Hamamatsu Hakujin

The Battle of Mikatagahara

For those interested in history there is a certain rush that is experienced upon visiting a historical sight. It is like a supercharged imagination or out of body experience in which you are able to transcend time. I had one of these experiences today while visiting a monument to the Battle of Mikatagahara. Anyone with an interest in Japanese history, particularly the “Sengokujidai” or “Age of War” will most likely know of or have heard of the Battle of Mikatagahara. This battle between the armies of Takeda Shingen and Tokugawa Ieyasu took place somewhere around the end of 1572 or beginning of 1573 (I have gotten several different dates from some very legitimate sources including the monument itself, but I have been unable to verify it – please comment if you may know the right date. Mikatahara is located just east of the Miyakoda River and East of downtown Hamamatsu in the prefecture of Shizuoka Japan. Takeda indirectly approached from the North which allowed him to remain in his own territory while in route, therefore avoiding any confrontations with the neighboring Hojo Clan, while Tokugawa approached from his castle to the South. Mikatahara is were the destiny of these two amazingly talented and clever warriors collided. Takeda had a force of approximately 25,000 while Tokugawa had a force of an approximate 11,000. Around 3000 of Tokugawa’s army had been sent in the form of assistance from his ally Nobunaga. Needless to say Tokugawa was defeated but not without putting up a fierce fight that was initiated by Takeda’s order to through stones at the opposing army. The battle raged on for days with the advantage wavering back and forth until Tokugawa was finally routed back to his Castle. The monument in the picture above was created in 1984 and does not claim to be located on the exact location of the battle but, is in the general vicinity. Standing in front of this monument and knowing that the very area I stood, and lived and rode my bike on each day was once the site of this famous battle got my emotions stirring. I could just imagine the smell of the horses and the sounds of all the armor and weaponry clanking together and the commands being shouted out. It would have been a site to see.

Hikikomori and Japanese Society

Japan has such awesome potential in the international community. A culture once described by early western visitors as “socially advanced” in comparison to the west, but there is a dark invisible barrier that confines this society to it’s present state and impedes on it’s ability to fully metamorphe into the society it should and could be. Unlike other nations in Asia, Japan seems to be frozen in time socially. Unwilling to fully grasp and allow foreign thought and philosophy to penetrate what at times seems like a titanium wall built around the very heart of its culture. Japan’s culture however, is and has been for quite some time, under siege. It appears though that Japan’s titanium wall is finally beginning to show signs of vulnerability. As a result of years of forced conformism amongst international pressure to revolutionize has finally started to take it’s toll on the Japanese people. Alcoholism consumption is on the rise, while in most other countries it is on the decline. The birthrate is dropping at an alarming rate. The economy showing minor signs of recovery still appears to be stagnant. The countries productivity is dropping and millions of Japanese men are withdrawing from society and becoming social recluses due to their inability to cope with and understand a world that seems to be changing around them. There is a term in Japan for this phenomenon and it is Hikikomori (comes from the Japanese verb “hikikomoru” which literally means to shut ones self out from the world). Japanese society has often been criticized by many for it’s inability to internationalize and be culturally open; However, I do not believe it is the Japanese people that are to blame. There are many shackles that are holding the Japanese people down and almost all of them have chains that lead back to the same source. I believe this source is the old guard that is in embedded in the cracks and crannies of the Japanese Government and financial elite. Japanese children are taught and brainwashed from a very young age that they must conform to Japanese society as it know exists and not to question the way things are. Hence the popular Japanese proverb “Deru kugi wa utareru” or “The nail that sticks up will be hammered down”. Although numerous Japanese and foreign scholars, professors and linguists have recommended teaching critical thinking skills to school children and how lack of doing so is causing not only the inability to properly learn English and other foreign languages, but it also contributes to the in ability to interact with different cultures and society as a whole. The Ministry of education ( as well as several other institutions in Japan) fails to understand, is just unwilling to or is afraid to except this reality. I think it is a combination of all three with emphasis on afraid. I think the old guard in Japan (there are a lot more than one might realize and many are in very powerful positions) still have this “inferiority complex” that was born in the Meiji era and was given growth hormones after World War II. The old Guard has been unable to overcome this “complex” and feel that if Japan is on the same playing field, it could not measure up to the rest. Due to their own insecurities, they have short changed the Japanese people and caused them a lot of grief. It is a situation that I believe started during Japan’s isolation from the rest of the world. After being forced open and peeking outside it was realized that the rest of the world had advanced around them. Instead of changing and trying to fit in with this new world, they tried to force it to understand them. This mentality lead to the first in a long string of mistakes which was trying to become an empire and force people to respect them. Over the last 50 years Japan has slowly once again isolated itself in a very inconspicuous way at the hands of this very mentality. I believe these trends we are begining to see are the result of the beginning of change in Japan. The beginning of a social revolution like none other that it has experienced. Things always get worse before they get better. The Japanese people need to be given the tools and ability to interact with and cope with an international community. One of the first steps is to weed out these old fogies with their old mentality from government offices, financial institutions and other places were they hold positions of power. They have tormented Japan long enough and Japan is and deserves much better. Second Japan must implement a process of teaching critical thinking skills to it's children and encouraging them to think freely and on their own and lose it's old decrepid process of forced conformity and allow some acceptance of individuality. Japan can achieve without losing the rest of it's beautiful culture. The following are some stories that contributed to my thought on this subject. "Deep pessimism infecting many aspects of Japanese society" from Michael Zielenziger of KR News and "Japan: The Missing Million" from Phil Rees of BBC News.

