helmets and schoolchildren

Did I mention that my advisor's "lab" or "research office" is on the grounds of an elementary/middle school? When I come here around noon, I can see them running around the grounds, playing and making noise. Sometimes I see them in the classroom eating and serving lunch. They are so cute! The students serving lunch for the day are standing at the front of the room, in front of the chalkboard and behind a long podium thingie. They are wearing disposable masks and haircaps, and ladling food from large pots. That doesn't sound that cute, but keep in mind that these are first graders. First graders, serving lunch to their fellow students! That's just amazing to me. I've always been warned that the school system here is so incredibly harsh, and it overworks kids, drives them to suicide, etc. etc. Well, but these first graders look pretty happy, running around. Outside the classrooms there's even evidence of fun: planters that look like a vegetable garden, and those nets on top of poles--you know, like firefly or butterfly nets, lined up outside the classroom doors.

Oh, yes, and it is sort of weird that my office is on the schoolgrounds. But the school is actually run by Ehime University, and counts as a separate campus. It's a sort of training or testing ground for the school of education. Since my advisor technically belongs to the faculty of education, his research facility is here. It's a bit inconvenient as it is further from my apartment, but oh well. I'm learning to manage on the bike.

Speaking of which, helmets. As Cat has pointed out numerous times, I should really get a helmet to protect my precious brains. Only, I can't figure out where! I went to some fitness-type places yesterday (including the one official Nike store here!) but all I ended up getting was a yoga mat. It is a very pretty yoga mat, btw, being pepto-bismol pink on one side and grey on the other. It matches my futon blanket (okay, the original pink was not my choice. But the matchiness is attractive.) But, some of the bikes lined up in the bike parking structure have helmets in the basket! Where oh where can they have gotten them!? Particularly since they are butt ugly.

Then, coming into the office today, I discover my answer. The only people who wear helmets around here are elementary school children. Moreover, they all wear the same helmet, so I can only assume it's school issue. No wonder it's so ugly, and no wonder nobody else wears them.

shopping downtown, and more feeling like an idiot

So yesterday, my goal was to figure out public transportation. This basically stemmed from my fear of riding bicycles and desire to avoid it as much as possible. So, with various bus maps and time tables in hand, I set off downtown. The bus I'm interested runs in a big figure 8 loop aruond the city (in both directions), but it only does so once an hour. So, I have to be sure to catch the bus going in the right direction and towards the correct half of the loop. I got downtown with no incident. Clutching my "Welcome to Matsuyama" bus map in hand, I got on. I was hoping to follow the lady in front of me, but she simply swiped a card which I did not posess. So I just sat down, looked wildly around me, and waited. The bus was filled with old obachans--which makes some sense, as most people who are young and hardy choose to ride bicycles instead. The nice obachan sitting next to me then leaned over and told me the fare was a flat 150yen, and to pay at the front before leaving. Having done my research, I knew all this, but still it was reassuring to be told in person. I smiled at the obachan and thanked her, and got off at my stop.

Most of the shopping downtown is along two perpendicular streets, Ookaido and Gintengai. Basically, they are covered streets lined with shops. Mostly pedestrians, but apparently you can ride your bike or even drive your car down this mall-like street. There were random bikes parked all along the sides, in front of stores. I found one that I really, really liked. It's short name is "Muji". I wish there were some in the US! They sell all sorts of things, from clothing to furniture to snack food and stationery. Everything is clean and minimalist in neutral and natural shades. Here is it's English website: http://www.muji.net/eng/ The store is just so...natural and appealing. I really, really, really want this bed/recliner/couch. http://www.muji.net/store/pc/user/campaign/campaign070803_03.jsp It's just so damn cool!!

I also found a nice yarn store, which even stocks non-Japanese yarns like Anny Blatt and Filatura di Crosa. It was kind of a surprise. They also have nice books of patterns in Japanese, though I have to figure out how to read the diagrams. I also have a big stash of yarn that I brought with me, that I really should finish before I buy more yarn!

So, on the return trip, I was loaded up with things, mostly from Muji. These things included a huge, multifunctional, boyfriend/stuffed animal replacement pillow that allows me to lie on it and hug it at the same time: http://www.muji.net/store/cmdty/detail/4945247326734 scroll down to the bottom to check out the usage diagram. I couldn't resist.

