Japanese people continued

These pictures took less guts to take--the people are facing away from me, but they deserve no less recognition than forward facing subjects.

Some cool older men on the train. The first man seemed to have more character and flair than the second, but maybe the second guy is still developing his. He at least looks stylish. His stylishness seems to me uniquely Japanese in that everything is carefully calculated. Japanese fashion never seems to me whimsically put together, in that ubiquitous Olsen/Fashintoast "I just threw it on on my way out" sort of way (maybe that style is fading out now though). This man put more thought into his ONE outfit for this ONE day than I have for my own clothes and makeup in the past couple of weeks since I've returned from Japan. I mean, I put more effort into my clothes while I'm there, but I cannot look that well-edited when I go out.

This man below is delivering Kiyoken bento boxes to their counter at the basement (i.e. food) level of the department store Takashimaya. I always see pre-made bento boxes in grocery stores, train stations, and Haneda airport, and they usually look good. But ultimately, nothing beats a Kiyoken shumai bento. Luckily, there's a Kiyoken lurking at every corner everywhere, so you can have one whether you're on the go or not.

Here's what a shumai bento looks like. 

Shumai are steamed dumplings, not unlike like gyoza. There are other forms of meat: cooked tuna, kamaboko (the pink and white fish cake), and a piece of karaage, or fried chicken (has more soy sauce and ginger flavor then their American counterpart). There's also sweet egg (the yellow slice), a piece of dried apricot, and the best part, which I remember from my childhood: chunks of sweetened bamboo (very top left). I had this particular bento on the way to the airport, so it was my last meal. I rarely finish meals (I order too much and am picky) but this, aside from the tuna (not a big fan--can I get some more bamboo instead?), I finished. I felt like I won something! So anyway, my love for the shumai bento is why, when I saw the delivery man in his Kiyoken jacket, I took a picture of him. Thank you for your hard work!

I know I shouldn't make fun of "Engrish" or anything like it, but I can't help it. This sweater is delightful.

And finally, this is from my first full day in Yokohama. This is past the West Exit of the Yokohama train station, between Bic Camera and Vivre. This is where cars can't pass through, so it's just people. I wasn't doing any particular people-watching (or am I always doing it?), but I noticed this man walking in front of me. When I realized what was going on with his bag situation, I frantically pulled my phone out and started taking pictures. It's a miracle I got this shot where everything but him and his bag are blurry.

He's got a FANNY PACK AROUND HIS NECK. This is not normal, right? My first couple of days in Japan always feel strange, mostly because of being in a completely different time zone. Sometimes it's something like cultural shock that sinks in harder than it does later in the trip. But is this culture shock? This guy is just doing it wrong! But that's okay, he's got it figured out. I probably shouldn't be taking these pictures and posting them on the Internet, either, but it's okay, I want to share them and I mean to do it with love.

Japanese people

Every trip to Japan calls for a trip to Kamakura. Currently in Japan, there seems to be a big boom in miniature poodles of this brown color, I think because they look like teddy bears. My mom wants one (I'm not sure to what degree she's being ironic-funny because Oji is so huge [friendly, but huge]) so she coos at them when she sees them. This woman seemed kind of social, like she wanted people to notice her teddy bear dog, so my mom asked if it was okay to take a picture (so this is not a "stolen image.") I wanted it to be a shot of the two of them but the woman held herself back a bit. I loved the woman's look--compared to other people, she had the aura of a "celeb." When we took the picture, she said to dog, "Aren't you lucky, they wanted your picture!" Somehow this strikes me as classic Kamakura. People are naturally cool about everything, including their wealth and dogs and the city's rich and long history. Just a giant Buddha statue and tons of old shrines and temples people love to visit, no big deal.

