September Round-Up

This morning there was a minor tremor while I was in class. My first earthquake experience in Japan was mild and uneventful to be sure, but now I can check that off the list.

The last few weeks have been rather eventful. Two weekends ago I went to Kyoto with a Japanese friend of ours who took us to a cool bar and a mediocre club. We drank some on the banks of the Kamo River beforehand. On Saturday nights on the promenade along the Kamo a troupe of fire-dancers used to perform over the summer; a jazz quartet has taken their place. The jazz music changed the atmosphere, instead of drumming and the sounds of the crowd the area feels more relaxed.

At one we went into the Hub Bar. The Hub caters to the expatriate population of Kyoto by creating a fake English pub atmosphere. I cannot help but be jaded to that sort of experience since most of the foreigners there are simply obnoxious. Since Japan seems to tolerate public intoxication more than America, the foreigners drink with a reckless abandonment of judgment. If I had not found Strongbow Cider and the Arsenal game on the TV I think I would have been much more miserable.

Around two everyone had finished the drinks at the Hub and we left to follow our stumbling guide down the street to a club our Japanese friends knew of. I found myself walking down a small side street populated by intoxicated Japanese shuffling between bars, clubs and love hotels. The club I was escorted to, ‘Sam & Dave’, from the outside looked awful. The line of boisterous, rude and surly Japanese and foreigners out front did little to convince me that this club was going to be worth my time or ¥2000. Once I was convinced we rode an elevator reeking of urine and vomit up to the second floor entrance.

My expectations were lowered still when the bouncer searched me for, I assume, weapons. However, the first floor of the club was actually nice. The first floor has a posh bar serving a good amount of American and European beer, some couches and billiards. The second floor was longer and narrower with some tables but predominately open space for the dancing. Any notions I had about Japanese fashion were thrown out the window. Most of the people were dressed like cheap extras in a music video, and the whole place smelled like sweat. However, it was hard to not enjoy myself with the light show and the music once I found someplace to not bump into sweaty Japanese and seedy foreigners. At about five we left the club, had breakfast at a corner restaurant and then made our way back to Hikone once the trains had started to run.

On Thursday my Japanese Economy and Business class took an eight hour trip to the Toyota headquarters in, of all places, Toyota City. Toyota city is an industrial town lacking the usual charm of small Japanese cities. During the factory tour the docent informed us that there are over a dozen Toyota factories surrounding the city in Aichi Prefecture. Nevertheless, the grounds of the factory and the museum we visited afterwards were meticulously clean, with well manicured landscaping. After visiting the museum designed to impress upon visiting employees the greatness of Toyota, my class went across the street to an office building to have an informal lecture with an American about his experiences with Toyota. The lecture was the high-point of the trip, since I was very interested to listen to what Mr. Ostreicher had to say about making the transition to the Japanese corporate lifestyle.

This past Saturday I went to Nagahama with Kelly, Adam, Austin, Kevin and Nathan. After leading a group of fourteen around Kyoto, the six of us made a much better group. It was a real delight to crack a beer at the train station and just relax. The weather has just turned cold, and on a bright fall day the cities are much more tolerable than the oppressive humidity of the summer. Nagahama is a tourist city, with a much larger shopping district than Hikone. Unlike Hikone, Nagahama is not a castle town. In 1600 the lord of the Nagahama castle was defeated, and the military presence left the town as Hikone became the regional power until the decline of the Ii in the late 1800’s. Therefore, Nagahama has a much more open and cheerful populace. Nagahama is also much more affluent than Hikone. The streets are cleaner, the landscaping more pleasing and the numerous canals are not consumed by green scum as in Hikone.

Overall my experience this semester is going very well. I’m close with less people, but the friends I have are excellent people and very adventurous. I’ve also gotten Kevin and Nathan to appreciate football, and we spent last Saturday at Yabs watching Liverpool and Manchester United games. Rich will be moving out towards the end of the month, and I’ll have the dorm to myself. Rich is a good roommate, and since he studies elsewhere I rarely see Rich until late at night or early in the morning. Otherwise I’m looking forward to getting a chance to return to the fencing stores I found in Kyoto.