Two big bags in tow, I set off for the bus stop well before the time the bus was supposed to get there. I figured, logically, that since I was catching the reverse direction, the stop would be on the opposite side of the street from where I got off. Not so!! I could not for the life of me find the stop for the east-direction loop bus. I even asked two strangers. So after awhile, I figured I would walk to the next bus stop. I figured I was still early, so I could beat the bus there and wait for it there. Lo and behold, the next bus stop didn't have the appropriate east-direction stop as well!! There was a west-direction stop on the other side of the street, but on my side I couldn't find one. I was starting to think that maybe Japanese people only put bus stops on one side of the street, in order to save on materials or something. Still early, I decide to go to the next bus stop. Thankfully, that one had stops on both sides of the street, so I decided I wasn't crazy. It was scheduled to arrive at 3:09, and I arrived literally at 3:10. But the whole way I was walking, I didn't see the bus pass me, so I decide to wait. Maybe it was late. After all, the bus that originally picked me up was 10 minutes late. So I wait until 3:25, and give up. I was already halfway home. Only three stops to go. So, I walk the rest of the way home, pillow and all.

Next time, I'm riding the stupid bike. At least, by walking, I discovered that the way to get downtown is actually quite safe and lined with sidewalks nearly all the way, so my bike never has to share the road with cars. Good going. I should buy some securing elastic too, so next time I decide to buy something like a huge pillow or blanket, I can lash it to the back of my bike.

Still riding this wave of "yes, I can ride bikes dammit" I try to ride my bike to the office today. This time, it's a different bike, provided kindly by my advisor. However, I spend about 15 minutes trying to pry the bike stand out from under the bike. You know, it's that bit that allows you to stand the bike up by itself? Without moving it out of the way of the tire, one is unable to go. So I kick the thing, pry it, basically work up a nice fine sweat trying to move it. Unbelievable. It doesn't budge. I just tested it last night! I must be missing something. Meanwhile, people are coming and going and no doubt wondering why I'm trying to steal someone else's bike, as I clearly can't figure it out. Finally, some old man comes up to me and asks me what the problem is. I make a helpless gesture and say something like, "how do you move this part back? I'm a foreign student, you see..." in an attempt to explain my stupidity. He makes an exclaiming noise, "Ah, you're not Japanese!" and promptly kicks a different part of the stand and moves it back. AHHHHHH!!! I knew I was missing something.

But after that, I got to the research office without incident. No cars, no scary moments, no falling off the bike. Ahh, sweet internet. Although, I will be connected at home by next Wednesday, so I wonder if my motivation to come to work will be drastically reduced. :)

funny Japanese habits

I've already started to nod my head alll the time when people are talking to me. Japanese people do it too, as well as a lot of other indications that they are listening, sort of equivalent to English's "mmhmm". So I've also started to say "hai" and "sou" and "mmmm" continually while someone is talking to me. Smile and nod, smile and nod, have no idea what's going on.

biking in japan...

...is one of the scariest things I've ever done! Some of the roads in this town are barely wide enough for two cars to, let alone for two cars and bicycles! There's often no "shoulder" space at all. To make matters worse, since I haven't ridden a bike since I was about 9 years old, and definitely have never used a bike as a mode of transportation, I was careening and wobbling all over the place, practically crashing into walls trying to avoid cars. And, despite having not ridden a bike in that long, old habits still die hard. The brakes on my kiddie bike were the sort where one backpedals to brake. On this new bike that I'm borrowing, the brakes are turned on by squeezing the lever above the handle. So each time I panic, out of habit I try to brake by backpedaling, only to realize that nothing is happening, therefore panicking even more, then trying to manually stop myself by reaching out a hand or leg, then realizing (belatedly) that I'm supposed to squeeze the handle to stop myself. I look like a total idiot.

I think perhaps I will begin exploring alternative modes of transportation. Or buy some accident insurance.

Also, today I am ridiculously sore from sitting on the bicycle seat. Who knew?

moving!

I'm all packed up and ready to move to my new apartment. I'm sad to bid my homestay family goodbye, especially as they're not really within walking distance of my apartment. But, I am excited about my gorgeous new apartment. Granted, it's basically the size of my room in the US plus a small kitchen and bathroom, but still! It's very nice. From my window I can see Matsuyama Castle perched on a hill. I have two windows. It's lovely :-)

It's also temporarily without internet :-( It might take another week or two to get that set up, depending on if everything goes smoothly or not. I'm not sure what I'll do in the meantime, as the internet is quite indispensable if only for mapping purposes. I suppose it'll force me to walk around at least to EPIC (Ehime Prefectural International Center) to use the internet there.

