Unique Japanese society: perspective of a foreigner

Japan is a country made up of more than 6000 islands and is 70% mountains. It is a country whose entire population is half that of the United States squeezed into a land mass about the size of California. Japanese face almost 1,500 earthquakes every year. Japan is the only country to be attacked by atomic weapons in the history. Life expectancy of Japanese is the highest in the world. Japan is one of the biggest economies. They are the largest automobile producer in the world and Japanese electronic products need no introduction. Japan’s national anthem is the oldest in the world. Japanese prefer to call their country as ‘land of the rising sun’… you must be wondering if I am going to list out all the facts and figures on Japan. Well, definitely not. In fact, this post intends to talk on some of the strange social and cultural aspects of Japan that I have observed.

Attitude towards foreigners and Internationalization

How Japanese view foreigners may be a subject of personal judgment. Japanese appear very friendly with foreigners but at the same time it's always hard to make them 'a friend'. They will admire you for seemingly smaller doings but may also sometimes suspect you. For a foreigner, it's usual to hear the expression 'nihongo wa jouzu desu neh', which means 'your Japanese is so good', no matter how worse is your Japanese ability. Their expression may come as a compliment but given your level of Japanese you may also feel embarrassed at times. In Japan, you often come across the word 'internationalization', a slogan to show that Japan is positively open to the outside world. However, very few seem to have understood this catch-word. Everyone aspires to it but is often confused when it comes to realizing it practically.

A vertical society and the group-culture

In Japan, everyone belongs to some group, and every group has people of superior rank and status. Here, employees are not necessarily evaluated according to the execution of their specific assigned duties. Rather, individuals are treated as part of a group. One may be denied a promotion just because of his/her age even if he/she possesses the required  talent to move up. Japanese believe in long-term relationships with their bosses as they tend to stay with the same job even though other opportunity arise.

Japan is a male dominated society

I was surprised to find a country like Japan as a male- dominated society.  Despite of high level of literacy and religious freedom, there exists discrimination against women in the Japanese society. Though the number of working women in Japan is very high which may give an impression that no gender gap exists. The status of women continues to remain low and it is rare to find a women senior manager or CEO in the financial world or big trading companies. Even in daily life, women have their role clearly defined especially after marriage. She is a house-wife and supposed to execute all the domestic activities including child caring / raising. Most of men tend to shy away from helping their female counterparts in activities like cooking or shopping. However, this trend is changing now a days.

Japanese ladies often act cute

As a tradition, Japanese culture prefers every little, cute and immature things. A foreigner often has hard time accepting the fact when an adult Japanese woman speak and act like a child. It seems that Japanese men want cute, child-like women rather than women who are more emotionally matured. And, most of the Japanese women put a priority on pleasing men (like in most of the Asian countries) and prefer to live a luxurious life rather than seeking a responsible position. In fact from the early days of school women are taught to act and look cute, not sophisticated.

Japanese apologize too much

Japanese apologize so often. Generally, an apology is required when an offense or violation of social norms takes place. But apologizing is a part of Japanese culture. A display of modesty is considered a sign of virtue. When people have a problem or they need to ask a favor, they will begin with 'sumimasen', which means 'I'm sorry'. Though, expressions like 'sumimasen' make the atmosphere favorable for cordial interaction, foreigners are often puzzled by this behavior of Japanese.

Like most other countries, Japan has also a lot of positive traits, and at the same time a lot of strange ones. Based on my knowledge and experience, I have tried to summarize some of the characteristics of Japanese society. I found the above aspects of Japanese culture a bit strange. In case you differ with me, you're entitled to have your own opinion.

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Through my Lens: Experimenting with my first DSLR

A couple of months back, I bought my first DSLR camera. It's a Canon EOS kiss x3 which is the Japanese version of Canon EOS 500D / Digital Rebel T1i. I am not a professional but I have always wanted to learn photography. I have owned a bunch of point & shoot cameras over the years but I could never be satisfied with them especially with night snaps. I have a lot of passion about photography and really want to learn the art of taking good photos. People say that true experimentation is the only way to master this art and we need to spend a lot of time shooting. Well, time is the problem to go for more and more experimentations. Anyway, without talking so much about photography techniques (because I am just a beginner) let me share with you few of the photographs that I took with my new DSLR.

