Halloween.

Halloween weekend was a bit of a washout here, with the remnants of Typhoon 16 starting to arrive after midnight on the 30th. Halloween? In Japan? Yes. For the past few weeks all the hallmarks of the day have been on display in Tokyo, and Friday evening there was even trick-or-treating here in Aoyama. Parents took their kids out to their friends and neighbors, and local merchants were handing out little treats to the kids who were in costume. Many of the store and café/restaurant employees were decked out for the day in orange and black, some with a cape or a witch’s hat. Most of the kids were carrying the same type of plastic jack-o-lantern looking goodie carriers you would see in the US. And of course, I didn’t have my camera on me.
One of the only Halloween symbols I haven’t seen displayed anywhere is a black cat. My sense is that this culture doesn’t have the same negative association that the Christian world has when it comes to felines. More on that some other time.
It’s also primarily a children’s event. While one of the bars I was in on Friday night seemed to encourage its patrons and employees to dress up a bit, the others didn’t much. I think the day has lost a bit over the past generation in the US as it morphed into an adult observance as well.
Even more precisely, it seemed to be a mother and child event, and I certainly noticed more girls out there than boys. I’m not sure what that means, but given what I do know about gender roles in this society, I’m somehow not surprised.

Typhoon 16

So after a night traversing bars in Ebisu and Shibuya, I’m home today.   It’s partly due to the weather.   It is also partly due me having thoughts about whether or not I’m too old for the type of carousing I undertook last night.   I’ll leave you with this thought; party like you’re a Swiss Quantum Physicist.

For the second time in my life I’m going to experience the tail end of a Typhoon.   Japan is at the northern end of Asia’s monsoon region, and the latter half of the Monsoon Season brings Typhoons, which are hurricane like storms.   I was here on a JapanBall trip in 2008 when a typhoon, more powerful then the one we’re about to have, hit Tokyo head on.   The city emptied out that afternoon, and that night I can remember hearing heavy wind and rain which woke me up several times.  Today’s storm isn’t hitting Tokyo as hard.  In fact, I think the latest track has it not quite coming ashore but sort of sideswiping the islands.   Anyway, it’s mid-day, and I haven’t been out yet, but I don’t know if I will at all.  The Japanese TV stations have all sent reporters to the coast, to show that the waves are high and the ocean is furious, and that there has been coastal flooding.  As if the people who have lived by the shore for centuries don’t know that the ocean can occasionally provide more than a mere living.

The Japan Series starts tonight.   Chunichi Dragons (Nagoya) vs.  Lotte Marines (Chiba).   Best of 7.   The first game is in Nagoya at the Nagoya Dome so it won’t be rained out.    The Japanese teams typically incorporate the names of their owners.  Another reason to stay in.

Another Photo from the Mt. Fuji Trip….me and the guys.

Lost in Translation….or just lost?

I’ve been to Japan a number of times in recent years.  Each time I come and go I usually get a few questions from friends about that movie “Lost in Translation”.     I’m actually happy people use that film  as a reference point considering some of the alternatives, although I think was more about the life-situations of the two main characters than about Japan.

I thought the movie had some good points.   It showed some of the sights and sounds of Tokyo.  It showed some aspects of the Japanese at play in the big city.   It demonstrated some of the fashions and styles of Japanese youth culture.     For those of you who have not seen the movie, it’s worth a rental as it is a visual delight.  For those of you who have seen the movie, here are a few thoughts:

-While we still are bigger than they are, these days it’s much side to side as in height.  The scene where Bill Murray is in an elevator, head and shoulders above everyone else, isn’t as common as you might think.

-Tokyo is a sharp-dressing city.  I brought quite a bit of older clothing and I feel a bit like, well, a sloppy American.   At least I don’t wear a cloth belt with my chinos and sneakers.  The movie tended to emphasize the drab clothing of the businessmen and the wacky street-wear of the young people.   It’s not like that here now and really wasn’t this way when the movie was made.  On the whole, people here are well-put together like they are in Paris, Rome or New York.

-It does not take weeks to get over the time change.   Honestly, if Sofia Coppola could not get a night’s sleep after a few days there was something wrong with her beyond the 16 hour time difference from LA.

-If all you can do all day in this city is sit in a hotel room and then hotel bar,  well, I guess we can’t be friends.   Tokyo is as exciting as New York or Los Angeles.   It’s different, but if you want what you have, stay home.  It’s massive, it’s intimidating, but it is also easy to deal with once you get the rhythm.

-Japanese people can pronounce the letter ” l” .

