Some observations...

I spent the whole of last week at one school, outside of which, road-works were taking place. They were just starting when I arrived at 8:15...by the time I left at 17:15, not only had they finished, the workmen had tarmacked over the hole they left. I walked home amazed at the Japanese work ethic, and less so at the speed with which the nation industrialised. The next day however, I came to work to find that they'd ripped up that particular bit of tarmac in order to do more work...at the end of that day, they tarmacked over the hole again...and again the next day...mid afternoon breaks to the vending machine granted me the sight of workmen using the very latest in road gnashing technology, whilst their colleague sweeps up the detritus with a witches broom. Japan was nicely summed up in that dance of diggers - dilligence, extravagant use of resources and the very new co-existing with the very old.

Keeping with this idea of a polarisation of Japanese culture (and I can't believe I've only ever alluded to this) is the fact that the Japanese can either be polite to a fault or the rudest people on the planet. This is probably down to the fundamentally Japanese concepts of uchi (inside) and soto (outside). I'll go into more detail in another entry, but put simply, the Japanese will have several uchi groups (the home, job, social club etc) and if you are outside of that group (soto) you may as well not exist...this idea was demonstrated fiercely on sunday, the Chinese New Year (of the Dog) in Yokohama (pictured).

So many people, all jostling for a space to take photos, so few prepared to test their patience...even my chivalric "ladies first" attitude towards the elderly was met with a wrinkly elbow to the groin, although that could have been something to do with the womans' size...and the hundreds of other people scrambling for a good spot.

I've almost been feeling belligerent towards the Japanese recently, maybe due to the onset of a secondary culture shock, but it's not all bad. Today I've been teaching at an elementary school that is the first in Kawasaki to call in volunteers from the local community to help with lessons. As it's a school very close to where I live, I now know a few more of my neighbours, which is very nice as I teach their children - feels like I'm becoming a sort of member of an uchi...that aside, this school is a lot of fun. Each grade is taught en masse in the gym, sometimes with costumes. There I'm wearing part of the attire of the popular TV comedy character Hard Gay. As it's elementary school, English skills are limited, but I've become friends with three fifth grade boys who've made me a member of the Penguin Club, whatever that entails...

So, in closing, I heard a Japanese childrens song courtesy of Matt the ALT the other week, and it's been bringing me almost endless delight since then...it's about a white goat who writes a letter to his friend the black goat.

Unfortunately the black goat eats the letter when he receives it. Later, the black goat wonders what was in the letter he ate, so he writes one to the white goat, asking him.

Unfortunately the white goat eats the letter when he receives it. Later, the white goat wonders what was in the letter he ate, so he writes one to the black goat asking him.

Unfortunately the black goat eats the letter when he receives it. Later, the black goat wonders what was in the letter he ate, so he writes one to the white goat asking him.

Unfortunately the white goat eats the letter when he receives it. Later, the white goat wonders what was in the letter he ate, so he writes one to the black goat asking him.

Unfortunately the black goat eats the letter when he receives it. Later, the black goat wonders what was in the letter he ate...

Gagaku...and some larking about

Literally "elegant sound", this is the music of the Imperial court, derived from Chinese and Korean models. Although little is known of prehistoric Japanese music, figurines depicting musicians have been discovered, suggesting its early importance, along with poetry. The word "uta" can mean either "song" or "poem". Ancient stories, rituals and legends, recorded in the Kojiki and the Nihongi formed the basis of the old songs.


An ensemble generally consisted of about sixteen musicians playing koto (zither-ish), biwa (lute-like), taiko drum and wind instruments such as the hichiriki (oboe-esque) or shakuhachi (flute-y). Taiko drum displays are immense to behold, relying as much on choreography as on massive drums being pounded. Taiko drumming has also found expression in a very popular computer game, complete with drums, sticks and cute little Manga creatures which, as Matt will no doubt testify, is absurdly good fun.

