The Big Japanese Person*

The week this week started with me watching a Japanese Cult comedy on DVD which Japanese Bob had lent me. “Dai Nihon-Jin” which literally translates as “Big Japanese Person” is a fly on the wall mockumentary about a man who is turned into a giant whenever a huge monster attacks Japan. The DVD featured no subtitles or dubbing track unfortunately, so 95% of the dialogue got past me, but as I`ve mentioned before the majority of Japanese comedy is physical, so it was still awesome to watch.

The highlight of the movie was a fight scene between the “Dai Nihon-Jin” and another giant monster with a human head and a hand for a body in downtown Sakae, Nagoya. Lots of the places I go every week were featured in the fight scene (including one scene where the Sunshine Sakae Ferris wheel was used like a hamster wheel by the hand body thing) so it was really cool to see.

On the Saturday night I went out to Kanayama, just outside Sakae to meet my friend Tomomi for an international party thing at a local Izakaya. Bob came along as well as Justin the Canadian. I met some really cool people there including one Italian who used to work at the “Italia Village” (a sort of Italian theme park at Nagoya port which featured loads of Italian restaurants, shops and Gondolier rides. It closed down a couple of months ago however, leaving a large number of unemployed Italians in Nagoya). He used to be a Gondolier driver but was now without a job. He didn’t seem too down about it though, and was a proper winner.

I also met loads of Chinese people and some other Americans. The food was pretty awesome, starting with a massive salad, and moving onto Nabe`s, Gratins, Spaghetti`s, Fried Chicken, Chips, Tofu, and ending with some lush cakes. After this most of the people went their separate ways, but me, Bob and Justin went onto The Hub in Sakae to neck a few more.

After a couple of hours Justin went home as he had to be up for work, but me and Bob decided we wanted to keep the night going.

So we went onto Lush, a hip hop club. The place was expensive and a bit too packed, so after about half an hour we decided to leave. With nowhere else to go, Bob suggested a bar a friend of his owned called “Goat”.

This was a good 10 minutes walk into another red light districty area, but eventually we happened upon the building. The bar was on the 5th floor, and along the same corridor were a variety of hostess bars with girls waiting outside to welcome you in. We went into “Goat” however, and Bob was given a really warm welcome by both of the barmen, one of which was the owner.

This bar also had a no foreigner policy due to the vast Brazilian and Phillipino population in this slightly dodgy corner of Sakae. Although this blatant racism upsets me, over time I have come to understand it. The majority of crimes/anti-social behavior is committed by non-Japanese in my experience, and indeed everyone else I have approached on the subject, has said the same. Whilst I don’t support these anti-foreigner policies, I understand why many Japanese feel like this. It is not necessarily a hatred of other cultures or a fear of loss of national identity so much as it is a simple mathematical security issue. If you don’t let foreigners in then you wont have as many stabbings or robberies in the place. A simple comparison of the security measures employed for “Gaijin clubs”, and Japanese only clubs enforces this idea.

That being said I think the Japanese in general do go way overboard with their representations in the media, and the way they often treat foreigners. I have experienced racism on a fairly minor scale a few times, although it has usually been laughable more than offensive (the idea of anyone being racist to a white Englishman is so alien to me that it does become a joke), but some of my friends have had really upsetting experiences which is totally uncalled for.

So my conclusion on this subject is to respect the Japanese who want to have these views, but to keep my own mind open. After all its not my country so why should they comply with what I consider to be fair.

Anyway the bar staff were really nice to me despite my racial inferiority, and me and Bob sat at the bar. The room was very small, but for a Japanese style 1 room bar it was kind of big, with 2 sofas and about 8 seats at the bar. There were about 3 other people sitting at the bar and people came and left as the night went on. On the TV screens dotted around the bar, “The Shawshank Redemption” was being played muted, with Japanese subtitles. We were given free drinks due to the fact that Bob knew the owner which was cool, and we sat and talked with them for hours.

