Would you like a bag with that?

This blog post is perhaps slightly an environmentally themed one, while I do not pretend to be some carbon neutral, knits my own yoghurt, flaky hippy, I can see when something is obscenely overdone, and in Japan, something has struck me as being just that. The Japanese, a very clean society who pride themselves on hygiene, also seem to take pride in something that seems very benign, and that is packaging. Everything is individually wrapped, so while this may be the most hygienic solution, particularly in a nation as crammed as Japan, it also produces a vast amount of waste. I went to the bakery to buy lunch earlier this week, and selected a couple of 'An-kare pan' (a bread roll filled with mince and egg, then lightly crummed and fried, very nic), and a bag of 'An-pan donatsu', (little bread balls filled with a sweet bean paste), and taking them to the counter, the store assistant proceeded to bag them, as they would anywhere. However, the way in which she did it used a large amount of packaging. The 'an-pan donatsu were in a sealed plastic bag, so nothing I could do about that, but for each of the 'an kare pan', she wrapped in heavily waxed, almost plastic paper, and then put them into their own little plastic bag, which she then sellotaped shut, then put into another plastic bag into which the donatsu were already placed. So when I got home, I nearly needed a machete to get to my lunch, for there was the plastic carry bag (as we have in NZ), plus the plastic bag for the donatsu (some places would do this in NZ), followed by a plastic bag for each of the an kare pan, and then some plastic like paper that the bread rolls were wrapped in. So for 490 yen (almost NZ$7.50) I had two meat/egg rolls, a little bag of doughnut like things, plus 1,2,3,4 plastic bags, and 2 sheets of nigh on indestructable paper. They were too small to be of any real practical re-use, and the paper was greasy and probably of a similar material used to build space-shuttles, so not of any use to me either.

The Bakery Experience

We can buy icecream drinks in plastic tubes in NZ, and no doubt these contribute massively to our waste, but in Japan these too are put in plastic bags. We also do this in NZ, so what are you trying to say, you may ask? In NZ, if you buy these icecream drinks, you either do so individually, in which case they come bagless, or you buy them in packs of 20s, so the overall packaging is less than the Japanese equivalent. These too were put in their own little plastic bag, which was then taped shut. Completely bonkers.

I purchased some deodorant and face wipes from a pharmacy last week, and the wipes, above, came in two bags, one outer and one inner. The inner bag is essential, of that I have no doubt, for it contains the wipes, but the size of the outer bag is completely bonkers also. So much waste came from this.

And even their aerosol deodorants are cling wrapped. I bought this and this only at the pharmacy, and the assistant put a bit of store tape on the can to show I'd bought it, then put it in a small plastic bag, then taped it shut.

So from buying 3 bakery items, 2 icecream drinks, and two deodorant products, my net plastic gain is, 2 sheets of spaceshuttle grade paper, 11 plastic bags of a size too small to be of any use, 1 metallic bag for the icecream drinks, 2 plastic icecream drink tubes, 1 mass of plastic clingfilm from the deodorant can, and then two sealed bags from the face wipes. Plus 6   2cm long pieces of sellotape.

The amount of waste produced by this country that is so focussed on hygeine and packaging is vast, far more than it could be if they used more ¬read if they used at all¬ paper bags, and put multiple items ¬looking at you bakery¬ in the same bag. So while I'm in Japan producing tonnes and tonnes of waste, please try to recycle yours, gotta offset my wastage somehow.

On that note, this blog has been a little scathing, the next one shall be a little more compassionate towards them, I'm sure of it.

In other news, I'm going to be starting school today, albeit for a short day, starting at 2, I'm going to be meeting all my teachers, my headmaster, etc. Should be interesting, Tsurumine High School's festival is coming up, so all the students will be hard at work constructing all manner of bits and pieces for their float/piece/show/whatever it is that they are making. This morning, being my first school morning in Japan this year, I was woken up by ONE of my EIGHT alarms that I'd set the night before (ipod, your alarm + alarm functions suck) at 6.25, giving me 1 hour 5 minutes to get out the door. Rushing downstairs to have breakfast, Midori had cooked up this for me.

Which was hastily eaten, then I rushed upstairs to get changed and brush my teeth, pack, unpack, pack again my school bag etc, getting mildly jittery for the first day at a new school, then upon coming downstairs to get my camera, Midori said (in Japanese) 'Oh Troy, did I not tell you, you don't have to go to school until 2 oclock today?' On the outside I had a 'thankyou for informing me of this the night before, and thus preventing me from worrying and rushing too much in the morning' face, but on the inside, I was not a happy chappy.... The Japanese, usually being so obssessed with getting somewhere at the correct time, (Midori was very worried when we were a minute late to a meeting. A meeting which didn't start for another 15 minutes anyway due to unknown reasons) had failed me. All that worrying for nothing. However it does mean that I can be here, in the dining room of my house, eating a shortbread biscuit (from London, of all places), and add to this blog. So in a way, I'm grateful, means I have a nice short day at school today. Tomorrow will be different, though, I'll blog about D-Day later on I suspect. Slightly nervous, as should everyone be, but it also means I'll be making some friends! A week as an only child without anyone my own age, means I can do what I like, but one misses human contact with their own age demographic I think.

