Getting Married in Japan

Setting the scene:
Organ music plays. The priest, bedecked in his vestments, walks down the aisle ahead of the nervously shuffling groom. He asks the congregation to stand, and as the music hits a crescendo, in walks the bride resplendent in a beautiful white wedding dress- the train of which follows neatly behind her. The bride's face is partially obscured by her white veil, and she carries a bouquet of white roses in her hands. While walking together down the aisle, she and her father are careful to match their steps. The father measures his steps carefully, taking speacial care not to tread on her dress. Reaching the altar after a halting march, the father hands her off to his soon-to-be son-in-law, making a small bow in the process.

The priest offers several prayers expounding on God's love for man and the eternal bonds of matrimony that will bound the new couple. He leads the congregation in a hym, sung in a monotone redolent of a gregorian chant. The ceremony climaxes in the exchanging of the rings, lifting of the veil, and tender kiss. "Under the power vested in me by ______, I now pronounce you man (/husband/etc.) and wife", and the couple parades out under a shower of rose petals.

On to the banquet- while everyone sits around various tables facing a main, central one- the new couple is toasted with champagne, everyone is treated to a wonderful meal (foie gras, steak, lobster, etc), and there are several tear-filled speeches punctuated by a slideshow of embarrassing childhood photos. Throughout all of this, the background is permeated by the constant murmur of sappy music.

Sound familiar? While one could easily associate this description with any given wedding ceremony and reception in the United States- it's one that I generally find harder reconciling with my previous knowledge of Japan. Only about 3% of the Japanese population professes Christianity. On top of that, the joyous and often even out-of-hand nature of American weddings and the receptions that follow had very little chance in my mind of occuring in a conservative, often painfully ceremonial culture such as Japan's. The Japanese love nothing if not a ceremony. School semesters begin and end with them. They mark the beginning and end of one's work in a company. School cultural festivals, sports days, and other special days all include them. They are employed in virtually every situation possible. Japanese ceremonies are generally serious, closely choreographed affairs- the participants know their moves and bows to a T. They are also almost unflinchingly serious and stiff while going through the motions.

Thus, it was with a fair bit of wonder (but not with much surprise), that I saw the motions of a Western wedding (complete with priest) take place before me, with all the seriousness of the typical Japanese ceremony. I was sitting in a hybrid. This continued to the wedding pictures, where the photographer did her best to get all of those involved to crack a smile (I feel like my beaming face will sorely stand out in the picture of everyone there). I did get my host, sister, the bride, to beam for a picture of us- which I was quite proud of haha.

The banquet was very closely choreographed- seats were typically arranged in the Japanese order of precedence (with the younger siblings/friends/extended family on the outer reaches, and the parents and Japanese bosses of the husband in the center), an MC talked us through each presentation (even the places for applause), and there were a number of speeches (the predictable ones- groom & groom's family, bride, a relative or two, and not-so-predictable- two of the bosses, etc.). One of my favorite aspects of Japanese culture is its bipolarity when it comes to ceremony- they know that there is a time to be very serious, and a time to unwind afterwards. This is generally when the alcohol begins to flow, as the reception turned out to be (we each received a glass of red wine, white wine, champagne, full). Japanese people aren't allowed to refill their own drinks in formal situations. This leaves a golden opportunity for socializing, as you can take one of the large beer bottles from your table, and walk around the room filling people's drink for them while making conversation (this is true for any Japanese party/occasion where drinking of any sort takes place).

The most touching parts of the reception were the slide show full of pictures of the bride & groom during their cute childhood (and awkward teenage) years. True to their personalities, my host sister was beaming in each of her photos, and her Kyoto University (read: Princeton)-educated husband was a study in serious faces. Another great part was a slightly-intoxicated uncle of the groom getting up to sing a song he'd written for the fathers of the bride & groom. I couldn't understand all of it, but overall it was a chiding song urging them to let go of their babies, and imagining the years to come. This prompted the youngest guest to the wedding, the two-year-old nephew of the groom, to want to sing a song he'd learned in nursery school (about a silly) cat, and he was duly humored.

Unlike American weddings, this was about it- after desert was served and finished, and final speeches made by the families, the guests left and went home at around 8:30. This was another big contrast from my view of American weddings lasting well into the night with dancing, etc.

The entirety of the wedding took place at an old Japanese-style mansion in one of the nicest neighborhoods of central Kobe. Though, as you can probably imagine, space is at a premium in Japan, the house and gardens surrounding it took take up at least an acre. The house was previously owned by the founder of a large insurance conglomerate, and so the 4-story house itself and gardens have been kept in immaculate condition. Wandering around the grounds, there is little to give away the fact that one is in the middle of a packed city of several million people. The chapel in which the ceremony was performed was a beautiful small building in the back that could probably only fit about 60 people in total.

The three most popular ways to get married in Japan are: the Western, hotel-style (often in a hotel with a built-in chapel, the bride wears a wedding dress); the Japanese, shrine-style (at a Shinto shrine, traditional kimonos are worn); and a Western, Christian-style celebrated at a location dedicated to weddings and other ceremonies of the type (my host sister's). According to my host father, the one my host sister and her husband chose was relatively rare (because it's a bit more expensive), but I'd have to say it seemed to be the best, most beautiful type of fusion. As stiff and formal as it was at times, it was still touching. I have the feeling that compared to this, attending a Western-style wedding in a hotel (even if accompanied by Christian vows) would smack of counterfeit. Though I know I shouldn't judge the other two types of weddings before I've actually attended them, for now the one this weekend will remain the ideal Japanese-Western/Christian fusion in my mind.

