Beer on the mountain

Japan has wonderfully adopted the concept of beer garden. This all-you-can-drink summertime event, which has somehow escaped widescale abuse thus far, is a great way to spend a humid Saturday afternoon. Usually found on the rooves of department stores (in Tokyo anyway), these are very popular and you can expect to line up for up to a few hours if you haven't reserved or arrived early. Typical price is ¥3000 to ¥6000, depending on where you go.

I've been once this year, last Saturday. Seeing as how beer gardens close at the end of September, I wanted to make sure my one visit was something special, so I packed my Kuriko up and headed over to Mount Takao.

Admission was ¥3300 for me, ¥3000 for Kuri, and included unlimited food and drink for two hours (and ¥500 for every half hour thereafter). Good deal if you ask me. However, there's a catch:

Now for us this line moved a bit quicker than what it looks like. We made it in within 30 minutes of opening time. Sadly, many others did not.

Once in, we parked ourselves at the edge of the balcony and gave 'er. All-you-can-drink/eat isn't the drunken gong show that it would be if you tried this in Canada. I think I saw the party beside us get up twice for refills. This is saying a lot, given that you can get Heineken on tap. Don't get me wrong; it was loud and roudy, but not so much that it stopped people from bringing their kids there.

And check out this nifty little invention:

The rain really added to the experience. Every look at a forested mountain in the clouds and wonder what it's like up there? It's wet. And awesome. I sat there eating raw octopus and watching the fog roll in and out. Good feeling for someone whose Vancouver upbringing conditioned him to like rain more than sun.

You can view the entire album here. Can't wait until next year.

Adventures in dentist visits

[Edit, 2011-09-20: Sorry, I forgot to publish this post last week. I wrote the thing but it didn't go online until now.]

It's no little-known fact about me that my jaw doesn't shut properly. Or maybe you didn't know that. Regardless, this has been an irritation of mine for at least the better part of the last decade... up until this week when I finally did the right thing and had my teeth ground down to a more bite-friendly size.

There are characteristics of Tokyo dentists that are perfectly in line with the eccentricities of the rest of this city. I want to say that I saw them coming but I really didn't. Most of what I witness was quite a pleasant surprise.

Since arriving here I've been to two dentists: one for a cleaning and the other for the aforementioned grind work. The first thing to say is that offices look nothing like those back home. They're more like day spas. The first guy I went to had an office with huge windows overlooking Roppongi Hills; the second featured soothing wallpaper music, real artwork, and a little water fountain. Made me feel quite important.

Don't ever pay for an x-ray again, especially a two-dimensional one. I got my head strapped into a contraption normally used to immobilise Hannibal Lecter while laser beams triangulated the coordinates of my teeth. Then a two-pronged x-ray probe circled my head, gathering every dirty little detail of my mouth. All this time For Elise by Beethoven was playing. A three-dimensional model of my teeth was ready within five minutes. I kid you not.

The actual treatment was dandy. The quality of a dentist differs from one person's opinion to another's. What I like is that in both instances, I had explained to me exactly what was happening and, more importantly, how much it would cost. This actually differs greatly from most other aspects of professional services in Japan, which are typically full of hidden costs.

Speaking of cost, none of this costs much as it is covered by public health insurance. Yes, that's right: I said public insurance (not extended). Cleaning: ¥1600; bite adjustment: ¥5000.

So I guess the lesson of this week is thumbs up for Japanese dentistry.

Awaodori

Okay, everyone here knows Obon, right? Not really? Well learn it. Anyway, there's a festival at the end of Obon called "Awaodori". As far as I can tell it only happens in two places: Tokushima and Koenji. Fortunately for me, the latter location is an area of Tokyo less than 30 minutes from my doorstep.

Kuri had her way in bringing me to the festival (right after having her way in buying a smartphone, by the way). I'm glad she did because it was pretty awesome. (The smartphone is also awesome.) At the heart of it, the festival is a series of short, intense dance parades performed by almost 200 groups, totalling about 12,000 dancers, across 20 routes. Dancers are divided into men, women, and kids, and are accompanied by live music, including taiko drums, flutes, stringed instuments.

The beautiful thing about Awaodori is how chaotic it is. According to Wikipedia, the dance evolved from people being drunk (hence it's association with foolishness). I'm pretty sure this was the inspiration for the parade scene in Paparika, a movie which was in turn the inspiration for the movie Inception. It's coordinated but the sparatic movements and flailing body gestures stay true to the alcohol-induced origins. The music is equally as in-your-face, with old salarimen venting years of frustration from the office on tiny little clanging symbols.

It is, in other words, in every sense the epitome of a gong show. Check it out Youtube. See also the pictures I took from my mobile phone.

Up and atom!

I didn't really think many people read this blog until I went back to Canada and everyone started asking me why there have been no updates. Now I feel kind of bad. So here we go, starting up the blog again. Let's hope I remember to keep it up this time.

First off, like I mentioned on Facebook, it was really great seeing everyone! My trip to Vancouver, despite being incredibly short, was nothing short of incredible (just like Kuriko - snap!). Seeing old friends, doing brunch, attending home group... good stuff.

Also, it was all the differences from Tokyo that made it good, like humidity being under 90% and not travelling around in a sardine can. And the inconvenience of not being able to speak Cantonese in a restaurant was a welcome change from not being able to speak Japanese.

Now I'm back in Tokyo and back into the routine of work. Some big changes are coming up. Up until this point, the only thing I've been doing is trying to get candidates to come in, then hope they will like the jobs we are working on. Starting next week I'm actually going to start working clients. One issue: we're so established in pharmaceuticals as a company that it will be very difficult to go in as a generalist. I'll have to specialise right from the start.

Having been an English teacher taught me that specialising from the start can be a good thing and having worked in travel insurance taught me that being a big fish in a small pond isn't so bad. In pharmaceuticals, it could go either way. Around here, people like working at prestigious companies/jobs, and niches aren't always prestigious. I've got to choose carefully or I could waste a lot of time. More on this as it develops.

By the way, to anyone considering seeing Tree of Life: don't. For Kuri and I this was the first time we've been to a theatre in a long time and it was like watching a screensaver.

暑い!

