In Sophia Coppola's 2003 film Lost in Translation,the situation of two outsiders plunged into an alien Japanese culture is vividly depicted. In Angela Carter's "A Souvenir of Japan," although the narrator does not need translation and seems to be more savvy about Japanese customs and rituals than the protagonists in Lost in Translation, she is equally tormented by loneliness and alienation.
While the former is set in the 2003 Tokyo, the latter is set in the same city of the 1970s. In both portraits of Japanese culture (the one American, while the other British), can you find similarities or parallel traits? How are Japanese people different (or similiar) in these two cultural texts and their representations?
28 comments:
( I'm the first one!:) )
Basically, the main similarity between Japanese in these two articles is that both Japanese treat foreigners differently depending on their positions in society.
In Lost in Transition, Bob Harris is a movie star, being hired by those Japanese to film some whiskey ads, and treated with enthusiasm and passion.
While the narrator in Souvenir of Japan is just a normal citizen, being suspected of luring a Youngman sexually to be with her, and treated with coldness and isolated (even her “Taro” treats her that same way).
Considering Japanese’s treatment for people based on their positions, even the narrator is Japanese herself; it’s likely that her position still remains unchanged.
If the positions of Bob and the narrator are exchanged, it would be Bob being pissed off and the narrator gets to stay in some gorgeous hotel room and swim in a pool of money.
I assume this kind of situation happens on all kinds of people, not just Japanese.
Bith stories gave me an image of Japanese as they're living in their own world. Japanese believe in their own and regard everything they do are right; however, it is not arrogant. In the story "A Souvenir of Japan," people in Japan are quite isolated. I use the term because I think they do not accept new thoughts and things from outside Japan; they think what they have are the best and enough. In the film Lost in Translation, Japanese are still the same, living in their world. By the way, both stories mention that Japanese are smaller; the stories both portrayed the foreigners are as tall as giant. And both two protagonists felt out of the tune with Japan and in my opinion, that might happen because japan is just so different from either America or England.
Both, sorry. I typed the wrong word.
A souvenir of Japan shows that the women at that time was only as the object of men's passions.
Lost in translation shows that both characters are searching for the meaning of their lives, looking at the situation from different points of view.
Maybe the former and the latter shows the same problem that the characters are foriegner and they feel out of place.
In the story”Souvenir of Japan” the Japanese at that time seems to be more conservative. For Japanese men, they thought that women were their possessions, and they expected women to stay in the houses. The narrator doesn’t seem to be accepted by the neighbors, and she thinks that people see her as an aged English woman trying to get the younger Japanese boy. An English woman in a Japanese society, the narrator seems to be out of place. Everyone there is so different from her.
In the movie “Lost In translation” the Japanese society seems to be changed. Of course the old are probably stay the same, but the young generation has changed. The women don’t have to stay in the houses. They are free to go anywhere they want. In the movie, the star, Bob in the Japanese society, he is obviously the person who doesn’t seem to fit in. There’s a scene in the movie, Bob is in the elevator with a group of Japanese, and he’s as tall as a giant to them.
I think that both the characters in the story and in the movie are trying to find themselves back in an alien society.
No matter Souvenir of Japan or the Lost In translatione.Both are tell the foreigner's life in Japan.Japan's culture makes them so uncommortable.They can not adapt so fast.So a lot of interesting stories wull happened.Llke lanquage different always make jokes.
Beside,Japn people always see foreigners are tall,leisurely and carefree.So in the movie they need
harris to film the adervertisement. Out of place is a hard time to life.
I think the same thing in the story is that Japanese look the foreigners in strange way, just like they are aliens. Because the physique and language are all different from Japanese themselves.
And I think that might be some points that make the two stories different. Like the differentiation of time and the class of the main characters or even the purpose they go to Japan. For instance, the setting of A souvenir in Japan was earlier, and the author use geisha to mock the fancy disguise of Japan, while in Lost in Transition, which is more modern, use the strippers dancing on the table to talk that Japan is just "all that glitters is not gold"
Well, I think that Japanese people are very united and organized.It seems that most Japanese they don't like to be different from others.
