Modernity of Japanese Women - 1172 Words

Both â€Å"Naomi† and â€Å"The neighbor’s wife and mine† are representative stories of westernization of Japanese culture. Naomi was written by Junichiro Tanizaki and published in newspaper in 1924. It demonstrates aestheticism and created the word naomism that represents the modern girl. The neighbor’s wife and mine is also a story that shows how Japanese people were longing to be like westerners. Both are stories of transition from classic Japanese culture to modern western style culture. I would like to describe how each story represents modernity and the difference of each women modernization. The neighbor’s wife and mine is the first sound effect movie in Japan. As we can see, the title is written in horizontal line instead of traditional†¦show more content†¦She silently began make something on the sewing machine and with the loud noise showed that she is angry. With nonverbal behavior she got a new dress. In contrast to the wife in The neighbor’s wife and mine, Naomi acted totally different when she desired something. She does not hesitate to ask Joji for a new dress. She feels that it is his duty to buy her a new cloth to keep her beautiful. Second, the status of women in the relationship between men and women is different. In The neighbor’s wife and mine, Shimano’s wife respects her husband and never forgets to stand by him. For instance, when Shimano was playing game with his friends at late night, she did not feel confortable because her children were sleeping and she wanted to go to bed. However, she did not say anything to the gests because she knows it embarrass her husband in front of his friends. Quite and modest was the way woman needed to be. In contrast, Naomi points out that man and woman should be equal. She does not think that woman needs to follow her husband. For example, it is to bring shame to her husband to be along together with a single man. However, she does not hesitate to do it, and says â€Å"we are just friend.† This action is unacceptable in traditional Japanese culture. According to the Article of Harootunian, The Marxist criticShow MoreRelatedCultural Proximity And Cultural Distance1523 Words   |  7 PagesProximity and Cultural Distance As Japanese economy soared, its media products such as manga, TV shows, movies and music spread out across Asia. Especially, the young people in Asia began to embrace Japanese culture rather than the culture from the most dominant culture exporter- the United State, and this phenomenon was analyzed by Koichi Iwabuchi in his Feel Asian Modernities. His account of this intra-regionalization in Asia is cultural proximity that Japanese culture shares intimate similaritiesRead MoreSome Prefer Nettles1030 Words   |  5 PagesMost Japanese traditions involve every aspect of Japanese life. These traditions have also evolved over a period of thousands of years. 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