RETURN TO OZ, MORE JAPANSE TV, WEIRD CULTS, STREET VENDORS!

20 Nov 95

Airport

It’s been so long since my last letter that I guess everyone’s past wondering what’s happened to us and when the next letter will be, and you’re all probably sitting there reading this thinking ‘who are these people?’  Well, to refresh your memories Spike (the cute one in the family, currently less one scruffy beard) took a job with NTT in Japan and Maria (the interpreter) went along for the fun of it!

When we last left our readers, our intrepid adventures were; playing games in the first snow of the year; carrying shrines around town; juggling; playing Santa; visited by Princess Di; enjoying Japanese TV; martialarting and looking forward to a trip back home. 

The long awaited fun-filled holiday back to OZ eventuated in late April, however it didn’t tur

Mari experiencing
an Aussie Dunny!

n out to be the kind of holiday we’d like to repeat.  A few days before our holiday we realised that I was in the very early stages of pregnancy, but decided to go ahead with our planned trip.  About 4 days into the holiday we found out the hard way, that once again things weren’t looking good for us.  I had to be rushed to the doctor with heavy bleeding.  After several tests and several days of bed rest it looked like I was still pregnant, but had miscarried one of the twin foetuses that I was carrying.  We tried to make the best of what was left of our holiday, but I was unable to move around much for fear of losing the other twin. We had to make a difficult decision at the end of our trip as the doctor I was seeing in Brisbane told me that since I was still bleeding it would be very risky for me to fly back to Japan, but we felt the stress I would go through being on my own in Australia without Spike, would be worse.  In the end we both flew back and everything went OK.

Mari and Ryu in Wollongong.

We thought that our problems would be over once we were back in Japan, but I was told that I had to have bed rest for as long as I continued to bleed if we wanted to keep the baby.  Well, it ended up being over 3 months before I could get up out of bed and move around.  I don’t think we need to say how utterly boring and stressful this was for me.  Thankfully I wasn’t in hospital and had Spike at home at nights to once again be my ‘Florence Nightingale’.

Up until then (end of July) the baby seemed to be doing fine, however through a fairly routine test we found out that there was an extremely high possibility that our baby had either a chromosomal defect (ie Downs Syndrome) or a neural tube defect (ie Spia Bifita) or both.  Once again, after we’d just started to relax, our lives were in turmoil again.  To find out for certain if these defects were present, we had to make a tough decision as to whether to have an amniocentesis performed.  Using ultrasound so as not to hit the baby, a needle was inserted through my abdomen into the baby’s amniotic sack and some of the fluid was drawn out.  This would also once again put the baby at risk through miscarriage (1 in 200 chance).  It was an even more difficult decision to make as the baby finally looked human and was now big enough that I could feel it’s movements.  The operation went well with no complications (except that the baby was moving around heaps during the procedure and the doctor had to insert two needles in me as the baby moved right under the first needle).  After an excruciatingly long 3 weeks wait, we found out that there seemed to be no abnormality present.  We were told that there was no explanation for the high results in the previous blood tests, but that this kind of thing happens occasionally. The feeling of relief and joy that we felt is difficult to explain but after all we had gone through, it felt like we’d been holding our breaths over the past four months and suddenly we’d taken that first sweet breath of fresh air (well, fresh for Tokyo air anyway.  J

That brings us up to the present.  The baby still seems to be doing fine and we are pretty much going about our lives as normal.  Of course there are no guarantees where babies are concerned and we won’t know for certain if everything will be Ok until it is born (around about Christmas).  It’s hard not to have any doubts or concerns, but we take on day at a time and try to be as positive as possible and try to live as we always have.



Spike with NTT Kendo Club Members.

Needless to say, after several months of constantly being in bed I have totally lost any fitness I had and gained in it’s place lots of, how should I put it...condition.  Spike often says that he wishes we lived closer to the seaside so that he can play with his new beach ball!!  Sensitive husband huh!!  After finally getting up the courage to start Karate, and getting to the stage where I was really getting into it, I’ve had to give it up (for now).  In the last couple of weeks I’ve just re-started swimming to try and regain some form of fitness before the birth and of course there are also my prenatal exercises.  There’s no chance of losing weight whilst I’m pregnant, so the hard work will have to start after the baby is born.  Spike on the other hand is still as active and sports crazy as ever.  On top of his normal sports hit during the week; karate 3 times/week, Kendo twice a week, table tennis twice a week and tennis once a week, he’s also recently been to; a Kendo summer camp for a weekend, mountain climbing and a Karate tournament.  As it was his first competition he had some reservations about it but in typical Spike fashion, he was very successful.  He ended up taking third place in the competition, surprising most people, especially himself.  All he suffered in the end was a split lip, black eye and sore jaw.  Not too bad considering he was wearing a face protector at the time!!

