In doing fieldwork, I've come to realize that rather than doing the fieldwork and interviewing people, it was really refreshing to see the people interact with their customers and talk about how things used to be. Although I myself didn't experience what they did and don't know what life back then was like for them, but in a sense it was also kind of nostalgic to see them talk about the old days - it was as if I could kind of live in the past through their stories and their experiences.
Although it's kind of ironic, but as we were asking questions about tradition and about business and how their business has changed over time, at one point just hearing about how their business came to be and seeing how they live more or less everyday of their lives became the more interesting part.
More than tradition, reality is in the end reality - regardless of how closely you work with tradition, it seems like at the end of the day it was just simply another part of everyday life.
実際に、「伝統」というのはそんなに硬くないものではないだろうか。いずれにせよ、「伝統」は人生の一部分だけです。これからも、「伝統」はこのまま時間の流れによって段々変わっていくかもしれません。
It was also interesting to see how all sorts of different seemingly unrelated business have similar patterns and all have a sense of community, as well as how they are affected by modernization and internationalization.
As for myself, participating in this course was the first time I had to approach and talk to strangers on my own, so I feel that I've grown greatly in that sense because I even managed to go through with an interview in a language that I'm not native in. In addition, fieldwork has also given me a chance to put my Japanese skills to the test because the people we interviewed all spoke in Japanese, some faster than others and using more difficult terminology than others, so it was interesting to have to put myself in the real-world environment where people wouldn't necessarily go out of their way to make everything they say understandable to someone who isn't native in the language.
Thinking about tradition, I remembered that Chinese New Year in America used to be celebrated by all the Chinese Americans and Chinese families in the area, but this year there was a big snow storm and most of the people who showed up were Caucasian. So remembering that makes me wonder if Chinese traditions in America are also kind of changing due to the people and the community.
Tradition can't exist without people and a community to support it. 人がいないなら、そしてコミュニティーがないと、伝統も続けません。I also came to realize that as a Chinese American, even though my parents are both Chinese, I don't know everything about Chinese traditions as a Chinese person who grew up in China. In Reading class a couple weeks ago, we did an activity on 昔話 and although I knew of it, I didn't really know about it. Because I grew up in America, it's kind of a しょうがない situation but I think it's the same either way. Regardless of whether you're Chinese or Japanese, life is not all about tradition - tradition is simply just a part of life.
Dates: 07/15/2015, 07/21/2015
Fieldwork:
This time around, our group split up into smaller groups because of time issues/etc., but as a result we were able to get more opinions for our last fieldwork.
The first day, I took part in going to the そば屋さん and 乾物屋さん where they sell 昆布, dried 椎茸, etc. However, the そば屋さん was still 準備中 so we went to the 乾物屋さん (and unfortunately, I couldn't stay long enough to participate in the そば屋さん interview so I didn't get to go there in the end.)
Before going to the 乾物屋さん though, we stopped by the B1 floor of Machida Tokyu Twins in order to see if we could find a difference in the food-sales in department stores compared to the little specialty shops we've been visiting.
We didn't find much, though, except for the Tokyu Twins branch of 若葉堂 that we visited in our 2nd fieldwork. There wasn't too much difference, except that the Tokyu Twins branch felt like more of a tourist-attraction, in a way.
For one, we were told that most of the people who come to the Tokyu Twins branch are there looking for some sort of 町田お土産. So that's where the 町田名産品 comes into play...! The ones that he wouldn't really tell us about, hahaha. Also, there were many more 上生菓子 and they were all so pretty. I think that's a business tactic.
Afterwards we went to the 乾物屋さん called 河原本店.
This place kind of reminded me of the 着物屋さん - they don't make the 乾物 themselves, they get it from other places. So for them, the business seemed to be an okay thing, but in a similar manner, people making it has decreased, so shops have also decreased as a result.
That's a painting of the shop back many many years ago. That area in Machida used to be the "Silk road" of the area. Nowadays, the shop will get customers from 橋本 and even 相模原 area who come by 電車 in order to buy 乾物.
They said that people now take to eating pre-made convenience store food for time's sake, but there are still people who make the food at home so they're the ones that will come to buy 乾物.
On the other hand, stores use the goods that they receive from the company that they're owned by, but if they run out they'll stop by to make a purchase.
When we asked them about 「伝統」, they told us that they think tradition is the idea of 「相承」, or inheritance.