That character in the post title means "hot". It's freaking hot here! Tokyo summers are nortorious for being hot, muggy, and uncomfortable, and this year is apparently exceptional.

At breakfast today I asked Kurumi (Kuri's sister), "去年と今年は同じ暑いですか？" (which means, "Last year and this year are together same hot?"). It took her a few seconds, but she replied, "もっともっと暑い！" (which means "much, much more!").

So what's a summer like here? I suppose it's just a really intense version of any other day. For example, take the typical rush hour train commute and imagine that everyone who is in that train just stepped out of a sauna. It's not uncommon to be covered in someone else's sweat by the time you step off. Add to this the fact that Tokyo is still saving energy due to the Fukushima power plant incident. Kuriko's office shuts down the air conditioning after 5:00pm and on weekends (in fact, she's there right now and it's Saturday!).

The weekends are pretty good, though. If you can take the heat, summer is actually a pretty lively time to visit Tokyo. There are a lot of events, especially around Obon. People take advantage of open spaces like parks and you can sometimes catch markets or watch performances. If my wife wasn't at the office I would probably have taken her to the horse racing track. Come to think of it, we've got a nice breeze today. Makes me think why I'm blogging on a Saturday morning.

Alright, I'm out of here...

Sigh...

I haven't posted in a long, long while. I was considering for a while whether to keep this blog active or not. But occasionally something so stupid, so insane happens that I have to respond to it.

The Stanley Cup riot (which now has its own Wikipedia article) caused me no shortage of grief at work. The fiasco had hit the news by early afternoon Japan time. I spent the rest of that day and the first half of the next listening to cracks about Canada and references to the South Park movie - even from other Canadians (there are four of us on my floor).

Now I realise that the slander directed at me is nothing compared to the scope of the riot, but think of it this way: I work with mostly Australians, Japanese, and a few other nationalities. None of them pay any particular attention to Canada, much less to hockey; however, in less than the span of one day everyone knew what happened and had given some face-on-palm reaction. So yeah, this is how bad Vancouver looks. I wonder how much flak I'm getting at church tomorrow...

In other news, work is taking off. Sort of. It's still a grind and will continue to be, but the people I'm meeting these days are very good candidates, some of whom recognise the benefit of what I'm offering them. The general feeling is that a breakthrough is just around the corner.

Oh yeah, and I'm coming to Vancouver in August! Probably most people know this already. I'll be there from the 5th to the 12th.

My Gifu trip

Finally got Blogger to work again. Something wrong with the post editor.

Golden Week was a bit of a mix. The first thing to understand is that I spent a good deal of it on painkillers. I had gone to the gym on Friday and done something very stupid. Won't go into details of what I did, but it resulted in upper back pains and a massive headache. At first I thought it was related to an already existing pinched nerve in the other end of my back but it wasn't. It was so intense I couldn't swollow properly.

After pumping myself full of chems I actually started to enjoy the time off. Didn't end up seeing that art show (it was a too otaku for me). The highlight of last week was my trip to Takayama and Shirokawa in the Gifu prefecture. I've got some pictures up on the travel map (the link's actually above the map, not on it).

If you like old, pre-industrial style towns, I highly recommend Shirokawa. A few hours there is fine, or if you're really into this kind of thing you can stay over one night. It's a UNESCO World Heritage Site which, unlike many other old-style towns, does a good job at avoiding cheese. This is due to the fact that the town is still used for its original purpose by the locals: rice farming. This isn't to say that there is a lot of farming going on or that it isn't there at least in part for show, but the place does have an authentic feel to it. The thatched-roof houses (which are used to define the town's status with UNESCO) are nifty, being massive, utilitarian, and highly flamable. Almost every structure in the village have thatched rooves, including some storage sheds. Kuri learned a valuable wife skill while we were there: how to make soba from scratch. I will be expecting much from her in the future.

Takayama is also pretty cool. The most noteworthy part of the city is a stretch of the Old Town, which features houses and stores from 400+ years ago. Now this part is a true tourist trap. From frozen pineapple snacks to rickshaw tours, there is no store too crowded, no souvineer to cheesy, no price too inflated to be withheld. Tourists flow through the streets like the water in the open ditches to each side it (one of which Kuriko fell into, by the way). It was actually kind of cool and I highly recommend it. Note that one sake store features a self-serve sampling counter.

I think the hotel was the other highlight. I had never been to a Japanese-style hotel before. You've got to take off your shoes at the lobby and most people walk around in socks or bare feet. Most of the flooring is tatami mat and you sleep on the ground on a large futon (which is great for your back, especially for those of us who had neck problems at the time). Onsen is located on the roof, where you have a beautiful viewof the city (and the city has a beautiful view of you - naked). Dinner is provided with the room, and so is breakfast. Most of the time, this would imply a very bad meal you wouldn't even want to show up for. Not so at this place. Five course dinner, everything made in the local style. Would probably cost ¥3000 per person in Tokyo. If you want to make yourself jealous of me, I took a few pictures of the food.

But alas, it's back to work now. Today wasn't so bad for a first day back but I was dragging significantly. *Yawn* Got to get up early because I slacked on my phone calls today.

Golden Week!

Wee! Golden Week!

The longest stretch of holiday in Japan has just commenced. Golden Week, this year, starts today and runs until May 8 (weekends inclusive), giving us 10 days off work. Kuri and I booked a trip to Takayama and Shirakawa next week. These two cities are pretty close to each other (think Vancouver to Langley) and are usually visited in one go.

This trip was a good deal, but not as great a deal as it could have been if we did a true Japanese style tour (or as I have dubbed them, "hampster tours"). By this, I mean the kind of tour you see in the West where several dozen people go around in a bus, get off every once in a while, line up like a firing squad to take some pictures, and go on their way. These, as you should expect from something that requires no effort on behalf of the tour operator, are cheap. I'm pretty sure the example here is in Shirakawa. These people likely bussed 2 hours from Takayama and will bus back 2 hours only to spend 70 minutes there. That was the deal we saw today.

We almost gave this serious consideration.

