, but still downsize the cost. Ororon Robo Mebius was born, and contains aspects of each of the gotochi-kyara.

There are also just some gotochi-kyara that have nothing to do with the area they are “promoting.” The oversaturation of these characters ended up creating a culture of these being a necessity, so lesser areas with really no big export/trade/local attractions create “meaningless” characters, which people argue detract from the bigger characters that have meaning.

            Because of the large number of yuru-kyara, there is a contest held each year to determine the most popular. This contest, known as the Yuru-Kyara Grand Prix, was established in 2010 and continues to this day.

This contest is a great way to track how the number of yuru-kyara grows over the years. In 2015 alone there were 1,727 entries into the contest, and of that number 1,092 entries were of gotochi-kyara. This is just under a 1,000 entry increase over 2012’s 865 entry total. The Grand Prix can also help assist in bringing awareness to an area when the yuru-kyara alone cannot. Barii-san, the yuru-kyara of Imabari, won the event in 2012. Prior to the Grand Prix, Imabari was one of the least visited islands in Japan, despite having an important export (textiles.) Barii-san was created as a large baby chicken, wrapped in a towel with a ship tucked into his wrap as a nod to the Island maritime nature.

Barii-san is now considered one of the most popular yuru-kyara and his island has seen an increase in tourism and revenue since the Grand Prix results.

            One of the most interesting genre of yuru-kyara to me are the food related yuru-kyara. As stated earlier most gotochi-kyara exist to advertise a certain export in an area, most of which is food. These characters are designed to incorporate some aspect of that export into their design, which demonstrates the skill, despite how amateur, these younger kids have. There are also mascots designed for food chains, which leads more into corporate mascots than yuru-kyara, but these are still worth looking into. Of course, there are also food mascots that have no connection to the region they are promoting, which I’ll discuss a little later. The mascots of local crops are particularly great for assisting the economy of a certain area. They help both advertise the crop for sale, and their popularity helps sell any merchandise created in their likeness. An excellent example of a gotochi-kyara assisting with an area in Fukka-chan. 

This gotochi-kyara carries the likeness of a deer, but with leeks instead of antlers. He also is seen wearing tulips on his overalls, which are green. Tulips are the symbol of Fukaya city in Saitama Prefecture, where Fukka-chan was created. Leeks are also the city’s main export. Fukka-chan received third place in the 2015 yuru-kyara Grand Prix, but is still one of the more recognizable yuru-kyara on the market today.

            It is also possible to use yuru-kyara to advertise a certain food for a region, not just exports and crops. The Wanko Kyodai, a set of five bowls, are each filled with a different food which is popular in Iwate. They’re names are, as follows, Sobachi, Tofuchi, Unichi, Omochi, and Kokuchi. 

The bowls themselves are made to look like the lacquerware which is produced mainly in Iwate. Some of these characters are interesting simply because of how weird they can be. I doubt many people would ever consider lacquerware bowls cute, much less capable of being sold as keychains and posters. However, the Wanko Kyodai, like many other yuru-kyara, are popular in their area and make a lot of money for those involved. There can also be something morbid about some of these yuru-kyara, as evidenced by Torimo-chan.

Torimo-chan is a large chicken who advertises the marinated chicken skewers which are popular in his area. Comparing this to the chick-fil-a cow, who attempts to get restaurant patrons to “eat mor chikin.”

American advertisement seems to avoid using the animal in question to advertise the food made out of that animal, while it does not seem wrong at all to do the opposite in Japanese advertisement.

