#3 The Language of Clothes

1. Do you judge people according to what they wear? Why?
⇒ Yes, I judge people by clothes. For example, if people wearing clothes that I like or have excellent fashion sense, I think I want to make friends with her/him.
And sometimes, dirty clothes make me uncomfortable with smell.

2. Do you think Japanese society puts an importance on clothing when judging other people from another country?
⇒ No, I don’t think so, because in foreign country there are their original modern fashion and taste in clothes like Japan. So, I suppose that we don't put an importance on their clothing.

3. What colors are you wearing now? Do they reflect your mood?
⇒ I’m wearing black jacket and gray T-shirts and jeans. I don’t think so, because I usually wear dark color clothes like black, brown, gray and white, but I’m also happy. I just choose the color able to be matched easily.

#2 Death and Funerals

１Death and Funerals
☆Do you have any international friends or a host family? If so, how would you express your condolences to them if a family member died? If not, then how would you express condolences to an American host family if their Grandmother died?
⇒ I have both international friends and host family. If someone of them died I’d like to express my condolences by e-mail or letter, because it is difficult for me to visit them soon.

☆Have you ever been to a foreign funeral?
⇒ No, I’ve never been to there.


2. The language of Clothes
☆Why are Japanese designer label crazy? Why is what you wear so important?
⇒ I’m not so crazy about designer label, so there are not important for me. However, it is said that Japanese fondness for designer labels. I think if we have them we can get a feel for rich.

☆What does “Don’t judge a book by it’s cover.” mean to you?
⇒ Cover and first impression is important to chose a book but inside is more important, because we can’t know how interesting it until we read inside. So I think it means “Don't judge people by their looks.”

Homework #1

1. Do you agree with the web site's description?　What do you do that can be called "wrapping"?

　　　⇒ I agree with web site. Japanese like wrapping because, Japanese is particular about being clean. I think that wrapping can prevent dirt from the outside. And also Japanese have an idea that it is impolite when given things which aren't wrapping to person from long ago. So, Japanese has used HUROSIKI(風呂敷) and HUKUSA(ふくさ).


2. a. Where do you go when you die?　
　　　⇒ I think we go to haven.

b. Explain why do Japanese have death memorial services 1 month, 1 year, 3 years, 7 years, etc. after a person's death?
　　　⇒ In the Buddhism of Japan, there is a custom of holding a funeral for the dead and valuing the ancestor. Because the life is always born from the ancestor and grows up. We become valuable existence by doing the Buddhist service.