Kara...Okay, Please Stop Singing

Apparently, in Japan when you enter a karaoke shop, you magically become an anime school girl...

Sometime after the Fuji debacle, TBA-chan, some new friends I made, and myself decided to have a fun night out. At this point, I had been in Japan for about 3 months and had yet to do an activity that most Japanese love, karaoke. Karaoke is a phenomenon in Japan. While I believe most of the western world scorns this self respect depriving activity, Japan (where it originated) has created an entire industry based on karaoke. One can walk down the streets of popular night life locations across Japan and find karaoke shops. We decided to visit one in Kabukicho which offered nice sized rooms for groups. We spent the night singing such classics as:

-1985 by Bowling for Soup
-Sung expertly by GHFW-chan, named because he started a flame war based on a guitar hero video

- The Power of Love by Huey Louis
-Sung by myself and accompanied by Napoleon-chan, named because she's french and, according to some, apparently has a "french side" which makes her unfriendly

-Piano Man by Billy Joel
-Sung by TBA-chan and myself

All in all, a great night. I must note that after a few drinks, everyone sounds a lot better than they actually are. I'll give you an example in another post!

Our group would later go to karaoke again, to celebrate the end of finals, and the impending departure from this amazing country. But that's for the next post

Ganbatte,
-DPN

R.O. 8: Bad Traits to Have in Japan...

I was on my train to Shinjuku one morning and, as always, I was wedged between roughly 64 people. I was being elbowed in the spine, elbowing some one in the spine, and getting ready to be pushed by countless Japanese salary men in a rush to get to work...all in all, your average morning in Japan. Suddenly I came to the realization that there are two characteristics which it is better not possess in Japan.

1) Claustrophobia: If you're claustrophobic, come to Japan, and have an early commute to work, may Kami-sama have mercy on your soul. If you recall from one of my earlier posts, I took a video of a moderately filled train. But the morning commute is a completely different beast. Each car is usually packed well beyond capacity and will often require a train worker to SHOVE in any people or limbs obstructing the doors from closing. Add to this hot and humid summers and the temptation to "freak out" is rather high. I am fortunate enough to not be claustrophobic and able to be rather calm under duress, but the sheer amount of people, the inability to breathe in fresh air, and the constant pushing and shoving (as well as praying that none of the men get...overly excited), has tested my patience more than once. If you hate small spaces (which if you know ANYTHING about Japan, you should know that the country is just one small country), you may want to figure out a way to overcome this problem before your flight lands.

2) Overly obese: While this may sound rather...cold hearted of me, I cannot imagine that it would be comfortable, nor practical to be overly obese in this country. Navigating the stations alone requires a certain amount of agility, especially people dodging in Shinjuku. Also, one tends to walk often in this country. You walk up stairs, down stairs and from your station to your workplace and vice versa. True, the train system here can usually get someone fairly close to their destination, but there is an amazing amount of walking required in this country. I'm not saying that the overly obese cannot walk, but again, I cannot imagine its a comfortable situation.
I am in no way suggesting that obese people should not come to this wonderful country, but rather that they be aware of the amount of physical stress one goes through every day.

Now, if you are unfortunate enough to be a obese claustrophobic...good luck and God speed.

Ganbatte,
-DPN

Don't be a Foo', G Part II

So, due to me being exhausted, I made a mistake and accidentally deleted the second half of my Fuji adventure. Here's an abridged version because I'm lazy! TBA-chan and I began our descent down the mountain. Once we reached what we thought was the base of the mountain, we asked a Japanese man and his son how to get to the 5th station. Both men looked at each other and told us we had made a rather large miscalculation and veered off course...to the other side of the mountain. Not only were we on the other side of the mountain, we were in another PREFECTURE! TBA-chan was surprised, but I had an inkling...afterall this type of thing happens to me all the time. They informed us where a phone was further down the mountain, and TBA-chan and I hurried to get there. We were on a time limit because our bus back to Shinjuku left at noon. However, about five minutes later, one of the men we spoke with caught up with us and told us that he and his father were willing to drive us to the 5th station. TBA chan and I were worried, not so much because of getting into a random stranger's car, as much as the social debt that accepting this offer would put us in (only in Japan). But we graciously accepted, and were reassured that it wasn't far, and that it was no bother. Flash forward and hour and a half later, and we finally reached the 5th staiton. TBA-chan and I were amazingly grateful that these kind people would essentially change their days plans to help two strangers, let alone two foreigners. TBA-chan and I bowed deeply as the car left after having given them our e-mail addresses (TBA-chan's very smart idea since it was hard to figure out a good means of repayment). We made it in time, reunited with Eee-chan and Valley-chan and were soon on our way home; battered, bruised, exhausted but satisfied.