Halfway through our trip, my mom and I remembered we needed to visit the family grave. We spoke with the temple's aging priest, wandered around my mom's childhood neighborhood, and stopped by this lovely little coffee shop, "Coffee Yama," right around the corner from the Koganecho train station. They love their cigarettes--a sign at the entrance almost boasts that there are no non-smoking seats. (Non-smoking areas are increasingly more common these days; GyuKaku was all non-smoking!) They sell them at the register, too, including some Che Guevara variety. When we walked in, we were greeted by Kraftwerk's "Pocket Calculator." The interior is very Showa--1970's-80's, dark, kind of comfortably cramped. I thought it provided the perfect scene for strange characters to meet in a Murakami Haruki novel. Most customers were by themselves, but these ladies were chatting away. They had apparently ordered Coke floats and were delighted by their arrival. 

This lady, even in her train-nap, is not pleased. This was on the Keihin Kyuko (KeiKyu) line, which is *so cheap*! How could this woman still be mad? She even has an end seat and no one next to her! Just an obnoxious weirdo across from her, taking pictures of her and posting them on the Internet.

While waiting for Naomi at Sakuragicho, I noticed a kid on a payphone. That means he doesn't have a cell phone. I loved the expression on his face while he waited for someone to pick up on the other line. He seems serious and earnest. Also, the Japanese always carry extra bags in addition to their main one (like purses, or in this case, a "randoseru," or the bulky, square backpack elementary school kids carry). I imagine in this kid's case, at least one of the bags is for "juku," or cram school. But that doesn't fit in the giant box-bookbag thing he's shouldering? The other thing is that people always carry "omiyage" or gifts to their destinations, especially if they are seeing or visiting someone. I can see that giving gifts as often as the Japanese do might require extra bags. But what's in the TEPRA bag? 

More stolen images to come.

America is big and dirty!

This isn't quite a fair comparison; it might be like "comparing apples to oranges," which I've noticed my students like to say (which is code for "Why are we talking about this?" to which I want to exclaim "Because it keeps philosophers employed!"). But these are the streets with which I am familiar.

This is a small, two-way street deep inside of west Yokohama. There's a bus route that stops along here. I don't like it when my grandma jaywalks on this street. 

And here is Chicago's Fullerton Avenue. There are two lanes for each direction. Again, the 74 Fullerton bus is probably not the same as the 53 route that runs by my grandma's apartment, but still, we're talking about bus route streets. I don't like it when big families jaywalk on this street.

Since about high school, when I'd return home from Japan, the first thing I'd really notice and appreciate was the high ceilings of American homes. Lately when I return home from Japan, I feel like in addition to things like ceilings and streets, the sky seems bigger, too.

I walked with Mordecai and Mitsu on Christmas morning. We walked along Fullerton, where I took these pictures. Looking at them walking ahead of me, I remember thinking, "Damn, it's dirty here." Still, it is nice to be back home. 

Japan - December 2012

Totsuka, Yokohama

My mom and I visited my grandmother for two weeks this past December. I rarely go to Japan during the winter so some of the experience was rather novel. Naturally, the soundtrack was George Michael singing "Last Christmas" and Mariah Carey "All I Want For Christmas Is You." Reservations were being taken for Christmas cakes, cooked chickens and turkeys, and KFC (I couldn't get fried chicken on the 23rd because they were only fulfilling reservation orders!). It's quite festive, except there's no religious or any real meaning behind it all so it felt a bit surreal. I wanted to see Santa on a cross, but I think they got past that gaffe a while ago.

Aside from experiencing the Christmas spirit, I ate a lot of steamed buns and udon noodles. Other noteworthy components of my experience was the weather--it rarely gets below 40 degrees (F), so it was kind of confusing. I'd get hot while walking or on the train, but it'd be freezing at night. I was also there during the elections and saw the changeover of power from the Democratic Party of Japan to the more conservative Liberal Democratic Party of Japan. I was amazed at the reality of political third parties--some people I know voted for the Communist party; I was rooting for the doomed green "Future Party." The elections made me think about Japan more generally: its (homogeneous) population as a whole, its relation to foreign countries, the war's ongoing effects, the current generation, potential directions for the future. I often think about these things here and there, but it wasn't until this trip that I've been able to better collect my thoughts.