I guess one of the most talked about events in Japan over the past few months has been the Aum Shinrikyo religious cult activities.  The gassing incidents (two) and attempts, several murder allegations (one, a whole family), assassination attempts, weapons dealing, weird cult practices and literally hundreds more illegal activities.  To be totally callous, I think the Japanese mass media was grateful when the story broke on the cult.  I don’t know what would have kept the media in business had it not been for the cult after the Kobe Earthquake news started to go stale.  The number of “Wide” (see glossary) and similar style newsy shows on TV here are too numerous to count and I’m sure that the number has grown recently due to the cult.  These shows thrive not only on the Aum cult, but gossip about other ‘talents’ (see glossary) and politicians – a big business here.

Of all the cults bizarre practices, one I find interesting is the hot water trial.  This is where a person is submerged into a bath full of boiling water.  I can’t remember if this is part of an enlightenment process or if it’s punishment but it is alleged that several people, notably an 80 year old woman, have perished this way.  The reason I find this interesting is that most Japanese do this voluntarily when they go for a holiday to a hot springs resort!  In water so hot that I can barely put my toe into, the Japanese sit around in up to their necks for half an hour or so, supposedly relaxing.  Actually, I have to admit that I did enjoy one hot spring we went to a while back, but it wasn’t because of the water temperature, it was the location of the pool itself.  It was partially outside with only three walls surrounding it and the view of the mountains was fantastic.  It was the first time I’d taken a bath naked outside and was quite a weird sensation.  For Spike who has a tradition of streaking (yep! Running naked) outside every house we’ve ever lived in (that’s quite a few), I’m sure it was quite boring.  Actually I’m dreading the day he decides to streak in Japan because our stairwell has 5 other families in it and they all have children who could pop out of their apartments at any time!  He has promised me though, not to attempt it until the day we leave Japan so that if he’s sprung we can flee the country before he’s arrested.  And you always thought he was a shy, innocent young thing didn’t you!

Getting back to baths, there is one more bath related activity I’d like to talk about before we leave the subject.  Get your minds out of the gutter please!  I know I’ve spoken about weird Japanese television programs several times before, but please indulge me.  There is a program on Sunday afternoons that has several strange segments but the one involving a bath is quite unique.  It’s ostensibly a commercial spot where anyone can write in and ask to have a chance to win some free publicity. The conditions are that you either be a slim, goodlooking young woman, a group of slim, goodlooking young women, or a bloke with a group of slim, goodlooking young women.  Next the participants (the chosen few or ‘poor suckers’ as I call them) usually the slim goodlooking young women (getting the idea yet?) have to change out of their clothes into a pair of swimmers.  The way this is done is, a potable change room (a hoop with a curtain hung around it large enough to hold one person but often has two people assigned to it) is placed in the middle of the room and the individual or couple have to change out of their clothes and in to the swimsuit inside it, in front of the audience.  There is one condition, if the person hasn’t changed in 60 seconds, the change room curtain falls down and reveals them in whatever state they are in.  If it looks like they are not going to be ready, the host throws them a towel but of course it’s difficult to cover everything up, so they end up blocking out the offending bits before the show airs.  Of course the studio audience gets the full picture, and I’m sure I don’t have to say, that it’s full of men!!

Now, on to the bath.  After they’ve managed to change into swimmers they are escorted over to this bath that is full of boiling water and what they have to do is jump in and see how long they can stay in it for.  The number of seconds they can stay in the bath up to their necks dictates the number of seconds they have for their live commercial afterwards.  They have two attempts and on average these people chalk up about 6-8 seconds!  If the other members of their team are real bastards, they actually hold them down in the water and don’t let them up!! Of course there’s crushed ice in a bucket outside the bath for them to rub on themselves afterwards, but I don’t think this helps much.  Usually after the second attempt when these poor suckers emerge they look like they belong on a plate at the ‘Red Lobster’ restaurant.  The things people will do for some free publicity!  Perhaps I should also say, the things people will watch for entertainment!  Blows the mind Huh!  Of course we only watch these programs to study and document them for academic purposes!