It'll be weird to be on my own after my host family has been so kind to take me everywhere and show me where everything is. I'll definitely have to use my Japanese more! This last week has been a little bit of a bubble because my host family has been speaking English to me, so I haven't had to use my Japanese much. It's really put me at ease and I don't feel so lost and confused and far away from home. But the bubble is about to burst--though at the same time I think it will be fun to talk to Tomoko-san in a mix of English and Japanese. She's the 6th grade teacher who lives on the floor below me, who so kindly found and furnished (!) my apartment! We had been corresponding in English over the summer on a variety of topics, including class disparities in society, the state of education, and the attitudes of the youth. Heavy topics, I know! But fun to talk about :-)

Anyways, I've got another week of running errands (getting all the right signatures for my forms, registering with the university and for classes, depositing money in my bank, dealing with internet, learning the ropes of paying rent and utilities and sorting garbage....), then maybe I can have some fun :-) Or...start to do work.

Kochi traveling

It's only been two days, but already I have so much to talk about. A huge, huge update is about to follow. For the past two days, I've been traveling in the Kochi area, which is about two and a half hours driving from Matsuyama. Kenya-san, my host dad, is a professor at Ehime University. He organized a field trip for some of his students and I joined with his wife on the second day.

So, Itsuko-san and I went to Matsuyama station and caught a highway bus to Kochi, which is the capital of a neighboring prefecture. The bus ride itself was amazing! We had to wake up fairly early for the bus ride, so I desperately wanted to sleep most of the way. But, I kept jerking myself out of sleep in order to take photos from the bus! The landscape was gorgeous. We drove through little villages nestled in mountains covered with trees. I know "trees" is vague…but "coniferous trees" sounds so academic and I don't really know exactly what they were. Pine trees? I'll post pictures to Facebook when I get around to moving them off my camera. The endless rice fields, rivers, hills, old Japanese-style houses, tunnels through the mountains…it was quite breathtaking.

We joined up with Kenya-san and his students for some ice cream at a mom-and-pop dairy farm. Mom and daughter worked the ice cream shop, and pop was lecturing the students about his farm. When we got there, they were all sitting in the shade, vigorously shaking bottles of milk to make butter. When I was introduced to pop, I was surprised to find out that he had studied agriculture (or something farming/food-related) in the US for two years. His English was quite excellent. I know it sounds like I shouldn't be surprised that people speak English, but really--this farm was out in the middle of nowhere. We had to drive perilously winding roads through the mountains to get there. So, in English he informed me that his farm has 40 cows and 35 heifers, and for a Japanese dairy farm, that's an average size.

Then for lunch, we drove back to Kochi and had lunch at a food court sort of market. I had the most bizarre Indian food ever. I ordered some chicken biryani from the nice Indian man at the Indian food stall. Perhaps it's better to call it Japanese-Indian fusion. My chicken biryani was made with Japanese sticky rice! It was so bizarre. The curry was also very obviously Japanese curry. Truly, it tasted like Japanese curry-rice, only more dry.

Then we drove even more hours away from Kochi, through more perilously winding and scenic roads, to another small village. The students--9 girls--had been traveling in a taxi van. Kenya-san drove his own car to Kochi, so Itsuko-san and I were riding with him. It was so amusing because apparently the girls all wanted to talk to me. They played rock-paper-scissors to decide which pair would get to ride with me and Kenya first! Then, at each leg of the journey, one pair switched out for another. It was highly amusing. The first pair were very talkative and I got to practice some Japanese. They asked me the usual questions--such as how long I'd been studying Japanese, could I eat Japanese food, etc. And there were some weird ones, like what kinds of food I don't like. At a loss for saying complicated things like "artichoke," I said that I didn't like carrots (ninjin). The next couple of pairs of students kept mentioning how I didn't like carrots! Was it the taste, was it the texture? Etc. etc. Apparently the first pair had been instructed to tell everybody else about our conversation so as not to repeat the same questions to me in the car. So, everybody soon knew that I didn't like eating carrots! We also ended up talking a lot about slang, or "young people talk." I asked them what kinds of words only young people used, and they could tell me what the words were but couldn't explain what it meant! Slang is tough. Itsuko-san couldn't help, because she couldn't understand them either. Then I attempted to explain what "sketchy" meant, and why I said "cool" all the time. Itsuko-san was telling me about how she soon figured out in her stay at Columbia that all the "like"s that college students insert into their sentences don't mean anything at all.