An hour before sunset; Location: Hiroshima city, Japan: shot with Canon EF-S18-55mm kit lens 

Trying bokeh (the out of focus or blurry areas of a photograph): shot with Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II lens

(Water surface: shot with Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II lens)

Autumn memories: Location: Ikeinomori park, Higashi Hiroshima city, Japan: shot with Canon EF-S18-55mm kit lens 

Sunset view: Location: Higashi Hiroshima city, Japan: shot with Canon EF-S55-250mm kit lens

 

Lighting fixtures: Location: Kure city, Japan: shot with Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II lens @ ISO: 1600

Light streaks created due to movement of vehicles (taken with a long exposure): Location: Higashi Hiroshima city, Japan: shot with Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II lens @ ISO: 100

 

Night view of Higashi Hiroshima city: shot with Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II lens @ ISO: 100; Exposure: 272 sec

It's my early days in photography but I'm finding out very quickly that it is an expensive hobby. I first bought two lens (EF-S18-55mm F3.5-5.6 IS Focus Range: 0.25m ~ ∞ and EF-S55-250mm F4-5.6 IS Focus Range: 1.1m ~ ∞) that came with my DSLR and later went on to buy a really handy Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II lens for sharp images and videos (during low light conditions). However, I realized that these lenses are not enough and we need few more of these once the enthusiasm and requirement scale high.

The above pictures may not be good enough from the view point of a professional photographer but I am happy that I was able to take few nice photos. The best thing about a DSLR is you can do lots of experimentation and get quick results. I know it's a long road ahead but I will continue to experiment. Let me know what do you think of my new passion. By the way, you can visit my Flickr page (click here) to see my rest of the shots.

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Moving from compact digital cameras to DSLR

I am not an expert in photography. However, When Deependra asked me to write another post for this blog, I thought of writing about my recent experience of upgrading to a DSLR. In this article I will write briefly about various types of compact cameras and how they differ from a DSLR. Then I’ll point out some of the benefits and drawbacks of using a DSLR. Perhaps someone wanting to upgrade to a DSLR might find this post useful.

I'm sure all of you are familiar with the basics of digital cameras, they have almost completely taken over the camera market, replacing the popular film based cameras of the last century. Current digital cameras can be categorized in to four main types, they are:

• Ultra compact
• Compact
• Bridge cameras (Also known as Ultra Zoom or full size cameras)
• DSLR (Digital Single Lens Reflex)

When talking about digital cameras, it is important to understand some of the basic digital camera terminologies. Some of the common terms I have used in the post are listed in the glossary section at the end.

Ultra Compact cameras

These cameras are the smallest and the lightest of them all. Usually have a very thin profile with an average of 3 to 5x optical zoom range. Mega pixel count is relatively low but nowadays averages around 10 or 12 Megapixels. These are generally aimed at average consumers who want a small pocatable camera which they can take out and shoot without worrying too much about camera settings. Price normally varies from $150 to $350.

Compact cameras

Standard compact cameras are somewhat bulkier than the Ultra compacts, but don’t allow any significant improvements in image quality or features. These however have a slightly larger optical zoom range usually ranging from 5x to 10x. Some of them are powered by standard alkaline AA type batteries whereas ultra-compacts exclusively use proprietary rechargeable batteries. Since they are neither thin nor light, price usually is below a comparable ultra-compact (Ranges from $100 to $300 in general).

Then you might ask why pay more and buy a DSLR ?? Well, if you continue reading, you will see what a DSLR has to offer.

Bridge cameras

The term bridge camera is used because they help bridge the gap between compacts and DSLRs; these cameras offer many of the features found in DSLRs but with the exception of having a changeable lens. They are also known as Ultra Zoom cameras due to the high optical zoom (ranging from 12x up to 18x), And full size cameras because they have larger lenses which makes them almost as large as an entry level DSLR. Bridge cameras provide many user changeable options (i.e Manual aperture control, manual focusing and various camera settings). Some even has a mount for adding an external flash units and a lens thread for adding filters. Due to the features price is higher than standard compacts, usually varies from $250 to $500.

