Election

There was a general election held yesterday. The elections are held on a weekend so that everyone has the chance to vote without missing work or school. People are eligible to vote at 20 years of age here. There are 3 elections held at a time.

The current ruling party called the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), or 民主党 in Japanese, was defeated by the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan (LDP) - or 自民党. The LDP has basically ruled Japan since 1955 except for the past three year period. The names are fairly close in English, which makes distinction between them difficult. The DPJ is more liberal; the LDP is more conservative.

The head of the DPJ - at least for now, is Prime Minister Noda, though he will likely step down after the results of this election. The LDP is headed by Shinzou Abe. Abe favors the continued use of nuclear energy, and has been vocal in his support of the Senkaku Islands. He has proposed changing the Japanese Constitution to allow for Japan to develop both a military and nuclear weapons.

Does his party's election really mean that people support Abe though? This is up for some debate. Japanese politics is largely dysfunctional. Leaders change every couple years, sometimes more often than that. There is largely the feeling that one's vote does not count, and the politicians are all so hopeless that people do not want to vote at all.

For example, the candidates will neglect to wear suits, their comments will be completely off-the-wall, and voters are left wondering who exactly is the so-called 'lesser evil' among their choices. Therefore, this is just my opinion but I doubt that the DPJ will go through on all of its intentions. It is well aware of the fact that it won because people dislike the LDP, not because they like the DPJ. Japan is also in a perilous state economically. It has to rely on foreign economies for imports/exports, so it cannot just completely do away with its foreign relations.

What this election means, if anything, will be seen in the coming year. Japan's leadership changes so frequently that nothing is definite yet.

Earthquake

I apologize for the late post. There was an earthquake off the coast of Japan on Friday. It was magnitude 7.3, but it was shindo (震度) 4 here in Tokyo. The earthquake occurred while I was still at work around 5:18 p.m. It was fairly strong up on the 7th floor, and it reminded many of my coworkers of the 3.11 quake. Overall, nothing fell over and we didn't suffer any damage, so no worries. The quake only caused a 1m high tsunami as well, so everything was fine. Honestly, that's more what we worry about here. Whether or not the earthquake will cause a tsunami.

The trains stopped probably for about 10 minutes, but they were running again quickly. The schedule was a bit off though. Although that sounds like something that you shouldn't worry about in the U.S., it is a big problem here. Most people do not own cars, and the majority of the population relies on the train system because it is punctual and the most efficient way to get to work. Shutting down the trains on 3.11 caused millions of people to have to walk hours home in the cold. Many people just ended up going to Red Cross shelters to spend the night until the trains could run on limited service again.

Japan normally doesn't measure its earthquakes by magnitude by the way. Although it is useful to understanding the original strength of the quake, we tend to use something called shindo (震度) here. This is literally the degree of the quake, or the quake's strength at your location. So, for example, most quakes are shindo 2 or 3 here in Tokyo if you feel them. These are barely noticeable. You might notice a piece of paper shaking slightly, or water moving, or something that hangs will swing, but unless you are really looking at something, you can ignore it with only a touch of vertigo.

Shindo 4 like the other day was what many people would consider as an earthquake. Although we were able to stand up, it was preferable to sit down. Computers would not fall off the desk unless they were close to the edge, but things would shake violently. Cabinets rattle, etc. Shindo 4 is not something you ignore. Places further up north felt shindo 5, which cause books and such to fall off shelves.

For more information about the earthquake strength system here, you can refer to the Wikipedia article here.

Of NTT

This post is about NTT, which is a telecommunications company here in Japan. When I signed up for internet, I had make a contract through NTT as well as OCN, which I believe is the service provider. Oddly enough, I get three mailings every month. Bills from both NTT Finance and NTT Communications well as information from OCN. If that sounds confusing to you, don't worry. I don't really understand it either.

The reason for this post is that when I signed up, they were running a special campaign. Sign up for internet when you buy your washer, fridge, and other appliances, and we'll dock money off both our internet service and all the appliances. I already mentioned in a previous post that I had gotten my washer, fridge, rice cooker, and hair dryer all for 30,000 yen (roughly 450 dollars under the current exchange rate). My internet bill also had all kinds of free unnecessary services, free telephone, etc. that totaled to about 2,000 yen a month. For a few months, everything was peachy. I bought good appliances for cheaply and I had cheap internet that easily rivals the US speeds. Then, the campaign ended last month. I couldn't cancel the services before the campaign ended, or I would end up paying a huge fee.

Last month, my internet/phone bill skyrocketed to 5,000 yen. This month it was 6,000 yen. Fed up with paying for services I wasn't using, I tried to cancel the services. This is easier said than done though. After wading through a dozen documents with five or six different usernames and passwords along with almost a dozen different phone numbers to call, I admitted that I had no idea what I doing. I asked Tai to call OCN for me, but he was promptly turned down. They had no idea what he was talking about, and and said to go to NTT.

Tai being considerate and having promised me that he would take care of it, tried to call NTT, but they put him on hold forever and basically he was told that he wouldn't pass the "verification test." So I called myself. The conversation went something like this:

Representative: "Hello, this is NTT Financial Services. My name is X. How can I help you?"
Me: "Yes, hello. This is my account information. I want to cancel some services that I'm no longer using. Can you help me with that?"
Representative: "Of course. First, we'll have to verify your identity."

This was the part I was worried about. Verifying your identity in Japan is kind of like nailing jello to a tree. Unless you have the exact information that they want, you will never ever pass. This is because they give you like hundreds of pieces of paper with different usernames and passwords. You also have to sign everything with your personal seal. If you don't have the seal, they'll just send you away until you find it. This is a major problem for people that have many seals. So, here I am all worried, and what do they ask for? My customer ID number, my phone number, my address, and then, my personal favorite: "Are you the person who owns this account?" I answered yes, and that was it. My account verification was me saying, "Yes, I am Michelle." Only in Japan is that considered an acceptable form of verification.

We continued to the reason for my call, which was canceling the services. Before I cancelled the services, I asked her to explain each one. This took about 5 minutes. Then, I cancelled the ones I didn't want. Easy-peasy. Before I could get too confident though, she asked one final question.

Representative: "It says here that you have a couple of boxes for the internet and phone."
Me: "I have one box for the internet, yes. I do not have a box for the phone. Is there something you need?"
Representative: "No, you definitely have two boxes. We need you to return the phone box for us."

Now, that's odd. I know I only have one box. And I told her so. Over and over and over again. This took roughly 20 minutes. She said, "Maybe you have a box in your genkan (entry way)?" No, no box. "Maybe it's under your bed?" No, no box. I only have one box. "Maybe it's somewhere that you've never seen before?" My apartment is not large. I only have one box. "If you could just go and look at the boxes' numbers for me, I could look them up?" Unfortunately, I couldn't fulfill her request because 1. I only had one box. And 2. I was at work.

She thought about this for quite a while, and then, you would think this wouldn't be a problem since we were talking in Japanese and I said the same exact thing in many different ways, but it took roughly 20 minutes for her to have a "a-ha" moment.

Representative: "You only have one box."
Me: "Yes, that's what I've been saying. I only have one box."
Representative: "Then that means you must have box where both things are in one box!"

Perhaps this service is new. I'm not sure. But it was the correct conclusion. She notified me that I would have to return that box. The fact that she shut the service off for the internet wasn't enough. They needed to send me an all new modem to replace my current one. After realizing at this point that logic was pretty futile, I agreed and asked when I had to be at my apartment for the maintenance person to come by. "Oh, oh, that's not necessary," she assured me. "We can just send you the new box by mail, and you can send your current box back to us by mail."

Now, that's all well and good, and it's actually pretty convenient. However, there was one little issue. The last time I got a modem from NTT, the guy saw my Mac, and his eyes went huge. Surprise. He didn't know how to work a Mac. But that wasn't a problem, he assured me. "You have the CD?" he asked in his gruff voice. I did. "Use the CD." He said.

