Blue / ブルー

"And once again, this weird sentiment...

This weird strangling sensation...

...It's the jealousy towards her that constrains me, that suffocates me and makes me speak so dryly towards Masami.

Deep down I know what this is."

I read Blue, a manga by Kiriko Nananan, last week.

A disclaimer before I write this: I don't consider myself to be a major fan of either manga or anime. Certainly not to the borderline-fanatical extent that some people can be, anyway. I don't know much about the different styles or genres and besides the glaringly obvious characteristics, I rarely differentiate between Japanese manga and Western style comics in terms of personal preference. However from time to time, I will come across a piece of work that isn't the overly melodramatic, colourful and flamboyantly distracting stuff that represents Japanese pop culture today and I can definitely appreciate it for the art-form that it is. 
Oftentimes, it is those things which don't try to stand out that are most deserving of attention.


Blue is a gorgeous example of this. Moreso because I wasn't expecting it to be and because I really only stumbled across it on a whim. I had been thinking recently about how Japanese pop-culture tends to idealise Japan and Japanese tradition which, in turn, can have a dramatic effect on an outsider's or even an inhabitant's perception of life here. That's definitely not to say that most aspects of Japan require idealisation and if anything, my posts in this blog would generally suggest the opposite. However, everyone knows all about how magical Kyoto, Tokyo and other cherry blossom-adorned cultural meccas of Japan can be. What about the lesser-known Japanese prefectures? Upon telling people that I would be heading to Niigata prefecture for the foreseeable future, there were more than a few raised eyebrows. Admittedly, excluding what I was able to glean from a few paltry wikipedia paragraphs, I came here armed with little to no information. As such, I can't help being curious about how Niigata is represented in the aesthetically pleasing medium of manga and anime. Fast-forward through many frustrating hours of google searching and I finally find a copy of Blue by Kiriko Nananan (miraculously) in English, about the only manga I could find with its setting in Niigata prefecture.

Taking place at a girl's high school in Niigata city (an hour and a half or so away from me), the narrative weaves in and around a delicate bond that has formed between two girls. It's sweet, simple and easily relatable to in stark contrast with the exuberant and often light-hearted story-telling route that manga usually takes.  On the surface a typical "coming of age" story, Blue replaces any of the expected ostentation with a gentle elegance, something as surprising as it is refreshing in such a tale. The unpretentious story is accompanied by artwork of a similar style; simple shading and bold lines, little in the way of backdrops and very plain but sensitive facial expressions. Bittersweet, realistic and brief (only being a single volume long) it stuck with me and I haven't been able to get it out of my head all week.

I actually hadn't intended to dedicate an entire entry here to writing about Blue but to be honest, a lot of what I got from it represents how I feel right now; about myself, about my future and about my experience in Japan so far. I wasn't even interested in discussing the plot to any great extent, I just wanted to highlight the straightforward story and the restrained artwork as an effective and empathetic portrayal of youth in Japan without trying to (or really needing to) sugar-coat reality. 


Turns out that Japanese youth, while occasionally sporting bizarre spiky hair-dos and frankly terrifying coloured contact lenses, are just as mundane and afraid of the future as the rest of us!

雪国在住

Living in Snow Country


雪やこんこ 霰やこんこ
降っては降っては ずんずん積る
山も野原も 綿帽子かぶり
枯木残らず 花が咲く

雪やこんこ 霰やこんこ
降っても降っても まだ降りやまぬ
犬は喜び 庭駈けまわり
猫は火燵で 丸くなる

---------

The snow falls densely, the hail falls densely!
It's falling and falling, collecting more and more.
The mountains and the fields are also wearing their cotton hats,
and in every tree flowers bloom.

The snow falls densely, the hail falls densely!
It's still falling and falling, never stopping.
The dog is happy, running around the garden,
the cat is curled up under the kotatsu.

Perhaps you might remember this blogger's favourite Torii Gate from  one of my earlier posts. Only, back then, it wasn't blanketed in about 2 feet of snow.

From sweltering heat to blizzards, when it comes to the spectrum of extreme weather conditions, Japan only ever seems to be at one end or the other.

The snow didn't just fall lightly at first before gradually increasing in density, it literally started cascading out of the sky in silent sheets one random day in December, not stopping for at least a day or two. Such seems to be characteristic of the winter climate here. It could be a perfectly nondescript, overcast day and before you know it everything is transformed in a matter of minutes as the world becomes saturated with white.