In 1970s, if there is a foreigner who is tall,has blond hair and looks really different, people will stare at him/her because at that time it is really unusual to see a foreigner I guess(also not a lot of people can speek English). So when Angela went out with Taro she would feel uncomfortable.
However,in the movie "Lost in Translation" the background is in modern Tokyo.Foreigners are not unusual any more but the culture thing does not change a lot, language (although some youg people can speak English but most of the Japanese can not,so language is still a problem)and the culture is very different from the western culture.The two characters BOb and Charlotte are not used to it.
So I think that Angela ,Bob and Charlotte are equally tormented by loneliness and alienation because of the language barrier and the culture shock.
The story Souvenir of Japan is similar to the movie Lost In translation .
The different thing is Souvenir of Japan earlier than Lost in translation.
The author of Souvenir of Japan wrote about in 1970s , seeing foreigner in this generation is unusual . They were curious about foreigner look like and their behaviors . At that time , the culture seems to be tradition.They think that women should be stayed at home and obeyed their husband. The concept of two culture are different , making the narrator feel out of place .
And the setting of Lost in translation is more modern . But the culture does the same as before . Bob and the woman are not adopt in Japanese culture . They often feel so loneliness and alienation that both of them do not sleep at night . Their communication also happen problem . For example , when Bob is hired by the film for whiskey ad , the translation just said simple word . But the director said a long words that speak of Japanese .
So staying of the two different culture is hard challenge for foreigners .
Lost in Translation is set in the 2003 Tokyo. It’s a totally new generation. Teens play games in the video arcades, neon lights are full of the street and even people sing on the karaoke in the very late night. Contrast, A Souvenir of Japan is set in the 1970s Tokyo. People wore kimono and had the spirit of samurai. Even though the settings are so different, but I think Japanese have some characteristics that did not change. In the Lost in Translation, the receptionist and the teacher of flower arrangement are so conscientious. And, in A Souvenir of Japan, the maid who disturbed the narrator and her boyfriend had the same attitude.
No matter the movie or the story, they both talked about the conflict between two different cultures. I think the totally different culture, such as the eastern or the western will let people loose one part of them. People confused about what they look and what they feel. The loneliness and the alienation caused because they are just feel out of place.
I think there are some common points between these two stories. First, the culture influence makes the same lifestyle. “In the Souvenir of Japan”. People celebrate ceremony in a quietly way as same as the movie showed that couple gets married in a peace and gentle way. Japanese seems to create all the things looks beauty and well-ordered. Second, the superior of their racialism, they think they are better than other people. They protect of their own culture a lot and they seldom accept other countries culture. In the Souvenir of Japan, the character feels it is hard to fit in this society. Everything come to her eyes seems so unfamiliar and hard to understand. In the movies, the woman also feels that is hard to mix into Japanese society. She considered herself as a stranger viewing this phenomenon. After all, for a western people to fit in an eastern culture is really a big challenge.
It's normal that human look others in strange way when someone is different than us, such as languages, cultures, or skin color and so on. So if we were in other countries, they may do the same to us.
For the different years, I think the woman in the movie had more freedom than the woman in the novel. Angela could go around in the city, dance or make friends with others. On the other hands, after reading the Souvenir of Japan, the narrator seemed to only stay at home and just did the houseworks to wait for her husband coming back. Both of them feel lonly because they had to stay alone in different country as their lovers work.
No matter in which way or year, they all showed conflicts of the culture and had different way to express their feelings or reactions between western and east countries.
20 yeas passed by. Japan becomes more international. But the whole country is still hypocritical! Pretending is the only thing they are doing! People pretend they are nice. The flowers arrangement pretend they’re the true flowers although they will die very soon. Even the atmosphere in the temple fair pretends it is noise and excitement but truly the fair is just a formality.
I think that’s the common thing the two stories all want to tell- the Japanese only care the appearance but not the essence inside.
