Blogs from Tokushima, Japan, Asia - page 3

The "wa," or group harmony, is the feeling of collectivism which is fundamental to Japanese society. It means putting the needs of the group before your own, and acting according to your place to keep things running smoothly. Since I've been here, I've seen what I consider the "wa" at work in various ways, and I'm sure much of it has gone over my head. But what's really hit me is the immediate inclination people have to share rather than just do for themselves. Twice at lunchtime I've gone to a nearby bakery with one of my coworkers, and she must have noticed that I like chocolate chip muffins. Every time she goes there now she brings one back for me, and that little surprise has made my day every time. Whenever someone goes on a ... read more

Top Five Things that Entertain me in Japan: 5) The way a pitcher of water here is the size of an American glass of water, and the Starbucks has added a "short" size which is smaller than a tall (and so adorable). No wonder almost no one here is overweight. 4) The posh signs written in never-pluralized-English, such as a store that sells "book" or "movie" or "clothe," (okay I made "clothe" up but I wouldn't be surprised). 3) The dramatic parade music that is always blaring proudly at my grocery store. It makes me feel much more important as I'm picking out my tomatoes. 2) The cute little cartoons that sell every product, store and business in Japan - epecially the dog who bows to me when I finish using the ATM. Number One Entertaining ... read more

"Do you like eel?" asked one of my co-workers. "I don't eat anything with a face, remember?" "Oh, but they cut the face off first." This about sums up the general understanding of vegetarianism here in Tokushima. Some people are surprisingly knowledgable, asking me about the fish and chicken stocks used in soups. With the others, though, it's been a lively game of charades meets pictionary explaining every animal that I do not eat to the shocked faces and "wuhhh?" noises of my audience. I think it's part of my job as the token foreigner to be outright strange, which is actually pretty fun. The concept of what constitutes meat really is relative to the culture and the individual, as I was thankfully warned before I left the U.S., and as I discovered when my "no ... read more

Arasowaren means something like "no fighting," standing for international peace and understanding. This is the team which I and my fellow Tokushima JETs joined in dancing through the lantern-lined streets of Tokushima City for the annual Awa Odori dance festival, the second largest dance festival in the world. We wore Yukatas (a type of summer kimono) and proceded to butcher a traditional Japanese dance in front of hundreds (or even thousands?) of spectators, who mainly thought the whole thing was hilarious. I also couldn't help thinking it was pretty funny as I watched all of the strange, sometimes groovy, dance moves that were occurring to the beat of giant drums and shamisens. Some foreigners' interpretation of the Awa dance more closely resembled a broadway-style jazzy strut or (in the case of some dancing inept gentlemen) a ... read more

Day 1 So let's continue with Obon 2009. The next morning, my companion and I headed up, very early; like 7:30am early, to the Takamatsu train station to see what we could do to get on to Tokushima and the rest of our trip. We were met with the news that the trains still wasn't running to Tokushima. With this news in hand, we headed to the bus station, which seemed to be our only option, to see if they were still going to be running. Lucky for us, they were. We managed to get on the bus bound for Tokushima without any problems. The bus ride to Tokushima was really something. When your riding on the shinkansen, since your moving so fast, you are really just moving through the scenery and not really taking anything ... read more