A Great Place to Live #2

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You can check out Paul's A Great Place to Live #1 here.

Paul pointed out to me that I have written two posts on why Japan is a great place to visit but none on what makes it a great place to live. This is strange since I’ve lived in Japan a lot longer than I’ve been a visitor. I think I lost my visitor status the first time I chose a Japanese squat toilet over a western toilet. I wasn’t trying to get in touch with my Japanese roots or anything, since I don’t have any, but was trying to avoid a cold toilet seat in the middle of winter. Either way, that was the day I became a man. Not really, but whatever.

Today is the day I come of age.

I’ve lived in Japan for over four years. I didn’t always live here for over four years, in fact, there was a time about four years ago that I was new. The plan was to stay in Japan for a year, travel a bit, become perfectly fluent in the language (how naive I was), and get back to America in time for supper. Of course, as all great stories go, our protagonist met a girl, who might have been his antagonist, but she was cute, and continues to be. I got married and now I’m still here. In that way Japan can be a trap, but it’s a happy trap. Like a mosquito getting trapped in sweet, sweet amber and then being used to clone dinosaurs.

"This bug is smiling at me"

Instead of sharing what is great about Japan as a whole I think I’ll use my experience of living in three prefectures as a way to show how, like any place, Japan is different depending on where you go. I’ll give away the ending and say as far as I can tell every place in Japan is A Great Place to Live.

I started my journey in Hyogo prefecture where I lived and worked for three years. Hyogo is in the Kansai region, which is an amazing place to live. I was thirty minutes to both Osaka and Kobe and fifty to Kyoto by train. Of course when any band does a Japanese tour, or whenever there is some neat event, nine times out of ten they will go to Tokyo. Well, eight times out of ten they will then go to Osaka or Kobe. So in a way, you get the convenience of living in a cultural hub city and also the variety that comes with living in a trifecta of metropoli. I'm aware that ‘metropoli’ isn't a word but it sounds much better than ‘metropolises’. Each city is also completely distinct from the others, from their histories to their people to their style of dress. A famous Japanese dialect is the “Kansai dialect” but that’s a bit of a misnomer since it varies between cities and sometimes within the cities themselves. Living in Kansai I loved the fact that in one day I could take a boat tour around Kobe harbor, go to a festival at a shrine in Kyoto, and party the night away in Osaka. I’ve never actually done that in one day, but I could have.

 I finally feel spiritually grounded. Now, to Hooters!

I loved it there but my wife’s company transferred her so I quit my job and moved south to Miyazaki Prefecture. Miyazaki’s current claim to fame is their fruit and meats, though recently they’ve had problems with foot and mouth disease. Thirty or so years ago Miyazaki was better known as a popular vacation and honeymoon spot, but when the yen became strong people started going overseas. A formerly famous place in Miyazaki was Sea Gaia. It was a huge indoor beach that would have been immensely popular had they built it near Tokyo or Dubai, but instead they built it next to the beach. Their target market was the people who want to go to the beach but hate being outside. You may have even seen pictures of this place since it made the rounds on the Internet a couple years back. Miyazaki was a great place to live, especially after all the busyness of being a near a big city. Everyone was laid back as they tend to be in warm places.

Amazing, those people look so lifelike.

I’m now on the newest leg of my journey. Last month my wife was transferred yet again, this time to Tokyo. I quit my job yet again, and followed her. At this moment I’m living it up in the world’s biggest metropolis. I’ve only been here for a week so I can’t pretend Tokyo and me are intimately familiar, but so far I like what I see. Everything I couldn’t get in Miyazaki I can get here, usually just by walking down the street. It’s a bit much sometimes. It was easy to choose a restaurant or bar in Miyazaki since the pickings were slim. Here you have the choice between that cool Thai restaurant, or that other cool Thai restaurant, or the five Indian restaurants, ten Italian and French places, or the fifteen Chinese restaurants, or the hundred Japanese Izakayas, or even an amazing Portuguese place that has quickly become my favorite. There was an event last night where you pay ￥3,000, go to four participating local restaurants or bars of your choosing, and get a drink and appetizer. All the places I went to were great and I feel like I’m just scratching the surface.

So yeah, Japan is A Great Place to Live. If it weren’t, I wouldn’t still be here. Of course I could go on and on about the friendly people, the world’s best customer service, clean streets, excellent public transportation, delicious and healthy food, etc., etc., but I'll have to save those for another post. That's the carrot on the stick. Hope to see you next time!