Passing down as much as you can so that things down 100 years ago are still done the same way 100 years later.It was an interesting thing to say, kind of sticking true to the meaning of "tradition."
On the 21st, I decided to stop by and visit the 豆腐屋さん on 仲見世商店街 called 市川豆腐店.
With just a few pieces of tofu laid out in the front on a little cart, I remember that the first time I passed by this place, I wondered if they were even in business because it didn't look like a normal shop that was set up to sell goods out in front.
When I talked to them this time around, I found out that they've actually been in business for 63 years and unlike normal 豆腐屋さん, they start working around 11am, start selling around 12pm, and finish around 6:30pm, close-up time being around 7pm by the time they finish cleaning up.
Unlike tofu that you buy at supermarkets/etc., their tofu is made the day-of and is supposed to be eaten the day-of because there's no additives/preservatives (whereas department store/supermarket tofu will sit around for at least 3~4 days so it isn't as fresh).
When I asked them about the smell of 豆乳, they were surprised to hear I knew the smell of 豆乳 (...I don't know, do people not know the smell of 豆乳...? I guess I never really thought about it, but anyways...) and they told me what I smelled was probably after the beans had been processed and etc., it's first essentially made into 豆乳 before they add something in it to make it harden into tofu.
Big factories might make it differently/add something different in, but that's how they make it right there in their little shop. They also told me about each machine and what it does in order to make the tofu.
First, is the boiler, then the mixer were the 豆 are crushed (豆つぶ), then the かま where it's boiled/stewed (煮る), and then lastly comes out as 豆乳 where they add in にがり (seawater) and salt (I think they mentioned 沖縄 salt at some point, from 沖縄 seawater) which is what makes the tofu harden. Theirs is all-natural/no additives/no preservatives so the taste is really different from the supermarket/etc. tofu that you get everywhere else.
The amount of 豆腐屋さん in the area/in general are also decreasing cause it's a hard business, but the biggest problem might be that there's no one who wants to take over the business (they have 3 sons but the sons are all salary-men and have no interest in the business).
Since their tofu is so good, people all the way from 千葉県、埼玉県 etc. will even come by car in order to buy some of their tofu.
I asked what their idea of 「伝統」 was and they said:
毎日毎日昨日と同じ作り方でin terms of making their tofu/sales/in general. And they described that, for the mother who comes to buy tofu, in time her お嫁さん will come to the same place to buy tofu, and one day the お嫁さん's daughter will come to buy tofu as well.
Other:
Other people in my group went to the そば屋さん and a food place called Shanghai Jimmy's.
At the そば屋さん, they learned that the people there don't change anything or change according to the times. They buy the best buckwheat from families/places they can trust and focus on preserving the soba-tradition, soba-making and everything or else the taste will change.
As for Shanghai Jimmy's, the owner took over the restaurant after his father. The name of the restaurant has actually changed multiple times (basically every time it changes owners), and in the past they used to sell more Chinese food, but now they sell more Japanese food in order to suit the customers' taste. Nowadays, they get a lot more Japanese people as well as foreigners in their store because of the 桜美林第１国際寮 that opened up almost right next to it. Also, the people there apparently said that tradition is not so much about the name of the shop or about the food, but about passing on the taste.
Reflection:
The department store 和菓子屋さん place was definitely the most tourist-y out of all the 和菓子屋さん we'd been to, I think, which was kind of interesting. Depending on the location and the people that come, I guess you can't help but have to cater to it.
For example, if you're in an area like 淵野辺 where no one comes unless they either made a mistake and booked a hotel in the wrong area of or if they're local, there isn't much excitement/anything going on. But if you're in an area that looks kind of 田舎 but there's also a cafe and supermarket that look new almost right across the street from it, then they should try to appeal to young people/look new to look different and be eye-catching. And if you're out in the middle of nowhere like the original branch of 若葉堂, then well there isn't much reason to appeal to tourists/etc. because everyone who comes is local and knows that you're there and that you're famous.