I know this will really surprise you, but that CD didn't work. Macs can read NTT's CDs. They show up in little Wingdings - boxes, exclamation points, hearts, clovers, etc. No words. The reason for this, is that Macs are supposed to be able to hook up automatically, but mine doesn't. I have no idea why. So, I set myself up with a PPoE server because that's the only way I could get it to connect. Whether or not this is correct, I have no idea.

This time, I didn't want to relive that moment, so I asked the representative if she could send a representative this time to set it up. In front of me. Using my Mac. "I'd love to-" she wheedled, "But you just cancelled the Remote Support Service. If you want to keep it on for another month-."

"If I don't cancel the service, someone from your company will come set it up for me?" I clarified.

"No, we don't do that."

"Then what is the Remote Support Service?" I asked again.

"Well, you can call us..." she continued.

"Can't I just call you without the Remote Support Service?"

"Yes," she agreed.

"Then cancel it." Why I would keep a service that I can get for free, when they do not even come to my apartment, I don't know. So I cancelled it. And I got my box, and it was also a bear to set up. I set it up with PPoE again. It's a mystery. But it works. In short, NTT is probably the most unhelpful company ever.

Of NHK

So over the past couple months, I've been visited been NHK three times. NHK is the Japanese national broadcasting company. It's a public company, and they easily have the pushiest staff I've ever met in Japan. A typical visit from NHK begins with the sound of your doorbell. Pin-pon. Thinking that it could be anyone, you pick up the intercom. You're already doomed.

At first, the NHK people seem really nice. "I'm from NHK," they explain. "I've come to talk about the broadcasting fee and your contract." I thought that was awful curious because I have no TV. When I explained that this, the staff was literally dumbfounded. "How can you have no TV? You must have a TV." I told him I have no TV, and that I do not have time to watch TV. Although doubtful, he left me alone.

I received another visit about two weeks later. The fact that it's always a different person makes NHK difficult to deal with. This person was just as pushy, insisting that I was required to pay by law. When I asked him how I could pay for something that I cannot receive, he became confused. I explained to him that I told his coworker two weeks ago that I did not have a TV. He took about 10 minutes to explain that I must immediately pay him once I get a TV.

So, what's with this? This is a public television company, but acts like a scamming company. The reason for this, is that from what I understand, NHK cannot turn off its services. Anyone can receive NHK as long as they have a TV equipped to receive broadcast services. Due to recent scandals, some people have refused to pay, which has resulted in some lawsuits forcing them to pay for the services that they receive. Regardless of whether or not they watch NHK has no bearing on the payment. You have a TV; you can receive NHK. Therefore, you must pay for NHK.

Honestly, it seems like a rather ridiculous system. They company should have a way of turning off its services to those who do not watch to watch. Since the government has a strong influence over the company though, this isn't possible.

Why is NHK important, you might ask. NHK has no commercials, and it is a frequent source of the news. During 3/11, I watched NHK in my dorm in Kyoto. NHK broadcasted in Japanese, English, and I think Mandarin as well.  It provided the most up to date news, which is why people watched it.

For those reading this blog who live in Japan, there is no way to avoid paying the fee unless you do not own a TV. Even then, you will have to convince NHK of this, which from my own experience so far has been pretty futile. I'll just continue to tell a new person every week that I don't have a TV.

The Politeness Factor

It's been over a month since I last posted on the blog, and for that, I'm sorry. Although I realize that any sort of writing is better than no writing at all, I couldn't find an interesting topic to write about. I'll try to keep up with the blog better for now on.

I often thought about it before I came to Japan, but I didn't think about writing about what I would term the 'Politeness Factor' until a letter from a certain family member  came yesterday.

When I started studying Japanese, I noticed just how awkward the language sounded when it was translated to English. There's "honorable" this and "humble" that. There seems to be no end to the act of raising your partner's status while engaging in self-deprecation on your own side. And therein lies the question, "Does Japanese really sound like that? Does it always sound like you're speaking in what English would consider the 15th century, when you're calling people 'Lord' this and "honorable' that?" And the answer is No, it doesn't, if I'm forced to choose. Much of the language is based on set phrases, just as we have in English.

For example, when you meet someone, or when you are asking for something, you say the phrase "Yoroshiku onegai itashimasu." Although there is truly no equivalent phrase in English, it translates roughly as "Please take care of me" and "Please do this for me." This is merely a superficial translation, but it would be the same in English as saying "Nice to meet you." We don't really think about the meaning of "Nice to meet you" when we say it. Not saying it is rude. The same applies to Japanese.

Let's take another phrase, "Osewa ni natte orimasu" is said when you answer the phone or when someone has done something for your benefit. Failing to this phrase is also rude. Although the original meaning has been lost in some ways, it is still necessary to say it.

"That's fair, but it doesn't cover the need to change your words when you speak to someone higher or lower to you. And what's with all the 'sama' this and that?" you might ask. And that's where the Politeness Factor gets a bit more convoluted.

Let's take one word 'to go' (in Japanese, this is pronounced iku). What a simple word. How can this become difficult? And the answer is, very easily. Let's say I'm speaking with a friend, and I want to say that I'm going to the convenience store. I would use the simplest form of the verb and just say, "Konbini wo iku." But what if I'm speaking to someone a little older than me, or someone that I'm not as close to like his parents. Then, I would say "Konbini wo Ikimasu." These both mean the exactly the same thing, and up this point, Japanese is easy. However, let's say I'm speaking to my boss, or a customer, or someone that I perceive as high status, such as a doctor or the President. In this case, I want to be a bit more polite. To do this, I change the verb to mairimasu. It still means go, but it's a bit more academic and much more humble. Our new sentence is "Konbini wo mairimasu." All of this gets thrown out the window when you start talking about the other person. Then you need one more verb, and this one is to elevate their status. If the doctor is going to the convenience store, then I'll say Konbini wo irasshaimasu. This is where Japanese gets difficult. All of these sentences mean that I (in the first 3) or the doctor (in the last sentence) are going to the store, but the level of politeness differs.

The question is, "Why is it necessary?" Parents have to teach their kids this sort of language. Its full of irregulars, and they cannot pick it up on their own. They normally teach the kids right before they enter the workforce, so in your early 20s, you learn how to sound polite. If it's so difficult, wouldn't it be easier to just eliminate it? Unfortunately, this is not possible. Although dislikes learning it, it's seen as necessary. It's the difference between saying "Buh-bye" and "Have a good day" to a customer on the phone.

The simplest explanation I can give is that all of this depends on the Politeness Factor. If you are talking with someone you do not know, or someone that you perceive as high status, you want to show your respect for them. You speak differently to your family than to a business partner, and the same is true here. It is better to err on the side of politeness than to speak too casually to someone. The same applies in English. These senior-subordinate relationships are much less strict in the U.S., but that doesn't mean that we ignore them. You don't say 'Hey' to your boss; you say 'Hello.'

If you don't know how high of a status someone is - and by the way, you cannot ask what someone does in their job here because income is directly related to job status. It would effectively be like asking how much money someone makes - then, you have to speak politely. Being too polite is rude, but speaking politely is always appreciated no matter the culture. This is what I mean by the Politeness Factor. So, is it difficult to learn? Without a doubt. But is it necessary? Yes. Absolutely.

Of a Lack of Dryers

So I was thinking the other day about my first impressions when I came to Japan. Sometimes I forget what things used to be like, where everything new and exciting. It was really more of an adventure at first. Now, I've gotten used to my life here. And I still try new things, but it's more of the way that you try to do things in a city that you've lived in for a while. Anyway, back to the point, I was hanging up my laundry to dry yesterday when a memory came back to me.

I remember when I first came to Japan, I wasn't able to tell wealthy neighborhoods from poorer neighborhoods. Common signs in the States of wealth really don't apply here. For example, dryers are not common in Japan. I've seen them at coin laundries, but never in a home. Most people just hang their clothes to dry up on a pole outside, even in winter.

