Still Adjusting to Tokyo Life After Several Years
When I was living up north, near Sendai, I used to dream of the day I could move to Tokyo and start a life here. Not that there’s anything wrong with the Tohoku Region. In fact, I loved living there and there’s a lot I miss about it. However, there was no way I was going to live in Japan for several years without living in the Big Mikan.
Recently, someone asked me to make a list of things I still haven’t gotten used to about living here in the big city. Well, to be honest, there are too many things to list in one post, but I thought I’d put some of the major ones up here. Before you read on though, please understand that I do love living in Tokyo for the most part and do feel that the positive aspects of life here outweigh the bad ones. Anyway, here goes:
- The lack of respect for the personal space of others. I mean, in a city full of people moving around in tight spaces, you’d think there’d be a healthy appreciation for the idea of avoiding bumping into people whenever possible. Yeah, it’s not possible during rush periods in the train stations, but it still fucking blows my mind how some people in relatively uncrowded places will still give up the free space on the side of the walkway they’re walking on just to cross over and bump into me. And, I’m not talking about dipshits walking around with their heads down, texting away on their cell phones (preview of number 2 here); I’m talking about people with their heads up, looking forward. I mean, I’d like to think it’s because I’m one sexy bastard, but I know better. I guess when you spend years trudging around and bumping into others like animals in a herd, the idea of free space probably becomes a little scary.
- The multitudes that just cannot focus on their surroundings and always have to be fucking around with their mobile phones, playing DS or PSP, or just reading manga. You’re 40 years old, motherfucker! Stop reading goddamn comic books! I mean, if machines ever do take over, they won’t have to worry about programming the Tokyo part of the matrix… Nobody here would know if anything around them changed anyway. Ok, I’m exaggerating a little here. But, only a little. I’m not bullshitting when I say that a girl I was hanging out with a few months back was surprised by the presence of the Cocoon Tower in Nishi-Shinjuku (Tokyo Mode Gakuen). “When was that built?” she suddenly asked me. I replied, “You’re serious?” She nodded and said, “un.” I just shrugged my shoulders and told her I didn’t remember. And she works in Shinjuku, for fuck’s sake!
- Young guys and old men who order the staff in fast food restaurants around like they were in a 5-star restaurant. At the Sukiya in my neighborhood, they keep several pitchers of tea on the counter where people sit, spaced about a meter apart. Yet, most times I’m there, some 20-something punk-ass will call out impatiently, “See-mah-sen! Ocha!” Reach over, grab the pitcher, and pour it yourself, you lazy cunt!
- The cutesiness of everything. I mean, even car insurance commercials have kids singing childish jingles. And the pop music. Morning Musume? Give me a dull butter knife so I can commit seppuku with it. I dealt with it better when I was a newbie and there was still a bit of novelty to it.
- Being able to find a program about food on TV anytime of day or night. With the frequency of such programs, hasn’t every eating spot in the entire country been covered at least twice?
Anyway, enough from me. What do you still have trouble with getting used to here in Tokyo, or in Japan in general?
An American living in Tokyo. Can be seen bounding through Shinjuku Station most mornings, teeth gnashing, eyes bulging, a cup of cheap coffee clenched in one fist and a satchel in the other. God help those who don't see him coming.
August 11th, 2009 at 6:12 pm
awesome post. Just reading about your experiences in Japan (Tokyo) makes me want to hurry and experience it so I can swear and be bumped into like you
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August 11th, 2009 at 6:44 pm
Don’t bring yourself down to my level and start swearing all the time. It’s a bad habit I learned from my dear old mother.
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August 11th, 2009 at 6:48 pm
I wonder if *certain* people will aim for gaikokujin? It happened to me once on one of my visits. This guy aimed right for me and body checked me. My wife (a Tokyo native) thought that he might be a fascist.
Not noticing a building might not be so strange or unique to Tokyo. There’s tons of stuff in London that I haven’t done because I see no need to. Likewise my wife had never been to Asakusa or the Edo shrine until we took a tourist tour for my benefit.
