Just Another Manga Monday #3

The featured manga this week is called Absolute Boyfriend. It is a six volume series, and a complete shojo! This one is definitely for you, girls.

Absolute Boyfriend stars Riiko, a teenage girl living on her own because her parents are away on business. Like many of us at a time, she is lonely and just wants a boyfriend. She meets a shady character who sends her to a website where she orders and receives a customized doll through a free 3 day trial. He is completely life-like, superhuman and naïve to cultural norms. Missing the return date, she now owes them data for their company or a million dollars. She names the doll Night because he is from the Nightly Lover series. Riiko’s neighbor, Soshi, looks out for her. They fight like cats and dogs, but it is obvious they care for each other.
Throughout the series, Riiko struggles through having an AI robot boyfriend and trying to keep it a secret, figuring out who she loves, surviving bitchy high school girl drama, as well as other twists and turns along the way.

The series is rated T+ for older teen. It has a slightly perverted humor. Example (remember to read from right to left):

It was written by Yuu Watase, creator of Fushigi Yugi (one of my favorite anime series) and it is like a reverse Chobits (very popular anime/manga series in which a boy falls in love with an AI doll named Chii). I would recommend this series if you are looking for a laugh and romance.

Words I Dis/Like #3

Although Japanese is typically considered one of the most difficult languages for native English speakers to learn, the fact that there are katakana-ized nuggets of English scattered throughout can somewhat ease the pain at times. It can be tough to figure out exactly how the katakana works sometimes (New York = ニュヨク, right? Wrong, sucka! New York = ニューヨーク), but once you get the hang of it, it becomes a useful skill when you want to say something in Japanese but lack the vocabulary. Oftentimes just katakana-izing the English word will elicit some degree of understanding.

But there's useful, and then there's asinine. Recently I've been getting into the Twitter scene and following people who tweet in or about Japanese. There's one trend I've seen that has really annoyed me for some reason. People using "なう." Allow me to explain for a moment. "なう" is hiragana, the Japanese alphabet that is used to spell Japanese words. As opposed to katakana, which is used almost exclusively for foreign loan words, or sometimes to add emphasis to a Japanese word (a technique mostly seen in comics). The pronunciation of "なう" is the same as "now." For a while, when I saw this popping up, I was stumped. I thought to myself "Wow, that looks and sounds like 'now,' but it's in hiragana...so I must be missing something." But the answer eluded me, until I did a search and found out the truth. "なう" means "now." But why is it written in hiragana? Why?! Because it looks different? Cool? Because it confuses people who aren't in the know?

おけい、れっつらいっとえべりしんっぐいんひらがな！

Have you encountered this phenomenon? Have you used なう? If you have any insights, please share! Help me move beyond my hatred!

Lonely Japan: The Train

This is part two of a series written by a friend of mine. You can read part 1 here.

-Paul

On the train I managed to secure a seat (rush hour had passed at this point) at the edge of the bench. This is the choicest of seats on the train, as it not only limits your exposure to other human beings but also allows you to sleep against the metal railings that bookend the benches. Sleeping on the train after, or while, drinking is quite dangerous. Usually ends up with you at the end of the line somewhere in the sticks being woken up by a man in white gloves who only speaks the incomprehensible dialect of Japanese men over 50. I was not interested in sleeping, or meeting the man in the white gloves, so I made sure to not slouch too much.

Across from me were a mother and her child. The child (believe it was a girl) was probably around three or four and was crawling all over the seat and her mother, who was sitting with her eyes pointed directly at the handbag in between her feet. I watched the little girl maneuver around, avoiding a series of missed head injury opportunities, until she became aware of my presence. She stopped immediately and stared straight at me, expressionless. I smiled at her. I also tried to wave, but my hands were occupied with their important chu-hi holding task so it was more of a “can-shake” than a wave. The girl giggled, and I managed to spill some liquid on my jeans. The mother must not have pleased, however, and without looking up from the ground picked up her daughter and quickly shuffled down to the other end of the train car. Maybe I should have shaved, would have made me look more “hip-bar owner” drunk than “this guy probably talks to stray cats” drunk.