-English, and other languages are spoken.  People are shy about it.   But even some smaller places have an English menu.

-If you are a Western adherent, fan or admirer of Eastern religions and you go to a temple or shrine and don’t “feel it”, as happened to Scarlett Johansen’s character in the movie, relax.   Their religious institutions and rituals are not about you.  Maybe there’s just more to it than what you picked up in college or from your Yoga instructor back home.

-The movie completely missed the joys of Japanese food, of Tokyo’s grand parks, the efficiency and ease of getting around, the quiet neighborhood streets and the hospitality of the Japanese people.

I suppose if one comes here and spends a month at the Park Hyatt, 50+ stories above the street, you never quite get acclimated.    But if you went to New York, and lived in the Regency Hotel or the Waldorf for a month, never went to the Village, Soho, The Upper West Side or (heavens!) Brooklyn, could you say you visited New York?   Would you know where to buy a toothbrush?

If you ever do visit Tokyo, do have a drink in the New York Bar at the Park Hyatt, Shinjuku (Tokyo has 3 Hyatts).  The bar is 59 or 62 stories above the street, I forget the exact floor.   It is two stories high with floor to ceiling windows and a band just like in the movie.  On a clear night, it’s a billion dollar view, and they have Suntory Whisky.   There’s only one Tokyo.

Smoking

I remember coming here when I was a kid and even in the 1980s it seemed like everybody smoked. Restaurants were a haze. It was the era of the Japanese Salaryman. The men worked late, and then went out drinking with the guys after work on a regular basis.

Spain is the latest developed country to ban smoking in public places. Of course some Spanish people are wondering how they will ever enjoy their cup of coffee without a cigarette. Japan has not completely banned smoking, although it is far less socially acceptable than it was before.

New Random Thoughts About Japan

-Some takeout “restaurants” aren’t in fact restaurants. When you order take-out, you are dialing a call center or using a website and the food is prepared at an undisclosed location and then delivered.

-Every time I’ve visited this country there has been some kind of election: Upper House, Lower House, local elections, by-elections….there was a by-election for a lower house seat on Hokkaido yesterday.

-Women here love France and French things. Some of the best crossaints in the world are to be had here in very authentic looking French bakeries and cafes. Japanese men won’t be caught dead in them.

-Smoking is on the way out here too. They say about 1/3 of the men smoke, and about 10% of the women. Men who want women quit smoking.

-Vast numbers of English words have crept into this language. The Japanese don’t seem to think it’s important to replace foreign words with Japanese words any longer. Some of them, like the Japanized rendition of the word “chocolate”, have only a passing resemblance to their origin.

Day out of the Big City.

Went up to the Mountain yesterday.  Finally, after however-many trips to Japan, I got to see Mt. for more than 3 seconds from a train.     It wasn’t completely clear up at Hakone, a bit hazy, but you could still see Mt. Fuji.

Earlier I referred to Mt. Fuji as Fuji-san and Fujiyama.  Yama in Japanese means mountain, and san is added to someone’s name to bestow on them respect and honor.   As Mt. Fuji has something of a sacred status here, traditionally, people do refer to it as Fuji-san.

Just a quickie

Quick post tonight.  I’m tired and I’m heading to Hakone tomorrow.  I’ve been to the Mt. Fuji area a few times over the years, but the only time I’ve ever seen Fujiyama was a quick look (and I mean quick) from the Shinkansen on one of the JapanBall trips.  Not doing the onsen thing, just heading up with two of the guys from the class for the day.

If Fuji-san shows itself, I’ll have some great pictures.  And I’ll explain why I referred to the same place three different ways.  Well, two actually.

 

Today’s Japan Times Feature Article

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20101021f1.html

Ichiro!

Marty Kuhnert is someone I’ve met a few times over the past few years.  He’s been involved in management at a few Japanese baseball clubs over the years, which is a rare achievement for anyone, and especially a foreigner.  Marty has been in Japan over 25 years.

Marty weighed in on something of a controversy about Ichiro Suzuki in an article he wrote for JapanBall.com.   As Ichiro comes closer to the end of his career and his statistics approach and even surpass some records, some people, including some prominent journalists here and in the US are beginning to ask whether or not some of his records, specifically his number of total hits, should be forever marred with an asterisk.  The asterisk would be there essentially since he spent the first 10 years of his career in Japan, not in the Major Leagues.     Marty writes that Ichiro is the greatest player of our time.     I have to agree.  I know that there’s quite a bit of discussion in the press about whether or not Pete Rose’s hit stats are superior. All kinds of rationalizations are being made to diminish Ichiro’s achievements.