Silver Week- Tokyo- Post #1- Itinerary

Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, of this week were all national holidays, granting those of us with jobs here an extended, 5-day weekend. The week itself is officially called Silver Week, and the holidays (in order): Respect for the Aged Day, National Holiday (I think a filler), and Autumnal Equinox Day. People use these days for various things (moving, visting family, etc.)- we JETs, as is typical to us, used them for travel. I spent 4 full days (Sat. morning-Tues night) in Tokyo, and in a couple of different posts I'll try talk about the highlights of my trip.

I will try to order posts in this way: Itinerary (1), Food (2), Night life (3), Shopping (4), Otaku/Nerd Culture (and other counter-cultures) (5), Tokyo vs. Tokushima (OR Why I Prefer the Country life- at least for now) (6)

First post- Itinerary Overview- hopefully this will give context to the post(s) after this- sorry if it turns a little long, was just orienting myself by remembering which order things happened in which order:

Friday, September 18- Night bus from Tokushima Stn.-Tokyo's Shinagawa Station
Tokushima-Tokyo is approximately an 8 1/2 bus ride, if you do it at night. Chris, B, Celia, Henry, and I decided on this, because it was 2 fewer nights of accomodation and was pretty convenient. In all, it cost 18,000 yen ($180) for the round-trip. We left Tokushima at 9:30 pm and arrived at 7 am- too early to check into the hotel, but we could drop our stuff off there. Stayed at the Shinagawa Prince Hotel- a really nice place right next to Tokyo's Yamanote Circle train line, which hits all of the major places that we tourists would want to go.

Saturday, September 19-
1.) Shibuya Starbucks- 2-story Starbucks with huge windows onto Tokyo's version of Times Square- some of the best people watching in the world, hands-down
2.) Ikebukuro- great district for bars/restaurants- we went to an American-style pizza buffet (Shakeys)
3.) Akihabara- Brief visit to Akihabara Electric Town- Tokyo's (and nerds') consumer electronics and anime Mecca- blocks and blocks of stores
4.) Nap- no matter how much we slept on the night bus, the afternoon still called for a nap
5.) Ebisu beer festival with Celia, B, & Henry- we met up with fellow Tokushima JET Maggie and her friend Michael for a few pints of beers and pub grub, Japanese-style- great way to spend a cool evening outdoors
6.) Lockup- a prison/horror-themed bar located (fittingly) in a multi-story basement. Think haunted house with themed drinks, waitresses dressed like guards, and periodic visits by "monsters" in gas/hockey masks
7.) Pure- a club in Shibuya with the largest percentage of foreigners of anywhere we went

Sunday, September 20-
1.) Harajuku (w/Celia, Henry, B, & Nick- another JET from DC)- shopping district also famous for its counter-culture stores, people dressed like dolls, etc.
2.) Odaiba (w/CHB, Nick, and Zach (another DC JET))- an island with massive malls, one of which is ostensibly modeled after the mall in Las Vegas with the ceiling painted as the sky
3.) Shimbashi- went exploring a bit with Nick in Shimbashi- huge, modern buildings and lots of shops
4.) Ikebukuro-Dinner w/Ayaka, Masae- two of my good friends from when I studied here sophomore year of high school. We went to a Yakitori place, and the food was amazing.
5.) Ikebukuro- went to Hub, and English-style pub w/Ayaka, Masae, HBC
6.) Shibuya w/Nick, Sumner, etc., Harlem- after HBC went to bed, met up with Nick, Sumner, and some other JETs and went out in Shibuya to a club called Harlem

Monday, September 21-
1.) Late wake-up
2.) Akihabara Electric Town with Nick, Sumner, and host-brother Ari while B etc went Harajuku shopping again
3.) Shinagawa- Dinner at a health-nabe place with Aya, Hina, and Andrew- all former St. Stephen's (my HS) students; Aya was the exchange student at my school for 1 year, Hina spent 4 years as a boarder from Tokyo, and Andrew did the same exchange program as I did, is now a Georgetown junior in the SFS, and is currently studying abroad for the year in Tokyo at Waseda University.
4.) Shibuya- Camelot night club with Chris, Celia, B, Henry, Nick, Sumner, and Andrew

Tuesday, September 22-
Ari & Mika day- Ari is my host brother from my time in Japan before- I lived with his family for 11 months, and he spent the subsequent year as an exchange student at my high school. His girlfriend, Mika, is an awesome girl who spent a year at Lewis & Clark in Portland, OR, ironically one of the college visits that Ari and I did when he was in the US (it was jr. year of HS, so we did a few coll. visits)
1.) Harajuku- Ramen, Meiji Jingu (Meiji emperor's shrine), Yoyogi Park
2.) Shinjuku- huge restaurant/bar/electronics district where we stayed for Tokyo Orientation- went to a book store with books in English (only bought 4), then bought a Playstation 3
3.) Waseda U- strolled a little around the campus of Ari's university, one of the two best private schools in Japan- he studies basically what I did- International politics, government, economics
4.) Ari's apartment- he pays almost 3 times as much for an apartment less than half the size of mine- but he lives within walking distance of Waseda, in the middle of Tokyo
5.) Korean BBQ- one of my favorite meals I've had so far in Japan, yum
6.) Bus ride home

Advice for those considering the JET Program

A friend of mine who is currently a senior at Georgetown wrote to me about a week ago letting me know that he is considering applying for the JET program and asking questions about my experience with it so far, the application process, etc.

Below is my response to his e-mail. Thanks to the detailed nature of his e-mail, I was able to write about a lot of things that someone thinking of applying to JET may be concerned about (including concerns that I had).