The longer we live in Japan, the harder it is to write of the weird and wonderful aspects of everyday Japanese life which initially fascinated us.  Occurrences which have prompted many paragraphs in previous ‘Adventure’ editions, which I trust have entertained you all (what else is this for if not to entertain! J ).

Over the past month or so, I have attempted to view Japan as we did in the beginning; noticing everything and looking at everyday life here through an outsiders eyes, as if seeing things for the first time.  The following are some brief descriptions of what I saw....

Buses

I think Japanese bus drivers must be, in general, the most courteous drivers in the world. This may sound biased, however, how often have you sat in a bus in Australia and had the bus driver say to you over the microphone, “Hold on no, I’m about to take off”, or “I’m going to turn left, hold on please”, or “Hold on now, I’m about to break.  Be careful.”  No, I have ridden in enough buses in Canberra and Brisbane to know that this is not a daily or even a once in a lifetime occurrence.  The most warming you have as to when the bus is going to break, is when the back of someone elses head slams into your face or if you manage to get a seat, someone’s bum ends up in your face.  Also if you’re not as quick as greased lightning when you’re getting off the bus, the doors either slam in your face and you have to wait till the next stop or you get some part of your anatomy caught in them and you hear a shout from the driver to hurry up and get out!  Remember I speak from experience.  Ok, I admit that not every bus drive in Japan is quite so polite, but the majority are.

The other convenience on all Japanese buses is that there is usually a polite recorded announcement by a Japanese lady informing you of the name of the next bus stop and thanking you for riding the bus.  Of course it’s in Japanese, but for us it is a godsend.

Water

No this is not about how clean or unclean Tokyo’s water supply is, but about the Japanese tradition of serving bottomless cups of free water to every customer in restaurants, whether you want it or not. When you are seated the first thing that the waitress does is to plonk a cup of ice water and a clean wet face washer on the table in front of each customer.  Then the menu.  Throughout your meal, whether you order other drinks or not, the water is topped up at regular intervals. (Present day...how strange, nearly every restaurant in OZ does the same now, but was a big deal back in 94...lol)  This may not sound earth shattering, however when you consider that in Australia you may have to pay for a glass of water it’s a nice surprise!

One of the most surprising cases of this I experience only this week, when I had lunch at KFC in Kichijoji.  It’s very rare that we eat junk food, mainly due to the fact that there aren’t any joints close to where we live J.  But on this day I was in Kichijoji shopping and on the spur of the moment decided to dine at the colonels.  After ordering I listened to the obligatory “do you want a drink with that?” and politely said “no” (when really I’m thinking “If I’d wanted a damn drink I would have said so!!”).  Well, what do you know, when I was given my order there was a large cup of drink with it.  Thinking it was a mistake and that it was someone elses drink, I almost said something but thought ‘what the heck it’s their mistake.’  In the end I decided not to and when I sat down to my meal I realised it was a complimentary ice water.  I don’t normally drink anything with a meal but have something afterwards, but as this was a stinking hot summers day the free ice water was a nice treat.

No, It’s not Mr Whippy – It’s Mr Baked Sweet Potato Man

Mr Whippy!  Every Aussie has sweet memories of rushing out in the heat of summer the sound of ‘Green sleaves’, or some such tune, and grabbing an ice cream of Mr Whippy on a Sunday arvo.  Well, there are no Mr Whippys in Tokyo, however all through winter here, you can hear Mr Baked Sweet Potato slowly making his way around the streets selling freshly coal baked sweet potatoes out of his smoking cart. He doesn’t play music but tells you in a sing song voice over a microphone that his sweet potatoes are fresh and coal baked.

I remember as a kid coming home from my high school in Japan (often around 6pm after a kendo training) on a dark, freezing winters evening and grabbing a sweet potato as a snack.  Now, one of my fondest memories of  living in Japan as a kid.  I can imagine him pulling his little wooden cart by hand around the muddy streets of ancient Japan (B. M – Before MacDonalds) J, bringing a warm smile to his customers faces.

As well as roaming baked sweet potato carts, there are also roaming:

          Tofu vendors

          Knife sharpeners

          Organic food grocers

          Bakers

          Fermented bean paste vendors

          Clothes pole (as opposed to line) vendors

All of which announce at mega-decibels, their arrival, with either a particular recorded tune, trumpet or sing-song voice recording informing you of their product.  And no, the Japanese have no concept of noise pollution, but more on that later. 

