Who Kicked Your Ass Buddy?

The amount of crazy shit I see in Tokyo daily is enough to fill several volumes of an epic novel. I don`t even write about half of the things I either get into directly or simply witness. Tokyo is a much rougher city than most folks will ever admit. Case in point is the gentlemen in the photo to your left.

I don`t know who did it but someone fucked this guy up. I was on my way home when I first spotted him. I had made it to Nishi-Nippori station and was waiting to transfer on the Chiyoda line. He was trying to stand up but it appeared to be a loosing battle. He was close enough to me that I was able to get a smell of him. The bastard smelled like cheap beer and blood mixed with cheese feet. Mother fucker had gotten into some really bad shit for sure. The train finally arrived a few minutes later and he disappeared into the mass hoard of sorry fucks crowding the train. I thought I would never see him again; boy was I wrong.

The Chiyoda line from Nishi-Nippori to Kita-Senju was more packed than usual. I was sure this dude most likely scared the shit out of enough weak ass J-gals and was carried away by station staff at Machiya station.Damn if I was wrong! The bastard managed to survive all the way to Kita-Senju. It was at Kita-Senju station that some of this guys story finally came out in the wash.

You can figure that I was really fucking surprised to see this beat up fucker at Kita-Senju. Right there at the TX platform he was still struggling to stand up on his own. This time he was attempting to talk on his phone. My Japanese is still limited, but damn better than it used to be, so I was only able to make out some of what he was attempting to say. It sounded like he was talking to his wife. I was able to clearly make out the following, `Sorry. I got into a fight at a hostess bar. I am bleeding.` At that point I said to myself, `Fuck this asshole!` I don`t have a lot of respect for fellas who go to hostess bars all the damn time. I understand that most of these guys are going because something is missing at home. They need a women who can make them feel like a man; at least for a little while. I get that...really I do. Yet, it would be better to work on things at home rather than give up and run to some young greedy bitch you will suck all the money they can out of some lonely guy looking for a little respect and attention.

Any god damn way, when the local train finally decided to show its slow ass, the idea popped into my head to get a picture of this sorry fucker.

My feelings about this truly sad mixed up fella is complex. On one hand my heart goes out to him. He most likely had a fucked up day at work and his wife is probably a cold blooded bitch. He went to some low down hostess bar to have some young fine ass gal cheer him up. Sadly, while at the hostess bar he must have had one too many drinks, got too friendly with one of the gals, and some Yakuza bouncier beat his face in proper. On the other hand...Fuck him! His wife will forgive him and their relationship will keep on being a joke. His company is paying for his national health insurance so he will not pay a fucking dime to have his face fixed up. 99% percent of foreign English teachers get no support from their companies to help them pay that fucking over priced nation health insurance tax. If I pulled the same shit he did my wife would divorce me and I would get stiffed with trying to pay to have my face fixed up; even after the so-called discount I get from the national health insurance tax.

*So, I am wondering what kind of stuff yall want to see me write more about in the next few posts: Teaching(all aspects of it), thoughts of the state of Japan, J-blogging community, the inner workings of my mind, or the chaos that is Tokyo.  Please don`t request any lame ass `wow Japan` stuff. I gave up writing about such things a long time ago. 

Are you a Manager or a Father?

There is this Japanese guy I have been doing extra `business` with recently. We get along well enough and he really is a decent guy to pal around with most of the time. Sometimes, we talk about stuff. I guess he is just as curious about my culture as I am of his. The little extra business we do together usually does not work out so well. It must be the current market situation which is making it hard for us to score some extra bread. So, we chat it up a lot. We talk about a lot of stuff. Usually the conversation is interesting and sometimes eye opening. The last time we were out and about `business` did not go so well, again, so we ended up chatting.

The subject of my recent promotion and the way Japanese run their business became the topic for the evening. I mentioned to him that since my promotion the office ladies have been treating me a little different. They have really warmed up to me in recent weeks. I asked him if there was any reason for their change in attitude towards me. He said that maybe they view me as a father figure of sorts. His statement shocked me, yet peaked my interest. I asked him to explain in more detail why they would view my crazy ass as a father figure. His answer surprised me, while giving me a inside look concerning the nature of a Japanese company.