Okay, who here would recognise the name "Amano Yoshitaka"? Only me? Okay... he's an artist, known mostly for his contributions to the earlier Final Fantasy games as lead artist and character designer. He sort of was to the Final Fantasy series as Conan O'Brien was to The Simpsons: everything he was involved in was fresh, innovative, beautiful; after he left the series jumped the shark (at least in terms of character design). Anyway, he's going to be present at an art show featuring his work. I'm debating whether or not to go. While I want to pay homage to the man himself, I'm not particularly interested in strolling around a gallery with just his artwork. In context, Amano's art is great, but it is a bit weird and I can't say I enjoy all of it. Anyway, if anyone out there is interested in this sort of thing, check the show out at http://www.artvivant.net/artists/amano.

A grim milestone

Sorry for the delay in update. I've been pulling pretty late work days as of late.

Well that's it: effective today my 20's are over. Many people I know are saddened when they turn 30, while people already a few years into their 30's seem more placid about their predicament now that some time has passed. As for me, I'm just overcome by a sense of urgency to make something happen. Yes, I know: some people are laughing at me now. Others are probably scratching their heads. (I've got to remember to come back to this thought a year from now...)

Tomorrow I've got my first ever business lunch. It's with a senior-ish level woman who I called up last week. I'm really not too sure how these things are supposed to work. You're eating lunch with someone, but you're supposed to also interview that person at the same time. Anyone who knows me knows at least two things: I don't talk when I eating and I don't multitask between two unrelated activities. (Wife, please leave a comment confirming this is true.) I'm sure I can make a good impression on my candidate but the true battle will be within.

I'll write more at the weekend. Right now the old man's bones hurt and he has to lie down.

Hanami

Look who I met today! Recognise him? It's the guy from the Smile Party! There's a video of him in my last post.

It's sakura season in Tokyo right now. For those of you who don't know, Hanami is a time of year - lasting from a few days to a week - where the cherry blossoms bloom and people take some time to view the them. It doesn't sound like anything to get excited about until you actually do it. Celebrations range from taking a casual stroll under the trees to going there with your company and drinking. It's the reason you always see pink in Japanese paintings. It's the reason Tokyo residents put up with hay fever for two months solid.

I enjoyed this short show of flowers this week, before wind and rain blew most of the pedals off the branches. Most of this was right outside my office, which is located in one of the best viewing places in Tokyo (aside from the parks, of course). I took a lot of pictures and put a permanent link to the album on the travel map.

 

This year's Hanami is overshadowed by the earthquake. Western news has finally stopped covering this, but make no mistake: it's still going on. In a situation like this, where a celebration occurs under the worst of circumstances, one of two things happens: you cancel the celebration out of decency or you do it anyway for morale. Most venues chose the latter, except for the most popular one in the city, Ueno, which closed its park to any Hanami-related activities. Not that I'm one to criticise this decision, but I think the morale boost would have worked wonders.

Note that I made some changes to my Engrish page - not that anyone looks at that. I broke the old one, so the old link won't work any longer. Also, I added one more item to Quake Resources.

Gosh, work is just grinding along. I figured out that my industry, pharmaceuticals, is the most lucrative but is also the most saturated. Every recruiting company out there has their hands in it. It seems to me that people in other industries at my work have an easier time booking in candidates as the people they are calling don't have recruiters call them up every day. That being said, my company is at quite an advantage due to the information it has collected over the years. Hardly any ground on which I could complain.

Ringing in the (fiscal) new year

Happy fiscal new year, Japan! April 1st is really when things kick off here. People start new jobs, enter school, finalise mergers and acquisitions, and engage in all sorts of fun business stuff.

I was sitting in a courtyard having lunch the other day when a column of young adults (early twenties - I later found out they were all exactly 22) strode past me. I wish I took a picture. They were all dressed exactly the same and were grouped by gender (i.e. the boys and girls walked separately). Couldn't really figure it out until I realised that they were attending an entrance ceremony for work. Large companies, like the one my wife works for, will have these mass ceremonies to welcome in their new recruits. They all join at the same time (right after university is done) at the same age (22) and wear the same attire, as dictated by their new company. It might seem excessive, but it's a huge source of pride for people who have made it as they have likely been preparing since their early teens to specifically enter their company. Especially in this economy where huge numbers of university grads are out of work, it's an enourmous accomplishment.

Schools do this too. Similar to companies, high schools and universities are often quite competitive to get into. Students do hours of cram school and studying every day to ensure that they make it. And when you're in, it's party time:

(Okay, the above pictures are probably quite old and are a more extreme example, but I think they get the point across.)

This fiscal year we are treated to a special event: a Tokyo gubernatorial election. I don't vote here so the most I can do is sit back and enjoy the campaign speeches. This might not seem like a lot, but for someone with as many Canada-induced grievances about democratic process as I have, it's quite refreshing to take a look at how Japan goes about this process.

I'll admit, most of what I've seen by way of campaign speeches here resembles someone being forced to speak to a camera while held at gunpoint by hostage takers. It looks a bit slapped together and few people try to hide the fact that they're reading off teleprompters. At least when I'm watching something with such low production value I know that thousands of dollars did not go into writing some flattering speech to sway the masses. The Japanese approach may be barebones, but no one can accuse it of being style over substance. That isn't to say that some people don't put a little flare into their pitch, though...

Gosh, 2007 was a great year... Unfortunately, Mr. Matayoshi hasn't run for 2011. Here's another fellow I wish I got to see this year:

Not everyone's this intense. Some politicians do the best they can to ensure a joyful election experience, like this fellow, who actually did run for 2011:

And finally there's this dude:

Mr. Matsushita ran for Nagasaki in 2010 and got 3000 votes.

Happy New Year, everyone!

Big society

I'm sure anyone following the situation here has their own source of news. Mine come from a lot from articles my coworkers share with me and information my wife brings home from work. If she's feeling patient enough, Kuri will sometimes translate the news for me off TV. I put up a new page which has some resources I think are accurate enough to share.

I pointed out in an earlier post how orderly the response to the earthquake seems to me. Two weeks later, the most amazing thing to me remains to be how people here are handling the situation. Most interesting is the fact that a lot of action is taking place completely independantly of government involvement. There's an article written by a fellow who I think described this well:

Japan’s schools and communities, its civil society, without exception played their own role to help with the disaster relief. Neither receiving nor needing executive orders, they seemed to have a natural cohesion, throwing themselves into the relief effort in an instinctively orderly fashion. Free public phones, free shelter materials, free food supply, the orderly and smooth flow of public transport. All of this was mostly unsolicited and occurred in a low-key fashion.

