I looked deep into his eyes, and he looked back at me. I was beautifully dressed up in a Japanese wedding-kimono with vivid colors, and flowers in my hair. Both of us were smiling broadly, and to a stranger it would seem like we were very much in love.
But I had never seen this guy before in my life..

The whole thing started a couple of weeks ago, when my friend Dan told me that he had a friend looking for somebody who could help him and his company, Kyoto Weddings, with a photo shot. More precisely, they were looking for westerners who could do some modeling for a bridal shot they would use to market the company on their homepage. I thought it sounded like a fun experience, so I didn't wait long with sending an email to the friend, Eric, telling him that I would love to help out. I was over myself with excitement when I got a replay saying that they wanted me to do the job. It was the beginning of April, and this time of the year is famous among both Japanese as well as foreigners for the pretty sakura (cherry blossoms) that are in full bloom in Japan, usually in the month's first couple of weeks. In other words, being a wedding model in Japan in April must be one of the coolest experiences a student in Japan could possibly get.

Photo shoot in a traditional Japanese room

A couple of weeks later I met up at Kyoto Wedding's main office in downtown Kyoto, ready to be styled up. The professional team was ready for action, and before I knew it they had fixed my hair, done my make-up and even dressed me up in the stylish wedding-kimono. I almost felt unrecognizable in the pretty kimono and with the flowers in my hair; I was like a little porcelain doll. I'm still amazed by how fast everything was done.. If I should have fixed all that myself it would surly have taken all day and still not look half as good. After the styling was finished the work of the day started with photos taken in the studio's traditional Japanese room.
After a little while I was joined by my groom-for-the-day; a tall and handsome-looking guy who turned out to be Swedish. Although it was a bit awkward doing romantic photo shootings with a guy I hadn't even met before, it turned out to be quite a funny experience after all. I guess it helped a bit that he was Swedish too, as it felt more comfortable being able to communicate in our own language (Swedish and Norwegian is actually pretty close, so unless you use a very strange dialect the other person will usually have few problems understanding what you are saying). That made the situation more relaxed, and adding that Marcus was a really funny guy he turned out to be a really great match as a one-day groom. Haha..

Me and my Swedish groom-for-the-day

After about an hour of photo-shooting in the studio we were escorted out of the building, where a special wedding limousine was waiting for us. Here you might think that a Japanese wedding limousine is like any other limousine, but there are in fact 3 features that are special to a Japanese bridal car, according to the description from Kyoto Wedding's blog:

Ready for more photographing in the Japanese wedding limousine

From Kyoto Wedding's studio we drove towards an area in Kyoto called Gion (祇園), which among other things is famous for its traditional Japanese streets. This, and other places in the east part of Kyoto, was where we were going to do the photo shooting of the day, and with the cherry blossoms blooming and a light layer of clouds in the sky the setting was perfect for getting good pictures.
Walking down the streets of Gion it seemed like we had become celebrities in just a couple of minutes. We were basically stalked around by a group of people who wanted to take our photos, and this group mainly consisted of Japanese ladies in their 60s. It was quite funny, but embarrassing at the same time, when some of the local ladies asked our crew if we actually had gotten married, and they answered yes. Which resulted in a lot of congratulations from the viewers. If it weren't for the make-up on my face I would have been red as a tomato right then and there..
Also, we weren't the only couple walking around in Gion getting their wedding photos taken that day. There was a Japanese couple there too (probably not a fake wedding like ours), but with us around it didn't seem like they got a lot of attention at all. Which kinda made me feel a bit sorry for them, since they were the ones who actually was celebrating their wedding day.. I guess the people in Gion found it more amusing with foreigners dressed up in kimono than the real Japanese bridal couple..?

On the bridge on the way to the Heian Jingu-shrine

We went around taking photos for a couple of hours before ending the day with a quick lunch back at the studio. It was a bit sad having to leave the pretty kimono behind and going back to my normal "boring" clothes. I had a really fun day being a bridal model for Kyoto Weddings, and this is definitely one of the most memorable experiences I have had during my almost two years in Japan. In the future I'll hopefully have the chance to get married for real, and if the wedding is going to be in Japan then I have no doubt about who I'm going to contact..

Thanks again to Kyoto Weddings for a fantastic day, and not to mention the beautiful pictures!

My groom-for-the-day Marcus and our team from Kyoto Weddings

More info about Kyoto Weddings and their services can be found at their webpage.!

• All blogposts about wedding
• How to make a Japanese Wedding Profile Video (プロフィールビデオ)
• Happy Wedding: Reusing my Mom's Old Wedding Dress
• White Pigeon Wedding Modeling in Kyoto! 
• Modeling for Kyoto Weddings: My Japanese Wedding, or the day I (Almost) Married a Stranger

The house seen from the room. The small house to the left is the one I'm living in.