Ganbatte,
-DPN

I would like to dedicate these Fuji posts to those wo men who helped us that day. All people should strive to emulate the kindness that these people showed to us that day.

Word of the day is Shinsetsu. This word is an adjective and means nice. Usage: futari otokonohito wa shinsetsu desu. English: The two men are very nice.

Don't be a Foo', G Part I

Back entry for July 11 2008

About a week before the 11th, Eee-chan (dubbed this by my host mother because of his propensity to do the "eeeEEE?" sound that Japanese girls make when expressing surprise...shudder) approached myself and TBA chan about a trip to Fuji-san. Fuji being a rather popular site with a supposed amazing view, we accepted. I also asked the Valley chan to come along for the climb. We had planned the trip so that we would make it to the summit of the mountain at 1 am, which would give us a good 3 hours of sleep before the beautiful Fuji sunrise. We arrived at the 5th station, which is where most hikers start the journey, at around 5-6 pm. After putting our non essentials into a lockers and buying some last minute supplies like walking sticks, we began our journey up Mount Moon...erm I mean Fuji-san (cue dramatic Pokemon music).

We walked for several hours alternating who used the walking sticks, until they were being exclusively used by the girls. Eee-chan and I kept a good pace and we would later find out that we made it hours ahead of schedule. But something that must be noted is the severity of the cold. Once we hit the 8th station or so, the temperature dropped dramatically. It wasn't even so much the temperature itself as the wind chill.

At each station we progressively donned more and more clothing. At the 8th station, I was determined to put on all my remaining spare clothes, and threw on every last shirt I had in my bag. However there was a bit of a problem I hadn't foreseen. I brought a pair of sweats to wear under my jeans, but realized that in order to put them on, I would have to be in my boxers for a few moments. I wasn't overcome by shame or any other such nonsense, but the fear of the cold. But I realized that temporary pain in the now would probably be offset by comfort later on. So I bit my tongue, found a dark place, and striped out of my pants faster than the Hot Cops (if you don't get it you need to watch Arrested Development immediately). There was a momentary black out, or my mind won't let me remember, but it was cold. But I returned to my colleagues successful and now mildly warmer. Eee-chan and I also, for lack of gloves, decided to each wear a pair of socks on their hands. Scoff if you will, but you try making it up Fuji without gloves or a heavy jacket! Circumstances led to the group splitting into two pairs. But I was able to observe some interesting things while sitting at one of the stations. At roughly 1 in the morning a mass exodus not seen since...well Exodus could be seen from my bench. It snaked all along the path up the mountain. Literally hundreds, if not more people were making the late night hike up the mountain, although fortunately our group left before these massive groups and thus were able to enjoy the scenery with relative peace. Most people on making the hike that late wore a flashlight on their forehead of various colors. So as I looked down the side of the mountain, all the hikers made a somewhat beautiful stream of light from close to the 5th station, to where I was. I was also passed by a platoon of Japanese Self Defense Forces soldiers no doubt making the hump up the mountain on some training exercise. This, combined with the bitter cold of sitting outside, and the frequent need to run to the nearby bathroom for warmth, allowed for only a few minutes of sleep here and there. Then the sun rose, and it was an amazing sight. The entire area was lit up and clearly visible. I'm not going to be cliche (this time), and say that the amazing view of the sunrise washed away all the pain. The truth is, that the hike up Fuji-san is exhausting, cold, and painful at times. But the hike a good way to test yourself and your limits and although the sunrise won't strip away the fact that you border on hypothermia, it is still a nice reward and truly a beautiful sight. Besides, looking back on all of it, it was a hell of an adventure. Stay tuned for Part II of my Fuji adventure

Ganbatte,
-DPN

My smile is blinding ne?

M.O.B Questions

Working on it!

Questions: None. Well there probably were but I need to get these entries out asap, so I'm probably ignoring some.

