Will Miss #488 - people (usually) sit at concerts

The tiny figure in white and black in front of the Budokan was my boyfriend at the time, now, husband. It's the only time I'll put his "face" on the blog. ;-)

I didn't go to many concerts in Japan, so my observations may be inaccurate (or outdated), but one of the things I did experience when I went to them was that people stayed in their seats. One of the things I hated when I went to concerts in the U.S. was that the second the show started, people stood up and that forced everyone else to do so as well. I don't know about you, but I am not a fan of spending two hours on my feet when I paid a fair bit of money for a seat. I realize that concerts are exciting experiences, and people may like to "dance", but the truth is that there is little room for people to move around anyway if they don't want to be bumping into the person next to them. In Japan, where the seats were even tinier and closer together, perhaps they knew that standing and jumping around for the duration was just going to put everyone out.

I will miss the fact that people tend to remain seated when they go to rock concerts. 

Won't Miss #488 - limited edition foreign imports

Strawberry corn flakes, probably there and gone, but thankfully so. ;-)

Sometime in early 2011, while still in Japan, I found a display of Celestial Seasonings specialty teas on offer at Queen's Isetan market in Koenji. I had never seen the flavors before (Chocolate Raspberry Bliss and Vanilla Strawberry Rose) and they cost about 400 yen ($4.43) a box. Since they were new and expensive, I bought one of each to try. By the time I discovered that I really loved one of them, they were no longer on offer. I can't tell you how many times my husband went overboard and bought up a ton of some import and had it go bad before he could eat it because he knew that it'd vanish and he'd never see it again. One time we found packages of South American strawberry bars which were similar to Fig Newtons and we bought up every one in sight (about 10 packages) and ended up tossing them out after a year because we just couldn't eat them fast enough.

It was very often the case that some import that I really loved was "here and gone" in a week (or less if it's snapped up by shoppers) and I don't miss having such a small window of opportunity to get some interesting item from a country other than Japan, but especially I won't miss the sort of mass-buying (followed by waste) we felt compelled to engage in when such items showed up.

Will Miss #487 - no clogs

I lived in the same apartment for 23 years in Tokyo and never once had to think about buying a plunger for the toilet. Maybe I was very lucky, but I also don't recall seeing plungers anywhere in office bathrooms that I worked at or visited. Perhaps the plungers were hidden or there was a magic pixie who lived in my septic system that made sure it was smooth sailing all the way, but for the duration of my time there, I never experienced a clogged toilet. Since coming back to the U.S., I've lived in three different places and each and every one has required the services of a plunger at least once. The odd thing is that the "worst" one in terms of frequency of clogs is a Toto toilet, the very same brand that I had in my Tokyo apartment. My guess is the issue is not the toilets, but rather the toilet paper that is sold in the U.S. I bought recycled paper that was cheap and 1-ply. Most of what you get in the U.S. is 2-ply and "quilted". Apparently, the few seconds of contact with your tender parts has to be well-padded here.

I miss the fact that the toilets I experienced, both Western- and Japanese-style in Japan never clogged.

Won't Miss #487 - wide stances

There are signs on Japanese trains telling people not to sit with their legs open wide because it is so common for men to sit as if it were imperative that they keep there knees as far apart from each other as a couple of angry, violence-prone weasels. My boss once expressed his frustration with these men by remarking that he'd love to ask them if their testicles were swollen. I am in no way exaggerating when I say that they are sitting to occupy the maximum amount of space possible on crowded trains. Japanese men seem to display this territorial body language much more often than men I've seen in America. Well, it's either the fact that they do it more often or I noticed it a lot more because in the context of the smaller, more densely packed areas of Tokyo, it seems far more inappropriate and selfish behavior.

I won't miss seeing these men who seem to believe they need to stake out a maximum amount of territory with their legs (or who suffer from some odd disorder in the cajones). 