DSLR

Perhaps the two main distinguishing features of a DSLR are: ability to change lenses and having a real optical viewfinder. In a DSLR the image you see in the viewfinder is coming through the main lens. In comparison compact cameras either have an electronic view finder, a dummy optical view finder (where the light is not passed though the actual lens, rather through a separate small hole on the camera body), or no view finder at all.

DSLRs in contrast are much larger than compact cameras and even considerably larger than bridge cameras when additional accessories are attached (i.e Battery grips, Flash units, remote triggers etc..). The other difference is the cost. When talking about DSLRs there are three cost factors:

1. Price of the camera body (normally DSLR cameras are sold without a lens, however there are camera kits that comes with a cheap general purpose lens). An entry level DSLR body will cost around $500, a midrange around $1500 and a high end around $5000.
2. Price of the lenses. Building up a good lens collection usually cost a lot more than the camera body. Lenses can cost anywhere from $100 for prime (fixed zoom) lenses all the way up to $10,000 or more for high end telephoto lenses.
3. Cost of the accessories.

Note : There is another type of high end cameras that are even more expensive than professional DSLRs, they are called Medium Format Cameras, which are well over $25,000. They have much larger sensors (medium format 1977 sq. mm). I will not talk about those since average consumers don’t use them.

Advantages of a DSLR

• Since lenses are interchangeable, optical zoom has no limit, for example a DSLR body can even be mounted on a telescope making the telescope its lens. Therefore with a DSLR you have the option from going from a close range macro lens all the way to high zoom telescopic lens. Furthermore, with the correct lens the Field of View can be made much wider than that of a compact camera.
  

• The ability to take photos with a very shallow Depth of Field is another unique characteristic of a DSLR. A shallow DOF gives more prominence to the subject making the photo look more professional. DOF effect is achieved by changing the aperture of the lens, to have a shallow DOF a lens with a large aperture is needed. Only expensive lenses designed for SLR cameras have large enough apertures to have a clear DOF effect.

• Fast continues shooting ability is another advantage, this is especially important in fast action photography, because you can’t just take one single perfect shot of a fast action sequence, therefore you need to take multiple shots in a quick succession to capture that perfect moment. Continues shooting speeds varies from 3FPS all the way up to 11FPS depending on the camera. In contrast compact cameras don’t have a fast shooting mode; this is partially due to the slow auto focusing techniques they use and due to slow image processing capabilities of the camera.

• Low light sensitivity (High ISO performance) is another benefit you get exclusively with DSLRs. When shooting under extremely low light conditions you have to increase the light sensitivity (ISO value) of the camera. ISO value is an indication of the amount of signal amplification and noise reduction carried out inside the camera to enhance the quality of an image. However signal amplification introduces unwanted artifacts into the image. These artifacts makes an image look grainy or full of small dots that do not have the correct color value. Compared to Compact cameras DSLRs have much better ISO performance, there are many reasons for this : perhaps the biggest reason is the sensor size. A typical entry level DSLR has a 330 sq. mm sensor, a full frame high end DSLR has an even larger 864 sq. mm sensor. Whereas a typical compact has a very small sensor usually having an area of 25 sq. mm to 40 sq. mm, which is smaller than 1/10 of a DSLR. A larger sensor can capture more light; in addition, DSLRs also have much larger lenses with larger apertures that allow more light to come in to the camera. Since photography in essence is the process of capturing light, more light means higher image quality. Sensor technology and signal processing capabilities (image processing microchips) also have a direct impact on ISO performance. As you would expect DSLRs have better sensors with faster and more sophisticated chips, hence the final outcome is better.

• Another feature of DSLRs is the ability to use of RAW files for storing images. A RAW file is simply an uncompressed untouched copy of the sensor data directly saved on to the memory card. In contrast a JPEG is a lossy compression format that causes some of the finer details of an image to be lost forever when saved. When a camera is saving an image in JPEG format it applies all the camera settings (i.e white balance, color controls, exposure compensation etc.). But with a RAW file you have access to the original sensor output which you can later modify using imaging software like Photoshop. This Gives you the ability to change some of the camera setting at a later time on your computer. Therefore professional photographers almost always shoot RAW.

