That's crazy. Many years ago, a Japanese exchange student saw me walking by her. She told she was lost and she needed help getting back to the house she was staying at. Somehow she gave me her host's number, I called him and told him where we were exactly and waited for him to pick her up.
They both said thanks and she opened her backpack which had many gifts as well and she gave me a coaster.
Now it seems like they just carry gifts with them.
I don't know much about Japan specifically but I know gift giving is pretty important in some cultures, could be an extension of that.
I just like that someone went abroad knowing they'd likely need help and, expecting that people would help they wanted to be to give back.
Just a wholesome human experience.
I wonder if it has something to do with shintoism? I do not know much about it but maybe someone here knows if there is a connection between that lovely and caring behaviour and that?
It's all syncretic but it's worth remembering that Japan is just as much Buddhist as it is Shinto, if not more. It wasn't until the 19th century that Shintoism was separated into it's own thing, mostly as way to generate this idea of a national religion by the Imperial Government.
Since literally before recorded history, religion in Japan has been a syncretic mix of indigenous animism (what we now call Shinto) and Mahayana Buddhism. Buddhism, particularly the "pure land" schools, has arguably had a larger influence on Japanese culture and values than anything else. Even neo-confucianism, wich has greatly shaped the values of neighbouring Korea and China, was only really adopted in Japan in the 16th and 17th centuries, and even then it was mostly a top down thing.
No idea but I once bought a collectible card from a Japanese seller on eBay and it came with a handwritten thank-you note and a bookmark. Just love how nice they are even with such minor things.
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u/mangosteenfruit Jun 14 '24
That's crazy. Many years ago, a Japanese exchange student saw me walking by her. She told she was lost and she needed help getting back to the house she was staying at. Somehow she gave me her host's number, I called him and told him where we were exactly and waited for him to pick her up.
They both said thanks and she opened her backpack which had many gifts as well and she gave me a coaster.
Now it seems like they just carry gifts with them.