As we all know there are a lot of things about Japan that many Gaijin kind odd and sometimes even strange. Japan is a very different place in the world which is all apart of the charm which attracts so many people to the kookiness of the land of the raising sun. I do not look down on Japanese cultural for their odd ball ways; actually I admire them. I kind it amazing that entire culture of people have mellowed themselves out to the point of just wanting to have fun, laugh, and live in peace as much as they can.
Japan is not a perfect culture by any means. They have their problems just like any nation. They are facing the same negative effects of globalism, increasing pressure from the UN, and the raise of aggressive policies on the international front. Despite all of these things the Japanese take to silly humor and creative ways to relieve stress and adjust to a vastly changing world.
Case in point is the band Polysics. This pop rock outfit from Japan has been able to put the expression `high tension person` into music with a blend of DEVO smashed together with J-pop to create a sound and look unlike any band before them. There fans are crazy for the band. They dress up just like the band for each show. Their live shows are more like a release superhyper people. A Polysics show is like a rubber room for the `high tension person.`
Check out these videos of the band who ate too much candy! Ploysics
New Wave Jacket
I My Me Mine
Ah Yeah!
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
The Nu-Nova Teacher
So, for the past few weeks I have been getting used to working in Japan. It has been a interesting experience so far. I have learned very quickly that I have so many bosses that I am pretty much owned by everyone. The layers of BS one has to go though to get an answer can cause a person to stop asking questions all together. There seems to be a system for everything in this country! Even if a detailed system is not needed the Japanese tend to set up a complex way to achieve even the most simple task. This useless way of getting anything done would drive me crazy in the states but I try my best to humor the Japanese and their cultural differences. With that said I am one of the few, the brave, the Nu-Nova teacher.
I must admit that I had my doubts when first accepting a position with a company with had a complete meltdown due to one greedy bastard. As the old saying saying goes `shit flows down hill` and greed can infect an entire company from top to bottom. As the dust settles and a new company, G-Com, is attempting to revive Nova from the mess it got itself into I find myself coming into a company which to learning how to walk again. G-Com has been in a mad rush to get the company back up and running. This mad rush has caused a lot of confusion within the company as a whole. I usually have to ask at least three people before I get a straight answer about anything. There seems to be a feeling that Nova wants all teacher to just, `trust us and do what we say. Everything is gonna be ok.` I expected this kind of attitude from a Japanese company. It was explained to me by several people that in Japan the workers are not to complain or even ask questions. Loyalty is the name of the game and I have never been loyal to any company in my life. I know better than to trust someone who tells me they are my boss.
As for the job itself I do not mind it at all. It is actually fun in someways. It does feel good to be working a steady job again. Although, wearing a suite and tie and playing it straight all day is a bore for me. I have to deal with a lot of squares on my way to work, but they usually do not brother me. We are all just in a hurry to get to a place none of us want to be. My first two weeks I taught way out in B.F.E. at a place called Sagamihara. It is all the way past Yokohama. I had a tough two hour train ride to and from work for the past two weeks. It is a real bitch but I did it. I have been moved to Oji which is much closer to Adachi-ku. Actually, for the time being, I will be at Oji three days a week and another place called Nerima two days a week. Off days are Tuesdays and Fridays. The off days are a real drag but I can get used to it over time.
The students have proven themselves to be very nice. They actually took a good liking to me. The Japanese tend to be easy to teach, at least at a private English school. Some are shy while others are very talkative They do tend to want to keep their head in the book too much. It is a challenge to get them to focus on listening and speaking English rather than looking at the book the entire time. The lower level English speakers are real sweet and break my heart at times. They try so hard to speak English but due to their lack of experience with the language they struggle so much. I avoid saying they are doing a bad job because I want them to enjoy the lesson and being taught by a native-speaker. The Japanese can be real sensitive and up-tight at times so I have to walk on egg shells with some of the students.
Overall the experience is ok for the most part. It will take me some time to get used to, although I will never like it, daily working life in Japan. I did want adventure and a new direction in my life so now I have it for what it is worth.
I must admit that I had my doubts when first accepting a position with a company with had a complete meltdown due to one greedy bastard. As the old saying saying goes `shit flows down hill` and greed can infect an entire company from top to bottom. As the dust settles and a new company, G-Com, is attempting to revive Nova from the mess it got itself into I find myself coming into a company which to learning how to walk again. G-Com has been in a mad rush to get the company back up and running. This mad rush has caused a lot of confusion within the company as a whole. I usually have to ask at least three people before I get a straight answer about anything. There seems to be a feeling that Nova wants all teacher to just, `trust us and do what we say. Everything is gonna be ok.` I expected this kind of attitude from a Japanese company. It was explained to me by several people that in Japan the workers are not to complain or even ask questions. Loyalty is the name of the game and I have never been loyal to any company in my life. I know better than to trust someone who tells me they are my boss.
As for the job itself I do not mind it at all. It is actually fun in someways. It does feel good to be working a steady job again. Although, wearing a suite and tie and playing it straight all day is a bore for me. I have to deal with a lot of squares on my way to work, but they usually do not brother me. We are all just in a hurry to get to a place none of us want to be. My first two weeks I taught way out in B.F.E. at a place called Sagamihara. It is all the way past Yokohama. I had a tough two hour train ride to and from work for the past two weeks. It is a real bitch but I did it. I have been moved to Oji which is much closer to Adachi-ku. Actually, for the time being, I will be at Oji three days a week and another place called Nerima two days a week. Off days are Tuesdays and Fridays. The off days are a real drag but I can get used to it over time.
The students have proven themselves to be very nice. They actually took a good liking to me. The Japanese tend to be easy to teach, at least at a private English school. Some are shy while others are very talkative They do tend to want to keep their head in the book too much. It is a challenge to get them to focus on listening and speaking English rather than looking at the book the entire time. The lower level English speakers are real sweet and break my heart at times. They try so hard to speak English but due to their lack of experience with the language they struggle so much. I avoid saying they are doing a bad job because I want them to enjoy the lesson and being taught by a native-speaker. The Japanese can be real sensitive and up-tight at times so I have to walk on egg shells with some of the students.
Overall the experience is ok for the most part. It will take me some time to get used to, although I will never like it, daily working life in Japan. I did want adventure and a new direction in my life so now I have it for what it is worth.
Monday, June 23, 2008
Japan`s Pinko Government forces me to allow it to steal from me.