I agree that it's the program is an amazing opportunity- I had pretty much the same impression last fall when I was applying, and it hasn't changed since. The lack of being able to specifically choose your location can be a downer for some, but I feel like the positives of the program overwhelmingly outweigh it. As for your application- because we didn't get a ton of feedback on it, it's hard to say. Some things I would definitely recommend though:

-They are looking for people who will be good cultural ambassadors and have a real and abiding interest in Japan's people, history, and culture- which I'm sure you are definitely all of those things. Do your best to express this in your application essay. If I can find it later when I get home, I'll try to send mine along.

-Recommendations: pick people in your life who will back up the claims you make in your application essay(s), and make sure to explain to them as in-depth as possible not only why you want to do this program, but also what the program is looking for in its new JETs. Also, make sure to do this as one of your FIRST things- even 3-4 weeks is too little time (as I found out the hard way).

-Make sure you go through the checklist multiple times and read the fine print. I'd forgotten that the program wants a SEPARATE transcript from your study abroad (ask the OIP) included with the application materials.

-Of course, you'll see that they want everything in triplicate- it's a pain in the butt, especially when asking the people writing your recommendation to make sure they make 3 copies of it, but you have to do it.-If I think of any more, I'll let you know.

Another pain is just how long the application process is- you hear if you get an interview at the end of January, actually have it in February, hear of your acceptance in early April, and hear of your placement in May. The biggest drag on me was the fact that my roommates simply couldn't wait until April 10 to sign a lease for the next couple of years in DC, but it all worked out ok (and I had a few different friends with whom I could've lived if JET didn't work out). This may be obvious, but do your best to have a plan B & C for not only jobs, but housing, etc. too.

The interview wasn't particularly challenging (esp. compared to those consulting intverviews haha). They basically ask you to reiterate a lot of things you said in your essays, teach a quick (2 minute) lesson (mine was about my favorite American holiday), and they may ask you to demonstrate your Japanese (not terribly important, they're more just curious). Make sure to not get too worked up and to speak conversationally, but SLOWLY- I spoke a bit quickly b/c I was nervous, and they called me out on it haha. I would say the actual hardest question they asked me was "You've been to Japan before, and your language ability is most likely above being a JET ALT, why do this as opposed to other options?"

The Program up to now- like I said before, my general impression hasn't changed from before I came. In orientation, etc., the Program will tell you ESID (every situation is different) repeatedly, and it really is true. Generally, however, I feel like the other JETs around me are very happy with how the program works out. Those of us with Japanese language ability have a much easier time than those without (though you do have access to a good number of English speakers- other JETs, your supervisor, the Japanese English Teachers in your schools). A lot of your time on weekends you'll spend with other JETs- traveling, doing things- so in that sense it's a lot like study abroad, where your social circle is fairly limited, and I think that's where some people have problems.

Generally, though, it's pretty much as-advertised- we're paid a ridiculous amount (and subsidized in our rent, etc.) for work that's a lot of fun, people are genuinely glad to have us here and are very, very nice (which I'm sure you knew from before), and kids are kids, no matter where you are.

The various orientations that you will have will cover pretty much any possible concern. I had a full-day Q&A session in June, a half-day pre-departure orientation in July, and then 3 full days of Tokyo orientation. The orientations are extensive, detailed, and extremely helpful. Another useful resource is http://www.ithinkimlost.com - it's an unofficial JET discussion board online that's hugely popular. Though my prefecture has its own, closed one, ithinkimlost is great. It even has a section for people who think they'll be applying.

Coming up: School Sports Day and Cultural Festival

An elaborate, 2-day affair that all middle & high schools put on in Japan. It's tomorrow and the next days, so more to come soon :-)

I'm Published :-)

This past summer I did an internship at the Japan Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a foreign policy think-tank in DC. During the last couple of weeks of working there, the other interns and I were able to collaborate on a paper critiquing Japanese immigration policy and speculating on what the future may hold in a DPJ (see earlier post)- controlled government here. A few days ago, the final version was finally completed/approved, and the Japan Chair will publish it on its website soon. I'd like to congratulate my fellow Japan chair interns on their hard work- I haven't posted about my internship yet on this blog, but it was a wonderful, educational experience, and the other interns (Anna, Laura, Miko, Yana) were all very, very intelligent and very hard working, and helped set a precedent that I was constantly attempting to keep up with :-)

http://csis.org/program/japan-chair

Listen to the wisdom of Prof. Green in the NYT

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/02/world/asia/02diplo.html?em

Bottom line- with a change of political power in Japan for the first time in 54 years, there is concern that America's "strongest alliance" could be facing a shift. These concerns came to the forefront on Monday after an article written by Yukio Hatoyama, head of the newly-elected Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) was translated- in the article, Hatoyama charged that Japan's economy was the victim of "the victim of American-inspired free-market fundamentalism." He is now back-pedaling, saying that the article was never meant to come out in English.

Prof. Green's take- hold off on any widespread conclusions on what the DPJ will do with the US alliance based solely on campaign rhetoric, etc...they're still working on figuring it out.

Invited to my first Japanese wedding!!

As most of you know, I studied abroad in Japan for sophomore year of high school. I lived with a wonderful family in Kobe for 11 months, named the Shimizu's. My host brother, Ari, ended up spending the following year studying abroad at my high school in Austin.

Ari's oldest sister, Yukari, is getting married in Kobe at the beginning of October. The Shimizu family called me today (first Ari, then my host mother, father, and Yukari) to invite me to the wedding, tell me that I could stay with them, and that they would cover my travel expenses. I hadn't been able to get into touch with any of them until now because their home phone has been disconnected (but they were able to see that I've tried to call them a few times since arriving a month ago), and they gave me my host mom's phone # and told me that if I needed anything at all to let them know.