Construction Work In Japan

During most of my first two years in Japan I had the pleasure/pain of working in construction as an HVAC (Heating/Air Conditioning) Installer. Basically what I was responsible for was tearing out the old ducting, fans, A/C units, heaters, vents and any other related items and installing the new air ducts. I took this job out of desperation of not wanting to be an English teacher. Being a new gaijin I did not yet know that being an English teacher in Japan didn’t really mean you were good at English and new how to teach (this is not always the case – there are many whom actually can and do). In addition I’m not really fond of speaking in front of large groups and my image of being an English teacher consisted of standing in front of a class of 30 people teaching hard grammar. So, I was offered a job by a sympathetic friend who was a foreman for a HVAC company. I still have mixed feelings about this work as I had many positive and negative experiences while involved in it. Let me tell you about some of the positives first. The best thing that came out of this experience was my accelerated learning of Japanese. Not a soul that I worked with could speak a lick of English (other than “hello” and “cigarette?”) I was forced to speak and more importantly listen to Japanese all day long (and I do mean all day). I also learned how to speak Japanese like a Japanese man. Unfortunately many male foreigners who learn Japanese often learn from speaking with their girlfriends or wives or Japanese women in general. In the US for example most the long term residents form Japan that one might run into are women. This is a sad phenomenon and not once in the US while studying Japanese did any of my instructors bring up this issue. (I will have to make a separate post on this issue because it is a problem). Now back to the story. I also had the opportunity to travel to many places and see many sights as our jobs (gemba in Japanese) were often in different cities. I traveled as far south as Shizuoka and as far north as Niigata. I worked on shrines, temples, pachinko parlors, very expensive homes, churches, ramen shops and other restaurants as well as several other locations. I had the chance to see these places from the inside out (that is both bad and good). I was able to eat at a different restaurant almost everyday, which satisfied my hobby of eating and trying different foods. I also got unlimited complimentary drinks twice a day. In the construction biz you take a break about every 2-3 hours and sit with your group and drink canned drinks form vending machines and smoke like a chimney. Needless to say I picked up smoking during this period of my life. I have since quit and hate it with a passion. If your smoking quit man, it’s a bad use of your money, give it to a charity instead. Hanging out and boozing after work was often paid for by others because I was the low man on the totem pole. I was also taken to many places and shown a side of Japan that most people don’t get to see. I learned how to drive in Japan as I was often the wheel man for my crew. (I drove home while they slept). Well, now let me start on the negative stuff. The very worst thing I would have to say is that because of my language ability, I was never able to fully understand what the big picture was and what we had to do in order to finish. I was always in the dark. Sometimes we would work on a hard job for 10 hours and just when I thought we were finished and I would be able to go home BAM (we are going to another job in another city, we will eat in and sleep in the car tonight and go home tomorrow night. This wouldn’t have been so bad had I have known and been able to plan for it, but oh well I couldn’t complain because I was the one who had the language problem and I was lucky to be able to work. Not once did I ever see another foreign worker except on one job there were some Chinese workers. It was embarrassing at first but became amusing to walk down the street in Shinjuku wearing a construction outfit. I wish I had a camera to take pictures of some of the faces and expressions of people (both Japanese and Foreign). I eventually had fun with it. My young co-workers took me to the uniform shop and bought me some radical outfits. Unlike in the US where construction workers usually wear jeans, the Japanese wear special uniforms that come in many shape and colors. The four in my group (whom were all under 25) had camouflage outfits with each being a different color. Mine was gray. It consisted of riding pants (you know with the bulge on the side of the leg like the old Japanese military officers pants) and a vest. It was a blast. It was a dirty job. Sometimes I would deal with fiberglass insulation (which when sweating is miserable) which gives you small slivers that can’t be washed off. Grease from ramen shop ducts. It was also very dangerous from time to time. Its funny (not really) there was safety equipment (goggles, harnesses, gloves etc.) but if you used them it was not cool and others would smirk at you. It was crazy. Cutting steel duct with a grinder and red hot steel sparks shooting into your face because almost all of the grinders had the safety shield removed (it’s easier to use them that way, but dangerous) without safety glasses. I was so damn lucky not to get an eye put out. I saw many whom did. We would work on scaffolding four stories high with nothing below except concrete and the there were two and three foot gaps between the scaffolding. Talk about walking a tight rope. They would also set ladders on top of that scaffolding. Working on the top of that ladder had to be one of the most fearful things in my life, but at night you go out to an izakaya and drink it off with your co-workers. On some job sites foreign workers were not allowed so I would wait in the van for 10 hours. Many times my boss vouched for me and took a lot of shit just to get me on a job site and I really appreciate him to this day for doing that for me. It made him quite unpopular. I would run into the occasional prejudice but it was not even half as bad as an office job. People were really very cool to me and honestly accepted me, probably because I was right there next to them every day going through the same crap they were. I don’t think I ever felt more excepted in Japan as I did while working in construction. One night my boss told me over a beer “Peter, I didn’t think you would last. I didn’t think an American would do this kind of dirty work” I replied, “well, I didn’t want to be an English teacher” and he laughed. He understood my decision. I wouldn’t recommend this type of work to anyone in Japan but if you don’t mind getting dirty it could be a good experience for you. It will be hard to find a job but like almost everything else here, making a connection could do it for you. I definitely wouldn’t recommend the HVAC, but carpentry would be an excellent choice.