Before I sat down to write this I needed a few days to calm myself as to not go off on a rant filled with profanity. My experiences with government have very few times been a pleasant one. As I have learned only a true fool trust any government to actually help them to take care of them in way shape or form. For example, if you want yet another reason to get angry with the US government just go to the US Embassy in Tokyo to try and take care of any kind of personal business; after leaving you will want to punch someone. With all of that said the government of Japan has a system set up in which I am forced to allow them to steal from me. I did not know how much this system really angers me until this Friday when I went to the central government building in Adachi-ku to sign up to be robbed.
I wake up early on Friday and my wife takes me to the government in Adachi-ku in order to sign up for my government pension and government issued health insurance. I found the idea of this very odd because in America the only people who really depend or sign up for these kind of things are those who are too poor to pay for insurance or those who have spent a life time making really bad money decisions and look to the government to take care of them. In Japan if I do not sign up for a government pension and government health insurance I can be fined, jailed, and even deported! When it was first told to me that I have to allow the government of Japan to reach into my pockets and take money from me order to `help take care of me` I was shocked.
It is an insult to me that the government forces me to be apart of such a program. It is like saying to me that I am too stupid to plan for my future so the government has to do it for me. I know for a fact that I can make more money for my retirement then the government can. I can take the same money which they are stealing from my pockets and invest it and make a killing all the way to the bank and have a huge stash of cash to live on when I retire. Instead, according to the Japanese government, I am too stupid to be able to invest my money wisely so they are going to steal from me and get up a pension fund for me which I will have no access to see how my money is bring invested. Truth be told, the money they steal from me is going into the pockets of someone else. My government issued pension is not a single account but a collective account in which I end up paying for other people`s retirement. I am in effect taking care of someone who I have never met and have no connection to what so ever. When I retire in Japan, which I will because I am married to a Japanese gal and Tokyo will be our lifelong home, I have have to depend on the then current working generation of people to pay for my retirement pension. It is never wise to depend on other people, who are total strangers, for your future. This system is doomed to failure. This pinko commie social program depends on assuming that there will always be enough people paying into the system. If the unemployment rate gets too high then the collective account will go into default and the entire system will fail; leaving thousands of retired people who little or no money to survive.
Not to fear the government of Japan has a fix for the huge fault in this system. The law states that if you are alive, able, and of working age you still are required to pay the pension tax even if you do not have a job. If you do not pay the pension tax they can throw you in jail and you worked off your debt to the government by doing unskilled hard labor. So, I currently owe the government of Japan six months in unpaid back taxes into the pension program. I have until the end of the year to pay for back tax, in one lump sum, or a very high fine could be imposed on me or worse I can be jailed. I start my first job in Japan Monday so the regular pension tax is still required to be paid by me at the same time as the back tax looms over my head. Lucky for me I have enough money in reserve to pay the back tax with no problems. This does not change the fact that the government of Japan is stealing from me to provide for some other person`s sorry butt!
The government health insurance is also theft but in a much larger scale. It is a fact that socialize health care does create fascism. All the companies which provide medical supplies and health equipment have guaranteed profits because there is no open market in which they have to compete. They can rise prices as high as they want while the government raises the health insurance tax and the health companies rake in all the profits. This is pure fascism. It is government and private business working together for shared benefit.
The odd thing about Japan`s socialized health insurance is that people who are healthy and almost never go to the hospital are really getting robbed. Again you end up paying for some other person`s health care needs. A person who you do not know and have no connection to what so ever. Even worse is that a person cannot buy over the counter meds unless they go to a special government regulated business which will sell you over the counter meds at a very high price. There are only a few companies which, approved by the government, that sell the basic over the counter meds and their stories close very early in the evening. So, if it is 11 pm at night and you have a pounding headache and have to headache pills you have to go to the hospital or else suffer until the morning. How the whole system makes any sense is a mystery to me.
Being that I do not want to go to jail I signed up for this pinko system. Don`t worry I treated the people at the government office like a bunch of thieves holding me a knife point. I showed them no respect and made them explain to me, in English, every part of the process and exactly how the system works. I know that may have been very rude and childish of me but the more time I spent getting signed up the more angry I got. So, now the government is `helping` me like a old trusted friend. Dammit!
I will make sure that in the rare case that I actually have to go to the hospital I will give every person working at the hospital pure hell and be the worse patient they have ever had. I know that will not be very adult of me but hell I at least should get my money worth.
I wake up early on Friday and my wife takes me to the government in Adachi-ku in order to sign up for my government pension and government issued health insurance. I found the idea of this very odd because in America the only people who really depend or sign up for these kind of things are those who are too poor to pay for insurance or those who have spent a life time making really bad money decisions and look to the government to take care of them. In Japan if I do not sign up for a government pension and government health insurance I can be fined, jailed, and even deported! When it was first told to me that I have to allow the government of Japan to reach into my pockets and take money from me order to `help take care of me` I was shocked.
It is an insult to me that the government forces me to be apart of such a program. It is like saying to me that I am too stupid to plan for my future so the government has to do it for me. I know for a fact that I can make more money for my retirement then the government can. I can take the same money which they are stealing from my pockets and invest it and make a killing all the way to the bank and have a huge stash of cash to live on when I retire. Instead, according to the Japanese government, I am too stupid to be able to invest my money wisely so they are going to steal from me and get up a pension fund for me which I will have no access to see how my money is bring invested. Truth be told, the money they steal from me is going into the pockets of someone else. My government issued pension is not a single account but a collective account in which I end up paying for other people`s retirement. I am in effect taking care of someone who I have never met and have no connection to what so ever. When I retire in Japan, which I will because I am married to a Japanese gal and Tokyo will be our lifelong home, I have have to depend on the then current working generation of people to pay for my retirement pension. It is never wise to depend on other people, who are total strangers, for your future. This system is doomed to failure. This pinko commie social program depends on assuming that there will always be enough people paying into the system. If the unemployment rate gets too high then the collective account will go into default and the entire system will fail; leaving thousands of retired people who little or no money to survive.