I have never seen so much snow in my life. I can't help but laugh when I consider that Ireland pretty much declares a state of emergency under a centimetre of frost. In Japan, it's going to take more than four to six feet of snow to get in people's way! Sure, trains were late (which, by Japanese standards, is certainly saying something!), roads were made impassable and people have had to shovel their way in and out of their homes. Yet, at the same time, work hours remain as usual, schools stay open, shops/cafes/restaurants are all open and I don't think I have witnessed a single, notable snow-related road accident. People here just get on with their lives. Snow falls. It makes getting from point A to point B a hell of a lot more difficult but you deal with it one way or the other. As much as I would have appreciated a Snow Day or two, I am constantly finding myself staggered by the Japanese resolve.

Whereas some people have (perfectly justifiable) complaints about the snow in respect of driving conditions and having to shovel one's car out of every parking space, this simply wasn't an issue for me and with the freak blizzards and frankly insane road conditions, I found myself, for the first time since arriving in Japan, grateful to not have a car.

Living here in winter was perhaps one of my major anxieties about moving to Japan. Particularly this part of Japan, with it's extreme weather. I have constantly been reminded at every juncture that I will find the winter particularly difficult because I don't have a car but to be honest, I've found it to be the opposite! Of course, I've still relied on my friends here for rides to and from various places but nonetheless I have enjoyed walking to work in the morning through the snow. It certainly beats walking in the rain! And after work, there was nothing more satisfying than bundling up in jumpers and a scarf and walking through my neighbourhood to do some shopping or reading at the nearby café. After dark (which comes pretty early in the day here..), people refuse to leave the warmth of their homes unless they really need to, so walking around outside in the snow was truly a surreal experience. If it wasn't for the soft glow of light from people's windows and the smell of dinners being prepared, Naoetsu might very well have been one of those traditional ghost towns. I find there's something rather strange about the snow, in that it effectively mutes or dulls all sound. Walking around out there, I truly felt like one of the last people on the planet. It wasn't an uncomfortable feeling by any means. It was just a very distinct atmosphere, one of the many aesthetic attributes that seems to be as much a part of Japan as the people or the landscapes are.

So, I made it through the winter. It wasn't any more of a trial than the inhumane heat of summer was and I am going to miss many aspects of the cold season; the wooly jumpers, reading books under my kotatsu, hot drinks and of course, snowboarding. However, I won't lament the melting snow for long. Not only will I soon be able to replace my snowboard with a surfboard but if the past few crisp, sunny days are anything to go by, spring is on the way. If there is one part of any season in Japan that is expected to be rock your world, it is Spring; Sakura season. Cherry-blossom viewing is perhaps one of the most valued and beautiful cultural traditions in Japan.

Just so happens I live in one of the top three places in the country for viewing them!
So stay tuned.

お久しぶり

I've finally bitten the bullet and crawled out from the depths of a rather.. uh.. lengthly hiatus.

The reasons for that hiatus are plenty: 
1 part writer’s block, 1 part laziness and 2 parts trying to strike some sort of balance between the seemingly perpetual ups and downs of my job. I can now say with some degree of confidence, however, that I have achieved the latter. It only took me, what? Seven months? Before Christmas, I seemed to be stuck in a continuous rut of climbing over one hill only to be presented with a higher, more treacherous mountain. It was stressful and there were a few points where I questioned if I had done the right thing in coming here but thankfully, things have leveled out since then. I have a great relationship with most of coworkers and students, I'm more used to the Japanese education system and I actually feel like I belong here, teaching in high school.

In any case, I’m about as accustomed to life in Japan as I am ever going to be without being fluent in the language, so I’m content.  As such, I’ve recontracted with my job here for another year, effectively postponing any responsible life-choice making that has to be done until at least 2012. Neat!

I simply don’t think the I have the mental capacity right now to give a lengthly synopsis of what has happened since my last post, I hope you will settle for a run-down of the last few months in bullet-form to break this blog back into a pattern of consistent updates.

• Befitting it's title of "雪国" (Yukiguni - Snow Country), Niigata's winter was truly bitter and brought with it a ridiculous, ridiculous amount of snow. However, it has come and gone and all that remains now are residual layers of snow and ice, soon to be a slushy mess if the recent increase in temperature and sunlight is anything to go by.

