Japan… one year later

With a week long hangover and impending first skiing trip in nearly 14 years, it’s time for a round-up of my first year in Japan. Traditions and what not, everyone’s probably bored to death with yearly round-ups already but hey it’s the season of excess so I’ll add to it, considering I managed to keep my xmas shopping consumption to pretty much zero this year.

A lot has happened in one year. I’ve changed jobs much to my surprise, I’ve visited a lot more of Tokyo and Japan than I thought I would and I’ve also managed to attain a somewhat decent ‘beginner’ level in Japanese.

So to sum it up are two lists of what I consider good and bad points about living in Tokyo and Japan.

This’ll be my last post of the year. I’ve still got a bunch of things to write up which have accumulated and which I’ll get onto in the new year – once I’ve drunk away all the money I need to live and am forced to do nothing but work and sit in front of my computer at night.

Happy new year and wishes for 2008 to everyone.

2007 in two lists, bullet points and randomness  

Things about living in Japan and Tokyo that count as definite pluses

• The price, availability and tastiness of ‘quick’, take-away food. It’s never felt so good to eat take-away food nearly everday and night
• Changing to a primarily rice and fish diet – it’s way better than it first sounds
• Izakayas, the equivalent of Japanese pubs (though that’s being quite nasty to izakayas and quite flatering to pubs). Special extra notice to Yamato, the best place in Shinjuku, 180 yen a pint five minutes from the station? It’s not a myth
• Kanji. Yes an alphabet based on meaning rather than sounds is quite possibly the biggest headache in the world when you’re trying to get by everyday, but it’s also an incredible amount of fun, no matter how frustrating it gets. Kanji games on the Nintendo DS are therefore even more fun
• Japanese food is great, especially the stuff you’d never find out about if you didn’t live here. Nabe, yakitori, ramen, soba noodles, tempura, sushi and sashimi, deep fried everything, rice everything, seafood and fish, curry, okonomiyaki, korean bbq … I could go on, and I will at some point with some long overdue food posts, but suffice to say that while some things are definitely missing here, there’s more than enough to make up for it
• A transport system that is efficient, runs on time and relatively good value for money
• Drinks machine within less than 5 minutes walk wherever you maybe. And machines that seemingly never break down and always carry change for a note
• Machines that sell pretty much anything you could want
• Real 24-hour shops that are really open 24 hours a day, always stocked (bar a few days a year) and more importantly there’s always one within 5 minutes of wherever you are too.
• It’s ok to carry an umbrella if you’re a man. Hell it also seems to be ok for men to carry man-bags which depending on where you stand on the man-bag thing may well be a good point
• Ramen… oh did I already mention that?
• Lack of feeling threatened, mugged, knifed or attacked by random people in the street, especially if you’re a bloke
• Being able to travel out of town on day trips and the travelling costing you less than the price of a hotel room for the night 
• In the suburbs of Tokyo, and actually in most of the city too, you can cycle pretty much anywhere and everyone has a bike
• In the suburbs you can also buy fresh vegetables and fruits directly from people who grow them and sell them on the streets, next to their patch of land
• Green-tea-flavoured everything
• In Tokyo, an insane amount of all-night entertainment options that will keep you busy, or comfortable, until the first trains start running and cost you a lot less than a cab ride home. Karaoke, Manga cafes and love hotels are all incredible pluses
• Drinks machines in night clubs, screw waiting at the bar for the stupid barman to acknowledge your non-fancy looking ass
• Some really good live venues and small, friendly bars
• Tokyo, and Japan in general, is CHEAP

Things about living in Japan and Tokyo that count as definite minuses

• The exchange rate for the yen against the pound has sucked ever since I landed here
• Rush hour on the trains after 10 pm until the last trains. Human tetris redefined to an entirely new level, rudeness redefined to an entirely new level and drunken salary men falling asleep on your shoulder or lap
• The accepted belief that it’s totally unacceptable to wear a backpack on a train, but carrying a briefcase is ok, and that talking on your phone is rude, but being drunk and loud is ok (those specially apply to you if you’re not Japanese)
• Oden, the most disgusting fast-food in the world, possibly. The ‘real’ Japanese fast-food, basically processed, mashed fish pulp, boiled and shaped into a variety of forms and flavours. The stench that pervades most convenience stores that sell the stuff 24/7 is enough to make you want to throw up
• The most bizarre anti-smoking restrictions, in a country where the tobacco lobbies are among the most powerful and where a majority of the population smokes. Packets are cheaper than anywhere I’ve ever been (for a developed country anyways). Regardless of all that bans on smoking in the streets in certain areas are implemented with various degrees of success, and people regularly congregate at designated smoking areas
• Quite possibly the worst TV in the world, the equivalent of having Channel 5 on every station
• Overbearing shopping experience in the big malls, department stores and major parts of town, conpounded by totally over the top manners for the majority of the service industry, people who will spend the entire day outside a shop with a loudspeaker stuck to their lips whilst reciting the day’s offers and deals, and a kind of oppressing feeling whenever you go to a major shop to buy something. It gets easier with time but it never quite goes away
• Over politeness in the service industry making it nearly impossible to actually just get by with gestures and broken Japanese, because people have to be polite to you and must treat you with a certain degree of respect which requires a lot of superfluous language that will only confuse you further when all you want is a rum and coke say
• Air conditioners everywhere, rubbish for heating in winter and rubbish for keeping cool in summer. Great for making you fall ill though
• Weak over the counter medicine meaning your cold is unlikely to go away anytime soon
• Fairly confusing procedures for medical treatment, also made worse if you don’t speak any Japanese
• Bowing and different degrees of politeness. Confuses everything
• Hyper-capitalism at its finest. Can be a good thing sometimes, but generally a massive pain in the ass, culturally funny at times though (ie. Halloween and Christmas)
• No bloody holidays ever if you work in a Japanese company. Well ok that’s a bit of an exageration but compared to your average European company, the amount of holidays you’re likely to take and have in one year is fairly small. Japanese being workaholics is far from a myth unfortunately
• Unbereable heat in summer. Makes tropical countries look appealing, also see air-contiditioners
• No night time transport system
• Overpriced entry and drinks in nightclubs. Also a limited amount of good/decent clubs in light of Japan’s fairly ridiculous licensing laws and Tokyo’s mayor recent clampdown on nightlife
• Sea urchin roe, natto, oden, octopus balls and all sorts of weird food. Also the Japanese habit for putting nori (dried seaweed, generally flaked or striped) on everything, and I mean everything. If I order a meat dish I don’t want bloody seaweed on it ffs

And like that 2007 is outty and 2008 is inny. See you all on the flipside.