What is the True Face of the Japanese During a Time of Crisis?

Last night I went to volunteer to refill bottles of shampoo and conditioner to be sent to women's shelters and children's shelters (through Hands on Tokyo).  While there, I met a couple on vacation from San Fran.  The decided to spend one night of their trip volunteering in order to do something to help Japan in their time of need.  As many articles show, people from around the world have shown their support for the Japanese and many Japanese have taken it upon themselves to also provide aide and assistance in any way they can.  I think most people are working hard to keep the economy going and in their own way trying put their heads down and grin and bear it (like this article refers to).  And the world recognizes this calm persistence and has been openly admiring and congratulating them on such attitude. 

Before I say anything more, I should say that everyone is working very hard to get things back to normal.  There is a strong sense of need to help in any way possible.  I also realize that it is against Japanese culture to display emotion, especially while other people are also suffering.  Many people are managing to be strong and brave the difficulties they are facing.  And I think most would agree that it wouldn't help if people were just sitting around focused on the dim future ahead of them and spending all day crying.  And someone certainly has to do the difficult jobs that lay ahead for Japan.

However, I recently read this article and started to wonder, have the Japanese really responded so much more calmly than the rest of the world?  And I'm not talking about lawless behavior, but internal, shear emotional response.  The author of this article mentions how serene the Japanese are in the face of disaster compared to other countries in similar situations.  He goes on about how foreigners expressed strong feeling and pain openly, but how Japanese remain calm and even manage a "genuine" smile (though I wonder how he can tell it's genuine).   From young, Japanese are discouraged from openly showing emotion.  Are they really bravely facing the disaster?  Or are they responding in the way that they have been trained to respond in?  Does their serene outwards face reflect what is happening on the inside?

Japan Tsunami:

                                 

                       
Is he calmly accepting his fate, or is that tension I see in his jaw?






Other disasters

Are the Japanese really any different from the people in the other pictures?  Or do they face more cultural pressure and obligation to hide their feelings than people in other cultures?  I'm sure some Japanese were screaming and yelling in the face of the tsunami as they watched their houses and possibly loved ones get dragged out to sea.  Foreign media seems to try and find the most tragic people to shoot, interview and photograph.  However, Japanese media, following Japanese culture, usually chooses to find the person most displaying true "Japanese" spirit.   Can we really prove who faced what more bravely?  And are our attempts to romanticize and admire the calm response of the Japanese in the face of great, possibly disastrous, personal and economic trials, really be for the best of the survivors?

I wonder...Should we really be praising "Gaman" and shouting "Ganbarou" to a group of people that are quite literally at their breaking point?  At first it was inspiring and motivating, but at this stage, what kind of message are we sending?  What kind of additional pressure to remain strong is being placed on these people who by now just want to break down?  How long will the rigid nature of Japanese culture insist that these people, who have suffered losses beyond compare, keep up the calm face?  



Nuke Workers Risk Death by Overworking and Stress:
Is it worth risking the lives of these men because culture and society demands them to put aside their own fears?  I understand if someone wanted to do it, but are obligation and desire the same thing in this case? Or is there a way to both solve the problems with the reactor, while providing some relief to these men?

People Continue to Face Trial After Trial.  Even once the tsunami has cleared and the aftershocks have died down, people continue to face adversity up North with increased rates of pneumonia. 

Sailor Bares all in order to Avoid Being Sent back to Iwate:
Clearly this man is not fit to be doing the job they are expecting him to do.  Will the rigid nature of Japanese culture require this man to return to perform his social obligation?  What are the long term affects on this man's mental well-being? 

What are the long-term psychological effects and strain that come with "Ganbarou"?  
A recent Japan Times article stated that 150 mental health workers were sent up North to hinanjo to provide support, however they found that very few people took advantage of this help.   A 74 year old man was interviewed as saying to admit you need mental help is weak.  That talking to someone won't solve his problems, so why do it, especially when everyone else is just as depressed. That he has faced enough disaster to be strong.  But why does being strong have to equate with shielding your emotions.  Does crying in front of other people over burden them? Japanese say it is irresponsible to show such emotion when other people are suffering...but I wonder, who is really being selfish?  Isn't it just as selfish to expect a person to suppress their feelings for your sake?  Especially if you know the kind of long term mental stress that the situation might cause the person if they keep it bottled up?

