Before arriving to Japan, a lot of people implied I'd be met with quiet hostility. Indeed, when I had just got there and joined forces with Alex, he was expecting the same, having just come from a stint of teaching in China, where he was met with a fair bit of negativity. Of course, I'd also heard that the Japanese are an incredibly friendly nation and I'm more inclined to agree with the latter. However, whilst Japan is 'gaijin friendly' (gaijin being the Japanese for foreigner), I was extremely aware of how un-Japanese I was most the time.
Alex and I probably stood out more than your average traveller in Japan (Alex especially). He being a 6 foot tall man with a shock of red hair, me with my long bushy black hair and both of us rocking the bearded hobo look. Japan completely lacks beards. The most you'll see is the very occasional samurai style goatee, never a full beard or stubble. Partially as a result of our lazy shaving patterns (I think I shaved once out there, came back with a fairly hideous beard which topically I got rid of today - having smooth skin doesn't look right, mind), the local Japanese were always surprised we were only 18. So, as we looked slightly more foreign than the other foreigners, we were met with a lot of stares. Literally everywhere, we were stared at. In Shimoniseki, a rather small seaside town, we decided to cross the road when the lights were red and were met with 'gaijin' laced comments and angry stares by an old Japanese woman. However, not all the stares were bitter. In Kyoto, a car stopped at the traffic lights as they had just turned red. The driver and his companion then noticed us, waiting to cross the road and proceeded to stare. We noticed and waved at them. Hilariously, they smiled and waved back. It was a cute moment.
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Couldn't be bothered to finish this blog the other day, and coming back to it now, I've slightly forgotten where I was going with it. The more hilarious occassions of "omg foreigners" occured with my friend Alex, a ridiculously tall man. We were in Nara, checking out the fantastic Todaji temple where a lot of kids were turning around and pointing at us, occassionally coming over to speak really basic English with us, as was normal really. We were following a small group of 2 or 3 children, when two of them spotted us to and pointed. Their friend turned around to find Alex, quite undeliberately, towering over him. He actually let out hilarious gasp before quickening his walking speed a bit. Okay, written, that doesn't sound at all funny, but when it happened, it was. School kids were generally quite amusing with regards to us.
One thing I became aware of being a foreigner in Japan though, is just how out of their way people will go to help you... presumably, because you're completely out of your element - or at least, I was. When trying to find the Shinjuku National Garden, I became very lost and was looking at one of the maps on the street. However, before I could actually start reading the map, a man next to me spoke in somewhat broken English and asked where I was heading. When he didn't know where it was, this very small middle aged Japanese woman came over and started speaking fluent English. Not only did she explain that I was technically at the wrong Shinjuku station (the one I wanted was one stop further on a different train line), she insisted on leading me to the right station, taking me inside and showing me the map and basically just making sure I got through the barriers to the platform in one piece. This was rather out of the blue, but it really did help to be shown the way in such detail - sure, I'dve been able to figure it out alone, but it probably would've taken a while longer. She didn't have to go as far to help me as she did, but she was more than happy to. In any other country, I'dve been more suspicious of her motives, but there, some people just seemed to be incredibly nice.
Thursday, 26 June 2008
Monday, 23 June 2008
Noises
First and foremost, I am now officially back from my month and a half trip. It was amazing, and arguably one of the best things I've ever had the chance to do in my life. So yeah, time, money and effort well spent. This also means that I may now have some time to write up about my experiences in a vaguely meandering fashion. And on that note...
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Something that annoyed me to no end in Japan is the constant noise. There's just so many random, superfluous and really just plain inexplicable noises in the country - it's enough to grate on anyone's nerves. To start off with, when the lights for road crossings turn to green, there's an annoying repeated bird chirping sound effect. And it varies from place to place. Hell, in Kyoto, they got rid of the bird noise and replaced it with an annoying jingle. I'm crossing the road, not waltzing in to a poor quality musical. This road crossing noise however is worsened in areas like Matsumoto, as the trees in the street have speakers pumping out "atmospheric" background music, adding to a really weird sense of confusion.