Anyways, the second village was right on the ocean. The place specialized in bonito fish, cooked in a certain way called "tataki." Tataki is bonito fish that has been slightly grilled on the outside, but still raw and sashimi-like on the inside. It is sliced thinly and served with soy sauce and some vegetable garnish. The lovely proprietors of the place walked us all through the process of preparing bonito. A bonito fish is about two feet long, and only parts of it are edible. So, we got to participate in cutting its head off, taking out the organs, separating the bone from the meat, and finally separating the red from white meat. The most amazing part was when she sliced open what must have been the bonito's stomach. About a dozen little fish came tumbling out! They were still whole, and they looked somewhat like sardines. It was pretty damn cool. Anyways, with the filets of red bonito meat prepared, it was time to go on to grilling. Grilling is done over a large trash-can/oil drum type of thing, filled with dried rice stalks. A tool similar to a pitchfork is then held over the lit rice stalks, and the filet of bonito are laid on the tines. The flames rise quite dramatically! I got to hold the pitchfork over the fire for a bit :-D Then, we sliced the bonito, arranged on plate, flavored with salt and green onion and mmm-mmm-devoured it! Meanwhile, somebody else had been grilling the organs that we discarded earlier. What do you know, fish-heart tastes like beef!

The girls then split up in half for the night and went to stay at local houses (i.e., minshuku, or Japanese equivalent of a bed and breakfast). So, I got to stay with 4 of the students just down the street from the bonito restaurant. Our host was a kindly and talkative lady called Fumiko-san, who had actually been serving us earlier in the restaurant. She welcomed us into her home. I was honestly exhausted, and I thought we would just have some quiet time to ourselves. Apparently not! She sat us around her table (on the tatami) and served us tons of food. Someone mentioned that I like ume-shu (Japanese plum wine) so she got us all some ume-shu. Then followed pistachios, chips, more drinks, grapes, and cake. I was about ready to explode. Also, the Japanese grapes were different from any that I've had before! They were huge and round, more like regular fruit than bite-sized grapes. Instead of being firm and hard, they were soft. More surprising, they actually tasted like the quintessential "grape" flavor that you get in jolly ranchers, cough syrup, and starbursts. But, in a good way. I always thought that "grape" flavored anything didn't taste like real grapes, but apparently I've just been having the wrong kind! (On a side note, these grapes probably cost nearly $20 in all. In a supermarket a few days ago, I saw these sorts of grapes on sale for 780 yen for one bunch! No kidding about fruit in Japan being expensive.)

So we had a very lively conversation over the ume-shu and food. Fumiko-san basically told us her life story, particularly about how she met her husband and how her rather peculiar marriage worked. From what I could gather, her husband is away on a boat for most of the year. Though they have been married for 19 years, she calculates that they have only been together for 3. I'm not sure, but I think it's a bonito-fishing boat that he is on. She told us about how she married in January, and exactly one month later in February her husband was off on the boat. She cried and cried, and wrote him letters every day. It was very touching, but it was hard to reconcile with her obviously enthusiastic and positive personality. She was so incredibly kind and warm to all of us. Don't picture your stereotypical nice old lady though--this one wore blue glitter eyeshadow that she kept dabbing at the entire time! She kept asking us if we had boyfriends! We went round the table and when I hesitated, there was a general cheer and accusatory noises. So then, everybody was all agog…I had to explain how I met Ben, what I liked best about him, where we went on dates, etc. etc. etc. They wanted to see a picture, but alas my computer was not with me at the time. It was certainly the most exercise my Japanese has gotten to date.

I had my first Japanese style bath that night as well. Fumiko-san filled the bathtub with water and set out a bucket and stool. Thank god I knew at least a little bit about what was going on, or else I would have been totally lost. In Japan, one bathes and cleans before entering the bathwater, because the same water is used for everybody else. So, I had me a bucket bath and then stepped for 2 minutes into the bath water, too embarrassed to stay longer (although who was really keeping track but me?). It was interesting. All the other girls then took their turn after me.

We all slept side by side on futon in two adjoining tatami rooms. Fumiko-san slid apart the sliding screen doors between them to open up the space. One side was the living room, and my side was some sort of altar room. I slept directly in front of something that looked like a shrine. It was way cool. But too bad the room was ridiculously hot. No air conditioning to speak of (not that I expected any), and even the fan was kind of sad. With the doors closed, and 5 of us in one unaired room, surrounded by soft futon, blankets, and tatami--well, you can imagine. The heat and humidity were oppressive. I woke up several times in the night to just sit in front of the fan and try to breathe. But at least, no mosquitoes. It was too homey for mosquitoes.