By this stage I had the rubbish combination of having sobered up enough to be self conscious about speaking Japanese, and felt rough enough to be unable to get my brain thinking clear enough to understand what everyone was talking about. Time and again I had to get people to repeat stuff slowly so I could join in the conversation which was really frustrating, but for the most part I had a good time here.

The bar also had a Karaoke machine which myself and some of the other drinkers indulged, myself doing classics which I hoped would appeal to the other clientele including The Beatles “Let It Be”, and Monty Python`s “Always Look on the Bright Side” (well actually that was just for Bob who is a huge Monty Python fan).

At one point some guy came in and sat at one of the sofas and ordered a bottle of wine, which he drank with one of the barmen who joined him to indulge in conversation etc. In fact there were a couple of other people who had gone drinking on their own, and this coupled with my experience in Hiroshima enlightened me to this part of Japanese culture which doesn’t really exist in the UK (or as far as I know), that of the lone drinker. The barstaff really looked after them, and I was well impressed with the service shown. At one point they ordered food from a Chinese takeaway for him, and the 2 guys who had loads of energy took it in turns to sit with him.

After meeting and chatting with people for ages, The Shawshank Redemption began for the third time, and I decided I should get home ASAP. I had to be up the next day, so needed all the sleep I could get. Whilst I hadn’t spent a penny at the bar, and Bob had already settled our bill, the barstaff still didn’t want to see us go and kept talking to us. Even after we left, the owner guy (called Daisuke) came down in the lift with us and stood outside talking to us for another 15 or 20 minutes.

I eventually got home around 8 and went to sleep. When I woke up I got on a train to get to the ACC school in Anjo where my friend Tracey was holding a fundraiser for a Peruvian charity where she was going to volunteer in a few weeks. This was in the shape of a photographic exhibition as she was a keen photographer. When I got there it was pouring with rain (its currently the rainy season in Japan which sucks, its like a monsoon sometimes!), and there were about 10 people in the Anjo school where I work on Fridays.

The exhibition was going to be running for 4 hours but because I had gotten up late due to the previous nights events, I just got there for the last hour when most of the people had been and gone although there were 2 Peruvians who Tracey had met at a language exchange program, and had lots of interesting stories about Peru which was really cool. After looking around for a bit I bought one of Traceys photos of a Japanese shrine which was really awesome and came with a free frame which was cool. After an hour we all helped to clean up which took a while, but was quite good fun.

After that the 2 Peruvians (I forgot their names) gave me a lift to the station which was really nice of them, and I embarked on my epic journey back to Nisshin. I got back around 10 and tried to get a regular nights sleep.

Ok that’s about it for this week. Sorry about the lack of pictures but despite bringing my camera on the night out I completely forgot to use it except on that one photo of the salad in the Izakaya. Still, to try and make up for it Ill leave you with a trailer for the one and only “Dai Nihon-Jin”.

Peace out

Jack

http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=XF0lAX0LPlM&feature=related

The Skyboat

These past 2 weeks unfolded relatively slow, as I spent a great deal of time working or chilling at home. On Sunday however, me and Ayae ventured into Sakae. Our first stop was the Sunshine Sakae building. This is known to all Nagoyans as the building in the centre of town with a huge ferris wheel stuck to it. Ive often looked upon the “skyboat” as they call it but have never actually ridden it.

When we got on, it gradually got higher giving a pretty awesome view of Nagoya as it went. Inside our “boat” there was a TV screen (as there is in and on almost everything in Japan) which had a control panel. Using this we could select from a variety of styles of music and tracks to be the soundtrack to our ride.

After reaching the peak and seeing familiar Nagoya sights from afar (such as the castle, the Oasis 21 Centre, and the crazy spiral building near Nagoya station), we eventually descended and got off.

After exiting the Sunshine Sakae building we went to the “Big Echo” Karaoke box to spend an hour singing our hearts out, and I was pleasantly surprised to find some rarities including 2 Asian Dub Foundation songs.

Following this we went to find some food. I had a craving for something which I first (and last) tried about 8 months ago. The Pizza Cone. For those that don’t remember or didn’t read that blog, this is basically a cone made of pizza dough with a pizza filling which is then baked, and its proper lush.