New Year's Cards: All About Nengajo

Every year around Christmas time in the US, the season's greetings cards make their rounds. Many families, individuals, or even businesses send out Christmas or holiday cards to friends, family, clients, etc. They can be nice, but I've never really been big on them. Though it's much the same thing, I was more into the Japanese version of this custom while I was living over there. Every year, people in Japan send out 年賀状, New Year's greeting cards.

My first year working in Japan, I decided that to improve my Japanese and blend in better (both at work and into the culture), I would send out cards to some of my coworkers. It was kind of hard work, but worth it I think. Got a lot of practice writing kanji, anyway!

One thing I really like about 年賀状 is their variety. I'm not really a big collector, but I enjoyed receiving and keeping all the different cards every year. The general theme of each year's cards depends upon the  animal of that year, derived from the Chinese zodiac (十二支). The years I was in Japan were those of the cow, tiger, and rabbit, so most of the cards I've collected show those animals. Some cards are custom-made and sport family pictures, much like a lot of Christmas cards in the U.S. 

In my experience, many foreigners in Japan don't bother with them and aren't really expected to. So if you do send some out, you may surprise your friends and coworkers. Doing so is a good way to get some back, too. Generally people start sending them a week or two before New Year's (the post office will hold them and wait until New Year's to deliver them), and then during the first week or two of the new year they will often send cards to people from whom they received but didn't originally send one. They often write "年賀状ありがとうございました！" (Thanks for the card) on the front as an acknowledgement.

If you're interested in trying to send some yourself or you've received a card and want to know the deal, here's an explanation for you.

The boxes at the top of the blank side are for the recipient's postal code and the space below that is for their name and address. The person should be addressed as 様 (さま). For example 田中様, 安田様, John Smith様, etc. さま is an honorific, much like さん, but is used to indicate even more respect and formality. Whether you write vertically or horizontally is a stylistic choice.

At the bottom, generally you write your name and address, though some people leave it blank or just write their name.

The  *'s at the bottom represent two numbers that can be found on every New Year's card. Every year the post office holds a lottery. There are big prizes like computers, vacations, and TV's, and smaller ones like free stamps. The larger prizes generally don't have many winners, but the cheaper ones do. The winning numbers (or digits) can be checked online or at your local post office after New Year's. Generally the number on the right is the one you need to look at, but apparently some prizes are restricted by the letter of the digits on the left (A, B, or C). I have won a few stamps in the past, but never bothered to claim them.

Here's an example of a filled-out card:

On the front of the card you don't need to write anything, but you can scribble some personalized message, write some English just for the novelty of it, or use a set phrase (決まり文句).

For New Year's, you'll generally see/hear:

明けましておめでとうございます! 

or

お正月おめでとうございます！

Both basically mean "Happy New Year!"

Anyway, the New Year's cards are one thing I kind of miss about living in Japan. If you're over there but haven't bothered with them, it's your call...but I recommend giving it a shot.

Update (12/19/11): One thing several people have pointed out in the comments that's worth mentioning is that writing something by hand on the card is considered the "right" way to make up a 年賀状 for someone. I guess having everything printed on doesn't show the right level of effort.

Jen of Perogies and Gyoza dropped a link for a New Year's card commercial featured right now on the JP Post website. I had never seen any of these before, but apparently there are a number of these commercials from years past. Here's a previous one (maybe from 2008, which I think was the year of the rat):

Advice for my successor #3

No, I didn't intent to keep writing these, but they just come to me like an epiphany:

• There's a whole bunch of bulky stuff in the closets that I've never used before, and most likely neither will you. But since it's such a pain to dispose of, it's become a game of hot potato, and the loser will be the ALT who's living here when the school decides to find a new place for its ALTs to live (or stops hiring or housing ALTs).

• If you're like me and have a hard time remembering students names, if any students ask you if you remember their names, jokingly say something like "Oh yeah, it's Mary, isn't it?" They'll laugh.

• The "Oh yeah, it's Mary, isn't it?" trick only works so many times. And if there's a big group and you start giving them all Western names, they will catch on that you're not joking and really don't know if their name is Yuka, Yuki, Yukino, Yukinu, or Yukina.

