Japan

The other day on our way to the dojo we were about to cross a road when we saw a man lying on his side next to an overturned bicycle a few meters down the footpath. A woman had stopped her car and was getting out, so it looked like she had hit him. We went over to see if we could help (and because of the underlying inquisitive nature all humans seem to posses). The man was very old, and was bleeding from his head. He was talking in Japanese, but it sounded pretty incoherent, and was making strange movements. The woman was trying to console him, while I took off my hoody and put it under his head, and Kotomi called an ambulance. Several other people stopped their cars and came over, some got towels and other got umbrellas to hold over the man, as it was raining. Another woman spoke to me in pretty good English, she sounded a bit panicky, so I told her to keep the old man awake until the ambulance arrived and to talk softly so not to scare him.

Kotomi told me to go to kendo, as I was supposed to come early to meet with a sensei. So I left. She came to the dojo about 15 minutes after me. Apparently the old man had been drunk and had tried to ride his bicycle home. He had fallen off about 20 meters from his house and knocked his head pretty hard. He wasn't aware that he was bleeding, and didn't know why there were people crowding around him. When someone told him an ambulance was coming he got scared and said he didn't want that in case his son found out. Maybe he wasn't supposed to be drinking?

Anyway. I've heard that rubbernecking, the act of crowding around accidents, is quite common in Japan. If there's a crash on the motorway, people will slow down and take photos as they pass. And even Kotomi's dad, when he heard there had been a house fire in Noda, walked to the site just to have a look.

But in this one incident I saw a lot of very kind and helpful Japanese people who's intentions were to help someone in need. I wonder if people would act this way in New Zealand?

Books in Japan

One thing that really impresses me about Japan is the book publishing.

I'm not sure about the exact numbers, but Japan has a population of about 120 million people, out of 6.5 billion global population. This isn't exactly a very large proportion of the world. The point is that the Japanese are the only people in the world who can read Japanese, and when you walk into a Japanese book store the sheer number of books seems disproportionate to the number of people who can actually read Japanese.

Maybe they just really like reading. Or maybe the fact that most Japanese can't, or won't, read books in other languages makes publishing in Japanese a lucrative business.

Just today we visited a book shop in a not so large city, and they had an entire shelf dedicated, and I'm not joking here, to kendo literature. All in Japanese of course (cry). And, almost like a library, the store only carried one or two copies of each book which made it even more impressive.

Needles to say, I bought one (with lost of big pictures and a DVD).

Next I'm going to look for a book on dojo construction. I haven't found anything in English, so maybe there will be something in Japanese.

Things that get on my nerves in Japan

I've been in Japan for more than 2 months now (a little late with the blog) and I've been feeling a bit strange towards everything. Perhaps I'm starting to get sick of it. I no longer use chopsticks (spoon and fork are simply better) and I no longer shower sitting down (as is traditional). The trains are getting on my nerves, and I now hate being around the teeming masses of people I once loved observing.

There are so many little things that just get to me here:

Why aren't there any rubbish bins anywhere? I mean, if Japan is so obsessed with materialism, and with packaging everything in a hundred layers of plastic, and with having everything come in tiny portions, then it is inconceivable to me why there are no rubbish bins anywhere.

In the main centres there's always a sea of people rushing about. At first I thought it was a novel situation, a little funny perhaps; but now I hate it, and can't stand to be anywhere near Japanese crowds. And when you have to get on a crowded train and you know the next one will be just as crowded it gets worse.

The noise and the colours. Almost everything has to be 10 decibels too loud and in the brightest shade of pink imaginable. Turn on the TV and someone is yelling at you, walk through a city centre and there are giant TVs yelling at you, showing images of people moving really fast. Walk into a fucking supermarket and the workers yell at you (something like "WELCOME!!!! PLEASE SHOP WITH US!!!!!). And this is everywhere.

Then there are the bigger things that annoy me:

I absolutely hate the way Japanese people obsess over objects and ways of doing things (traditions, almost). For example, the obsession with always wearing shoes outside, and having a perfect barrier between the inside and outside world. Now, I agree that people should take their shoes off when they go inside a house, and that bare feet should be washed if it is dirty outside, but the extent that Japanese people obsess about this is just phenomenal. Public toilets sometimes have special slippers which you have to wear while in the room (always 5 sizes too small) and Kotomi's father told me I have to wear special shoes (again way too small for me) when I want to go onto the balcony.

There are also the cultural objects which are overvalued, such as the Japanese toilet. Why would anyone want to use these horrible relics? And why would anyone want to install them in brand new train stations? They are annoying to use, and compared to the western toilet they are idiotic devices. Perhaps nationalism has something to do with it?

There are more things, but I'll stop here.

I'm thankful Kotomi isn't a typical Japanese, and she agrees with me on most things.