• Ability to use filters and other optical attachments is another benefit. With filters you can take better photographs with nicer effects without post processing on the computer. A filter is a special attachment which you can screw on to the front of the lens to control the light going through to the sensor (i.e : polarizing filters will cut off glare and unwanted reflections off shiny surfaces, UV filters will cut off unwanted UV rays and protect your lens at the same time, there are many other filters like gradient filters, color filters etc..) In addition to filters you can also attach wide angle adaptors and teleconverters to change the optical properties of your lens (to change FOV and Zoom range).

• Then there are loads of other accessories like flash guns (external high power flash units) that can be triggered remotely or internally for better lighting; remote controllers for operating the camera, wireless adaptors to transfer images and video wirelessly in real time, underwater and weather proof shells that allows you to take photos under extreme conditions, the list goes on.

• The ability to capture professional level videos is another new feature that has been introduced in to DSLRs recently. Compact cameras had video capabilities for a while now, but DSLRs did not; all of this changed with the introduction of Nikon D90 in 2008, afterwards many manufacturers quickly picked up on this. The advantages of shooting video on a DSLR lies in the large sensor and high quality lenses. With a DSLR you can now record videos with DOF effect that could previously be only achieved with professional level $10,000 video cameras. As pointedout earlier low light performance is exceptionally well with fast lenses. It has been reported that even some of the professional level videographers are now more interested in using DSLRs for filming video because of the price and versatility they offer. Below you can see a video which was shot entirely with a Canon EOS 1D Mark IV DSLR with no artificial lighting. As you can see, the quality is exceptional compared to a dedicated video camcorder. However current video capable DSLRs do not have good auto focusing features, this is perhaps the biggest drawback of using a DSLR for recording videos right now. But I believe this will be fixed soon.

As you can see there are numerous advantages in getting a DSLR, especially if you are keen on getting higher quality photographs. But it comes at a price. Before I conclude this post I will also briefly note some of the advantages of owning a compact camera

Advantages of compact cameras

• Much cheaper than DSLRs

• Highly portable, therefore you don’t have to think twice about carrying a compact camera, just pocket it or put it in your hand bag and go. But with a DSLR or sometimes even with a Bridge camera you have to pay special attention. If you buy DSLR then you’ll probably need several lenses and few other accessories, so you will need a separate large camera bag as well. Then you’ll have to be careful when handling the equipment because they are usually pricy.

• Compact cameras are designed for beginners, hence camera controls are easy to use and most functions are automated. Simply point the camera and shoot, due to this, compact cameras are also known as Point and Shoot cameras.

• Till last year DSLRs did not have video capabilities at all, even now only a handful of them supports it. But on the other hand, compact cameras had video recording capabilities for several years. Now they even support full HD video. But DSLRs are catching up, but video recording has some limitations as discussed above.

Whether you want a DSLR or not entirely depends on your enthusiasm in photography. If you just want a small camera to take an occasional photo of a family trip, of a party, some special occasion or just a funny moment, then perhaps a compact camera is better suited for you. But if you are really interested in photography and you want to capture the true essence and the beauty of a moment then nothing short of a DSLR will do. I don’t think you can replace a Compact with a DSLR because there are many instances where we cannot be bothered to lug around a huge DSLR, therefore it is better to have a cheap compact and a decent DSLR so you can have best of both worlds.

Glossary

Optical zoom: Magnifying or bringing the subject of interest closer by using optics (lenses). This is the preferred method of zooming since it does not loose detail. The alternative is digital zoom, in which the image is enlarged digitally by interpolating. Digital zoom is same as enlarging a digital image on the computer.

Focal Length: In scientific terms focal length is the distance between the center of the lens and the point in which light from infinity is focused. Since modern camera lenses have many lens elements, the resultant focal of a lens is actually much larger than the distance between the lens and sensor. As far as photography is concerned all we need to know is that lenses with shorter focal lengths have a wider field of view compared to those with longer focal lengths. Focal length of a camera lens is denoted in 35 mm equivalents (compared to how the lens would work projecting the image on to a 35mm film).