Not to fear the government of Japan has a fix for the huge fault in this system. The law states that if you are alive, able, and of working age you still are required to pay the pension tax even if you do not have a job. If you do not pay the pension tax they can throw you in jail and you worked off your debt to the government by doing unskilled hard labor. So, I currently owe the government of Japan six months in unpaid back taxes into the pension program. I have until the end of the year to pay for back tax, in one lump sum, or a very high fine could be imposed on me or worse I can be jailed. I start my first job in Japan Monday so the regular pension tax is still required to be paid by me at the same time as the back tax looms over my head. Lucky for me I have enough money in reserve to pay the back tax with no problems. This does not change the fact that the government of Japan is stealing from me to provide for some other person`s sorry butt!
The government health insurance is also theft but in a much larger scale. It is a fact that socialize health care does create fascism. All the companies which provide medical supplies and health equipment have guaranteed profits because there is no open market in which they have to compete. They can rise prices as high as they want while the government raises the health insurance tax and the health companies rake in all the profits. This is pure fascism. It is government and private business working together for shared benefit.
The odd thing about Japan`s socialized health insurance is that people who are healthy and almost never go to the hospital are really getting robbed. Again you end up paying for some other person`s health care needs. A person who you do not know and have no connection to what so ever. Even worse is that a person cannot buy over the counter meds unless they go to a special government regulated business which will sell you over the counter meds at a very high price. There are only a few companies which, approved by the government, that sell the basic over the counter meds and their stories close very early in the evening. So, if it is 11 pm at night and you have a pounding headache and have to headache pills you have to go to the hospital or else suffer until the morning. How the whole system makes any sense is a mystery to me.
Being that I do not want to go to jail I signed up for this pinko system. Don`t worry I treated the people at the government office like a bunch of thieves holding me a knife point. I showed them no respect and made them explain to me, in English, every part of the process and exactly how the system works. I know that may have been very rude and childish of me but the more time I spent getting signed up the more angry I got. So, now the government is `helping` me like a old trusted friend. Dammit!
I will make sure that in the rare case that I actually have to go to the hospital I will give every person working at the hospital pure hell and be the worse patient they have ever had. I know that will not be very adult of me but hell I at least should get my money worth.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Japan Number one downloader in Asia of FireFox 3.0
The Japanese apparently love FireFox, at least by Asian standards. From FireFox`s download day website Japan has downloaded the new FireFox 3.0 the most times in all of Asia. Currently(6/19/08 2:34 am JST) Japan has downloaded FireFox 3.0 just over 400,000 times! This total is far and beyond any other nation in Asia. The internet addicted South Koreans have only downloaded v3.0 slightly over 44,000 times while China has downloaded it a shy over 167,000. Asian countries in which internet may be out of reach for many common people are also downloading v3.0 in much slower rates e.i. Vietnam(38,000), Cambodia(285), and Tailand(26,000).
Why are Japanese going ga-ga for FireFox 3.0? One of the reasons may be the ease at which one can find webpages and bookmark them. With v3.0 you never have to remember the address of that website you were looking at but forgot the bookmark. All it takes is to simply type in a keyword in the adress bar and FireFox displays in a little pop-up window all the site you have visited which match the keyword. So if a teenage Japanese guy was looking at sexy cosplay pics when Otosan walked into this bedroom offering a rice ball and he had to close his browser, when she leaves all he has to do to type in the keyword `cosplay` and FireFox will take him right back to what he was doing. This feature allows a user to have privacy in an instant; which will be a big plus for many Japanese. With the speed at which life can travel in places like Tokyo having a browser which will remember what you look at in encase you were too busy to bookmark, or just wanted to get those directions to a punk bar one more time, v3.0 will be a huge plus for Japanese users.
The only questions now remains is how long will it take japan to hit the one million download mark?
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
The changing face of Post-Modern Japan
While the western world looks at Japan from the outside, admiring all the odd inventions and lifestyles, the nation is in a cultural crisis as it struggles to adjust to a post modern world.
The culture and mind set of Japan is changing so fast that the Japanese are at a cross roads in their history. From dealing with the slow change in the relationship between company and employee, a increase in the growing gap of `haves` and `have not,` and several other changes the Japanese are having to become more self-aware of their culture and the direction the nation is going in as a whole.
The change in the relationship between company and employee has been a slow, and often, painful process for many in Japan. The days of the loyal salary man is slowly becoming a thing of the past. While most Japanese men still consider bring a salary man as a much desired goal in life, there is a change, from the employee standpoint, as to defining loyalty to the company. In recent years the salary man has been turning on his company when the company is involved in wrong doing. Bring a `company rat` is a very new idea in Japan. Those who do roll over on the company cite that they wanted things to be done the right way. It is still a big risk to report wrong doing. Those who have went to the police reporting illegal actions taken by companies have suffered grave rewards for their actions. Many can no longer find work in their chosen profession. Even worse some even end up homeless because others companies will not hire. The good news is that the government passed a law making it illegal for companies to attack employees who report illegal actions. In time many see the Japanese company salary man becoming the independent salary man.
The raise of workers demanding more rights and resisting company policy is also making its way into the cultural fabric of Japan. This is not to say that Japan lacks in workers rights. Japan does have over all the basics of protecting workers for the most part. The difference is that workers themselves are coming together apart from any government laws meant to protect them. The growth and strength of worker unions has lead to more successful strikes and improvements in pay and employee input. Slowly employee are becoming more brave in break from the traditional feudal bonds of loyalty with the company.
Starting in the 1990`s a new sub-cultural emerged in Japan; the freeter. In the west a freeter is know are a slacker; but in the Japan the raise of the freeter is very different. A freeter does not actually choose to be a freeter in all cases. The raise of the freeter was due to the economic melt down which occurred in Japan in the 1990`s. Suddenly many young people found themselves unable to attain stable decent paying jobs. Not wanting to simply live at home or go back to school many of the youth started to live a hand to mouth lifestyle. Working one temp job after another, sleeping in all night internet cafes, or opening up a small second hand clothing store, the Japanese slacker was borne. Content to make just enough money to survive and enjoying a beer and a cup of instant noodles for dinner, freeters are leaving their own mark on Japanese culture. The raise in popularity of internet cafes are due in large part to freeters. Lacking a place to call home many freeters will bed down for the night in a internet cafe. Most net cafes in Japan now offer small private rooms complete with a computer, shower and cheap food. During the day hours in Tokyo it is common to see people walking the streets with one small bag of luggage on wheels; the mark of a freeter. Their entire lives and all their belongings crammed into one bag of luggage. Freeter is fast becoming the lifestyle of choice for many young people in Japan.