In the US, if you look up and see row and upon row of apartment buildings and houses with clothes hanging outside, you would normally assume that the area is not wealthy. But it's normal for here. Japanese homes just don't have the space for a dryer. There's also the belief that dryers shrink your clothes. Since the Japanese tend to buy very fitting clothes, they do not want to shrink them.

So the question is how do you tell so-called "wealthy" neighborhoods from their more humble counterparts? The answer to this is the types of stores, building materials, and city layout. Stores do not have to be super "chic" per say, but they do have to sell quality goods. Western stores like Zara, Banana Republic, Chanel tend to be in better areas. This is due to the fact that they have to make a profit due to the high import duties on their products, so they tend to go places like Ginza and Roppongi. However, if you go to Kyoto, the Gion district is one of the most expensive in Japan. The district is old and does not host any "fashionable" stores. Rather, it sells some of the highest quality teas in the country. It prides itself on its traditional roots, and people will pay for the experience.

The second method is by looking at the building materials. Most buildings are now built with flexible steel and other earthquake-proof materials. However, there are still a few traditional wooden houses. These traditional areas are highly prized because they have survived the bombings and previous fires. The techniques to make them have also be lost in the generations. If we look at more modern architecture, buildings with large windows and an open layout are more prized. Rent is expensive here, so if you find large buildings, you know that you're in a nice neighborhood. Family homes that have a car are also a sign of a very well-to-do neighborhood.

Finally, the last thing to consider is the city layout itself. Greenery is a very good sign of the economic health of the neighborhood. Along the train tracks in Kyoto, the neighbors work together to maintain the flowers for their block. Arashiyama is the former entertainment region for the old nobility. It has a large lake and it is surrounded by mountains. In Tokyo, areas like Sangenjaya and Daikanyama are considered upper-class. These areas have widespread green spaces and are well-kept. They are also located in the center of the city near train stations.

All in all, there are many signs of wealth in Japan. You only have to get used to looking to notice them. Although there are far more that I haven't named, it is because in some ways it's difficult to put a finger on it. Over time, you just learn. The important thing to realize is that wealth is not an indication of whether the neighborhood is safe or not. Since you don't find gated communities or the like here, people can walk anywhere. As long as you act normally, the majority of Japan is safe.

Typhoon

We had a pretty strong typhoon here over the weekend. It caused the most damage in Okinawa, where 250 mph winds tossed cars around like they were toys. The majority of houses lost power on the island, and there's definitely some cleaning up to do.

When the typhoon reached Tokyo, it was still fairly strong. Wind gusts were up to 75 mph, though they tended to hang around 30-40 mph on average. I stayed inside during the day when it was still sunny to study. At night, I headed over to the movie theater to watch Snow White and the Huntsman with Tai. The movie is pretty actually; I recommend it.

Due to the wind though, the second movie wasn't showing. So we headed back, and ate udon for a while at a restaurant. The entire time we ate, the windows howled outside. The doors and windows rattled, and rain came down in droves. I waited for a break and managed to get back to my apartment just as the winds kicked up again.

By Monday, everything was clear, but there was trash everywhere. Signs and boxes had been thrown around all over the streets. Tokyo is pretty good about getting everything cleaned up. By today (Tuesday), you couldn't even notice that there was the largest typhoon that Tokyo has felt in a long time.

This morning a fairly large earthquake struck off the coast as well, registering in at a 6.2. I woke up to it actually, but it was only a 3 in Tokyo by that point. There was another smaller earthquake later in the day. Overall, Japan is having some strange weather.

Two weeks ago, we were still 80 degrees and sunny. Then it rained for two straight weeks and dropped down into the 60s. The day after the typhoon the weather is always hot and sunny, so that's good. I just wish it would last a little bit longer.

Rainy Update

It's been a little while since I last updated the blog, but I certainly didn't forget about it. I got busy with some things for work, and the blog was truthfully lower on the priority list. Tokyo has been under a rainy spell lately. No bad earthquakes (knock on wood), but quite a few instances of guerilla rain. This is fairly unusual for the region. Tokyo does get rain, but it tends to be the kind that drenches you throughout the day sans lightning.

I've been busy trying to prepare myself for fall and eventually winter by buying some other clothing. Unfortunately, most shops are still selling summer clothes at large discounts to prepare for the next season. Although I'm perfectly capable of shopping in department stores, the clothing is often marked up exceptionally high, and I'm trying to be a little prudent with my funds at the moment.

I received a really fantastic gift the other day from Tai's grandmother. She bought me a laundry rack. I'll be able to keep it outside normally, but I can move it inside if I want to be able to dry clothes when it's raining or cold. It's definitely exciting though. Now, the only thing I really need to buy for my apartment is a comforter for the winter. I'll get to that once it gets a little colder since they aren't being sold yet.

Japanese class is going well, but I need to study more. I'm thinking that I'll try to get a little more studying done before I slip into another lazy afternoon nap. I'm off to go be a little productive. Take care!

Of a Delicious BBQ

I went on a little trip with my coworkers on Sunday up to a place called Katsuura in Chiba prefecture for a BBQ. The trip overall was a lot of fun, and I was finally able to see some green again. No matter how much I like Tokyo for its convenience and variety of things to do, I'm still from a country with wide green fields and beautiful tree-topped mountains. Katsuura was really beautiful though, and I was finally able to spend some time near the ocean. The water was a beautiful blue, and the weather was perfect for a cook-out.

I was also able to meet some really wonderful people while I ate some fantastic food. Although I won't load pictures of people up for privacy reasons, I can share what we ate. The culinary adventure began with some Japanese lobster (伊勢エビ). They were live and freshly caught. Interestingly enough, the Japanese lobster does not have giant pinchers, so you're free to pick them up without worrying too much about getting hurt. We ate them raw first, and they were surprisingly sweet. I didn't know you could have lobster sashimi, but it was fantastic. After that, we cooked them and ate them properly.

After the lobster, we started eating some type of shellfish called sazae in Japanese. I honestly don't want to call these in English. Wikipedia suggests Turbo cornutus but I find it hard to believe we don't have more generic name for this animal. Basically, it's a type of sea snail though. We cooked it with salt and soy sauce, so it had a hard coating on the top of it. It was good, but not my favorite. We also ate ikayaki (grilled squid) and the most delicious of them all awabi, or abalone. I feel like I had eaten abalone once before, but it definitely didn't taste like this. Since it was freshly caught, the taste was phenomenal. I was told that the reason may be because there are two types of abalone: red and black. Honestly, I just think it was because abalone is extremely expensive, so I haven't really grown accustomed to it. 

The other things in the picture below are pumpkin (kabocha), eggplant (nasu), beef, and ham.

And last, but definitely not least, we ate something I had never tried before. We encased a large type of tai (or sea bream) though it may have been ishidai (striped beakfish) in a mixture of salt and egg whites and put it on the grill. The salt formed a protective shell around the fish, which we had to break later. This type of cooking is called shiogawa, or salt pan grilling. I was assured that I was not the only one who had seen this for the first time. It ended up tasting like it had been steamed, and all of the flavor was locked in since the juices started oozing out later. It really didn't taste salty at all.

Overall, it was a really wonderful event, and I'm glad I got the chance to meet some new people and to spend some time with my coworkers outside of work. I'm off to study and sleep.

Territory Dispute - China

As you all may well know by this point, Japan has been involved with some territorial disputes over the past century. Although these are nothing new to the region, the situation has escalated recently. It all boils down to Japan's imperial times when it wanted to claim land to expand its national resources. Japan is in the precarious position where the only resource it has is fish, and even that is iffy with the recent overfishing and the 3.11 disaster.

Two different situations are escalating at the moment. The first is the issue with China. Japan claims the chain of eight islands as part of its territory. Located in what the Japanese call the Japan Sea, the islands are called the Senkaku Islands. They were found to be uninhabited and subsequently added to Okinawa prefecture in Southern Japan. In the 1970's, Japan announced that the Senkaku Islands were a prime fishing location and that they might have significant oil/gas deposits. China calls the islands the Diaoyu Islands, and insists that they have been used for centuries for fishing.