Although largely overshadowed by J-pop, traditional Japanese music is still considered important enough to be taught in schools. The young lady is playing a koto. It usually has thirteen strings, although the 1920's saw the creation of the 17 stringed bass koto. The pitch is changed by moving the bridges across the body. The standard tuning is called Hirajoshi, meaning "tranquil tuning", but there are others. It's plucked with three plectrums strapped to the thumb and fingers, the shape varying depending on the school of playing, although, as this was very much an introduction to the koto (for me at any rate) we only used the thumb. Notation uses the kanji for 1-10 (denoting the strings) and three others that, although mean 11-13, are unique to koto music.

The tune we played was Sakura meaning "cherry blossoms" - a famous symbol of Japan. Cherry blossom viewing, or Hanami is a great excuse to sit under a pretty pink tree and get drunk. I missed that last year as I was still finding my way around...but this year, heh-heh-heh...back to the koto, of course I had a go...
(see the concentration!)...but they aren't exactly portable...I may take up the shamisen...

...and on saturday, despite the carnage faced in other parts of Japan, we had a right good muck about in the snow...





...culminating in a random trip to Odaiba...



...specifically, the Museum of Emerging Science...


...which gave us many an opportunity for educational tomfoolery.





Having the innermost workings of a particle accelerator explained to you in Japanese is just as confusing as it sounds.

Salvation has big feet

Apologies if I'm repeating myself...

I am contractually obliged to be at school from 8:30 until 17:15, unless somebody tells me to go home. This is regardless of any work I may or may not have.

I can only guess (maybe accurately) on the motives of my illustrious employers' and say that they're pandering to the Japanese group/work ethic, thus leaving the decision as to what I do with my day in the hands of their clients, ie; whichever school I'm at.

The 1st graders are on a skiing trip with the Vice Principal. The 2nd graders are engaged in work experience. The 3rd graders are going through the process of applying for High Schools.

On a day like today, when I have had no classes, but still have had to be present between those hours, I'm not sure of their motives for keeping me there. In my not inconsiderable down time, I've boiled it down to three possibilities

i) They are in fact too busy to notice that I'm not actually needed today
ii) They assume that I, like them, want to save face within the working group by leaving work as late as I possibly can
iii) They are so obsessed with procedure, formality and hierarchy that even the absence of the Principal and Vice Principal isn't enough to release me when I have nothing to do, namely because neither of them are present to give their consent.

The latter seems to be the case. I only left when I did due to the intervention of Nakanishi sensei (THANK YOU) of Ojima Elementary school. Every year, teachers are given various gifts such as jackets, tracksuits and the like, and he wanted to give me a surplus pair of shoes. For convenience, he wanted me to pick them up tonight, so I was released. He had noted on my previous visit to that school that my current pair of indoor shoes (not even a year old) were tatty and maybe in need of replacing, thus beautifully demonstrating a typically Shintoist spirit of renewal and purification, and maybe shedding an unflattering light on their attitudes towards economy and ecology...rest assured, entries on those subjects will arise.

As for the shoes, they fit, they are comfortable and utterly hideous. Behold.


But no matter, they took an hour and twenty five minutes off a very long day.

On the plus, I've had plenty of free time (wherein I still get paid) to study Japanese & read about the entry on religion I've got planned (about a month in the making now) and a call for the Japanese to stop working so damn hard has been made. I'll be doing more of the same tomorrow, but unfortunately, I won't have a random shoe acquisition to save me. I may bring a chess board into school, but that would ultimately be self defeating.

Oshogatsu

This is the Japanese New Year week, the most important night being the 31st (Omisoka), naturally. As Christmas has a status similar to Valentines day, this is the period to spend with your family, eat lots and watch TV.

They start the proceedings with Osoji; a massive clean and general tidy, so that the two most important days can be spent in a clutter-free environment. This is also in keeping with Shinto ideas of purification and renewal. Osoji is meant to appease Toshigami, the God of the New Year, who visits each house to give blessings to the family.


Hatsumode is a trip to a local Temple, such as Daishi in Kawasaki (pictured) on New Years Eve. Thousands of people are present at this occasion. At midnight, 108 bells ring, each one representing a different sin of the senses. The emphasis is on renewal.