Japanese style garden!

Pretty!

My new room

 The rooms are traditional tatami-mat rooms, and the first couple of nights I didn't have a madrass so I had to sleep directly on the floor. Thanks to my friend Larissa however, I have upgraded my room with a mattress to sleep on! I'm forever thankful!! Haha..

A golden bamboo stick for luck, and the picture I got through the Fuku Musume-contest

I don't have that much stuff to use for decoration of my room, but at least I finally had the chance to put up the picture I got through the Fuku Musume contest in December. Yay!

Besides moving out I must admit I didn't really do that much out of the ordinary. There was a little bit time for partying, mostly time for school work, and the time in between was spent with friends. Yuma came visiting me too, but I guess he is busy even when it is holiday so we didn't have the chance to hang out that much. Yesterday we had a big picknick with some friends in the Expo '70 Commemorative park in Osaka, which I also went to a couple of weeks ago for Hanami.

My friends in front of the Tower of the Sun

 It wasn't really the best weather for a picknick, as it was raining a little bit and at times even quite cold. But all in all it wasn't too bad, so it was a good thing we didn't cancel it. I had baked a banana bread and brought some Norwegian snack called lefse, and some of the others had brought Japanese snack and other things too.  Our friend Racchan has just started working for Kirin Beer, so she sponsored us with some drinks!

Look what Yuma found in the river!

After some photos we let the little guy back into the river.

 We spent most of the day in the park, and after we had eaten all our snack we went out to explore more of the park. Although I had been there one time before, it is quite big so it is better to take your time and not rush through all in one day. Last time I only had the chance to see the east side of the park, so this time we went through the west part.

In search for a four-leafed clover

Posing with Kirin beer.

In the end we found a tower that had quite nice view of the park, where we took some last photos before leaving the park in search for a Japanese izakaya. 

The Tower of the Sun seen from the opposite side of the park

And with the end of that day my Golden Week also came to an end. Today I'm back in the research room at school, ready to continue my hard studies. But with that said, I haven't really been a good student at all today anyway. Better get myself together and stop procrastinating!!

So far this semester (which equals approximately one month) I have been living in a small village called Haradani in the northern part of Kyoto. It is a little bit far from school, about thirty minutes of walking, and to be honest I didn't like it too much. Considering both the location and the distance to school I found that the price for the apartment was a bit high. And walking home in the dark wasn't too fun either (except one night when I actually saw a big boar with two piglets on the way home from school.. It wouldn't have been that fun if it weren't for the fence though.. Haha)..

Haradani is situated in a valley north of Kyoto, and it gets really cold there during winter. I would wake up in the middle of the night freezing, even with three layers of clothing on. As a result me and my new neighbor Jamilah ended up using a lot of electricity and gas to keep us warm, and we ended up with a really expensive utility bill despite both of us feeling like we were freezing to death. Long story short: I wouldn't recommend living in Haradani that easily..

Picture of the entrance to Interco, taken from their web-page

I have to admit that it was quite rash, but there are many apartment stores close to school, so I just went to check one of them out last week. The company I went to called Interco, and it is situated really close to Ritsumeikan's east gate (just walk towards the post office and you'll see it on your left side). The staff was really helpful, and found me an apartment nearby school which was even closer and cheaper than I'd expected. The landlord turned out to be a really nice person too, so over the weekend I had found myself a new place to live. I feel the staff at Interco really went out of their way to help both me and Jamilah in search for a new place to live, despite some misunderstandings from our parts on the way. Because of this I decided to give the company my best recommendations through this blog. Thanks to them I'll no longer have to walk 30 minutes to get to my home in the middel of nowhere. v(^.^)


The necessary documents you need for an apartment are:
-Passport
-Alien registration card
-Student card
-Payment in cash for the first month, + other fees depending on the apartment
-Contract fees
-Housing insurance

-For some apartments they require the ability to speak Japanese. Either way, you can contact Interco directly and they'll help you find a company that suits your needs.
For more information, check out their web page.

PS! If you introduce a friend then both you and your friend will get a discount on the apartment contract.! (Introducer gets 10% off, and the introduced person gets 5%)

Map to Interco, where you can get help finding an apartment

I'm currently writing on my thesis in International Relation, and for my topic I chose to write about last years earthquake in Tohoku focusing on media and their coverage of the disaster. Last week I turned in the first abstract of my paper, but since this version was limited to around 2000 words it does not quite reflect all the work I've done so far.
Still, if anybody has any comments/advices/possible sources etc, I'd be very happy if you'd leave me a comment;)





1 Introduction 
1.1 Background
Japan experienced an unprecedented disaster 11. March 2011 when a 9.0 magnitude earthquake occurred in the northern part of the main island Honshu[1]. Despite preparation to handle rough earthquakes, the force of the following tsunami was unpredictable. As a consequence of breakwaters failure to stop the approximately ten meter high wave, the northeastern Tōhoku region was devastated. Additionally critical damage was sustained to a reactor in Fukushima Daiichi Power Plant. An explosion, hypothetically causing what some referred to as a “second Chernobyl”[2], was feared but eventually avoided. The Great East Japan earthquake has been announced 20^th century’s fourth largest[3], and caused what Japanese Prime Minister describes as Japan’s most difficult crisis since World War II[4]. 