Such nice people :-)

Easy thing about Japan with wedding gifts- you just bring cash in a ceremonial envelope! Instead of worrying about the relative advantages of getting them a fruitcake or a toaster, I just hand them cash. The interesting part comes, however, in determining how much to give them. In Tokushima, relatives of the couple will usually give 20,000-30,000 yen, or about $200-300. Having lived with them for 11 months, I'm assuming I qualify for this category :-) Friends will usually give the equivalent of about $100-$200.

Jogging and eggplants

So I just was finishing up a jog, and stopped just outside my apartment building to walk for a minute. I noticed one of the farmers whose fields surround my apartment building, and started a quick conversation with him. After discussing such important topics as how nice it is to be young (he apparently was a very young looking 78) among other things, I asked him what kind of plants her grew. After giving me a quick tour, he asked if I eat eggplant. Before I can say anything else, he's cut three eggplants from the nearest bush and deposited them in my hands...I love Japan :-)


Now all I have to do is figure out how to cook them...

Japan's election explained by an expert

http://csis.org/publication/japan%E2%80%99s-august-30-election

This is a link to a publication out of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), written by Dr. Michael Green. As well as being a Georgetown Professor and the Japan Chair at CSIS, Dr. Green spent 3 years on President George W. Bush's National Security Council (NSC) as the president's special adviser on Japan & Korea.

During my time at Georgetown, I took two of Prof. Green's classes, as well as worked for him at CSIS for 8 weeks this summer doing an internship.

And you thought 8 years of one party being in power was bad…

…try 54. The conservative Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has controlled the lower (more powerful) house of the Japanese Diet (parliament) for the last 54 years. To put this into perspective, the last time Japan had a power change was when Dwight Eisenhower was the President of the United States. The “1955 system” as it is called here and abroad was created when the two most powerful conservative parties in Japan joined together the form the LDP, and with the exception of a brief period in 1993-94, they’ve been in power ever since. Somehow the fact that the opposition parties here have taken up the Obama theme of “Change” and chanting “Yes We Can” doesn’t seem as hokey as it really should- when it comes to party change, they’re looking good for the first time in over half a century.
This Sunday Japanese voters will go to the polls to elect the Diet’s more powerful lower house. Since the leadership of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi (2001-2006), who as a charismatic Japanese leader (seemingly an oxymoron in itself) was able to enact some real reform in the Japanese system (privatization of Japan’s largest banking system, the Postal system- yes, they keep their money at the post office), the LDP hasn’t been able to keep a PM around for longer than a year, and they’ve lost the majority in the less-powerful upper house of the Diet. This Sunday will see the first lower-house elections since 2005, when Koizumi was still in power. Current LDP PM Taro Aso’s approval ratings have hovered around 20%, sometimes dipping into the single digits. Though he has handled the economic recession fairly ably, his gaffe- and scandal-prone administration is likely to see the first pure opposition victory in the lower house since before 1955.
This “opposition” comes in the form of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ). Lead by Yukio Hatoyama (and formed by Ichiro Ozawa, an LDP defector), they are campaigning for “Change,” though this can always be a relative term in Japanese politics. Regardless, there are many signs that the Japanese electorate has become fed-up with the countless failed policies, corruption scandals, and unpopular PM’s of the LDP. To be fair, the DPJ has had its share of corruption scandals, etc., but they have not had the chance to have a majority government in power in order to show whether they’re able or not to steer the country in what they see is a positive direction.
The Japanese political system for beginners: Japan has a bicameral legislature (like ours) that is elected through proportional representation (not like ours). Their system much more resembles England’s than our own. Like in many, many other countries in the world, their head of government, the Prime Minister (equivalent to our President) is not directly elected into office. Instead, the PM is elected within by the party in the Diet with the most seats. This makes up for a much weaker Executive branch (the cabinet), especially in Japan, where consensus policy making is endemic. Unlike the US government, which upon a major party change in the Executive may be left to fill about 7,000 positions (which the Obama administration is still working on), the Japanese government is primarily run by a powerful bureaucracy. This means that only about 200-300 people change after any given election, even with a possible “major” power shift. Things that have gotten in the way of any type of power shift in the past half century: an ineffective opposition (imagine the Democrats, Libertarians, and any other left party being unable to come to any agreement, and none being able to muster a majority by themselves), the Japanese electorate’s loyalty to local politicians (despite widespread corruption scandals in the LDP), and the close ties between the government, the bureaucracy, and large groups of business corporations (this relationship is called the “iron triangle”). For these reasons, the Japanese government has been slow to change, and there have been very, very few people/Prime Ministers that have been able to enact any type of real change in the government (Koizumi being the notable exception).

We shall wait and see what happens this weekend. Because I work in a rural Japanese middle school, my co-workers aren’t the most politically outspoken/active people, though I have found a few people that I can speak to about the election. More on the Japanese sentiment later, though the next time I write there may be the first change of government here since, well, pretty much since my parents were born…