- Xiao Shu, Japan’s big society: a Chinese perspective on the earthquake

Original article in Chinese on iFeng.com

I do have a bit of uncertainty (not worry, just uncertainty) about the Japanese government. We all remember Wen Jiabao lightning fast dash to the Sichuan earthquake site. It's arguable whether this was propoganda or if his expertise in geomechanics made him an appropriate overseer. Regardless, it was something. If you were to ask me what role the Japanese government has in all this I honestly couldn't say. I'll admit, though, that as a foreigner this isn't something I could likely wrap my head around even if I had all the information. As a Canadian, there's an expectation I have that government action should be highly visible, even propogated. That might not apply in Japan. Regarding how well Japan's government is handling things, we'll just have wait and find out in hindsight.

Work is starting to pick up. I'm actually meeting with some success in my appointment booking. There are five or six people I'm going to meet with next week and I'm quite excited about this. The strangest thing is that I was known to deal quite harshly with telemarketers at my last job. While I'm not exactly selling anything, I am doing much of the same thing I hated before: cold calling. I don't like it much more now, but here I am doing it and I'm getting results. There's no conclusion I'm drawing here and you can take it any way you want. Just thought I'd point out the irony.

Flight of the gaijin

Before anyone points it out, I am aware of the irradiated water situation. The official opinion is that the water is no longer safe for pregnant women and babies. I'm really not too sure what to make of this. So the water is bad for them but okay for me? I might just stop bathing and brushing my teeth for a few days to see how this pans out.

Foreigners have fled Tokyo in masses. One thing I thought I would never see is a Roppongi without foreigners. Today and yesterday there were hardly any! The place almost looked... Japanese. This has had an impact on the teaching industry, which for the first time since 2007 is probably looking to hire. (The market since that time has been saturated with teachers, making it difficult to find work in that industry.) If anyone wants in, now (okay, not right now... soon) is the time.

When someone who is staying in Japan on a visa leaves and wants to come back, he has to get a re-entry permit, regardless of visa type. This can only be obtained at one office in Tokyo. My coworker went there the other day. There was a 5km line-up. One poor fellow had been waiting there for six hours and hadn't even entered the building yet. This week it's supposed to be less crazy, but still, that's what things are like now.

I don't think it's a bad decision to leave Tokyo. I'm not doing it myself, but I can't say anything negative about the people who have chosen to leave. Even my pastor's wife took the kids and headed over to Okinawa. Sound decision if you have children. For me, I simply just don't see any danger that exists outside the exaggerations of foreign media. Rest assured, though, I am monitoring the situation as closely as I can.

And back to normal?

Yesterday at work my boss pointed out that next week it's back to business as usual. He's correct in that at some point people have to at least start behaving as if things are normal. Today certainly seemed like that around Tokyo. People are still conserving electricity and it's still difficult to buy certain items but the mood around the city resembled that of any Saturday. Even television is sort of getting back to normal. I caught a few scenes from a travel documentary this morning.

I know this kind of behaviour is necessary and expected, but I hope that people don't start forgetting about the Tohoku region (the part that got hit by the tsunami). Not that anyone here can do much about the situation. It just seems a bit off carrying on as normal when there's a huge crisis not so far away.

Some feedback I've been getting from people seems to revolve around mixed messages from the media regarding potential nuclear disaster. Okay, I've got to say something about this...

Foreign news coverage of the Fukushima power plant does little good around here besides providing a punch line. Even my non-Japanese co-workers pass on it. Foreign reporters seem to have no idea what's going on a seem even less to care. As long as their story is freaky, it sells. Japanese media seems to be more on top of things and it doesn't throw in all the extra fluff to scare you into being impressed with them.

I know I'm missing something in the translation, but when I watch Japanese news I find it bland and unpersuasive. Seems more like a reciting of facts than a presentation. This is not a bad thing. When I was teaching essay writing in ESL, I found it very hard to get my students to make a point and stucture a convincing argument to support that point. Now, looking at foreign news and Japanese news, I'm beginning to see the advantages of a non-persuasive presentation style: it protects against hype.

Given all this, what Japanese news has to say isn't all that positive (although according to Kuriko, whose work lends her insight into this crisis, you should pay attention to what happens next week). It is, though, a far cry from the doomsday prophecies foreign news of pitching. So if you're afraid about radioactive steam floating all the way over the Pacific perhaps there is room for reconsideration.

Besides, the tsunami-hit areas are the ones that should be most worrisome.

Back to work... sort of

Today was my first full day back at work. "Work" is probably too strong a word, though, as no one touched the phone today. (For those of you who don't know, my job is phone-based executive search.) Got a lot of administrative tasks finished but I didn't actually get to work on business stuff. I think I've really got a good company as the management there has put a stop on their only revenue-generating activity for the sake of decency.

Radiation and possible meltdown of the Fukushima power plants tops the concerns of my coworkers. It seemed that everyone had a slightly different opinion as to how dangerous the radiation is. I'm quite confused myself. Those who were able to understand Japanese seemed to have a much better grasp of the situation, though, as they could get both information from Japanese and foreign sources. We were all able to agree that most English language media has hyped and over-speculated the situation. (It would surprise me if they didn't.)

If you're interested to know more about radiation levels and such, www.mext.go.jp/english/topics/1303717.htm is a good "official" source of information.

Do I think I'm in danger? Well, it's hard to say. I felt no fewer than seven tremours today, one of which lasted a good half a minute. The power plants are, of course, a more immediate but controllable danger. I'm lead to believe that a complete meltdown is not likely. If it comes down to it, though, I have all my essential stuff in one bag ready to go and it's only half an hour to the bullet train.

Power out

I've put pictures of Tokyo's earthquake experience (as seen from my angle) on the travel map. It's nothing graphic like the news coverage; it's just pictures of people being inconvenienced. I'm trying to show how out of the ordinary things are at the moment.

Tokyo has a huge power shortage at the moment. Last post I understated how scarce electricity is now that three power plants are down. It'll be a while until this improves, as one of those plants had an explosion and a near-meltdown this afternoon. I recall reading that they had to flood one of the plant's reactor with seawater to cool the thing down.