As this letter from a man in a hinanjo in Miyagi shows, the people's spirits are weakening.  People are hurting.  Everyone knows it...Everyone expects it....so why not allow them to grieve however they choose to?  Why make them feel that grieving their loses is shameful or selfish?  Again, I understand the need to stay strong in the face of adversity, but is there really a need to keep persistently insisting these people stay patient and calm? Or are we possibly just adding to their stress?

Nuclear Radiation and Siberian Winds

So I think I've finally calmed down enough to think a bit more clearly about what is going on and what I need to do to try and help.  A bit embarrassed that it's taken me 4 days to finally relax and use my new abundant free time wisely.

Does anyone else find themselves playing "How quickly can I shower so I sufficiently scrub off the nuclear radiation residue but not get stuck naked when the next big quake hits" every time you hop in the shower, or sitting on your couch with your phone in one hand, your computer open with NHK, BCC, CNN, Facebook, Japan Meteorological, and Tepco pulled up and refreshing every 30 minutes or more, and your tv on running the never-ending AC ads.  Or on the other extreme, are you carrying on business as usual and avoiding all news in order to maintain as much normalcy as possible...OR have you already made the decision to run for the hills, get the hell out of Dodge...well after 3 days of this, I've decided to just figure things out on my own, starting with the biggest concern first.

Threat of Radiation -
Last night I woke up to find that nuclear radiation has blow into Tokyo.  Before I made my trek down to immigration to stand in the 2hour line for a re-entry visa, I decided to figure out whether or not it'd be worth my wait.  I got on-line and started reading.  What I found, at this time the threat of nuclear radiation in Tokyo sits at 1/100th the accepted levels (siting my source 2...notice a pattern for information.... Or the more numbers based and not related to NHK).  But what exactly do these numbers mean?  To find out what these numbers mean check the chart at the bottom of the post stolen without permission from this site World Nuclear.org

To look at current radiation levels in Japan, check out: Japan Radiation levels
Here are the main prefectures listed on there:
1) Hokkaido, 2) Aomori-ken,  3)Iwate,  4) Miyagi,  5)Akita,  6) Yamagata,  7) Fukushima ....11) Saitama,  12) Chiba,  13) Tokyo, 14) Kanagawa

On the down side, NHK just posted that Radiation scanners have malfunctioned and they're not sure when they will get back up...in the meantime we are having 75km/h winds blasting Tokyo coming from the NNW. 

It really makes one wonder what's going to happen next....

10,000 mSv (10 sieverts) as a short-term and whole-body dose would cause immediate illness, such as nausea and decreased white blood cell count, and subsequent death within a few weeks. Between 2 and 10 sieverts in a short-term dose would cause severe radiation sickness with increasing likelihood that this would be fatal.

1,000 mSv (1 sievert) in a short-term dose is about the threshold for causing immediate radiation sickness in a person of average physical attributes, but would be unlikely to cause death. Above 1000 mSv, severity of illness increases with dose. If doses greater than 1000 mSv occur over a long period they are less likely to have early health effects, but they create a definite risk that cancer will develop many years later.

Above about 100 mSv, the probability of cancer (rather than the severity of illness) increases with dose. The estimated risk of fatal cancer is 5 of every 100 persons exposed to a dose of 1000 mSv (ie. if the normal incidence of fatal cancer were 25%, this dose would increase it to 30%).

50 mSv is, conservatively, the lowest dose at which there is any evidence of cancer being caused in adults. It is also the highest dose which is allowed by regulation in any one year of occupational exposure. Dose rates greater than 50 mSv/yr arise from natural background levels in several parts of the world but do not cause any discernible harm to local populations.

20 mSv/yr averaged over 5 years is the limit for radiological personnel such as employees in the nuclear industry, uranium or mineral sands miners and hospital workers (who are all closely monitored).

10 mSv/yr is the maximum actual dose rate received by any Australian uranium miner.

3-5 mSv/yr is the typical dose rate (above background) received by uranium miners in Australia and Canada.

3 mSv/yr (approx) is the typical background radiation from natural sources in North America, including an average of almost 2 mSv/yr from radon in air.

