Sayonara, Nippon!

On Wednesday evening, August 13^th, I left Tokyo after a full day split between my host families. On Wednesday morning, I arrived in Hawaii. That international dateline is a funny thing. Just thought I’d write one final post to say thank you for reading and I hope you got something out of my random musings on Japan. Perhaps it’ll inspire a visit one day! I know I’ll definitely be back.

Japanese baseball!

On my absolute final night in Japan – back in Tokyo – I went to a baseball game. Baseball is huge in Japan and my dad and students had told me about some sort of organized cheering at Japanese baseball games. As a big baseball fan, I knew I had to check it out, so with other Princeton students and alums, I went to a Hanshin Tigers game in the Tokyo Dome. (Princeton’s mascot is a tiger so naturally we had to root for the Tigers who happen to be the or one of the most popular teams in Japan.)

When we bought tickets, we actually had to declare which team we were supporting because they have different sections of the ballpark designated to each team. This game was wild and indeed all of the Tigers fans energetically sang, danced, shouted, waved flags, and flew balloons all in unison. I really cannot describe what a spectacle it was. One of the Pton alums who had been to multiple games informed me that the Tigers have some of the most hardcore fans and they actually meet before games to rehearse the cheers.

The transitions between songs and cheers was seamless which really impressed me, and this is thanks to the cheer captains in the front whose job is to inform the crowds what to do in order to make the evening go smoothly. After a 3+ hour game, the Tigers won 4-3, and we celebrated with the friends we had made around us. After the game, just as after the World Cup matches, the fans stayed behind to clean the area around their seats. What a remarkable custom!

Here's a video that gives you a taste of what it's like: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9CcpTA6L1E

As you can see in the photo and video, in Japan tigers are considered yellow and black. We, however, have been told that they are orange and black. I google searched “tigers” after the game to see whether I had simply been culturally trained to think they are orange but I actually think we’re right on this one. Don’t they appear more yellowish orange than orangish yellow?

Kansai highlights

I greatly enjoyed my travels to Kyoto and Nara, and the highlight of that trip was my lodging. My host mother’s mother is an English teacher in Kyoto and she taught all four children of a high priest at a Buddhist temple. This connection put me in the most fortuitous position as I was invited not only to visit their private temple but to actually live there! I expected that once I got there I would sort of keep my distance so as to not bother them, but they insisted that I join them for every meal and two of the sons actually toured me around Kyoto which was an absolute blast.

The ever-popular deer that roam free in Nara:

Kyoto is brimming with temples, so here’s a sampling of what I visited:

 Some photos of the temple:

 

On my final night in the temple, I watched the global sensation “Frozen” for the first time and in Japanese. I had heard the Japanese translation of the song “Let it go” innumerable times around Japan – it’s just as popular if not more than in the states.

I was curious about the English translation of the Japanese adaptation of this song, and to my surprise it’s actually more direct than the English version. Here’s the chorus:

I’ll show you how I truly am

I’ll become my true self

I’m not afraid of anything

Let the wind blow

I’m not the least bit cold

I’ve been researching Shakespeare while in Japan which made me very aware of translation.

The downside of the trip was that I couldn’t visit Hiroshima. Luckily, the temple family invited me to stay with them another night, which was probably the best opportunity since I likely won’t have that chance again. And I have to leave something to do the next time I’m in Japan which I hope/suspect will be soon!

Parenting in Japan

Recently NPR had a program about parenting around the world and this is what it had to say about Japan:

"Japanese parents let their kids go out by themselves

Parents in Japan allow their kids a lot of independence after a certain age. It isn't uncommon for 7-year-olds and even 4-year-olds to ride the subway by themselves.

Christine Gross-Loh, author of Parenting Without Borders, lives in Japan for part of each year, and when she's there she lets her kids run errands without her, taking the subway and wandering around town as they may. But she wouldn't dare do the same back in the United States.

“If I let them out on their own like that in the U.S., I wouldn't just get strange looks,” she told TED. “Somebody would call Child Protective Services.”"