            It’s also interesting to compare American mascots to Japanese mascots. There is a lack of “cute” mascots in American food, even in children’s and baby food. Most of the characters lean more towards funny, while maintaining a level of adulthood. This difference is probably best summed up with how Americans react towards things they consider “childish.”  Americans view adulthood as an entirely separate occurrence from childhood, like less of an aging gradient and more of a contrasting jump. Because of this, I think they feel the need to strip themselves of all things they found important and comforting in their childhood, like cute things. It’s so bad that people would not eat a certain food based on the packaging, despite if they enjoyed the food inside. They also seem to like their mascots to demonstrate more adult humor, even if not outright. Characters going to jobs, wearing adult clothing, and getting into ~adult~ situations seem more interesting to Americans than an anthropomorphic pear doing a dance on stage

(Sorry, Funassyi.) 

The reason why Japanese culture seems much more open to cute mascots is probably because they do not see being child-like as a bad thing. Childhood exists as the period of time that you slowly become an adult, and not the period of time when you’re a child and then POOF, you’re an adult. It’s interesting because Americans, especially men, can be so averse to something as small as a cute keychain, but in some places in Japan it’s a sign of town pride to carry your gotochi-kyara on you.

            
References

•http://www.fluentu.com/japanese/blog/japanese-culture-mascots/

•http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2013/10/18/national/embassies-using-mascots-as-ambassadors/#.WQFshmnyvIU

•https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/japan-is-so-crazy-about-mascots-that-fluffy-toilet-character-is-a-real-job/2016/09/04/d735906e-6e11-11e6-993f-73c693a89820_story.html?utm_term=.12017bb75869

•http://www.businessinsider.com/kfc-japan-vs-america-2014-9

•http://en.rocketnews24.com/2014/06/19/osaka-airports-new-mascot-is-adorable-laid-back-possibly-drunk/

•http://metro.co.uk/2013/09/11/notorious-japanese-prison-unveils-cuddly-new-mascot-to-boost-image-3958678/

•http://www.crunchyroll.com/anime-news/2015/04/07-1/too-many-mascots-article-profiles-the-plight-of-yuru-kyara

•https://www.yahoo.com/news/japan-mascots-face-cull-combination-184138134.html

•https://www.tofugu.com/japan/kimokawaii/

•http://www.patheos.com/blogs/pagantama/2017/03/14/gods-mascots/

•https://nippaku.wordpress.com/2015/11/12/antropomorphism-in-japanese-culture/

•https://www.japantoday.com/smartphone/view/arts-culture/why-does-japan-love-fictional-characters-so-much

•http://www.fluentu.com/japanese/blog/japanese-culture-mascots/

•https://www.pri.org/stories/2016-07-31/one-japan-s-most-popular-mascots-egg-crippling-depression

•https://blog.gaijinpot.com/kawaii-culture/

•http://sanrio.shoutwiki.com/wiki/Food_Character_Election

Sontag

  What is your main takeaway from Sontag’s essay?

It seems like Sontag is discussing how photographs of war and hardships can be skewed to fit either side of a war, but no matter what we are utilizing images of suffering in order to justify previous or future actions. There is also some sympathy which is brought out by the photographer through the viewer, but mainly the images are used to rally anger or sadness.

2.  Give at least two smaller takeaways from the essay.  Things that you found 

to be of particular interest.  This can include things that surprised you or provoked 

some thought.

It was really striking when Sontag says "Wars are now also living room sights and sounds." People become desensitized to hardships because they are so commonly televised. The news is constantly running stories of shootings here, bombings there, etc. Younger children are becoming exposed to these hardships and images earlier on in their lives, and eventually you just become numb to it if it seems like the norm.

I also like when she discusses Woolf's statement: "[photographs] are not an argument; they are simply a crude statement of fact..." Photographs and videos are some of the only things (save for photoshopped images) that can be looked and and taken to be true. The argument comes from the subject. Not the photograph itself. Earlier in the essay Sontag talked about a boy killed outside of a Sbarro's in Jerusalem and how each side of the fighting going on their would view the image, despite seeing the exact same image. The truth is a boy died, but either side can take their surrounding truths and apply it to the image. 

3.  Upload an image of pain/suffering to your blog and discuss it.  You can be 

straightforward about this, or you can take a well-known image that you may 

look at differently after reading Sontag.  