I'll be posting some pictures I took, mostly with my iPhone, and which were edited with an app called Camera+. I've got more "stolen images" of random people! :D

Yokohama 2012 x Mordo

Unfortunately, Narita Airport is really far away from Tokyo and Yokohama. The only thing better than taking the Narita Express (NEX) train to either city is to take a plane directly to Haneda Airport in Tokyo if you're flying out of NYC, Boston, or LA :( (Really--why Boston?! Is it the career fair thingie?) I found a pretty good deal on an NEX + Suica combo for foreigners. I find it kind of inviting but simultaneously disinviting: "Please come to Japan and enjoy this heavy discount on the NEX! Ride around Tokyo with this Suica card! But only if you stay for a 14 days (or stay here for good)!" I think the general point is to not alarm foreigners by the original price of the NEX; it really is expensive (about $50, one way). My grandma complained that there was no equivalent "help" for foreigners coming into the United States. Using what felt like insufficient vocabulary, I tried my best to explain to her that under no circumstances, no part of the United States could ever come up with something as extraordinarily beautiful as the NEX, let alone anything as smoothly-run as any of the Japan Railway lines. You either take the CTA Blue Line to or from O'Hare, or the Orange Line to or from Midway, and you pray to the transportation gods that your car doesn't smell like gross body excretionary matter. If it doesn't, consider yourself warmly welcomed by Rahm and the Ghosts of Daleys. When you are surrounded by efficient transportation, especially tailored for the elderly (e.g., the Yokohama bus and subway are free for seniors), I wonder if you can't help but take it for granted. I should have reminded her of the time that she thought that the CTA train was going to derail; we were just underground on the Blue Line! Who the hell wants a discount on that ancient, garbage railway?

I was in Japan for two weeks with my mother. It's interesting, and fun, to live briefly with her again, and especially in Japan. I love Japan even more when I'm there with her, especially when we have nothing pressing to do, lots of good food to eat, and good people to see. The day she left was the day Mordecai arrived, so I dropped her off at the airport and picked him up. The next day, he and I walked around Yokohama's Yamashita Park. My family has a long history with this area in general, and the Hotel New Grand in particular.

We took the Sea Bass (pronounced "Sea Bus"!) to the Yokohama station. You ride in the shaky little boat past Sakuragicho/Minato Mirai, where the Landmark Tower and all those iconic buildings are. I hadn't ridden the Sea Bass for so long, since the early 1990's.

This is an overexposed or washed out (sorry, Daddy) but typical view of Yokohama's most famous landscape: Landmark tower, the Cosmo World ferris wheel/clock, the descending Queen's Towers, the crescent-y Intercontinental Hotel.

This is the usual view, from behind, which I don't think is noticed very often. The flat structure in the foreground is a convention center, I think.

We went to the Fujiko F. Fujio Museum in Kawasaki city; it was my second time in two weeks. Mordecai and I watch Doaremon on Saturday morning, so I insisted that he visit the museum. Which is to say, if you care about Doraemon at all, you should visit the museum, and if you love Doraemon, then you are morally obligated to pay respects to his creator! I'm not sure I can walk past Fujio's timeline anymore though. It notes his death in 1996, and like a gentle whisper, or to comfort the young ones, remarks that he will always be with us. And then, when you think the timeline is over, it marks the year 2112, the birth of Doraemon. I can't and don't want to articulate exactly why, but I almost started bawling each time I saw this part of the timeline. Somehow, I was able to contain myself, but I still desperately needed tissues as I moved on to the next exhibit.

This guy appears in the background of the photo of me and Doraemon. I saw him wandering around by himself, eating a dorayaki (a sweet bean paste filled pastry, Doraemon's favorite snack). I decided he must have been a superfan, so I stalked him a bit with my iPhone that makes no shutter noise when I take pictures. I mean, look at that cross-legged, chill pose! I don't think I could be as confident and cool as him if I went to the museum alone. He deserves another view on this blog. Is he a ghost? A sprite?

