Cheese Flyes

From time to time I am sure every good man dives head first into a drinking binge. Sometimes it take a while for all the stress and anger to build up to the boiling point; yet it always does. Instead of going ape shit crazy, most guys simple hit the bars for a few days to blow off steam. This is what I have been going the past several days.

It all started Monday when it became my mission to drink the stress away. I met up with Jordan from Chiri mo tsumoreba. We hung out in Shibuya at a 300 yen boor bar on center gai. We got a pretty good beer buzz going before wondering around the local area.

While at the 300 yen beer bar I noticed something on the menu which is completely new to me. `Cheese Flyes` seems to be the house special. I know I should not give the Japanese too much crap for their English skill; yet sometimes it is too funny not to mention. They were trying to spell `Cheese Fries` although they spelled it according to the Japanese ascent so they wrote `Cheese Flyes.` Such misadventures in English provide cheap laughs when drunk.

Against the Grain

It is not easy going against the grain in the land of the raising sun. It becomes even harder when you are living in the capital city of Tokyo. As I expected, like most national capitals in the world, Tokyo is very corrupt. The corruption in this city transcends anything I have never experienced. As usual, the root of the corruption focuses on power and money. I have come to learn this because I have seen and dealt with the corruption in Tokyo first hand.

Corruption in Tokyo business usually comes in two forms; politically driven or power driven.

WARNING: before I go any further if you are corrupted, been blinded by corruption, refuse to admit or stand-up to corruption, or seek to somehow benefit from corruption you will not enjoy this blog post. In fact, you may even grow to hate me deeply.

Anyway, as I was saying...

Politically driven Business corruption in Tokyo

It usually starts in business when a man, or women, attains too much power too quickly. It is common that this person is also not prepared mentally or emotionally for such responsibility. In time others realize that the person in question is not fit for their title. It is at that time when corruption starts to poison the company. The person in question tends to do anything to secure their power. They will lie and spin facts to put themselves in the best light while attempting to put everyone who have contact with them in the worst light. This person is very dangerous and will come after you in time. They will try everything possible to trip you up and get you to say something for the purpose of controlling you or getting you fired.

Said person usually has gained their position due to a power vacuum which needed to be plugged quickly. Having few options the company hands over the position to a person of questionable morals and ability. This happens from time to time due to the aggressive nature of the job market for foreign workers. Now, not every person who finds themselves suddenly in a position of power becomes corrupt; yet it happens often. If you see this kind of thing develop avoid at all cost.

Do not let anyone play politics with you in Tokyo at work. It is a poisonous game which can have very damaging effects on your career. Many hard working people of good nature have had their careers ruined in this city due to one wicked bastards little political game. Although, all I have written so far is only a taste of just how far some people will take the `art` of politics at work. It goes much more deeper than what I have written here.

Power Corruption

Power corruption is closely related to political corruption at the work place with one major difference. When power corruption occurs it is usually for the sake of power itself. I often call those involved in power corruption `social climbers.` It is there goal to attain as much power as possible. They often say, `nothing personal, just business.` I really believe, for these kind of people, it is not about the money. They don`t give a damn how much money they make. It all about the power for them. These people are more dangerous than the politically corrupt in the world of foreign workers in Tokyo.

What really gets me about these types is that they have no mercy on anyone; regardless of the situation. They WILL use anything you say against you for the purpose of furthering their own agenda for power within a given company. If you are not in a position of proper title it is best to avoid any social contact with these types. Reason being is that it is not a friendly evening out for these types. For them, it is a change to trip you up and find a way to put you in their back pocket.



To be clear not every foreigner in Tokyo is like this. In fact, politically and power corrupt assholes are not common at all; but they are out there. All I am trying to say is be careful. I assume most people are smart enough to pick these bastards out pretty quickly. I have met my fair share of scum bags during my time here in Tokyo so far. I have learned how to judge who is `cool` to hang with in Tokyo. It took some time but I think I got the hang of it.

I am still going against the grain here in the land of the raising run. So all you opportunistic assholes looking to screw over your own mother in the pursuit of success can kiss my American ass!

Common People

I have always been one of the many, overworked, overlooked, underpaid and disrespected common people. You know, someone just like you. It may seem I am a little crazy, but that is just because life is hard and I need to laugh in order to make it though. Don`t worry I understand what you are going though. Everyday is just like the day before it seems. People trying to screw each other over everyday for a few extra pennies in their pocket; and maybe a little pride. Yeah...I do it too.

It is not easy being one of the common people. While fat under worked pigs drink wine and laugh at you, another days work seems to ever end fast enough. Some cheap beer, good friends and a sweet gal is all you really have to look forward to. Yeah...I deal with it too.

