Japanese Curry Rangers and a Weird Guy in Red

The yellow suited men in my previous post are the "Curry Rangers." I think they're a group of university students looking for extra cash. It would be scary if it were more than that... There were five of them representing chicken, pork, beef, shrimp (and one more) flavors of curry. They danced to music, posed for pictures with kids and hit up the parents for donations. That's a Curry Ranger holding a money collection box in the picture above. Among readers here, the closest guess was Oyakodon Rangers, by Jurisenpai.

You may be familiar with the Power Rangers, but did you know there are many, many other groups of Rangers in Japan? I'm not an expert, but just for a quick background, the "Goranger" were the original Ranger group("go" means five). Like the "Gorangers" every subsequent ranger group has had five people, four male and one female, all clothed in tights of the same five colors and sporting visored helmets on their heads.

No, I didn't know this. A reader referred me to referred me to this site where you can explore the world of the "Sentai." Go there to learn all about 26 groups of Rangers. How long you spend there should roughly coincide with your need to turn off the computer and go searching for life outside somewhere. My wife mentioned that she recently saw a blurb on TV saying that many small towns in Japan have their own groups of Rangers. I think the point is to add to the identity of the town, bolster tourism, etc. Makes you go, "Hm."

As far as culture goes, Rangers illustrate an obvious fascination here with dressing up in costumes and assuming alternate identities, like the anonymous hero. It amazes me is that every group of Rangers dresses essentially the same (except for these Curry Rangers, who are parodying the "real" thing), and they come with complete histories (e.g., what planet they're from, what evil they're fighting, etc).

On a separate but related note, one of these days I'll finally get to Harajuku on a Sunday afternoon and post pictures of the people doing Cos Play (dressing up in costumes).

The guy in red above was just two cents short of a nickel. He thought he was funny. He would go up to women asking loudly, "Aren't you (famous name)!?" It was sort of funny for a moment, but then he'd repeat the question over and over; the women would back away nervously; kids started crying (ok, mine did); dogs started barking; crows started cawing. He lacked that sense of timing or inflection that sets comedians apart from....well, just a nut in red tights roaming around at the park.

Sempai Troubles in the Land of Harmony

The two pictures above make me wonder how often people pass each other on the street while trading text messages on their cell phones. I'll tell you about the guy in yellow (see my previous post) very soon. In the meantime, I wanted to post this before the story gets any older.

A week or so ago the news reported about a man who had allowed his sempai from work plus his two kids come and live with him. Moving in with the junior worker was a temporary solution for some problem or other. But apparently the time stretched out, and the sempai didn't leave. Who knows what hints and suggestions the younger man employed, but his sempai didn't act on the message that his welcome had worn out. The younger man was torn up inside, but he couldn't tell his sempai directly to leave.

You may or may not know this, but in Japanese culture the sempai relationship is very important. Usually, a sempai is a more senior classmate, co-worker or (other) group member. Once someone is your sempai, he/she is your sempai for life. My wife still refers to "my sempai from college" or "my sempai from the swim team" in the present tense. The junior worker owed his sempai certain respect and obligations. On the other hand, the sempai had a responsibility to give support and guidance to the junior worker. The junior worker was trapped in a contradiction.

So what happened?

Well, the junior worker took the sempai's two kids to some isolated place and killed them.

That strategy ultimately got both men out of the house.

Sorry if that hits you too hard, but I think it illustrates something about social harmony in Japan. This harmony rests on a shared sense of order and obligations with everyone giving, taking and playing their part. There are, of course, ways to resolve problems like the one above. But when things get tough, people are expected to endure (gamon). So beneath the calm surface of order and polite, smiling faces that you see, many people here have very difficult inner conflicts and even pain.

There's always more than meets the eye. More depth, more strength, more weakness, more good, more evil, more...

What's Going on Here? Ueno Park, Tokyo

Can you guess what's going on here? Leave your answers below by clicking on "Comment." The closest guess wins recognition on my next blog entry. By the way, no email address or personal information is required to leave comments here.

This past weekend we took the kids to Ueno Park in central Tokyo. "Ueno" means "upper" -- historically it was the "high city" where people of nobility and power consorted. Next to Ueno is "Shitamachi" (low city) which was (and is) a thriving, chaotic merchant area. These days the high and low have blended together. I remember reading a website that derided Ueno for being trashy and packed with homeless people. That's very true. It also has several of the best museum/galleries in Tokyo, a decent zoo with a Panda (more on that later), shrines, tacky rides, street performers and friendly pigeons. All in all, I think it's a great place to go on a Saturday in the summer and see ordinary people of all kinds living life!

I'll post more Ueno pictures in the next couple of days. By the way, I've decided to try to post shorter, more frequent blog entries. I personally like reading blogs that do it that way, so I'll try and make the change here.