Further to this, vehicles talk.* Frequently, if you see a van or a truck, there'll be a megaphone on it with a Japanese lady presumably saying useless things like "I AM A TRUCK. I AM TURNING LEFT. BEWARE. THANK YOU VERY MUCH." (my limited knowledge of Japanese lets my imagination run wild, but I really wouldn't be surprised if this was the basic gist). It's the same voice that you hear in elevators, saying things such as "YOU ARE IN AN ELEVATOR. THANK YOU FOR USING THIS ELEVATOR. IT IS GOING UP." However, things get worse if you are in a big city. In Otsemando Hills of Tokyo, I witnessed and heard a new low of advertising, something I have dubbed the "Ad Truck". The Ad Truck is effectively a truck comprising of a big poster for whatever it's endorsing, in this case some kind of health spa. Now, I've seen similar in Britain, but Japan took it a step further. Like normal trucks and vans, it had a megaphone blaring out rubbish. Except this was all advertising rubbish. No pauses, it was a relentless stream of audial spa selling. Otsemondo Hills is a very crowded up-market area, so needless to say, there was a traffic jam and this Ad Truck was moving along very slowly. I think I took such a disliking to it because it seemed to be crawling at the exact same speed as me. I don't want to visit a Japanese health spa, leave me alone you four wheeled ear rapist.
*House hold appliances talk too. I was taken slightly back when staying at my aunt and uncle's in Tokyo and the microwave started saying things to me.
There are noises inside as well as outside! Japan is littered with convenience stores. They are literally everywhere - Family Mart, Seven Eleven and Lawson being the three main culprits. Whilst staying in Osaka, we frequented one Family Mart in particular that was a tad more aurally abusive than others. All Family Marts play a silly little jingle as you enter the shop, and of course once you are inside, there is random J-pop playing. Now in Japan, it's customary for the shop employees of nearly any store to greet you, even if you are not near them. This usually amounts to them vaguely saying what sounded like "sumimasen" (sic? and which also means 'excuse me', so it probably wasn't what they were actually saying, but for the purpose of this story, I'll just stick with that phrase) and continuing with whatever they were doing. But in this particular Family Mart, the employees made it their mission to out do each other when it came to customer greeting. There would be a canon of "SUMIMASEEEEN", the last syllable stretched out for ages in an attempt to best the previous employee to greet. By evening, this changed to "KONBANWAAAAAAAAAA". Now, this coupled with the other noises of Family Mart never failed to floor me. One person walks in to the store and it's a cacophony of greeting jingles and polite shouts. Of course, it wasn't anything terrible, it's just very different to what I'm used to here at home - you walk in to a store, you may get a slightly unsettling stare and an odd mutter of "Alright?". I don't know which I prefer.
However, Family Mart's got nothing when it comes to the noises of the station. The station platforms are the biggest assualt on the ears in all of Japan. In Tokyo, all the JR stations seem to have little jingles and inquisitive noises playing each time you get off a train. Then an announcement will overlap this, probably a staple announcement saying things like "You are on a platform. Please do not walk on to the tracks. You might die." in the typical female Japanese information voice. That announcement will, half way through, be joined by this horrible ringing noise that is supposed to signify that the train is about to arrive. Of course, these noises alone are not enough, so a male announcer soars above this mess to presumably say "THE TRAIN IS COMING, IN CASE YOU ARE NOT ALREADY AWARE". Seriously, I'm sure I'm not properly conveying just how dire the sound effects in stations across Japan get after a while. They are ridiculous. On the train itself, it's a tad better, although there is still a flurry of announcements, at least they're now one at a time. Equally pointless, mind. I had been told by local Japanese that the announcements on the train are so drawn out that they begin to say things such as "Please do not cross your legs, as it is considered rude". I... what. Please Japan, just tone down the ear assaults. I theorise however that the country probably wouldn't be able to function without this aural abuse - it's probably what spurs Japanese efficiency.
Further to this, vehicles talk.* Frequently, if you see a van or a truck, there'll be a megaphone on it with a Japanese lady presumably saying useless things like "I AM A TRUCK. I AM TURNING LEFT. BEWARE. THANK YOU VERY MUCH." (my limited knowledge of Japanese lets my imagination run wild, but I really wouldn't be surprised if this was the basic gist). It's the same voice that you hear in elevators, saying things such as "YOU ARE IN AN ELEVATOR. THANK YOU FOR USING THIS ELEVATOR. IT IS GOING UP." However, things get worse if you are in a big city. In Otsemando Hills of Tokyo, I witnessed and heard a new low of advertising, something I have dubbed the "Ad Truck". The Ad Truck is effectively a truck comprising of a big poster for whatever it's endorsing, in this case some kind of health spa. Now, I've seen similar in Britain, but Japan took it a step further. Like normal trucks and vans, it had a megaphone blaring out rubbish. Except this was all advertising rubbish. No pauses, it was a relentless stream of audial spa selling. Otsemondo Hills is a very crowded up-market area, so needless to say, there was a traffic jam and this Ad Truck was moving along very slowly. I think I took such a disliking to it because it seemed to be crawling at the exact same speed as me. I don't want to visit a Japanese health spa, leave me alone you four wheeled ear rapist.