The 豆腐屋さん was really interesting because although they've made their tofu the same way everyday (except Wednesdays and Sundays where they're closed/休日), they didn't really seem concerned that they didn't have anyone to take over the business (the うなぎ屋さん people seemed slightly concerned that there would be another loss of a business like theirs after them since they didn't have a successor and joked if any of us would like to stay in Japan and take over the business for them), and while I was there, people kept stopping by to buy tofu, and they all seemed to be locals/people who stopped by often after work and etc. There was one lady who walked past and seemed extremely excited to see that there was still tofu left and she bought a whole bunch. (They had regular and fried, and apparently also soft tofu as well.) I also got fried tofu as service.
Another lady who stopped by, when she learned that I was an international (exchange) student interviewing them about tofu for a class, she made a comment that even she/Japanese people didn't really know about tofu making and all normal people do is eat it. So I guess normal people do their normal thing and live their normal everyday lives and don't look into the history/making behind all the traditions that their society/culture/everyday life/etc. runs on.
The fried tofu was actually so good (and people kept stopping by and buying regular tofu so I was actually really curious how different/how good the tofu actually tasted for people to be so interested/excited to buy and eat it), so I stopped by a week later and bought one for myself to try.
(Please excuse the lighting in the picture.) It was actually so fluffy...! I really don't think I've ever had tofu that fresh/fluffy/with that kind of texture before, so I was really glad I bought it to try!
While the people at the 豆腐屋さん were talking about tradition/etc., it was really interesting to see the relationship they had with their customers. It made me feel like for them, making tofu was life but just because they've been doing something traditional in a traditional way for 63 years, doesn't mean that tradition IS their life. 63 years and it's still just a part of life - rather than being uptight about not being able to carry on the business (the reason why their work hours are so different from normal 豆腐屋さん is because they're getting old and because they only make what they can sell for the day since they don't have to raise kids anymore - they don't need a huge income or anything, just enough to get by), it seemed like they enjoyed talking to the locals/neighbors who stop by to buy tofu and kind of enjoy life as it is.
Date: 07/04/2015
Field Trip:
We went to go visit the 里山 today.
We walked around the area and saw a lot of different things - it was different to not be interviewing people but instead looking at nature and how the people living in the 里山 have been trying to preserve it.
It was interesting to see the different kind of lifestyle that they live, and how they do almost everything manually. It's like reverse-modernization and return to the "traditional ways."
At one point, they said that eagles eat live birds, and if there are enough live birds, it means that nature in the area is kind of still in balance/maintaining itself. If there were not enough live birds/no eagles, it would mean that humans have kind of taken over the area so the eagles would have moved somewhere else.
It was an interesting thought to hear - since all our interviews/presentations often involve people talking about tradition/internationalization, it was interesting to hear someone actually say that "tourism isn't good for the environment" even though in today's society, tourism equals revenue for the country which is good for the economy, etc.
Reflection:
The things we heard at 里山 were kind of like the reverse of what we'd been hearing from our interviews about what they thought about 「伝統」.
A lot of the people we interviewed had been saying that 「伝統」 is something that (has to/naturally) changes over time in order to exist, not that it's sticking to old methods and old ways and old ideas/thinking/etc. Whereas the people in the 里山 were doing the exact opposite - they were using old methods and maintaining the tradition in efforts to restore and maintain the area. I thought that was an interesting contrast - the "city" area where we live vs. the 里山 where they're kind of off and on their own doing their own thing.
Date: 6/29/2015
Fieldwork:
Today, we went to eat lunch at a specialty unagi-shop in the Fuchinobe area and interview them about their business.
But first, we actually tried to interview a fish/sushi shop & restaurant that closed down recently.
Although the fish/sushi shop had closed down a couple weeks ago, we stopped by to see if we could maybe still get an interview about how the business was because it had been around for a really long time. (Note: This is the aforementioned fish shop that we had wanted to go to/learned that it had closed recently last week.)
Surprisingly, he wasn't really interested in being interviewed/telling us about his experiences even though we told him we were interested in trying to find out about traditions and keeping traditions - you'd think that for a business that had been around for a really long time, he would have at least something to say, but instead he just told us that since he's closed his business, it (tradition/culture/etc.) no longer has anything to do with him.
Since we weren't going to get anything out of him (didn't seem like a good idea to keep pressing because he clearly wasn't interested), we moved on to go eat lunch at the unagi-shop down the street.
The unagi-shop is was とちの木, which is a type of tree that is apparently called "Marronnier" in English. The reason for the name is because they hoped that the shop would 「大きくなるように」, or "grow and get big" like a Marronnier tree.
