Do you have any colors you like to wear? I like black and white best, but I also wear red, green, and blue. Adults choose whatever color they like. What about children? You rarely see a kindergarten boy wearing a pink shirt or a little girl wearing a dinosaur printed T-shirt in your neighborhood. 

That’s because there are gender norms in our society: we unknowingly follow the social values of women being womanly and men being manly. We are not asked or ordered, but we tend to follow the rules. These social norms limit one's actions and choices in life. It has been pointed out that women, in particular, are disadvantaged in their daily lives and in situations such as finding employment. I knew it was not a good idea to do anything that would instil such norms in children from an early age.

However, when I had a daughter of my own, I faced a problem when it came to choosing her clothes. In the kids wear section, there is a clear distinction between clothes for girls and for boys. The colors of girls' clothes are pink and pastel colors with flowers, strawberries, or ribbon motifs. For boys, the main colors are blue and green, and the patterns are mostly vehicles and dinosaurs. If you had to choose from the two, who would choose boys’ wear for girls?

When I have to purchase my daughter’s necessities, I am always faced with a dilemma. My 65-year-old mother used to say that girls should wear pink and bought her granddaughter pink clothes. I talked to my mother about the issue, and then, she accepted my idea and tried to choose other colors too. Yet sometimes I don't know what the right thing to do is. My daughter was often mistaken for a boy. Each time it happened, I wondered if I should have dressed her in pink. However, I didn't want to end up in a situation like the one in JeongMee Yoon’s photographs. The artist took pictures of contrasting children's rooms: girls' rooms filled with pink, and boys’ rooms filled with blue. This is what I've been worrying about ever since she was born. Now I try to balance between my beliefs and common sense.

The other day, I had to prepare a pair of sandals for my daughter because she uses them at daycare. I’d been looking at several online stores and finally decided to get pink ones with white polka dots. I liked the functionality and the reasonable price. How do you think my daughter reacted to the sandals? For the first time, she got interested in her stuff and wanted to put them on by herself! 

According to Hidemi Horikoshi's "Do Girls Really Like Pink?", many parents in Japan and abroad are troubled by the fact that their young girls have become obsessed with pink. I shudder at the thought that one day my daughter will be crazy about pink.

JeongMee Yoon’s website: http://www.jeongmeeyoon.com/aw_pinkblue.htm

堀越英美『女の子は本当にピンクが好きなのか』（河出文庫、2019）

Photo Credit: The Author

Quiz

What is 131 meters tall, changes color, and has steam coming out from under it? If you answered Kyoto Tower, then you can stop reading because you probably know more about it than I do. If not, keep reading because Kyoto Tower is one of the most iconic buildings in Japan, and you should know more about it.

By most accounts, the story of Kyoto Tower begins with the relocation of Kyoto’s Central Post Office in 1961. With this move, a large tract of land facing Kyoto Station’s Northern Central Exit became available for redevelopment. Such large parcels are rare in old cities like Kyoto, something that was not lost on businesspeople, politicians, and civic leaders of the day, so everyone agreed that the space should be used for the public good. A company was formed, a prominent architect hired, and the work of creating a suitable structure was begun.

Originally, the structure was not intended to be a tower, but rather a modern nine-story building with a modest observation facility on its roof. After all, Kyoto city had laws that limited the height of all buildings to 31 meters—the height of a nine-story structure. It seemed impossible that something taller than that could be built.

However, the 1960s had just begun; Japan’s growth rate was above 10 percent, Tokyo would be hosting the Olympics, and a new bullet train would be connecting Japan’s previous capital with its current one. The times were ripe for people to think big, and at that point in history, thinking big often meant building a tower. Osaka had Tsutenkaku (1943), Tokyo had Tokyo Tower (1957), and even Yokohama had Marine Tower (1961).

In English there is an expression, “where there is a will, there is a way”, which means that if someone wants something badly enough, he or she will find a way to get it. This certainly seems true for the people who wanted to build a tower. To overcome the obstacle of a 31-meter height limit, a loophole was found. Since even the tallest buildings were allowed to have structures like elevator shafts and water tanks on their roofs, why couldn’t a 100-meter tower be considered “a rooftop structure”? Experts were consulted, the possibility of building a rooftop tower was confirmed, and the rest is history. The 131-meter structure—which contains a hotel, restaurants, steamy public bath, and 100-meter tower—was opened to the public on December 28, 1964. Today, Kyoto Tower continues to be used for the common good. In addition to housing the facilities mentioned above, its colorfully illuminated silhouette acts as a guide to those seeking Kyoto Station after a hard day's work or a night on the town.

Photo Credit: Eva Elijas@pexels.com

Blog Quiz

 1. Before Kyoto Tower was built, what was on that land?

   a. The Central Post Office

   b. The Century Hotel

   c. Yodobashi Camera

2. Before Kyoto Tower was built, the tallest buildings in Kyoto city were around __ .

   a. 31 meters

   b. 100 meters

   c. 131 meters

3. What is the source of the steam coming out from under Kyoto Tower?

   a. A police station (Koban)

   b. A public bath

   c. The subway

Scroll down ↓ for the answers to the quiz.

Quiz Answers

A1. A

A2. A

A3. B

This is Part Two of Women’s Empowerment in India. 

You can read Part one here. 

In Visakhapatnam, we were introduced to very positive and active women. When we interviewed them, we tried meta-facilitation skills to find out the truth. They were eager to talk about how much effort they made to become independent. Many of them were from the poorest families and were not educated at school. Some of them could not even read or write when they first came to Mura no Mirai. They did not know how to calculate either. They never had a bank account. They never made any decisions by themselves. They did not have confidence. However, after being involved in the activity of the NPO, they learned not only how to read, write, and calculate, but also got a job at their own community bank called VVK.