Irrationality as the result of Emotionalism

The following comment was strategically posted to my site late last night. I have to apologize for continuing with what seems like a hissy fit between to grown human beings, but I found the comment to be a bit irrational and I wanted to share it with everyone as to shine a little on the true demeanor of this self-proclaimed Cosmopolitonian. It was posted to my site in response (over three days later) to the defense of my original post "Racism in Japan" which was used as a launch pad by this person to criticize white westerners (specifically Americans) feelings of being discriminated against in Japan.

Original comment by Abiola (whew I spelled it right!):

"Abiola Lapite (if that is in fact his real name)"

Yes, it is indeed my real name, and of bona fide Nigerian (Yoruba) origin, as anyone who can be bothered to do a little spadework will verify.

I note that you then go on to (intentionally?) misspell it not once but several times in the course of your response, as if to flaunt your own prejudices for all the world to see. What exactly do you think you've achieved by so doing, shown yourself to be some sort of paragon of fairmindedness? "I'm not a bigot, but I'll act like one if I feel myself slighted" - wonderful message.

"from people whom have usually never spent a significant amount of time here in Japan and that almost always without a doubt compare the problems of Japan with those of the US."

Don't assume, or you make an "ass" of yourself. I've actually spent a significant amount of time in Japan, and probably speak the language better than you do. はい、日本語は分かりますよ。 I've also lived in Africa, Europe and the US, and in fact my post covers all the West, though your own Americacentricism blinds you to that. Talk about a pot calling a kettle black!

"As Aboile’s post specifically singles out my comments I can only believe that he is referring to me"

What paranoia and self importance! Why do you think you're so important that I should devote such attention to you? I took your post as a starting point for a remark, nothing more.

In short, I think you ought to learn to read with better comprehension before reacting like a spoilt child to remarks which describe far wider phenomena than your own little world circumscribes. Misspelling strange foreign names does nothing to make you look like an enlightened person either, nor does assuming that you have some special purchase into insight about Japan that others do not. All your little "response" tells me is that you aren't worth reading on a regular basis. さよなら。

The goofy characters were originally in Japanese and they were an attempt to qualify Abiola's level of Japanese with the use of name calling.

