Toshinori Sasaki

 Returning on


     Returning on means repaying an obligation, but on is defined as an unpayable thing. There is no such word in English, but actions based on it
surely exist in the U.S. When someone helps you, and you feel grateful to them, at that time you will get on simultaneously. On is a feeling that you will get when you feel grateful toward someone who helped you. I think that life
management for parents includes visiting, checking their parents’ bank account, and Lifealert is one type of returning on.

     What people do for returning on is similar to one in Japan. People get older, know what their parents experienced (it is usually something hard), and they have come to want to do something for them because of your appreciation toward them, for example, sometimes grandparents visit their daughter or son’s home to have fun, or conversely, parents or kids (or both) go visit grandparents’ home to please them. When parents visit them, they clean
their parents’ house up or cook for them. Some grandparents are invited to home for dinner from their big child or have dinner with them at a restaurant. They enjoy it because they can see their child and their grandchild. Some parents check grandparents’ bank account not to spend much money, or Lifealert, which is an emergency response and help the elderly contact emergency services, is other way of returning on.

     The symbol of this activity is actions, such as life managements I mentioned because not only they are just for pleasing or helping them, but also on which is not visible is lying in them. This symbol is only from parents to their parents, and it is a personal symbol for parents. I could not find any myths about this.

     It is telling children how important your parents are and to be proud of them and appreciate them. I believe that it is ritualization because although it has some functions of a ritual and less happens, there is no specific time to do it, roles, and orders in this ritual, and it is flexible. There are many ways of doing this, and it is really depend on your family background.

Russell Fauss
10/15/2013 04:59:07 am

Interesting. I wonder when this repayment of 'on' actually starts. Towards one's parents, much of it seems to occur after one has been an adult for a long time (maybe age 50), so it's not really part of becoming an adult. It seems to be an additional, later duty of adults. (By the way, please put quotation marks ('__') around the Japanese use of the word 'on' so that it is easier to read.)

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Nicole
10/15/2013 12:21:11 pm

LifeAlert is a surprising choice to be considered On. But, I guess it is a way for children to be able to make sure their parents are ok. I hadn’t thought of it that way. You’ve opened my eyes.

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Bailey
10/15/2013 04:06:35 pm

Today we talked about how in the US a lot of people send their parents to an assisted care home when the children can't take care of the parents anymore. I think this can be a form of "on" in the US because the children often pay for their parents to enter these homes. I realize this is unpopular in Japan and seen as the opposite, but US culture does not value family relationships quite as much as Japanese culture does (depending on the family), but many people cannot quit their jobs and leave where they are living to take care of their parents when they get old. I also mentioned today my friend (she's 76) who is dreaming of moving to a home in Phoenix, because it's a really nice place and she'll be able to make new friends there.

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