Random Memories #7

This beauty, so clean, fresh and lovely an appliance, was named the "Neo Queen", and was kept on a balcony that was favored by the more well-appointed cockroaches in Tokyo.

I have a lot of pictures of things which most people almost certainly do not have a picture of. For instance, I have a photo of the very first time I laid eyes on my husband, our first hug, and our first kiss. This was all due to the unique nature of our relationship, as my attentive readers may recall.

I also have a picture of many mundane things which people probably don't take photos of. Well, that's probably not true in the internet age when people blog about everything from how they cut their toenails to their first pair of jogging shorts. However, twenty-some years ago, people didn't take pictures of their new toenail clippers because they didn't have blogs to display them on and they didn't want to pay to have prints made to send to family about something so trivial.

In my case, since I was half of a long distance relationship and my boyfriend wanted to show me his new environment, I have pictures of a lot of the things which I used in Japan for the first time. I have a shot of the first rice cooker, first mini gas "stove", first tiny refrigerator, and first annoying as hell to use washing machine in Japan. Though not earth shattering in their importance, even at that time these things (well, not the rice cooker) represented inconvenience which was above and beyond what I experienced in the U.S. 

The picture on this post is the washing machine in my boyfriend's apartment. Some of you may recognize it if you grew up in a home that lacked an automatic washer. These deals required you to manually add water (cold in Japan, of course) to the left side which had a tiny plastic oscillator that handled an extremely tiny amount of clothes. Once you put in sufficient water, which took forever and you had to watch like a hawk lest you overfill and have to drain it off, you added laundry and let it roll anemically. After that, you drained it like the slowest tub in the world and proceeded to manually add the rinse water and go through the weak agitation again. Finally, you dragged the sopping wet clothes over the a tiny basket on the right which would never balance properly as you attempted to spin most of the water out of the clothes.

This blue machine was the first one I used in Japan in 1988, but I also got one of my very own a little over a year later when I returned there in 1989. At that time, these were still pretty normal, especially for apartments. Even though everyone was using automatic machines back home for years before this, such labor saving devices were not de regueur in Japan. I'm not certain why that should be the case, but I can speculate based on things I observed and my personal opinions about the way in which women are regarded.

I read blogs written by several women who are married to Japanese men, and have heard a certain comment firsthand which reveals the way in which housework is looked upon. At least 4 women in relationships with Japanese husbands have said that, at one time or another, they said that they "washed the clothes and hung them out to dry". For those who don't remember from some of my posts (and it'd be easy not to remember with 972 posts in the can at this point), most people do not use or have clothes dryers." When women state that they "washed the clothes", their husbands say something to the effect of, "the machine washed the clothes, not you." Of course, the wives are upset that their efforts are belittled in this way, but notion among at least some Japanese men is that women are spoiled by such labor-saving devices and that it's hardly work at all when the machines are doing things.

Housewives in general are held in higher esteem in Japan, which is a good thing. However, because they are home all of the time, their individual efforts aren't always seen as valuable and their time absolutely is not. Labor-saving devices like dishwashers and clothes dryers aren't popular because women are seen as having the time to spend on such work. My guess is these pathetic washing machines (which are still sold in Japan!) stayed in use far longer there than in other countries because the laundry duties could be labor-intensive since it was perceived that women had the time to mess about with them. 

There are other possibilities, of course. One is that they were cheaper to make and buy and Japanese folks just preferred the extra work and crummy results (clothes came out very dingy from those things) to spending a little more. Another may have to do with size or shape. However, we used less space with our small automatic (4.1 liter) machine than we did with the semi-manual machine. In fact, we used exactly the same laundry area with an enclosed plastic base for both types. Yet another is that they use less water. Still, few people use them now so something has changed and I think it is the fact that more women are working now than 20-some years ago. 

At any rate, finding the picture of this machine reminded me of a lot of hated and time-consuming laundry duty in my early days in Japan as well as vivid memories of the unbalanced spin basket. Is it any wonder that I stopped wearing jeans after going to Japan? They were absolutely impossible to handle in such machines. 