Japan Photography Email List Ends

The Japan Photography email list ended today when the list owner suddenly pulled the plug and left in a huff. The successful email list('s owner) started to unravel recently after putting down a newcomer for his apparent unwillingness to shoot in the rain. Another list member, whose photography is even more experimental and who can cite even more famous photographers in a single breath, candidly put him in his place. Many readers privately cheered. Then a few days later the list owner gave a heavy handed response to someone else (an easier target) for giving effusive praise to Canon's DSLR's over Nikon (the list owner is a Nikon guy). But by this time, several others had grown tired of his arrogant manner. Someone even suggested he should apologize. That was it. So the email list is gone, and I must say I don't really miss the 20-30 emails a day in my in-box. Perhaps someone else with more aptitude for this (and humility) will start a new list, but the trick will be telling everyone how to sign up...

Truth, Documentary and Moore in Japan

Today we went to Ueno Park with the kids, and I shot 187 pictures. Here are some images from our trip to the Hakone area that I wrote about recently. The lower images are of a pair of massive metal gates built into a hillside. I don't know what purpose they serve, but they certainly added to the image of nature-metal-concrete that prevails in that place.

Thursday night I saw "Bowling for Columbine"on Japanese TV. "Bowling..." is an Academy Award winning documentary made by Michael Moore, who more recently released "Fahrenheit 911". This was my first Michael Moore documentary, and now I understand why he is such a compelling filmmaker. He very much wants to change popular perspectives and challenge Americans to act differently, and I respect him for it. In "Bowling for Columbine," Moore asks and ultimately fails to answer why violence is so pervasive in American society. But along the way he exposes cliched arguments that don't work and leaves a burden on viewers to come up with their own response and do something. Moore's personal agenda, by the way, is ok in my opinion. Documentaries are not "news shows" and Moore is NOT a journalist; his work is not subject to journalistic standards of objectivity. Many people are angry because Moore is obviously biased. But documentaries, at least the interesting ones, are made by people with something to say. They are (or should be) the fimmaker's best and honest attempt to document something significant. It's up to the viewer to gather other perspectives and then decide what to believe or reject.

But there's another problem. The average American -- or person anywhere, maybe -- is quite susceptible to authoritatively delivered information on screen. Moore knows this and makes the most of his powerful platform. The people running Bush' and Kerry's campaigns know about the power of media, too, and they also make the most of it. People need to sift through layers of IT and decide how to vote, what to think, what to do. But it's far easier to choose one person (Michael Moore, Rush Limbaugh, Bush, Kerry, your favorite blogger) and just accept whatever he/she says.

Apart from all this, I wondered how "Bowling For Columbine" would play in Japan. I'd say Moore's work confirms what most Japanese already believe; in fact, what most people outside the USA are coming to think. America hasn't fared so well in the eyes of the world these past 4 (or 24) years. I don't want to set myself up as a liberal OR conservative blogger. I don't think I fit either category well. I don't want to settle for mere ideology. I want truth that fleshes out in the crucible of real life, that's all.

Japan Trends: Marriage, Gas, Suicide, Remains

A friend sent me a list of Japanese trends and stats that I wanted to pass on. I don't know the source (or sources), so take everything with a grain of salt. Japan regularly shows you something old, something new, something you expect and something you wouldn't. Of course, what seems interesting or odd depends on where you're standing. Leave a comment if you have anything to add.

Price of regular gasoline in Tokyo: $4.00 per gallon

This summer police found the skeletal remains of a man in his apartment in a densely populated part of Tokyo. Newspapers dated 1984 in the room suggest he was dead for 20 years without anyone taking notice.

The rate of teenage girls having abortions doubled in just 5 years between 1995-2000.

Shinjuku is the world?s busiest train station, handling 3 million passengers DAILY. Just a few minutes away is Ikebukuro, the world?s second busiest station.

The population in Japan under age 15 has declined for 23 straight years.

Half of men smoke, 1 in 7 women smoke. Japan has over 600,000 cigarette vending machines.

Japanese are angry after discovering that many politicians who?ve been proposing higher Social Security premiums have themselves not paid into the system for years. One former prime minister didn?t make payments for 9 years. His reason: ?The pension system is too complicated.?

Suicides rose 7% last year to a new record high.

The average lifespan of a new house in Japan is 25-30 years, after which it is torn down.

80% to 90% of single women live with their parents, as do about half of the men in their 20s. Most pay little or no rent and do no housework.

Japanese are postponing marriage or avoiding it altogether. Weddings have dropped for two straight years. 54% of women in their late 20?s are single, and the number of single women in their 30?s has doubled in the past decade. About half of single women ages 35 to 54 have no intention to marry.