Also, on any Tokyo road at any given time, you are almost guaranteed to see a ‘Takkyu bin’ van or delivery van.  The country runs on them!  They deliver anything from a box of apples to someone, to a whole household of goods (i.e. removal service).  Probably the most common use of this service is to deliver boxes of in-season fruit or vegetables from someone’s parents in the country to their house in Tokyo.  The service is very reliable, very fast and very cheap!  It’s cheaper for these people to have these sent to them than to buy them in Tokyo!!   Incidentally, the ‘Takkyu bin’ delivery men are incredibly conscientious, running everywhere, often running up and down several flights of stairs to deliver their parcels.

OK, back to the noise pollution.  Our apartment, as I have said before, is quite nice and large compared to a lot of Tokyo’s apartment buildings and we rarely have cause to complain.  However, there is one problem which has to do with the location of the apartments.   I mentioned in a previous newsletter that it is very conveniently located on a main road near a large supermarket, Spike’s office, a bus interchange, hospitals, Denny’s Restaurant, our friends houses and more importantly, the video store! J  As a result of this at times it can be VERY noisy!  Say between 12 midnight and 12 midnight!!  No, that’s not a typo.  All day and night!

It took some time but we have finally gotten used to the traffic noise, except for when an ambulance passes in the middle of the night.  Not only does it have a blaring siren, but the guy sitting next to the driver always has a microphone and screams at the top of his voice at cars in front of him to pull over and let him pass or tells everyone in which direction he’s going to turn next.  During the middle of the day this is tolerable and I guess understandable, but at 2 or 3 am it’s a just a joke!  When it first happened we thought we’d been mysteriously transported into an old Godzilla movie, that he was once again attacking Tokyo and that we all had to evacuate the city!

The most recent of our problems is road work.  Since Tokyo roads are too narrow and too frequently used during the day, closure or even partial closure for construction is just not an option in some cases.  Unfortunately, this is the case with the road in front of our apartment.  So, instead of working on them during the day when traffic is heavy, those kind, considerate men on the road work team start their work when there are fewer cars on the road.  Yep, you guessed it, at around 10pm!  By the time they get around to using their jackhammers and heavy machinery to tear up the roads it’s midnight and they continue until 2 or 3am!  So at around midnight for about 4 weeks now, we have been kept wide awake by the sound of jackhammers, huge saws, machines that crush the chunks of old road into powder and dump it in a truck to be taken away.  The joys of living in one of the world’s largest cities!

One of the few outings we’ve had recently was a couple of weeks ago when Mari’s little boy Ryu and his ‘5 year old’ ceremony at a local shrine.  From the first of November until the 15^th of November, boys and girls around Japan have what is called their ‘7, 5, 3 year old festival’.  They dress up either in suits and western dresses or traditional Japanese Hakama and Kimono (the latter being popular these days).  They go along to a local shrine and have the priest bless them and pray for their health, happiness and success in the future.  Ryu was dressed in typical traditional Japanese formal dress and Mari even had his hair put up into a kind of pony tail on top similar to how Samurai used to wear their hair.  These days the only people who you see with their hair done like this are the sumo wrestlers.  When Spike and I saw Ryu  the day we were amazed at the resemblance between Ryu and the current champion sumo wrestler, ‘Takanohana’, when he is dressed in formal Japanese wear.  Those of you who saw Ryu in Australia will have no problem in understanding why (and he’s 6 months older now!!).

Well, although this letter has been a little different to my previous letters, I hope you enjoy it.  Due to my confinement (no straightjackets involved, honest!) and our general situation over the past few months, it lacks the many little exciting adventures in Japan that filled many a page in previous newsletters.  However, the biggest adventure is yet to come!! around Christmas day!!  It will be the biggest event in our lives to date and of course we are terribly excited and scared out of our wits!!

If time (and the baby) permits, I would like to write another newsletter at the beginning of next year.  It will probably be full of boring baby details, but I’ll try to include some gory bits to keep you interested.  If all goes well, the next time you hear from me, Spike and I will be MUM and DAD and we’ll have the best souvenir of Japan ever!!  I hope you are all happy and healthy and stay that way!