As common people we just keep pushing along. We hang out on the street and drink because we don`t have enough money to sit in the bar away from the cold. We stare at the pretty girl passing by and wonder what it would be like to sleep with her. We know she thinks we are losers, but that does not stop us from dreaming. Sometimes we even get the nerve to say, `Yo! Pretty girl! What is your name?` She smiles and keeps on walking. It is okay with us because at least we tried. Yeah...I saw her too.

Sometimes it is okay to be common people. Sometimes the boss gets us a seat at the bar; and a nice discount too. We know where all the best hang-out spots are at. We get to fall in love just for the hell of it. We can laugh when we lose our job. Our friends buy us a beer and cheap dinner when we get a promotion. We can stay out all night getting into trouble with the girl down the street. We get to let the office girl at work dry her tears with our dress shirt when her boss yells at her. We fight the bullies and the bad boyfriends. Yeah! We are the common people so FUCK YOU!

I Think I Have Had a Personal Breakthough

Over the past several weeks something has been trying to burst out from me. Some deeper understanding of, not only who I am, but the very nature of life itself. I have been under such an extreme state of stress and worry recently that something spoke to my inner self. It is as if my entire being has been changing to a different level of understanding. Something just started to change inside of me. Odd as hell I know, but I been feeling different.

It all started when I was bored and watched two different films. The first one was about how Albert Einstein discovered the theory of relativity. The other was about John Nash and game theory. Both films where documentaries about these two men and their life work. Both of them are pretty much loony as hell but they did discover some pretty amazing stuff.

After getting a good understanding about the theory of relativity, from reading some books, I really felt kind of empty inside. Kind of like I suddenly had this big hole inside of me. The part of me which used to fill up with stress is left empty. I cannot seem to refill my daily need for stress. I have realized that everything is just condensed energy and everyone is connected. It is kind of hard to feel the pressure of stress when I know everyone is connected though the transfer of energy. Maybe I have become more condensed so negatively charged energy cannot be transferred to me. So maybe the trick to being more peaceful is maintaining my energy to be as condensed as possible. Pretty deep stuff for a person like myself but this is where my mind is at lately.

Game theory has also been an interest of mine recently. Game theory is the basis for all modern methods of business and economics. It is all about how to beat the competition by predicting what they will do based on your actions. It can be kind of complex but I got a decent handle on it. It has helped me to understand why a lot of my co-workers do some of the shit they do. For game theory to work in your favor, you must understand what the others players hope to achieve. They will react to your actions based on what they want. The more you understand game theory the easier it becomes to influence people. I am going to put it into practice at work and see how it goes.

Anyway. I think I have had a personal breakthrough. I have realized stress can only effect me if my energy is not condensed enough to resist the transfer of negatively charged energy. I have also realized that people do in fact react to my actions based on their own agenda. What does this all mean? If I keep myself focused on the hear and now I will be much more happy.

The `No Pain Doctor` with Social Health Care

The picture I uploaded to this blog post is the actual social health care plan that Obama is trying to force feed to the American people. Pretty confusing; right? I can only guess as to how much it is going to cost tax payers. I can imagine that Japan`s social health plan is just as big and more than likely cost twice as much as Obama`s plan. None the less, my crazy ass pays into Japan`s social health care plan. I do not do this willing mind you. It is one of those carrot on a stick situations. Either I pay into the social health care so I can get a permanent visa down the road, or not pay it and let the Japanese government give me a hard time later. Well, I have pretty much made Japan my home so here I am paying into this damn social health care crap.

After paying into the system for some time now, I have finally been taking advantage of other people`s money. Over the past month I have been making regular visits to the `no pain` doctor. He is a dentist who promises effective pain free treatment. So far he has lived up to the `no pain` part. Yet I am wondering why every time I go he does very little work in my teeth. It has taken him a month to complete a root canal on one tooth. I am starting to wonder if he is taking advantage of the system. I mean, if I was paying out of pocket I am sure he would not be taking this long. I have had a root canal before and it took only one day to complete. It was much more painful but completed much faster. Due to the social health care system, I have lost the ability to complain about the length of time he is taking to complete work on one tooth. So, I cannot complain much because my in-person out of pocket cost is very low. In the mean time, he is making a killing on the tax payers dime taking his slow ass time to get anything done.

After every treatment he shows me what he did; which is not much. He works on only one small part of the root canal at a time. Why can`t he get the whole damn thing finished in one treatment? Well, I know why. It is trying to make as much money as he can. I guess I will just put up this his little money making game. He is the only Japanese dentist I know who can speak English well enough to communicate with me.