That's all for now, thanks for reading! Hope all is well with you wherever you happen to be in the world, Sayounara for now from Toroi, a New Zealander living Under the Kanagawan Sun!

Shinto Experience

Once a year, Shinto families (Shinto is the ancient religion of Japan) go to a Shinto shrine with photos of their immediate family who are dead, and with the Shinto priests, they conduct a blessing ceremony, offer things to the spirits, and purify themselves for another year. This is done in shrines that only Shinto families are allowed into, so I was very lucky to be able to go with Midori, Akira, and Akira's brother, his wife, and their children, to celebrate the life of Akira's mother and father.

Leaving home at 9.00am, on the way to the shrine, we stopped off at one of Ebina's most famous shops, which specializes in gourmet sweets. Traditional Japanese sweets are flavoured with a sweet bean paste, and are often containing green tea, an (a sweet red bean), or a soy sauce/sugar mix. We were going to be feasting after the ceremony, so Midori and I chose a selection of Japanese sweets, ending up spending around $80 there! Sweets in hand, we were ready to go to the shrine. We arrived at the shrine complex, with all of its gardens, manicured pebbles, immaculate pathways, and various shrine buildings, and were greeted by the head priest and his assistants.

Before we went to the shrine, we went to a well, and washed our hands and mouths, cleansing ourselves to enter the shrine. Approaching the shrine, we took off our shoes, climbed the stairs, and then a monumentally loud drumming began, the bass resounding through all of my body. Entering the shrine, the thick smell of incense burned its way up my nostrils, and I saw in front of me two photographs, one of an old man and one of a younger looking woman, on a table-like thing, as well as bowls of fruit and vegetables, and hundreds of white and coloured ribbons.

As we sat down, a priest stood up with a wooden pole that had white ribbons attached to one end, and slowly walked round the table, shaking the pole at regular intervals, and then we all bowed to the spirits, all the while the loud rhythmic beating of the drums continued. This happened several times, and then the head priest rose, gave a little speech, bowed some more to the photographs, and then the young priestess waled up holding a staff to which were attached a dozen or so little bells, and proceeded to walk around the front of the shrine, while the drums resumed and another priest began blowing into a flute. This musical display went on for about 5 minutes, lulling me into a trance somewhat, had a soporific effect. Then once this was over, we stood up in pairs, approached the front, recieved a tree branch with a white ribbon, approached the table, placed the branch in front of the table, stepped back, bowed twice, clapped four times, bowed again, and then returned to our seat.

After one more round of priests drumming, bowing, flute playing, praying etc, we stood up, and walked out of the shrine, put our shoes on, and then walked into another building with the head priest where we had a cup of tea, a Japanese jelly, and he talked about the shrine and its developments, and gave what I deduced to be a little theological speech, something like that despite the fact we cannot see the spirits of the dead, they are very much here with us, and they should be respected, and in turn they will look out for us where they can. Took a little walk in the shrines garden, prayed at another little shrine, and then drove to Akira's brothers apartment, which used to be their fathers before his death 3 years ago. One of the walls in the main room was dominated by a little shrine to their mother and father, and there were the photos used in the Shinto ceremony. In front of the pictures there lay a few of their material possessions, such as glasses and their favourite cigarette brand, as well as a bunch of grapes, a pear, an apple and a rock melon. Peculiarly, there also were two cups of coffee, all of which were offerrings for their spirits. The shrine had given us bags and bags of food, as the Murao family have long been patrons of this particular shrine, and so once a year at this ceremony they give back to the family in return for the offerrings to the shrine and spirits they've made. We knelt at the table (low Japanese style) and had a banquet. Everyone had brought food to supplement the shrines contributions, so there were bento boxes containing wagyuu beef, salmon fillets, a large array of vegetables, fruits, sweet bean bread, tea, water, beer, to name but a few. We feasted for hours, and even then we could not eat it all, so it was divided up between everyone, and I would not be surprised if it lasts a week more.

All of the Akira's family were interested to hear about NZ, and so my Japanese was pushed to its limits describing New Zealand culture, food etc, as well as my previous experiences in Japan, and the differences between 'Nyuujiirando-go, Igirisu-go, and Amerika-go' (New Zealand English, English English and American English). After feasting away for hours, it was time to leave, and so concluded my first real Shinto experience.


I thoroughly enjoyed today's experience, it was a very intricate and special occassion, and I was very lucky to have been allowed into that particular shrine, as only Shinto families are allowed into it, another shrine catering for all people. I had a very good time of it, though I doubt I'll be able to eat anything for a few days at least!

