Kenya vs Japan: What is in a Name and Culture?

The former world number one and four-time Grand Slam winner Naomi Osaka from Japan launched a media platform in partnership with the National Basketball Association – NBA star LeBron James.

Hana Kuma, the name of the company means “flower bear” in Japanese. But in Swahili, it has a rather more explicit meaning — that a woman has no genitals.

Apart from being kind and humanistic, Japanese and most African languages have similar forms and structures. Some words like the exclamation “ee!” have the same meaning in Japanese and Swahili.

Swahili, spoken in East Africa, is one of the most widely spoken African languages and is used in international media, including Radio Japan.

UN Swahili Language Day is observed annually on 7 July. This began when the United Nations declared 7 July as Swahili Language Day in 2022.

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Moreover, words with similar pronunciation but different meanings are used in both languages, “juu”, “kata” and “mimi”.

The use of “yes” and “no” is similarly ambiguous in Swahili and Japanese; communication is indirect and proves confusing for non-native speakers.

Other interesting Japanese town names include Kobe (tortoise), Oga (take a bath), and Kitakata (it will cut).

According to Ms Osaka, their media company is aimed at telling stories that cross-cultural barriers.

“The company will focus on stories that “are culturally specific but universal to all audiences. Stories that are bold and playful like me,” she says.

Naomi Osaka on the Japanese and African Culture

Naomi’s parents are Leonard Francois (who hails from Haiti) and Tamaki Osaka (who’s from Japan). Naomi identifies as Black and Asian despite growing up in the U.S. for a portion of her life.

She says she doesn’t identify as American and gives a story about the Japanese and African culture.  She states.

Let me use this platform to tell my story about the Japanese and Africans to mark the 60th anniversary of Japan-Kenya diplomatic relations.

Kenya is the largest recipient of Japan’s Official Development Assistance in sub-Saharan Africa.

My interaction during my stay with Japanese people in 1994 and 2016 courtesy of the Japanese government enabled me to conclude that the Japanese culture and African way of life have several things in common.

After exchanging cultural views with the Japanese during my homestay with Kunimi Sakamoto’s family and aboard the Nippon Maru Ship for World Youth for 45 days, I found that Japanese and African cultures compare well.

I ate Tsukune, Yakitori, Gyu-tan, Ochazuke, Edamane and drank Sho-chu. Some of these are like our African traditional foods and drinks.

Despite the fact that there exist over 200 ethnic groupings in Africa with cultural and linguistic differences, one can still talk of an African traditional culture.

Economic Activities for Kenya vs Japan 

African and Japanese ancient histories show that hunting wild animals with bows and arrows and gathering wild fruits and vegetables were practiced in both societies.

Likewise, African history records the Dorobo of Kenya and the Hottento of South Africa as hunter-gatherer communities.

There existed traditional metalworking, tanning, canoe-making and weaving industries. The use of stone implements, production of earthenware containers for cooking and food storage was also part of African and Japanese society.

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Political Activities

The two societies were organized into kingdoms or fiefdoms and civil rivalry was evident.

African kingdoms had clashes just like those of the Minamoto and Taira. The Maasai believed that all cows belonged to them, so they fought and stole cattle from other societies.

Social Activities

Further, African religions, like Shinto, had their roots in animistic beliefs, with local temples for household and local guardian gods.

They worshipped the gods of their ancestors much like the Japanese, by making offerings, animal sacrifices and prayers.

Additionally, African and Japanese festivals are both linked to agricultural production. Prayers are held for good harvests and thanksgiving made for good yields.

Dances, music, and games were staged during festivals and fresh produce was offered to the gods. African music and dance was informative, educational, and entertaining.

Wrestling, like sumo, was very popular in Nigeria as a way of choosing leaders or winning brides and personal pride.

A wrestler was expected to be a “cat” whose back never touched the ground. Games started with rituals as a sign of purification and blessing, like the salt thrown in the dohyo.

Also, the music of stringed instruments, drums and bamboo flutes accompanied the events.

Folk songs were classified according to situation and function. Local brews like saké were part of the meals during festivals and ceremonies.

One needed to master ceremony rituals, as is the case with the tea ceremony. Raw and cooked foods were eaten. Thanks were given to the ancestors and the host before and after meals.

Moreover, African traditional houses were made of mud and wood with thatched roofs. Materials were fitted together using ropes and bark as they used mats for sleeping and sitting on.

There were no beds, although some communities like the Turkana of Kenya sat on small stools made of wood.

Painting on walls and floors conveyed certain ideas. Skins from animals were used as clothes, tied in a unique way like the obi ties a kimono. Skin slippers like zori were used on rough ground and in the bush.

Cultural Beliefs

Furthermore, certain plants and animals, in the African context, had special meanings.

The owl was seen as a sign of misfortune and bad luck or death while some trees like the loquat tree in Japan was believed to be the homes of evil spirits.

Moreover, the hare was shown as clever and cunning, the elephant as stupid and the hyena as arrogant and stubborn.

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Family Unit

The family as the basic unit of society is the same in Japan as in Africa. Traditional Japanese and Africans lived in extended families with relationships ruled by a rigid hierarchical system with strong parental authority.

Fathers were respected as the head of the family, and married women were expected to respect their parents-in-law.

Further, displays of affection like kissing and embracing were not made in public. The division of labour was gender-based, women were tied to the household and gathering chores and were never regarded as equal to men.

Although Western culture has invaded both our societies, our cultures remain similar.