This shop is entering their 30th year of being in business, and they later told us that they're the only ones in the area that still exist as a specialty unagi-shop, but first, food...!
There was a cool "traditional-feel" kind of menu written up on wooden pieces and hung on the wall displaying the menu in a 'traditional' manner. (But since it's the 21st century, we were given a "normal" printed menu to look at even though everything was still in Japanese ahahaha...)
We ended up ordering one thing each - two of us had うな重、 and everyone else got 天丼、うな玉丼（親子丼 with うなぎ instead of chicken), and 鳥丼 (焼肉 on rice).
So while we were waiting for our food to be made, they let us watch them working (the kitchen is open and viewable).
He showed us the eel - they're alive! We were told later during the actual interview that he orders eel everyday, and they're kept alive until an order for them is made so all the food is made fresh.
He had eel grilling on the grill and that's how they're cooked - they're cut open and sticks are stuck through them to keep them flat while they grill.
While waiting, I tried reading the other dishes that you could order - I asked あかり about some of them and she told me that 「どぜう」 was actually an old saying, and it's pronounced 「どじょう」nowadays. (It's a loach.) She also told me that old restaurants still use this saying, especially in places like Asakusa. I also asked about「ナメロウ」, which was also another type of fish.
After waiting for a bit longer, we got our food! (Clockwise from top-left: 天丼、うな玉丼、うな重、鳥丼、うな重)
Each set also came with a little plate of つけもの as well as a bowl of soup. It wasn't miso soup, just a regular soup...and for the people who ordered うな重、the soup had an extra part of the eel in it.
After having our food, we started the official interview. They told us that there aren't many specialty unagi-shops like them left in Sagamihara, and that they're the only ones left in the area. The price of unagi has tripled in price compared to 30 years ago, and many people have stopped/closed down their business because they can't make enough profit to make a living/etc.
Although we were the only ones who showed up for lunch, they told us that a lot of young people come to the shop to eat, and that people often come for dinner - young people will come with their parents as ご褒美, and they makes orders for eel daily.
The practice of eating eel goes back to the Edo period - in the Summer on July 24th (Midsummer), they used to not sell/eat cows on that day because it was "the Day of the Cow" and so instead of eating cows on that day, they would eat eel. Therefore, eel become to be a summer-thing, and the price of eel is different in the summer. They also told us that Japanese unagi is different from unagi from other countries - Japanese eel is called ジャポニカ州うなぎ.
When we asked about their thoughts on tradition, they told us that in general, the tradition of how unagi is prepared/cooked has stayed since past times. In 関東, the unagi is cut open by their backs and then steamed/boiled/grilled because Edo was where the samurai were, and so they would try not to cut open the stomach because that's what samurai did in order to suicide. In 関西 however, unagi is cut open from the front and then baked because they all used to be merchants. This tradition, at least, hasn't changed one bit from the past.
The cooking method though, has changed from the past. It used to take almost an hour to prepare eel, but now they use a pressure cooker so that it only takes 20~30 minutes to make.
They also told us about how the タレ is reused/recycled and has been used for 50 years, but even as long as they'd been running the business, they just can't seem to get the タレ back to the original taste no matter what they do. They also don't have an apprentice/anyone to take after the shop after them, so it seemed like they weren't sure what would happen to them in the future.
The shop also seemed to be advertising this picture of a はやぶさ丼, which has ホタテ as well as うなぎ.
Compared to the other places we've been to, it was interesting to see that as soon as we asked about tradition, the people at the unagi-shop had a lot to say about tradition of selling/making unagi and how unagi-culture has changed overtime, whereas other places kind of gave us a general statement more about their 'way of thinking' about tradition.
Reflection:
The professor mentioned during our presentation that the unagi business has gotten pretty serious in recent years - unagi is being consumed faster than they can be born/grow, so there is talk of a risk of unagi going extinct in the future. This ties in with the tripling of price of unagi.
For my うな重, I paid slightly more than 2100円 for well, a lunch. If I go to 赤坂ふきぬき in 新宿 for lunch, I could get Nagoya-style 櫃まぶし for 2200円 and what I remember to be a more delicious うなぎ meal. But if you're not a foreigner or an exchange student with this うなぎ meal possibly being your one and only ever chance to eat うなぎ (it's not very popular, at least not in America, I don't think), then it's probably more ideal/normal to stick to somewhere close by and local if you live in the 淵野辺・相模原 area and want to eat うなぎ丼 instead of going all the way to 新宿 just to eat a simple meal.