Glossary

‘Talent’ – pronounced Tah-ren-toh) – applies to anyone who appears on one of the hundreds of TV quiz, chat, game, wide shows).  This person could have become a talent through being an actor, singer, sportsperson, model, comedian, artists, novelist, reporter, dancer, lawyer, famous chef, after appearing in a commercial, being another talents spouse/lover/sibling/child.

‘Wide Show’ – (pronounced Wah-ee-doh shoh) – are shows basically gossip programs but have a small amount of news content.  Instead of having just one announcer they have a panel of 6 to 8  people who sit around giving their three bobs worth after each story.  These people of course are just ‘talents’ who may have no expertise as a journalist and offer no further information, but are there to bring a bit of humanity to the program with a few laughs or tears where appropriate.  They are there to present the average Joe’s (or should I say Tatsuo’s) point of view.  These shows are usually called something like ‘Super Wide’ or ‘Mega Wide’.

Love Maria and Spike

FIRST SNOW, FESTIVALS, THAT'S ENTERTAINMENT, PRINCESS DI, JAPANESE TV, GUARDMEN!

23 March 95

Yes, once more there has been an upgrade in the Barlow/Liondis household in the letter writing apparatus department.  Spike was given a computer recently by his boss, so that he would be able to ‘work’ from home when the mood takes him.  Well, if you consider letter-writing, news-reading and game-laying work, well then it’s nonstop work in this household!  Actually, now that Spike is able to do these things at home, his output at work has definitely increased, and so it all works out in the end.

Since the last time I tapped away at a keyboard and tried my best to relate to our loved ones our experience of living in Japan, many things have happened in our lives and a lot of time has also passed.  I can hardly believe we have been here for almost a year!  Shortly after my last letter, Spike and I had a bit of bad luck.  Specifically, I had a miscarriage.  I caught a bad flu as well as having tonsillitis while I was pregnant, which resulted in a fever of over 40 and me being hospitalised for a week.  I recovered eventually, but we lost the baby.  It was a big shock and took a lot out of both of us, as I was at home in bed for about a month.  As always, Spike was a pillar of strength and my wonderful Florence Nightingale! J  This all took place from the beginning of October till the beginning of December, and as you can imagine, our lives at this time were very basic.  At last though, our lives are back on track and we are back to a relatively normal existence, stronger than ever!

So now I guess it’s back to, as my mate Mark calls it, Captain Ahab’s diary!!

My last newsletter was written in the heat of a Tokyo summer.  It’s now February and the coldest month in Tokyo.  We’ve just (two days ago) had our first snow fall in Tokyo and since it has remained cold, there is still snow on the ground in places.

On the way to Kendo in the Snow!

On the morning it snowed, I had loads of fun when I participated in the NTT Company Housing Annual Amateur Snowball Fight!  I really got into the swing of things and was darn good too!  I’m sure this had little to do with the fact that I was 5 times the average age of the participants. J  At one stage though, just as the group like a pack of wild animals, sensed that I was tiring and started to close in, I declared the games closed and suggested we all build a huge snow man (the advantages of being a cunning and manipulative adult! J)  It wasn’t too long before one of the mothers ventured outside and upon seeing me gasped in shock.  She told me how wet and filthy I was but like the child I am, I was determined to finish the snowman and just continued to lead the pack.  Well, eventually the fun was over and I decided to go home and take a good long soak in the bath.  I can’t tell you how embarrassed I was when I walked inside and took a look in the mirror.  It would be a gross understatement to say I was filthy!  Since the fall of snow was only a couple of inches deep, the snowballs we were throwing were a mixture of grass, dirt and then snow, and I was covered in it.  I was a total mess and wondered how many of the parents had peeked outside and shook their heads in disbelief.  All the while Spike was training away at our local kendo dojo oblivious to the mischief I was getting up to.  By the time he returned, I had gotten rid of all the evidence (via the washing machine and bathtub) and played innocent.  My story is that I never know snow as a child and that everyone needs to have at least one snow fight and build one snow man for their life to be complete (and I’m sticking to this one, it’s the best story I could come up with in such a short time! J )

If I had to name one activity that the Japanese excel at, besides overworking themselves and their childrenJ, it would have to be celebrating traditions.  Almost every month there is a major or minor festival of some kind somewhere.  I mentioned a couple last time, and thought I might talk a little about one that we participated in, in September.



Carrying the Omikoshi.

