月別アーカイブ: 2009年7月

A bit on Bon Odori and the legality of street vending in Tokyo

A three day festival called Bon Odori marks the beginning of summer. A special dance is performed every night for three nights on a temporary podium. The dance is done to honour the souls dead who have died in the past year. A podium was erected in Inokashira Park. It has two levels above the ground. A circular dance floor and a central higher platform where a large taiko drum is situated. The decoration for a Bon Odori podium consists of with red and white lanterns. There are four lines of lanterns which radiate from the top of the podium into the surrounding trees.

When I first saw this structure complete with dancers in yukata (traditional summer garb) I realised that this is the dance that Speilberg wrote into Karate Kid 2. The dancing looks great and the festive atmosphere, with the the lighting from the lamps is very cosy but the best feeling was that of making a connection between my experience of Japanese culture in Australia through Karate Kid 2 and the genuine article here in Japan.

Street Vending in Shinjuku – I am interested in selling my wallet and coin purse somewhere in Tokyo. I see a lot of people who have just set up their stuff on the street and I was thinking that this might suit me. I’ve been concerned about the legality of this activity though. Another hint came from some signs I read which said that street vendors are not allowed. To my mind this meant that normally it is OK. Recently I spoke to a Russian street vendor in Shinjuku about the legality of having a table set up in Shinjuku selling stuff. He said that it was illegal but because he is married to a japanese woman the police don’t bother him. As for me and my working holiday visa, I might get deported. So I guess street vending is out of the question after all.

Studying Japanese and Teaching English

Back to the topic of studying Japanese.  As much as I`ve learned over the past few months in this language, I still haven`t really been able to communicate very well with very many people.  I`m trying to find more and more ways to remember more phrases that I see and build up my vocabulary.  The other issue that I have is sentence structure.  I know one thing though, sentence structure is not necessary until you get the basics which means in my case, I need to remember that for my own sake and stop trying to get ahead.  I have a habit of rushing myself and then making too many mistakes and then not wanting to continue something because it may become extremely difficult.  This is a problem that I am currently working on fixing.  Hopefully I can get rid of that issue before too long.

I want to learn more about the particular types of technology that they have in Japan and also about the way they operate them.  The reason I want to learn this is because I believe that it will help me with the continuance of my career.  I`m currenlty researching how to teach not only English, but technical English, meaning that I want to teach people that do not speak English the basics and then possibly more intermediate or advance langauge of computers and/or technology either in Japan or in Canada.  This will be determined at a later date.

I`ve also been very interested in the businesses here and how people work on a day to day basis.  Eventually I will be able to succeed at something that I really want to do.  I`ve so far reached and almost completed step 1 of my plan.  I`m teaching conversational language, but I`m also teaching reading, writing, listening, grammar, and other aspects of the English language to many kids and some adults

Month 5 – Living in Japan – part 1

As a Canadian, living in Japan is somewhat strange still even into the 5th and now going into the 6th month.  Even though I have become more accustomed to most of the lifestyle here, it is still difficult to communicate with my colleagues as they do not speak much English and their Japanese is a little bit too fast for me so our language barrier has been in the way and is hard to break.  However, on both sides, although there is a lack of communication due to the language, there are still many attempts made to talk to each other and resolve issues that arise.

I think once I`ve been for a little more time and have seen a few more sites then I will become more used to my surroundings and the lifestyle here.  I don`t think I will be able to completely live the same lifestyle because things in Canada are very different, but the least I can do is make every attempt to get as much out of this time as I possibly can.

Studying Japanese part 2

I am continuing to work on my Japanese study, but I`d like to ask some of the other foreigners that have studied in the past or are currently studying a simple question.  Currently, I`ve attempted to create a method of writing (in Hiragana), the names of all the stations that I either pass on my way to work or the stations that I stop at and the names of the lines as well.

Can someone tell me if they`ve ever tried this and if yes, was it a helpful method for memorization of either Hiragana or Katakana?  I know that a lot of the stations are written in Kanji as well, but for the part of the Hiragana at this time.   Much appreciated.

 My next few blog entries will include photos of some of the places that I`ve visited so far.  I`m also attempting to come up with a way to show my photos from when I was in Japan previously, 2 years ago. 

Studying Japanese

I`ve restarted studying the Japanese language and have begun with mastering Hiragana.  Next step will be to master Katakana and eventually, if possible, Kanji.  Kanji is probably one of the toughest parts of the Japanese language to learn.  I`ve been told by many foreigners that have made the attempt say its very difficult.  Even some of the Japanese people that I know said that they still sometimes have difficult times to remember it.  Like English though, no one really seems to know why grammar is the way it is.  Even the best of English speakers and English teachers can`t fully explain why the grammar is the way it is.  This seems to be the same for Japanese people as well.  However, that`s beside the point.  I`m really working harder than before to learn this language for purposes of communication, understanding and interest.  I think its a rather soft toned language for the most part and that`s why I find it to be a nice study to work on.

I will be continuing and will have a test tomorrow evening for the Hiragana portion.

Strange weather conditions

The weather conditions as of late since the ending of the rain season, have been rather awkward.  I`ve been in weather where it was raining with a little bit of warmth, but never before coming here, have I been in conditions where the rain feels like a warm to hot shower.  It feels very strange.  Even though it`s very hot and humid and muggy here, I still enjoy the weather here mostly.  It did take me some time to get used to it raining for more than one or two days in a row.  About the day before yesterday, regarding the Solar Eclipse, that`s a phenomenon that I`ve been wanting see after so many years again.  Unfortunately, I didn`t get the opportunity, but I saw the replay on the news and it was really interesting and amazing as well.