•  With the snowfall, I have discovered a new passion in life: Snowboarding. Didn’t expect to take to that as much as I did but one thing led to another and it’s now February and I don’t think there has been a single weekend in which I haven’t hit the slopes at least once. I’m disappointed to see the end of the snow-sports season, but one must remember that I live on the beach. And at the beach there are waves. And on waves one can surf. From one board to another.

• Where the heck did 2011 spring out of?  I spent my Christmas and New Year’s break in Tokyo with some friends, it was an exhilarating and exciting way to herald the new year before returning back to the placid teacher’s life in Joetsu. As fun as that trip was and as much as it reminded me how much I miss living somewhere that’s actually... happening, it also reminded me of how much I can appreciate the quiet life, too. I just have to accept that I can’t have it all.

• New Years Resolutions: So far, the only one I have actually been sticking to without much complaint is my “read 1 book every week” resolution. I’ve definitely enjoyed getting back into the swing of reading and have come across some fantastic books that have served to remind me what I miss out on each time I decide to just pass out after work instead of picking something up from my bookshelf before bed. I might post a review or two of some books that especially stick out in my mind.

If I had a yen for every time I expressed my bewilderment at how quickly time slips buy, I probably wouldn't need this job. That I have managed to sum up the last 4 or 5 months in not even that many bullet points is certainly saying something.  But enough of that. 2011, for me, is about living in the present. I want to enjoy each moment as it comes, as opposed to enjoying the occasional moment and then spending the rest of my free time lamenting the passing of those moments.  That's what this blog is for; preserving the things that I want to remember. 

Here's hoping that, by the end of 2011, I will have a fine collection!

How Miso Soup Saved My Life

I’m pleased to report that there haven’t been any more signs of the earthquakes that dominated my last entry and the warnings that were set in the Joetsu region for the past 2 weeks have been lifted. It doesn’t mean there won’t be any more but everyone is going about their lives as if nothing happened, so I'm not going to be worrying.

Regardless, I reckon we’re due a slightly less dramatic entry this time round, eh?

A lone ishidoro looks out over Joetsu and the Japan Sea from the summit of Yoneyama

A few weekends ago, I was invited by a teacher in one of my visit schools to attend a hiking trip up Yoneyama mountain, a not insignificant 1000 metre bump in the road straddling the border of Joetsu and neighbouring city; Kashiwazaki. I absolutely love hiking and there’s never any harm in spending a bit of time getting to know coworkers, so I took the opportunity and agreed to go in anticipation of a wholesome day of exercise and cultural integration.

However, the trip didn’t get off to as smooth a start as I would have liked…

Meanwhile... back on Terra Infirma

I might as well accept that by coming to Japan, I have signed a contract robbing me of ever having a decent lie-in again. After having spent the previous day climbing Yoneyama mountain, not too far from where I live, I figured I deserved a good night’s sleep and the chance to spend Sunday morning in bed. So, imagine my chagrin upon being woken up at 6am by what I initially thought was a truck crashing through the wall of our building. The entire building was shaking and I could hear the sound of things falling from shelves in the kitchen and bathroom. The shaking continued for a few seconds and I knew that this was something a little bigger than a wayward truck.

I have never experienced an earthquake in my entire life and haven’t the slightest idea what the correct procedure is in the event of one so I figured that the logical course of action at the time was to just stay exactly where I was. I didn’t want to get under a table because I have heard that the only reason you are told to do that is so that when the building collapses on you, you have something protecting your body until you are dug out of the rubble. The alternative was to run outside into the carpark, which is nice and open but this also presented the obstacle course of electrical cables and other tall structures that could have fallen on top of me. Neither prospect seemed particularly appealing at the time and before I had to make a life or death decision, the tremors stopped. I didn’t have any time to relax, however, as another quake began about 15 minutes later. This time, I jumped up and put some clothes on. If my mangled corpse is going to be dragged out of the rubble of a collapsed building, it’s going to be dressed appropriately! (Well, more appropriate than striped pyjamas, anyway...) By the time I had made myself look somewhat decent and was about to make a run for the perceived safety of the carpark, the quake stopped. I cautiously made my way back into the sitting room before promptly falling asleep again. I got about an hour of sleep before I was woken up to the house shaking for a third time. I packed my bag and was about to get the hell out of there but it stopped again. After it stopped, my phone got an area-alert mail warning us about the incoming earthquake. A bit late there, I thought. I turned on the tv, managing to discern nothing from the Japanese news presentation other than that my city was the epicentre and the quake measured about a 5 on the Richter Scale. 