Ganbatte,
-DPN

Put This Drink on the Bill...Murray

An adventure from a date I can't remember.

When I prepped movies to bring with me to Japan, I decided that I wouldn't need many since I should be out and about in the city. But I decided a movie I would need to watch if I ever felt upset was the wonderful Lost in Translation. While of course, the bits and pieces of Japanese society scattered throughout the film provided a good novelty factor, this movie is meaningful to me because of the characters. Both Bill Murray and Scarlet Johanson's characters are feeling isolated and unsure of themselves. This being my first time in a new country, I assumed that at some point I would feel the same type of isolation and want to watch a movie which I could relate to. Fortunately this never happened, but I still am a fan of the film. Upon realization that the movie's famous bar is fairly close by, I jumped at the opportunity to go. Recruiting my new butt buddy Valley chan, a girl from class who we'll call TBA chan (because her official pseudonym is still TBA), Turtle chan (because she's usually late to class), and a new friend of whom I won't assign a name. Because the bar is fairly upscale, and I hadn't worn my suit since I arrived in Japan, I couldn't think of a better opportunity. The ladies followed suit, and soon we were walking the mean streets of Shinjuku looking lovely. However there were a couple of downsides to looking as good as we did that night.

Japanese, more specifically Japanese men, are known for groping girls on trains. This is a common occurrence, and if you read Gaijin Smash's FAQ page, Azrael explains very clearly the scope of this problem. So the danger for my lovely companions for the evening was the very real threat of being groped. I always walked slightly behind them when entering a train, especially a crowded one, in order to make sure a lonely business man didn't get handsy. As for me, the problem lay in the fact that the suit actually made me blend in more. Instead of looking dashing, I looked like a businessman who had just gotten off work. Thus, while the girls gained attention from the Japanese men, I was thoroughly ignored by Japanese women....sigh.

The bar itself was much smaller than pictured in the movie, but I guess that's the power of good cinematography. The bar is surprisingly narrow, and the stage, complete with grand piano, took up a fair amount of room. I requested that we be seated in a small corner area near the windows. I'm a fan of high views of cities, and the view from the bar at night was absolutely outstanding. We sat and ordered our drinks which, being an upscale bar were just as expensive as you would think. We sat, enjoyed our drinks, discussed, and listened to some live jazz.

After departing from the bar, and wanting to flaunt our style that night, we decided to head to a another upscale restaurant. So we trekked back the center of Shinjuku and found ourselves a McDonalds. Thus we spent the rest of the night, enjoying Shaka Shaka chicken, and wandering the streets of Kabukicho. Classy...

Ganbatte,
-DPN

Today's word is Onegaishimasu (pronounced: oh-ne-guy-she-masu). This word means something along the lines of please or please do me this favor. Usage: Vodka martini onegaishimasu; English: Please get me a vodka martini. Usage note: This is one of those words that is very important in order to sound polite, which is a must in Japan. But to be fair there are other words for please, and they all have their specific usage. So this word has a lot of nuances that I really am not qualified to explain. My general rule of thumb, and any Japanese experts out there feel free to explain it better in my comments page and I'll post it later, if I'm ordering something or asking for something not necessitating a verb, I'll use onegaishimasu. For instance I wouldn't use onegaishimasu in this situation; please watch this video. Feel free to research the matter and I'll try to clarify later.

I picked this word simply because it was about heading to a bar and ordering drinks. Nothing too deep about it...

P.S. I love Scarlet Johanson...just thought you'd like to know.

Make New Temples But Keep the Old, One is Silver and the Other is Kinkaku-ji: Kyoto Day III

Final day in Kyoto, we woke up early and grabbed some grub. We would need our energy for the last minute travel and omiage buying. We dropped into Kyoto Tower where the massive shopping spree began. In case I haven't mentioned, omiage are presents for people. So little souvenirs and treats. By this point I had bought few omiage for my friends and family at home, so the pressure was on me to buy as much as possible. An hour, and a significant amount of yen down, I walked away with several gifts I was very happy with. But also, I walked away with a new Shinsengumi happi, I was now fully satisfied with my trip to Kyoto. Nothing too funny occurred afterwards. We rode a rickshaw in an attempt to feel authentically stereotypical, and made friends with our driver/runner. Following this, we headed to Kinkaku-ji to see the golden temple. After this we left at full speed to Kyoto Station to catch our Shinkansen.