Our Family Onsen Vacation to Hakone

Saturday morning we woke up intending a trip by train to Ueno Park so the kids could go to the zoo. But it looked like rain, so we decided to drive to a ryokan (Japanese inn) at the foot of Hakone instead. I'm not sure how we came to that conclusion, but it involved meeting family there and all. We had to drive through Tokyo, but we figured traffic couldn't be too bad on a Saturday... Two hours after leaving home, traffic was barely crawling through downtown. We gave up on the direct route and circled around to take a back road. I really don't want to describe the whole driving part, but we drove and drove for hours and hours staring at car bumpers. We had arranged to meet friends for lunch half way at a point near Machida. They waited for a long time and finally went home. We didn't get there until after 3pm. We finally made it to the Ryokan just before 7pm. Hungry, tired, feeling guilty about keeping our kids strapped in car seats all day, wondering what we had been thinking and all that.

I've been to ryokans before, but I have to say that evening when I headed for the onsen (hot spring bath) I really appreciated the strangely restful atmosphere present in such places. I undressed, entered the onsen room (where the big bath is), and sat on a low stool to shower. You shower BEFORE entering the water. I think there was one other guy there, but we stayed in our own worlds. By the time I hit the water, I was reflecting on life. I talked to God a bit (just telling the story here), and let it all out. It was real good.

We all slept well and woke up late. In the morning, I discovered that the sliding door at the back of our room opens directly over a pond. We held onto the kids so they wouldn't fall out of the room, then enjoyed looking out over the giant koi swimming below us. That was nice, and I took the picture above. Breakfast wasn't great, which surprised me, but then I hit the onsen again. Afterwards, I was sitting on a stool trying to shave (with a plastic razor they provide, but I'm an electric shaver guy now...). Then I heard a woman's voice. As I looked in the mirror, I had a view of the main changing area. There was a guy standing in the middle of the room stark naked (a normal sight in such a place). But a cleaning ladies had entered the room, and I think she asked him if he needed a towel. He nonchalantly said, "Eh.." or something(which I took to mean that he was ok).

In the picture above you can see a view upstream from outside the ryokan. It's a pretty area, potentially, but if you look closely you'll see that the buildings are old and ugly. Sorry for anyone who doesn't like my choice of words, but that's how it is. The river is lined with concrete, the waterfalls are concrete, long pipes line both sides of the river (perhaps carrying hot spring water), and the hotels are boxes and oblong shapes all stacked together and appearing that they may collapse anytime. Concrete is everywhere. Did I say, "Concrete?" As I faced toward my own ryokan, I saw a torrent of water coming through cracks in the concrete wall lining the river. Normally, I would like to say water was "seeping" through the concrete, but this was much more like a stream pouring. Apparently, all that water makes it's way down the mountain sides, under the ryokan, through the concrete and into the river. Hmmm. I'm not an engineer, but I played with dirt and water when I was a kid and that didn't look right. But the ryokan has been there for a long, long, long time so all must be well.

Anyway, we felt pretty rested when we got in the car to, hmm, drive home. We stopped by a big, really wonderful park in Odawara. It was free, too! If you live near there, look for Wanpakuland (in hiragana). My kids got to feed goats, but pretty much all the cool things (like the pony ride and train) were closed (because it was raining a bit). We made it home in about three hours or so. Ah, well. At least we made a memory that we won't soon forget.

Growing Up in Two Cultures & Too Many Places

My daughter went back to Japanese preschool today. It was hard getting her to leave the house after a 2 month break in the USA this summer. Later in the day, I asked if the teacher had talked about the "undoukai" (a big sports and fun day that preschools always have) coming up next month. She replied, "I didn't understand anything she was saying."

My daughter is asking a million questions and saying a lot of things lately that make me smile, but some of the things she's said have left us feeling bitter sweet. A couple of days ago she asked my wife, "Am I English or Japanese." My wife replied, "Both." I added that very few kids get to be both English AND Japanese, and it's very special. She liked that, but being "both" comes with it's own challenges, benefits and losses. Isn't four years old a bit young to start asking questions about your identity? Or so I thought.

We're not just adjusting to the new language and culture. We moved around and traveled so often during her first three years. Two weeks ago, we visited our first home in Japan, which is in Yokohama. We saw the apartment building where we used to live, walked through the Tokyu mall where we used to escape the heat, and saw the park where she learned to slide. That evening she announced that she wanted to move back to Yokohama. Then a couple of days ago she reversed course and said she doesn't want to move again (we bit our lips at that). But the kicker was yesterday, when she asked, "Were we just borrowing our apartment in Yokohama?" What a strange thought... She followed that with, "Where is my house? Do I have a house?" That's a tough question to hear as a parent, especially when your sitting in your living room.

My wife lived in the USA for four years during elementary school, then returned to Japan and went to a Japanese cramming school to catch up on all the Kanji and Japanese education she'd missed. After graduating from a Japanese university she returned to the USA for graduate study. She had an identity crisis or two along the way but weathered it all well. It's remarkable, actually. I hope my daughters will be so strong and that we'll prepare them well for what's in store.