Vicarious Japanese: October 2008

I received some inspiration from my friend, Sara, for this entry. There are a good number of people that have access to this blog- a lot are coming to visit and some live in Japan. So I'll ask those coming to Japan to please read and keep some of this in mind and if anyone would have anything to add that would also be great. These are little things to keep in mind about Japan so that you aren't surprised, pissed, overwhelmed or confused.

Japan is not America. There are a lot of similarities and the daily life vaguely resembles Western life but there are some minor and some major differences. People here do not generally speak English. While a lot of signs include English - the amount people speak is very limited. Granted, they speak more English than Americans speak Japanese. One helpful thing is that a lot of words are borrowed from English so if you pronounce certain things with more vowel sounds and change L's to R's, you might be able to get your point across. Less is always more - if you can ask in Japanese, use as few words as possible because the more words you use, the more likely you are to confuse people. I know this is an over-blown generalization now but the shoe fits...being louder doesn't make people understand any better. Imagine if I yelled, "Doko eki ni desuka?" at you...chances are I could yell this until I was hoarse and you'd have no idea that I asked where the train station is.

You will definitely know when you have to take your shoes off. This is necessary when entering a home and there are a few places of business (schools, restaurants) that ask you to remove your shoes. You'll see steps or shelves with a bunch of shoes. I've never been caught off guard so I don't think it's that tough.

In the train station, you buy tickets from little machines. I think most of them have an English language setting. Once you buy the ticket, you take it to the gate and put it in the machine and walk through and grab the ticket on the other side. If you wait too long, the ticket will get sucked back into the machine and you'll have to talk to someone and who knows how that will end up. Once you've arrived at your destination you put the ticket in the machine again and this time the machine takes the ticket and you're done. If you've done something wrong, little doors will close and you have to try communicating with the train station workers. Overall, it's pretty intuitive but some people have issues. People wait lines by arrows for the trains because that's where they stop and people (de)board.

On the train, you shouldn't talk on your phone. It won't matter much because people visiting won't have them but people don't talk on their phones on trains. Also, if the train is any bit crowded and you have a backpack, take it off and place it between your legs to make more room.

Most places are cash-only. Some places take credit cards - department stores, American shops but generally everything is cash-based.

There is no tipping in Japan. It's mainly because they are being paid for their work. That's a point of pride and tipping is considered somewhat rude - this includes waiters, taxi drivers, barbers, etc.

In restaurants most people drink water. Usually it comes in very small glasses. You can always ask for refills or some places give you a pitcher. Soft drinks are available but they are expensive and there are no free refills - same goes with coffee (except Mister Donut). The portions are smaller than you think. If you want to eat traditional Japanese foods - you should learn to love noodles and rice. Generally the food is not very salty and, therefore, may taste a little bland to you. Not everything is sushi - as a matter of fact, it's not as pervasive as you'd think. It's definitely more accepted here as normal than America but it's not everywhere...I have a good number of students who don't like fish - that shocked me. They do ALL eat rice and miso soup.

Drinking alcohol in public is perfectly acceptable. But a caveat to that is that drinking anything while walking or wandering around stores or whatever is considered rude. People do it but it's frowned upon and you may get dirty looks. It's the same but a little worse with eating. Usually if you are out of peoples' way and standing still against a wall or something, eating and drinking is fine.

You get a bag for almost everything.

Garbage cans in public are really difficult to find. Normally there garbage cans near grocery stores and convenience stores but I am not sure where else with regularity.

Most people wait for the lights to cross streets. Some people cross but most of the time, there is a gathering of people waiting for lights.

Oh, and there are money trays that you put money onto. Handing money to people kinda takes them off guard.

That's all I can think of right now - I'll try taking some notes while I'm out to see if I can think of other things.

Here are some random pictures:

Two new Japanese friends - Yuka and her husband

Aya and Meredith. Two pictures were being taken and they looked at the other camera. Meredith is from Port Hadlock, WA!!