In September 2010, a Chinese fisherman tried to land on the island. He crashed into two Japanese coast guard vessels and was soon arrested. China cancelled a planned trip by 1,000 Japanese students to China in anger. Japan eventually released the fisherman and his crew, but insisted they not try to land on the islands again.

On August 15, 2012, the situation has escalated further. 14 people from Hong Kong sailed to one of the Senkaku islands and tried to land on it. 7 people managed to get to land. The Japanese Coast Guard released their video of the event. It shows a Coast Guard vessel firing water cannons and Hong Kong activists throwing bricks.

Chinese media has been very critical of the event and has asserted that the Japanese law is "worthless" and not meant to be followed since the lands are claimed by China. There are talks of boycotting Japanese products in China, though whether this will be successful, no one knows. Chinese activists have reportedly burned cars in protest. Another man stole the Hinomaru flag off of the Japanese ambassador's car after two vehicles boxed him in. The Chinese government has denounced the way which the Coast Guard handled the issue. It is also trying to reign in its own citizens before they further complicate the issue.

In contrast, Japanese activists have traveled to the islands to raise the Hinomaru flag on the island to reassert Japanese sovereignty over the land. Activists are stationed on top of a large van in Shibuya, shouting nationalist slogans that the islands belong to Japan and that people should stand up for the territory.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government has tried to do a survey of the Senkaku Islands, but this proposal was rejected. Instead, the government has offered to buy three of the islands for 2 billion yen from the Kurihara family, who owns the property.

Sources:
"China-Japan Islands Row" (BBC)
"Ishihara's Senkaku survey Request gets thumbs down" (Japan Times)
"Japan Coast Guard releases footage of Senkaku clash with Chinese activists" (Japan Times)
"Chinese media hail activists" (Yomiuri Shinbun)

Of TEPCO's Rates

I received a really disturbing pamphlet the other day from the Tokyo Electric Power Company, or TEPCO for short. As we are all aware by this point, TEPCO is responsible for the Fukushima Daiichi Reactor crisis. Thanks to TEPCO, there are now huge swaths of land in the northern part of Japan that are unusable and will remain so for many decades to come. Most of this land was used as farmland, so Japan's rice and other crops have been severely affected. Although we often hear that the the fish is safe to eat, and not to worry about our food source because the government will prevent tainted products from entering the chain, there is still cause for concern. The government admitted that they found fish containing several hundred times the legal limit off the coast of Japan the other day. Farmers are still forced to dispose of anything that exceeds the legal radiation limit (i.e. beef and milk). Therefore, when I received this little pamphlet the other day, I'll admit I felt feelings of remorse over the crisis yet again and more than a tinge of anger.

For those of you that don't read Japanese, let me briefly summarize what this letter says. 

Information About Your Rising Electric Bill: Thank you for using our company's service. It's been over a year since the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Reactor crisis, and we apologize for troubling everyone. However, in order to clean up the radiation, we will be raising the bill for households by 8.46%. This will take effect immediately from September 1, 2012. We apologize for asking you to help us share the burden. TEPCO is under new management. The government has given permission for this fee to be enacted.

Now, there are a few reasons why this letter raises some concerns. Although households in Japan have known for some time that rates are going to be raised, the process by which TEPCO is going forward with this is unacceptable. Households obviously objected to the rise because TEPCO destroyed the northern part of Japan, and quite frankly, people here would rather they go under trying to fix things. The idea of "sharing the burden" was not left up to consumers, who already have donated massive amounts to the area to help in the rebuilding process. However, TEPCO going under is really not an option; they have been taken over by the government because TEPCO going bankrupt could lead to mass power outages in the Tokyo area. The government already forced TEPCO to diminish its workers' salaries by 30 percent, as well as the salaries of upper management, but that alone isn't going to placate anyone.

The second concern is that TEPCO's letter is the most unapologetic letter I've ever read. It basically conveys a feeling of arrogance. "The government said we can raise rates by this amount, so we will." There is clear lack of responsibility in the accident. If TEPCO truly wants its consumers to respect it again, it"s going to have to do more. We know that this "fee for radiation cleanup" is really a permanent fee that will eventually go to TEPCO's profits. TEPCO's employees are working long hours to try to fix the mess, and honestly, I respect the average worker there. But the upper tiers of management are a mess.

The final thing is that this only emphasizes TEPCO's high-and-mighty attitude. TEPCO has maintained this attitude of victimization the entire time. They were forced to release video about the accident, but they have conveniently "lost" the sound. They claimed there was no sound to begin with, but this is obviously untrue because parts of the video do have sound. This has protected from further government penalties. Knowing this, consumers have gotten so irritated with the company, if there was a way to switch to another electric provider, we would.

The fee only further penalizes people who have been so kind in their donations and volunteer time. Although we will all the pay the fee (businesses will pay a higher fee up to 15%), we certainly do not agree with the company policy itself. Although this often lies unspoken in the hearts and minds of many people here, I felt it was at least important to document it as we wait for further TEPCO nonsense.

Summer Vacation

The concept of summer vacation is not a new one for the United States. It is normally associated with school children finishing their classes for the year and spending a month or two playing in the sun at the pool with friends. There is also the occasional family vacation, something that every kid looks forward to.

In Japan, summer vacation is not limited to students. Companies also engage in the mandatory practice. The time is normally set automatically. Everyone in the company takes a certain time off to go spend time with family. This leads to lots of closed restaurants at this time of year. Normally a skeleton staff will remain to answer phone calls and assist customers. In smaller companies, people will choose their dates and take off accordingly.

Companies normally try to give off during the week of the Obon Festival. This festival is for visiting the family grave. Although it varies slightly by region, it normally occurs in August.

This idea of paid time off is done for a couple reasons. First, it`s mandatory by law. This is to prevent the overworking of employees. Second, it gives everyone some spare time off to take a vacation and relax during the summer heat. Overall, it`s a pretty nice perk.

Current Nuclear Situation

It`s been a while since I`ve written anything that relates to the 3.11 earthquake but I felt like now is a good time. I`m currently stuck inside with a mild case of bronchitis, so this will at least give me something to do.

What`s the current nuclear situation?

There is considerable and understandable resistance to further nuclear power in Japan. Despite this, the Oi reactors have  achieved criticality and are back online. The government is pushing for the restart of further reactors. The reason for this is that without these reactors, Japan would have a severe power shortage. This would lead to unexpected blackouts as Japan nears its hottest days of the year. With a large elderly population, this can`t be allowed to happen or there will be high losses due to heatstroke in homes.

What area has the most severe power shortage?

Right now, that is the Kansai area (Osaka, Kyoto, etc.) Thanks to the Oi reactors, the threat of widespread blackouts has decreased, but people are still being asked to decrease about 10-15% of energy consumption. Tokyo is relatively okay, but companies have become warmer to around 28 degrees Celsius. That`s about 82 degrees Fahrenheit. Plants are still shutting down to conserve energy on days. You`ll see signs everywhere in Japan for energy conservation (setsuden). The lights have been dimmed and certain gates may be closed.

What happened to TEPCO, the company that caused it all?

TEPCO has had most of its shares bought by the government. That means that it is now a government-controlled entity. Although the idea of letting TEPCO fail was tempting, and many people supported the idea, it was not seen as feasible. It could have seriously reduced power to many homes, so the government took over. Nevertheless, TEPCO is now embroiled an a controversial deal to raise rates on all of its consumers to fund reconstruction efforts and recoup losses. It tried to raise rates to 15% for consumers, and I want to say 30% for businesses, but the government said the increase in consumer rates was not permissible. TEPCO has been ordered to cut pay for all of its workers by 30%. It has been approved to raise rates on consumers by 8.47%. It will take effect this month I believe.

How are reconstruction efforts going? 

Reconstruction is going well. Businesses are reopening and allowing tourists to come in. There are still many people living in temporary housing though, and people in the worst hit areas may not be able to return home for another decade or more. People still think about the affected areas and donate money though the donations have slowed as time has passed.

What about the Olympics?

