[Miguel Diaz]

Video 2

The segment on the video about Pudong helped me to reminisce about the year (2001-2002) that I spent living in a high rise building that had an unobstructed view of the Bund area from my living room. I can't remember the exact floor I lived on, but it was near the 20th floor. My old building appears in the photo of the model at the beginning of the segment.

In the video, Professor Bharne observes that Pudong is not a good model for modern cities of the future because there needs to be energy and life between the buildings, there needs to be humanity.

I'd like to ask if these observations hold true for the entirety of Pudong, or if they only apply to the financial district that sits opposite the Bund?

[Miguel Diaz]

Hi! I work for LAUSD. I would like to receive 1 salary point.

Name: Miguel Diaz

School: Winnetka Avenue Elementary School

Employee Number: 01153987

Thanks!

[Miguel Diaz]

Hi! I work for LAUSD. I would like to receive 1 salary point.

Name: Miguel Diaz

School: Winnetka Avenue Elementary School

Employee Number: 01153987

Thanks!

[Miguel Diaz]

I'd like to know if the beliefs in the constancy of change, ephemerality, and impermanence still influence Buddhist societies around the world. More specifically, I would like to know if these views still influence architecture.

Drawing a distinction between public buildings or edifices for the gods – and the dwellings of common people – do the ideas of impermanence persist? In the case of Japan, I know that in many cases, people still live in small, modest homes built almost entirely of wood.  New homes are built with the life expectancy of 40 to 50 years before they need to be torn down and rebuilt again.

[Miguel Diaz]

I really enjoyed learning about the evolution of the stupa. I am especially interested in how the stupa emerged as a vertical architectural element in China. Professor Bharne mentioned in the video that a paradigm shift took place which led to the pagoda as an architectural form. I'd like to know if this paradigm shift was purely accidental or if it was it the deliberate work of monks and/or city planners in China?

I’m also curious about monasteries being removed from cities to mountains and hillsides in Japan. I would like to know if this took place elsewhere in Asia.

[Miguel Diaz]

I found the comparison on the views of light and dark from the Japanese and the Western perspectives fascinating. In the West, shadows and darkness generally invoke fear. I am not sure if this results from the influences Christianity. Junichiro Tanizaki praised shadows. I did not know that shadows were an important part of the Japanese aesthetic.

In the first video, Professor Bharne discussed the materials of choice for builders of structures. I understand that geography oftentimes plays a major role on the types of materials that can be used to build structures.

Here’s my question for professor Bharne. I'd like to know if in places like Japan, materials such as wood, paper, and rice straw were chosen to build dwellings with the knowledge that the structures would need to be rebuilt after a few decades. I know that in modern Japan, homes are often torn down after about four or five decades and new ones are built in their place.

[Miguel Diaz]

Hello everyone,

My name is Miguel Diaz. I am currently teaching 5th grade at the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD). I've been with the district for two years. Before this, I spent approximately 17 years living and teaching in Shanghai, China where I worked with students ranging from elementary grades to high school. I really enjoyed living in China and traveling to other countries in Asia such as Japan, Thailand, South Korea, and North Korea. One of my most memorable experiences was an overland trip (circa 2003) where we traveled in a convoy of jeeps from Lhasa Tibet to Kathmandu Nepal. I've included a photo of me sitting with Mount Everest in the background.

 

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[Miguel Diaz]

Lecture 1

I am interested to know to what extent Noel Perrin ‘s book, Giving Up the Gun, Japan's Reversion to the Sword, 1543-1879, is responsible for propagating the myth that the samurai of the Tokugawa completely gave up their guns. More precisely, was Perrin simply giving new life to an old myth that existed before his time or was he the creator of such myth?

I remember learning in two my undergraduate history classes that the Tokugawa dumped their guns into Edo Bay (or some other bay in Japan) because guns interfered with the preferred warfare tactics of the samurai. Furthermore, I learned that the samurai dumped their guns because they thought that it was dishonorable to fight with them.

I’ve always held the perception that the samurai fought exclusively on foot -- and only with swords. I didn’t know that samurai leaders incorporated volleys of gunfire, archers, and cavalry in their arsenal. 

I have a lot to learn about warfare!