Taken with my mobile phone: The red 'x' is positioned over my city

As surreal an experience as it was, I'm not too worried about the situation, for a few reasons:

• I'm no seismologist but after a small bit of research, it would seem that a series of smaller earthquakes would lessen the chance of one, spontaneous "big" earthquake. Something to do with the gradual release of tectonic pressure. This makes sense, you can imagine that if the pressure that was released in three or four moderate earthquakes were released in a single quake, then the Richter measurement might be slightly higher than 5!

• My area is used to earthquakes and has already had two devastating earthquakes in the neighbouring areas of Kashiwazaki and Nagaoka in 2004 and 2007 respectively. So, the people and the buildings here are well-euipped to withstand another one, should it happen again.

What about you? Are you used to earthquakes where you come from, is this all a daily affair for you? If so, what precautions would you advise and what exactly is the best course of action should you find yourself in an earthquake? I really don't have a clue myself and get the impression I'll be running on instinct should it happen again. The majority of the time it seems to be a matter of luck, just hope that you are in the right place at the right time.

Either way, an earthquake is a friggin' earthquake! It's such a helpless and bizarre feeling, knowing that the entire planet is in turmoil beneath your feet and there is nothing you can do to stop it or escape from it. I'm definitely glad to have experienced not just one but three of them, simply to be able to say that I have but once is enough! There is still an air of tension around here and a lot of people I have spoken to suspect that it isn't over yet. At random intervals throughout the day, I am shocked to find myself wondering "What would I do if an earthquake were to happen right here, right now?" and I'll look around for a suitable safe spot, before chiding myself for my paranoia. Worse things than earthquakes could happen anywhere, at anytime. The most pro-active thing to do is what all the locals here seem to be doing; just go about your life as before, as if nothing had happened.

Hopefully I won't have to follow this entry up anytime soon but just in case... stay tuned!

Diamond in the Rough

Things have been tipping away at a nice steady pace here in Joetsu for the past month now. I am still shocked at how busy I am with work and other extra-curricular responsibilities but instead of every day being a completely unpredictable mess of lesson plans, teachers and classes I am unused to, things have evened out and I am beginning to develop a routine. However, I am doing everything in my power to separate work from life and with each passing week, living here grows on me more and more. So, yes, I have been very busy. As tiring as that can be, it has given me plenty of motivation to actually do something with the coveted free time that I do get. Last week for example, I had a few national holidays scattered throughout the week. I decided to combine those with a few days of Nenkyu (paid leave) in order to get a nice full week of just chilling out. For the latter half of that week, me and two of my friends here in Joetsu decided to take a road trip down south towards Osaka.

Sunset on the Osaka Skyline - Man, how I've missed obscene advertisements plastered over the side of skyscrapers..

Engrish!

I don't think it's possible to write a blog about any sort of experience in Japan without at least having some sort of feature post on that most pervasive of linguistic phenomenons: "Engrish"

Being an English teacher, I certainly empathise with some of the difficulties that Japanese speakers of English might have with certain pronunciations. Most infamously, this is especially the case with certain consonants like "l" and "r". Unfortunately, this is simply because such sounds do not exist in the Japanese language itself. Trying to teach these differences is a frustrating and seemingly futile task. Admittedly, I've come close on several occasions to just replacing all the words in some of my class activities with words like "lever", "ruler", "river", "label" or "Oprah" just for the heck of it but that would be torturous for everyone involved and I would probably be fired.

Anyway, it is inevitable that such difficulties often lead to the amusing application of English in everyday situations. However, it is likely that in most of these cases it's not because the person responsible has ever studied English at all but just because they are utterly inept with a dictionary:

Lost in Translation?

Perhaps only my Irish readers will find this particular instance fanny (lolz!! For those not of a vulgar persuasion, the urbandictionary.com entry shall enlighten you.)
In hindsight, its hilarity was probably just emphasised by the few hours of nomihodai (all-you-can-drink) Karaoke that preceded the revolutionary discovery of ABBA medleys on the Karaoke machine.

Either way, Engrish will never get old.

(I say that now but I give myself a week of working with students who are adamant about using such words as "revelation" in their speeches...)