Final Thoughts
Looking back on the field research, I am glad that we researched about the Matusmae Castle and Karaoke in Japan. It surprised me that many students in Hakodate or students who grew up in Hokkaido do not know about the history or the historical significance of the castle. It was shocking to see the loss of history transmission from one generation to the next generation, especially when Japan is known as the country that continues to flourish its culture and history in the present days. From the cultural perspective, I captured many differences between Canadian and Japanese. For instance, the way people perceive Karaoke in Japan is much different compared to how we perceive in Canada. Many rules and etiquette are mandatory to follow, such as songs selection is crucial especially you are singing with your senpai because choosing the popular or famous dongs from your senpai’s generation is expected. Overall, in this two-week program, I felt it was definitely more than being a