The rotating blackouts aren't the only form of power conservation; some of the trains are also down. I don't know if this is due to malfuntion or if it's on purpose. The fact of the matter is that the most important element of Tokyo's infastructure was running at a fraction of its normal capacity (its normal capacity being barely sufficient even at the best of times). Here's what it looked like at Shinjuku station:

At first glance, there's nothing out of the ordinary here for 9:30am. What you can't see easily is that most of these people are in the same queue due to most trains not running. This is what the JR train yard looked like just after peak rush hour:

 

This was Kuriko's train. Mine was no better. Mine arrived at less than half the frequency and the queue, while not quite as long, was long and slow enough that I chose to wait it out as opposed to lining up. In retrospect this was kind of stupid and it made me super late for work.

Being late wasn't so detrimental, though, as work didn't really happen today. I arrived to an office full of people checking the news and not saying or doing much. My boss came to me and told me not to make any phone calls, out of respect for the people on the other end. Shortly after that he dismissed the whole office. I was at work for less than half an hour, having spent three hours trying to get there. Tomorrow I'll probably not go in as there's not really anything I can do there without getting on the phone.

Pray for Sendai... please just do it

And it just gets more and more intense. I'm sure you've been watching / reading the news. In Sendai there are at least 10,000 dead. When I read this number in Japanese I checked the character for "10,000" twice, hoping I had misread the first time. By the time most people read this that number is expected to be even larger.

Tokyo's still a different world than Sendai. The most felt consequences are a food and electricity shortage. Tomorrow certain cities and parts of cities will be systematically shut down to compensate for (now three) malfuntioning power plants, one of which has had an explosion. The power outages are expected to last until the end of April. The aforementioned supermarket from my previous post has sold out of pretty much anything useful. This picture is actually from the kombini from Friday but there are a lot of shelves that look pretty much the same.

My church got it rather bad. It's still standing but I don't think I'd want to continue going if they don't get an inspector in soon. Here's what the wall looks like now:

Tomorrow is going to be a weird day at work. People are still coming to terms with things. I can't tell whether tomorrow will be "business as usual" or "everything's different now". Either way, it just seems a bit off to go back to the usual routine, even for a work-crazed city like Tokyo. We'll see if I'm over-analysing this.

Those of you who would, I ask you to continue in your prayers for Japan. There are too many areas of need to name, so please pray as you are lead. The most urgent needs I can think of are rescue efforts in Sendai, the 70% chance of another ~7.0 quake this week, and the possibility of some level of meltdown at the nuclear power station (Fukushima 1, I think). Also, please keep in consideration that the vast majority (over 99%) of Japanese are not Christian. There is an intense spiritual need in all this.

The day after

The city was in limbo today. I had to go by my office to pick up something and took Kuri with me so we could grab lunch nearby. It's in Roppongi, which as I mentioned in an earlier post is a really popular weekend place. The place was deserted, even moreso than on a weekday. I guess that people apprpriately stayed away from "happy" places out of respect for what had just happened.

Not too much happened after my update last night. I just hung around the office with a bunch of guys and headed home right after Kuri contacted me. It's three trains to get home and the second one was absolutely packed. Trains were running every 20 minutes and there was an hours-long lineup. Had to walk ahead one station to bypass the line. Got home around 2:00am (which is better than Kuri's dad, who actually did sleep at the office at got back at 9:00am).

I'll say this about last night: Tokyo certainly does take an orderly approach to disaster management, at least in the places Kuri and I witnessed. Everything flowed so mechanically, much like it does the most of the rest of the time. People lined up for food, even when it was running out, and took their place waiting for a train that they probably wouldn't get to board for hours. Remember those hardhats I was talking about? Turns out that those are company-issued. You just put on your helmut and find everyone else wearing the same one. Even Kuriko got one.

Things are still looking a bit bleak. For the last day there has been a radiation leak at a nuclear power plant and there are minor earthquakes expected for the next while. I would say the mood is predominantly sad with a bit of paranoia. The local supermarket was pretty much stripped bare, especially of water. Kuri's mother told her and me to stock up on instant foods. But that's just my corner of Tokyo. I'll hear about everyone else's at church tomorrow.

Please keep in prayer everything that is happening here.

I'm okay (updated)

Just in case you are wondering, I'm okay. Stranded at the office, where I intend to sleep, but otherwise okay. Can't get in touch with my wife but I'm not too worried. Going to post this before my internet connection goes down. I'll tell you all about it later, and there is indeed a lot to tell.

UPDATE (March 11 @ 8:30):

The full scope of the situation hasn't quite dawned on me. It's not that it's too much to take in at a moment; it's that I don't have much more information than anyone else does outside Japan. I'm in my office right now using my colleague's computer and haven't seen much of the city outside Roppongi, where I work. The building is still shaking. Feels more like being on a boat. It's either this or freeze outside.

I suppose the only thing I'm really aware of is my own experience. There was no sort of gradual coming to terms with things; it more happened in stages. There was a minor earthquake yesterday so when the tremour began I didn't think much of it. But then it didn't go away and I reached down to put my shoes on my feet, jokingly saying, "Better put my shoes on!" as I tied one lace. The shaking still didn't stop, but got more intense. I grabbed my jacket, wallet, and phone, having realised that this was not normal, and urged my coworker to the door. That's when the floor started jerking and everyone ran down the stairs. The girl in front was wearing heels so she slowed us down a bit. Everyone made it out without trampling anyone else.

I exited the building just as the shaking subsided. First thing I did was try and text Kuriko but couldn't get through. Figured that everyone else was trying to phone and that the lines were clogged. We all stood there, sort of wondering if anything would fall. Eerily, the sky had gone dark. I was trying to determine how serious things were. It was then that I looked up at a newly built apartment building, which was swaying back and forth. It kept on doing that for more than ten minutes. But I didn't yet think the situation was that serious, although I knew it wasn't going to be normal.

My satchel was still on my desk, so I thought I would go up and fetch it. I did so, taking a moment to send an email to cancel a meeting I had scheduled for 7:00 (foolishly thinking my interviewee would actually try and come). Then the second quake came and it was right back down the stairwell again.