 The Japanese Olympic team has dedicated their performances to the disaster-hit region in an effort to show that Japan can rise from such a terrible tradegy back to the world stage. Around 10 percent of the athletes are from or related to the area through education, etc. I know of at least one story where an athlete was training in the area when the tsunami hit. People are very supportive of the Olympics so far.

Of a Luxury

I bought myself a luxury this past weekend: a bed. An honest-to-goodness bed. It's great to have a bed for more reasons than I can count, but what's so great about my bed is that it's here in my room where I can sleep on it.

It's nothing fancy mind you, but I love it purely for its simplicity. It looks like this by the way. One of the wonderful things about this bed frame is that there's a ton of storage. If you scroll down that page a bit and look at all the possible pictures, I think you'll be impressed. There are two large 32 cm tall drawers that pull out. These can hold all sorts of cool things, like clothing, or books.

On the opposite side are these removable planks from the top. I have to take off the mattress to get to it, but this is for that stuff you almost never use. Like suitcases. Or the large winter cover on the bed once I buy one.

I have to say the favorite thing about my bed though is that I get to sleep on a mattress. You don't realize how much of a luxury a mattress is until you don't have one. Granted, I borrowed a futon, so I wasn't sleeping directly on the floor. I was really grateful for that futon, but Japanese style and American style futons are completely different. American style futons are couches that can pull out to be beds. They're cheaper than a standard couch, but they offer (mainly-college students) versatility. A Japanese style futon is like a roll-out mattress. It looks like this. They're normally about an inch thick, and it's just enough so that you aren't sleeping on the floor.

Thus, the reason that I'm happy about this bed of mine. I even bought a mattress sheet and a pillow case. I don't have a normal sheet yet (those things are unnaturally hard to find). So, I'm just using my Miami blanket until I find something better. Once it gets better, I'll buy myself what is also called a futon, but is a comforter in English.

I'm going to go sleep in this great bed!

Of the Humble Rice Cooker

My humble rice cooker has already proved useful. If not for it, I really don't know what I'd do. Although it is possible and fairly simple to cook rice in a pot, it tastes better from a rice cooker. The sheer importance in Japan makes it necessary some money on your rice cooker. 

This value placed on rice is due to history. In the past, rice was a prized commodity. When the shogun, or traveling bands of samurai took over a town, they would claim the rice from the locals. The amount and quality of your rice was a sign of your wealth. During the famines, people would often eat only a couple grains of rice as a meal. Since food was so scarce, every grain was prized. This tradition continues today in the Japanese language. The word for cooked rice and meal is the same, gohan (御飯). In a rice bowl, every grain must be finished. No matter how difficult it is to get out. 

Today, there a few varieties of rice. The first is the standard unwashed rice. This rice is still covered in starch and needs to be washed before it can be eaten. The second type is pre-washed rice, or musenmai (無洗米). It's not necessary to wash this rice, but you can still do so to get rid of any remaining starch. Musenmai is normally slightly more expensive due to its convenience. There is also mochi. Mochi is a type of sticky, soft rice. It is smaller and is formed into the numerous sweets that are so popular here. Although brown rice exists here, white rice is more popular. It's believed that it tastes better, and to be honest, I think it's perceived as clean and appealing to the eye.

Rice is normally served plain in a small rice bowl, or chawan (茶碗). The chawan is valued for both its beauty and its simplicity. Mine is pictured below. Although you will at times see sesame seeds and some dry flavoring on top called furikake, it's not common to add sauce since this "dirties" the rice. It's considered fairly childish.

This brings us to the actual topic of this post, which is the rice cooker. Rice cookers have become popular in recent years as people have become busier. There is now a decent portion of the population that cannot cook rice in a pot. The rice cooker, or suihanki (炊飯器) has really perfected the rice-making process.

You note that mine is currently open since I'm letting it dry. Of course there are things to consider such as size, but there are a couple aspects to a rice cooker that are important. The first is the pot or nabe. The pot should be somewhat thick and made of metal. This prevents the rice from burning, or the pot from melting. If you want your rice to be moist and fluffy, this is an important aspect. The second thing that's important is this little piece on top. It's removable. The steam rises up through this lid. If you leave it in the cooker, the rubber will be moldy and the metal will rust. Japan is just an exceptionally humid country. Therefore, if you remove it and wash it every time, your rice cooker will last you decades.

The next part that I wanted to cover is the degree of customization. There's a standard setting, a quick-cook, a musenmai setting, options for brown rice and barley/wheat and mochi, as well as setting like okayu. Okayu is rice porridge, it's normally eaten when you feel ill. You can also set the rice cooker to start at a certain time or to delay it if you're ready to eat yet.

The simplest way to cook delicious rice is to wash it with water first. You need to get all the dirt and starch off the rice for it to be light and delicious. You should then add the water and let the rice sit in the pot for 20 minutes. This lets the rice absorb the water, so it will cook evenly and remain moist. Finally, you can start cooking the rice. When you're done, if you don't eat all of it, put it into a container or separate it into meal-size portions of plastic wrap. If you'll eat it within a day or two, it's fine to put in the fridge. Rice freezes well though, so you can put it into the freezer without any problem. Enjoy the rice!

Trains

One of the really convenient aspects of living in Tokyo is the convenience of transportation. You can get pretty much anywhere in this city with a train. Just to give you an idea, check out the Tokyo train map. Keep in mind that this is only the JR Railway network.

The JR railway network is by far the largest in Japan, but there are more than just JR trains here. There are still plenty of private lines that run to more rural areas. If I were to include those though, you wouldn't be able to see anything. I know on this map, it looks pretty difficult to understand, but you start to get the hang of it after a few times of riding the lines. If you don't know where you're going, you can use Yahoo to select the fastest and cheapest route.

The great thing about the stations here is that the subway and normal trains are connected. You don't have to go to a different place to catch the next line. This means that the stations go really deep because you're able to catch sometimes 7 or 8 different lines in the same station. The stations themselves are similar in some ways to airports. They're large and spread out, but they're well marked. And unlike the airport, you can catch another train within a couple minutes, and it won't affect your ticket price at all.

With that said, there's a mindset that there's always room for one more person on the train. This leads to serious overcrowding, with the trains running at 200 to 300 percent capacity at rush hours. The station attendants that "assist" people into trains to make sure bags and other things don't get caught are real, especially at the larger stations.

You can also catch multiple different speeds to your destination. If your station is considered a hub, then you can take semi-express or express trains. This means that you can skip all of the stations that you don't want to stop at. This can shave several minutes off of your travel time. I normally take the kakutei (or every stop) trains though, because my home is not a hub. All in all, it's a pretty convenient system. I can get to work in 8 minutes. And unlike driving, I can just sleep until my destination. That's convenient.

Talking about Expenses

I've gotten asked a lot in the past month "Isn't living in Japan expensive?" And I really think this comes with a grain of salt. Is it expensive in a major city? Yes. It's the largest metropolis in the world with 37 million people. That means that you're going to pay for housing. If you were to put a hundred dollar bill on the ground, the land here in Tokyo would cost more than the value of that bill. You also pay for the convenience of things. Taxes are high, around 20 percent of your income. However, this covers your health care, garbage disposal, etc. If these weren't high, the city wouldn't work, and that's a fact that you have to live with.

Fruit is absurdly expensive here. The cheapest I've ever seen a watermelon here was 980 yen, around 10 dollars. Japan just can't produce the variety or the quantity necessary to feed all of the people here. Since it's imported, it's like Hawaii. It's expensive.

So what isn't expensive? Obviously I wouldn't write this post just to say exactly what everyone knows already. In some ways, Japan is easier to live in than the States. You can go to a restaurant for lunch and eat as cheap as 400 yen. I'm not going to it's the best-tasting food in the world, but it is better than McDonald's. You'll be able to get a main dish, some miso soup and rice all for the price of a Big Mac here at the fast food joints. You can easily spend 2000 yen, or 20 bucks at lunch though if you're not careful. All in all, restaurants are cheaper.