I found this image while looking over the My Lai Massacre wiki page which was linked on the blog:

I have seen this image before, but never had context for why or when the image was taken. The first few sentences of the wiki article are horrifying. One of the lesser bad parts of the My Lai Massacre was what happened back home as a result. Americans were already angry about the Vietnam war, and rightfully so. However, many soldiers were over in Vietnam solely to do their duty, and because of these soldiers who decided to rape and pillage Americans were even more distrusting of the few decent soldiers. This image is heartbreaking because the subjects were killed within minutes after the photograph was taken. The woman in the front is fixing up her buttons because she had also just been sexually assaulted, which was rampant during the killings. 

The worst part of the entire article was where they mentioned how a platoon took a lunch break during the killings. The fact that these people could stomach gang raping, defiling, and murdering innocent civilians like the ones pictured above, and then be fine to eat lunch is amazing (in a bad way.)

J-Fashion

This is an image that demonstrates the decora style of fashion, Its trademark is a large amount of accessories and trinkets added to the outfit, mainly in the hair and on the face. The outfits include a great deal of matching, and generally follow a color scheme that harmonizes the chaotic nature of wearing a lot of accessories. One of the most common accessories of this fashion style is bandages, usually placed over the nose.  Decora wearers also place stickers on their faces as sort of mock-freckles, The fashion style is very childlike, but is exclusively worn by adolescents. 

Decora has recently become a large part of the American Lolita community, which is where i got exposure to it (not that I am part of the Lolita community..) This style has always interested me because of the shear mass of colors and textures, but somehow the outfits do not look garish or clashy. In person in Harajuku the outfits are even more colorful and bright, but still maintain the level of cohesion that I enjoy. 

I've also always enjoyed the Fairy Kei fashion style, because it's almost a more toned down way to rep. Lolita fashion. 

These styles are easier to miss on the streets than decora, but still are different than what a Japanese person would usually wear. The style is characterized by pastel colors (where decora is mainly neons and bright colors,) character prints, and flowy, puffy dresses/skirts. The style once again is very childlike, but almost more so than that of the decora style. 

The clothing is very soft and "feminine" (i hate using that term.) This models outfit is so stark against the natural background that she almost looks blurry. The most interesting thing about this clothing style is usually the shoes. They are almost always the chunky bottom mary janes or the pastel colored hightops:

This style has always been interesting to me because I've always loved pastel colors and cute things. I was a tomboy for most of my life, so I never wore dresses or "liked" the color pink. This fashion style has always made me a little jealous, which is probably why i love it so much now. 

Cute things in my life

My bedroom is actually my cutest thing currently. Everything is white, pink, and gold, and i have a lot of stuffed animals and little cute decorations. I'm very into cute things, especially creepy-cute things (which i have none of in my room.) I spent most of my life being anti-cute/anti-pink, but this past year I decided that I wanted to do what I do best and cover my life in cute. I really relate to the part of the Kinsella article when she talked about handwriting. The one student said the characters are hard to read, but look really cute, so she uses them anyway. My room is hard to maneuver now because I'm very messy, but if I mess up my room it's no longer cute. So i rarely ever "use" my room because of wanting the aesthetic.

The cutest item i own is a gudetama head towel I bought at a Sanrio store, also arguably the cutest store I have ever been inside. Sanrio is such a powerhouse in the cute world because of the empire they've built up. It's interesting because the addition of characters to everyday objects makes a consumer more likely to buy the object, despite a hike in price. The towel I bought was about ¥ 2545, while a towel without the character on it would have probably been around ¥1000.