2 mSv/yr (approx) is the typical background radiation from natural sources, including an average of 0.7 mSv/yr from radon in air. This is close to the minimum dose received by all humans anywhere on Earth.

0.3-0.6 mSv/yr is a typical range of dose rates from artificial sources of radiation, mostly medical.

0.05 mSv/yr, a very small fraction of natural background radiation, is the design target for maximum radiation at the perimeter fence of a nuclear electricity generating station. In practice the actual dose is less.

The Great Tokyo Apartment Hunt part 3581035819375196237

I just turned 28 and am about to embark on the 28th move in my life...the 5th since coming to Japan a year and a half ago.  I'm starting to think that it's not really by happenstance that I end up moving, but more by some chemical need in my brain.  I think I might just possibly be addicted to moving. 

In the states, the hardest part about moving seems to be the actual physical act itself.  Having to pack, rent a truck, load the truck, drive the drunk, unload the truck, unpack the boxes...blah blah blah.  It could take multiple days or even multiple weeks to complete the whole process.  Before moving to Japan I had done this 23 times.  Most of them were small moves from one location to another (often out of my parents house, back into my parents house and repeat).  Since I didn't mind the packing, moving, unpacking, I found the rest of the process actually pretty easy.   Look in the paper, find some ads, call said ads, look at said ads, and then decide.  The process to sign a contract took a matter of minutes and usually nothing more than the first months rent and a deposit, that was pretty much guaranteed to be returned.

Moving in Japan is a whole other nightmare.  To recap my previous moves:

1. Moved from US to Japan with the 3 largest suitcases I could take on a plane.  In order to maneuver these by myself, I had rigged a unstable, bungee cord stack...of course this wasn't elevator tested, and as soon as I hit one in Narita airport heading to the train tracks, the whole thing toppled.  This was the first time I realized that Japanese people rarely stop to help.  Three people behind me all walked around me, others just stood and waited for me to rebuild my tower, which was difficult as all three suitcases weighed over 50 pounds.  Fortunately, a nice Italian guy helped me get them on the train (again the Japanese just stood and waited for me to attempt to lift them onto the suitcase cart).  Fortunately at my stop, my boss was waiting to help me get them back to the house I would spend my first month at.

Looking back this might have been the easiest move so far.

Luggage: 3 suitcases, 1 purse, 1 backpack, and 3 large boxes awaiting me at my final destination
Cost: Plane ticket $450, Shipping boxes $500, move-in fees $0 (the teacher was extremely nice and let me just help with utilities!).
Time: 2 days

2. Move from Gyoda to Omiya...This was probably THE WORST move of my life.  I spent a day looking with a Japanese girl for a place.  Because she didn't have much time off, I had to do it around her schedule.  She didn't want to spend much time looking and had very high expectations.  It was difficult from the start to find a place that we both agreed upon.  Once we did, I then had to wait for her to do all the paperwork, which was slow...because again she didn't have much time off.  Being rather independent, I decided to try and move myself. This consisted of taking my goods by suitcase to the station, on the train and to my apartment.  Dumb dumb dumb.  The stuff was heavy and the walk from the station to the apartment wasn't a quick one.  At one point one of my suitcases, topping out at a whopping 115 pounds lost both its legs leaving me to physically drag it for 5 km.  This was the second time I realized Japanese people don't normally stop to help.  I walked past DOZENS of people who watched me using all my power to drag the monster behind me on the gravel sidewalk.  About 30 minutes away from the station, a very nice foreigner stopped to ask if I needed help.  He then helped me carry it the rest of the way.  I thanked him profusely and we went our separate ways.

On a side note...I later ran into this same guy at a birthday party for a friend.  I had never told the other teachers what happened and was absolutely EMBARRASSED by the situation...so when the guy gave me the "I think I recognize you look" I had to do everything I could to convince him that NO I was NOT the crazy foreigner that made you carry an overloaded suitcase 30 minutes to the station :-/  I'm a horrible horrible person.  The poor guy insisted, and I just kept pretending like I had NO idea what he was talking about.

With three big boxes left to move and no idea how, my coworkers finally told me about Takkubin, which allows you to send boxes through the convenience stores (that would have been nice to know sooner).  Takkubin is very fast (usually overnight) and CHEAP!  With this, my move was over.