Will Miss #486 - no leaf blowers

Oddly, leaves in Japan look much like those in any other country, though the drawing on the ground does have that simple look that Japanese drawing often has.

Perhaps I cannot say "no" leaf blowers as I lived mainly in Tokyo and traveled to various suburbs as well as tourist areas. There may indeed be small armies of people who get up every single day and loudly blow dust and errant dead flora around the streets in other parts of Japan. However, I can say that, in 23 years of living, traveling, and experiencing, I never once heard a leaf blower. I can also say that in the months since I've come home, I've heard them early and often. As someone who enjoys taking walks, there is nothing more irritating than strolling down the street and being overwhelming not only by noise, but by the dust and flotsam that is stirred up. Note that I am currently staying in a "nice" suburban area, not the countryside, in the U.S. Even if they stop their motors when you pass by, the dust does not settle until long after you've moved along. The vile operator of the blower is wearing a mask to protect his respiratory system. You're just going to have to hustle by and hold your breath.

I miss the fact that I never encountered leaf blowers in Tokyo, both because of the noise and the dust (especially the latter).

Won't Miss #486 - "it's their country"

One of the things Japanophiles like to say to you if you are mistreated in Japan is that "it is their country." Essentially, they are telling you that the Japanese have every right to treat you like crap if they like because it is their country, not yours. This attitude is puzzling because it is rarely (if ever) used to justify mistreatment or prejudice against minorities or immigrants in Western countries. If a Japanese person is denied a chance to rent an apartment in the U.S. because he is Japanese, people are not going to say, "it's their country and they can deny foreigners if they like." They're going to yell about prejudice. This phrase is second to, "if you don't like it, leave" as one of the most irritating things Japanophiles say to anyone who doesn't have unconditional positive regard for life in Japan.

I won't miss hearing "it's their country" as a justification for unfair treatment.

Will Miss #485 - lack of public aggression

Since coming to California, my husband and I have experienced either directly or indirectly two public fits of pique in the U.S. In one case, two grown men got into a shouting match over behavior on a miniature golf course. In the other, an angry pedestrian who didn't like the timing of how our car crossed the crosswalk he was approaching smashed his fist down on the back of our car. In each case, I found myself saying, "this wouldn't have happened in Tokyo."

Don't get me wrong. I did see two acts of public aggression in Tokyo while I was living there. In one case, in a particularly horrendous summer and while exiting a packed train, I saw two men who stumbled on each other as they exited. No doubt due to heat and crowding and the resulting frustration, they lashed out at each other. In the other case, I saw one man screaming at another over damage to his car in a small accident. Of course, I saw these two acts of public aggression over a span of 23 years, not in a mere 2 months.

I miss the fact that Japanese people tend not to act out aggressively in public over minor slights or misunderstandings because of a unique mixture of personality traits shaped by their cultural upbringing.

Won't Miss #485 - the comparative narrative

One thing that continues to annoy me to this day when I visit forums or news sites devoted to Japan is the way in which no issue or problem in Japan can be discussed without dragging other countries, well, actually, America, into the mix. No matter what you say about a problem in Japan, the counter-argument is that it's "worse" in America. Here is the thing, it does not matter what it is like in the U.S. when you are living in Japan and dealing with a problem in that country! It's not an international competition in penis sizes in which you have to be sure that Japan always comes out ahead because its social problems are comparatively not as bad as another country's. It's not about "bad", "worse", and "worst". It's about discussing an issue as it appears in a particular culture. When we talk about how the water has toxic levels of purifying chemicals in a city, the problem is not countered with, "at least it's not contaminated with sewage like it is in Bumblebone, Remote Island." The existence of a far worse situation elsewhere does not mean the problem at hand is to be dismissed.