Lolita culture in Japan is interesting to look into, and the Kinsella article sheds some light onto why it was so popular. There are many different "types" of Lolita, ranging from goth to creepy and everything in between. However, there is a base form of Lolita that is simply frills, curly hair, large puffy dresses. Kinsella says that a lot of the cute style in Japan is based on foreign influence, like European. With the dresses in mind, you can see this Victorian influence

Kinsella discusses the shear volume of the love for kawaii culture in early 1990. 71% of people between 18 and 30 reported liking kawaii people, like the group pictured above. There are also toned down versions of cute fashion culture in Japan, such as this ad:

Cute and childlike are very closely related in Japanese culture, but not seen as a bad thing. In American culture (and potentially other western cultures) cuteness is associated with childishness, which is seen as inherently bad. We had talked in class briefly about play and how fucked up public schooling is because of play, and this is actually the reason why. Play is seen as childish in America, while in Japan they seem to let their minds play all throughout adulthood. 

Bow down to your god Hello Kitty and our Sanrio Overlords

"Cute" Food and food related products// yuru-kyara


Takoyaki stands

Gudetama

small egg character, usually characterized as lazy. His name is kind of a pun, a play on tamago and gude gude, usually a describer of someone with no energy. Part of Sanrio (same company as Hello Kitty) He is though to embody ~~~~depression~~~~, but still employs aspects of the cute culture Japan is known for. He appears on all sort of merchandise, from slippers to towels to cookware. Many of these cute "mascots" (yuru-kyara)  are used to convey negative emotions, whereas in the West mascots and flagship characters are usually associated with positive emotions and cheering people up. These "negative" mascots are usually made to be cute in order to help alleviate some of the taboos, such as a cute character in a pharmacy for something people would not want to discuss (the article talks about cute poop icons.) The article also relates Shintoism and the existence of it's 8 million + gods as a reason why mascots are easily accepted in Japan, the author doesn't really explain this point any further, but  more research into this could be interesting. 

Sanrio Food Character Election

voting for Sanrio characters to become main characters. Winners of 2013 were Gudetama and KIRIMI-chan

Mascots (yuru-kyara) and Shintoism// Polytheistic religion

Gods-> idolized and worshiped

Yuru-kyara -> idolized, less worshiped (in some circles probably still worshiped)

Earthquake in Kumamoto in 2016, usage of Kumamon helped generate lots of funds to help the damaged area & contribute to a sense of happiness to people who partook in fundraising events involving the mascot. 

Kumamon has also generated ¥123.2 billion in revenue in Japan throughout 2012-13. These yuru kyara are not worshiped as a deity per se, but people subscribe to the "religion" of this culture the same way. 

Things to continue to research

-Relating anthropomorphism in Japanese culture and advertising today with anthropomorphism in Japanese culture and religious themes

            -historical significance

            -cute religious mascots (kamakura daibutsu merch from surrounding markets) (**** typing kawaii daibutsu into google search probably means im going to hell)

-gurokawaii//kimokawaii- weird food mascots 

Kobitodukan(こびとづかん)

-why this relates to food

Articles:

https://www.tofugu.com/japan/kimokawaii/

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/pagantama/2017/03/14/gods-mascots/

https://nippaku.wordpress.com/2015/11/12/antropomorphism-in-japanese-culture/

https://www.japantoday.com/smartphone/view/arts-culture/why-does-japan-love-fictional-characters-so-much

http://www.fluentu.com/japanese/blog/japanese-culture-mascots/

https://www.pri.org/stories/2016-07-31/one-japan-s-most-popular-mascots-egg-crippling-depression

https://blog.gaijinpot.com/kawaii-culture/

http://sanrio.shoutwiki.com/wiki/Food_Character_Election

In Praise of Shadows

It seems to me that Tanizaki's main point through out his essay is that "traditional" Japanese aesthetics are more pleasing than the rapidly changing aesthetic that was seen in Japan during this time of "modernization." He also uses metaphors to give praise to Japanese and Asian culture (the "shadows") and discuss the power-seeking nature of the West (the "light.") It does not seem that he is 100% against modernization or Western influence, but he gives some hints of nostalgia for things like the light hitting off of laquerware or the custom of Tsukimi.