*House hold appliances talk too. I was taken slightly back when staying at my aunt and uncle's in Tokyo and the microwave started saying things to me.
There are noises inside as well as outside! Japan is littered with convenience stores. They are literally everywhere - Family Mart, Seven Eleven and Lawson being the three main culprits. Whilst staying in Osaka, we frequented one Family Mart in particular that was a tad more aurally abusive than others. All Family Marts play a silly little jingle as you enter the shop, and of course once you are inside, there is random J-pop playing. Now in Japan, it's customary for the shop employees of nearly any store to greet you, even if you are not near them. This usually amounts to them vaguely saying what sounded like "sumimasen" (sic? and which also means 'excuse me', so it probably wasn't what they were actually saying, but for the purpose of this story, I'll just stick with that phrase) and continuing with whatever they were doing. But in this particular Family Mart, the employees made it their mission to out do each other when it came to customer greeting. There would be a canon of "SUMIMASEEEEN", the last syllable stretched out for ages in an attempt to best the previous employee to greet. By evening, this changed to "KONBANWAAAAAAAAAA". Now, this coupled with the other noises of Family Mart never failed to floor me. One person walks in to the store and it's a cacophony of greeting jingles and polite shouts. Of course, it wasn't anything terrible, it's just very different to what I'm used to here at home - you walk in to a store, you may get a slightly unsettling stare and an odd mutter of "Alright?". I don't know which I prefer.
However, Family Mart's got nothing when it comes to the noises of the station. The station platforms are the biggest assualt on the ears in all of Japan. In Tokyo, all the JR stations seem to have little jingles and inquisitive noises playing each time you get off a train. Then an announcement will overlap this, probably a staple announcement saying things like "You are on a platform. Please do not walk on to the tracks. You might die." in the typical female Japanese information voice. That announcement will, half way through, be joined by this horrible ringing noise that is supposed to signify that the train is about to arrive. Of course, these noises alone are not enough, so a male announcer soars above this mess to presumably say "THE TRAIN IS COMING, IN CASE YOU ARE NOT ALREADY AWARE". Seriously, I'm sure I'm not properly conveying just how dire the sound effects in stations across Japan get after a while. They are ridiculous. On the train itself, it's a tad better, although there is still a flurry of announcements, at least they're now one at a time. Equally pointless, mind. I had been told by local Japanese that the announcements on the train are so drawn out that they begin to say things such as "Please do not cross your legs, as it is considered rude". I... what. Please Japan, just tone down the ear assaults. I theorise however that the country probably wouldn't be able to function without this aural abuse - it's probably what spurs Japanese efficiency.
Tuesday, 3 June 2008
That`s onsen-se
No, I know that title is terrible, I am completely ashamed of it.
So tonight was my first proper experience of the Japenese public paths known as onsen. Basically it amounts to a bunch of naked guys sitting in a warm bath tub, but that would be dumbing things down. Dotted throughout Japan are various hot springs, with naturally occuring sects of boiling water. Over the centuries, these spots of Japan have been frequented by the country`s population as a means to relax. Think of it as a big natural jacuzzi. Anyway, these spots crop up everywhere in Japan, be they naturally occuring or man made (more likely the former, I believe).
So to any Westerner, the idea of bathing with other people seems a bit... odd. As you become an adult, baths and showers become a more private thing - certainly not something you`d share with several people, at least. Being inherently Western, I was initially a tad apprehensive about checking out an onsen. I originally intended to do so in my stay in Beppu some point last week, but never got around to it, partially due to obscene partying down instead (another story, mind). So when I got in to Matsayama this afternoon, a city which contains one of the most renowned onsen, (The Dōgo Onsen of Matsuyama is apparently the oldest bath house in all of Japan, and has been used by the Japanese for around 1500 years) I decided I should check it out. The process is simple, you show up, fumble through not being very good at speaking Japanese, eventually get the right ticket, a towel and soap and then rock on down to the changing room. From there, you stuff your belongings and clothes in a locker and don your birthday suit (of course remember, everyone else does the same - I`m hoping to forget the site of various naked Japanese men as soon as possible). Then you enter the bath room itself. As is customary with traditional Japanese bathing, you can`t just splash on down in to the pool area itself straight away, you have to rinse yourself off and generally make it apparent that you`re not incredibly unclean. Then it`s finally bath time.