My 23rd Century Cell Phone

Upon arriving in Awa city, getting a Japanese phone was one of my highest priorities. Wandering into a Japanese keitai shop is kind of like a cross between attending an electronics industry convention and walking into the Sharper Image for cell phones. A typical Japanese cell phone, for example, may come with an LCD screen that swivels 90 degrees, GPS tracking, a bar-code reader, digital TV, credit card functions, video conferencing and a camera and is unlocked by face recognition. On top of that, several phones have begun to appear with waterproofing (for those of my friends that drop their phones in pools or toilets) and even solar-powered rechargeable batteries. You can get up to a 10 megapixel camera on your phone, they all record video, and indeed it’s pretty impossible to get a phone without a camera- I heard of another JET who was trying to save money by getting as few gadgets as possible, and chances are they got one with most of these features for free.
So, as you can imagine, when I chose the “free” option for cell phones at the store, I wasn’t expecting to be able to watch TV on my phone through a miniature antenna, or take high quality pictures/movies, surf the web easily, or about 100 other things that my little flip phone can do. For Japanese people that don’t use e-mail for business, it is also common here to have a single e-mail address- that of their cell phone (we don’t do instant messaging here haha)- I recently heard of a 31-year-old Japanese woman (the girlfriend of a fellow JET) who has just gotten her first e-mail address outside of her cell phone.
This is because e-mail and easy web surfing have been readily available on the Japanese market since before we knew these things existed in America. A short rundown by the NY Times states that for the mass consumer market, the Japanese developed: e-mail capabilities in 1999, camera phones in 2000, third-generation networks in 2001, full music downloads in 2002, electronic payments in 2004 and digital TV in 2005. Part of the reason that we haven’t seen more of these cell-phones in the States is two-fold- one, what the NYT calls the “Galapagos Effect”- as Japanese cell phones became more and more advanced, other countries had little incentive to develop their networks at the same pace as advances in Japanese cell phone technology because their own domestic cell phone industries would suffer. So, the Japanese have continued to develop their phones, and the average user here has, what would be considered abroad, a super-advanced phone. Second is the fact that recently we have become enamored with software-based phones as opposed to the gadget-packed (hardware-based) phones from here in Japan. Our typical phone of choice will most likely be an iphone, which as little value on the surface, but as we all know is jam-packed with useful light-saber, beer drinking, and music recognition software.
Interestingly enough, the iPhone has begun to make an appearance here, but so far it’s stood about as much of a chance on the Japanese market as our phones do elsewhere. I guess it’s just a matter of taste…

Awa Odori- The largest dance festival in Japan

Odoro ahou ni The dancers are fools
Miru ahou The watchers are fools
Onaji ahou nara Both are fools alike so
Odorana son, son Why not dance?

In describing the simple facts of Awa Odori (the dance festival), Wikipedia does a pretty good job: “The Awa Dance Festival is held from 12 to 15 August as part of the Obon festival (my note: Obon is Japan-wide) in Tokushima Prefecture on Shikoku in Japan. Awa Odori is the largest dance festival in Japan, attracting over 1.3 million tourists every year. Groups of choreographed dancers and musicians known as ren dance through the streets, typically accompanied by the shamisen lute, taiko drums, shiobue flute, and the kane bell. Performers wear traditional obon dance costumes, and chant and sing as they parade through the streets. Awa is the old feudal administration name for Tokushima and odori means dance.” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Awa_Odori).

That just about sums it up, so I guess that’s about all that needs to be said…

Ok, I guess I can talk about the experience a little bit. Obon is a time in Japan that is very interesting because the time for summer festivals originated as a Buddhist custom to honor the deceased spirits of one’s family. This is the time that people usually return to their ancestral homes and clean the graves of their forebears, while the spirits of their ancestors supposedly visit the household shrines that sit in every Japanese home. As any good Texan can tell you, this shares a lot of similarities with the Mexican custom celebrating the "Dia de los Muertos" ("Day of the Dead"). Obon has been celebrated in Japan for over 500 years, and has traditionally included a dance, such as with Awa Odori.

Awa Odori was part of the “Hachigatsu (August) Bon,” which is based on the solar calendar, and the most commonly celebrated one across Japan. Generally, the bigger the city, the bigger the festival, which usually includes fireworks displays (both the visual kind and the loud booms that they have for things like Las Fallas in Valencia, Sp.). We went to one of these displays at Naruto (just north of Tokushima city) the first Friday I was here, and I put a few pictures of that on Facebook. I also was able to witness part of the even smaller Yoshinogawa City festival (which is just across the river from me). During Obon, each village’s dance can depict the region’s history and specialization. For example, regions with a history of mining (like some areas on the island of Kyushuu) may simulate the movements of mines (digging, cart pushing, lantern hanging, etc.), while everyone dances in unison in a group.

Obon festivals in Tokushima (and especially Awa Odori) have been famous for their size, exuberance and anarchy since the 16th century. According to local custom, Awa Odori’s existence as a huge, independent city-wide dance festival dates back to 1586, when the local daimyo (lord) Hachisuka Iemasa, hosted the drunken celebration of the opening of Tokushima Castle. The locals, having consumed a great amount of sake, began to drunkenly weave and stumble back and forth. Others picked up commonly available musical instruments and began to play a simple, rhythmic song, to which the revelers invented lyrics.

On Friday, all first-year JETs and a few of the returners joined a dance troop (ren) called Arasowaren, which loosely translated means “promoting peace and understanding.” This is the larger of the two internationally-oriented dance troops in Tokushima, with over 220 participants. After changing into our Yukata and donning a headband, we attended the pre-dance party. This party included speeches by the leaders of the festival, dance lessons, and of course the Japanese party pre-requisite tables of beer and snacks. After learning the dance and subsequently doing it around the room with the other members of the troop, we were ushered out into the streets to begin our 3 ½ hour experience in of Tokushima city during Awa-odori as part of the Arasowaren. Much of the time was spent weaving around and between other dance troops and spectators to reach our dance places. During this time, we had plenty of opportunities to gawk at the variety of ways that people have created to dance the relatively simple dance steps.

Of course, the main point of that evening was our dancing itself. In various designated parts of the city, we would line up in 5-6 lines, and dance 100 yds. or so through the streets, followed by our band of shamisen, taiko, shinobue, and kane. We danced through two especially large sets of stands during our journey through the streets of Tokushima city. It was a bit nerve-racking to dance a dance we’d learned a couple of hours before in front of a couple of thousand people. I was hoping to get lost in the crowd of gaijin (foreigners)- after all, we all look alike.