Luggage: same
Cost: 5 train tickets - 2250Yen, Takkubin - 3500Yen,  180000Yen to move in, and a whole lot of dignity
Time: So ridiculous I'm not even going to mention it

3. From Omiya to down the street.  This move was a bit easier as I really didn't have many choices.  I either searched for someone who really wanted to live in the middle of nowhere, or I searched for someone looking for a roommate in the middle of nowhere (ok Omiya really ISN'T the middle of nowhere, but that's how it felt when I was trying to find something out there).  I only found one person.  I moved in with her as it was literally a 40 minute walk from my current location.

For this move, a friend rented a truck and we hauled my stuff up the street.  Having been in Japan for 6 months, I had started to accumulate a lot of stuff! 

Luggage: A regular sized pick-up truck full (including fridge, 4 futons, all 3 suitcases and newly added bright green storage containers)
Cost: 13000Yen for 2 hours!!!  So ridiculously expensive!
Time: 2 hours (I didn't have a choice)

4. This move was a bit more planned and I spent days searching the web for roommates in Tokyo, as well as guest houses.  I sent dozens upon dozens of e-mails and made appointments to see 4 places and a couple of individual apartments.  The first place I saw was beautiful, but seemed ridiculously expensive for the price.  After seeing the other 3 I realized it was an absolute gem.

However, not wanting to jump on something, I convinced a friend to come with me to look at apartments.  After an hour in the office we finally found a few places that would rent to foreigners around Shinjuku station.  Not being able to decide which place would be best, my friend and I went to lunch to discuss.  30 minutes later we returned with a decision (which was come to with some rather harsh words as my friend felt I was being stubborn and just saying the opposite of everything they said...which might have been true).  The agent drew up the contract and when I saw the move-in cost 350000 yen, I freaked.  I couldn't do it.  My friend offered to loan me the money, but I didn't think I could afford to pay them back (I wouldn't be making that much more money).  After spending most the day searching, I backed out.  And decided to move into the guest house.

This time I found a company that moves foreigners.  I carried my stuff downstairs and a guy helped me load his truck and drove me to Tokyo and unloaded everything and carried it up to my new apartment for DIRT cheap!

While not the easiest, this was probably the least stressful.

Luggage: By this point a year had passed and I had acquired a bike, fridge, and tons and tons of sh$t.  I don't know what better way to call all the crap I'd accumulated in a year.
Cost: Truck 9000Yen, Move-in fee was 1 months rent plus 10000 yen, and one slightly banged up friendship
Time: 2 days spent looking, 3 hours spent moving

5. So why move again?  Well...now I have a better job, make more money, and work much much longer hours.  I'm starting to break out in acne from stress and yet don't feel like I have enough time to get to the gym.  So I'm hoping to move closer so that I can walk/jog home (depending on the kind of day I've had).

After 2 full days of apartment hunting (and countless hours making spreadsheets to compare the specs on each place), I've narrowed my choices down to two:

Choice 1)
Location - Shirokane
Cost - 150000/month
Size - 40.5m2
Layout - 1LDK (1 room, living room, dining room and kitchen...though dining only means there's room for a tiny table in the kitchen)
Time from work - 25min walk
Time from gym - 20min train+walk
Pros: Fantastic view, very bright, separate room. 
Cons: Older and is just plain normal looking...plus I noticed there's no designated place for a fridge

Entry closet

 LDK

 Bedroom closet

 Bathroom

 View from my balcony

 Bedroom

Choice 2)

Location - Shibakoen
Cost - 150000/month
Size - 39.8 m2
Layout - 1K (1 room and kitchen)
Time from work - 25min walk
Time from gym -20 min by train and walking
Pros - In a neighborhood with tons of restaurants, close to great lines (Oedo, Mita, JR, Namboku), never been lived in before, and very trendy look.
Cons - Business area, the 1R thing is a bit...weird and may start to feel cramped, lack of closet space

 Entrance closet (1 of 2)

 Room plus "loft bed"

 Kitchen

 "Closet" 2 of 2

 Bidet

 Bath

 Vanity (no idea why I shot down)

 Room from the other side and the coolest real estate agent EVER!

So I've decided to go with Kamidanomi (let God decide).  We'll see how that goes.  My agent has suggested putting in two aps and see who responds first.

May the best apartment win!