Not that this comment fails to speak for itself, but I decided to write a response and here it is:

Abiola:

I will apologize to you for one thing, and one thing only. That is spelling your name wrong. It was not done intentionally though I can see while one my think that after re-reading my post and it was most certainly not out of bigotry as you claim. Whether you choose to believe that will remain doubtful in my mind. It was done more out of lack of good editing than anything else. As you've shown in this e-mail even you are capable of letting your emotions get in the way. Just for your information you will notice that it has been corrected. The reason I questioned if that was your real name is because your about page is nearly blank which makes it hard to know where content is really coming from and often people use fake names for annonimtiy. It had nothing to do with your nationality or race.

In your e-mail to me, you make underlying insinuations that I am a bigot because I spelled your name wrong (purposely?) Is that what bigots do? Maybe you are in fact the paranoid one Abiola, not all whites have a hidden hate for Nigerians. In fact, I had no idea that you were Nigerian, French, American, black, white yellow, purple or any other color for that matter. I sense a bit of inferiority complex in your statements though.

You wrote,"I've actually spent a significant amount of time in Japan, and probably speak the language better than you do, I've also lived in Africa, Europe and the US, and in fact my post covers all the West, though your own Americacentricism blinds you to that" I'll ask if I may Abiola, who is assuming that they have special insight into Japan as well as the whole WESTERN HEMISPHERE. It is widely understood by long term residents of Japan that, the thinking and reasoning of a person shifts completely as time goes by here and that one's interpretation of events and acts by people become easier to translate.

As for being blinded by my Americacentricism, I thought I made it pretty clear in my post that America is not the center of the world. I will admit though that a lot of Americans of all national origins think that way.

I take great responsibility for what I write. I often ponder subjects for several days before I actually post it. So, the fact that I have taken defense to what I saw as a blatent use of my content to represent ignorant white Americans is well within reason. I have made posts on your site since this subject came about and not once have I resorted to juvenille name calling nor wild accusations. For you to post a comment like this on my web site is quite descriptive of what you represent. I don't mind continuing correspondence with you as I think we could both learn a lot from each other, but please try to be more rational in the future. Next time I would reccomend either sending me an e-mail or making such comments as the one above, on your own blog.

There ya go folks, another (and hopfully the last) chapter in the cat fight between Hamamatsuhakujin and "The Foreign Dispatcher" whom probably have more in common then they realize.

A Turning Point For U.S. - Japan Relations

It appears as though there is a significant turning point and power shift currently taking place between the U.S. and Japan. The events that have led me to this conclusion are the bid and what so far seems like a possible exceptence as a permanent seat in the UN Security Council for Japan and the push by the U.S. for Japan to make a larger and more serious commitment to its global military realignment plan. PM Koizumi is in a difficult situation, but seems to have made a diplomatic and well planned first step. By making a bid and being accepted (if in fact they are) into the UNSC, Japan will be on a more level playing ground when being pushed by America to revise the bilateral security treaty or change their interpretation of it and assume a larger role in the U.S. world stabilization plan. This is exactly why President Bush will not openly support Japan's bid. I see this as a direct power shift from the U.S. to Japan. By holding a permanent seat on the UNSC Japan gains a little bargaining power in US-Japan policy issues and it forces the U.S. to respect Japan a little more when issuing ultimatums. Japan’s refusal to cooperate with the U.S. plan could hurt the trade agreements between the US and Japan, but Japan would have the power to help counter any requests to the UNSC by the US. I feel Japan deserves to be and should be on the UNSC. The U.S. failure in foreign policy and lack of respect for the UNSC member’s decisions has directly helped contribute to this power shift and Japan’s possible acceptance in the UNSC. I also believe the U.S has put Koizumi in a rather awkward situation by requesting him to revise or reinterpret the Security alliance between the two countries. If Koizumi cooperates, it could hurt him politically as he would most likely be severely criticized by rival politicians and the public for doing so. I believe it would be a bad move for Koizumi to agree with this US policy. It would not be good for Japan and it would harm Asian security and contribute to further erosion of Japan – Asia relations. President Bush’s foreign policy is severely damaging US-world relations and is weakening the U.S as well as contributing to its insecurity. It will be interesting to see how this all pans out.