This is on the the subway back in Yokohama after the museum. I didn't know it then, but at this moment, a stomach virus or some other sort of illness was creeping over me as I was about to embark on a trip to southern Japan. But more on that later. Anyway, don't I look Japanese with everyone else?! My peoples! Little does everyone know, I can speak, read, and write as well as only an 8th grader, if that.

These are the Yokohama highlights of our trip, at least as remembered by the Sony camera. The rest of the time was spent in Kagoshima and Yakushima with my cousins, which will be chronicled in the next post! I'm getting there!

Ofuna, Kamakura, Yokohama

1. Hydrangea, Kamakura

2. Kannon, Ofuna

3. Tree roots as stairs (?), Kamakura

4. Garden, Kamakura

5. Mossy enormous rocks, Yokohama (my cousins' house)

It was really nice to see my childhood favorites this summer--the Kannon at Ofuna and the Daibutsu in Kamakura. This year, my mom's friend Naomi navigated the way to the Daibutsu (and two purple potato soft serve [per person]) by way of Kita-Kamakura. She said she and my mom used to walk from Kita-Kamakura to Kamakura all the time when they were in junior high school. The path was littered with temples, so we stopped by a lot of them on the way. There were lots of hydrangeas, national treasures, and paradigmatic Japanese gardens. I'd like to cultivate a Japanese-ish garden, but it would clash so badly with our not-at-all-Japanese-ish house. I wonder if there are certain elements though, like mossy rocks, or pea gravel-type things, that would work in our garden. It turns out Toguri on Belmont has one enormous rock (not sure if it was for sale...) and a variety of pebbles if one is interested in adding Japanese touches to their garden. I know Gethsemane has some rocks, too, but they look more...man-made?

This post should be on my home & garden blog, which I am currently updating as well. There is much to report on my vegetable garden. Mitsu's blog is up and running as well!

Lately in J-Pop

Some recent noteworthy things in my J-pop radar:

• Crystal Kay posted about a recent shopping excursion with her mother at the Landmark Tower. I'm sure she still lives in Yokohama...I think I'd die if I saw her there (again--I think I saw her walk off the same train I was on at the Yokohama station in the summer of 2002). Anyway, I love her blog, low quality pictures and all.
  
• Utada Hikaru posted about another English-language album from Island Def Jam on her blog, which led me to her MySpace. My initial reaction was, "MySpace?!" I suppose there's some marketing value to this. Anyway, she has a single up, "Come Back to Me," which I think sounds much more radio- and American mass-friendly than any of her electronic, ecclectic, pop-experimental stuff on her first major English-language album, "Exodus." It seems like the thing that was missing from "Exodus" was that drum machine snare fill that appears in every recent R&B/pop ballad. I'm curious to see who, if anyone, helped out with this song, and I still wonder about the strength of her voice.
  
• BoA is I guess trying to cross over to the States as well. Joe messaged me the other day about a song of hers out in America, and I remembered that I had seen a BoA video on this blog I frequent, Lulu's, who for a period of time was obsessed with the drop-crotch pant. BoA is wearing some mild drop-crotches in this video. The song, "Eat You Up," is entirely in English, and it's kind of smart in that it forces BoA to enunciate every word she says in the verses so that you understand her (she still has what sounds to me like a strong accent in some interview videos, not that you can't understand what she's saying). So this sounds possibly promising as well.

All of this leads me back to Crystal Kay. Why isn't she attempting to cross over? Maybe she and her team are watching her contemporaries test the waters first, especially after seeing Amerie appear on the R&B scene only to pretty much disappear. I suppose this is the low risk path...or maybe it's just the stay-in-Yokohama path. Hmm. 045 is the best area code to have, and "Yokohama" is the best regional license plate registration. Can't criticize that route.