First off, these baths aren`t scalding hot. I`m the kind of man who digs his stupidly hot showers, so I was expecting it to be a little hotter on entry. But whilst it seems a nice temperate initially, when you submerge most your body in this never relenting temperature of water, it can get incredibly draining. I was sweating up a storm, I can`t deny. Of course, it was extremely relaxing and by this point, you really don`t care that everyone else is naked, and instead just enjoy the warm water. Now apparently, you{re only meant to stay in the bath for about 15 minutes, due to the heat, but I think I must`ve racked up about 20 in the end. I did have to get out at one point and rinse myself with cold water, but I wanted to get my yen`s worth. After you finish, you get out and effectively shower yourself off. The entire experience consists of using lots and lots of water. Whilst I was incredibly warm for a while after, I did enjoy my time in the onsen - it`s definitely a unique experience that any traveller in Japan should try out. The Dōgo Onsen, being such a historical site, also had a small exhibition room with some interesting artifacts to check out whilst you`re cooling down. I also grabbed some strawberry milk from the vending machine, because I felt I deserved it.
P.S. I realise I haven`t been updating often, that`s because I`ve been doing things. I`ve got several things I want to write about but it`s unlikely I will get them on here until I return to Tokyo after finishing my 3 and a bit weeks around Japan, so some time next week I think. Hopefully my tales of Japanese man bits and water will entertain you until then.
So tonight was my first proper experience of the Japenese public paths known as onsen. Basically it amounts to a bunch of naked guys sitting in a warm bath tub, but that would be dumbing things down. Dotted throughout Japan are various hot springs, with naturally occuring sects of boiling water. Over the centuries, these spots of Japan have been frequented by the country`s population as a means to relax. Think of it as a big natural jacuzzi. Anyway, these spots crop up everywhere in Japan, be they naturally occuring or man made (more likely the former, I believe).
So to any Westerner, the idea of bathing with other people seems a bit... odd. As you become an adult, baths and showers become a more private thing - certainly not something you`d share with several people, at least. Being inherently Western, I was initially a tad apprehensive about checking out an onsen. I originally intended to do so in my stay in Beppu some point last week, but never got around to it, partially due to obscene partying down instead (another story, mind). So when I got in to Matsayama this afternoon, a city which contains one of the most renowned onsen, (The Dōgo Onsen of Matsuyama is apparently the oldest bath house in all of Japan, and has been used by the Japanese for around 1500 years) I decided I should check it out. The process is simple, you show up, fumble through not being very good at speaking Japanese, eventually get the right ticket, a towel and soap and then rock on down to the changing room. From there, you stuff your belongings and clothes in a locker and don your birthday suit (of course remember, everyone else does the same - I`m hoping to forget the site of various naked Japanese men as soon as possible). Then you enter the bath room itself. As is customary with traditional Japanese bathing, you can`t just splash on down in to the pool area itself straight away, you have to rinse yourself off and generally make it apparent that you`re not incredibly unclean. Then it`s finally bath time.
First off, these baths aren`t scalding hot. I`m the kind of man who digs his stupidly hot showers, so I was expecting it to be a little hotter on entry. But whilst it seems a nice temperate initially, when you submerge most your body in this never relenting temperature of water, it can get incredibly draining. I was sweating up a storm, I can`t deny. Of course, it was extremely relaxing and by this point, you really don`t care that everyone else is naked, and instead just enjoy the warm water. Now apparently, you{re only meant to stay in the bath for about 15 minutes, due to the heat, but I think I must`ve racked up about 20 in the end. I did have to get out at one point and rinse myself with cold water, but I wanted to get my yen`s worth. After you finish, you get out and effectively shower yourself off. The entire experience consists of using lots and lots of water. Whilst I was incredibly warm for a while after, I did enjoy my time in the onsen - it`s definitely a unique experience that any traveller in Japan should try out. The Dōgo Onsen, being such a historical site, also had a small exhibition room with some interesting artifacts to check out whilst you`re cooling down. I also grabbed some strawberry milk from the vending machine, because I felt I deserved it.
P.S. I realise I haven`t been updating often, that`s because I`ve been doing things. I`ve got several things I want to write about but it`s unlikely I will get them on here until I return to Tokyo after finishing my 3 and a bit weeks around Japan, so some time next week I think. Hopefully my tales of Japanese man bits and water will entertain you until then.
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