I found the lengthy description on how to make persimmon leaf sushi very interesting, especially since he decided to go through the effort to lay out every step for the reader.

It seemed like a subtle way to discuss a more "traditional" food, and then he went on to say how he preferred it to sushi in Tokyo, which would be more "modern." It seems like he puts great pride in cultural aspects such as this, so much so that he shared the recipe with a reporter and the reader. He seems to hold a great deal of respect for "poor mountain people," saying that they probably have more refined palettes than city people. The most interesting part of his inclusion of this tidbit is that he was not the one to experience the sushi nor the culture himself, as he says he got the recipe from a friend.

 Some "Mountain People" in 1930

Tanizaki seems convinced within the section that "Japan" is slowly fading, ("Now one must travel to such small cities.... for the feel of Japan.") But it doesn't seem like he is very distressed about it. Very nostalgic, but he writes as though he jumps to both sides of the argument on Western influence. He writes as though he likes the contrast between the light and the shadows, and that with the new "light" the shadows are all the more obvious.

Another interesting point Tanizaki talks about is Westerners uses of light. He discusses that in hotels and in public places, they are too full of light and dispel shadows. They also are a source of too much heat for Tanizaki. He does not enjoy electric lights nor the height of the ceilings in more western buildings, which mean that the lamps are closer overhead.

1930s Japanese chandelier

The electricity and Tanizaki's hatred of it creates another interesting instance of the shadow metaphor. Shadows are cool, usually light toned and not harsh. The Western buildings are covered in "garish" mosaics which make the entire building feel hot and oppressive. It's hard to find examples of these mosaics but imagining garishly colored art, compared to the tonal softness of ukiyo-e artists' work, it makes sense that Tanizaki would feel so strangled by the change. He also notes a change in light's usage, not for sewing or reading, but simply to make light. These changes are new to him and he naturally fights back against them. 

Do you think that the comparison of light/dark is an accurate depiction of the West/East relationship? Do you agree with how Tanizaki depicted both sides of this effort?

Image Gallery

Introduction:
          I originally came to Japan just to see the sights of the amazing far East. I've heard so much about the amazing religious structures and the astounding way of life these people have. I, however, have become very interested in the treatment of children and the schooling system over here, as a teacher myself. These children are quite coddled! A child of these ages would be already at work in a factory when I was their age, not lazing about playing games. It seems as though schooling is very important to the families of these children, as well as it should be in today's world. The children in these schools seem to be very invested in work, but after school they have play and do not do any of the chores we have deemed for children. I, of course, have toys for my children, but how are they to get the farm work done if they have so much time dedicated to play? I think the family values of this culture are very strange, as the mother often takes care of the child far into maturation. These children are 5 to 10 years old and still getting special treatment? I find this interesting, and have collected a few interesting photographs with which to continue to show my point.

This child is enjoying his toy boat in a tub of water. This tub is one that would be used for washing, so in order to save water the child uses the dirty water left over after his mother cleans all of the clothes. The child himself is practically naked, wearing what looks like an apron. His kimono was probably washed by his mother, so he's currently waiting for it in whatever he could find. The boat was most likely bought at a store or fashioned by his father. There is a big smile on his face because he's having fun playing with his toys, and you know how boys like to both get a little dirty and run around without their skivvies on. 

Here, a native girl-child is pouring tea for a boy, possibly a brother. These women are taught early on to serve the men, and by the time they are adults, are completely subservient to their fathers and husbands. They both are wearing kimono, which are worn by men and women of any ages over here. They are decorated cloth tied closed with a thicker strip of cloth, usually silk for the wealthy. The Japanese have this particular way of making tea that occurs in a "tea ceremony," which usually ends up with the woman serving the man tea. The tea is a peculiar green liquid referred to as matcha. The matcha can come in either thin (薄茶 ) or thick (濃茶), although i personally find the thin to be more like traditional English tea. I think the thinner tea is the more pricey and rare as well, since it is like the tea we have back home. These children are practicing very well for their future, and I commend their studies after class, unlike the children at play. Both of these children will be well prepared to take on their respective roles in the household. 