Those poor women got higher self-esteem little by little though an opportunity to borrow a small amount of money from the bank. They borrowed and paid back money again and again. All the small loans were used for their living expenses and their children’s education. They sent their kids to college and finally returned their debts. Their lifestyle was very simple, and they seemed not to have many possessions. However, they looked very happy. What they were proud of was not what they had, but their children’s education and their efforts for that. They showed us their passbooks which proved completion of their repayment. They seemed to gain confidence by paying back all the money they borrowed, making decisions by themselves, and becoming independent financially and psychologically. Moreover, this confidence inspired them to learn how to read, write, and calculate, and even to manage their bank by themselves. Most of them were once just customers at the bank for their microcredit, but they became indispensable workers there. They keep challenging themselves, and their bank is growing and helping more poor women.

What is happiness for human beings? Can people feel happy when they are able to own a lot of things? When supporting people in need, giving something might be a common idea. However, through communicating with them, these Indian women made me realize what is important in life. I will never forget their happy smiles.

Photo Credit: jeswinthomas@pexels.com

Blog Quiz

Q1. Where did the writer visit in India?

Q2. How did the Indian women use the money they borrowed?

Q3. What is important for the Indian women the writer met?

Scroll down ↓ for the answers to the quiz.

Quiz Answers

A1. Visakhapatnam, India

A2. They used the money for living and educational expenses.

A3. Becoming independent, getting confidence, making decisions, (children’s) education

Empowered women in India taught me what happiness means. I visited some women in the southern part of India with an NPO called “Mura no Mirai (Future of Villages)” in February 2018. I was interested in world cooperation, but not sure about how to find out the real needs of people in developing countries. The NPO has been active in several countries and successful in supporting underprivileged people. They gave me a chance to learn about the precious things in life from the Indian women in the slum.

Mura no Mirai offers a special way to communicate called meta-facilitation, which means to ask only fact-questions when trying to find someone’s needs. From his experiences in world cooperation, Mr. Wada from the organization found that when answering fact-questions, people gradually recognize what they really need and start to think about what they should do for their future. This NGO never gives money or things, but through meta-facilitation, they help people in need empower themselves and become independent financially and psychologically. Their goal is not to do everything for the people, but to guide them to stand up and walk by themselves at their pace. When I attended their seminar about meta-facilitation, I became very much interested in communicating with people using the method.

One of their great projects was to support poor women in Visakhapatnam, India. They asked fact-questions to find their needs and succeeded in leading them to manage their own community bank for small loans by themselves. I read their reports and books about their activities, but I could not believe what they have done and really wanted to see and listen to the local women’s groups. I joined their study tour to visit them in India.

Photo Credit: Still@pexels.com

Blog Quiz

Q1. What is Mura no Mirai?

Q2. What is the communication method used by Mura no Mirai?

Q3. What project was the writer particularly interested in?

Scroll down ↓ for the answers to the quiz.

Quiz Answers

A1. An NPO that helps underprivileged people

A2. meta-facilitation

A3. The writer was impressed by the women who managed a community bank for small loans. 

Whenever I have visitors from abroad and we are in Kyoto, I invariably take them to Pontocho in the evening. I love that this alley is narrow enough to easily cross from side to side. The proximity of the facades lining the street lets me inspect the displays and menus of every restaurant on my left and right. By now I have done this tens of times, and even though not much changes, I do not tire of it. I find it a great place to spend time with a friend.

Since I have been going to Pontocho for over 10 years, I have gradually learned some of its history, not all of which I believe.

The history of Pontocho that I find hardest to accept concerns the supposed origin of its name. If you google “Pontocho history”, Wikipedia and most travel websites will tell you that “Ponto” is thought to be derived from a Portuguese word, most likely “bridge” but perhaps “destination” or even “dot”. While this could be true, it seems unlikely.

To begin with, when Japanese borrows words from abroad it is usually for something that originally did not exist in Japan, like computers or pumpkins, but Japanese has long had its own words for “bridges”, “destinations”, and “dots”. Why the need for a foreign alternative, especially during that era? The timing is important.

When Pontocho was created in 1670, Japan was already 31 years into what would become its 214-year stretch of self-isolation. Would a culture that is in the midst of turning inward really choose a foreign word for a new street? Also, how many Kyoto denizens from the 17th century knew Portuguese well enough to linguistically borrow from it?

Finally, there is the kanji itself, 先斗町, which using my Heisig language book translates to something like “The town (町) before (先) the Big Dipper (斗) ”, which seems to have little to do with a bridge, although I guess “destination” would still be valid.

Even if we eliminate its supposed Portuguese origin, Pontocho is still a charming name. Using the Big Dipper (Ursa Major) as a proxy for North, a translation for Pontocho could be “The town just before the North end”. As Pontocho does lie at the Northern terminus to the 15-kilometer-long Takasegawa Canal, this is in fact true.

Photo Credit: satoshi-hirayama @pexels.com

Blog Quiz

Q1. What does the author find hard to accept?

Q2. Why does he find this hard to accept?

Q3. Why is it appropriate for Pontocho to have a character for “North” in its name?

Scroll down ↓ for the answers to the quiz.

Quiz Answers

Q1. That the name “Pontocho” was derived from Portuguese.

Q2. Because of Japan’s isolation at that time, the likely small number of Portuguese speakers, and the lack of a need to borrow a word.

Q3. Because it is at the Northern end of a famous canal.