Another new cultural development in post-modern Japan is the social status which working women have gained in recent years. While women`s lib has been apart of the social fabric of Japan for decades only in recent years has a new generation of young women emerged who relish in their social status as fully independent working women. A fast growing number of young women in today`s Japan are choosing to live on their own and unattached by the bounds of relationships. Young women are now enjoying, more than ever, some of the social perks traditionally reserved for men. Many young women are becoming a force in the business world and finding it much easier to break though the class ceiling. They are also taking the stance of `love on my time` which is traditionally an idea that a salary man would take. Oddly enough many working women are preferring freeter men because they usually have more time on their hands and can be available when women want and need them. Many young women say they don`t mind paying for dinner as long as he can spend the amount of time with her that she wants.
The culture of post-modern holds with it many new ideas and lifestyles which are not part of traditional Japanese cultural. The new face of Japan is slowly emerging.
The culture and mind set of Japan is changing so fast that the Japanese are at a cross roads in their history. From dealing with the slow change in the relationship between company and employee, a increase in the growing gap of `haves` and `have not,` and several other changes the Japanese are having to become more self-aware of their culture and the direction the nation is going in as a whole.
The change in the relationship between company and employee has been a slow, and often, painful process for many in Japan. The days of the loyal salary man is slowly becoming a thing of the past. While most Japanese men still consider bring a salary man as a much desired goal in life, there is a change, from the employee standpoint, as to defining loyalty to the company. In recent years the salary man has been turning on his company when the company is involved in wrong doing. Bring a `company rat` is a very new idea in Japan. Those who do roll over on the company cite that they wanted things to be done the right way. It is still a big risk to report wrong doing. Those who have went to the police reporting illegal actions taken by companies have suffered grave rewards for their actions. Many can no longer find work in their chosen profession. Even worse some even end up homeless because others companies will not hire. The good news is that the government passed a law making it illegal for companies to attack employees who report illegal actions. In time many see the Japanese company salary man becoming the independent salary man.
The raise of workers demanding more rights and resisting company policy is also making its way into the cultural fabric of Japan. This is not to say that Japan lacks in workers rights. Japan does have over all the basics of protecting workers for the most part. The difference is that workers themselves are coming together apart from any government laws meant to protect them. The growth and strength of worker unions has lead to more successful strikes and improvements in pay and employee input. Slowly employee are becoming more brave in break from the traditional feudal bonds of loyalty with the company.
Starting in the 1990`s a new sub-cultural emerged in Japan; the freeter. In the west a freeter is know are a slacker; but in the Japan the raise of the freeter is very different. A freeter does not actually choose to be a freeter in all cases. The raise of the freeter was due to the economic melt down which occurred in Japan in the 1990`s. Suddenly many young people found themselves unable to attain stable decent paying jobs. Not wanting to simply live at home or go back to school many of the youth started to live a hand to mouth lifestyle. Working one temp job after another, sleeping in all night internet cafes, or opening up a small second hand clothing store, the Japanese slacker was borne. Content to make just enough money to survive and enjoying a beer and a cup of instant noodles for dinner, freeters are leaving their own mark on Japanese culture. The raise in popularity of internet cafes are due in large part to freeters. Lacking a place to call home many freeters will bed down for the night in a internet cafe. Most net cafes in Japan now offer small private rooms complete with a computer, shower and cheap food. During the day hours in Tokyo it is common to see people walking the streets with one small bag of luggage on wheels; the mark of a freeter. Their entire lives and all their belongings crammed into one bag of luggage. Freeter is fast becoming the lifestyle of choice for many young people in Japan.
Another new cultural development in post-modern Japan is the social status which working women have gained in recent years. While women`s lib has been apart of the social fabric of Japan for decades only in recent years has a new generation of young women emerged who relish in their social status as fully independent working women. A fast growing number of young women in today`s Japan are choosing to live on their own and unattached by the bounds of relationships. Young women are now enjoying, more than ever, some of the social perks traditionally reserved for men. Many young women are becoming a force in the business world and finding it much easier to break though the class ceiling. They are also taking the stance of `love on my time` which is traditionally an idea that a salary man would take. Oddly enough many working women are preferring freeter men because they usually have more time on their hands and can be available when women want and need them. Many young women say they don`t mind paying for dinner as long as he can spend the amount of time with her that she wants.
The culture of post-modern holds with it many new ideas and lifestyles which are not part of traditional Japanese cultural. The new face of Japan is slowly emerging.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Hoppy-Japanese Beer Flavored Beer?
Hoppy. What the hell is Hoppy? Is hoppy beer? Is hoppy a beer alternative? Is Hoppy really beer flavored beer? The answer would be a little bit of all the above.
Hoppy is a beer that is not a beer. If that makes any sense. Introduced in 1948 in Japan by the Kokuka Beverage Company as a beer alternative. At the time when was first released the common person in Japan could not afford to buy beer.
Hoppy is a combination of two beverages. The hoppy itself is mixed with shochu(Japanese distilled alcoholic beverage) to create a mild and refreshing beer like drink. It looks like beer but the taste is totally different. It lacks the bit of actual beer. If a person wants to have more of that bite that only beer can offer Hoppy comes on a black version providing a more bitter flavor.
Shochu has been around in Japan for about as long as there has been a Japan. It is made everywhere in Japan but Kyushu is the center of production. It is 25 percent alcohol which makes it slightly stronger than sake. When mixed with hoppy it becomes much weaker; although many bars but more shochu than hoppy to make the drink stronger.So how does it REALLY taste?
I have tried hoppy and it really tasted like bland water. I could not even tell that there was any alcohol in it at all. I drank four of the hoppy/shochu mix and did not feel anything. I was tuned off by it but I would not ordered it if I wanted to get really drunk. It was almost like drinking stale tea.
Hoppy is not extremely popular anymore but many people still drink it in Tokyo. There days you are much more likely to see Japanese going for a Budweiser before choosing hoppy. Although due to the hardcore work schedule that many people in Tokyo have Hoppy is a nice drink to have when you cannot get hammered because work starts early the next morning.
Monday, June 9, 2008
From Wave Street to Nameless Street
It all started with a simple invite, `meet me in Shibuya to have drinks with some friends.` An invite to have some drinks sound harmless enough, but as I have learned over and over again in Tokyo that no invite is harmless and no night of drinking is boring.