Japan-The Week that was

The reason I've started this blog is because I counted all the pages in my journal and worked out I will have around half a page per day, which I predict will be far too short. So I will use both that and this to document my journey in the Land of The Rising Sun. Read it if you wish, this way you'll know what I'm up to in more detail than what FB can provide, plus I think this has a slighty indie alternative journalist drinking organic coffee in an independently run cafe in Cuba Street, Wellington feel to it, something FB lacks. So please, read, ignore, cry, laugh, any combination thereof, and I'll see you in 163 days!


Well then, the week that was. We had the orientation in Tokyo which, over 3 days, summed up Japanese culture, social norms, food, school life, AFS rules, etc etc, most of which I knew already from my previous trips to Japan over the past couple of years. So we left to meet our host families, all 5 of us in the Shonan Chapter, and were met with a great fanfare of national flags, AFS stuff, whatever. All very international. I'm incredibly lucky in that my host family lived in NZ years ago, so they know a little bit about how we 'tick'

I'm living in Ebina city, about 50 kilometres West of Tokyo, and contains around 125,000 people, so quite small by Japanese standards (still pretty damn big to me), and I must say it feels like I'm the only gaijin (foreigner) in the whole city. I certainly have small children staring at me a bit, but meh, this is how celebrities feel. So for 6 months, I'm a celeb. (I know I am a celeb anyways, but this is extra special)

I've spent my first days in Ebina much like a baby, being shuttled round everywhere, people talking slowly to me, being asked what I want to eat/drink, if I'm ok, etc, etc, which is all very nice, but I want to LIVE! Initially I was chaperoned through town to the Town Hall to be registered as an Official Alien, got a bank account sorted, familiarised myself with the neighbourhood, the train station, the bus stops etc. I met my host mother's sister, who looks after their mother a couple of blocks away, they are very nice people, so I am immensly fortunate to be in such a nice family.

My host mother is an art teacher at a local middle school, and so yesterday she took me along to a preparation session where teachers from all the middle schools in the area were trialling a new art thing out. They had various pottery items and pens that could be used to draw/write on them, and then after being put in the microwave, the images become permanent. So I amazed the teachers with my drawing ability (which to be honest is virtually nonexistant) and with all the New Zealand things I drew (The NZ flag, a Kiwi, a Taniwha, a sheep, a map of New Zealand and a Kiwifruit), and now sitting on my desk in front of me is the Kiwiana bowl that I made.

I was taken along the route I will take to school by my host mum and my LP (liason person), so that I was familiar with where I had to go, times etc. I have a 15 minute walk (or 5 minute bike ride) to Shake Train Station, whereupon I embark on a 20 minute train ride to the adjacent city of Chigasaki, and then have a 10 minute walk to school. School starts at 8.30, and by that I mean sitting in your chair, so if I aim to get to school with 10 minutes to spare, I must be out of the door at 7.30 at the latest. Cripes. Tsurumine High School itself is a relatively bland building, I cannot say much more at this point as I have only seen the outside, so perhaps it will surprise me yet.

Today I was let loose in Ebina by myself, with the instruction to try and come back home by myself on the bus system, but if all else failed, I could ring my host mum and get picked up. Determined not to cause an inconvenience, I memorised my buses number and name, and the name of the bus stop where I would get off. Happy though to be able to explore for a while, I spent my time in the Rambling Terrace, Vinawalk, which is one great big outdoor shopping concourse interconnected with all manner of bridges, stairs, escalators and elevators. Tis a very pretty place, there is a temple like structure in the middle of the main plaza, and it even has a little train. Very cute. While I was there, the clouds began to turn grey and rumbled towards Ebina, so out popped hundreds of kasa (umbrellas) as the rain started to fall. In Ebina, it never rains. Nor does it spit. Or even dribble. It POURS. A great torrent of water cascaded from the skies, and the wind made it sometimes fly horizontally, rendering our kasa somewhat useless. So with slightly damp legs I managed to get to the bus station, board my bus (after asking an old lady if this bus was the Minami Imasato Bus, in Japanese, nearly knocked her over from the shock of me being able to speak Japanese), and then found my way home. When I opened the door, mum was waiting for me and said in English, 'And now starts the life!" I guess she meant so starts my life in Japan, but we'll never know.


And of course, there are the awkward/strange moments of the week. As many of you know from facebook, I did indeed inadvertently use the dog's shampoo in the shower on my first night. But my coat/hair was very shiny and free of knots, so it can't have been all that bad? Also this morning, I opened my window to let some of the soul destroying heat out, and a little something fell onto my bed. Looking at it slightly apprehensively, (the cicadas here are massive and really REALLY ANGRY) it turned out to be a dried lizard. It had been dead quite some time, as it was very very mummified, and it must have been crushed by the window and remained there until I freed it today. So a moment of quiet reflection please, for lizards worldwide who have died in window related incidents.


On a lighter note, I have now watched, for the 3rd time in my life, the Japanese version of Pokemon! And boy is it hectic. So much to take in, so many high pitched voices, so much fast talking, so little time to translate. In short, it was awesome.


That's enough now to get me started, I will add some more photos and stuff a bit later, tis approaching bedtime for me now, hope you find this blog interesting :D


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