Spike and I were very fortunate to participate in the Kichijoji Autumn Festival, where several miniature portable shrines are carried through the streets of the shopping centre.  The festival is to ensure a safe and prosperous year for the shop owners and locals.  We had been told that it was very tough by several people, but it’s the kind of thing you only get one chance to do, so we did a Nike! J  It used to be that anyone who wanted to, could join in and carry the Shrine for a few paces.  However, this proved dangerous as fights broke out, so these days it’s a well organised activity run by the local store owners which you have to register for weeks beforehand.  You are allotted a team and team ‘uniform’.

With Mari and friends.  We had no idea
what we were getting ouselves into!

The replica shrine is approx 2 tonnes in weight and elaborately decorated in gold and the colour purple and usually has a phoenix sitting on the roof. At the beginning of the festival the ‘priest’ places a few sacred items into it and proceeds to entice, with much ceremony, the spirit from the major Shrine into the portable one.   The shrine looks something like this.

Although one of them is carried by around 50 people, it is still amazingly heavy. Also, when it’s carried through the streets you don’t just walk along with it but do a weird kind of jog!  (Trust the Japanese to make it as difficult as they could! J  Therefore, if everyone is not exactly in step, it writhes and bounces around on your shoulder like a wild animal thrashing around in pain and then, you get to feel the full 2 tonnes thump down on your shoulder. 

Being interviewed for TV!

Spike and I carried the shrine on the first day of the festival for about 20 mins and in the end our ‘uniforms’ were soaked through, our legs were sore and shoulders were red raw.  The next day we got totally caught up in the spirit of things and carried it off and on all day!  By the end of the festival we were totally wrecked.  For part of the 2^nd day I put a folded hand towel on my shoulder to absorb some of the bumps, but Spike didn’t give in and basically ended up having 2^nd degree burns on his shoulder from the friction and bruised bones!  ‘What a Guy!’  (for all you Dwarfies out there!)  The end of the ceremony culminated in a free meal at a local ‘Yakiniku’ restaurant and a strip show by one of the local businessmen in drag!! Definitely the climax of the weekend!

Clowning Around!

The next major activity in our lives was a juggling performance.  Our friend Mari’s little boy goes to a local crèche and Mari ‘volunteered’ us to perform for the kids at their celebration day!  We hadn’t practiced juggling for many months and suddenly we had 2 weeks to prepare.  Mari said the performance was ‘only’ to be for children between 2-5 years old....but we all know that’s the age when children are the most critical and honest!  So we were both as nervous as if we were to perform before the Emperor.  On the night there were to be several other acts and the finale was to be the professional Ninja act.  As the night progressed we started to relax a little, after seeing the acts preceding ours.  We had to be more interesting, to the kids, than the recorder player and the African Drum performance (which was very good, but unappreciated by the kids). 

Our time came and went and as predicted we were somewhat of a hit.  However, the most entertaining part of the evening was when Spike was called up with two other ‘children’, to take part in the Ninja act.  He was asked several questions, none of which he could understand (at the time), looked helplessly at me in the audience and just kept repeating ‘sorry, I don’t understand’.  This brought laughter from the parents and the kids.  Later during the Ninja show the head Ninja started teaching a little swordplay to the volunteers with plastic swords.  This was where spike was in his element.  Of course the Ninja had no idea that Spike practiced Kendo and when it was his turn to attack the Ninja, he did so suddenly and screaming loudly.  He did a perfect sword cut to the head (stopping just before contact of course!).  The Ninja almost needed a change of pants, the kids were rolling on the ground laughing and the parents almost we themselves too!  All in all, it was a fun night and they actually wanted to pay us for performing, would you believe.  Of course we refused but gracefully accepted a couple of beers for our trouble.  If  we ever wanted a change in profession....



Santa Spike!

In December, Spike and I once again were volunteered to ‘perform’ for the kids.  This time however, it was not juggling, but fancy dress.  Spike had a chance to fulfil his lifelong ambition to be Santa!  My job consisted of behind the scenes work such as make-up and wardrobe, as well as setting the scene for Santa to arrive.  The kids thought it was great to have a real life foreign santa who couldn’t speak any Japanese (Spike was forbidden to use any).  Lucky I just happened to be there to translate, nudge nudge, wink wink! J  Santa is a fairly new phenomenon in Japan and the kids didn’t really know what to do, but they enjoyed getting lollies, prezzies and their photo taken with him.  Mari’s little boy Ryu (3yrs old) said he recognised Spike though and was not impressed.  Later on in the night we went to Mari’s place.  Spike had returned to normal (help!),but Ryu said he was sure that Spike was Santa.  We both did a great acting job and convinced him he was wrong and that I hadn’t seen that fat old git before in my life!  I told him Spike had been at work all day and he eventually believed us.  Spike remarked that Ryu was still at an age where he believed what he was told by adults and later on in the night I felt guilt stricken to think that in years to come he will remember this incident and his naive, trusting outlook on the world will be shattered and he’ll be just like on of us! J

