Good evening! This is my commentary about the globally popular Netflix show, Terrace House. I observe how the six strangers living together interact, and I analyze the impression they make on Japanese viewers. This blog represents my unhealthy obsession for the show and my first-hand understanding of Japanese culture as someone who was born and raised in Japan. There is no bias at all in my analysis…or at least, I try!
The second episode was fast-paced and full of amazing scenes. The scene that caught my attention the most was the “tempura incident,” the namesake of this episode.
Simply put, the incident was about Shohei and Haruka’s fierce discussion on their job views. Haruka believes that it’s important to focus on one career, whereas Shohei states that it’s impossible for him to narrow down his jobs.
Limiting yourself to just one thing is boring — the same way eating tempura every single day can get tiring. Hence, the tempura incident.
I have a lot to talk about this incident, but before we get into the biggest event of this episode, let me mention one small scene involving Kenny.
Because you are a girl
In my last blog post, I talked about how some Japanese people feel that Kenny is a chauvinistic narcissist. Whether or not this is accurate, there is one scene that may further feed into this assessment.
When Haruka asks Kenny to teach her how to play the guitar, she states how her unnaturally short pinky makes it difficult for her to press the F cord. Kenny is very patient and kindly instructs her, but seeing how much she is struggling, he says “Perhaps a smaller guitar works better for you.”
On paper, this is very kind and considerate. However, if you look closely at what he says in Japanese:
女の子はミニギターのほうがいいかもしんないね
(On’nanoko wa mini gita no hо̄ ga ii kamo shin’nai ne.)
My translation: Perhaps small guitars are better for girls.
To clarify, Kenny says that a mini guitar is better for Haruka, not because of her fingers, but because she is a girl.
Gender stereotyping is so frequently done in Japan that some people don’t get how absurd their comment is. To give you an example, I’ve once seen a mini kabocha pumpkin at the grocery store advertised as being “easy to cut in half, even for a woman,” as if all women aren’t strong enough to cut through a pumpkin on their own.
I’m pretty sure that Kenny meant no harm in his comment and was trying to encourage her. It seems like Haruka didn’t take offense at all either. Perhaps I’m just giving him a hard time, but after his outlandish statement in the previous episode, I can’t help but notice…!
Showing your commitment
Now, on to the tempura incident. This is where Haruka and Shohei discuss their attitudes on work. This particular scene seemed to generate mixed emotions for North American viewers. After all, what’s wrong with Shohei’s view on work?
As I mentioned earlier, Shohei has multiple interests and doesn’t want to narrow down his career just to one. As of this episode, Shohei is an actor, model, writer, and house painter. He assures that he is equally committed to all of them and cannot simply understand why he needs to focus on one. He even went as far as saying that he doesn’t care about what other people say because they will eventually “die off.”
Due to his unconventional perspective and inappropriate comment, there was huge backlash among Japanese viewers and commentators. (Especially Yamachan, who recently published a bestseller about his stoic dedication towards his comedy act, which helped him evolve into one of the most reputable comedians in Japan.)
Haruka, on the other hand, firmly believes that it is important to dedicate yourself to one job. She is not necessarily against having multiple interests or professions; she too is an actress and model and has a few serious hobbies, including racing and golfing. However, she advises Shohei to focus more on one specific job, or by the very least, say that he is an actor that also does modeling and writing on the side, to prevent people from not taking him seriously.
So what they’re really arguing about here is not about the propriety of having several professions. It’s more about the appropriate way of showing commitment and dedication.
In Japan, especially in the corporate culture, the most common and respectable way to show your commitment is by spending every minute of the day towards the company. It is not uncommon for employees to work over 12 hours a day. The more time you spend in the office — regardless of how you spend your time — the more it shows your dedication towards the company you work for.
Given that you’re expected to pour in your soul into your job, side hustles are against most companies policies.
The official reason for this is to protect classified information, but it largely stems from the idea that it’s not only disloyal to your employers but it’s physically impossible to be equally committed to two or more professions. You must give your 100% to one job only; anything else is and should remain a hobby. Kaori mentioned that she went through the same thing when she was a fulltime office worker and illustrator. She eventually left her office job because she felt that she wouldn’t be taken seriously otherwise.
There is a common saying in Japan that goes: 石の上にも三年 (Ishi no ue ni mo san’nen), which literally translates as “three years on a stone.” A better way to say it is that by sitting on a stone for three years, it’ll eventually warm up. In context, this means that you should at least give a job three years before moving on to truly experience and appreciate the work. Quitting before you’ve been there for three years can significantly hinder your career options as it’ll be a black mark of weakness and non-commitment on your resume.
Commitment tends to be measured by the amount of time you are willing to sacrifice towards that job — even if that time is not necessarily spent efficiently or wisely. While I don’t think the idea itself is unique to Japan, it has served as a guideline for many people, especially under the lifetime employment system (which is slowly coming to an end). Shohei’s stance to have multiple jobs and being fully committed to them is still hard to understand for many Japanese people, but he thinks things will change very soon.
This was an interesting episode! We got to see a bit of how Kenny thinks and we got a glimpse at Japanese work ethics and culture. Regardless of some clashes, they kept everything extremely civil. Given that many immature incidents have occurred in this show, I think this season starts out very differently. I’m looking forward to how this season will evolve!
Thank you for reading. See you again next week!