I'm not going to go into Shinto in this entry (that's coming later) but there is a great deal of symbolism in a decoration/end of year meal called Kagamimochi. That specimen was bestowed upon us by our lovely landlord. It's sometimes called a Mirror Cake - the two balls are an image of each other, one representing the year to come, the other the past. Mirrors are often used as representations of the Kami (Shinto gods) in shrines...more on that later. Kagamimochi is sometimes also called Tooth Cake, as people would eat it, wishing they had teeth. After cracking the thing open and going at it with the very latest in big knife technology, I wasn't surprised.


It's basically a massive pounded rice cake. I was expecting an obstinate gloopy substance, not tightly a packed ball of wax. Our scepticism mounted at the same rate as the perspiration and furrows on my brow...then we toasted it.


They puffed up a treat, suddenly becoming much easier to eat, but not really taking on anything approaching a flavour. For the past week I've been surreptitiously finding out from my students how to eat the damn thing. People sometimes stew it with green leaves, fish paste and a manner of other ingredients depending on which part of Japan you're from, but grilling seems to be the most popular option. Once browned you can eat what you like with them; maybe anko (soy bean jam) but the suggestion by Sakuta sensei was to wrap them in nori with a bit of cheese.



Yum, yum and thrice yum. If anybody fancies getting a bit closer to Japan at this cultural high point of the year, why not have a go at this Mochi pounding game? It's fairly self explanatory (despite being in Japanese) - click the white blob on the pot (or any other white blobs that occur), select your character (man with hammer or kappa), red for hard, blue for easy and click the button next to your chap to play. The man has to pound the rice without hitting the kappa, whilst the kappa has to mix the rice without being lamped. Hours of fun and very Japanese.

Reverse Culture Shock

Being a tourist in your native country is an interesting experience, one I'd tried before on a pilgrimage to Canterbury via Oxford & Cambridge, but having been in Kawasaki for nine months, I noticed certain things that I'd forgotten about England, namely how beautiful the place is.

Something else I really enjoyed was eavesdropping on conversations. Any subject, no matter how trivial was music to my ears, more so when hearing two Londoners complaining about congestion charges - "Aaahw, it'll be push-boikes nex' wahnnit?" "Gor-blimey yer roight aintcha?" *

I was determined to sample uniquely English things one just can't find in Japan, namely English Breakfasts (the third one finally yielding that most elusive of beasts, the Hash Brown) and, something nowhere else in the world seems to do; pubs. Look in wonder at






The Tabard, Chiswick, London,








The Highbury Vaults, Cotham, Bristol,






and the legendary Duke of York, St Werburghs, Bristol.


Actually, my early pub experiences this year were worrying affairs, surrounded as I was by hordes of uncouth, vulgar, barbaric Westerners. Still, serves me right for drinking in Bolton.

Reverse culture shock is a peculiar old fruit - what I encountered in England was incredibly familiar, but somehow alien. Aspects of this were particularly pronounced when I returned to Japan, like the sheer volume of space back home, even in London. When I first came here I think I was still reeling from a host of other things, so I only gradually noticed how compressed everything is, it became mundane and I never noticed it. The trip to England has shown it in sharp contrast and made it almost surprising.

I read pretty much every advertisement on the London Underground, mostly due to delight that I actually could, but also down to the underlying crapness of English public transport. Maybe Japan has spoiled me with her optimum efficiency and subsequently aged me one or two decades, but really, pull your finger out Blighty.

Maybe the strangest part of being back in England was feeling rootless. Although it's "home", it isn't any more. Kawasaki isn't "home" but it's become that in another sense over a period of months. This is something I've read about, generally affecting expats, and confirmed by a Norwegian businessman I got chatting to on the way back to Japan. He's been going to Japan on and off for most of his life (he first arrived in 1960 on a propellor plane) and the place frustrates as much as it captivates him. ALT's who started working for my company at the same time as me had already been living in Japan, gone back to their country of origin, then returned, missing something about the place. As my travelling companion said, it becomes a part of you. Personally, it took me about a day to stop randomly bowing at people.


* "My Fair Lady"-isms may be products of the authors' excitement.