After finishing that off we walked around until we were hungry again (which didn’t take long as the pizza cone is probably the equivalent to like 2 slices), and then we went to an Okinawan style restaurant. I had Taco Rice which is Taco meat on a mound of rice together with salsa, and shredded cabbage, and Ayae had Chanpuru which is a bitter vegetable thing mixed with egg and pork.

Ｏn Friday I had to go to the doctors to get vaccinations (Hepatitus A and B and Japanese B Encephalitus for those wondering) and malaria tablets for Thailand, which was fairly easy but cost a fortune. I decided on the expensive Maleria tablets which surprised the doctor who said most Foreigners go for the cheap option.

On Saturday I met my friends Callie, Rich, Min, Tomomi, Mochi, Raul and more at the Hub for drinks. Whilst there I also saw my work mates Lauren and Melody and adding everyone to the group in the already packed Hub meant that the group stayed together for about 10 minutes before the claustrophobia sent people there separate ways.

My group all headed to Club Domina where there was a house techno night. Within minutes of being there I had blagged a free flashing neon ring thing being given out by some raver at the bar. Also at the bar was a DJ called “Loki” who had an awesome haircut featuring blue streamer things, and was promoting his club night next week, snappily titled “Funeral” (cos that sounds like an awesome party!).

As time wore on I got hungry so left the club to go to the Lawson Station convenience store round the corner (all combinis are 24 hours), to nab some food (a Teriyaki burger in a muffin by the way). Outside I saw an Aussie and a New Zealander I knew, who didn’t want to pay to get into the club, but still seemed to be living it up outside the Lawson Station. In fact when I returned 2 hours later around 5, they were still there. They seemed to just be trying to pull girls but no matter how cheap loitering outside a combini is, there must be easier ways. Well, each to his own I guess.

As the night wore on more people left and by around half 4 it was just me Callie, Tomomi and Mochi. Whilst taking a break from raving, I met a bloke called Tomoya who was a Japanese language teacher for Junior high students. Anyway he was properly loving it and after chatting for about 10 minutes he invited me to an illegal rave in Gifu (a couple hours outside Nagoya) in a couple of weeks.

An hour later and the club was still going strong. Me, Tomomi and Mochi were knackered though and I had to meet Ayae in an hour, so we left and went to Dennys to get some breakfast. After a satisfying “Big Cobb Salad”, I went to Nagoya station to meet Ayae, who had woken up in Nisshin an hour ago and had come to meet me.

When we met I was obviously knackered but we had a day planned so I decided to honor it. People reading this might wonder why I went out the night before I had to wake up at 6, and the only way I can explain it is that I really felt like a night out. So I did.

The day we had planned was to go to Ise, in Mie a couple hours out of Nagoya. When we got there we went to the Gegu temple which was apparently an intensely spiritual place. Allegedly it holds the stones the 10 commandments were written on (Moses came to Japan all those years ago and actually finished out his life here). Like I said, each to his own.

After that we had lunch at a diner and got some pastries from a French bakery nearby. After that we took a 40 minute train to a place in the middle of nowhere called Izanomiya which was apparently even more spiritual. This place was really lush and had loads of beautiful trees.

After this we took a load of trains (including one wrong one), and eventually ended up at home around 7pm. By this time I was passed being tired so stayed up a bit longer.

On TV I managed to catch this awesome Japanese game show where people with strange pets (including a Penguin, a giant Turtle, a Sheep and a Pig) had to test their pets love for them. This was done by the animals watching their owners being attacked by these men dressed up as giant bananas, then seeing if they would try and rescue them. Most of them didn’t seem to mind that much, although the sheep did head butt the banana men over when they tried to chase him. This was just another awesome example of Japanese TV.

After this I got some much needed sleep (13 hours worth), and this concluded the last 2 weeks.

Thanks for reading everyone, tune in next week for more adventures as I begin my final month in Japan!