Hit and Run

Yesterday while in town I had to pick something up in a local office in the middle of downtown Hamamatsu. There was no street parking and my wife and I didn't really want to pay 700yen for 5 minutes of parking so we pulled over to the side walk and put our hazards on. I ran into the office and on the way out I saw my wife in somewhat of a panicked look waving for me to hurry and come over. When I got there she notified me that someone just ran into the back of our car and took off. What the driver apparently didn't know is that my wife was in the car at the time. The windows are tinted and it's hard to see inside. The driver noticing that the hazard lights were on probably made the mistake of thinking there was no one inside. Luckily my wife got the license plate number and type of car so we went looking for him. After less than 5 minutes we spotted the car parked on the side of the road. I waited there while my wife went to the local Koban (police box) to notify the police. As I was waiting the guy (a bout 40 years old) came to the car with a young girl. I immediately walked up and confronted him in my mediocre Japanese. He did not seem that surprised. He tried to say that he did not know, but there is no way by force of the bump, that he couldn't have known. Needless to say I got all of his information off his license. Just as he was getting ready to leave, my wife arrived and he apologized again and left. The police then came and we notified them what had happened and they took down all the info. The policeman said, "Hit and run is wrong and that his own mother had the same thing happen to her" and that he would make sure that this guy contacts us. Well sure enough we get a call from guy that night again apologizing and asking to come over and apologize in person (a common formality in Japan regarding somewhat serious mistakes). The next morning he came over with a fruit basket and a wad of cash (sorry money to cover our troubles and waste of time) and said sorry again and to just let him know of the damages and he would pay. We were of course content with this resolution. There was an interesting twist though. Apparently the guy was a professor at Hamamatsu University. That cops notified us of this. You see in Japan when someone does something bad and it is known where they work, often times their office is notified of the problem and the individual involved is sometimes held accountable. I don't know how common this is now days but I think it is still a common practice. After he realized that we were aware of where he worked, his whole demeanor changed. He became very caring, and concerned. My wife is ok though and the car is getting fixed so it turned out pretty good under the circumstances.

Tonights Dinner!

Like the trains in Tokyo the Dinner bell arrived right on time today at 6:00pm. As soon as I heard the never failing, "pitaaa...gohan" from my mother-in-law I stopped in my tracks and ran down to the dinner table. The picture above is a sample of what I had the opportunity to enjoy today. I really felt appreciative for some reason. I always do, but after looking at the food and realizing how much work it really is to prepare such a dinner I just really appreciated it. The dinner consisted of rice, "sabamisoni" (mackerel stewed in sweet soybean paste), "agedashidofu" (deep-fried tofu in a fish flavored soup-one of my personal favorites), "Miso with komatsuna and agedofu" (soybean paste soup with a green leaf vegetable very much like spinach, but with a lot more iron and fried tofu), "agenonasu" (fried eggplant) and last but not least "satsumaimo" (Japanese sweet potato). The drink of choice was "mugi-cha" (barley tea). Traditionally in Japan before you eat, a person usually says, "itadakimasu" (basically means thank you for giving your nourishment and life to me - referring to the fish, vegetables and so forth). After finishing one should say, "gochisosamadeshita" (literally: I just had something delicious, figuratively: Thanks for the great meal). To some people, telling an animal or plant how much you appreciate them giving up their life for you sounds kind of corny or excessive, but to me it is a constant reminder that we should never waste food and how lucky we are to have food to eat when there are so many people in the world starving. It is just one of the many noble and dignified parts of Japanese culture that I really admire. I wanted also to comment on the satsumaimo "Japanese sweet potato". This potato is almost single handedly credited with keeping thousands if not hundreds of thousands of Japanese people alive amidst the aftermath of WWII. Often time’s families had nothing else but one satsumaimo to fill their stomachs for the whole day. It was fast and easy to grow and had a pretty high yield per plant. To most older Japanese this potato holds a dear place in their heart and is a greatly respected source of nutrition even today.