Dolls are very popular toys for children in Japan. A lot of effort goes into making the doll and the kimono to go with it. Dolls are used as a teaching tactic for early family life, so they come in either gender for the children to play with. These dolls are made to look like them in order to install some maternal instinct that will kick in in the future. The mother's of these children will work for hours sewing clothing for these dolls, since the children do nothing but play here. I have not once seen an image of a Japanese child sewing, or doing much of anything besides playing. The parents also seem more invested in letting them play, as when the Father gets home he does not reprimand the child for not doing housework. Children get very dressed up all of the time, no matter what they are doing. Here the children are in full kimono, just to sit in the house and play. It's like wearing your sunday's best every day, no matter what your plans are.

This image is startling, and i knew when i saw it, i had to have it. These children are meeting each other in order for their parents to find if they are suitable for each other in marriage. The children will only meet a handful of times before they are finally married by the age of 10. This is very similar to the cultural practices I have heard of in other countries in the Orient. Children are taught early on how to be a good wife and take care of children in order to be more appealing to their male counterpart and their father. In this image the girl is showing the boy a garden, possibly one she helped plant, in order to prove she can provide food and bring a cultivation skill to their future family. The boy is very impressed and has picked some of the flowers to bring back to his family to show them the skills this girl has.

There are school systems in Japan, and they are pretty decent. They seem to be based slightly on how we run our schools, with some changes. Most children, no matter social status, are able to go to school now. Actually, I believe it is mandatory for schooling. Lunches in Japan are quite an affair, as you receive a lot of food. Children in this image are probably dining on rice with some kind of meat, most likely fish. They don't seem to eat too much beef, although not for the same reason the people of India seem to not eat beef. These children have perfected the art of eating with chopsticks, probably because they have never encountered a fork before. Lord knows they'd make the switch right away. There are a lot of girls in this image, as there are not many girls in my classes back home. Many families are too poor to send their sons and daughters, so they usually just send their sons. Here, it seems like school exists on government handed-out spots, and not dependent on how wealthy you are.

Analysis
Most globetrotters captions were made about events they were not actually around to witness. A lot of my made up globetrotters captions pretended as though i was there, watching this little boy play, or these children eating. My GT is very interested in children and their interactions, especially how little they seem to work. This is because, around this time in Europe, children were just being granted freedom from child labor. Instead, European children were made to go to school, and then come home and work at the house, most likely tending a farm. Opposite gender children were generally kept separate also, so some of these images would be pretty shocking. There are a lot of assumptions made on little to know actual information on the East, such as arranging marriages and teaching women to serve husbands early. The majority of pictures being school images and play images would probably be what influenced my GT to claim that Japanese children do not work, however just because there are no images of it, doesn't mean it wasn't happening. Foreigners were more interested in domestics of women and children, and less about the chores children were doing, or what work they did outside of the home. There was also just a lot more understanding of children's needs to play, which is why they allowed for more freedom.
The strangest of the images has to be the one of the two girls playing with the dolls. The other images look candid enough that the children could be actually at play, but this one is very posed and unnatural. One girl looks at her doll, while the other girl looks at a spot on the floor with her doll seated next to her. Neither girl is facing each other or interacting with each other, so the image is very much for the viewer to feel as though they are peaking in on these children, and less about the actual act of playing. The child with the boat does look as though he's playing in a wash bucket, but I'd chalk that up to less dirty, more resourceful.
The image of the school children is very interesting because of the table they are seated at. It's not a traditional on-the-floor-with-cushions seating, but rather a Western style table. Meiji Japan was inspired by the Western school system, so they could have decided this was also an easier way to have children at this time eat, or this could have been a long changing tradition.