Peace

Jack

The Sounds Of The Asian Dub Foundation

Ok this week was a pretty fun one. After working my way through the week it was eventually Thursday and me and Callie had tickets to an Asian Dub Foundation gig at Club Quattro. For those that don’t know, ADF are a British punk/drum n bass/bhangra/hip hop/reggae/dub band and when I found out they would be playing Nagoya a couple of months ago I immediately bought some tickets.

Having looking forwarded (surely that’s terrible grammar for an English teacher?) to this gig for a while, I was well excited and when I arrived at the venue at 7 there was lots of energy in the air. Incidentally Club Quattro is on the 8th floor of the Parco designer shopping mall, and is where most of the big acts play in Nagoya. I don’t know how many 8th floor gig venues there are in Britain but I cant think of any. Anyway its not huge but not too small, pretty much the perfect size for a good gig.

After a short wait Callie met me there and we went in to get some drinks and watch the support act. They were a Hokkaido based hip hop group called “Tha Blue Herb” which I like to think is a Resident Evil reference but Im not really sure. They consisted of a DJ and a MC and were actually really good, playing a more experimental brand of hip hop and with lots of energy. They played an hours set and then the floor swapped Blue Herb fans for Asian Dub Foundation fans, and we managed to get near to the front.

A few minutes later and ADF took to the stage. Whilst the lineup for the band has changed over the years, on this occasion they had a DJ, a Bassist, a Guitarist, a Dhol/bongo drummer, and 2 MCs/singers. They opened with “Rise to the Challenge”, and the place went nuts with mosh pits left right and center, and everyone jumping.

Throughout the night they played loads of stuff off Punkara, their most recent album including “Burning Fence”, “S.O.C.A”, “Awake/Asleep” and “Target Practice”, as well as older tracks like “Oil” and “Flyover”. For an encore they did the classic “Buzzin” and finished with “Fortress Europe” which had an insane amount of energy, and was probably the highlight of the gig. After that they came back for one more track, which was the Iggy Pop collaboration/cover “No Fun” again from their most recent album.

After the gig I was sweating buckets, but was proper happy. On the way out I saw Chandrasonic, the lead guitarist and had a bit of a chat with him which was awesome, and also managed to get my picture taken with him. He was a really safe guy and after talking to me for a few minutes went outside to meet some of the fans who were outside the venue.

We got a lift down and then went home, and I got in around 1130. Absolutely knackered, of course.

On Saturday after work me and Ayae went to Irago to visit her parents. Since I had been there last time Yusuke, her brother, had graduated from the Tokyo sushi academy and was looking for guinea pigs to practice on. Obviously I was a willing participant.

When we arrived, Yusuke had prepared a huge array of sushi for the family (who had been eating sushi pretty much every day since he graduated) and of course me. There were also some crabs and some miso soup. The sushi featured loads of different fish, including turbot, tuna, shrimp, and loads that I couldn’t name. There was also a bowl of sliced bonito sashimi with leek which is apparently ludicrously expensive and I was told that pretty much all of the fish had been alive up until a few hours ago meaning the freshness could not be beaten.

The crabs were well good and I was taught how to eat Kani-miso (crab brains). This is done by cracking the shell around its head (its skull?), and sucking the green squidgy stuff out. In Japan this is a delicacy which people pay a lot of money for, but personally it didn’t really float my boat.

After eating loads, Yusuke brought out some Anago (eel) which is my personal favorite sushi, which was awesome. In addition to that there was also some okonomiyaki which Ayaes mum had made, and for dessert there was some melon. Anyway I ate too much as expected and fell asleep in front of the TV.

The next day it was really sunny so I sunbathed in the garden and read a book for a bit, before me and Ayae went for a walk on the beach. All of this was proper lush until I realised later on that Id got myself sunburned, which sucked.

The following morning we went back to Nagoya, and it was back to business as usual.

Ok that’s about it for this week, I know it’s a bit short but I figure after the last few blogs we all deserve a break. Maybe next week will be immense. Who knows?

Peace out yo!

Jack

P.S This is a video I took at the ADF gig of them performing "Free Satpal Ram". Its a bit shaky due to the jumping, but still it shows how awesome it was. Enjoy (if u can make it out!).