This number also has a relation to the zoom factor of a lens. Zoom factor = maximum focal length / Minimum focal length.

Aperture: Aperture is a small adjustable opening (iris) inside the lens that controls the amount of light coming into the camera sensor. Aperture size is denoted by a F-Stop = focal length / diameter of the opening. For this reason larger apertures have a smaller F-Stop number (i.e 1.2) where smaller apertures have a larger F-Stop number (i.e 5.6). Size of the aperture has a direct impact on the amount of light and the depth of field (DOF) of an image

Deapth of field : Is the amount of distance between the nearest and farthest objects that appear in acceptably sharp focus in a photograph. Any object that falls out of the DOF will appear blurry. With a shallow DOF everything that lies away and towards few feet off the focus point will appear blurry where as a with a wide DOF everything will be in focus up to few feet from the lens. Larger apertures have a shallow DOF.

ISO Sensitivity: This is a standardized number representing the sensitivity of the sensor to light. Lower number means less sensitivity. This again is a convention carried on from film cameras. Cameras with high ISO numbers are better at working under low light conditions. However due to the various signal processing techniques images with high ISO settings will have noise.

(*The author, Hasitha Ariyaratne, hails from Colombo, Sri Lanka) 

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Sky is all yours

A very dear friend of mine is going to join an Australian University to pursue his post - graduation.  It's the time to say good-bye to him. He has been one of my best friends during my stay in Japan for a period of almost four years. I am grateful to him for always being right there when I needed someone to talk to. I will never forget all the laughter and fun experiences that we’ve shared. I dedicate this poem to him and wish him a successful journey ahead..

Yesterday’s gone
    like disappearing clouds
    like vanishing stars
    like passing twilight
    like fading moonlight

Leaving memories
    of stress and fun
    of rest and run
    of hope and despair
    of scare and care

It’s the time
    to reflect on past glories
    to bury bitter memories
    to match a flowing stream
    to catch the next dream

So, my friend!
    grab with both hands
    happiness is all yours
    give wings to your dreams
    sky is all yours

(My Poems also appear at www.poemhunter.com)

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Flashback 2009: a few disappointments, so much to look forward to

We are about to say goodbye to the year 2009. There were few disappointments, but there are also plenty of things to be happy about in 2009. Things that could have been great, but were ordinary. Few events were downright depressing. However, despite some letdowns, there are reasons to be optimistic. Lets figure out the top five stories of 2009 that in some way will have a lasting impact.

• The United Nations Climate Change Conference 2009 held in Copenhagen, Denmark: While the world leaders were engaged in 'playing politics' on the issue of preventing our earth from getting warmer, a news report said that 2009 is likely to rank as one of the 10 warmest in the last 159 years. Yet the leaders failed to agree on a legally- binding treaty to tackle climate change through massive emission cuts. The conference which according to UN chief Ban Ki-moon, was expected to be 'a defining moment in history' failed to generate consensus on some of the key issues. Optimists say that Copenhagen summit was the first step towards achieving the desired emission reduction level to limit the global temperature rise. But if they are true, then it is the first step of what seems like a long and difficult road ahead.

• The outbreak of the H1N1 influenza strain (swine flu):  H1N1 influenza commonly referred as Swine-flu first appeared in Mexico and the United States and soon spread out to more than 200 countries and territories. It was declared a global pandemic, the first condition since the Hong Kong flu of 1967–1968 to receive this designation. There have been over 12000 deaths reported so far due to swine-flu besides half a million others infected. As a precautionary measure, people started using facial masks. Now-a-days, facial masks have became a common sight at schools, workplaces and other public places. Though, masks may prove beneficial for people coming in close contact with infected persons but whether they prevent swine flu infection remains doubtful.
  

• The Sri Lankan Civil War ended with the defeat of LTTE: Following more than three decades of relentless fighting, Sri Lanka managed to defeat the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) force thus bringing the longest running armed conflicts in Asia to an end. After a series of massive offensives, the Sri Lankan forces emerged winner in the battle against the rebellious LTTE. The civil war claimed lives of over 70,000 and displaced more than 200000 people.

