Japanese Drama Review 12 - Hanayori Dango Episode 1 - Culture Contrast

Makino is home with her family, they’re preparing for dinner and we’re introduced to a very different culture than what we’ve observed at Eitoku. There is a distinctive contrast between the manner of life and living at Eitoku and the one we now see in Makino’s home. Family culture is formed from traditions, and the contrast between Eitoku’s student body and Makino are derived from very different financial backgrounds. The entrance to the school is landscaped, the school hallways are wide and spacious – the students’ personal value is revealed through their material possessions – brand names signify who and what they consider themselves to be, or want to be! Makino’s home is an apartment, cluttered with possessions used in the functioning of their lives – there are no brand names to be seen. Everything is practical – thrifty, useful and necessary.

Eggs in the rice-cooker. An old, but new lunch box. And, Makino is astonished by her family’s cultural practices. The influence of Eitoku has taken its toll. She responds with incredulity to the thrifty purposefulness of her family. She seems taken aback that eggs in the rice-cooker are true and real – it’s a practical and financial choice for her family!

It is not her family’s financial status that poses a concern for me. The love, care and commitment of her parents for one another, and then for their children is sweet and wonderful to observe. No money was doled out to Makino as an expression of care, love and sweetness – the same cannot be said for the students at Eitoko – especially the F4’s.

My concern is Makino being uncomfortable with the way her family functions. Is she embarrassed? She does not want the heirloom lunchbox for school. Why? Would it draw attention to her, and she doesn’t want to be noticed? What statement would a lunchbox make about Makino at Eitoku? What would it expose about her life to others that she does not want them to know?

Moments like this are golden counseling / discipleship opportunities. Observing this kind of behavior in your own child, and in your family necessitates a discussion. It is time to explain to them the reason they are at an affluent school. What was the reason for the decision to send them there? What opportunities would attending the school bring to Makino that her parents did not have? Furthermore, if Makino was your believing daughter, how would you counsel her to reveal Christ to the student body? How would you talk to her about the sovereignty of God – that she is His? He provided the opportunity, and she should honor Him. What does that look like? What counsel can be given Makino to give her confidence that all she has in her home – is from the sovereign hand of God.

• We know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers (Romans 8:28-29).

• Put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another (Ephesians 4:22-25).

#culture #drama