My mom told me a similar incident with CPS actually happened not too long ago when a child rode the subway in NYC. I remember being surprised when I learned that my host brother took the subway to his afterschool programs all alone. Even though in Japan and children ride solo and run errands independent from their parents, I would guess it is almost entirely because Japan’s crime rate is very low and Japan is, generally speaking, a safe, clean, and efficient country. Japanese parents are very much involved in their children’s lives, especially their schooling and extracurriculars, so allowing their kids to ride the subway does not indicate a lack of involvement. Still interesting to compare different styles. Here’s a link to the NPR article.

Blood types in Japan

During one of my lessons, my student asked me what type of blood I have, which struck me as an odd inquiry. He was surprised and slightly concerned when I replied that I didn't know. In Japan, virtually everyone knows their blood type - my host siblings' luggage tags list their names, phone numbers, and blood type - and many use it to predict a person's character.

I've verified this with a number of Japanese people and while not all of them truly believe the characterizations, some of them were firm followers; one woman even said she took blood type into account when she went on dates. I don't have a solid understanding of the distinctions, but this is what I have gathered. I have also heard that there are charts with recommended nutrition for different blood types, but I don't know the details. If you know your blood type, check to see if you match these traits:

Type A: empathetic, organized, hospitable, detail-oriented, punctual, neat, calm in crisis, not a risktaker

Type B: independent, happy-go-lucky, optimistic, flexible, playful, party-hardy, likes company, risktaker

Type AB: a dreamer, spiritual, sensitive, private, studious, creative, curious

Type O: realistic, hard worker, ambitious, cautious, leader

I have two sets of host parents and in both couples the mom is type A and the dad is type B. Opposites attract, they told me. My hosts moms both think I'm type AB. Now I'm curious to find out!

Nagano in photos

The summer camp was located in Japan's "Northern Alps". There are Southern and Central "Alps", as well, all located in Nagano prefecture. I've yet to see the real "Alps" but these are pretty remarkable.

What a park!

Post-suikawari (watermelon smashing) contest. The cabins competed against one another to see who could best demolish their watermelon. When I was younger I remember competing with my friends in watermelon seed-spitting contests but I'd never heard of watermelon-smashing. While blindfolded, each camper and counselor walked up to the watermelon and did his or her best to strike it with a mallet. Afterwards, we nibbled on the inerts! Quite a fun game.

Shodo, or Japanese calligraphy, class - I went in utterly unqualified to assist with this class, but I wound up learning a lot!

On the final night we had a glorious campfire lit by the eldest campers who were all 17 or 18 years old. We sang and danced together, reflected on our favorite moments of camp, and shared our dreams to match the theme of this year's camp, "dream big".

Fujisan from afar! Taken on the train ride back to Tokyo.

All in all, I had an amazing week with the campers and counselors discovering new ways to connect across language and culture and relishing in the great outdoors.

Kansai-bound!

After a wonderful week in Nagano and one day divided between Yokohama and Tokyo, I'm now off for Kyoto! For the next seven days I will travel in the Kansai region of Japan mostly to Kyoto, but with a day in Nara, an evening in Osaka, and a day/night in Hiroshima (which is in Chūgoku rather than Kansai). Right now I'm writing from a Shinkansen, or bullet train, which takes only 140 minutes to travel more than 300 miles from Tokyo to Kyoto. Though it's a smooth ride, I can definitely feel the speed. Something about traveling by train really appeals to me, so I was excited to ride the Shinkansen. It's very clean with lots of leg room and with chairs that recline a good amount. There's also a snack cart that rolls through every hour or so full of Japanese treats so on the whole it's been a very pleasant train ride.

If you ever travel to Japan, definitely invest in the Japanese Rail Pass. It gives you virtually unlimited access to all JR (Japan Rail) lines which includes the Shinkansen but also JR buses, subway, trolleys, and ferries. There are one and two week passes and they are definitely a good deal. Tokyo-Kyoto roundtrip on the Shinkansen costs more than my one week pass and I'm tacking on a few other cities. Now I'm off to explore Kyoto!