I'm apartment hunting AGAIN!

And that's all I've gotta say about that.

White-walled cafe

I've been spending a lot of time lately monitoring the lunchroom (well most days) and I have to say that I often find myself confusing the cafeteria for a place that's normally padded.  Take today for example...

To my left, the student was punching away at a stop watch, mumbling in French and occasionally reaching into his container of cup o' ramen (with his hands...sometimes if he remembered, his fork) and leaning back in his chair in a position reminiscent of Al Bundy...complete with unzipped pants.  I couldn't help but stare at his fly and wonder...do I even bother to say anything...no one else notices...he doesn't notice...do I even want to go there right now?  Maybe this makes me a horrible person, but I didn't.

In order to avoid the feelings of guilt attempting to creep into my mind, I shifted my gaze to the right.  In front of me a student sat on his top of the line Iphone arguing away with the person on the other side...and just so you know that top of the line phone...happened to be his hand and the person on the other side, according to him, was his girlfriend.  As I chopped my daikon and prepared my salad, I couldn't help but feel like I was ease dropping in on a private conversation.  The boy was literally carrying on about the dog, the groceries, and making comments like, "I don't care what happened, it has to get done.  Uh huh, huh, but I don't want to hear excuses.  You did what!?"  Absolutely astounding how realistic it sounded.  I couldn't help but chime in with, "Where did you learn to talk to women this way?" another female student went to get my back, "YEAH! She's going to dump you if you keep talking to her that way!" Wait...HUH?  He's not really talking to anyone...

"And this is my hammerhead shark and my manta ray." My ears picked up the small mumble of the boy next to me.  Who I then realized had been trying to show me pictures.  I peered over to his Iphone (this one real) and could barely make out the faint outline of a manta.  Faining interest I continued to nod and say, "oh really? Where do you keep these animals?" as I chopped away.  About 5 minutes in, I realized...wait...he's claiming that these animals belong to him??  Trying to clarify, I asked him if these were his pets, to which he said yes.  I tried to ask him why he owned hammerhead sharks and where he kept them.  He mentioned that his dad bought some sort of house and they had a place for him.  Trying to decide if this was a play for attention, or if this boy seriously had an exotic pet collection, I asked to see the rest of his photos.  He continued to slide through them...and then came the zebra.  To which I said, "These are pictures of the zoo."  And despite the obvious location, he continued to insist that all these animals were in fact his.  I starred him hard in the eyes, trying to discern if he was telling the truth or trying to pull my leg...I came up empty...so with a nod I once again shifted my attention, this time towards the couch.

There sat the cutest crazy kid you even did see.  He was almost picturesque looking.  Mixed ethnicity, perfect hair, teeth, smile, and tiny to boot.  Then he opened his mouth...and nothing but crazy talk came out.  He sat rolling around on the couch (literally) as he ate his sandwich and spoke to himself in Japanese.  The only words I could make out were "you" something something "die" something something "HAHAHAHAH!!!"

I quickly refocused ahead! Back to the boy on the imaginary phone. His conversation had carried on for 15 minutes! Until he finally said, "YOU WHAT!? You lied to me!?" to which the female student chirped, "OH! Haha, your girlfriend lied to you, SUCKER!"  At which point I decided to step in and say, "....Look at the clock.  You have 10 minutes left to eat, can you please stop talking on the phone and finish your lunch?"  To which he responded, "Hey, I'm sorry, the teacher says I have to go.  Yeah I know.  Uh huh...uh huh...ok...yep...later!"  He then clicks his finger as if he's hanging up and goes back to eating as if nothing ever happened.

In disbelief, I turned to the aide next to me, who was still trying to get the boy to eat ramen and said, "Is it just me, or do you feel like you're eating in a loony ward?"

Sigh...

I've hit that hump...the one that's hard to get over.  I'm at a year and a half and I'm wondering just how much longer I want to stay here.

Life is constantly on the move.  I find myself leaving the house at 6am and returning near 9 or ten pm almost every day...at some point things have to slow down, right?

On the bright side! I'm going to Okinawa in two weeks.  Booked my ticket and heading out.  My goal is to learn to scuba dive!!  I've recently taken up snowboarding and now would like to add scuba to my list of life accomplishments.  Look for pictures to come.