People in Japan – Foreigners and Citizens

I`ve been in Japan now for almost 6 months and am very much enjoying as much as I can of the time that I spend here.  I find that people are, for the most part, living up to the standard that most of the other countries expect of them.  The majority of people here are kind, courteous and polite.  However, there are exceptions to every rule and the tact of people is not immune.  I find that most, if not all the younger people and a few exceptions in the older generations, seem to be very polite, understanding toward foreigners and very kind, but also patient.  This is true for everyone though.  This is actually quite different in most parts of Canada.  The people that are the most polite for the most part are the older people, ( no details on percentage because I don`t know very many people in Canada, aside from the fact that Canada is about 5 or 6 times the size of Japan in land mass).

 Having said that, I do see some nicer older people, but I usually run into them when they are in the more rural areas or sometimes on the train when I`m coming home from work in Chiba or Saitama.  Foreigners are sometimes hard to talk to here because they have their own busy schedules or their friends that they are busy talking to.  I have been asked by more Japanese people where I`m from and it usually snowballs into a conversation where the Japanese person is attempting to communicate with me in English.  (I`m still working on my Japanese, – not yet successful).  Eventually I will be able to communicate in Japanese as well as English.

Things to see and do in Japan

The great thing about Japan is that if you enjoy viewing the new and the old, modern and historical, then you can see it everywhere you go.  Most of the old buildings are still standing, but they have additional building on top of them.  I find it really appealing because it seems to fit very well.  The way the architecture is preserved, but also contains new material, to me, takes a lot of talent and imagination.

I`ve come to appreciate it being from a much younger country with not so many problems such as earthquakes and typhoons.  Also , Canada doesn`t have very much history as a complete country either so it makes history in Japan much more extensive and somewhat more interesting.  Not only for the history of weather, but also the history of the culture and the way of life.  Even though Japan is several hundred years old, the traditions and culture seem to be fully alive and practiced everyday.  I will upload some photos in my next blog to show some of the places that I have been too, both in the past and since I have been here working.

Last Friday Night Part 5 of 5

Four of the japanese vetinary students and I left Axxcis at about 2am to head to Atom. By this time I had given up on the idea of getting the last train home and had instead opted for the all nighter.

On the way to Atom, two of the girls wanted to go to sing karaoke together. So it was just me and the two others.

The first concern was to find a 7eleven and get some more money out. After this was accomplished I was finally in a position to buy another beer. Not surprisingly everything after this point is a bit of a blur.

We arrived at Atom soon after. The cover charge was 2000 yen and unlike Axxcis this included a free drink. The bouncers at Atom were fine. They asked to see my ID and I was let in without any trouble. The first thing I do after I get into the crowded club is to try to get a beer with my free drink token. It turned out that the free drink only covers all 500 yen drinks and beer costs 700 yen so I had to hand over 200 yen as well as the free drink token to claim my beer.

The place is really crowded. On one of the levels the music is happy techno. This level is the girls’ favourite level so we spend most of the time here. Everyone is dancing and at some point a special song comes on that the girls get excited by. They dance on the podium. The special song comes with a special syncopated dance that I never really get the hang of. As I am dancing I notice a section, running the length of one wall, where only women could be.

The level above was the R’n’B level. That was my favourite part of the club as it was not so crowded and the music is more laid back. It has a big glass window that overlooks the happy techno level below.

The lowest level was electronic trance techno where there were plenty of green lasers, which always look good.

When we get out of the club it is light. I get one the girls’ details. It was a pretty fun Friday night.

Cheap living part 2

I definitely miss shopping in Australian Supermarkets. I totally took for granted the plethora of multicultural foods we could easily access at a reasonable price.We seem to go on a shop here nearly everyday. I think that its because the portion sizes are smaller here and possibly because we have a tiny fridge and limited self space and possibly because it’s so easy to just duck out and grab something to eat for that day. Apart from the smaller portions, I think that the packaging of food is so overly done. For Example, we bought this packet of 3 mini pizzas, there was the initial outside plastic, followed by each individual pizza being wrapped in more plastic, followed by a plastic foam tray, which served no purpose other than to make sure the pizza looked all neat and tidy and heaven forbid, end up bunching up together. So packaging here is really ridiculous. Someone told me its because it makes the products look cleaner. But again, we bought a packet of cookies, the cookies inside the packet were being held in a platic tray and then all individually wrapped again! Its packaging gone mad. No wonder there are giant islands in the oceans of just plastic collecting and harming our marine environments. 🙁 This is why I take my canvas bag to the supermarket.

On another note though, you can a lot of fresh fruit and vegetables for a decent and sometimes awesome price. There are a few street vendors which claim some of the corners in our town’s streets, you can constantly hear “Yasai, Yasai, Yasai, Yasai…” and I mean all day. Yasai = Vegetables, lucky they don’t have to say “Vegetables, Vegetables, Vegetables” all day, now that would be more difficult.
This time of year(summer in Japan) you can usually get a bunch of bananas for 100yen, and tomatoes are really cheap too. But winter is the best for strawberries, I have never tasted such delicious strawberries until I came to Japan in March. They were sooo OISHII!!

A lot of the time you may hear that it is very expensive living in Japan. But if you know where to shop and look around for the cheap Yasai vendors you can make your yen go a long way.