My nameless friend, who is no longer nameless, Achio invited me and my main squeeze Makiko to meet up with him in Shibuya for drinks with a few friends of his. The original plan was to have a house party at Achio`s place but those plans did not work out; I don`t know why and I decided it best not to ask why. None the less Achio wanted to hang and considering my past experiences hanging with him I knew the night would be interesting. All week long he sent e-mail via cell phone to my girl giving updates on the plans and directions on where to meet. In total I think he ended up sending ten e-mails. He proved beyond any doubt that he likes to keep his peeps up to date on his plans for them.
When this past Saturday finally rolled around Makiko was very excited about meeting new people. She has plenty of friends but oddly enough they do not make plans to hang out very often. The chance to go out and meet new people was a joyful idea in her mind. Although, she did express her nervousness to me several times. She spent around two hours getting ready to go out. She usually only needs around 45 minutes to doll herself up. I wrote off her extra care in attending to herself to the fact she wanted to look her best for people she is meeting for the first time. Most guys would grow sick of waiting around for a gal to get ready but it did not brother me much because she ended up looking stunning. It is always cool to have a great looking gal on your arm.
After Makiko was finally all dolled up and ready to go we left our apartment in Adachi-Ku to venture into central Tokyo. There are two ways to get to central Tokyo from Aoi. You can get on Tsukuba Express and go to Kita-Senju. From Kita-Senju you get on the subway and travel all the way to central and get off at one of the main districts. The other, and much more simple, way is to get on Tsukuba Express and ride it all the way to Akiba. From Akiba you get on the central JR line which stops at all the districts on central Tokyo. Wanting to keep things simple we decided to ride Tsukuba into Akiba and then get on the central JR line to Shibuya. Tsukuba Express was dead. Almost no one on the train. The central JR line was a different matter all together. Saturday is a big night out for most people in Tokyo. The JR line was packed with people all looking for some cheap thrills. I felt the usual sensation of feeling like a can of sardines about to burst open on the JR line.
When we arrived in Shibuya the place was already teaming with people. Shibuya usually turns into chaos on a Saturday night. There was so many people that there is no point to look at anyones face. All the people seem to blend into a mass of crazed humanity. At times it feels like some strange acid trip from hell. All the noise and people mix into a haze of maddness that only Tokyo can create. We fight our way though the crowd and make it to a side street known as Wave Street. Wave street is actually one of the places in Shibuya that pleases a person like myself. While the hordes of masses flock to the three main streets which spring out from Shibuya station, Wave street offers a nice diversion from the madness. I first came to know Wave Street when my friend since college, Fumika, invited Makiko and I to meet her at a bar known as the Hobglobbin. Wave street has plenty of bars and restaurants which cater to people looking for a good time without all the madness which goes along with a night in Shibuya. As luck would have it the place Achio choose to meet up at was in the same building as the Hobglobbin.
We went up to the seventh floor using a small elevator. I long ago lost confidence in the elevators in Tokyo after the incident with the elevator closing too fast killing some kid on a bike over two years ago. I try my best to avoid using elevators in Tokyo when I can. In this situation I did not have much choice. When we made it to the seventh floor we were greeted by a bright faced gal all too happy to inform us that we must take off our shoes. The only reason this brothered me was because I was wearing a pair of white leather shoes which were hard to get on and off. No one likes to wait around on the one person who cannot get their damn shoes on and off quickly. I managed to get my white leather shoes off faster than normal due to not wanting to look like a total fool. The bright face gal took my shoes, put them in a shoe locker and handed me a wooden card with a number on it. Only in Japan have I been given a wooden card as a key for a shoe locker. Although I call Tokyo my home the oddness of it all still gives me a little culture shock sometimes.
We were taken to the area in which Achio was seated. I like the seating style the place was using. There are tables for group seating, which is always a plus. You sit on little cushions which are surprising comfortable. Sitting low to the floor is common in Japan although in America it is often not enjoyed by most people. I remember when I picked up the habit of setting on the floor in college from the many Japanese students I was friends with. They loved the idea of bring able to come to my place and being able to sit in the floor and be comfortable but when my American friends came over they hated having to sit on the floor; and having to take their shoes off. Anyway, Achio was more than happy see us. A few of his friends had already shown up. They had drank a few drinks but put off ordering any food until I had arrived. We ordered some food; including my favorite Japanese dumplings. Also, it was Achio who suggested that I try something called hoppy.
I had never heard of Hoppy, but everyone seem to enjoy it. What is Hoppy? Well, apparently it is a mild beer alternative. The stuff comes in two parts, a bottle of Hoppy and a mug of something called shochu. The Hoppy itself has non-alcoholic, yet when mixed with the shochu is can have a five percent alcoholic content. It was actually not too bad. It had a mild bitter taste but still very smooth compared to normal beer. It is also very cheap. We were ordering it for 400 yen(4.00USD) a bottle when normal mug of beer can cost between 500-1,000 yen(5.00-10.00USD). To our credit we did not stick to just the hoppy. There was also a few rounds of sake thrown in the mix. By the time it became time to move on into the more deeper parts of Tokyo the table was full of happy and some what drunk people.
After leaving the drinking restaurant it was decided a quick stop at an oyaji bar was in order. Along the way another friend of Achio joined us. She was a crazy fun loving working girl. I did not get her name but she had just gotten off work, as evidence by her freshmen all black dress, and her genki(energy) was very high. Like the rest of us she was a punk. She had a anything goes attitude and enough bite on her personality to scare away most Japanese business men, but she fit right in with us. You might be asking yourself what the hell is a oyaji bar? An oyaji bar is a drinking bar for old men and usually run by old men. They are small little places for old men go to unwind. The old men working the place really did not want us there and they tried, and failed, to turn us away. There was about ten of us at that point all half drunk, loud, and full of piss and fire. We also had money to burn so the guys at the Oyaji bar let sit down with the understanding that we would behave ourselves. We sat and ate for a little while. The great thing about an Oyaji bar is they always have the best chicken on a stick. You can get almost any part of the chicken served up tasty and on a stick for your eating pleasure. As we eat and chat and old men running the place just kind of stare at us with watchful eyes. We were a motely bunch for sure and one hell of a sight for a bunch of old guys running a little bar.