As the narrator of “A Souvenir of Japan” and Bob Harris wandered down the bustling street with dazzling neon signs of Tokyo, the first thing both of them realized immediately was probably that they were like giants in this foreign land. The narrator of “A Souvenir of Japan” had to wear the largest size of men’s sandals and Bob Harris couldn’t take a shower properly, and that made them unable to feel at home. With the passing of time, both of them discovered more cultural differences and felt more like lonely souls wandering in this foreign country. They both realized that Japanese liked fancy packaging not just on products but also on their practice and the words they say. The narrator of “A Souvenir of Japan” found out that the Japanese packaged samurai with magnificence and admire them, but in truth they were murderers. Bob Harris was astonished when the interpreter used a simple sentence in English to explain a collection of sentences that the director said in Japanese. What so ever, both of them couldn’t fit in.
In “A Souvenir of Japan”, the author emphasized more on how the Japanese adored things that faded quickly, such as fireworks and morning glories. The Japanese believe in brief magnificence. Therefore, Japan is a rare nation that praises suicide. It was mentioned in the story when the author talked about the puppet tragedies, but it wasn’t mentioned much in “Lost in Translation”.
In "A Souvenir Of Japan" narrotor felt bored in japan, and in japan women can do nothing. Narrator waiting her husband to come back, and he wouldn't even telephone her to tell her he would be late. Narrator felt she just an object to
her husband.
In "Lost in Translation" those characters can't suit their life in Japan, communication, activitys and more. Bobs is felt bored actually, he went to pub every night because he can't fall in sleep actually.
Both stories was discriped the two character can't normally stay in a different culture country, and how coldness the citizens treat them. Actually we have to face this problem when we go to different countrys.
No matter in what epoch, Japanese' politeness doesn't decrease. In the beginning of the movie, after Bob Harris getting off taxi waiting him there is the nonstop chin-chin and hand shake. In Japanese' perspective it is very common. But in western word he may think it is a little bit annoyed. In "A Souvenir of Japan" they also mention that Japanese are well-order. And in the movie Bob looks like an odd man out in that place. In the book the woman also think she has lots of difference between her boyfriend’s culture and her.
So i think Japanes are the same.
In my opinion, Lost in translation and Souvenir of Japan have the something in common is that the two heroines are lost their target in this strange and alien country.
We all will feel lonely or solitude in unfamiliar country and we are have different toward another culture. The former story’s main character is two lost people and they meet in Japan. In this country they can not find their target and the meaning of life. They feel lonely and need more company. The later story prefers to talk the perspective of a western woman and it mentions more strange part of Japanese man or culture.
The Japanese people have much personality which is different from other. I think that they are more depressive personality and more perfectionism. It makes them become little weird and not easy to get along with them.
In both of potraits of Japanese culture, I find that Japanese love well-ordered things. In the movie, the western lady messes up her room and puts clothings anywhere; however, people in Japan set priorities and do the most important or urgent things first.
Besides, Japanese are fond of things which are delicate but fade soon. In "Souvenir of Japan", they love to watch fabulous firworks and the morning glory. Firworks, they think, represent as beauty and phantasmagoria. In "Lost in Traslation", there are some Japanese women gathring in a big room and learning "ikebana." These are what I read and what I watched.
In the text "A Souvenir of Japan", it tends to convey the restrained side of Japanese culture. Such as the quietly festive, mournful ice-cream sellers, and many rituals.
After reading the text, readers may picture Japan as a delicate but absurd country.
However, in "Lost in Translation", the protagonists feel isolated because they happen to be in the choke points of their life; the rigid Japanese culture is the loneliness enhancement in such situation.
I think the central concept of the movie is describing the cheerfulness and hopeless of life.
Every one of us may encounter this kind of situation once in a while; nevertheless, once we step into the darkness of life, we have to make a lot of efforts to be alive again.
There are a lot of similarities in
both two article and film. From the foreigner's point of veiw,Japanese are seemed to be much smaller than them. In "Souvenir of Japan,"the narrator only fits in huge shoes. In "Lost in Translation",the movie star have to bend his body when he take a shower. In addition to this, the narrator in A Souvenir of Japan thought that the fireworks and mirror and morning flowers are an evanescence, just like the culture in Japan in narrator's perspective.
Likewise,the girl who just have married for two years was upset because she was confused about what is real or unreal sourrounding her.
The difference between these two performs. Japanese in A Souvenir of Japan are elegant, and their speaking way is gentle and graceful. But it is opposite in Lost in Translation, people are crazy and a little noisy.
