Travels with my Guff : Where do we come from ? What are we ? Where are we going ?

I've just 'borrowed' this title from a Gauguin painting, after reading Geoff Dyer's essay about his unsuccessful trip to view said painting in Tahiti.
(if you don't know him Geoff Dyer's writing is great )

Perhaps they are THE questions for life, but the question right now is .......
What am I doing in Japan ?

Cultural tourist, visitor, performer, artist, nosy git......?

I am here because i want to know more, about the culture, the people, the land.

Our Western understanding of Japan seems to consist of two strong but seemingly contradictory elements.

Are they true or are they just cliche.

In the past I was not interested in visiting Japan, as my only experience was the game show Takeshi's Castle, shockingly hilarious and seemingly cruel, it did not enamour the Japanese to me, making me think of Samurai's and Hari-kiri, it didn't make me want to visit.

There are other questionable tv shows such as Orgasm Wars, Gaki no Tsukai, Sing what happens, Candy or not Candy or Team fight, I've not watched them, but I would say humiliation is a feature.

But after hearing about an Artist residency one of my fellow Skammdegi ( Iceland ) artists did in rural Japan ( this blog originated from that residency in 2016 and you can read it here ) I became more and more interested in finding out more.

I'd like to know what are Japan and the Japanese really like. I'm only here a short while and my itinerary leans towards the traditional, the heritage and the rural, but for my first visit I hope to learn some things and enjoy this rich and unique culture.