Well, it’s now quite a while since I started to write this and once again it’s snowing.  We have had snow three weekends in a row now.  It wouldn’t be so bad if it snowed during the week, at least we could go outdoors on the weekends.  However, since our transport consists of bicycles or buses, leaving our flat is only attempted in case of emergencies, ie: when the sushi and sake runs out!!

Lady Di arriving at the Centre.

About a month ago a strange thing happened.  Princess Di came to Japan and visited the Senior Citizens Centre where I do volunteer work at.  I guess it’s not that amazing an occurrence, but of all the people I might have expected to see visiting the centre, I wouldn’t have guessed it would be her.  It was all hush hush and the workers were only officially informed two days before she was to visit, but as usual news leaked out before this and most people had planned to be there when she arrived.  Only the volunteers on duty that day were invited to actually meet her, the rest of us waited outside with the throngs of neighbourhood housewives, local school lads and lasses, security men and world press, to catch a glimpse.  The volunteers not on duty that day were assigned a special ‘viewing area’ and I was able to get Mari and my host-sister Keiko in as well.

Lady Di!

When she actually arrived she moved without fuss and so quickly into the building that the crowds waiting eagerly behind the barriers almost booed in unison at being deprived of a chance to photograph or touch her.  After waiting 40mins though, she emerged from the building and was either asked or decided to go meet the public.  She came first to our area and shook hands with most of us and then moved on for a quick hand shaking session with the general public.  In the frenzied excitement of the moment I also found myself sticking my hand in her face waiting for it to be shaken, as it was.  Looking back I wonder what she thought seeing a foreigner in a sea of Japanese, but now that I remember what I said to her, she probably thought, ‘oh no not another bloody Australian’.  It’s funny what comes out of your mouth when you’re unprepared.  I can’t exactly remember what I said, but it went something like this:  ‘G’day, how’s it going?’ and then mumbled something like ‘welcome to Japan’.  She just said ‘Hello’ and gave me a strange look as she moved on.  Well....I’ve never met a Princess before, how am I supposed to know what to say!  I couldn’t sleep for nights worrying about whether this was going to turn into an international incident like the Paul Keating faux par with the Queen!  To make things worse when I called Mum, she asked whether I’d curtsied!! There went another week of sleepless nights...thanks Mum!! J

The Japanese women think Di is gorgeous, everything they wish they were’ tall, blonde, and long –legged.  Apart from that I don’t think they have any thoughts on her.  Of course her reputation isn’t what it used to be, but the Japanese are quick to forgive especially when a beautiful woman is involved and there are mega-bucks to be made on magazine sales!  Not too different to anywhere in the world really!

I’m unsure if I’ve mentioned the topic of Japanese TV before, but it certainly deserves to be mentioned again even if I did.  We’re constantly amazed at what is actually broadcast and have a special video tape in the recorder at all times to tape the most weird moments.  Unfortunately, the most bizarre program was broadcast on New Year’s Eve when we were at Mari’s country home and unfortunately had no access to a video.  The program was a special New year’s Eve ‘variety show’ which consisted of every TV personality (or ‘talent’ as they are called) coming on and playing a game of strip Paper, Scissors, Rock (male against female).  The two hosts who are famous comedians were the only people not to bare themselves before the nation.  Of course they stopped at undies (and bras for women), but if they lost at that stage they were sent into a little change booth (you could still see their legs and heads) to strip totally and then put on a bathrobe.  Strange end to the game, but there you have it.  This may not sound too ridiculous in itself, however ....a), it went from around 8pm until midnight (possibly longer, we didn’t keep watching), b), that is ALL that happened on the show, c), some of the more conservative ‘talents’ were also getting into the swing of things (with the help of a bit of ‘Dutch courage) and d), they kept crossing live to another studio where the general public (usually young attractive university girls hungry for discovery) were at it too!  We were totally blown away!  All this from a country that sensors pubic hair in photography journals!  When we woke on New Years day, we thought it had all been a bizarre dream attributable to the consumption the night before of large amounts of Seafood Pilaf and that bad old man, Sake!  Since we were sans our video, alas we may never know for sure!! J