In response to "How it feels to be on the other end"

In seems as though my anticipation of the comments that would be received in regards to my post on racism in Japan” was well justified. I received numerous e-mails reminding me of “how much of a whiner I am” and how “Now I know what it feels like to be discriminated against”. Most were positive though. Here is a trackback to a post that is Titled "How it feels to be on the other end" by someone claiming to be Abiola Lapite (if that is in fact his real name). It never seizes to enlighten me that whenever a white foreigner here in Japan has an issue with racism that they are usually barraged with negative comments from people whom have usually never spent a significant amount of time here in Japan and that almost always without a doubt compare the problems of Japan with those of the US. It’s as though the US is the center of the universe among which all countries are to be compared and judged. In his post, “Abiola” states, “It is true that the Japanese display a naive openness about their prejudices that would be rare to encounter nowadays in this part of the world, but that is hardly evidence in favor of the claim that they are any worse than people in countries like America, Britain, France or Germany”. Tell me where I can view this claim Abiola. As Abiola’s post specifically singles out my comments I can only believe that he is referring to me. I have this question for you Abiola if you are reading this, where in my post did I say that Japan is worse than other countries? In fact, I went out of my way to state that I did not want to make comparisons with other countries because racism exists everywhere. Also, the title of your post “How it feels to be on the other end” implies that white foreigners being discriminated against in other countries deserve it because of the discrimination towards other races in their country. This could be no further from the case. My mother grew up poor in black communities in America and belonged to churches where she was the only Caucasian in site. She had witnessed first hand how prejudism worked. I have always been taught since childhood of how bad and hurtful racism is. While growing up in America I experienced numerous acts of blatant racism. Since I was a child I have been surrounded with people that were different than I. My first girlfriend in high school was a black girl who was the cheerleader on my basketball team. We had to meet in secret because so many people harassed us when we were together. I remember her crying on several occasions and I remember the overwhelming amount of peer pressure that was put on me for dating a black girl (by blacks and whites). We eventually broke up because of this. In the late seventies and early eighties there was a huge influx of Vietnamese immigrants as a result of the US lead war on Vietnam. I and my best friend Lance (whom coincidentally lives in Korea) befriended many Vietnamese kids in school and while taking the bus to pick strawberries (a novelty for us but a way of survival for them). I connected so well with these kids that most of my friends ended up being Vietnamese. I could really connect with them. I experienced something when I was around them that I couldn’t experience myself so much. The families did everything together and were each others best friends. This is where I first learned of the oh so important family structure that exists in Asia. As a result I was constantly teased by my other Caucasian friends for being a gook lover (believe it or not this is very true). Further in the past as a kid I had a next door neighbor form China and another from Italy. These were first generation immigrants. I remember sitting next to my Chinese neighbor one day (a boy about 3 years older than I) and watching people walk by. When an Asian looking man walked by I made the comment, “Hey a Chinaman”. I had no idea what I was saying and it came so naturally and I didn’t even realize until it was to late that my friend was Chinese and that I probably hurt his feelings. Man, I really felt bad even though I was a young kid. After that I never uttered those words again. This was my first real lesson on prejudice and how it works. I learned this due to my exposure to this person from another country. So I feel a kind of responsibility to point out and do what I can to resist racism when I see it. And if I seem a bit engrossed in it, it is because of my past experiences. Racism knows no color and has no nationality, it is a cancer that grows on the tree of insecurity, hate and jealousy and when discovered it must be crushed completely or it will grow back stronger than before. This is precisely why people must root it out at every possible opportunity. Kenji made a comment on the post by Abiola and here it is, “I think you should take it easy on the Caucasians you describe in this post. To the extent that they are often insensitive about issues of racism in their home countries (where they form the majority of the population), I certainly understand your frustration, but racism of any form is unjust, and we should listen to anyone who points out injustices being perpetrated in any locale” Kenji I must thank you for your level headed comment and clear vision. In addition here is a segment from an e-mail I received from Frank,” I was particularly impressed with your attitude on Japan's annoyances...same as mine. It has its bad points, but they pale in comparison to the good ones. Okonomiyaki alone could keep me there. Thanks Frank, look me up when you get here – the first round is on me. As for Abiola, you might need to re-examine your self described characteristic of "Cosmopolitan" in your about page.

