June 2005
1st
Now that I’m down to my last two months in Japan, I’m beginning to experience an overbearing sense of urgency. Whilst sorting out mundane things (sending packages home, trying and failing to sell things I can’t take, buying flights, saying good-bye to friends) takes up time, there’s also a need to arrange (or just think about) somewhere to live, job hunting, catching up with old friends etc, and resultantly my mind is a bit of a jumbled mess.
The other urgency is in knowing there is only a limited amount of time in which to do and see what is still left to do and see, before it’s too late. Two months may sound like a substantial amount of time, but when 5 days of every week are wasted at work, it’s really not so long after all. Therefore, each weekend must now be dedicated to exploring what has not yet been explored.
Two weekends ago I dedicated time to the graves of the 47 Ronin, followed by the Yebisu Brewery. The 47 Ronin (of which I first became aware in the film “Ronin” with De Niro) were real no kidding master less samurai. The story goes that their master, a local king, enjoyed a tiff with a noble in which he failed to kill the man outright, and was arrested and sentenced to death. There were strict laws in those days about desecrating the grounds of a castle with human blood or something. So, their master was killed on the very same day, without trial and in a manner unbefitting a king. His retainers, the 47 samurai, lost their raison d’etre, and his family lost their hereditary power. Enraged at this injustice, the 47 master less samurai, or ronin, swore revenge, knowing full well that the penalty for revenge would be their own lives.
They bade their time and prepared their revenge for several years. On finally putting their plan into action, they captured their ex-master’s enemy, chopped off his head, and brought it to their master’s grave, stopping nearby to wash it at a well which still exists on the site. The men were arrested and sentenced to death on a date the following year. They were then scattered to reduce their collective threat. In a tale that has gone down in Japanese folklore representing the highest bushido ideals of duty, loyalty and personal sacrifice, 46 of the samurai committed self-disembowelment on the pre-ordained day, despite residing separately. One ronin got off on a technicality of course, and lived to tell the tale. Anyway, you can view the photo of their graves – some of the men were as young as 17 – hard to believe!
Also managed to make it to the Yebisu brewery, which, to be fair, was really just an excuse for sampling. Beer arrived in Japan during the Meiji era, when Japan re-established contacts with the west, and the old beer posters (including some still famous brands from Britain) from the era were interesting. Still, as I say, it was just an excuse to try the taster set!
The following weekend we went to the Dinosaur Exhibition in Ueno. Great exhibition – they’ve carted over the biggest and most complete Tyrannosaur from Chicago museum, along with a whole host of “bird-dinosaurs” recently discovered in China. This was the first time that many of these dinosaurs have ever been viewed in public. Incredible to think that 15 years ago, the theory that birds are modern day dinosaurs was revolutionary and not widely accepted, making it astounding that so much evidence has since been uncovered. There’s even a coherent theory linking together fish scales, lizard scales, primitive feathers and advanced feathers in a chain of complexity that would’ve been unimaginable even 10 years ago. Many of the fossils contain traces of feathers, and it is argued that many early feathers were merely lengthened scales providing warmth as the climate became less stable. Only later, after the basics had been laid down, were feathers adapted to new survival pressures, enabling flight for smaller, presumably tree dwelling dinosaurs.
This weekend I took part in the grand Aikido Tai Kai at the Tokyo Budokan. It’s an excuse for Aikido enthusiasts from all over the world to come together and demonstrate their abilities. I wouldn’t call myself an enthusiast as such, but even as a beginner, I received the opportunity to take part in a freestyle waza (special move) exhibition for 3 minutes. Unfortunately, I forgot to put the battery in my camera, so you’ll just have to imagine. Anyway, after 3 hours of waiting, my own club got to go down into the stadium and do our stuff. I made plenty of mistakes, but I imagine no-one was looking at me. Discovered that the visiting sensei (who practices and teaches Aikido 8 times a day) is fairly high ranking in a world-wide sense, and got the demonstration mats all to himself at one stage! The piece de resistance was the exhibition by the grandson of the founder of Aikido which, truth be told, I didn’t stick around for as I’d already waited 4 hours. Anyway, my name goes down in the annals of Aikido history as a footnote on the schedule for the Ceremony! A satisfying few weekends...I’m sticking the photos down under “May 2005” in the Galleries section.
16th
Hola amios! It's been a while since I rapped at ya! Homecoming minus 5 weeks. Japan is the same as usual. Back at the school I mistakenly thought I'd seen the back of...but that's ok you know. No more stressing about the job, I've got the future to start thinking about.
Made my way to the Fukugawa-Edo Museum at the weekend. Cool place - they've reonstructed an entire Edo distrct inside one building, and you can walk into the houses and muck about with the housing equipment. Check out the photos in my galleries section (really, they're not as boring as they sound).
