Changing view of japan

Overall my view of Japan has not changed much these past four months. I did not have any huge expectations before I came, and after living here four months I've really just come to the conclusion that they are really just very similar to people in my culture, but just have tiny diffrerent customs. One major thing though is how they take things from aamerica and adapt it to fit this society. Recently I have been visiting the illumination lights around the kansai region, most specifically Kobe and Yodoyabashi. The lights themselves are very pretty, and in a sense they remind me of the lights at Rockefellar Center in New York, which I usually go to see every year with my family.

However, even though both the Kobe and Yodoyabashi illuminations had christmas themes to them, it didn't feel the same as when you go to Rockefellar Center. Also, there were so many people at the Kobe one that they blocked down the street so that people could wait in the line, just to walk through the lighted areas. The Illumination at Yodoyabashi was not nearly as crowded, but it actually had more of a Christmas feel than the one at Kobe.

If I had seen something like this earlier in the term it would have definitely surprised me, to see Japan's take on the Christmas / Holiday atmosphere, but I have gotten so used to seeing things that are normal for me, and part of my every day American life, being changed so much through globalization. So in the end, the one major change in my view of Japan is realizing how much they take things from other countries and change it.