Then the next morning we got up for breakfast at the restaurant and drove to a nearby salt factory. It was, unsurprisingly, also a mom-and-pop establishment. We got to see how sea salt is extracted from the ocean water. It was breathtaking, because the factory was right on the ocean. Hmm…"factory" is overkill. It's more like a house, some greenhouses, and a large outdoor sea water concentrating machine. The people were very proud about how they don't boil the water off, rather relying on sunlight and "natural" processes to make the salt and preserve all of the minerals in it. We got taken through the process in the machine, the successive concentration of the salt, the process of handpicking out impurities, etc. etc. They also make some amazing bath salt/ salt scrub type of stuff that leaves your hands feeling amazingly soft after scrubbing in it. And we got to take home some of the (table) salt as a souvenir.

Lunch back at the restaurants, and final leavetakings. I can't get over just how nice everybody has been: Fumiko-san, the driver of the taxi, and Myojin-san, the lady who was showing us bonito fish preparation. Fumiko-san was so warm and open with us, and by the end of the night one of the girls was giving her a back massage! The taxi-bus driver took all his meals with us, and he and the students were having many lively conversations at the other end of the long table. Finally, as we were saying goodbye, Myojin-san was dabbing at her eyes underneath her eyeglasses. She and a few of the other ladies were about to cry! I was so touched that I nearly cried too, and I gave her a hug--unprecedented in Japanese culture. She told me to be persistent in my Japanese: "Nihongo o ganbatte!" It was so sweet, and we had only stayed for one night. I feel like such close but short-lived bonds are quite rare in American society. I can't imagine that American college students would have lively and fun conversations with their bus chauffeurs. The one time I stayed at an American bed and breakfast, the atmosphere was completely different. Granted, we weren't the only guests, but we certainly didn't bond with the innkeepers as much as we did this time. And I certainly can't imagine anybody American restaurateur tearing up at saying goodbye to a bunch of American college students she'd only met yesterday! I feel like in America, people in all kinds of industries deemed to be "service" types are generally invisible and ignored. Sometimes it's a class difference between the server and the served, sometimes its even a language difference. Or perhaps it's purely cultural: one doesn't expect to find out within an hour whether one's taxi driver has a grandson, worked in insurance, etc. etc. etc. Or at least, if the taxi driver volunteers such information, we often receive it with somewhat bemused surprise.

One final stop before driving back to Matsuyama: dairy farm number two. Actually, I would call it more of a vertically-integrated ice cream business. Another mom-and-pop business, basically they operate a very small ice cream stand in the middle of nowhere, next to a fork in the road and surrounded by rice paddies and misty hills (no kidding). They own three Jersey cows (these are apparently the brown sort), and all of the milk from the cows they make into ice cream, advertised as "jah-jee sofuto kureemu" (Jersey soft cream). Apparently, the profit they make from selling ice cream is something like 10 times more than they would if they just sold the milk to a local business. I don't know how they attract business, but they certainly seemed to be doing alright, since many people stopped by for a cone of very milky ice cream.

rice, and mosquitoes

I figured out the answer to the question of the rice. Well, apparently people do eat the rice grown in their backyards! That statement turned out even more literal than I thought it would be. I had thought the land and rice was owned by a company and that it would be packaged and sold as "Matsuyama City Rice" or something like that. Apparently, though, the little patches of land are owned by private people who work on the fields in their spare time, and eat their own homegrown rice. I suppose it's a bit like a vegetable garden or herb garden, except that it's a rice garden. I was surprised to hear it because I thought that rice was a very labor-intensive crop. But, Kenya-san (my host Dad) told me that nowadays the machines do everything, and it's not so hard.

People eat rice, mosquitoes eat me. I've become an inviting target. The first night I was here, although there was air conditioning in the room, because the family didn't seem to use it much in the rest of the house, out of courtesy I tried not to use it much either. I figured perhaps they were trying to save on their electric bill or something. So, at night I didn't really use the thick blanket and tried to stay cool by not covering up. Agh!! the next morning I wake up with no less than 7 mosquito bites, one on my face! Okay, so you may say--big deal, it's just a little bite. No....not for me. I'm the only one I know with such a severe allergic reaction to them. the one on my calf has swelled up to at least the size of my palm. The bites totally skip the itching part and go right to pain. I've been icing my legs and feet all evening. Even my toes are swollen, making it very hard to walk! Last night, politeness be damned, I turned down the air conditioning to 23 degrees and snuggled up in the thick blanket, protecting myself from the evil mosquitos. My host family was very nice as well to lend me some of their mosquito repellent when I asked if I could get some. Ironically, they bought it in the US! I had totally forgotten about bringing my own from home, even though I always bring it for China.

Life is good...