He said that in Japan the people you work with are viewed as family. From what he says most Japanese people are hired as a generalist after finishing college; which means a person who can do anything the company asks of them. They usually get moved around the company every two or three years until they have worked in just about every department. After they have mastered all the different parts of the company they can get a very high position. He went on to say that the boss or manager is viewed as a father/mother to those under him/her. Despite me being gaijin, Japanese would most likely still be inclined to view me as kind of a father figure, though not as strongly as a japanese man.

It is hard for me to wrap my head around the idea of being viewed as a father figure in the eyes of the people I work with daily. I don`t know how closely this kind of thinking is followed in my company. After all, I am gaijin. However they view me, it is nice to be treated with at least a little respect at work. I guess I will just enjoy the habit of the Japanese to view a manager as some kind of so-called father figure. Hell, I might even be able to get some twisted humor out of the situation.

Poison

I finally did it to myself. Recently, I drank to the point of poisoning myself. I have not had alcohol poisoning since I was in college. Even then it was because I had been drinking MD 40/40 all night. I thought that at my age I would not have to worry about alcohol poisoning. I was confident that no matter how much I drink I would not get poisoned. Yet, on a recent bender with the rest of the management team I drank myself to the point of near death.

I like to get a good drunk going on just as much as the next guy. Hell, I have had many all night drinking fests in Tokyo. The problem with this most recent bender is the amount and time span I drank. After finishing up a meeting it was decided that we would go out for `a few drinks` to unwind. I knew that my fellow brass are hard drinkers. Our group included: a Scottish guy, an Aussie, a Nuzzie, one Japanese dude, and two Americans(including myself). I knew that I would have to drink a lot to keep to with these guys but I did not expect the amount of alcohol they were able to get down.

Anyway, we went to a bar that offered all you can drink for 2,500 yen; with a two hour limit. So, we had to drink like crazy people to get our monies worth. We tend to be mostly a rough bunch so before long the entire table was filled with large glass bottles of beer. The whole situation turned into a drunken boys club real quick. We transformed into a loud drunk gang of salarymen. We kept drinking glass after glass of beer while talking shit and swapping stories. Being the joker that I am, I told a few tales that got the full attention of everyone. I did not noticed that everyone was listening to me until the other American guy said, `Damn, we are all hanging on your every word.` I guess I am just one of those people. I am good at telling a good devilish Tokyo story.

Well, I had a damn good time but the next morning was not so much fun. I woke up at the crack of dawn; as usual. My entire body felt like it was shutting down. My skin was crawling, stomach twisting into knots, and my head felt like an exploding A-bomb. It took me a while to even be able to get out of bed. I tried to drink a cup of coffee but I threw it up as soon as it hit my stomach. Before I left the house I threw up two more times. When I smoked a cig it only made me want to throw up even more. Every time I changed trains I had to rush to the bathroom to puke my guts up. Nothing would stay in my stomach. By the time I reach the Ikebukuro station I was fully aware that I was poisoned.

When I arrived at work my office lady quickly realized that I was completely hung-over. She laughed at me real hard. She knew who had been with the night before so I guess that fact made my condiction even more funny. She asked if I was ok and I told her, `Hell no I am not ok.` My responce only made her laugh even harder. She is a nice gal so she was gentle to me while at the time no showing me too much mercy. Before I started the days work I puke one more time. The last time had to be the worst. The stuff, a bit of coca-cola, sandwich, and some water, came flying out of my stomach like a monkey on crack. After that I started to feel a little better. I was able to perform at the expected level; but I still struggled a little. I was not really able to eat much until late Monday night. Before I went to bed I was able to get down come curry soup.

So, have I learned my lesson? For now yes, but I know that the next time the boys ask me to go drinking I will jump in head first. Oh fuck! Will I ever learn?

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.