While I’m on the subject of TV, I’d like to write about a new phenomenon in Japan called the ‘New Half’.  Once again, a trendy English word that the Japanese have made up and adopted as their own.  It means a transvestite.  Japan has for centuries had a tradition of men posing as women for their Kabuki theatre (which to these days still have no female actors.  All female parts are played by men acting as women).  So, this is not such a new thing to the Japanese but these days the TV channels are chock-a-block with programs showcasing the youngest, most talented and most beautiful of them in game shows.  However, you never see women who are newly men.  Whether this is because there aren’t any, or because the TV stations are only interested in showing beautiful and glamorous guy girls, prancing around in bikini’s on stage, is hard to know.   I suspect it’s the flesh factor myself!  J  Just yesterday they were advertising a new TV drama starting soon about a single Dad having to work and look after the kids, who turns into a single Mum (and not a pretty one either!).  I’ll let you know how that one goes! J



Spike Sparing!

Spike and I are both now doing Karate.  Spike started some six months ago, and I’ve only just got up the courage to go along (and the strength! J )  I ride in to his office three lunchtimes a week and train with the NTT club.  I’m usually the only female there (there’s two of us) and am the newest member, so I get special treatment (taken aside and taught by the head of the club).  I think it also helps Spike that I’m there since I can translate anything he doesn’t understand.  The other day one of the head instructors left the club and we had a farewell party for him at a local’pub’.  The most embarrassing moment took place when instead of toasting him and saying ‘Hip-ray’, three times we had to stand in a circle in the middle of the restaurant and do ten continuous punches with kiai (shouting)!  I don’t know what the rest of the patrons thought, but hearing a group of 15 drunken karate-ka all screaming madly at the top of their lungs, but I said to Spike that if I have to do this kind of crazy at all the time, I’m quitting Karate!! J

Which brings me to my next point, guard-man.  Another Japanese made English word which just means as security guard.  They are everywhere....at any public office, hall, carpark or building.  Considering the Japanese publics record for almost nil criminal activities of any kind, once again a little excessive.  Well, there are guards on the gates of Spike’s company and anyone going in has to have a pass or fill in a detailed slip on who they are, what company they are from, who they have come to see, what department they are in and for what reason, etc, etc.  Then they give you a little badge to wear and let you on through, albeit 15 mins later!!  Can you imagine how pissed off I get having to do this every time I go in to see Spike or go to karate training.  At first when I told them that I had just come in to visit my hubby, they couldn’t quite come to terms with this.  I wasn’t quite sure why, but now I know it’s because NO Japanese wives ever come in to visit their husbands at work!  It’s just not done.  Japanese office life is very sterile and very boring!  Well, these days they see me ride up, smile and just wave me on through.  I’m sure I’m the only person to enter the gates that doesn’t have to wear a badge or spend 15 mins filling in forms!  Hallelujah!! J

On a very sad note, recently the unthinkable happened.  We received a phone call from a friend in Brisbane telling us that one of our closest friends, Andrew Parr, had just died in a bushwalking accident in NSW.  We were devastated.  Although we only met Andrew four years ago he became such a big part of our lives; one of the handful of friends you make that you know you will always be close to no matter what.  He was always so enthusiastic and energetic, one of the most truly ‘alive’ people we have ever met, and someone who deserved to live to be 100.  He was one of the warmest and truest friends anyone could ever have.  Those of you who knew him, know how much we love him and that we will miss him dearly.

Well, the next major event in our lives will be our holiday back in OZ from 22 April – 14 May, which can’t come soon enough for us.  We NEED to breathe Aussie air again and feel the warmth of the Aussie sunshine.  We’re sick of winter!! We will be coming home with some extra baggage though, Mari and her son.  We’ve spoken to her so often about what a wonderful country Australia is and she just couldn’t help herself.  We’re actually really excited about her coming with us and are looking forward to introducing her to OZ and our friends and family there.  She is such a big part in our lives here, and we couldn’t have made it this far without her.

Well, it’s that time once again...I hope I haven’t bored you!  Ogenki-de!  In other words, take care and ‘we loves yas all!!’.

Love Maria and Spike