In more dramatic fashion: The city itself during our dance was an orgy of sound, lights, smells, and people. Colorful lanterns hung from all the bridges, along the streets, and down the alley-ways. Booms from the fireworks periodically reverberated throughout the city, temporarily drowning out peoples’ shouts (generally: “Yattosa! Yattosa!- which lacks semantic meaning, but helps to encourage the dancers) and the sound of the instruments. Festival food was cooked on literally every corner, or, as John M. would put it: pretty much yaki- anything: yakitori, yakisoba, okonomiyaki, takoyaki, etc. People were crammed into every possible space; they were either dancing, watching, or being pulled into the dance while trying to watch. Indeed, for the more wild, night-time dances, spectators are often encouraged to join.

The two nights we went to the festival were pretty hot, but no one really seemed to care, as the city danced with abandon until the police kicked the noisemakers and dancers off of the main streets, then the side streets, and then finally the arcades/pedestrian thoroughfares. What one who has been here may know of the generally subdued, reverential, humble side of the Japanese culture was nowhere to be seen on either night. While during the day the dances tended to be more organized and stylized (called Nagashi), as the each evening progressed dancers switched to a frenzied dance called Zomeki. Indeed, one of the most surprising things for me to see were young (say, college-aged) dancers having drinking contests where people sat on one another’s shoulders, and the one on top would swig from a huge bottle of sake and pass it on, only then to be spun by the bottom person.

I mentioned that we went to the festival on two successive nights (Friday and Saturday, the two concluding nights). Friday is the one in which we danced, and on Saturday we were set free to go out and witness the mayhem as spectators (as much as one can neglect to participate). This is where the majority of my pictures came from (before my camera ran out of memory due to the videos haha). I’ve uploaded all of the pictures that I have onto Facebook, and hopefully will be able to upload the videos sooner rather than later.

Anyways, this marks the conclusion of a pretty long entry, so if you’ve made it this far, otsukaresamadeshita (literally: I was mr. tired), or “great job” haha.

Where I am on Googlemaps

I think this should work. It's a map of a few locations around me that I'll update periodically.

Link: <http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=102168810899671429508.000470c354d8f32a62f30&dirflg=d&doflg=ptk&z=19>

Ame, ame, go away....

Monday, August 10, 2009- 9:45 AM
It’s now been raining for the past two days- large parts of my prefecture are covered in water, and it looks like about half of the teachers weren't able to make it into the office of my base school (Awa-chou middle school) today. Thankfully, I was able to make it in my little car, though I was seriously scared that the two feet of water I had to go through getting out of the parking lot would flood its engine. The road is apparently flooded farther to the east (towards the rest of Awa city) of me, and some of the teachers were surprised I was able to make it in. It helps that I live within a quarter mile of the school. Though we didn't feel the apparently 7.1 magnitude earthquake that struck off of Japan's East coast yesterday evening, these two days of rain have been incredible- they must be due to the monster taiphoon that's just slammed Taiwan and China. Hopefully things will clear up by the time we dance in the Awa odori dance festival in Tokushima city on Thursday/Friday...

Phew

Sunday, August 9, 2009
Phew, what a first week; 3 packed days/nights in Tokyo, and then 5 full days here in Tokushima. I can tell you one thing: being active all day and every day has helped me to get over any potential jet lag, though it has been nice to be around a lot of nice people going through the same thing.

I’ve now met most of the other JETs in my immediate vicinity, and a few others from the prefecture as well. In Awa City (Awa-shi), 3 of the 4 of us are new: John M., who’s an active board member of the Association of JETs (AJET), has been a huge help in getting me situated and answering a lot of questions about living here. He knows a lot more than even he gives himself credit for, as he told me it wasn’t until he was answering all of my questions that he really realized that he’s been here a whole year now and how much he’s learned in the meantime. The two other new JETs around here are Chris and Thad. Thad is a great guy from Iowa, who’s spent the past 3 ½ years teaching abroad in Italy (so we both speak a language that very, very few people in this area apart from the Americans speak haha), and is an active practitioner of Buddhism. This is interesting in that he adheres to the tenets of the religion so far as he doesn’t drink alcohol or eat meat, something that he has been told many “practicing” Buddhists here in Japan have left behind them. It’s interesting to see that Japan, not a particularly religious country, but one that I’ve always assumed followed (at least in practice) what little their religions (Shinto & Buddhism) required of its adherents, is little different in this day and age from many European countries with Catholicism, or even many parts of America. Not that I’m a total cynic and think that tradition/religion/etc. everywhere has been gradually (and completely) abandoned over generations, but it’s interesting to see such widespread and complete disregard for some traditions in a country that is very much attached to its traditions. Chris is a great guy from Dallas who went to Stephen F Austin State University in Nacadoches, Tx and graduated in 2008. I find it funny that I’ve already met 5 Texans that are in this area (Annie & Becky from Austin, Chris & Adam from Dallas, and Sarah from Lubbock), though I guess the Japanese consulate in Houston must get a lot of people applying from our state. Chris came to the Group A orientation, which occurred a week before mine, so that he’s got a much better idea of what’s going on than I do so far.

Yesterday, we went into Tokushima city (the city of 250,000 that’s about an hour to my East on the coast) and met up with a variety of new and old JETs to take a short city tour and go out for the night. The tour was quick and easy, and we were shown the closest store to buy foreign goods (read: peanut butter, taco mix, and funyons haha). Compared to how I’m sure it was 23 years ago (when the JET program began), I’m sure that people in rural places have it much better nowadays: walking through a Japanese grocery store, I find that though the brand names, packaging, and language may be different, you can find a remarkable number of things that one would buy back home: spaghetti & tomato sauce, many types of meat, all kinds of fruits, potato chips, eggs & dairy things, etc. Of course, the majority of items in the grocery store are more along traditional Japanese lines: all types of soba (noodles), ramen, a huge seafood section, miso, natto, and a ton of other things that I haven’t learned to read yet.