After the oyaji bar looses it charm it is time to head out into the deeper reaches of Tokyo for some after hours fun. Several of the people decide to catch the last train home; including Makiko. Her stomach was feeling a little funny which is code for `I just want to go home but I do not want to offend anybody.` I say a few kind words to her give her a kiss and off she goes back to our apartment in Adachi-ku. At this point there are only three of us left Achio, a guy wearing a Tibet t-shit, and me. I have no idea where we were going but I was sure it was going to be interesting. Achio says `come with me` and off we go. We get on the subway off to god knows where. On the Subway train there was this cute gal laughing at me goofing off a little bit in a very passive manner. She got a cheap laugh and I got a little meaningless attention.
We arrived at a section of Tokyo I do not know; which happens often to me seeing that Tokyo is a very big place. The area has that run down underground feel to it which leans perfectly to my personality. The area was much like Aoi (the section of Adachi-ku in which I live). Lots of after hours bars, small dance halls, and live houses lined the streets. I felt very comfortable in our surroundings. About half way down the street of Achio`s choosing we meet up with Mini and her friend Nobu. I met Mini once before. She hung out with Achio and I during an all night drinking binge recently. She is from North Korea of all places. Mini is tough yet a very nice person. Her friend Nobu is a very open and friendly fun loving gal. Nobu took up with me very quickly which I had no problem with at all.
For some reason Achio got it in his head that he wanted to go to a near by super market to get a cheap little bottle of wine to freshen up his buzz. We all follow him to the local super market and wait outside. Achio went inside while Mini, Nobu and I wait outside and smoke some cigs. Mini and I got into a conversation about Free Masons while Nobu hugged on me like I was a new play thing. About 15 minutes go by and we noticed that the super market had closed and Achio was still inside. We look inside and see him and some kid who works at the super market struggling trying to open the wine bottle. Achio motions for us to come inside to help. Once inside I quickly realized their problem. They had been trying to open the bottle with a cork screw and somehow manage to break off the cork midway out of the bottle. Nobu sees what has happened and laughs while Mini just rolls her eyes. I take the cork screw and try to pull the cork out for bottle but only end up making the situation worse. Finally, I suggest that Achio just exchange the bottle for one that has a cap instead of a cork. The the manager agrees and Achio finally gets his bottle of wine. Achio drinks the entire bottle of wine in about two or three drinks. I was surprised at how fast this man can drink when he wants is in a hurry. It was actually kind of funny to see him drink the whole damn bottle so fast. The reason for this hast was that he wanted us to get into the a after hours bar called Dune.
This place called Dune was very different from most bars in Tokyo. It is referred to as a Japanese soul bar. It the kind of place that Gaijin are rarely seen. Nobu puts her arm around me and urges me up the stairs into the bar. As a walk into the place I noticed very quickly that the place carried with it a very underground environment. There was a DJ spinning at the front entrance. He was into this work and seem not to care what was going on around him. There was a few girls dancing around his little work area, but he did not pay any attention to them. Nobu takes me to the bar and I order a beer. The girl at the bar had a very relaxed attitude and did not seem to care what was going on around her. Nobu hung onto to me for a while and finally wondered off to talk to a friend. Finding myself left to my own devices I decided to go and set down at the couch located behind the DJ area.
Several people were setting down on and around the couch. Some of them drunk, a few high, and others(mostly girls) setting around looking for something or someone. Before long Achio came to sit with me. He starts pointing out all the girls and attempting to tell me what kind of personality each one of them had. I knew that most of the girls did not give a shit about anything but themselves. I could look into their eyes and tell almost none of them could not be trusted. For the most part most of them only cared about staring at the DJ, getting drunk, and trying to score some free drugs from one of the guys. The kind of girls who are nothing but trouble. Despite this fact, Achio still tried to point out the different girls to me. He introduced one of the girls to me. She was sitting on front of me and had a kind of `fuck you` expression on her face. I made no effort to try and remember her name. I did try to at least talk to her but she I could tell that she was waiting for some preplanned action to go down soon and had no interest in talking to anyone. Good for me because I was not there to meet girls. Achio and I drank for a while. He likes to talk to me but his English is not good at all. His limited English skills does not stop him from making conversation with me.
Nobu shows up again, sits down on my lap, puts her arms around me, and forces a shot of Jack Daniels on me. After making me drink the Jack she demands that I get up and hang out with her. We end up standing and in a very sloppy manner dance to the music. It was not really dancing so much as it was grooving to the music. She puts herself in my arms and relaxes against me. Nobu is a very open girl by Japanese standards. In a place like Dune the girls are nothing like what is normal Japanese girl`s attitude. The kind of people who go to places like Dune are people with very strong independent personalities who don`t fit in with the rest of the people in Tokyo.
After enjoying the attention that Nobu seemed to love giving me Achio tells me that he wants to go outside for a little bit and get smoke a cig. Nobu follows us outside. While we where outside I see the girl that Achio had introduced me to walk by with several guys. This group walks quickly past without looking at anyone and acting like they are coolest people in the whole world. I know this attitude very well. They just did some drugs. If you have never been around people who think that because they have drugs they are somehow cooler than everybody else then you know how they act....like assholes. I just write them off and an glad I did not get involved with them. Those kind of people are nothing but trouble. Doing some drugs now and again is ok but to act as if you are cool shit just because you do drugs turns people into assholes who will make trouble for you.
Finally at six in the morning it became time to leave Dune. Achio, Mini, Nobu and I left to eat at a noodle house. I usually do not like Japanese noodles but this time was different. I don`t know if was the fact that I was a little drunk or just very hungry but I ate the entire bowl like a starved rat.
After eating it was time to drink a little more. At this point it was 6:30 am and these people still wanted to drink. Well, as usual I just go with the flow. We go into a convenience store and buy some cans of beer; the big cans of course. Instead of finding a decent place to sit down and drink we simply across the street and sit down at a very small parking lot and start drinking. Achio takes a seat on a concrete parking marker while Mini sits on the ground. I lay back and Nobu lay besides me. For some reason she just wanted to be near me all the time and I just met her. I did not mind although I did find it odd. It made the night more enjoyable all the same. The three of us talked while finishing off the beer. After the beer was gone we headed over the to subway to go home. Nobu has a different train from the rest of us so I said good by to her and she left; she gave me her number but I don`t know if I will call her. On the train Achio, Mini and I ended up sleeping on each other. I guess we had finally got tired. Overall, the night was fun but odd at times. Just another night in Tokyo in the books!