• The world economy started to recover: The global economy has shown signs of recovery though it's not completely escaped from the recession. The unprecedented policy intervention by the world economic powers has provided with a hope of recovery after the economy plunged down for two consecutive years. Asian economies like China and India stood as the driving force behind this rebound. However, International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned that the recovery is largely due to massive public spending by governments and the underlying economy may not be strong enough. IMF predicts that unemployment will continue to rise in the coming years and the path to recovery may not be smooth.
  

• Nobel Peace Prize awarded to Barack Obama: Many of you may not agree with me, but I believe that Nobel 'peace' prize awarded to the US president is one of the most interesting stories of the year. This unexpected honor was given to Obama for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation. The incident elicited both praise and doubts world-wide. There were questions raised whether he deserved this award. But what I feel is the prize has brought perhaps more burden than glory for Obama and it's definitely a good news.
  

I have selected the top five headlines of the year 2009. However, you may differ with me. It was difficult to choose few stories from many equally important ones that happened during the year. Some of the other significant stories include: the deadliest bushfire in Australia’s history that killed hundreds of people and left thousands homeless, Morgan Tsvangirai sworn in as the Prime Minister in Zimbabwe following the power-sharing deal with President Robert Mugabe, terrorist attack on a bus carrying Sri Lankan cricketers in Lahore, North Korea announcement that it has conducted a second successful nuclear test in the province of North Hamgyong, sudden death of Pop king Michael Jackson that shocked the entire world,  the deadliest attack on journalists in recent history in which 57 people were abducted and killed in an election- related massacre in the Philippines, the presidential election in Iran that triggered a series of violent demonstrations, the landslide victory of Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) in Japanese parliamentary elections in more than five decades that promises to change Japan's foreign policy (which, at present, heavily favors the United States) and, so on.

As in case with every year, 2009 also had some good and some awful moments. Let's pray for a better year ahead. Lets hope that wisdom will prevail in choosing the right path whenever we face with two diverging roads in life. Wishing you all a very happy and prosperous New year 2010 !

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The theme song for Never Stop Dreaming

Last week, I found an interesting message at the facebook fan page of this blog. It was from Phil Lehmann, an independent music producer, engineer and songwriter based in Vancouver, Canada. He had left a message that read, 'here is the song that I think fits well with this page (i.e. Never Stop Dreaming's fan page)' and uploaded a song from his upcoming album, If Found Please Listen. It's indeed a beautiful song which I thought would be an ideal theme song for this blog. Before I proceed further, lets listen to the song (click play button in the console below):

I wrote back to Phil asking if I could use this song at my blog which, to my pleasure, he agreed. He, in fact,  sent me the download link for his album. I found that most of the songs in the album express a message of hope and inspire the audience with its splendid lyrics. The album is actually set to be released on January 12, 2010 via Hipjoint / Universal.

Phil Lehmann has been involved with various music projects for Hipjoint Music Group and Nettwerk One Music. He was associated with several films and TV shows like ABC’s Samantha Who? and syndicated TV series Flash Gordon. He is currently a producer and head engineer for Hipjoint Music Group along with his own company, Active Minds Productions. 'Dreamboat Money' is a music project in which he and his wife (also a singer) Erica Lehmann  are actively engaged .

Dreamboat Money is the personal music project of Phil and Erica Lehmann. Most of the songs of the album are emotional and filled with a sense of optimism. Always searching for inspiration from life, love and limitless adventures, Dreamboat Money vows to spread the message of peace and love across the world.

The song which Phil shared (uploaded above) with us is indeed amazing. What I liked most in this particular song is the sense of optimism and love embedded in it. The message that we all should follow our dreams and live harmoniously together makes it a perfect theme song of this blog, Never Stop Dreaming. I sincerely hope that all of you will agree with me. I thank Phil Lehmann for sharing this beautiful song with us. And, would like to extend my best wishes to his team for the success of the album, If found Please Listen. Cheers!

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