On a completely different note, it’s been raining cats and dogs here for the past 36 hours or so. I’m assuming it’s some weather system associated with the massive typhoon that just hit Taiwan (and is hitting mainland China as we speak). On the plus side it’s just warm summer rain, but many of the streets have been flooded in the small towns on either side of the Yoshinogawa (Yoshino river). Driving around, I’ve actually been afraid that one of our little k-cars would get a swamped engine from the foot or so of water we’ve seen on the roads.

In Japan, there are two main types of vehicles: yellow plates & white plates. White plates, with white license plates, are your normal run-of the mill cars- everything from Toyota Corollas to Land Cruisers, etc. K-Cars, or yellow plates, have smaller (650 cc max) engines. To any of you who have seen my beast of a car, it looks like a glorified HotWheels car (but a little bigger). Driving one is a lot like driving a go-cart with the whine of the engine (especially with 4 passengers) and just the small size of it. However, k-cars, we’ve realized, are the best possible thing for a JET to have: the mandatory government insurance (shakken) is much, much cheaper than the white plates, and thus they’re much easier to maintain. Despite appearances, my little car (nickname undetermined as of yet) can comfortably fit 4 people, with plenty of head room to spare- in making their cars look like boxes, the Japanese have crammed as much space into as little as possible (typical).

Anyways, the Tokushima city excursion (and the one to the Naruto City fireworks show the night before) has given me the opportunity to meet more and more JETs from our prefecture. Though Tokushima city is an hour to the west of me (mainly because the two-lane road there has lots of traffic lights), I’ve found that Tokushima JETs hang out with each other quite a bit. Be it through simply friendships & trips or any one of the various (and numerous) events organized by AJET, the JETs in the area seem pretty well connected. One of my main reasons to come to Japan to live here a second time was so that I could continue to develop my Japanese. From experience in Osaka as well as Alicante, I know that in order to vastly improve your language skills, you need to hang out and speak to locals (in that language). So far, I haven’t done a ton of that, but I feel that I’ve been justified in seeing a great deal of my fellow JETs for two main reasons: 1.) there simply just aren’t a lot of people out here, and 2.) getting situated/oriented has been much, much easier with people like John and Balacz (another JET from across the river) around to answer literally every single question that I have. It’s also been nice to hang out with the other new JETs, see how much they know about the Japanese language, people, and culture, and gauge the reasons why they’re here.

The JET program allows you to stay in Japan from 1-5 years, recontracting every year. In telling people how long I would be staying here, I mainly based my estimates off of my life back home (I’d like to go to grad school and start a career at some point) and my limited experience with alumni JET and living in Japan itself. After being here a week (yes, only a week), and speaking to a few of the returning/new JETs (especially the returners), I feel that my estimates of 2-3 years were pretty solid; people come to Japan and do the JET program for various reasons- everything from getting out of the States for a year, to having a new and exciting experience, to being here to catch the latest trend in Anime. A great deal of those people are the ones that stay for one year. After speaking to Balacz (pronounced “Balaj”), who’s been here for two years already, I’m much more confident in my earlier estimates. After telling him about my familiarity with the culture and the reasons why I’ve come back (namely: 1.) work on my Japanese language skills, 2.) get a more in-depth understanding of the culture, 3.) a more in-depth understanding of politics here, 4.) work as a teacher- there are others but those are the main ones), he was fairly confident in his opinion that I was here not only for the right reasons, but those that would keep me here several years. Obviously, time will tell, but it was nice to see that someone who knows a lot more about these things than I do was of the same opinion.

Helloooo Japan

05/08/09 (Wednesday)
Hey Everyone :-)

Well, as I sit down to write this I’ve just begun the process of moving into my new apartment. I arrived in Awa City this afternoon, and have since been running around with a couple of my supervisors making some initial preparations for my stay. This marks the first point since I arrived in Tokyo on Sunday afternoon that I’ve had a chance to stop and take a breath. I’m currently sitting in the huge (by Japanese standards) living room of my new apartment and attempting to process all that’s occurred since my new life in Japan began. I'm here to become an Assistant Language Teacher (ALT) in the Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Program. This program, run through the Japanese government, recruits English speakers from all over the world (except India, apparently) to live in Japan and act as supplements to the English as a Second Language education of primary, middle, and high-school students. JET's are primarily placed in rural areas, and typically rotate between multiple schools. I am fortunate in that I will have one base school (a middle school), where I work four days a week, and two elementary schools that I'll rotate between every Wednesday. I think there are something upwards of 4,400 JETs in Japan at any one time, and there are a ton of different wonderful resources (and a huge network) available to us.

Initial thoughts:
Japan is a lot more hot/humid than I remembered- this could be because I am living slightly farther south, or that this summer in DC so far has been so temperate that I'd forgotten what humid places like DC/Houston were supposed to feel like during the summer. Japan's summer weather is basically the same all over the country.

A lot is the same as I’d remembered from before- wonderful food, tons of people, sensory overload in the city (such as the halogen and strobe ligths of the huge Yodobashi Camera electronics store wth its constantly blaring theme song to the Battle Hymn of the Republic), interesting fashion choices wherever you go (I feel like some trendsetters get dressed in the dark here- though sometimes I feel the same way back home), and various pop culture icons splattered all over advertisements and commercials- in Japan, the music/acting/advertising worlds are all so closely linked, that you'll have the same person starring in a Japanese TV show, singing its theme song, and selling you a beer during the commercial break.