My nameless friend, who is no longer nameless, Achio invited me and my main squeeze Makiko to meet up with him in Shibuya for drinks with a few friends of his. The original plan was to have a house party at Achio`s place but those plans did not work out; I don`t know why and I decided it best not to ask why. None the less Achio wanted to hang and considering my past experiences hanging with him I knew the night would be interesting. All week long he sent e-mail via cell phone to my girl giving updates on the plans and directions on where to meet. In total I think he ended up sending ten e-mails. He proved beyond any doubt that he likes to keep his peeps up to date on his plans for them.
When this past Saturday finally rolled around Makiko was very excited about meeting new people. She has plenty of friends but oddly enough they do not make plans to hang out very often. The chance to go out and meet new people was a joyful idea in her mind. Although, she did express her nervousness to me several times. She spent around two hours getting ready to go out. She usually only needs around 45 minutes to doll herself up. I wrote off her extra care in attending to herself to the fact she wanted to look her best for people she is meeting for the first time. Most guys would grow sick of waiting around for a gal to get ready but it did not brother me much because she ended up looking stunning. It is always cool to have a great looking gal on your arm.
After Makiko was finally all dolled up and ready to go we left our apartment in Adachi-Ku to venture into central Tokyo. There are two ways to get to central Tokyo from Aoi. You can get on Tsukuba Express and go to Kita-Senju. From Kita-Senju you get on the subway and travel all the way to central and get off at one of the main districts. The other, and much more simple, way is to get on Tsukuba Express and ride it all the way to Akiba. From Akiba you get on the central JR line which stops at all the districts on central Tokyo. Wanting to keep things simple we decided to ride Tsukuba into Akiba and then get on the central JR line to Shibuya. Tsukuba Express was dead. Almost no one on the train. The central JR line was a different matter all together. Saturday is a big night out for most people in Tokyo. The JR line was packed with people all looking for some cheap thrills. I felt the usual sensation of feeling like a can of sardines about to burst open on the JR line.
When we arrived in Shibuya the place was already teaming with people. Shibuya usually turns into chaos on a Saturday night. There was so many people that there is no point to look at anyones face. All the people seem to blend into a mass of crazed humanity. At times it feels like some strange acid trip from hell. All the noise and people mix into a haze of maddness that only Tokyo can create. We fight our way though the crowd and make it to a side street known as Wave Street. Wave street is actually one of the places in Shibuya that pleases a person like myself. While the hordes of masses flock to the three main streets which spring out from Shibuya station, Wave street offers a nice diversion from the madness. I first came to know Wave Street when my friend since college, Fumika, invited Makiko and I to meet her at a bar known as the Hobglobbin. Wave street has plenty of bars and restaurants which cater to people looking for a good time without all the madness which goes along with a night in Shibuya. As luck would have it the place Achio choose to meet up at was in the same building as the Hobglobbin.
We went up to the seventh floor using a small elevator. I long ago lost confidence in the elevators in Tokyo after the incident with the elevator closing too fast killing some kid on a bike over two years ago. I try my best to avoid using elevators in Tokyo when I can. In this situation I did not have much choice. When we made it to the seventh floor we were greeted by a bright faced gal all too happy to inform us that we must take off our shoes. The only reason this brothered me was because I was wearing a pair of white leather shoes which were hard to get on and off. No one likes to wait around on the one person who cannot get their damn shoes on and off quickly. I managed to get my white leather shoes off faster than normal due to not wanting to look like a total fool. The bright face gal took my shoes, put them in a shoe locker and handed me a wooden card with a number on it. Only in Japan have I been given a wooden card as a key for a shoe locker. Although I call Tokyo my home the oddness of it all still gives me a little culture shock sometimes.
We were taken to the area in which Achio was seated. I like the seating style the place was using. There are tables for group seating, which is always a plus. You sit on little cushions which are surprising comfortable. Sitting low to the floor is common in Japan although in America it is often not enjoyed by most people. I remember when I picked up the habit of setting on the floor in college from the many Japanese students I was friends with. They loved the idea of bring able to come to my place and being able to sit in the floor and be comfortable but when my American friends came over they hated having to sit on the floor; and having to take their shoes off. Anyway, Achio was more than happy see us. A few of his friends had already shown up. They had drank a few drinks but put off ordering any food until I had arrived. We ordered some food; including my favorite Japanese dumplings. Also, it was Achio who suggested that I try something called hoppy.
I had never heard of Hoppy, but everyone seem to enjoy it. What is Hoppy? Well, apparently it is a mild beer alternative. The stuff comes in two parts, a bottle of Hoppy and a mug of something called shochu. The Hoppy itself has non-alcoholic, yet when mixed with the shochu is can have a five percent alcoholic content. It was actually not too bad. It had a mild bitter taste but still very smooth compared to normal beer. It is also very cheap. We were ordering it for 400 yen(4.00USD) a bottle when normal mug of beer can cost between 500-1,000 yen(5.00-10.00USD). To our credit we did not stick to just the hoppy. There was also a few rounds of sake thrown in the mix. By the time it became time to move on into the more deeper parts of Tokyo the table was full of happy and some what drunk people.
A table full of fun loving drunks!
After leaving the drinking restaurant it was decided a quick stop at an oyaji bar was in order. Along the way another friend of Achio joined us. She was a crazy fun loving working girl. I did not get her name but she had just gotten off work, as evidence by her freshmen all black dress, and her genki(energy) was very high. Like the rest of us she was a punk. She had a anything goes attitude and enough bite on her personality to scare away most Japanese business men, but she fit right in with us. You might be asking yourself what the hell is a oyaji bar? An oyaji bar is a drinking bar for old men and usually run by old men. They are small little places for old men go to unwind. The old men working the place really did not want us there and they tried, and failed, to turn us away. There was about ten of us at that point all half drunk, loud, and full of piss and fire. We also had money to burn so the guys at the Oyaji bar let sit down with the understanding that we would behave ourselves. We sat and ate for a little while. The great thing about an Oyaji bar is they always have the best chicken on a stick. You can get almost any part of the chicken served up tasty and on a stick for your eating pleasure. As we eat and chat and old men running the place just kind of stare at us with watchful eyes. We were a motely bunch for sure and one hell of a sight for a bunch of old guys running a little bar.