Dates: 06/15/2015, 06/17/2015
Fieldwork:
On Monday, 06/15, we planned on going to interview a 着物屋さん in Fuchinobe. (The shop owner said that he wasn't available on Wednesdays.)
And then for Wednesday 6/17, we went to interview a 魚屋さん and other specialty shops in the Fuchinobe area.
First we went to the 着物屋さん called つるや吳服店 where the owner told us that from what he's observed, kimono culture wasn't very popular for some time, but around 20 years ago it started coming back. He thinks it's due to the spreading of culture and Japan going more international and global - in the sense that foreigners are getting more interested in learning about Japan and Japanese culture. In addition, celebrities and famous people are also showing up on television/etc. wearing kimono and promoting it in a sense. So the owner of the 着物屋さん thought those might reasons why kimono culture is coming back - because the foreigners are bringing it back.
We asked about difficulties maintaining business, and he told us that maintaining the business isn't really an issue, but making the kimonos is starting to become an issue because making it is a hard craft and no one wants to learn. Also, the locations that make kimonos keep getting wiped out by tsunami/earthquakes/natural disasters.
When we asked him what his thoughts on 「伝統」 were, he said that tradition is something that has to change over time in order to keep on existing.
Tradition is something from the past that has changed over time and has still managed to continue despite the changes, keeping the important parts as the base.He also said:
Rather than a book of secrets, tradition has to be open to the public - that's the only way to pass it on: you have to spread it everywhere.And also,
If tradition is too specific, then it will disappear.He made a comment that since the 2020 Olympic Games will be in Japan, it would be best to spread Japanese traditions to the whole world while everyone is focused on Japan for the olympics.
On Wednesday we tried going to the 魚屋さん but it was closed...So instead we went to a different 魚屋さん around the corner.
There, they told us that they get their fish fresh from the market in Yokohama, more fresh than Tsukiji because they're caught fresh that very morning.
He also questioned whether we knew the difference between tempura and fry, and said that young people don't know the difference anymore. (We didn't know the difference.) He said that kids nowadays are busy studying all the time but a lot of what they learn actually won't be beneficial to them in the real world.
Kids these days spend their time studying and don't have time/aren't really expected to be in the kitchen to watch how their mothers make food, so they grow up never really learning how to cook from their parents (and that's why kids these days don't know how the difference between tempura and fried.)
In regards to the shop, there used to be 13~17 in the area but they've closed and now they're the last shop (which is where we found out that the 魚屋さん we were originally going to go to was not just closed for the day but closed down...)
Next we decided to go down a little further and found a tea/dried goods shop.
They sold mushrooms, all sorts of beans, and all sorts of tea (instant and leaf). They also told us that there used to be more of the same type of shop in the area but that they've all closed down - they're also the last shop in the area.
They let us sample Japanese tea and told us the best way to make and drink the tea - most people think tea is just about pouring boiling water into the tea but actually tea (from leaves) can be brewed multiple times and the temperature of the water is actually very important.
Afterwards, we went a little further down to see what else we could find and came across another 和菓子屋さん.
The owner of this 和菓子屋さん makes everything himself and participates in competitions making display models out of sweets.
Other than that, during the interview, he didn't seem very enthusiastic/passionate about his work and kind of answered our half-heartedly, it seemed. However, he did seem to open up a little more after we expressed interest in buying some of his 和菓子 and 酒まんじゅう and actually offered us one for free (and cut it in half for us) because we were all taking pictures of it.
At one point, we tried asking him about the history of his shop and kind of asked him why he decided to run a 和菓子屋さん (I may or may not have been the one to want to ask that question...), and his answer was, "Why?...Why was it?" his response kind of explained/matched his attitude in answering our questions really well - his lack of enthusiasm made me feel like he was tired of his work and was doing it because it was his job - unlike some of the other places, he wasn't passionate about it, doesn't necessarily take "great pride" or anything in making 和菓子、and it was a moment where I felt that for him, life had won over tradition.
We also tried asking him what he thought of 「伝統」, and he said 伝統」is turned around to make something brand new (新しい), and that 「伝統」 is:
うけついてさらに新しくなってきたAnd as an example, he told us that they didn't used to use chocolate in the past, but now they do.