Made it out okay. The police were really well organised. One directed us to the evacuation area. Stood there for a while taking pictures with my camera. Some people were wearing hardhats. Can't say why.

The office closed for the day. A few people actually went back in to do work. I didn't think that anything really terrible had happened yet, so my concern at the moment was that my meeting would be off. (I had made about 100 phone calls to book this woman in.) A few of us went looking for a bar and on the way saw a few images of the quake on a television. A wave had swept Sendai and a plant of some sort in Chiba had ignited. My awareness kicked up a notch, but not quite enough.

We sat down for a few drinks and chatted away. People kept on checking their iPhones to see if the trains were running. 7:00 rolled around and transportation was still down. Aside from that, the mood hadn't degraded to anything negative. I knew that the next day we would think very differently. I began to worry about Kuriko in a more serious way. My phone still couldn't dial out or send a message. Finally got a text out but as of now (8:30pm) I haven't heard back. (I'm not too worried. Where she works is pretty solid.)

We headed to the kombini (convenience store), where we found a 15 minute line-up and no food on the shelves. Everyone else was in the same situation as we were: no way to get home and nothing to eat. Now things started to feel a bit odd and I wanted desperately to read the news.

Went back to the office and quickly sent out several "I'm okay" emails. Then I went downstairs and saw the footage. 8.9 quake. Wow.

So now I'm just sitting here wondering how things are going to be tomorrow. Asked my colleague to take a picture of me in case I needed to look back and remember where I was this day. It might or might not be that bad. Don't know yet. But phones and transportation are still down so you never know.

I'm going to go pick out a place to sleep for the night. Maybe I want to get out of this office building should these shakes become quakes. Just remembered how old the thing is.

My first week

Just finished up my first week of executive search. It was mostly training and I haven't made a single phone call yet, so it's hard to say what my impression is. People kept on telling me what the job is like and how it changes after a few months. It's curious that the impression they give me isn't exactly positive, but that people seem to like working at this company. I'm sure it will all make sense in a while.

My area of specialty is pharmaceuticals. The word "specialty" is misleading because I don't actually know anything about pharmaceuticals. I am lead to believe, however, that this is not an issue. Most people begin their jobs with minimal industry knowledge. I'm lucky, though, because there's a pharmaceutical exhibit coming up that I'm attending. Three days of educational goodness... in Japanese!

Speaking of Japanese, my ability to read and write kanji is coming along alright. I can't say the same for my speaking ability. It seems self-defeating even to me that I'd learn Japanese in this manner, studying the written language before the spoken one. It's a lot easier for me to study something when I have some tangible, visible evidence in front of me that I'm actually learning something. When I speak the words comes out then they're gone forever. Besides, the real Asian way of learning language is by learning to read and write it. I figure, when in Rome...

So yeah, if you know any bilingual people in the pharmaceutical industry who want to come to Japan, just send them my way...

Dolphin & oompa loompa show!

Well folks, I accepted the job. First day of work is this coming Tuesday (Moday Canada time). The overall feel I have is positive, despite how jittery I've been lately. There is a lot I can do with this job, given time, so I know there's always something to work towards. I'm sure that my impression of the work itself will be very different this Friday than it has been in the last few weeks. I'll share some reflections at the end of the week.

The weather is starting to turn spring-like, so Kuri and I went to Enoshima on Saturday. Enoshima features mainly an island, as well as sea-side attractions. The island is a classic example of a place of cultural / historical importance gone touristy. Still, it's highly recommended for a day-trip, if you don't mind the crowds. The seaside is a popular surfing destination, although I think Chiba still has it beat in terms of surfing quality.

The pictures posted on my travel map tell most of my Saturday story, but I think I'd best explain the colourful women with the dolphins. You see, it's all part of the act. In most dolphin shows, the trainers give some sort of spoken presentation to go with the animal stunts, perhaps introducing the dolphins to the audience or giving people notice before they get soaked. The Enoshima Aquarium takes a different approach, telling the dolphin narrative through synchonised swimming. The dancers do their dance in and out of the water, most of the time interacting with the dolphins. I thought they almost stole the show. Kuriko thought they looked a little bit like oompa loompas. I have to say, though, it was very creative and well executed, even if it was a little corny. You can watch the full show in high definition at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmhzoI8wuxE. (Not my video, someone else's.)

Edit: Okay, I did some research and found out that the dolphin show is called "Starlight Dolferia". There's a better edited video of their work at http://www.casttv.com/video/ne369w/starlight-dolferia-2008-c-video. You're welcome.

Job offer - decision by tomorrow

Sorry, I meant to post this earlier in the week but got sidetracked...

I've got a job offer! It's from an executive search firm. I have pretty much decided that I like the company. Several people who work there have had lunch with me a few times and I put in a day of work there already, and the impression I have is very positive. The deadline to accept the offer is Friday (tomorrow). The only question that remains is whether the industry itself is for me.

Headhunting is an aggressive sales job. For the first six months I would be soliciting on the phone non-stop. This job isn't something that anyone plans to get into; people just fall into it as a career. I would not call these "red flags" but they are things that warrent strong consideration. I'm not one to change his mind after getting into a job (unless things go REALLY bad), so I've got a lot of thinking to do before this time tomorrow.

I've said in many conversations that Tokyo is a great place for food, even if you don't like the Japanese variety. I want to share an experience I had with burgers. There are some pretty odd burgers in Tokyo which went the wrong way in terms of localisation. Japanese flair, I feel, works best when when traditionally applied: wait until a Westerner invents something, correct all the mistakes he made, and implement a system of bureaucracy that prevents any future changes from taking place. Behold:

This is an olive / avacado / gouda cheese burger with lettuce, tomato, and salsa. Management has determined that the ingredients are well selected and so no substitutions are permitted (although you may add other ingredients for a fee). The burger came to my table as it appears in the picture to the left. As you can see, all elements are in even proportion to one another and the paddy is slightly offset for presentation. There are three sizes to choose from, expressed in metric weight: 80g, 100g, and 125g. It comes with exactly one pickle slice and a pre-determined quantity of potato, as outlined in the menu. Notice in the second picture, the one on the right, that the burger is wrapped in an envelope prior to consumption, thus preventing unwanted spills. Japanese augmentation at it's finest.