The newer trains have little monitors above the doors to each car, and they are usually good for a few minutes diversion. I looked up at the one closest to me. There was some kind of kanji riddle (maybe it was a joke?) that I couldn’t fully understand. The animal/creature on the screen thought it was hilarious so it must have been funny. Next came the train system status report. A few of the lines were delayed due to accidents. I’m not really sure what kind of accidents these are but they can’t be too bad if they only delay the trains a few minutes, right? Only accidents I was familiar with involved cars driving off the road into snow drifts, and I think the delay was more than five minutes. I didn’t think about accidents much longer thanks to a pretty lady wearing what looked like a rain jacket-dress presenting the weather. She smiled at me, told me it was going to be cold (but not too cold) and that there might be some clouds somewhere in the next week. Good to know. Time to get off the train.

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.

The "Cool Japan" Delusion

There's a recent "Views from the Street" at the Japan Times online asking the question "Can selling 'cool Japan' save the ailing economy and help avert a demographic disaster?"

First of all, the "Cool Japan" campaign, if it can be called a campaign, is a move to promote Japanese culture abroad as hip, or "cool" as the kids say these days. While I might argue that it the branding of Japan as "cool" has been relatively unsuccessful, as I believe many more people would associate Japan with words like "technological," "exotic," or "strange," there is no denying that the spread of some elements of "cool" Japanese culture around the world has enjoyed more than modest success. Anime, manga, video games, and Japanese pop music have spread to many countries, although they thrive particularly among those members of "geek culture," as noted quite some time ago by Emily Leach of Asian Week. Still, I don't mean to assert here that Japan isn't "cool." What I do mean to assert is that the whole notion of "cool Japan" relating to Japan's economic woes is flawed.

Cool Japan is a red herring. Japan's stagnant economy can be traced back to the 1990's and its accrual of debt and fiscal deficits (Sound familiar? If America makes it out of the current recession, it will succeed where Japan has failed). Japan's economic problems cannot be saved by some giant advertising campaign. And they will be severely worsened, possibly to the point of collapsing the national economy, within the next 50 years. It has nothing to do with image. It has to do with individual behavior and national policy.

As Tornadoes at As I see Japan...from LA has been pointing out in recent posts, Japan is suffering from population decline. Not only that, but Japan's population is aging. This means that as the years pass, there will be less people working and more people retiring. Eventually there won't be enough taxes coming in to pay for all the "free" health care and welfare that is required.

There are two possible solutions:

(1) Japanese people need to have more children. This is the easiest way to increase the population and inject some new blood into the ailing economy.

(2) Ease immigration policies. This is obviously not happening.

As it is, the "cool Japan" movement, even if it were effective, can only boost tourism and sales of Japanese goods. What it needs to do is encourage immigration to Japan. And the Japanese government needs to allow for this. 

And so will Japan somehow weather the storm, or will it fade away into oblivion (in a cool way, of course)?

Don't ambulate in front of the ambulance!

There are many people who believe Japan to be a deeply polite society. I tend to agree that Japanese people tend to observe etiquette and courtesy to an extent that many Westerners don't. However I also think it's incredibly inaccurate to make such a categorical statement.

On one side, there are many green ex-pats who come over here with stars in their eyes and believe Japan can do no wrong. For some of these people, Japan remains a hidden paradise in a world of otherwise rude, uncultured, (barbaric?) people. They would tell you that in Japan, shop clerks are extremely polite and helpful; that Japanese government offices are way more efficient and friendly; and that bowing beats shaking hands any day!

On the other side, you have the jaded, reminding you that as soon as you get on the train, it's every man, woman, and child for himself; that Japanese people walk with their heads down so you have to move; that some Japanese are so insulated that they are surprised to learn that many foreigners not only can eat Japanese food but quite enjoy it.

What's important is to realize that both sides are right, and both sides are portraying just a part of the big picture. No matter where you go, people are people. Stereotypes are often based on shards of truth, and generalizations exist because in many cases they prove true. These days I find myself wrestling to control my urge to (mostly negatively) generalize, and I think it helps to remind myself of this.

