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.
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.
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.
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.