I'm doing ok right now, but still have no idea what the future holds. Instead of worrying, I'm going to let the future take care of itself, and try to enjoy the moment instead. I'm looking forward to taking my first Aikido grade in just over a week. It shouldn't be too bad- I know the essential moves pretty well, and the only problem will be executing the mystery moves that they don't tell you about in advance. I'm still at a bit of a disadvantage, as I don't instantly recognise the names of all the moves. Plus, as I found out last night, the test fee is a rather steep £60, so failing really would be painful! A kind of transformation has occurred since the Aikido Taikai at the beginning of the month, and I've started going to lessons bursting with exuberance (even after cycling through 20 minutes of ubiquitous seasonal rain), rather than dreading the lessons as I had been previously. It's the one part of Japan that I'm looking forward to pursuing once I get back. Watch out UK, I'm still small, but now I'm deadly, har-har-har.
27th
Count down has passed one month now, it’s amazing how time flies. I spent another weekend in search of real Japan. Dragged Kyoko around Nippori, the temple/graveyard district of Tokyo that escaped aerial bombing during WWII, and remain undeveloped. What fun ideas I have. Sunday of course belonged to the long awaited Aikido grading day. It’s been a long held ambition of mine to learn a Martial Art. I never appreciated just how long I’d have to persevere before I began to gain ground and get better at it. I’d say it took a full 6 to 9 months before I began to remember the moves and perform them reasonably smoothly. I’ve been going at the old Aikido hell-for-leather for the past few months, Sunday being the culmination of all the effort.
Unfortunately I wasn’t allowed to bring my camera in for the examination, so you’ll have to do with an explanation. I and my fellow 5-kyu applicant had the dubious honour of performing our “Waza” in front of the assembled masses. I’d never seen so many at Aikido before, the dojo was spilling over. I’m not sure if they came for the Aikido or for the “eat-all-you-want-drink-all-you-want” dinner party afterwards. Our sensei looked down his nose at his flock like a disapproving minister on Christmas Day, clearly believing it to be the latter.
The difficulty in taking the test was not so much that I couldn’t do the moves, but that my dojo Japanese still isn’t terribly refined. Etiquette is taken rather seriously, so failing to bow to the front and then to you partner at the right time could mean the difference between a pass and fail. On top of this, some of the fight commands were given in archaic and complicated Japanese e.g. “ai-hanmi, katate-tori, shiho-nage, omote” (lit. opposite stance, grasped wrist, four-way throw, front style). I was pretty nervous and didn’t perform anything like I could’ve, but I’m hoping I’ve done enough to pass. The remaining hour or so was spent in perjury, kneeling in “seiza” (legs under the weight of your body) as the more advanced members took their grades. The pain as the blood rushed back into my legs was excruciating!
At the lunch afterwards things turned a bit sentimental (in no way related to the free flow of alcohol). Everyone said (or claimed) they would miss me, and that my appearance at the club had brought a bit of internationalisation to the little Aikido club. In my turn, I’m very grateful to have made friends with such kind, friendly and patient people who put up with a foreign imbecile plodding through their cultural activity like a water-buffalo through tofu. I’ve gained an insight into Japan beyond the bright lights, dour businessmen and ridiculous teenagers, and have experienced something one can’t get from a two-week trip abroad. Anyway, some, pictures, of the gang.
So, all well and good, but it rarely stays that way. As I say, one day on top of the world thinking Japan is great and that I’m a fool to leave, the next day brought back to earth. I hate the superintendent of the office which employs me. I don’t care if he reads this, someone needs to tell him. In over a year, not once has he smiled to me, not once has he said a kind word. The only time he ever speaks to me is to order, chastise, or complain about something. Today, arriving for my weekly meeting, I could feel someone’s eyes on me, someone looking for trouble, someone going out of their way to irritate and gain an inflated feeling of self-importance:
Mr X: “Andrew, have you taken paid-leave for being late to school”
Me: “Excuse me, late?”
Mr X: “Yes, because of your door”
(You see, my key got jammed in my door one morning, twisted inside the mechanism. The door was open, and I didn’t want to leave the house for fear of someone having at my valuables. I did the right thing, rang to notify my supervisor, phoned the landlady for a repair man, had everything fixed up, and still got to school by 9.30am)
Me: Well, you see, that really wasn’t my fault. You know, the key was stuck in the door. I was worried about robbers. I went to school as soon as I could.
Mr X: Yes, but it is BoE rules for the employee to use paid leave if they are late.
Me (getting exasperated): Yes, but it was beyond my control. Should I have gone to school and left my door open?
Mr X: Yes (insensitive git!!!)
Me: What!? I have a computer in my apartment, what are you talking about?
Mr X: It’s your door, it’s your responsibility. You should maintain your door so this doesn’t happen. (How dare he insinuate that this was my fault!)
Me: Well, excuse me if I’m not a fortune teller! I can’t see inside the mechanism and guess in advance of such a circumstance.
Mr X (pulls out thick tome of a rule book from his drawer): If a teacher is late because of a train accident or earthquake, they must use paid leave. This is a similar circumstance. It’s “shou ga nai” (can’t be helped).
Me (Visibly unstable, blood pulsating through my veins, shaking, turning a bright shade of red): In my country, people use common sense and compassion instead of a rule book!
Unfortunately, I think the nuance was lost on him. The long and short of it, I had to use up more of my precious time off because of officious, rigid-thinking, self-aggrandising bureaucrats. Grey hair seems to be a ticket to a high-ranking position in this country, no matter what the people skills of the person. This pretty much sums up Japan for me – great place for the cultural tourist, horrendous place to work.
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