I think I must be the luckiest foreign student in Japan. My host family is ridiculously nice to me. They are taking me everywhere and helping me do everything--registering at the alien registration, opening a bank account, getting a cell phone, etc. And they cooked me an amazing dinner. Both of them are studying nutrition and food: one as a journalist and the other as a professor. As one might imagine, they are both foodies. In fact, my host dad has copies of The Omnivore's Dilemma and What To Eat on his bookshelf! As we walked through the supermarket today, my host mom was explaining to me about how it's difficult to avoid trans fats in Japan because there's no legislation or public awareness regarding it, but on the other hand there IS legislation regarding genetically modified foods! So much for health. They were explaining to me about how the asparagus came from a local farm, and the ice cream has no additives in it. Truly, they are into their food. It makes me feel even more inexperienced, but at the same time I feel very lucky to have two such people helping me out in life and studies.

Another funny thing about Matsuyama: all around the city there are scattered mini-rice paddies! They might be the size of a small house or two, interspersed between the convenience stores, the house, and the roads. Truly, every bit of land is put to use. I even saw a slightly larger rice paddy with some scarecrows in it, which was very cute. I wonder who owns the paddies, who works on the fields, and where the rice goes, and under what label! Do the local people eat the rice grown literally in their backyards?

Matsuyama arrival

Today I arrived in Matsuyama and was picked up from the airport by my host family. They are very nice and have been amazingly helpful. Matsuyama is a much quieter town than I thought. I suppose from the population size (500,000 ish) I was expecting something like...Cambridge perhaps? Perhaps even Boston-like, as even Boston is only 600,000 ish? But Matsuyama is quite spread out, very suburban and driving-oriented. I have to figure out where to get bus maps and perhaps a bike. Although, riding a bike would be doubly scary: first, since I haven't ridden one since I was 9, and second, since I don't know any of the rules here! I haven't seen too many bikers, and it's not as though there are bike lanes or anything! Some bikes apparently bike on the sidewalk, and others don't. Do I go with traffic, or against it? I've seen both! Hmm...It's definitely going to be a sleepy town and a quiet life.

On the upside, my apartment is in a very nice part of town. It's a few minutes walk from the university, and it's very close to a large beautiful park as well as the associated onsen, or hot springs. Also, it is within walking distance to Matsuyama castle. It's a nice little studio-type of apartment. Tomorrow I have to go and rent all the appliances that I need--a fridge, microwave, stove, and apparently a laundry machine as well.

My favorite part of the city so far is the blue sky over the tree-covered hills. Mountains? Hills. It's gorgeous. I don't know if the trees are pines or not. Matsuyama means Pine-Mountain.

ASIMO is my new lover

I went to the Tokyo Miraikan today, which is basically a gorgeous beautiful science museum. The highlight of my day was seeing ASIMO demonstrated. Look! Isn't she cute! Especially while turning on the spot, receiving and delivering trays, running, and interacting!

http://world.honda.com/HDTV/ASIMO/

the power of brand

At the airport in San Francisco I saw a group of Chinese or Taiwanese tourists, bound for Japan on the same flight as I was. Being bored and waiting to board, I watched as a woman who had just bought a large bag from the Coach store in the terminal take photos of that bag. In fact, she and her friends were taking turns photographing each other carrying the bag. But they weren't carrying the bag over their shoulders the way people would normally use bags. Rather, they were displaying the bag. They gingerly held it out with a hand and extended it in front of them or to their sides while their friends took photos of their poses. They admired the bag, talking about how they hadn't seen such a nice big bag before, and how hard it was to find. To my eye, it was a perfectly boring, canvas Coach monogram tote. I was amazed because at places like airports, people have to pay full retail price! And who the heck pays full retail price on these high-end luxury goods except super rich people? These were ordinary, Chinese-gabbling touristy types: old middle aged ladies in front-pleated tapered plants, tshirts and polo shirts, tour group hats, and sneakers. No stilettos, designer suit or clothing, or any of the accouterments of stereotypes I associate with paying retail at Coach. Sadly, the expensive Coach bag looked completely out of place, and were it not for the official-looking Coach paper bag and dustbag it came in, I would have mistaken it for a fake!

arrival

I have so many first thoughts about Japan and the Fulbrighters that I don't quite know how to start.

Landscape: Coming into the city on the limo-bus (airport shuttle) gave me a first look impression. I have to say, it basically looks like Beijing. The characters, the dull grey high rises, the tiles on the sidewalk, the style of signs and advertisements, even the railings on the streets reminded me of China.

