Life in Japan

Recently there have been a whole lot of American movies dealing with Japan. Or, more specifically, dealing with Americans in Japan, such as “Kill Bill Part 1”, “The Last Samurai” “Lost in Translation” and “The Grudge” (all reviewed on this blog at the links indicated).

But the movie that I felt I could most identify with was “The Incredible Mr. Ripley”, which had absolutely nothing to do with Japan. However it’s portrayal of the American and British ex-patriot community in Italy could easily be transferred to the ex-patriot community in Japan.

The movie is set in Italy, but most of the Italian characters are just background. The characters we run into again and again are the Americans and the British living in Italy. They have their own separate parties and social circles. They keep running into each other at different spots in Italy. And they seek each other out. In a crowd they ignore all the other Italians and seem to find the other Americans.

There are, proportionately speaking, very few foreigners in Japan, especially outside of the mega cities like Tokyo. And yet in Gifu prefecture I keep running into the same people over and over again. Whenever we go into a “Saizeria” restaurant (a chain fast food Italian place), there’s sure to be another foreigner we know. When I go into Starbucks in Gifu city, it’s almost a guarantee I’ll see other English teachers there. Even if we leave Gifu prefecture and we go out for a night in Nagoya, we always go to the same two or three bars and we always meet other foreigners from Gifu.

In a way I guess it’s kind of sad that I don’t integrate myself better with the Japanese people. I’m sure this is one of the main reasons my Japanese isn’t as good as it could be after 4 years. And I’m sure I’m missing out on a lot of great cross culture experiences. And it is pretty pathetic how much time we spend in groups complaining about Japan, especially considering how good life is here from any sort of objective standpoint.

But I spend all week in the Japanese schools and in my free time I want nothing more to meet other Westerners and speak English and vent our mutual frustrations about Japan. That, and I kind of like the feeling of community that is in the ex-pat circles. I like going into certain bars or certain coffee shops and knowing I’ll see people I know. And, because most of us are in our 20s, it sometimes feels just like an extension of University when you surround yourself with people your own age. It was a little rough when I first arrived in September because I didn’t know anyone, but now I feel like I’ve made connections a bit more.

For instance the other day I was unexpectedly let home early from school because of schedule changes. I didn’t know what to do with myself, so I just grabbed my book and went into Gifu city. I went into Starbucks where I saw a bunch of people I knew studying Japanese at the tables, and joined their study group. After that broke up, I went into a local bakery, and was eating some pizza when someone else I knew came in. “I’m so glad to see you here,” she said. “I just had a terrible day and I need someone to talk to.”

To keep our spirits up we went to the local video game arcade. We noticed the sign outside that said it was a “girl’s only” arcade, and men could only come in if accompanied by a female. Why anywhere would have a "women's only" video game arcade was beyond us, but we theorized that since in Japan video game centers are often the equivalent of singles pick up bars, maybe this was for women who just wanted to play video games and not be bothered by men.

Since my friend was female, we figured we were all right, but I felt slightly uncomfortable in the place. Kind of the way you feel in a women’s underwear shop. I was also embarrassed by remembering that I had been in this place last week with a male friend, and both of us had somehow missed the “women’s only” sign. That explains some of the stares we had gotten.

Besides, this place had a lot of “girl games” in it, like music games or UFO catchers, and not a lot of first person shooting games, which is one of our favorite ways to relieve stress and take out aggression. So we went to another arcade that suited our more violent tastes. Before I knew it, it was 11 O’clock and I had to move my car before the parking lot shut. (The pitfalls of getting free parking by stopping in the Supermarket Parking lot.)
Anyway, it doesn’t happen all the time, but I was pleased that I could just head into Gifu city without any sort of plan and run into all sorts of people I know to keep me occupied. That’s one of the things I like about Japan.