Chasing the Rising Sun: Tales from Tokyo

A Month Well Spent

Hi again everyone! Today marks a month and 3 days since I arrived in Japan, and I can honestly say that it has been a month of my life that I will never forget. Every day is an adventure here and there is always something new waiting around the corner. The last 2 weeks I have really focused on making new friends and growing the friendships I have already created. I have already become very close with the people that live in my apartment building. They are mostly in their 20’s and they are all very kind and unique people. Every day I usually end up spending time with some of them. Whether is practicing my Japanese with the Japanese PhD student Akina, getting dinner and seeing the city with my Canadian housemate Brad, or going to the gym with my Mexican housemate Aldo I can always find a reason to spend time with them. I have also made plenty of new friends at my school. I have gotten very close with the other exchange students and I end up hanging out with them often. I’ve also become more active in the club I joined, Niji no Kai (which essentially translates to the rainbow gathering). All of the exchange students are invited to join since it’s a club that seeks multicultural exchange. They have world study events every week and plan fun activities like barbeques and dinner parties. It has been a great way to make new Japanese friends and practice my Japanese with native speakers. I’m having a great time in Japan and I have learned so much. So without further delay I’ll share some of the more interesting things with you all! Please enjoy the picture of Godzilla about to destroy the city.

The Japanese approach to lines

The Japanese people love lines. I’m fairly certain they are attracted to them. Most Japanese people have no problem spending hours in lines for things that they want. Whether it is for the fancy popcorn shop in Harajuku, or for the Tower of Terror at Disney Sea you better believe many Japanese would be willing to sacrifice a good portion of their day to experience it. However, while in Japan I have seen a few interesting twists on the concept of waiting in lines. The first of these I witnessed at Disneyland and Disney Sea. Most of you are probably familiar with the concept of fast passes. At many major theme park in America you can pay extra to wait in shorter lines. However, with such a high population density and with a culture that values fairness like Japan, this process would be hard to implement. Instead, in Tokyo Disney theme parks anyone can get a fast pass. These fast passes are only for one ride and you can only get 1 every two hours or so (and only while supply lasts). This results in everyone usually getting 2-3 fast passes in a single day. Is this system more practical? No, probably not, but it definitely is more fair. Furthermore, in the spirit of fairness you can generally leave your place in line to go to the rest room or get a snack and return without angering those around you. Another interesting approach to lines I have seen in Japan is at the public gym where I often work out. In America when the gym is crowded you end up waiting near whatever machine or bench you want to use while making sure everyone knows that you’re next. In Japan this would most likely be seen as disruptive and rude to the person currently using the machine. Instead the gym I go to has certain waiting areas for machines and they use a unique reservation system with strict time limits on the more popular areas. Once again it is apparent how important fairness is in Japanese culture. Below are some pictures of the reservation system at the gym, as well as one of the fast pass machines at Disney Sea

Rain in Japan

In the past two weeks it rained... a lot. It isn’t even the rainy season yet, and it rained more often than it was sunny! I don’t enjoy the rain since it often brings my mood down, but there are a couple interesting things about the rain in Japan that I’ve noticed. First is that the average Japanese person will never be caught in the rain without an umbrella. There were multiple occasions where I forgot to check the weather and didn’t have one with me. However, regardless of where I was, the instant it started raining everyone had one! I have no idea where some of the men even kept theirs! The second difference about the rain in Tokyo is the wind it brings with it. Tokyo is a fairly windy city to begin with. In fact they have a word for the wind that gets amplified as it’s forced between buildings (ビル風) “biru-kaze”, which literally translates to building wind. However, when it rains the wind is even worse. My friend Rise brought an umbrella with her from America and it broke the first time it rained here! So a word of advice if you come to Japan; don’t bother bringing an umbrella since it probably won’t last long. I have heard that most of the umbrellas here are much strong than the average foreign umbrella, but even so, every time after it rains the garbage cans are filled with broken umbrellas. Honestly I am not looking forward to the rainy season what-so-ever… At least it will be warm though. Below are some pictures of the umbrella genocide that Tokyo rains produce.

Theft in Japan…or lack thereof

Another thing that has become blatantly apparent to me is how little danger there is of your stuff getting stolen in Japan. Every day that I walk near my school there are dozens of bikes littering the sidewalks, and not one of them has a lock on them. I see people studying outside and they fearlessly leave all of their belongings out when they go to the bathroom or get a snack. One of my friends left his credit card at a restaurant last week and got it back the next day, and another person I know has lost his passport and gotten it back. Twice! Needless to say, the Japanese take theft very seriously, and they pride themselves on being one of the safest countries in the world. You can stop by any 交番 “kouban” (tiny police stations that are on most major streets) and they will help you find anything you may have lost. Chances are you will get it back. Yes you should probably be careful when in crowded touristy places, but for the most part you should not stress out too much about theft in Japan. Below are some pictures of some bikes that would have lasted maybe 3 minutes if they were in a large US city.

More food

In the past two weeks I have eaten more delicious food! I had yakiniku, (traditional Japanese grilled meat) and gyoza (Chinese dumplings that are very popular in Japan) to name a few new ones. I even learned how to make gyoza! A couple of my housemates and I decided to make them and have a small dinner party out of it. It was delicious and super eat to make! I also went to a barbeque last Sunday with the club that I’m a part of at school. It was all you can eat for 1000 yen. It was a beautiful experience. Having delicious food with good friends definitely turns those meals into even better memories. Oh and I don't think I'll ever be able to go back to non-Japanese rice again. Its just too good. Below are pictures of the yakiniku, the gyoza I made, and a small portion of the meat we had at the barbeque.

Misc.

There are a couple pictures that I have taken that I want to put up here that I don’t really have much to say for so I’m just going to lump them into one random category. First of all I have seen more tiny dogs in clothes while in Japan than I have throughout my entire life. I’m pretty sure I have seen more dogs in clothes than without clothes. So here is a picture of that. I’ve gone to karaoke a couple times now as and I have finally gotten the hang of using the machine. It’s pretty complicated considering my Japanese is not that great, but its so much fun! Lastly they have some pretty advanced toilets in Japan, but I saw an interesting one the other day. From someone who has never used one like this before I wasn’t exactly sure how to approach it… so I just decided to find a different one. Sooo yeah.

These past few weeks have flown by for me. I can’t believe that I have already been here for over a month. I have done so many amazing things and met so many different people that I can’t even imagine what the rest of my time here has in store for me. Next week is golden week here in Japan. During that time students get the whole week off due to national holidays falling one day after another. Its the longest break until summer vacation in Japan. Needless to say, everything fun is super crowded. Personally I'm of going on a trip with my club Niji no Kai for the first half of it, and then I'll spend the rest of my time exploring the parts of Tokyo I have yet to experience. I’m sure it’s going to be an unforgettable experience. I can’t wait to share more of my adventure with you all! As always, thanks for reading! Here are some touristy photos I’ve taken that I think are pretty good.