The Writers Perspective

A large part of the readings was centered around the artists description of Mount Osore, but the author incorporates some of her experiences to juxtapose Japanese traditions regarding how they honor their dead to more Western ones. As the she describes the scene of the food rotting and money thrown on the ground, she gives an account of how Japanese people do not find these practices wasteful. Instead they describe the dead as "pitiful" and "hungry" so they must be given these offerings to memorialize and console the them. She then goes on to state that Christians in the United States on the other hand, usually give flowers and not food to the dead.

I focused on this small portion of this chapter because it was a reminder that the author is in the position of an outsider looking in. As an observer, she brings her own experiences and memories while she takes all of this foreign reality into account. I believe this points to one of the broader theme of anthropology, that all scientists and scholars bring a part of themselves as they study a new group  of people, and that their personal experiences shape how they see and understand what they experience as they immerse themselves into an entirely different culture.

Additionally, this entire section made me realize how two different cultures can view something as ubiquitous as death so differently. For most of the account, there is a sense that the Japanese live alongside the dead and the dead are summoned and speak to the living. Mount Osore as a whole, through its sulfurous hot springs as well as habitation by people is portrayed as a middle place between life and death. But, this belief is not shared by people in the western world. People here are generally more afraid of death and distance themselves from it. We tend not to honor death, but instead choose to console ourselves by honoring their lives. As the core, beliefs whether they be influenced by Buddhist, Christian, or any other culture alters how we act and live.