I think the Sophia and Angela are too subjective to see through the different culture.
Both of the stories are talking about cultural difference when it's not your own hometown especially away from your own country where not only the people who're different, but as well as the lifestyle itself. It also shows the discrimination of women in Japan during the time, a very sexist society. In this movie, "Lost In Translation" Bob is a super star who went to Japan for wisky advertising, and in Japan, everything was not the way he expected. The language, lifestyle, culture and everything else is not suited for him. For example, the first scene in the movie showed that he had trouble during a bath because the sprinkle nozzle was way too short for him. To sum up, Japanese usually live in their own worlds, and the difference in cultural lifestyle will be difficult for those who steps in from nowhere.
In "lost in translation'', Japanese couldn't distinguish the ''r'' sound and the "l" sound. This view repeated many times, and "souvenir of Japan" never mentioned it. In my observation, "souvenir of Japan" put more emphasizes on the culture difference such as humble and giving ways or Japanese men’s wander custom late at night
, and it seemed like the movie maker had more interested in surface problems like the boys in makeup, and the craziness in TV host’s style.
Two stories are both set in Tokyo, and both about love affairs. However, “A Souvenir of Japan” is the ordinary life a foreigner may encounter in Japan, while “Lost in Translation” is a movie about two foreigners sparkled in that place. I think the two narrators are precise to depict what they want to say, and the two stories are pure and powerful.
Throughout the film and the story, I find that Japanese live in a harmonious atmosphere and everything is well behaved. Also, they seem to use to living in the frame and leading a life of repeat, such as going to have a drink or taking part in a party. From my personal view of the two stories, what makes Japanese do not want to change is that their lifestyles are full of stress. The only way they can get rid of the world is to indulge them into the endless routines.
In my opinion,the story "Souvenir of Japan" and "Lost in Translation" both mention the culture comflict between eastern and western,which really has much differient between each oher.I think narrator choose Japan be the movie's background is because that Japan has more special culture than other eastren country,and has lots of severe rule to limit their people.However ,the western strive for freedom.Its issue really worth for us to discuss.
1. I read the newspaper today about two English woman suffered about the sexual discrimination. (http://tw.nextmedia.com/applenews/article/art_id/32068411/IssueID/20091105) It is really surprised me that even in such a modern world, some Japanese still believed that the world is run by them. Such situation happened in the movie & the story too. I think the Japanese has the same common that they are so coherent; no matter the street view or their personality. It’s so wired because under that harmonious shadow there are still covered such uncivilized truth. That is “an inconvenient truth” for japanese.
In my opinion, people always used to their life.
The stories are took place in Japan, western people have the culture shock.
I think the western people in Japan have more challenge because the culture is very different and they don’t use the same language.
The stories tell us we must to understand different culture and respect each other.
Both of them are talking about the differeces the foreigners might meet in the foreign country. And the settings are both in Japan,Tokyo, but in an differnt age.
To my opinion, though in today's conmmon view, the Japanese in both stories will mostly be blamed, but I think what's important is that, it is their culture.
Even you don't like their culture, respect is also important. Because different country has their differnt history of developing.
It's unfair to judge other culture in just a short glimpse.
I had once heard a good saying says that: The foregner who stayed in China for a week, writes a book.
The foregner who stayed in China for a few months, writes an article. The foregner who stayed in China for few years, writes no words.
So, to me, I don't really like the foregners who use the first image to form perspective toward the Japanese in both stories. Especially Bob, the actor, He is really judging the Japanese in his own perspective without the patience to understand them.
I don't really like this, cause this is one of the reason how the discrmination begings. But still I really think it is a great movie that shows the confusion of foregners who first came to an alien country, I like the way the director delievers.
I think in the movie "lost in translation" and the story "souvenir of Japan", both potraits the "culture difference" problem. The character in those two stories confront both helpless and unhappiness in Japan. I think the girl`s life in the book is worse than the girl in the film. She was been treated like she was an alien. And in the film, the girl has friends to talk to which the other one doesn`t. Being in a foreign country is not easy because you have to accept the culture and accept weird sights from others. I think those who can bear that is very brave.
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