Different from before: this time I’m on the job, not a student. Though I haven't had the chance to get up in front of a classroom yet (that'll be the first week of September), next week I'll be participating in an English camp with all of the rest of the new ALTs (Assistant Language Teachers) in my prefecture- should be fun. The pop culture has changed so far as the music and faces are different, but it's the same general idea as before- now to watch enough Japanese TV to get an idea of who's popular now to be able to speak about them with my students.
This marks the first time that I'll be living by myself- no family, host family, or roommates around to actively participate in my home life. It's a little strange (and quiet), but hopefully before long I'll make some friends and eliminate the quietness of my apartment.

Departure and Tokyo Orientation (Friday-Tuesday)

After a brief pre-departure orientation and some last-minute packing we were good to go on Sunday morning. My friend Jeff and I were a little late to the airport because of a last night out with a few of the roomies, but we made it with plenty of time to spare (about 2 hrs). After a quick 2 hour flight to Chicago, we boarded the flight for Tokyo. Though American Airlines doesn't have quite the movie selection of Air France (flew to Europe to hang out with Kate for a week last month), every other guy in our group (as well as myself) made sure to watch the new Star Trek movie and X-men: wolverine at some point during the flight.

I'm a big fan of the other ALT's that came over from DC with me. There were 66 of us total, and we all got along pretty well. It was great having nice people around to make the trip more relaxed, and Tokyo orientation more enjoyable.

After arriving in Tokyo on Sunday afternoon, we were bused to our hotel. The Keio Plaza Hotel is a beautiful (and huge- 47 floors!) hotel in the downtown Tokyo area of Shinjuku. We were placed in rooms with two other ALT's from our departure cities, and left to roam around the city (though most people were too exhausted to go far). I ended up going out to dinner at a local izakaya (basically a bar with private seating and better food) before heading back to the hotel for bed.

The two days of Tokyo Orientation were a blur of constant activity- we had breakfast starting at 7:30 (though we usually woke up sometime after sunrise at 5:00), then meetings from 9 am-5 pm or later. Monday, the 13 new ALT's from our prefecture that arrived in our orientation group (Group A had gotten to Tokyo a week earlier, we were part of the 640-person Group B orientation) with an older JET from our prefecture, Remco from Holland. He was very entertaining, and it was interesting hearing the perspective of a JET who doesn't spend a great deal of time with other JETs in the area. After that, I ran into a few other friends and decided to wander around Shinjuku for a bit longer before heading up to bed.

A note on Japan: it is the safest country in the world. Not only are its big cities very well lit-up at night, they literally never sleep. Petty theft and violent crime are virtually unheard of in the country of 130 million people, and they generally shudder at the idea of having a similar right to the US' second amendment and the right to bear arms. Thus, when I say "I wandered the city at night with a couple of friends," it was usually with a great deal of people around, no matter the time.

Tuesday night I spent with a few of the other DC JET's before we had to go our separate ways the next morning. It was really surprising how close we got in just a couple of days- I guess going through a veritable paradigm shift in one's life draws you closer to ones around you in a very short amount of time- no matter what one's experience with living in Japan and living in Japan more specifically, every one of us was leaving family and loved ones behind to embark on an exciting new path. Tuesday night we all went out to Shibuya (basically Tokyo's version of Times Square) and wandered around a bit before returning to our hotel and making it up to the 47th floor to take pictures of the Tokyo cityscape. I'm not sure if I was really able to capture how truly vast the city is in pictures, but it's incredible how it seems to stretch on forever.

Today, Wednesday, I arrived in Tokushima City (250,000 people, East coast of Shikoku island, farthest east in our prefecture, and biggest city in the prefecture) and was met by Yoshimoto-san, Hayashi-san, and John, two of my supervisors from my local board of education and a 2nd-year JET in my city, respectively. John was extremely helpful in answering my questions, and Hayashi-san and Yoshimoto-san are very nice and helpful as well.

The Apartment
I'll upload the video as soon as I figure out how (disclaimer: I apologize for the 3 seconds of man-legs- didn’t realize there was a reflection haha )
Before coming to Japan, I had logically assumed that I would be living in an apartment approximately the size of a shoebox. Though my host family in Kobe had lived in a pretty big house (by Japanese standards), I assumed that a JET living alone would warrant a very small space. Fortunately, today I found out that not only would I be living in the largest apartment of any of the area JET’s, but also that this meant that it was a pretty good size. I’m having a hard time reconciling the fact that this place is all mine for the foreseeable future. Is it sad that I’ve wandered around the new place several times marveling at the fact that not only is it beautifully clean and Japanese style (complete with tatami mats in the bedroom), but also it’s all mine? I’ll keep y’all posted on how this whole “living alone” thing goes for me. At this very moment, it feels a bit isolated, as I’m yet to get a cell phone (that’ll be tomorrow), I don’t have a land-line, I have no internet, and I don’t know anyone’s phone number, haha. So, upon getting a couple hours off after shopping for the basics at the local grocery store, I spent the next 20 minutes or so just sitting on the balcony and staring at the rice paddies and surrounding mountains, trying to get my bearings (and of course having the beer that my predecessor had left me).

Don’t get me wrong, I’m ecstatic to be here. I’m just a little bit jet-lagged and tired from orientation, so getting my head straight shouldn’t take too long after a night’s rest.

The rest of this week looks to be pretty busy- getting a cell phone, car insurance, my “gaijin card” (gaikokujintoorokushou- or foreign resident’s card), and meeting people in the middle school and two elementary schools that I’ll be teaching in will probably keep me on my toes. I’ll also get to meet and go out with the 2 other ALT’s in the area that will be teaching nearby this year.

Well, that's all for now- hope everyone's well, and please don't hesitate to shoot me a message by e-mail or facebook, I'd love to hear from you!

p.s.- I'll get my mailing/phone info up soon- I also have skype: john.i.dougherty

Ja ne