What about basic needs? In some ways, these are also cheaper than the States. You can buy towels, laundry and cleaning supplies at hyaku-en or dollar stores. You can get a pillow for 1000 yen and umbrellas for a few hundred yen. You can buy refill packages of your normal soap and shampoo for a few dollars less than the normal containers.

So, what are you paying for? You'll pay for electronics like rice cookers, refrigerators and washing machines. You pay for housing and other conveniences. So, is living in Japan expensive? If you buy major things like this? Yes. If you're renting an apartment or building a house? Absolutely. But in your day to day life, you can eat well and take care of your needs cheaper than the States.

I recommend buying clothing in the States since it's marked up double or triple the cost overseas. But it you're buying normal goods, buy them here. It will be cheaper in the long run.

Of Recycling

I recently learned that people were having problems with posting to the blog. I deleted the word verification feature and tested it myself to see if I could post as an anonymous user. There shouldn't be any further problems, but if there are, shoot me an email and I'll sort the issue out with Blogger.

The recycling situation here is pretty intense. In some ways, there's a huge push toward materials conservation. When you try to throw away your trash, you're normally faced with several options: Burnable garbage (food, paper, etc.), non-burnable garbage, plastic, bottles, cans, glass, and bento boxes. Since there are handy pictures on the outside of the bins, even if you don't understand the language, it's pretty easy to follow the rules. However, the at-home situation is far more complex.

I explained that I have a pile of plastic trash sitting in my room because it's not plastic day in a previous post. Depending on where you live, you'll recycle different things on different days. You may have to follow different procedures as well. For me, Monday is materials day. This means I recycle plastics, glass, etc. on this day. The items have to sorted properly, and labels on plastic bottles (called pet bottles here) need to be torn off.

Tuesday is my food waste day. Basically, burnable garbage day. Diapers, sticks and such can be thrown in here too. Wednesday is magazine, newspaper, and cardboard boxes day. These are supposed to be stacked nicely and tied up with a string. I don't own any string, so mine get put behind all of the ones with strings so they don't fly away.

Thursday is non-burnable garbage day. Glass, umbrellas, electronic items like hair dryers, cups, hairspray, etc. all get included in this day. The handy pamphlet shows a picture of a nice vase. I don't know who throws away vases with wonderful flower prints on them, but I want their trash. You can dispose of lightbulbs on this day as well. Friday is another burnable garbage/food waste day. If you want to dispose of something large like a fridge, vacuum, tv, computer, etc. you have to call up somebody to take it away. The normal garbage truck won't take it.

Why is Japan so recycling oriented? We could argue that it's because it's an island country and trying to conserve its resources. I actually think that it's because it's so wasteful with its resources though. If you buy a package of cookies like oreos, each and every one will be wrapped individually in plastic. If you buy a fridge, people will always tell you to buy a new one because the previously owned ones smell bad. The idea of cleaning these or using baking soda to absorb the smell is out of the question. Therefore, everything is labeled clearly so that it can be recycled.

Foreign ID Part 2

Success! After arriving at the kuyakusho at 8:30, which is earlier than most things open here, I finally managed to get everything sorted out. It took a lot of paperwork and a far bit of explanation since they had never done the process after the system change.  All it took was some input into some computer system on their end and writing the new address on the back of my card. What a relief! Thankfully it's all taken care of now, and I can focus on more pressing matters.

Of the Foreigner ID

The foreigner ID (在留カード) is a peculiar thing. In some ways, it looks a lot like your driver's license. It serves as your official identification if you live in Japan for longer than 3 months, and it's necessary to get anything from a cell phone to an apartment contract. Despite its necessity, it's fairly difficult to obtain. I began the process as soon as I came to Japan, and I just received it after nearly a month of living here. When I was a student, I received it within a couple weeks. Since they changed the system a few days ago, no one really understands the correct process now. Not even the government.

I initially waited to get the card because  in the past you had to be at your permanent address before you were allowed to apply for it. My realtor kept asking for the paperwork even though I told him that I wasn't able to receive it. Finally, he told me that I wouldn't be able to apply for any apartment without the paperwork, so I went to the office and gave my temporary address. I learned that this was completely okay. When I asked about the changing card process, I was told not to worry and that everything would be handled. All I needed to do was take the paperwork to my new ward office after I moved, and they would handle the rest.

After the move, I contacted the Company and asked for permission to go early Monday morning before work so that I could handle the last of this government process. As I traveled to my local ward office (kuyakusho), I expected to miss only an hour of work max. I could easily make it up with some overtime that night. Little did I know what I was getting myself into.

I made it to the kuyakusho and asked the nice guard waiting outside for directions to the office. The map was something of a maze and wasn't to scale, so I figured it would be easier to just ask someone. When I got to the desk, I handed the gentleman my paperwork and explained that I recently moved. He informed me that I had to go to the prefectural office. Why? I asked, The system changes today. The local ward offices are supposed to issue the cards now. The man had no idea of the system change and told me just to go to the other office about an hour away by train. When I asked for directions, he told me he had no idea how to get there but he'd search for a map. The search took roughly 20 minutes. The map I received was more than a little frightening. It told me to get off on the wrong bus stop, so I walked about 25 minutes to the office after spending about half an hour by train and another 5 minutes on a bus. I walked on the sides of overpasses, past giant abandoned factories, and through neighborhoods that no woman should walk alone. But I did it all to receive this card.

I finally made it to that office and was told to fill out the same paperwork that I was currently carrying copies of because they needed originals. I figured this was just another example of the bureaucracy and quickly filled out my paperwork and headed upstairs. Little did I know that I know that I would wait in that line for 3 hours. I finally saw a person and she informed me that I needed to cancel my previous registration so that I could register again for this card. She wrote everything out for me on a piece of paper, told me to copy it to another piece of paper (signing under her handwriting wasn't allowed), and wait to be called again to receive my card. I called the Company, and told them that there was no way I was making it to work today. I'd work overtime the rest of the week to make up for it.

I waited another 4 hours. I only had a rice ball for breakfast; I never ate lunch. I rationed my little bottle of lemon tea like I was stranded on a desert island and it was the last ounce of liquid for a 1,000 miles. After 4 hours, I was called up again. "Write your name on this envelope please," I was told. "The computer system has regrettably gone down. We can't do anything else today." I'd been in this office for 7 hours. There was no way I was leaving without anything. Please, I need this paperwork for my company, I told her. Please is there anything you can do? Yoroshiku onegai itashimasu (Please do this for me. I'm putting myself in your care.) She talked to her boss. Her boss asked why I didn't take care of this at the local ward office. She talked to her boss's boss. No, there was nothing she could do. "Fill out the envelope please. We'll mail the card to you in a few weeks."


It's been another week. I finally received the card, but the address is wrong. I'll have to head to my local ward office in the morning. Here's hoping this time it works.

Yoroshiku onegai itashimasu.

New Apartment

I apologize for the delay in posting. I've moved into an apartment and been arranging everything but I just got internet connected the other day. I've finally taken some pictures of the apartment though, so I'll share them with you.

First is a picture of the room itself. I have a small table (inherited from Tai's family after them insisting that I take it since it hadn't been used in 20 years) and my little futon in the corner. I've actually ordered a bed via a website called Nitori. Think of it like an Ikea.

One of the things you have to consider when adding things in your room is that they have to be earthquake proof. The little hangar in my closet kept falling down, so I went with the couple large clothing stands option instead.

This is the entrance to my apartment. The kitchen is on the left and a door to the bathroom and laundry machine opens on the right. That little box is for post that is too sensitive to place downstairs. Why is there a bunch of trash sitting by my trash can, you ask? Today is not plastic day. There will be more on Japanese trash collection in a future post.

My kitchen. I have this really awesome fridge. It's a normal size fridge up top and a pull-out freezer on the bottom. A 30-year-old microwave that I also inherited. And my little rice cooker over in the corner. I bought the fridge, laundry machine, rice cooker, and hair dryer all for $300 dollars all because I made an internet contract at the same time. Talk about a deal!