• None of the teachers take the time to banter much with the lunch ladies, but they're really pretty nice (that one doesn't only apply to Japan).

• There are three main types of noodles in Japan: ramen, udon, and soba. Of course there are others, but these are the big three. You must decide for yourself how you will rank them in terms of goodness.

• Soba sucks.

Correction: You must rank udon and ramen for yourself. Soba has officially been pegged last.

Advice for my successor #2

I thought of some more pearls I'd like to share. I don't know who you are yet, and neither do you, but listen up:

• Don't be one of those ALTs who complains that you have too much free time. During breaks you can read a book, study, do some blogging (wink), chat with teachers and/or students, wander around the school, watch a club activity, or if you're at the visit school you can grab a nap on one of the couches. You'll be missing that time when you have four classes in a day, plus ESS after school, plus a meeting with a teacher during your only free period (Can you guess why I'm thinking about this right now? =P).

• There are some pretty cool JETs, but don't get caught in a clique. You're in Japan, so hang out with some Japanese, too!

• The brakes on the bicycle I'm leaving you suck, but don't bother buying a new one. The brakes on all the bikes suck.

• If you go to the Indian place in town or the one near the station often enough, they will give you free stuff on occasion. No matter how often you go to the ramen shop down the street, they'll never give you anything on the house.

• Clean the apartment as often as you feel necessary, but don't kill yourself dusting and vacuuming. Literally like 20 seconds after you clean an area you will spot some more dust there. It's an uphill battle.

Advice for my successor

Of course I'll impart similar nuggets in a letter or email when I find out who he or she will be, but I'm starting to think about the next person to serve at this post, and what they'll need to know. Here are a few things I've come up with:

• If you have to go number two, don't be afraid to use the handicapped bathroom. All the teachers do it.
• Both schools you'll work at have libraries. If you're already literate or want to study Japanese, there are some good resources there to be used.
• Don't try to keep track of which teachers give you candy/chocolate/snacks. Just be nice and share little (edible) souvenirs or ethnic foods from time to time. 
• Mr. S (the English teacher) will always act like he understands what you say to him, so never take it for granted.
• I don't know if one of your goals is saving money, but however much you save during your time here, know that you could have saved more if you hadn't gone out or drank so much.
• I don't know who these ALTs are that actively join clubs at their school, but good on you if you do. My first year here the judo teacher kept trying to get my to join, but I couldn't imagine throwing or rolling around on the mat with my students.
• I don't have it quite as good as my predecessor, but you will have it better than me.
• That food isn't what you think it is.

Don't lack the (financial) discipline!

For someone like me, owing tens of thousands of dollars in student loans, working in Japan has its advantages. The exchange rate has been quite favorable for a while now, with the the dollar valued at only around 80-85 yen in recent months. Compare that to the standard $1 = 100 yen formula that for years most American ex-pats have adopted for simple mental accounting calculations. Small wonder it's been relatively easy to keep up with my payments.

I find, however, that the nature of Japanese currency also helps me save. One of the easiest ways to save money, I find, is to collect coins. When I first arrived in Japan, I was inundated with coins. In America, you have four standard denominations: pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters. In Japan, though, six are used: 1, 5, 10, 50, 100, and 500-yen pieces. So as you might imagine, you get a lot of change. This is especially true considering that Japan is still a mostly cash-based society. Credit cards aren't the norm. What can one do but get an adequately large jar?

Once I realized the futility of trying to spend all my coins, I got a couple jars. First, I decided not to spend 500 yen pieces unless absolutely necessary. That means every time I spend less than 1000 yen (the smallest bill denomination), unless I'm paying with small change (rare), my change includes one 500 yen piece. As soon as I get home, this is dumped in a jar. Over the course of about half a year, I managed to save about 120,000 yen this way (almost $1,500). It's roughly the same as never spending $5 bills.

If you're looking to save some money and maybe want to challenge yourself, I highly recommend this practice. Get a jar or some other container and start putting aside all your 500 yen pieces (or $5 bills). You can do this indefinitely, but it also works well if you want to save up for a certain period of time in order to buy something. A friend of mine saved for about half a year and collected enough to buy himself a MacBook that he'd been wanting.

It takes a bit of discipline, but after a while it will become habit. Now I cringe a little inside whenever I see someone spending a 500 yenner, no joke. I'm loathe to use them, and don't do so unless I'm in a pinch with no other cash.