Five Faces

     What do you think of when someone mentions Japan? Do technology and games come to mind? Maybe samurai warriors flow from your imagination. Perhaps beautiful flowering plantlife or endless rice fields stretch as far as the mind wanders.
     Many people would argue which of these best represents the "strange little island." Over the course of the past month, I have been able to visit five major cities that represent significant differences in sub-cultures and atmospheres. I do not believe any of these are more or less important than the others. Each represents a part of Japan, just as pertinent to its culture as any other city.
   
     Similarly, we all wear many faces through different chapters of our lives, in different settings, and sometimes simply with different people. Please do not misunderstand me. This by no means suggests we are all two-faced and liars. Rather, it suggests that there is more to each of us than what can be seen on the surface.
     As I explore the relevance of each city, I can't help but think of how their representations are paralleled in our own lives.

Tokyo
     Tokyo is a modern city. It is cosmopolitan. It has many different parts that all have specific tasks. It has a strong tradition in its castle area, a burgeoning technology in Electric Town, the tried and true businesses in Shinjuku, continued commerce in its world-renowned fish market, and awareness of self in a 47-story free observatory at its Metro Building. This is the first city that comes to mind for many who visit Japan.
     In the same way, when others think of who we are, it is the face we show them. It is the face that holds some tradition, but adapts to new situations. It is the face that relies on what has worked for us in the past, while trying to share with others what we have developed of ourselves. It is the face that stares back at us from the mirror.

Kyoto
     When I asked the hostel owner what there was to see in Kyoto she pointed out seven different sites on a map. Five of these were historical temples or shrines. Kyoto is what we see in the movies. It is the old buildings. It is the cultural hub of ancient Japan. It offers a glimpse into what has made Japan what it was in the past and has become today.
     This city represents our deeper traditions. There are deeper roots within us than many of us realize. There is a face that holds onto not only what has worked, but what has become our purpose. There is a part of us that says, "This is who I am." It does not matter if we say it out loud or to ourselves. It is always there nonetheless.

Osaka
     This city is described as being the major rival to Tokyo. It is a city that historically was founded by and for merchants, rather than samurai. It is and has always been a city of commerce. With Tokyo representing Japan as it is, Kyoto representing Japan as it was, Osaka represents Japan as it will be... or so everybody in Osaka will tell you anyway.
     Just as Osaka believes it is the city of the future for Japan, we all dream of a person we would like to one day be. It is this face that we try to share with others intentionally. We do our best each day to live as the individual we hope to become. While holding onto the purposes that have brought us this far, we all continually look for ways to adapt and evolve. Ever becoming a greater version of ourselves in the process.

Hiroshima
     No visit to Japan would be complete without visiting Hiroshima. It is described as the trip that every person on the planet should take at least once in their life. It is heavy. It is hard to visit the Peace Memorial Park and see all the monuments for countless types of people's who were killed. It is heartbreaking walking through the museum and the victims' information center to hear first-hand stories of how this terrible event effected individual innocent lives. But it is overwhelmingly inspiring to appreciate that the park is open 24/7/365. The museum is free to the public everyday of the year. Hiroshima has led the fight against war around the world. The city did not rally to blame anyone. They did not cry out for retribution. In their suffering they found their own voice and stand unified in sharing it with the whole world: "No more Hiroshimas."
     While these monuments, efforts, and information can demonstrate the need for peace, we can never know the extent of the suffering each individual felt dealing with the repercussions of the first nuclear bombing. However, we can find in ourselves suffering and turmoil that often feels like nobody could understand. In our suffering, we mourn. In our suffering, we unite with others who share experiences similar to ours. And, most importantly, if we can find the strength that this community found, in our suffering we find hope to fight for it to never happen again.

Itoshima
     Itoshima is a seaside city that most people have never heard of. It is a beautiful agricultural community that is surrounded by sprawling green hills and long sand beaches. While it is mostly unknown, it produces much of Japan's vegetables and houses the world-renowned Ichiran Ramen factory. Life is slow here.
     Our place of peace within ourselves often goes unnoticed by others. There is a part of us that is simply who it is. There is a part of us that accepts things simply as they are. This is our face of peace. And though most people we interact with will never know where it comes from, this place of peace is where our productivity comes from. This is the face that provides for most of the others.

A Little Kindness

"No good deed goes unpunished."

That is the mentality that many of us have these days. There is division in our country, in our families, in our ideologies, and the list goes on and on. It is a virus that spreads and eats away at our souls, at our happiness, and at our peace. Thinking only of ourselves and of others only in how they relate to us builds walls between us that isolate me from you, you from him, him from her, etc.

I am grateful to be able to share an experience that realigned my perspective:

While my mother, sister and I sat at the 4-top table in the cruise restaurant, the 2-top next to us was sat with a single gentleman. He introduced himself to the waiter by name and shook his hand when he did so. The waiter asked if he would have anyone joining him this evening. The gentleman replied that it would just be him tonight, as his planned companion had been caught up with other plans. I couldn't help but overhear all of this because our tables are probably no more than 12-18 inches apart from one another.

"I couldn't help but overhear that you are dining alone this evening. Would you like to join us for dinner?" I asked.

"Oh, that would be great. Are you sure? I don't want to impose," he replied politely.

I insisted that we would love to have him join us. So, he picked up his glass and silverware and came around to take our fourth seat. The waiter took note immediately and simply continued service with us as one group. We very much enjoyed the conversations we shared, finding both similarities and minute differences intriguing. It wasn't until we were well into our conversation that he asked us if we had seen the Footloose production on the ship. We replied that we had not only seen it, but enjoyed it thoroughly. He asked us if we had recognized him. We shook our heads questioningly. He then changed his accent from its natural Scottish tone to an American drawl and asked if that would have jogged our memory.

It turned out that he happened to be one of the primary actors in the cruise production of Footloose. We didn't know it while we were dining with him because his character was very different than he was. In fact, he used the American drawl for his character on stage while his natural voice has a distinct Scottish inflection.
It was fascinating to hear how he trained for the play, how life was for him as an employee on the ship, and what kinds of experiences had brought him to be working on the ship. He even was kind enough to give us some pointers on how to get the most out of our limited time on this particular cruise.

Sharing the time together was great and so, when he mentioned that he was also in the cruise's other production Elements, we made sure that our schedule opened up to go see it. When we did get to see him on stage after dining together, it felt like we were seeing a good friend rather than a random face. We enjoyed it immensely!

There are great joys to be found in opening ourselves up to other people. There are connections to be had that cannot come from prescribed experiences. Some bridges will only exist when we have the courage to step outside our comfort zone.

I am very grateful that this man joined our table, both literally and figuratively. His willingness to share his experience with us opened the door that allowed us to move from strangers to friends and the rare opportunity to see life from a wholly new perspective.

A little bit of kindness may indeed open us up to being hurt sometimes, but that same little bit of kindness also opens us up to joyful connections with friends we haven't met yet. I, for one, believe it is worth the risk.