Language: Narita airport gave me a confidence boost. I was able to do everything without any problems. I could pass through immigration, customs, claim my baggage, get my baggage delivered to my host family, buy a ticket to the limo bus, get on it, and subsequently get off it and get on a taxi and check into my hotel. Phew! Plus, I even had a short conversation in Japanese with the nice lady sitting next to me on the plane. Communicating in Japanese was a real rush. Although I was apprehensive before leaving, I couldn't help smiling while I walked around Narita, exhilarated by the sheer joy of being able to communicate!

Then, the letdown. Some of us Fulbrighters found each other and we all decided to go out to dinner, to Shinjuku. I was perfectly prepared to eat a nice bowl of ramen, but we decided to go further out--which was fine because there were some Tokyo experienced people there. The subway map was horrendous, and the subway stations themselves (Aoyama 1chome and Shinjuku station) were labyrinths. If I were alone, I could have wandered in there for hours, trying to find the platform and the exits. Nevermind trying to read the map and figure out where I was going and what fare I had to pay. So after the confidence boost of Narita, suddenly I felt pretty pathetic!

Food: The diet starts today. Everything we ordered came out to be less than appetizer sized!! Despite costing nearly $10 each. *sigh* All I wanted was some katsu-don or some such equivalent. Seriously, I would have settled for instant ramen. But we ended up going to this funky place called Christon Café which was decorated inside to a church theme. There were ridiculously gothic chandeliers, gargoyles, and plenty of christ-figures on crosses. The food was good--there just wasn't much of it for what we paid for. I'm going to bed hungry! Oh well, breakfast buffet, here I come!!

People and such: Here comes the feeling out part, where we all figure out what kind of people we are. Who are the partiers, the hard-core clubbers, and who are…not. I'm basically limited to staying with the group or else facing getting lost by myself. The loss of my sense of independence is exhausting, plus there's the added obligation that in 3 days we won't be seeing much of each other anymore, so we have to get in as much bonding as possible. But not really choosing where we eat, how late we stay out, whether we karaoke, club, drink, or return to the hotel…all of it makes me psychologically exhausted. The people remind me of Harvard again, infer what you will from that statement. Basically extraverted or trying to be. I think I have the least experience in Japan or with Japanese than all of them, having never set foot outside Narita airport before. It's slightly frustrating. But then again, people are always frustrating :-)

thoughts on Zielenziger's Shutting out the Sun

I just read Michael Zielenziger's book Shutting out the Sun: How Japan Created its own Lost Generation. I thought it would be an interestingly detailed study of hikikomori, those young people who seclude themselves into their rooms and cut off all contact with people, even their parents. But instead, much of it turned out to be a general rant against Japan's social ills and a depressing analysis of how Japan got to be the way it is.

A part of his argument is that the Japanese are so culturally foreign because Christianity, a major component of and underlying basis for Western values, has never made any significant inroads into Japanese culture. Zielenziger argues that Christianity, specifically Protestantism, teaches all sorts of individualistic principles, such as the idea that each individual is responsible to God for his own actions. In addition, he argues that absolute morality came with the Christian world-view; Japanese culture, having never absorbed Christianity, continues to look towards consensus building as an indicator of (relative) morality.

One could make all kinds of arguments about those statements, but I also wondered if Christianity impacted Western culture in a different fundamental way. At least in Catholicism, you can be forgiven for your sins. If you repent, God will welcome you back into his arms. In contrast, one person in his book describes Japanese society as a "deduction point" society. For every mistake, points are deducted. So long as you never make a mistake, your points remain at 100 and you are perfect. Therefore, everybody is deathly afraid to take a risk and make that mistake. Perhaps the Western culture that allows risk-taking and tolerates (or even encourages) messing up and picking oneself up again is also attributable to the influence of Christianity.

Perhaps purists would argue that I have gotten my branches of Christianity mixed up. Not being Christian of any sort, of course, I lump the impact of Christianity on Western culture all together, without stopping much to parse out individual factors. Indeed, the whole complex is "Judeo-Christian," is it not? Compared to Buddhism and Shintoism, the monotheistic religions do seem about the same.

But anyways, Zielenziger's argument about Christianity and Japan suffers a major flaw. The only Asian country he raises as a contrast is South Korea, where Christian crosses are a common sight and Western individualistic values seem stronger (to him). I don't know much about South Korea, but I wonder what he would say about China. I would highly doubt that Christianity has made considerable inroads into Chinese culture, but judging from my and my family's experience, Chinese culture now seems to embrace risk-taking and some individualism in any case. Zielenziger argues that funding, encouragement, responsibility, etc. are rarely given to younger colleagues or entrepreneurs in Japan because older and nominally more experienced people receive priority. My father, at least, says that in China the venture capital flows in much the same way as it flows in America--towards the younger, more energetic, more risk-taking generation. Isolated incident? Perhaps. But I think it would be safe to say that the culture in China is very different from the culture in Japan, despite their similar polytheistic influences.