After the oyaji bar looses it charm it is time to head out into the deeper reaches of Tokyo for some after hours fun. Several of the people decide to catch the last train home; including Makiko. Her stomach was feeling a little funny which is code for `I just want to go home but I do not want to offend anybody.` I say a few kind words to her give her a kiss and off she goes back to our apartment in Adachi-ku. At this point there are only three of us left Achio, a guy wearing a Tibet t-shit, and me. I have no idea where we were going but I was sure it was going to be interesting. Achio says `come with me` and off we go. We get on the subway off to god knows where. On the Subway train there was this cute gal laughing at me goofing off a little bit in a very passive manner. She got a cheap laugh and I got a little meaningless attention.
We arrived at a section of Tokyo I do not know; which happens often to me seeing that Tokyo is a very big place. The area has that run down underground feel to it which leans perfectly to my personality. The area was much like Aoi (the section of Adachi-ku in which I live). Lots of after hours bars, small dance halls, and live houses lined the streets. I felt very comfortable in our surroundings. About half way down the street of Achio`s choosing we meet up with Mini and her friend Nobu. I met Mini once before. She hung out with Achio and I during an all night drinking binge recently. She is from North Korea of all places. Mini is tough yet a very nice person. Her friend Nobu is a very open and friendly fun loving gal. Nobu took up with me very quickly which I had no problem with at all.
For some reason Achio got it in his head that he wanted to go to a near by super market to get a cheap little bottle of wine to freshen up his buzz. We all follow him to the local super market and wait outside. Achio went inside while Mini, Nobu and I wait outside and smoke some cigs. Mini and I got into a conversation about Free Masons while Nobu hugged on me like I was a new play thing. About 15 minutes go by and we noticed that the super market had closed and Achio was still inside. We look inside and see him and some kid who works at the super market struggling trying to open the wine bottle. Achio motions for us to come inside to help. Once inside I quickly realized their problem. They had been trying to open the bottle with a cork screw and somehow manage to break off the cork midway out of the bottle. Nobu sees what has happened and laughs while Mini just rolls her eyes. I take the cork screw and try to pull the cork out for bottle but only end up making the situation worse. Finally, I suggest that Achio just exchange the bottle for one that has a cap instead of a cork. The the manager agrees and Achio finally gets his bottle of wine. Achio drinks the entire bottle of wine in about two or three drinks. I was surprised at how fast this man can drink when he wants is in a hurry. It was actually kind of funny to see him drink the whole damn bottle so fast. The reason for this hast was that he wanted us to get into the a after hours bar called Dune.
This place called Dune was very different from most bars in Tokyo. It is referred to as a Japanese soul bar. It the kind of place that Gaijin are rarely seen. Nobu puts her arm around me and urges me up the stairs into the bar. As a walk into the place I noticed very quickly that the place carried with it a very underground environment. There was a DJ spinning at the front entrance. He was into this work and seem not to care what was going on around him. There was a few girls dancing around his little work area, but he did not pay any attention to them. Nobu takes me to the bar and I order a beer. The girl at the bar had a very relaxed attitude and did not seem to care what was going on around her. Nobu hung onto to me for a while and finally wondered off to talk to a friend. Finding myself left to my own devices I decided to go and set down at the couch located behind the DJ area.
Several people were setting down on and around the couch. Some of them drunk, a few high, and others(mostly girls) setting around looking for something or someone. Before long Achio came to sit with me. He starts pointing out all the girls and attempting to tell me what kind of personality each one of them had. I knew that most of the girls did not give a shit about anything but themselves. I could look into their eyes and tell almost none of them could not be trusted. For the most part most of them only cared about staring at the DJ, getting drunk, and trying to score some free drugs from one of the guys. The kind of girls who are nothing but trouble. Despite this fact, Achio still tried to point out the different girls to me. He introduced one of the girls to me. She was sitting on front of me and had a kind of `fuck you` expression on her face. I made no effort to try and remember her name. I did try to at least talk to her but she I could tell that she was waiting for some preplanned action to go down soon and had no interest in talking to anyone. Good for me because I was not there to meet girls. Achio and I drank for a while. He likes to talk to me but his English is not good at all. His limited English skills does not stop him from making conversation with me.
Nobu shows up again, sits down on my lap, puts her arms around me, and forces a shot of Jack Daniels on me. After making me drink the Jack she demands that I get up and hang out with her. We end up standing and in a very sloppy manner dance to the music. It was not really dancing so much as it was grooving to the music. She puts herself in my arms and relaxes against me. Nobu is a very open girl by Japanese standards. In a place like Dune the girls are nothing like what is normal Japanese girl`s attitude. The kind of people who go to places like Dune are people with very strong independent personalities who don`t fit in with the rest of the people in Tokyo.
After enjoying the attention that Nobu seemed to love giving me Achio tells me that he wants to go outside for a little bit and get smoke a cig. Nobu follows us outside. While we where outside I see the girl that Achio had introduced me to walk by with several guys. This group walks quickly past without looking at anyone and acting like they are coolest people in the whole world. I know this attitude very well. They just did some drugs. If you have never been around people who think that because they have drugs they are somehow cooler than everybody else then you know how they act....like assholes. I just write them off and an glad I did not get involved with them. Those kind of people are nothing but trouble. Doing some drugs now and again is ok but to act as if you are cool shit just because you do drugs turns people into assholes who will make trouble for you.
Finally at six in the morning it became time to leave Dune. Achio, Mini, Nobu and I left to eat at a noodle house. I usually do not like Japanese noodles but this time was different. I don`t know if was the fact that I was a little drunk or just very hungry but I ate the entire bowl like a starved rat.
After eating it was time to drink a little more. At this point it was 6:30 am and these people still wanted to drink. Well, as usual I just go with the flow. We go into a convenience store and buy some cans of beer; the big cans of course. Instead of finding a decent place to sit down and drink we simply across the street and sit down at a very small parking lot and start drinking. Achio takes a seat on a concrete parking marker while Mini sits on the ground. I lay back and Nobu lay besides me. For some reason she just wanted to be near me all the time and I just met her. I did not mind although I did find it odd. It made the night more enjoyable all the same. The three of us talked while finishing off the beer. After the beer was gone we headed over the to subway to go home. Nobu has a different train from the rest of us so I said good by to her and she left; she gave me her number but I don`t know if I will call her. On the train Achio, Mini and I ended up sleeping on each other. I guess we had finally got tired. Overall, the night was fun but odd at times. Just another night in Tokyo in the books!
The night took me and then left me for dead!
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