Won't Miss #33 - PET bottles, everywhere (reflection)

When I was still living in Tokyo, I never researched the reason why people put PET bottles full of water all over their property. This eyesore was to stop cats from doing things, especially peeing on the property. I was told that they were placed there for that reason by many of my students and acquaintances and never looked any deeper.

However, it has been suggested to me that there are other possibilities. One was that it was a way of storing emergency drinking water or water for strangers to drink when they walk by. While these would be reasonable theories, they are not in keeping with Japanese thinking. No Japanese person would touch a drop of water that had been stored outside of their home, particularly in an unsealed bottle that anyone could come by and contaminate. Most of the people I spoke to were too suspicious to eat a free sample given away on the street, even a sealed one. There was a great deal of squeamishness about safety.

Also, it was not likely that they'd put water out there because it allowed them to store their earthquake supplies. Even if they wanted to use if as washing, cleaning, or toilet flushing water, they wouldn't store it in public. It is simply not done that way in Japan. It's not even done that way in most areas of the U.S., particularly not in suburbs. The desire to put on a "nice" front could only, apparently, be overridden by the scourge that is stray cats. I finally did do some research, and these bottles were put there because of cats. A Japanese T.V. show tested the theory because the habit is so common. 

I don't miss seeing these bottles all over the place as I'm not a fan of people lining up trash in front of their homes in any country. 

Will Miss #474 - no number four

Image courtesy of Blogd. Used with permission. 

We're all familiar with the fact that some hotels used to skip the 13th floor in Western cultures. For all I know, some of them still do. The idea is that superstitious types don't want to be housed on that floor because of it is associated with bad luck. It's silly because it's still the 13th floor whether it is called that or not. I recently saw a house number which was 666 and wondered if they'd have trouble selling the property in the future. In Japan, the word for the number "4" is the same as the word for death ("shi"), so sometimes you will see businesses avoid using the number 4. This is called "tetraphobia", incidentally, and is shared with other Asian cultures that have used Chinese as a root for their languages.

There's something unifying about the fact that Japan shares the same ridiculous superstitions about certain numbers as we foolish folks in the west and I will miss seeing evidence of this aspect of humanity which is shared across cultures.

Will Miss #422 - "death by fan" warnings

Definitely the wrong kind of fan and not about fun...

You can read all of the books and web sites you want about a foreign culture, but chances are that you'll find the reality will catch you off guard sooner rather than later. One day, you'll be talking about the summer heat and how to best cope with it and a student will say that it's just too cold using the air conditioner all night. Rather reasonably, you'll suggest using an electric fan. This will often elicit a wide-eyed look and you'll be told that you shouldn't use a fan while you sleep because you might suffocate. I've told students time and time again that, when I lived in the U.S., I slept all night with a fan in my window and lived to tell the tale, but they still are too superstitious to use one themselves. Sweating the night away is preferable to risking having all of the breathable air sucked out of their lungs by a demon apparatus. 

I'll miss the incredulous looks I get when I say I sleep with an electric fan running and hearing that I'm flirting with death by doing so. 

Will Miss #308 - omikuji

An omikuji with a small gold-colored trinket. You can see the box on the left has coin slots and a hole to reach in and take a fortune.

"Omikuji" are fortunes that can be purchased at Japanese shrines. Usually, they cost 100 yen and are little rolled-up bits of paper with messages on them. Sometimes, the fortunes include another trinket (and cost a little more). There are two aspects to this which I like. One is simply the randomness and surprise nature of the messages (though they do tend to fall into certain categories). The other is the fact that these are offered on the honor system. No one is watching to see if you pay for what you take, but I'm certain everyone pays anyway.

I'll miss omikuji, and their association with the superstitions, spiritual life, and honesty of the Japanese people.

Will Miss #84 - Japanese superstitions

During one of my private lessons, the student noticed that there was a spider crawling down the wall not too far from her. She didn't freak out, but rather said, "oh you're lucky". I asked her why and she said that seeing a spider at night was lucky, but then she said maybe it was lucky in the morning. All cultures have their superstitions, but I've always enjoyed experiencing new ones in real life situations like the one I previously detailed. Sure, I could read about them, but that is sterile and not very memorable.

I'll miss learning about Japanese superstitions from the people who live here.