My laundry machine. You can't really see too much of it since my towel and bath mat are sitting on it to dry, but it's pretty nice. To be honest, I'm not completely sure of all of its features yet. That will involve some time and a dictionary. About all I know is that it washes my clothes, that it semi-dries my clothes, and that it's a Chinese brand. My Swiffer-style wiper is on the side. Notice the door on the left opening to my toilet, and the door on the right opening to my bath. It's unsanitary to have them in the same place.

 My toilet. It's not fancy, but it does the trick. The water faucet on top turns on when you flush the toilet. The water is clean, so you can use it as a sink, thus the hand towel.

My bathroom. This entire room is able to get wet. You use the shower faucet in the main part of the bathroom. After you've showered, you can soak in the tub to relax.

And that's the apartment in a nutshell. I've gotta' go before I'm late to work!

Of Being a Maigo

My maigo life continues. Only I could have gotten lost going to work the second day. I somehow ended up about a 10 minute walk down the street past the office. How, I'm not quite sure. I was walking on the same side of the road as the Company, and mysteriously I just missed the entrance by 10 minutes before I realized I was in the wrong place. I ended up a a konbini (convenience store) called Lawson and asked the staff for directions to the building. The clerk asked me, "Do you have an address, customer?" "No," I responded. "I don't unfortunately...wait, I might. One minute." And I reached in for the only thing I had on me with my company address: My business card. I gave my own business card to the clerk for him to tell me where my company is. And he knew it was mine too since it's written in the alphabet for foreign loan words. He pulled out a map and tried to help me the best he could, but admitted he wasn't exactly sure where it was. So I hiked back up the street and decided to search for the building again. After walking 10 minutes back toward the station, I found the company. Then, at lunch I went with the other new employee back to Lawson to grab a quick bento (boxed lunch) before a meeting. To add to my embarrassment, I had the same clerk ring up my lunch. I think I won't be going back to Lawson for a while...

Meishi Culture

I also started my first day of work at the Company. I got my business cards (meishi) so I've become an effective member of society now (shakai-jin). Business cards are extremely important at any company, but particularly here in Japan. The business card is seen as an extension of yourself. Therefore, there are a few things to consider so as not to offend the card-holder. These can all be classified under business card exchange (meishi koukan).

The card will be turned to face the recipient so that it is aligned correctly to make it easily readable. You will never give/receive a meishi with your name upside-down from the recipient's point-of-view. In the case that both people are exchanging meishi at the same time, give your card with your left and accept the card with your right. The person going first depends on status. There is no guarantee that the senior individual will provide you with his card. You always want to confirm the name of the individual at the time since the kanji can be difficult.

The card should never be bent, folded, or dirtied in any way. This includes the common practice of flipping your card over and writing your contact information on it. This is a way of slighting the individual. If you soil the card, you are disrespecting the person himself. Writing on your own card shows that you do not respect yourself.

On the same note, do not put any meishi in a pocket without a business card holder (meishi-ire). This is also disrespectful since it could lead to the card's edges getting frayed. If you do not happen to have a meishi-ire, then wait until the person is well out of sight until you put it into a folder to protect it. Creating a little collection of meishi shows your business connections, so it needs to be kept clean for future reference.

Apartment App Accepted

My apartment application was approved today. The next step is the price negotiation. There are a few things that go into the negotiation of the apartment.

1. The condition of the apartment. Is it dirty? Has it been well taken care of? If you ask for the walls/floor to be replaced, you can't negotiate much on price. If you're fine with the previous floors, you have room to negotiate. Since I thought my apartment had been cleaned prior to my visit Saturday, I'm not going to ask for the walls/floor to be replaced.
2. The lock. Do you want the lock to be replaced? Apparently the landlord doesn't take up the keys from the previous tenant, so they have a copy of the key. If you want to be sure no one is entering your apartment that you don't know about, it's best to get the lock replaced. Unfortunately, this is quite the fee (around 1万５千円 or 105 dollars).
3. You can also try to negotiate just to lower the rent, but this is difficult without any sort of proof. I'm expecting to lower my rent by only 10-30 dollars, but I'll take anything I can get.

If all goes well, I'll move in this Saturday! That leaves me with a lot of shopping to do before the start of the next work week.

Apartment Found

I finally found an apartment yesterday. I submitted my application, proof of foreigner card registration, a copy of my company contract to prove I have a job with an adequate salary, as well as my guarantor's documents. The landlord will call mine and my guarantor's companies to confirm our positions and make a decision. If he approves the application, we can discuss the cleaning, financials, move in date. If all goes well, it should take about a week, and I might be able to move in next weekend. I need to arrange everything with the internet, electricity, water, and gas companies as well. That should be easier though. I don't think they're as strict as the apartment landlord.

If approved, I'll be living in Yutenji. I'm only 2 minutes from the station, and I'm surrounded by other small apartments and small family homes. Directly next to the station is a wealth of restaurants: curry, Italian, ramen, tonkatsu just to name a few.There's also lots of tiny shops with everything from sweets and fresh-baked bread to medicine and convenience stores. There are some pachinko (arcade gaming) parlors, but these are much safer alternatives to the bars that are seen in the rest of Tokyo. Overall, the area is very safe and convenient, and I'm looking forward to living there. I'll provide pictures if I get approved and once I furnish the apartment a bit.

Within the next few weeks, I'm hoping to get a bank account and a cell phone. At the moment, I'm carrying around exorbitant amounts of cash on me and using Tai's grandmother's cell phone. For those of you who have smart phones, you are free to contact me using Kakaotalk. It's a really great program that lets you text for free (inter-)nationally as long as you have at least 3G or wi-fi. It works with your normal contact book. You can send video, pictures, and normal texts. You can also message to groups. The app is free to download.

A quick book shout-out. I had given the book to Tai a few years ago for his birthday, but I had never read it myself. I finally had some free time the other day and finished it in a couple sittings. It's called Delivering Happiness, and it's written by Zappos CEO Tony Hseih. It was extremely inspirational and it chronicles the beginning of Zappos to its current motto of delivering happiness to everyone that the company and its employees meet with. It's quite short, and I really recommend it.

Tomorrow is officially the first day of work at the Company. I'm off to bed to get some sleep.

Apartment Round-Up

I'm planning to make an apartment decision tomorrow. The realtor worked hard to find me a couple other apartments to compare with, so I will look and make a decision afterwards. Even after I make a decision, it will take approximately a week to complete all of the necessary paperwork to move in. I've already offered to start paying rent to the family here, but they insist that I take my time and make a proper decision. I truly am blessed to have found such wonderful people no matter where I go in the world.

I visited the one apartment I'm interested in again today. I'm thinking I'll take the loft apartment if I don't see something I like better tomorrow. I'd like the space, and I might just put a little roll-out futon up there to sleep, leaving the main room for clothing and a table. I discovered that both apartments have a small balcony today, which is great. I can dry clothes!

I also went to the Company today to try to find the way there and to properly introduce myself. I went with Tai's mother, because she's already learned I have no sense of direction. Those who know me here have changed my surname to Maigo (meaning a lost/stray child). Not surprisingly, even with his mother we got hopelessly lost and asked the local fire station and a dry-cleaning shop for directions. The Company is located in Ebisu, which is a very nice business district located in Shibuya, Tokyo. The area has tons of restaurants, some famous. It is popular for Yebisu (pronounced Ebisu) Garden, which is a popular drinking area. Sapporo's headquarters are located here. Before anyone gets the idea I'm focused on alcohol here, I want to mention that this is the first thing people comment about when I work in Ebisu. It truly is a nice area though, and it has lots of fun little shops. I look forward to looking through them whenever I'm not in work.

After having been here already for study abroad, there is very little about Japan that surprises me now. I normally just accept everything I see. I don't always understand it, but I accept it. Today, I had a rare "only-in-Japan" moment. I was watching a informational show, where a popular actor goes around and tries lots of food from famous local shops and he went into a shop that specializes in sushi. Not just any sushi though. It's understandable that you want to have the freshest fish possible, so special shops will let you choose your fish, and then make your meal appropriately. In this episode, the actor chose squid (ika). As the chef plunged his hand into the tank to catch the squid barehanded, a familiar song began playing. I've never thought of the song "Dude Looks Like a Lady" applying to catching squid Mr. Miyagi-style, but it was oddly catchy.