People seem incapable of addressing an issue in Japan without trying to downplay it by comparing it to America. I don't miss this comparative that has to crop into every discussion of a problem in Japan.

Random Memories #6

My first experience with Japanese money did not come along when I arrived at Narita airport for a vacation in 1988. In fact, I didn't take any American cash to Japan for exchange because of the unique circumstances under which I went there. My boyfriend at that time (now husband) was paying off borrowed money for college to his parents and I sent them my $500 and he reserved the equivalent yen he would have sent them for me to spend when I got there. Keep in mind that that was a fair chunk of money in those days as compared to now.

This neat little arrangement meant that neither of us had to filter money through a bank and "lose" on the exchange rate as the banks will add a yen or two to the rate to get their cut. It also meant that my first exposure to Japanese cash came in the mail and in a manner which had nothing to do with currency that I could actually spend. The aforementioned boyfriend sent me many interesting things that he was given or discovered while staying there for a year on his own. One of those things was the cash that I have scanned in for this post. I didn't know at the time, but it is a 50-yen (64 cents) note. 

These were issued between 1942 and 1944 and feature the gate to Yasukuni Shrine. If that place doesn't mean anything to you, then check any news about controversial shrine visits by politicians. This is the place that angers China when Prime Ministers pay a call on it during the New Year's holidays. My best research, which means a quick check on the web and not nearly the "best" I can do, seems to indicate that these were withdrawn from circulation in the early 50's.

My husband can't recall where he got this, but his best guess is that a student gave it to him and then he passed it on to me. These days, people use 50-yen coins rather than paper money. I'm guessing that 50 yen was a lot more money in the years in which this was circulated. I'd also wager that this would be rejected as currency if one tried to use it these days. A bank might be required by law to take it in exchange for a more modern version. However, the frowning and brow-furrowing that would result, not to mention the time it'd take while supervisors all the way up the food chain were consulted to figure out what to do, would hardly be worth the 50 yen. 

In terms of collectibility, my best research, and this is somewhat better research than that I did for finding out when these bills were removed from circulation, says it is for all intents and purposes, worthless. There are a few versions of a 50-yen note from that time that are moderately valuable, but this is not one of them. Still, as someone who lived in Japan for 23 years and was thoroughly accustomed to what the modern cash looked like, this is a pretty nifty item to have in my collection.

Will Miss #484 - seasonal foods

Hot sake, which I always will associate with the New Year and winter in Japan.

In America, we have some things which are similar to seasonal food in Japan, though they tend to be tied to specific holidays rather than the calendar or weather. Marketers are also constantly trying to expand the timeline on everything. I recall, for instance, when marshmallow peeps were available only at Easter and only as, well, peeps and not other types of critters. In Japan, though you can get certain foods year-round, there are seasons for eating particular dishes regardless of availability because the culture throughout the centuries associates them with a particular time frame. There was something about these consistent patterns that added to the sense of the rhythm of life and made you take notice of the time passing. It is similar to the way eating pumpkin pie used to make people remember the warmth of family around Thanksgiving (or the fighting and screaming depending on your family) before pumpkin pie became a food to be consumed year round.

I miss the way the food matched the seasons with predictable regularity.

If you'd like to see some very brief idyllic commercials for season sweets, you can watch one for each here (at least at the time of this posting, the link is valid). 

Won't Miss #484 - a lack of spontaneity

The flip-side of the fact that the Japanese have a ritual or guideline for how things should be done is that there is often a lack of spontaneity in interactions. People do what they're supposed to in the manner in which they are expected to do it and deviation from form or expectations is seen as poor manners, or worse. This is reflected in things like traditional Japanese culture such as business card exchanges and tea ceremony. People are expected to follow precise movements in an exact order. There is no creativity or spontaneity because changing the way things are done is seen as failure to observe proper manners or form. This stifles individuality in favor of predictability.

I won't miss the lack of spontaneity that comes from having relatively rigid rituals and guidelines for social interactions.