Music That Influenced Me the Most

"Boom!" Maia Hirasawa

Music is a vehicle for changing or magnifying people’s feelings. The music that influenced me the most is Maia Hirasawa’s “Boom!” I heard this song after the earthquake hit my country last year. This cheerful song healed my feeling and made me look forward after the terrible tragedy.

“Boom!” was used for music of a commercial which advertised opening of shinkansen (bullet train) in Kyushu, Japan. Although the commercial went on the air on March 4^th, 2011, broadcast of this advertisement was suspended one week later, on the March 11^th, when the big earthquake hit Japan. After the earthquake, all songs we heard in TV and radio were sad and gloomy music because all stations voluntarily refrained from playing cheerful music. “Boom!” was one of the songs that were interpreted as “too happy to play in mourning after the tragedy” by TV stations.

However, this music became very popular on youtube. Its cheerful sound induced Japanese’ strong desire for the positive view of their future. The song cheered them up and helped them recover from sense of loss and deep grief. I remember the day I heard the song for the first time. It was two weeks after the earthquake. My friend told me about this song and I saw the youtube video. At that time, I was very depressed because I heard terrible news about the aftermath of tsunami and the nuclear disaster every day. The song was a catalyst. It made me cry first, and then smile. The wonderful happy song taught me that we Japanese have to keep up hope for the recovery.

A Common Body Language in Japanese Culture

There are many cultural differences regarding body language between Japanese culture and American culture. One of the biggest differences is the way of greeting. In Japan, bow is very important when we greet. In a business manner class, we learn how to bow properly. A short shallow bow is rude especially when people bow an older person or someone who has a higher social status. An angle of the bow has to be 30 to 45 degrees as the picture below shows. Also, we have to bend at the waist. Bending at the neck like nodding is also regarded as a rude behavior. Thus, good bow set a good start of communication in Japanese culture.

            In American culture, shaking hands is very important in greeting. We Japanese also shake hands sometimes, but not always. I also realized Americans hug more often than Japanese when they greet. For example, when I met my American boyfriend’s parents for the first time, they hugged me, saying “nice to see you.” I was upset because in Japanese culture, we usually keep some distance to show respect when we meet someone for the first time. Although I felt a little awkward to invade my boyfriend’s parents’ personal space, their smile and hug told me that they welcomed me, so I was happy. I think understanding cultural differences of body language helps communicate more smoothly.

"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world"

This is a quote by Nelson Mandela, a former president of South Africa. He is famous as the country’s first black president who was elected in the first fully representative democratic election. His quote teaches us the importance of education. Whoever you are, you can be a part of members who shape the future of the world if you are educated. We can learn beliefs, values, and morals as well as knowledge and practical skills, through education. There are many problems in the world, such as poverty, conflicts, resource depletion, and environmental degradation. Education can help find a solution to these problems and make a change for the better. I like this quote because it is a very positive message to everyone in the world. We should not be hopeless even if we have many problems. We can change the world by ourselves!

When I feel tired of studying, I always remember this quote.  It encourages me to study harder. I entered environmental education program at NYU because I wanted to know what I could do to solve environmental problems we are facing today. When my country experienced the nuclear disaster last year, I felt hopeless. I thought my country was too contaminated to recover. However, this quote taught me that there is always something I can do to help my country’s recovery. When I have many assignments in my classes and want to procrastinate or give up doing them, Mandela’s quote reminds me that what I am learning now will become a foundation to get involved to solve environmental problems in the world. Learning opportunities at NYU will make me an individual who can take action to improve our society.

This quote also makes me proud of my future career as an environmental educator. After I graduate from NYU, I would like to teach environmental issues to children. Through environmental education, I want to engage people in making more sustainable world. It is difficult to change the world if there are only few people who care about the future. However, education can broaden people’s awareness and increase responsible citizen. As this quote says, I believe educated citizens can make a better choice and have a positive influence on societies. 

Response to Prompt #2 -- Aristotle: A Definition of Justice

I agree with the ide that “just laws” will not make the "citizen good and just.”

Firstly, most laws are made to regulate people’s undesirable behavior such as crimes and fraud. Lawmakers aim at not creating good people, but reducing bad people.  Therefore, obeying a law does not necessarily mean people are “good and just.”

Secondly, laws can force people to do something, but cannot encourage or persuade people to do something. For example, Japan introduced an environmental tax this month. Because the law requires to do so, everybody started to pay the tax. Obviously, the law cannot make people voluntarily donate money to environmental organizations. Although paying environmental tax and donating money are both desirable behaviors, there is a significant difference between the two. The former does not make citizens good or just because they are forced to do so. The latter can make them good and just because they think by themselves and voluntarily take action. When the nuclear disaster happened in Japan last year, many Japanese donated their money to environmental organizations to solve the problem and help the victims. I think good and just citizens are such people, who can act in good faith without any enforcement.

In conclusion, “just law” cannot make the citizen good and just because laws are not aiming at creating good people and cannot persuade people to do something good. People who have their voluntary good will can become good and just citizens.