Mr. James and Foreign Darlings

In light of recent discussions concerning the latest McDonald`s Japan mascot, as well as an upcoming movie about a multicultural marriage, it is time I finally sit down and share my thoughts about racism and equality in Japan. I have avoided writing on this subject matter for a long time due to the attitude taken by many on the web towards anyone who brings up racial equality in Japan. It seems that when the above mentioned subject matter is brought up it is met with a boat load of loathing. It seems that racial equality in Japan is a subject which is delegated to jaded foreigners with a beef against the Japanese. Although simply venting a beef may be true in some cases, I believe that there is something deeper going on.

For the most part, it appears that bias towards non-Japanese is a well ingrained part of Japanese culture. I can see this more clearly than others due to my own unique cultural background. I grew up around a fair amount of racial bias. A vain of racism still runs though the culture in Southern American states. Although, racism is not nearly as overt as it has been in years past; it is something southern people struggle to come to terms with to this day. Yet unlike the Japanese, southern people at least try to overcome our short comings concerning racial understanding.

The latest up roar concerning McDonald`s Japan newest mascot `Mr. James` shows me that, for the large part, Japanese people are more than willing to accept racial stereotypes. I think it makes them feel comfortable as a society. The overt racial bias is a way for them to cope with being a unique homogeneous society. It seems to strike them in their own minds that, `We are all the same and everyone else is so different because we are somehow special and therefore on a higher level.` While the above mentioned thinking may seem to be unique to Japan, it is in fact common among other societies as well.

I refer again to my own experiences growing up in the American South. For the majority of the American South`s history it was homogeneous. The people of the south developed their own unique culture and dialect. They also have experienced geological isolation; in a similar way as the Japanese. It was commonly believed in the south, in much less degree today as compared to the past, that anyone not from the south was somehow too different to understand them. As you can see, cultures which are mostly homogeneous in nature and geologically isolated are more prone to develop strong racial bias. While these factors offer an explanation to the overt racial bias in Japan; it does not offer a solution to the problem.

The American South was so-called `opened up` by means of a social and political movement from all elements of it`s culture. The two main winds of change were the civil rights and New South movements. It took a lot of time and effort, yet today the American South stands as a testament to progress in the area of racial equality. While there are still problems, the south has largely been reformed.

Focusing back on Japan, it is clear that such social and political change has yet to get kick started. It seems as if Japan has never had a true civil rights movement. While there have been movements which led to women being able to live a mostly independent lifestyle, certain social groups gaining the ability to be upwardly mobile, and sexual liberation; Japan still lacks any anti-discrimination laws. It seems that gaijin(outside country person) have been kept in a iron clad box throughout Japan`s long and grand history.

Will Japan ever make a serious effort to become a more rascally equal society? It would take not only a major up raising of minorities but also mass support from Japanese people themselves. A dual effort by both factions of society will be ever bring about serious changes in race attitudes in Japan. Until then, Japan will always have `Mr. James` types characters and films expressing just now `odd` a gaijin husband is.

Interesting Summer

It has been an interesting summer so far. A lot of things have happened which have given me great joy and great grief. Yet, I am enjoying the summer of 2009 in Japan very much. I have had some good times so far. Although, it has been a little different from last summer. Maybe even a little tamer in some respects. I have had less all night randomness as compared to the summer of `08. I think my more tame behavior is due in large part to work keeping me in knots; but that is another story all together. It seems as if the god of chaos has decided to have mercy on me over the past few months. This is not to say that he does not toss me around from time to time.

So, I have been granted a little more calmness this summer. It has allowed me to be more reflective about the direction my life in heading. I have taken a good hard good at myself. There are things about myself I now realize others will most likely never accept. I am aware that I sometimes go over board with things. Other times I hold back a bit too much. In most cases this is not an extreme problem. It may be more of a personality clash. I tend to be a little tough at times. I have found that there are a lot of people in Tokyo who are not used my unique type of personality. I find a lot of passive aggressive and uptight personalities in Tokyo. These type of people often struggle to deal with a more rough and tumble person.


While I will not say city people are soft; I would say that city life does make a lot of people much more sensitive at times. Although, I must consider that Tokyo is not in American. Tokyo is in Japan which has a very different culture as compared to the states. Hell, I have witness people freaking out over a guy coming to work without a damn tie on.

Personality I have learned to laugh at the more sensitive members of Tokyo. It has made my summer more interesting. I will tell you something that made me laugh my ass off recently. I am the type of person who can only believe and accept a rule when it makes sense to me. So, I was talking to a co-worker on the phone while riding the train. It was important to talk to him. It could not wait until I was off the train. Sure enough, people slowly started staring at me with a `fuck you` expression. One Japanese guy finally said me, `In Japan it is bad to talk on the phone while riding the train.` My reply, ` I don`t fucking care. This conversation is more important than your stupid rule.` I though he was going to shit a brick. This guy looks at me like I have committed the ultimate sin. I waved him off and he takes the hint. What I thought was funny about the situation, was he was actually under the impression I would submit to him just because he said so. Damn these people need a wake-up call.