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Pasco Teens Sample Japanese Culture

Klint Lowry/SUNCOAST NEWS

Ted Ohtani, a Japanese language instructor at the University of South Florida, explaining some of the Asian language's subtleties to teens at the Hudson Regional Library.

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By KLINT LOWRY | The Suncoast News

Published: February 16, 2008

HUDSON, Fla. - HUDSON, Fla. - HUDSON, Fla. - In today's world, The American way of life is seasoned with multicultural ingredients. One of the most prominent flavors comes from Japan.

These flavors range from the electronic gadgets and cars we buy to our arts and entertainment. Even the "Great American Pastime" is welcoming a growing number of players from Japan.

But does driving a Toyota Camry, reading manga-style comic books or watching Seattle Mariners outfielder Ichiro Suzuki beat out base hits really add up to knowing anything about Japanese culture?

The Friends of the Library booster group at the Hudson Regional Library and the library's anime club presented a "Japanese Exposure Expo" Feb. 8. It gave teens who already have an appreciation of some of what Japan has to offer an authentic taste of the Asian nation's culture, figuratively and literally.

"They kind of know Japan, but they don't know the real Japan," librarian Paul Stonebridge said.

Ted Ohtani, a Japanese language instructor at the University of South Florida, was the guest speaker at the expo. He opened by writing each person's name in Japanese characters and gave a brief explanation of the Japanese language.

As small as Japan is geographically, he explained, it is like America in that there are regional dialects. Not only that, but even in one location there are varying levels of formality, entire manners of speaking that are appropriate for one setting but not another, according to Ohtani.

For instance, Ohtani said, when one is doing business, there is a certain vocabulary that is deemed appropriate.

"But if you were home and talked to your sister like that, she would wonder what is the matter with you," Ohtani said. "She would think you were mad at her."

On the other hand, Ohtani explained, there are some types of language that are rather crude, and using them at the wrong time or place could get you into trouble.

Japanese and Americans speak the same language in one way, Ohtani said, and that is in their love of manga.

"Manga is any comic books," Ohtani said, "anything drawn in a fun way, that's manga."

In Japan, he said, animation is everywhere. It is more widely respected than it is in the United States. It isn't uncommon to see dignified older businessmen reading comic books in public.

Stonebridge continued the presentation, using images he took himself during his considerable time in Japan. Many of his images were taken in Tokyo. To get an idea the size of Tokyo, he told them, imagine twice the population of Florida all jammed into Hillsborough and Pinellas counties.

Stonebridge painted a picture of a centuries-old culture whose elements are similar enough to our own to be recognizable, but always with a distinctive twist. It could be an obsession with electronic games, the rebellious fashion trends among teens or the Tokyo Tower, based on the Eiffel Tower but modernized and intentionally built 9 feet taller than the 1,063-foot original in Paris.

The teens ate up their crash course in Japanese, but then it was time for a real meal. Stonebridge set up a buffet of Japanese treats, including dried eel, cod and squid; pickled limes; lotus roots; Japanese gelatin, made from seaweed; taro chips; and chocolate-covered mushroom candy.

The teens dove into their culinary adventure with varying degrees of gusto.

"I'm going to try everything," Mason Brando announced as he made his way down the line. Others showed a little more caution.

Some items went down a little easier than others. But once the meal was over, everyone had the option of working it off with a Yu-Gi-Oh trading card tournament or a lesson in swordplay from Stonebridge.

Libraries have changed a lot, Stonebridge commented, but they are still all about learning.

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