What prompted this reflection?

Source: Wikipedia

Ambulances. Or most specifically, the behavior of people around them. It seems to me that many pedestrians in Japan feel that they exist inside a bubble. Not once, but twice this week I noticed an ambulance coming to an intersection with lights on and sirens blaring, only to have to slow down or stop at the crosswalk because someone was crossing at their own pace, paying no mind to the life-saving vehicle that may have been trying to bring an injured or dying person to the hospital. As soon as I hear an ambulance, it's almost reflex to stop and look around to see where it's coming from so that I don't accidentally saunter into its path. I haven't observed that kind of behavior in Japanese pedestrians.

Strangely Haunting

The text printed on a student's pencil case that I noticed today:

"He got married, bought a house, furnished it, and bought a writing desk and stationery, but found he had nothing to write."

Lonely Japan: Alcohol

This is the first part of a special series that I hope will span at least several posts. Some time ago, I asked a friend of mine who had lived in Japan for about a year to write about some of his experiences. I knew he had a number of interesting and colorful stories. He agreed, but asked that I post them anonymously, as he's moved past certain behaviors and doesn't want to be associated with everything that is past. Without further ado, here's part one of Lonely Japan.

-Paul

Lonely Japan
Part 1: Alcohol


The way everyone was talking you’d think it was Siberia cold. Every conversation I overheard involved an abuse of the word “samui” and a discussion of whether it was going to be cold again tomorrow, or how warm their coat was, or whether it was too cold to go to Disneyland. Maybe Japanese people just didn’t have much to talk about. Couldn’t fully understand what they were saying anyway and none of them were talking to me. I wasn’t cold; was already three deep in at that point. The can in my hand was down to the swill so I decided it was time to get off the train.


Don’t remember the name of the station but it was something on the Yamanote-sen, and pretty much every station has what I was looking for: the conbini. Now not every conbini has a very good selection of alcohol. Some are downright terrible. Anything connected to a station or in the shopping mall-like labyrinths connected to them (in my experience, whatever that’s worth) usually had slim pickings. Sometimes you find what I call a  super-conbini” that has an entire wall of alcohol. This was one of those. . .Into the conbini I went and headed straight for the wall of alcohol. First thing to do was to check and see what had the best alcohol to yen ratio. Can’t be drinking 350 yen Ebisu when the night is young and you are a poor exchange student. 500ml Chu-Hai were usually a good bet at around 8% and 250 or so yen, could get close to black out drunk without spending too much. Think I picked two out of the case to make sure I had more than enough.


Girl at the register was probably about 25, but I couldn’t really tell as I was intoxicated and/or I can’t ever really tell. I think our conversation went something like this:


Me: (In Japanese) How are you doing tonight?


Her: (Blank stare) …512 yen please


Me: It’s cold outside tonight right? Good thing my coat is warm.


Her: ...Thank you for coming in!


Me:( While taking my drinks and my change) Thanks for having me.


I wouldn’t want to have talked to me either. Back onto the train I went.


Part 2

Technically Right

Today it was my turn to give the students in my 2nd-year English class a lecture quiz. I talked to them about the good and bad points of cash and credit cards (something I've been thinking about recently). At the end of every quiz, the students have to take a ten-question quiz.

#8 read: "Do people spend more if they use cash or credit?" This was referring to the fact that studies find that people tend to spend at least 8% more money when using credit cards as opposed to cold, hard cash. One student's answer: "Yes, they do."

He's got me there, but...I'm the teacher, so he's wrong!

Throw the table

An interesting post by Eryk over at This Japanese Life about an unusual arcade game.

"Cho Chabudai Gaeshi" is a game in which you must pound a table. Preferably out of anger. While I've seen this one around, I have yet to try it. Generally I try to stay away from rage-inducing games, and something tells me this one could be bad.

Anyway, check out the post if you have a chance - the video is worth watching if you want to see a video game teacher flip a desk into a group of noisy students. And who doesn't, right?