Racism in Japan

There are a few publications in Japan that I frequently read one being the “Japan Today” website. It is definitely a legitimate news source though I have found that the articles often have a motive of focusing on the negative aspects of Japan. It is more my entertainment source, kind of like the national enquirer of English news in Japan. The other day I saw a story titled “Foreigner barred from Hokkaido bathhouse loses appeal against city gov't”. I found this story interesting because whether I like it or not these kinds of issues do affect my life here in Japan. The first thing I would like to point out about this story (as is the case with many Japan Today stories) is that the title is completely wrong. It should read, “Japanese citizen barred from Hokkaido bath house losses appeal against City gov’t” The title was obviously rigged to root out more anti Japanese sentiment as often happens in Japan Today. The article however, is no less important. You see Mr. Debito Arudou (formerly David Aldwinckle of the US) is a naturalized Japanese citizen. The point that bothered me was that on the discussion post many people were displaying their anger at Mr.Arudou saying such things as, “there is no problem with denying entrance to foreigners, it is their choice as a business owner” and “Not every onsen is like that, he should have just gone down the street to another one” The problem I have with this is that it appears as though racism is ok under certain circumstances. What the story doesn’t tell is that Arudou’s children and wife were permitted to enter but he was told he couldn’t. While I must admit that I love living in Japan, I like the people and the culture very much, but there is a certain degree of racism here that can make things very uncomfortable and difficult for Foreigners. I don’t want to compare to other countries as we all know racism exists everywhere. I want to focus on Japan because this is my home now. While I have never visited any restaurant or onsen that denied entry to me, I have a great deal of apathy for someone such as Arudou has been. I experience what I believe to be racism quite often here but, it is mostly what I consider ignorance. People moving to a different seat when you sit down next to them. One time when eating at a famous ramen restaurant an old man sitting next to my wife and I said, “Where are you from?” after responding with “America”, he replied, “Don’t leave your wife and, she is cute” “Many Gaijin leave there families here so please take care of her” His words were not said with love in his eyes. We continued to finish our meal as quickly as possible and leave as to avoid any confrontation. He continued to babble until we left. Most of the time the racism here is disguised behind a smiling face and that is the hardest to deal with. I am lucky I am a white American, many others from Vietnam, Thailand, China, Brazil or other countries that are looked upon as being inferior by some Japanese, have it much harder. A lot of times people look at you out of curiosity and maybe have never seen a foreign person up close before, but on other occasions you feel the dislike. It is mostly with older people. If Japan were a third world nation it would not be ok, but it would be easier to except. Most of us foreigners living here look past it and just move on and chalk it up to a bad day, but I have a certain amount of respect for Mr. Arudou who has found a battlefield where he can actually fight back and is doing so with great determination. He is not fighting racism in Japan he is fighting racism period. He is drawing attention to the subject which is very necessary in order to correct it. Check out his website if interested. I took me three days to decide whether or not I should make a post as this. I generally try to post on less political and more positive subjects. I feel that this is a subject worth mentioning. Now I would like to issue my disclaimers. Please keep in mind (especially if you are a foreign person thinking about coming to Japan) Japan is a great country, that is why I have chosen to make it my home. The great majority of the people are kind, helpful and caring in my experience and the culture is a beautiful one if an effort is made to discover it. Anywhere you live in the world there are positives and negatives and the grass is always greener on the other side, but I love living here and that is why I feel inclined to talk about such subjects as this.

Exactly what is a Tanuki?

Many who have traveled to Japan or that have eaten at an authentic Japanese restaurant probably have heard of or possibly even seen, a Tanuki. It’s hard to spend much time in Japan without seeing these little fellows popping up everywhere. I’ve seen them several times and I’ve heard numerous different explanations of what they are from several different people. There was one thing that always bothered me though; no two explanations were the same. Some people claimed they were real animals and some claimed they are only mythical creatures. Well today while visiting the temple where my father-in-laws funeral took place, I just happened to run into one of these little guys. I decided I was finally going to find out exactly what these freaks of nature were and if they were in fact real. After a good amount of reading and research, I think I have finally solved this mystery. The Tanuki is in fact a real animal. They are an unusual member of the dog family, yet they cannot interbreed with dogs. Most descriptions in western dictionaries refer to them as raccoon-dogs. They in fact are not raccoon at all. They look like a raccoon in the sense that they have stripes and rings some descriptions claim they have panda like features. The scientific name for the Tanuki is: Canis viverriuns, nyctereutes, procyonoides. The Tanuki can grow up to 60cm in length and will eat just about anything they can sink their teeth into (no reports of man eating Tanuki yet). They live mostly in the foot hills and mountain valleys and often wander into yards looking for grub. They are very hard to spot and they inhabit Japan and parts of NE Asia. In Japan Tanuki have an almost godlike reputation? They are believed to be able to shape shift into different forms and occasionally love to harass travelers. They are also presumed to have abnormally large testicles. I think I like the real Tanuki better, at least I’m glad the one I crossed paths with today didn’t follow in those mythical footsteps.