Reflection:
Since this was our fieldwork with a focus/purpose (to find out about 「伝統」and what it means to the modern-Japanese), we tried asking the question「『伝統』っていうのは何ですか」「『伝統』っていうのはなんと思いますか。」and got some pretty interesting responses.
I was surprised that people actually said tradition was a modified/new thing - if you think about it, isn't that kind of opposite the meaning of "tradition" the way we tend to think about based on its definition. It's kind of like as we've moved into the "modern day", peoples ways of thinking have "modernized" along with it and that's why they define tradition differently as well.
We keep ending up at 和菓子屋さん but it's interesting to see how different they all are. The first time was like an introduction, whereas the second time we had more of an idea of what we were looking at. This time was also an interesting comparison because he seemed so uninterested for the most part it made me wonder why it is all these people end up doing the jobs they do and where/what kind of background everyone comes from, but since we didn't consistently ask everyone the same questions, we didn't specifically gather this kind of data - I guess it might've been good if we had.
Going to places other than 和菓子屋さん is also interesting to compare because there are 和菓子屋さん everywhere, but other places are all closing out/少なくなる because it's just too hard to keep in business.
By going to make of the same kind of place, it's easier to compare and contrast difference in attitude/see how much that specific kind of business sells/does business, and going to other kinds of places allow us to get a broader perspective of how different kinds of business are involved in/think of 「伝統」 as a part of their Japanese culture and life.
Date: 05/20/2015
Fieldwork:
Since we didn't really have a direction/didn't know what we were supposed to be doing, we thought that we would try and expand on our previous research and using the guide to 町田名産品, we tried visited a couple more 和菓子屋さん to see what we could find out.
We had to walk out of the typical 町田 area that most of us are used to - no monument, no department stores, no 松屋・ファミマート・コンビニ, it was like we were walking around in 田舎...
At one point we felt like we'd been walking so far that we were doubting our navigation skills because there was literally nothing in sight...until we finally found it!
There, we got to interview the owner of the shop/the maker of the 和菓子 at 若葉堂 who apparently used to hold workshops at 桜美林大学. He told us that the shop had been open for 50 years, and that he came to 町田 50 years ago and has 65 years of 和菓子-making experience, having apprenticed making 天皇の料理 before that.
He had 町田名産品 at his shop too, but the only 和菓子 he would tell us about in more detail seemed to be 上生菓子.
He told us that 上生菓子 originated from China 1200 years ago, and that now they have a history of more than 400 years in Japan, being closely associated with 茶道 and 千利休, the Master of Tea Ceremonies. He makes them and they are frozen and sold off to foreign countries like London (where they're sold for an equivalent of 1000円 each), China, Indonesia, South Arabia, etc. He also mentioned that in hotter countries, they often add/pour sugar on top to make it sweeter since the area is too hot and they need the extra sugar.
I tried asking him about the 名産品 since they were displayed so prettily/unique to his shop, but somehow he started talking about the 上生菓子 again...
There were also some pretty typical 和菓子 and snacks, and he gave us 柏餅 as service!
Afterwards we went to a different 和菓子屋さん called 玉川虎屋.
However, they seemed too busy so we didn't interview them.
They had a lot of new/modern-style looking 和菓子 that I'd never seen before at any other 和菓子屋さん that we'd been to yet, which I thought was interesting. Most of the people working there also seemed to be younger, and when we asked how long the shop had been open, the girl at the counter didn't even know and had to go ask the people in the back...That was funny.
Reflection:
I thought it was interesting to see how at the first shop, there weren't really any customers, the shop looked old and aged, and the chef talked to us personally and told us all about 小豆 and about traditional 和菓子, whereas in the second shop, they seemed busy and didn't seem to know much about the shop. The shop also advertised new-looking products that made you curious about what it was.
This kind of inspired me to look into how Japanese value "tradition." Because to foreigners, I feel like Japan has a image of traditions/culture being a very strong part of everyday life. To many foreigners, Japan may very well be the equivalent of anime, sushi, kimonos, and samurai. Thinking about that, I started to want to find out how Japanese people actually feel about tradition. Do they consider it an important part of everyday life, or is it just another part of life? Is tradition really as important to Japanese people as we (as foreigners) tend to think it is, or is tradition in Japan just the same as it is in any other country?