Hmm, Christianity. Makes me very suspicious when it comes up in an argument like this. Especially when statements are made about how Christian values are the basis of Western values and therefore of Western global dominance.

the project proposal

For those of you who might be interested, here is a description of my project, excerpted from the original Fulbright proposal. I've left out most of the insufferable prattle about how I'm an amazing person totally suited to and able to pull off this project, haha. I've also left out some of the more boring details of the project. My vaunted language skills are currently being put severely to the test as I frantically flip dictionary pages, trying to translate the aforementioned proposal. Anybody handy at Japanese, feel free to help!

Westernization of Japanese food: Attitudes towards dieting and food habits

Biological and chemical factors such as genes and carcinogens are often the focus of research on disease and disease prevention; however, social and cultural environments play an overwhelming and sometimes unrecognized role as well. The impacts of Westernization on global culture and health are particularly important considerations for developing and rapidly Westernizing nations. In particular, the spread of a Western diet has had a unique nutritional and health impact in Japan. The past few decades have witnessed an extraordinary transition from a traditional Japanese rice, fish, and tofu-based diet to a Western-style fast food diet in conjunction with a rise of childhood obesity and diabetes. Japan is also witnessing the rise of dieting behaviors and eating disorders formerly associated primarily with the West. Because socially influenced attitudes towards food can vary between cultures and impact health, I would like to study the relationships between a) frequency of and motivations for dieting, b) dietary content and underlying reasons for choice of foods, and c) prevalence of “medical” attitudes towards food among the younger generation of Japanese women.

Japan is the ideal place to study such cultural phenomenon, particularly since in many economic and political respects it is similar to the Western world. A mutual understanding of the impact of multiple cultural influences on individual motivations for eating and dieting would be important in allowing us to 1) better understand the motivations for dieting in Japanese youth and provide insights as to how to appropriately prevent the further spread of eating disorders; 2) better understand Japanese attitudes towards food and evaluate similarities or differences to American attitudes towards food; 3) probe the underlying reasons for the Westernization of Japanese diet and possibly devise culturally relevant policies aimed at promoting healthier food choices.

Previous studies of eating disorders and attitudes towards food have yielded interesting avenues for investigation. For example, a study of eating disorders in young Japanese women warns against casually attributing the most prevalent Western dieting motivations to Japanese women, suggesting that other culture-bound factors may be involved, such as an intense desire to fit in with peers (Pike et al). Other studies add that even basic motivations for eating could differ between cultures, with Americans more likely than the Japanese to eat for emotional reasons rather than in response to physical and environmental cues (Hawk et al.). Hawk goes on to speculate that Americans have come to view food more as a health tool or medication, whereas the Japanese have retained a focus on the physical pleasure and nutritional satisfaction of eating. Other research suggests that this view is incomplete; anthropologist Ohnuki-Tierney has noted that the Japanese also view food as a kind of medicine, as evidenced by the cultural focus on curing various ailments with special diets, and the existence of a whole folk theory of disease based on acid and alkaline food.

My proposed study will be a vignette-based survey, ideally of students enrolled at the university where the Fulbright will place me. The survey will consist of several photographs, each accompanied by a vignette and followed by survey questions designed to probe the subject’s attitudes towards dieting and food. Each subject will receive one of the photos, which will differ from others by one parameter, such as food content; thus, I can probe how attitudes towards food and dieting vary according to the parameter. As in previous studies based on a convenience sample of university students, subjects may be recruited from large general courses, and paper surveys may simply be passed out and collected.

As a future physician, I believe that public health and sociological research is particularly relevant to my academic and professional development. In addition to coming in contact with culturally different peoples, this Fulbright fellowship would allow me to pursue my own public health research project full-time for the first time. In the past, my academic time has been largely devoted to research and courses in the natural sciences. The pressure of these time commitments has prevented me from ever fully concentrating on and developing my other interests, especially Japanese and the social sciences. A year as a Fulbright Fellow will give me time to focus on public health in-depth and in a satisfying manner, as well as allow me to more deeply understand the cultural and social factors that influence people’s health and behaviors as opposed to the biological and chemical factors that I have focused on until now. This experience will serve as a future reminder to me that many different perspectives on the same problem (such as human health) can coexist and supplement each other.