1.2 Problem Description
In this thesis medias role during the period after the earthquake will be discussed, with the purpose of answering the following research question:What role did the media play in the aftermaths of the Great East Japan Earthquake?
There has already been published many books and articles about media’s role after the Tōhoku earthquake, but these mainly concentrates on Japanese media, and especially the role of social media. The aim with this thesis is however to look at the catastrophe on an international scale, and see how the mass media and the social media reported the situation in Tōhoku to the rest of the world.Literature studies will be conducted to look deeper into media’s methods of coverage, with focus on published books, articles and newspapers. Further, differences in coverage between Japanese and international media will be enlightened. However, the latter will mainly be constrained to news published in English. Trips to the Tōhoku area will be carried out in order to take a look at actual damages, and additionally to carry out interviews with local and international volunteers. The reason for choosing Tōhoku volunteers as focus group is to determine whether their perception of the media differs according to their backgrounds.This thesis aims to provide new insights to the role of media in the wake of natural disasters.

2 General Concepts 
2.1 Mass Media
When it comes to people’s perception of natural disasters it is crucial to look to the media, because of the influence it has on people. According to Wimmer and Dominick (2010), mass media refers to“Any form of communication that simultaneously reaches a large number of people, including but not limited to radio, TV, newspapers, magazines, billboards, films, recordings, books, and the internet” (p. 2). Their definition is however partly problematic, as this thesis consequently separate the mass media from the social media. Media has a unique position to transmit information to the public, and it is thus desirable that recipients of this information critically evaluate media’s role in society. However, through their research McDonald and Lenz (2011) found that between 10 to 25 percent of readers are being influenced by what they read in the newspapers. They thus conclude that the media also might have a very persuasive effect on the public (Ibid). However, there are cases where the veracity of the media can be questioned. Harcup (2009) claims that although journalists aim to tell the truth there are cases where they fail to do so. One reason for this is that despite journalists themselves aiming for objective reporting, various social filters might influence unconsciously (Herman & Chomsky, 1988). Other factors such as time pressure might lower quality of reportage, for instance when presented facts aren’t thoroughly checked (Harcup, 2009). On the other hand Harcup (Ibid) focuses on the interviewed subjects, stating that they sometimes are incorrect, or even lying. Tsuda (2011) believes that two main factors might lead people to dislike mass media. First comes the biased media case, where information provided might seem artificial. Secondly comes medias tendency to follow each other, such as taking the same stance in the face of unprecedented or shocking events. Some might feel that news do not cover all necessary information, while others perceive them as manipulated (Ibid). 

2.2 Social media
Differing from earlier natural disasters such as the Great Hanshin earthquake in 1995 is the use of social media. While the traditional media can be seen as one-sided, social media on the other hand has the power to engage its readers and invite them to participate in a mutual dialogue (Hansen, Shneiderman and Smith, 2001).Daisuke Tsuda (2011) points to five essential attributes of social media. First is the concept of real time: people can respond immediately to occurrences around them, through Social Network Services (SNS) such as Facebook and Twitter, and thus share their thoughts or opinions with anyone (p. 364). Shocking news are more likely to be spread and read by a large number of people, and this thus creates hot topics (p. 365). His second concept is that of sympathy, or cooperation. People can share all sorts of emotions through SNS and get responses on their options. Tsuda points out that even misunderstandings and negative responses can lead to dialog, and through dialog to cooperation or sympathy between users (p. 365).This again, leads to a fourth point: social media’s openness. Anyone can participate in discussions and thus get their opinions heard. It is easy to participate, but it is also easy to pull out. Lastly, Tsuda talks about process, and states that the limited length of SNS messages gives such social media its designated form. This can again lead to a dialog where short and concise messages are being transmitted easily between users, and the discussion evolves as people respond (p. 366). Tachiiri (2011) points out that since social media is interactive, it creates a bond between its users. Through social media people can support each other or engage in fierce discussions (Ibid, p. 21). Unlike the mass media, social media gives people the chance to speak up or get heard (p.23), and responses can come fast (Ibid, p.22). While mass media is carefully edited and held back by sponsors, the social media does not face such regulation (Ibid, p.23). However, Steve Jobs, founder of world-renowned manufacturer Apple, questions the reliability of social media, stating “we can’t depend on bloggers for our news. We need real reporting and editorial oversight more than ever” (Isaacson, 2011). In opposition to a blog, where anybody can write anything, the journalist has to actually collect the relevant information while carefully considering the sources used. At the same time, in the case of the mass media measures are being taken to ensure that what is being published corresponds to the actual described occurrences.News spread fast, and at times social media might even be more up to date than the mass media (Tachiiri, 2011: p. 23). This might be taken as a sign that the social media plays a more important role in spreading news to the people than traditional media. However, as Schultz, Utz and Göritz (2011) have found, news are being talked about more than tweets or blog posts. This might indicate that although social media can transmit news faster, traditional mass media still is considered a more reliable source for news. 