I'm off to go eat some eel (unagi) now.

Foreigner Registration

I finally applied for my foreigner identification card today. I still do not have an apartment, but since every landlord is currently demanding it, I decided to wing it and use my current temporary address. I'll have to change it in a week when I move into an apartment, which seems rather redundant, but isn't all bureaucracy?

The Company talked with the realtor to try to sort things out, but it seemed like the only way was to apply for my identification card. I still won't receive the actual card for a month, but the 20 minutes it took me to get a special paper saying that I've applied is apparently sufficient.

Before anyone actually asks the question, I'll answer it now. The reason I didn't do this earlier is because the system is in flux. A few weeks ago when I asked the Japanese consulate what do I do, they told me I need a permanent address first. This was true even when I was in Kyoto. When I was told that I needed a foreigner ID, I told the realtor that the government instructed me that I needed an address first. This is due to the fact that the government office you apply to depends on your address. The system is not set to change until July 5. However, apparently some things have changed and I could go apply with a temporary address. As far as the government knows, I'm home-staying here. If that's what it takes to get the paper, then so be it. They know I'm moving soon.

The realtor is still being difficult about finding me an apartment though, so I've offered a compromise. I'd still like him to look for other apartments since I now have the paper, but if he absolutely can't find anything, I'm willing to sign with the small apartment I'm interested in. I've asked for the rent to be lowered slightly.

The decision on loft or no loft with that apartment is still up in the air. I receive different opinions from the same people every day. The reasoning is this:

1. The loft provides space for storage, hanging laundry, etc. Since the apartment is only around 20 square feet, this is a pretty big deal to have another few feet of storage. The apartment is still just as light with the loft.
2. The non-loft apartment doesn't have an inconvenient ladder sitting directly in front of the door of my 15 foot room. That's a pretty big deal. It also has a small (2 foot balcony) that I can hang clothes on. The non-loft apartment is also cheaper, like 50 bucks a month cheaper.
3. The question is if I want to increase my apartment basically by a third by spending another 50 bucks a month of not. Regardless of everyone's opinions on the matter, I will make this decision myself since I am the one who is possibly living there.

I have the odd feeling that I'll be told that there won't be another option, since that's what I've heard for the past couple days. This will ultimately be a fairly important decision for me.

Apparently it's pretty easy to break your apartment contract, but then I'll have to deal with that whole 4-month rent for the first month of rent thing again. I suppose we'll see how things go. For now, I have that elusive piece of paper, and that's a step in the right direction.

The Apartment Search - Cont.

I have not yet decided on an apartment due to a number of reasons. The first of which is that I have had landlords refuse to let me sign because I do not yet have the Japanese equivalent of a green card. This is regardless of the fact that I require a permanent address in order to apply for the foreigner identification card (gaikokujin-tourokusho). This has severely limited the number of apartments that I am able to look at.

A majority of foreigners live in West-Shinjuku in Tokyo. Oftentimes, these landlords do not require one to have a foreigner ID, but the area is not as safe. In the case of the apartments that will let me rent from them, I have to prove that I am a valid member of society. Owners are concerned that foreigners will hold large parties in the apartments and will disturb other residents. These residents would then move out. The other concern is that the company is not valid and the person is in Japan illegally.

In order to prove my validity, I require a couple things. The first is a guarantor. This person is a native Japanese who makes over a set income level. This is the same as the United States. If you fail to pay, this person will assume responsibility. In my case, I will not ask this of my guarantor. The second is proof that I hold a position in a company. I already have the first and my company is trying to take care of the second on my behalf.

I am currently trying to determine if the apartment that I am interested in is price negotiable. I have given the realtor (fudousanya) a deadline of Friday (tomorrow), to find me another place or I will sign with the interested place. Even if I sign a contract immediately though, I likely wouldn't be able to move in for a few more days. I need electricity, water, gas, and internet. The latter seems unimportant until you consider I currently don't have a phone, and internet is the only way for me to figure out the train schedules and maps around the city.

Of other things I've figured out, washing machines are surprisingly expensive. I expected a bed to be expensive though. I suppose I may sleep on a futon and roll it up for a while until I get out somewhere to buy a bed.

I'm off to go be moderately productive.

The Apartment Search - Day 1

I started visiting apartments yesterday with Tai, his parents, and the fudousanya (realtor). We ended up looking at 4 places. Overall, I think the experience was very educational. I was able to understand what I wanted in an apartment and to clarify some of my needs.

The first apartment I looked at was nice, but it was directly above a train. It was relatively quiet actually, but there was no closet for storage space. I believe the train would have become irritating over time. The second and third apartments were in the same building, except the third one had a loft. I actually really liked the second apartment. It was clean and the building was only a few years old. It also had a nice closet and bathroom. The space was small though; a bed would have taken up 3/4 of the room. The third apartment was the same size, but the ladder to the loft came down into the middle of the room. Although the loft was large and good for storage, it seemed extremely dangerous in the event of an earthquake. It also made the room about 10 degrees warmer.

The final apartment was a lesson in everything that I didn't want in an apartment. Although it was large,  it seemed like an apartment made for men working construction jobs. The building was old and smelled of mold. It seemed like it was an old concrete barracks that was converted into a residential building. It was questionable whether the stove worked. The door to the bathroom was like a temporary wooden door. No lock with a little metal handle similar to an outhouse. The laundry machine was right next to the toilet. If I'm washing laundry, I do not want it to smell like whatever I have relieved myself of recently. Perhaps the worst part was that the entire building was surrounded by scaffolding that the owner had put up for people to hang their laundry. It made the place look like a construction site and it was extremely depressing.

After the first day, these are the things that I have decided are important to me:

1. Located in a safe family-oriented neighborhood with auto-lock doors. When everyone gets out of work, I do not want to go home, to find all of the businesses closed and be walking on an empty street. Nor do I want to live in a nightlife-oriented area. It's dangerous. 
2. Stove with preferably 2 burners. I like to have a couple burners for cooking.
3. Closet space is invaluable in a place as small as Japan.
4. Having a balcony where I can dry my clothes so that they do not hang over the abyss is nice.
5. Close to work and Tai's family here in Setagaya. I will travel frequently to both.

I'll continue my search.

A Personal Seal

I went to the hanko-ya, seal shop, yesterday. I chose the size for my hanko, the type of material it's made from, and the font and case style. I received it today, and I have to say it looks lovely. I can't reveal what the stamp itself looks like for security purposes, but here's a picture of it resting in its case. (I turned the picture sideways once already, but it seems determined to be upright.)

A hanko is pretty important here in Japan. It takes the place of your signature on official documents. Without one, you can't open a bank account or conduct other official business. Once you get a hanko, you're supposed to register it with the government. However, since I don't have an apartment yet, I can't register mine.

Companies are very serious about your hanko. It is someone's job in the company to make sure of the accuracy of the seal. Since each one is slightly different, the company will take out a ruler and measure the stamp made by the seal. If anything is slightly different (i.e. the width of the border, the style of the font), then the company will reject the seal and demand that you bring the correct one. Until the correct seal is brought, they will not do business with you.

On the surface, this seems more than a little unproductive. If you have multiple seals, you have to remember which one you used. This could delay your business for a few days. If you lose the hanko, then no matter how hard you try, you will not be able to complete your business. However, since this is for security purposes, it presents a liability to the company. For this reason, you have to protect your hanko and make sure to never lose it. Otherwise, it presents a huge barrier.

The style of your hanko represents your status. The smaller size is common now. However, if you held a high position, such as the CEO of a company, or if you were a long-established business, you may have a large hanko. This represents pride but can convey arrogance.

In other news, it looks like I'll start looking at apartments Saturday. Tai and his family have been in contact with the realtor (fudousanya) for me. I'll update more in a couple days.