It was really interesting to learn from the lecture that the Tokugawa never gave up their guns, and in fact, used them to engage in acts of pageantry rather than acts of force. This reminds me of the military parades that are put on by some modern nations around the world.

[Miguel Diaz]

Video Lecture 2

I find it really fascinating that the traditional homes of high-ranking samurai had ornamental alcoves, or tokonoma, which were decorated with scrolls and flowers arrangements indicating the seasons and/or other symbolic representations.

My perception has always been that warrior classes, in all societies, engage in displays of alpha male discussions and shows of machismo, even when attending or hosting social gatherings.

I can’t picture samurai taking part in elaborate tea drinking ceremonies, much less appreciating flower arrangements.

I am more inclined to believe that samurai would get together, drink sake, and compare notes on the taking of the heads of rival commanders.

I'd like to know if the rituals - involving flowers, tea, scrolls - were reserved for the elites only, or if common samurai also engaged in such practices.

[Miguel Diaz]

Professor Pitelka pointed out in his lecture (video 1), that early in its history, Japanese rulers applied technologies of ritual and material culture to create stable social hierarchies and stable governance. Buddhists’ temples, for example, were used to establish and secure both secular and nonsecular power. Confucianism was used for statecraft and governance as part of a larger package of continental influences that entered Japan.

Early Christianity in Europe also used a similar monopoly on ritual and material culture to dominate large parts of Europe, especially during the Middle Ages. However, the history of the West during the Middle Ages, and after, does not resemble that of Japan.

I wonder if this has something to do with the fact that the West does not have the equivalent of Fudo Myoo – the killer of ignorance. Maybe the West does have such a figure. I just don’t know about him/her.

[Miguel Diaz]

The chapter from the book titled Sources of Japanese tradition (Chapter 1) raised many interesting points.

“They smear their bodies with pink and scarlet, just as the Chinese use powder.”

Questions: I’d like to know more about why the Japanese smeared their bodies with pink and scarlet. I’d also like to know why the Chinese used powder.

“Whenever they undertake an enterprise or a journey and discussion arises, they bake bones and divine in order to tell whether fortune will be good or bad. First they announce the object of divination, using the same manner of speech as in tortoise shell divination; then they examine the cracks made by fire and tell what is to come to pass.”

Questions: I’d like to know if the ancient Japanese imported such methods of devination from the continent (China and/or Korea) or if they independently started such practices on their own.

“The country formerly had a man as ruler. For some seventy or eighty years after that there were disturbances and warfare. Thereupon the people agreed upon a woman for their ruler. Her name was Pimiko. She occupied herself with magic and sorcery, bewitching the people.”

Questions: like the more about Pimiko. Are there any records about her life beyond those which were kept by ancient Chinese scholars?

[Miguel Diaz]

Japan enjoys a reputation, one that is often self-promoted, as a nation with a homogeneous and even ethnically unique population. However, as Professor Pitelka pointed out in the video, Japan’s population was formed as a result of various waves of migration. For example, people entered Japan from southern China via the Okinawa route, while others entered via the Korean Peninsula route, the Karafuto route, and the Chishima route.

The idea that migration brings change, and that it brings new technology and ideas is one that is not often fully explored and appreciated.

[Miguel Diaz]

I am really interested in how geography played an important role in the historical development of Japan. As mentioned in the video by Professor Pitelka, Japan’s geography is important because it has historically been just far enough to be protected from damage, but close enough to receive continental influences involving technology, culture, and religion. I like the comparison that was made to the British Isles regarding geography and continental influences. This would make a good research topic for my students.

[Miguel Diaz]

Hello. My name is Miguel Diaz. I taught 4^th grade at LAUSD this past school year. Next year, I will be teaching a grade 4/5 class. Before returning to southern California in April 2020, I spent over 17 years living and teaching in Asia. I taught mainly in Shanghai, China; however, I also spent about half a year teaching in Osaka, Japan, and one month teaching at a winter camp in Seoul, South Korea. 

I would like to continue learning – not only about Japan – but also about all cultures of East Asia so that I can help my students (and my own children) gain a deeper understanding and appreciation of the region.

[Miguel Diaz]

This is an excellent film! I saw it many years ago.

[Author]

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