3 Problem Description 
3.1 Mass Media and the Great Eastern Japan Earthquake
In the wake of the disaster in Japan, media all over the world reported about the incident. Although it meant that people all over the world could stay up-to-date on the events in Japan, there were also critics claiming that the foreign media was exaggerating the danger of the situation in Japan[5]There are various problems related to this type of journalism. For instance, in the period after the earthquake a lot of foreigners decided to escape Japan as a result of panic, leaving the Japanese with the new expression ”fly-jin”, a term describing the foreigners, gaijin, fleeing from Japan[6].Anther problem with this type of reporting is that it can complicate the early recovery process (Huang & Min, 2002; Milo & Yoder, 1991).Two factors, which in particularly have had an effect on the way news spreads across boarders, are globalization and the information revolution. Globalization, which Nye (2007) defines as a “worldwide network of interdependence”, can make occurrences in one geographical make the headlines in other parts of the globe. Following globalization comes the so-called information revolution: from 1993 to the end of the decade the number of Internet pages across the world rose from about 50 to over 5 million, and the global usage of Internet went up 170 percent between 2000 and 2005 (Nye, 2007). As an effect of this, news can be shared over greater distances at shorter speed, and with this global interdependence network what happens on the other side of the world also affects us to a greater extent than previously. 

3.1.1 International Media
(Currently writing) 

3.1.2 Japanese mediaJapanese media was also subjected to criticism related to their coverage. Gouhara (2011) argue that media cooperated with Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) already before the accident, and that they deluded the public into believing nuclear power was safe by oversimplifying the emergency process of closing down power plants. Uesugi (2011) further claims that Tepco and the Japanese Government influenced mass media to hold back information regarding damages and nuclear leaks at Fukushima Daiichi. This claim is grounded on initial exclusivity for press club members to participate in Tepco’s press conferences, which Uesugi suggests limited critical questioning. Press clubs, or kisha clubs, were first time introduced by a small number of reporters in 1890, and the initial purpose was to allow members participation in Imperial Diet meetings. Today, however, press clubs plays a central role in communication between media and government/authorities. Critics claim that the exclusivity of membership is excluding, particularly to foreign reporters, magazine writers and freelance journalists[7]. Supporters of the Japanese press clubs disagree, saying that magazine members and freelance journalists are focusing on getting flashy quotes, and thus might interfere with the conferences[8]. However, considering Tepco annually supports commercial broadcasting with 20 billion yen (Uesugi, 2011), Japanese mass media’s reluctance to put negative focus on nuclear energy is not too shocking. An example here is the many anti-nuclear demonstrations: Iwaki (2011) claims the media either downplayed their significance, or simply avoided writing about the topic. Although Japanese media faces critics for a claimed lack of consistency and concealing information concerning the incidents in Fukushima[9], considering the unprecedented nature of the crisis it is still arguable that　Japanese media did their best.　Ending the International Journalist Symposium 2012, The Mainichi Newspapers Senior Editorial Writer Hiroshi Fuse stated that despite last years disaster burdening Japan he believe that ”the role of the media is not only to deliver accurate information but also lead discussions so that we can move forward in the right direction” (MOFA, 2012). 

4. Methods
A qualitative research was conducted in November 2011, and the focus group was people working as voluntaries in affected areas of Tohoku. Although all subjects come from different backgrounds, they are linked together through their volunteer work. It is logical to believe that individuals who has made a decision to work as a volunteer in this area must have done a certain amount of research before going there, and thus the purpose of these interviews is get a clearer view of how people affected by the reports of the media perceived the coverage. My ontological perspective is that of critical realism, as developed by Roy Bhaskar (Archer et al, 2004): I believe that people are capable, and that I thus can extract pertinent information from their experiences through my interviews. 

5. Future priorities
-Conduct more trips to Tōhoku in order to interview more people. Time and lenght depends of recovery of my shoulder, which I broke in an accident in spring-break.-Strengthen the academic aspect of the paper  

Schultz, F; Utz, S; Göritz, A (2011). Is the media the message? Perceptions of and reactions to crisis

communication via twitter, blogs and traditional media. Public Relations Review, Volume 37, Issue 1, March 2011, Pages 20-27