That's all I have to say except that on a train back in Tokyo, we saw a man who was laying down across several seats and was sleeping. Because it was crowded, someone called a train worker for help. The train worker attempted to lift the man Kevin Costner style from Bodyguard, but found the man too heavy. So instead the train worker, still supporting the man's legs and head, shook the man like a british nanny shaking a noisy child.

Its a short one I know, but I've quite a few posts to catch up on, and nothing TOO interesting happened on this day. However I want to thank the Valley chan for taking this trip with me, it would've been rather dull otherwise.

Ganbatte,
-DPN

Buddhism is Very Deer to Me: Kyoto Day II

Captain's log, stardate 2533.7 or June 7, 2008

NOTE: THAT IS NOT AN ACCURATE STARDATE SO PLEASE DON'T FLAME MY COMMENTS PAGE YOU PICARD FANATICS! (I speak as if I have actual readers ne?)

We awoke on the 7th rather early, roughly 6 o'clock to be more precise. After discussing the day's plans, the Valley chan and I decided that we had an important priority to see to. We were both suffering from massive Starbucks cravings, but fortunately there was a Starbucks built into our hotel! After indulging in our rather caffiene filled habit, as well as wondering why a woman in a kimono was at Starbucks so early, we went about our way to Nara.

Nara is famous for the Todai-ji temple, which is itself famous for a Buddha the size of Britney Spears' growing psychosis. It took a bit of time, but we managed to get on the train to Nara with no problems. However, as the time passed on the train, the Valley and I slowly drifted off to sleep. This proved a problem because when we awoke, we weren't sure which station we had just stopped. Added to the fact that from where we were sitting we could not see one of the signs telling us the stop. But the Valley and I put our brilliant detective skills to work to determine our stop. It sounded something like this:

DPN: Do you know where we are?
Valley: No...but lots of people are getting off the train
DPN: LOOK THERE, THOSE GAIJIN ARE GETTING OFF THE TRAIN!
Valley: ALL THE GAIJIN ARE GETTING OFF THE TRAIN!
DPN: GO GO GO!

That in a nutshell, is how we determined we were in Nara. I know there are people out there wondering how two Americans can call others gaijin (a term used to reference foreigners in general, which would include us). Well its simple for me really; even though I haven't lived here long, I feel as though I've been here long enough to feel comfortable and at home. I'm not JUST some tourist who is in Japan for a week. I know that sounds arrogant, and it really is, but its just how I felt at the time. Besides, Valley and I were attempting to blend in using our skills at looking asian...

Anywho, we decided that since following the other foreigners had worked to get us to Nara, why not just stalk these people all the way to Todai-ji?! So the trek began following a pair of people from France. We eventually found a series of temples and a pagoda, which we hoped to be Todai-ji. Alas, it wasn't, but it was still very beautiful to see. Also, there were many deer roaming around amongst the people. Nara is known for its high population of deer, and they are left free to wander around! Valley and I decided that feeding the deer would be fun, so we bought the special deer approved cookies and immediately all the deer in the area came rushing for us.

It would have been cute was it not for this one deer who decided the best way to get the cookies from me was to repeatedly headbutt me to the ground, and then keep going until I fed him. Fortunately for the deer, my one weakness is the pressure of deer horns jamming into my liver several hundred times, HOW DID IT KNOW?!



The Valley's experiences at feeding the deer were much less violent, but just as disturbing. While very tranquil, the deer had collectively left a rather suspicious looking stain on the Valley's shirt. Perhaps there was a deer equivalent of President Clinton in the bunch ne?



We did eventually make it to Todai-ji, and after causing a scene by flamboyantly jumping up into the air, an action which drew the attention and cameras of many other tourists, we beheld the work of art that is the Daibutsu. It is truly awe inspiring, and I wish that I my travel companion and I could have come up with something more enlightened that, "I bet he's pretty well hung". But alas, we could not, and the previous statement made for a good laugh so...

Not much to say about the rest of the night, we walked around Kyoto, talked, learned that Kyoto shuts down about as early as a elderly farm town in New Hampshire, and spent the rest of the night at Mr. Doughnut. All in all, a great second day.
Ganbatte,
-DPN