Mike and I looking American - notice the Budweiser and Snickers

Himeji Crossing Guard - the inspiration for our Halloween costume

Suspended chopsticks, of course

One of the goals before leaving was to attend a Japanese baseball game. I never knew the wonders until I saw that insufferable Anthony Bourdain - even despite his presence, I thought the game look captivating. As soon as I got here, I realized that tickets would be next to impossible to come by because their fans are a little bit crazy and every game sells out. Thankfully I work for a school that caters to wealthier kids, with wealthier parents. My friend and roommate from training, TJ, sent me a message and asked if I wanted to go to a game. Quicker than Jamie Lynn Spears got preg-o again, I told him I would love to attend. So I was going to the final home regular season game for the Hanshin Tigers against the Hiroshima Carp. I met TJ, Sara and two of their Japanese teacher friends and we made our way from Kobe to Koshien (15 minute local train). For those who've been to both, Wrigley and Fenway just sorta come out of nowhere..."oh, there's a stadium." After stepping out of the train station, I knew we were close - after all there were thousands of people dressed in jerseys and awesome pants (see below) but I had no idea where the park was. We walked seemingly closer and closer and people kept funneling in towards one place but I was still a bit confused. A little bit ahead and above us were a few highways and a set of train tracks that were concrete over a green base. And behind the highways/train tracks, there was the stadium. It couldn't have been more than fifty feet tall and camouflaged perfectly because the outside was the same green as the highway and we arrived at dusk on a rainy night.

After stopping at the souvenir shop, we were ready to go inside. The inside of the stadium is hard to describe. The concession area was terribly narrow and they had ramps leading into the gates. People were crammed like sardines - some waiting in long long lines for food, some in the designated smoking area (I wish I had a picture of this - it was more ridiculous than smoking rooms at airports), women waiting in winding lines or men walking into the barely-covered urinal rooms. It's not everyday you go to a stadium and dudes are just peeing while people walk behind them. Finally we headed to our seats. The park looks like a glorified minor league park - except the capacity was over 50,000. Rain was coming down softly but steadily but no one could care less. That, in itself, is surprising because the Japanese usually freak out when there's rain - they run everywhere with umbrellas like the next great typhoon is nearing. But at the baseball game, it's just part of the event I guess. One thing I noticed right away was that the covered seats in the park (basically between home/first and home/third) were maybe 2/3 full and the uncovered seats were almost totally occupied. I know in America - if there are open seats near the field, we jump on those lickity split...especially if they're covered and it's raining but not here. I am not sure if it's an issue of honoring the ticket or if it's because the main cheering sections were located in the outfield - I would buy either reason as valid.

Before I knew what happened, the game started. There was no national anthem. There really isn't much stadium-created pageantry and the PA guy was very muted when he announced the first batter. After Hanshin got out of the top of the first, the cheering started and it did not quit until the end of the Hanshin half-inning. We were given these plastic little Fred Flinstone bat things and you bang them together like a boom stick. I find this annoying in America because it's a passing fancy that distracts people into paying attention - like "the wave". In Japan, I was OK with it and participated fully because....everyone does. There is singing, rhythmic bat banging, cheering and chanting and it's non-stop. Each hitter has his own songs and all of the fans know and sing them. I worried about this beforehand because I didn't want to be given dirty looks but once you've heard one, they're pretty much all the same. One of the standards they use was a song that centered around the phrase "Ka-toe-bah-say (player's name)" - "katobase" means essentially "get a hit." The game continued in this pattern until the middle of the 7th - it was balloon time. During the top of the inning, everyone began blowing up their penis looking balloons. So we waited and waited while the American pitching for the Tigers allowed a run and made the inning excruciatingly long. Finally it was time, the Hanshin Tigers fight song started, most people sang...my friends and I mumbled until the "Oh-oh-oh-oh Hanshin Tigers....fure fure fure fure" part and then people let the balloons go. It creates a really cool look with a bunch of multi-colored penis balloons flying up and then coming down. I only wish I performed better. My balloons must have had a problem with premature ejaculation because they went up and then right down. I was left disappointed and unfulfilled, but the spectacle was pretty cool. So, the Tigers got a 2-run homer in the bottom of the 8th by their superstar, Kanemoto, and won 5-3. All in all, just a once in a lifetime event and I can't wait to get back next season. So I've included some photos but before I stop the writing, let me tell you about the greatest curse I've ever heard of:

In 1985, much to Japanese people's surprise, the Hanshin Tigers faced the Seibu Lions and took their first and only victory in the Japan Series, largely due to star slugger Randy Bass, a gaijin (foreigner) player for the team.

The rabid fan base went wild, and a riotous celebration gathered at Ebisubashi Bridge in Dotonbori, Osaka. There, an assemblage of supporters yelled the players names, and with every name a fan resembling a member of the victorious team leapt from the bridge into the waiting canal. However, lacking someone to imitate MVP Randy Bass, the rabid crowd seized a Colonel Sanders (like Bass, the Colonel had a beard and was not Japanese) plastic statue from a nearby KFC and tossed it off the bridge as an effigy.

This impulsive maneuver was to cost the team greatly, beginning the Curse of the Colonel. Urban legend has it that the Tigers will not win the championship again until the statue is recovered. Also at KFC restaurants in the Kansai region, the Colonel is either chained to the stores or brought inside.