The restaurant I went to is called "Sasa". You can learn more about Japanese culinary superiority at their website.

Back up and running

Internet's finally up and running! Kuri's dad solved the problem: he simply reset the wireless access point by unplugging it. Although I had tried this a few times, it didn't work. I guess you have to do it in Japanese or something...

I've added a lot of pictures to the travel map and put in some new locations, so check that out if you've been wondering what I've seen around the city.

Also, I'm slowly adding entries to the Engrish section. To my dismay, Engrish around Tokyo just isn't as abundant as it was before. Not that I think the usage of English is getting more accurate. It's more like the wearing and display of random English words fell out of style.

Gochisosama deshita

When it comes to lunch, any traveller knows the anxiety that comes from looking into a restaurant that you know has good food but which you suspect might not be the right place for someone who is not a local. It is a very awkward experience being stared down by an entire restaurant as you try and communicate your desired meal a server. However, with great risk sometimes comes great reward. Today was one of those instances for me. I usually avoid any kind of pan-Asian / fusion foods, but this place was pretty good. Check out my under $8 lunch. It came with tapa-sized salad and soup.

I've got a trial run at one of the companies I've applied at tomorrow. They've asked me to come in and do a day's work (paid, of course) to see how I would do at the job. This would be the forth time I've gone to their office. This is either a really thorough company or they're exceptionally unsure about me. At the end of the day, though, I will either have an offer of employment or I won't. If things go as I think they will, I should reach a decision where to work by Wednesday. Please keep this and my general work situation in prayer.

The pictures will go up as soon as I have a way to get them online, but for the time being let me put in a good word for a place called Odaiba. To be honest, it's a tourist trap. There are a lot of shopping centres, a oversized and decorative outlet mall, an entertainment arcade, and even a replica of the Statue of Liberty. The place is totally artificial, to the point that the land it was built on isn't even natural (it's a man-made island). However, a lot of Tokyo's modern architecture can be found there and it is one of the few places with an accessible ocean shore (whereas at most other places in Tokyo the beach is blocked off by industry). Highly recommended for the tourist after a cheesy experience.

It was squid

Squid ink (not octopus ink) tastes pretty much exactly how is looks: thick, salty, heavy. It's worth a try if you ever get the chance.

I'm looking at two offers at the moment, both in the same industry. There might be another later, but we'll see. The choice between the two comes down to many smaller elements: payment structure, salary, company culture, co-workers, etc. It is going to be a tough choice because there are so many pros and cons to either choice. I aim to make a call by next Tuesday.

If I were to look into recruitment consulting again from the beginning, I would have applied to a lot more companies right off the top, just to give myself a better idea of what the characters of each employer was. I did apply to those who were advertising, but there are so many in Tokyo I could have had a much broader view of what is available.

I feel like I've become a connoisseur on internet cafés. A dead internet connection makes job searching a real pain. It's sketchy using a café because there is no security in these places. If you're ever in Tokyo and want to visit one just for the experience, try Manboo. If you need a cheap, cheap place to stay the night they have free softdrinks and showers. Discounts if you're a girl.

There are a lot of pictures waiting to go up on the travel map. Just have to get my computer back up and running.

From an internet cafe in Ueno

The power went out yesterday morning and it did something to the router or modem at my place. Can't get online now so I have to do my thing from an internet cafe. The one I'm at now isn't so bad. Has the bare basics for an okay price (¥400 per hour). Some can get really fancy and include showers, free snacks, and enough space to comfortably sprawl or sleep.

I get excited every Monday because that's usually when the most job postings go up. Today, however, there are not too many hits, even if you count the English teaching jobs, which is consistent with how things have been as of late. My hopes are still high for success in getting a headhunting job and several companies appear to actually be hiring. At the same time, though, the lack of job ads and general consensus among Tokyo residents that work is scarce is concerning should headhunting not pan out.

My reaction to all this is to try out new search methods. I haven't been to many networking events, nor have I thought of joining a club where I could meet people. If I get into headhunting I'll have to do this kind of thing anyway, so either way it will benefit me, right?

Tonight is Valentines. As I mentioned in an earlier post, the girl is the one who treats the guy in Japan. This isn't just for couples; it can also be with coworkers and family. For example, Kurumi (Kuri's sister) baked me and her dad a cake and the girls in Kuri's department bought their male coworkers some chocolates. As for Kuri and I, we're out for Spanish food soon. I'll let you know shortly what octopus ink tastes like.

Japanese study

It seems as though there was a wave of advertised jobs when I got here and then everything just stopped. There's probably a lull between New Year and April, the fiscal year start in Japan.

I've used the down time to study kanji using flash cards. I'm surprised that the characters I'm learning actually appear in real life, like on headlines and train station signs. There are a couple of thousands characters and I probably only know just over 100 (most of those being throwbacks from my Chinese days).

The importance of learning Japanese is pretty clear to me now. Last time I was here back in 2005 a friend of mine from church gave me advice about living in Tokyo. It was in the context of a job search, but he said, "There are two Japans: the one for people who speak Japanese and the one for people who don't". Being a person of the latter category is okay only for a while (which is a lot shorter than how long I'm planning on staying), and only when your stay in Japan is not taken too seriously. Well folks, the time has come to get serious.

Motivation is difficult because there are no immediate tangible effects of not knowing the language. It doesn't prevent you from getting work, socialising, or enjoying the city. It's a grind, and one that you have to whip yourself into doing on a daily basis. I read an article a few weeks ago that quite accurately pointed out that "nothing is fun until you're good at it". How true.

So yeah... Here we go with the flashcards.

Also, I've made updates to the travel map. This time I actually went somewhere interesting.

Tiramisu

I just had a second interview with a potential employer. It was a pretty long one and I think it went quite well. I don't want to say anything too specific as the application is still in process. There are things to consider but I am very hopeful that this would be a good company for me.

Valentines is coming up pretty soon. It works a bit differently in Japan (and Korea) than elsewhere. Instead of the guy treating his girl, it's the other way around. So Kuriko has to give me chocolate or take me out for dinner or something. (I don't know if she's really going to do it or not but I am hopeful.) Despite the beneficiary of Valentines Day being the male, the holiday itself is definitely marketed towards the women. Much of the city is that cute pinkish-red colour and heart-shaped pastries abound.

Last time I was here I became something of a foodie. It's hard not to because food is one of the very few things that actually has better price-for-value than Vancouver. Kuri and I did Italian last weekend for a pretty good price. Man, that was good tiramisu...

Hopefully next post I'll have some exciting news.

The employment office

I just made it to my 9:00am appointment with Hello Work with less than two minutes to spare. Hello Work is a government-run employment agency frequented by Japanese, but occasionally used by non-Japanese. One mistake I made was expecting that just because they had English language translation that they would deal with foreigners in a less Japanese manner. Having lived here for two years, I should have known that the bahavioural responsibility was on me. Of course a government agency is going to act Japanese, regardless of who you are! 外人は本当に馬鹿だね｡｡｡*
* Foreigners are such idiots...

The representative I spoke with was very helpful, in a blunt, uncompromising way. Because the agency deals almost exclusively with Japanese companies and not multi-national ones, there were very few positions for which I was qualified due to language. The fellow printed off a few job ads (in Japanese) which I could sort of guess my way through. I think this was so he could show me what opportunities were awaiting me if I could just get my language skills up and running (one of which being a job in accident and illness insurance - the very field I have the most experience in!). He said something that was very obvious but which I had to hear: "You might think it's stupid to take a year off and study language, but if you think of your life in the long term it will help you a lot." The fact that a Japanese person - a bureaucrat no less - would be so forthcoming is in itself amazing.

So I'm not too sure what to make of this. I'll have to digest the experience before I even consider doing any kind of full-time language study. Another interview is coming up next week so I'd best digest fast. More on that later.

Two leads!

I've got two job leads! One place I just had an interview with and the other has asked me to fill out an assessment test. This is really cool, especially since these were replies from the first three applications I sent out. My thanks to God for coming through in such a prompt and abundant manner. Job finding has been the most reaccuring request I've had in prayer and I know this kind development doesn't come about all by itself.

The circumstances of my interview today are noteworthy. On Friday I viewed a section of the company's website that from my angle suggested that interested job candidates should drop by the office. I read into this too much, did just what was suggested, and dropped by. Needless to say, awkwardness followed. Long story short, I confused the daylights out of the receptionist and ended up just dropping off my resume with her. Despite and because of this episode, however, I got a response from a manager later that afternoon. He very generously offered to meet me.

I've completed laying out the pictures section of my blog, "Travel Map". More locations to come soon.

Still have to work on that assessment test...

Roppongi

Today I met some setbacks, but not the kind I'm going to get too upset about. Went to visit a recruitment consultant company. They mentioned on their website that people with business experience wanting to get into their business should drop by. This seemed a bit strange to me as I would hate it if people came in looking for jobs unannounced, but I headed over there anyway. I caught them by surprise as the woman who greeted my had no idea why I would come in without an appointment. I took the opportunity to hand off my resume but that was about it.

Fortunately this happened in Roppongi, so at least I got to spend the rest of the afternoon somewhere cool. For those of you who don't know, Roppongi to a Canadian is sort of like Robson Street in Vancouver to a Japanese: it's the first place you become aware of in the city and you spend too much time there because the foreigner-friendly atmosphere caters too much to your comfort level. Here's some scenes from Roppongi:

Of particular interest is the store that sells overpriced fruit. This may not seem noteworthy but I challenge you to guess the price of the below strawberries without enlarging the picture to see the price tag:

That's ¥ 4,200, or about CAD$50 (~$2.25 per strawberry). The melons are even worse. If you're interested, drop by the ground floor of Roppongi Midtown and look for them next to the cooking school. It's pretty easy to spot.

Tomorrow Kuri and I are off to Enoshima. There's this jellyfish place she wants to see really badly. More on that after it happens.

First app off

Just applied to Bloomberg, marking the first job application I've completed since arrival. My wife pointed out this company to me the other day. It's odd that I never considered looking for work by company; instead, my efforts have been directed at searching job sites online. I plan to give Manulife another try right after this post.

Got a little lost the other day looking for the Setagaya ward office (city hall). Fortunately it was a nice neighourhood. Tried out my phone's camera, which I have to say is superior to anything I'd seen in Canada:

Computer's working fine, as I hoped. Not that I couldn't do job applications without it, but the task is so much easier when I don't have to use my wife's laptop.

While shopping for a power adapter, I came across an area of Shinjuku that contains probably the most densely concentrated collection of camera stores in the city. Had a look around and thought about how much time and money my dad could spend there... if he ever decided to go digital. Here it is, if you're ever in the city:

I bent my wookie

The last of my air-shipped baggage arrived today, which contained my computer. Because of the way I chose to transport the computer tower, my video card is permanently bent out of shape. It kind of looks like it will still work but I haven't bought a power adapter yet so I can't try it out.

But if that's the worst thing that happens to me I consider myself lucky. Yesterday at church (Horizon Chapel, Setagaya campus) I met some familiar faces and some new people. Horizon seems to be just as great a place now as it was when I left it. A few people who still attend were at a the Machida location so I'll see them next week.

I was very blessed to have run into two people who might be able to make job connections for me. This is something I've been praying about: finding meaningful work outside English teaching. (Not that I won't do it, but it would be better to get a more career-oriented job). There's even a potential third connection, but we'll see. Still going to apply for the recruiting consultant positions.

Welcome back to Tokyo

Just got (back) to Tokyo yesterday. I don't think I've ever seen such an empty international flight before. The whole row in which I sat was completely mine. Makes me regret taking the seat by the bathroom just so I could get the two-seat row...

The reunion with Kuriko was joyful but a bit awkward, as I predicted. We weren't sure what to do after seeing each other for the first time in four months at the airport. I was successful in getting the drop on her, though, closing into less than a meter behind her back before she noticed me there.

This week I've got to get registered at the local ward office and search for a job. As I've mentioned to many people, I've seen job ads for recruiting consultants. This isn't a field I've ever thought about but it's more along the lines of what I'm looking for than teaching. Ideally, though, I'd really like to work at the Canadian embassy. They don't have openings often, but I'm checking their site every day.