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August 11th, 2009 at 9:07 pm
All of the above… and I really miss visiting fiends and kicking the football, having a BBQ at midday with 10 other people with cold beer… but as you say, with a list of good and bad the good list is much longer…
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August 11th, 2009 at 11:14 pm
Wow. don’t know if you dig it there or hate it there. I like it there coz its’ different. Like the culture, People. Why its’ Japan not America.
Yea! maybe time for a break. Sin City. Were the only beautiful that will give u time of day is the waitress looking for a tip.
Peace out.
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August 11th, 2009 at 11:47 pm
I think the lack of nature is the hardest thing to deal with in the long run. There are parks here and there with trees, bushes, and flowers, but a lot of them have no or little grass. One day I was walking along and smelled fresh cut grass and realized that it had literally been over a decade since I’d smelled grass.
That being said, I think I’m fully adjusted, but that doesn’t mean that I enjoy some of the more irritating points. How can anyone ever really get used to people who don’t look where they’re going (which is really just rude behavior) or the behavior of some older men in Japan who treat everyone as if they are obliged to accommodate them?
(And I knew someone would ignore your disclaimer and post a comment about you hating Japan - people always do that.)
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August 11th, 2009 at 11:49 pm
Japan (and Tokyo specifically) is the food capital of the world. I would love those TV food programs, but maybe that’s just me.
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August 12th, 2009 at 12:59 am
Yeah man - the TV over here kills me. Not only is every other show just watching people make food; it is often watching celebrities watching people make food, and then watching said celebrities eat said food.
And the space thing…
On the trains, I usually like to stand near the door unless there are a lot of open seats. Sometimes, even though the train isn’t crowded, I’ll get some asshole who has to stand right next to me. Usually it’s because they want to push ahead of me to get out of the train first.
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August 12th, 2009 at 1:52 am
What is wrong with a 40yr old reading a comic book? Do you watch Terminator? or Star Wars or any other fantasy related movie? How different is it than the story in a comic? Heck some of the biggest movies this past couple years were originated from comic books in the US. It’s when a 40 year old can’t separate the comic from real life that becomes a problem. Let them read I’m 36 I don’t read comics, but I do watch cartoons. And I personally hate that attitude of “that’s for kids” who is anyone to say what you should or shouldn’t be doing as long as it doesn’t hurt someone else.
There are plenty of people in the US who are just as attached to their phones, psp, gameboys and books or comics in the larger cities of the US, so that one you might have to get use too.
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August 12th, 2009 at 4:25 am
@riChchestMat:
Yeah, on two different occasions, late at night and in uncrowded areas, I’ve had middle-aged men come at me. On one of those occasions, I was coming home from work in a suit and carrying my satchel. We were walking in opposite directions, and as he came within 2 meters or so, he suddenly veered right at me and knocked into me. I had just a split-second to brace myself and I was able to actually get my shoulder into it. We both knocked each other pretty good. I stopped, turned around and waited for his ass to do the same. He never did. Just kept on walking. I suppose he filed that one away in his memory, Boy, I got that stinkin’ gaijin good, didn’t I?
The other guy it happened with and I had words outside Shinjuku Station and my switch was definitely flipped, ready to go all the way. Then, suddenly, it was like his switch flipped off and he apologized, I’m sorry. That was wrong of me. I’m a little drunk.
Weird.
@Paul:
Yeah, no one thing, or even the collection of them, is a deal-breaker… Just some grievances.
@Rrabano:
Read the entire post and you’ll know my true feelings.
@Orchid64:
Yeah, I came over to Japan after years of living in Portland, Oregon. At first, I lived in a rural town near Sendai so I got a good nature fix there. But Tokyo… yeah. But, compared to my hometown of LA, there’s a bit more green once you get away from downtown. I’m lucky; I live very close to Yoyogi Park, and West Tokyo does have a few nice nature-filled areas. I guess my ideal town for natural surroundings is one like Seattle.
@Protocol Snow:
I guess if you’re a true foodie, you might.
@Blue Shoe:
Yeah, the races to be first at anything in train stations cracks me up. People run and push through crowds just to be the first to line up at the platform to wait for the next train. And then the carnage that ensues when two people rush for the last vacant seat… Yeehaw!
A few months back, I witnessed a salaryman and a guy in a jogging suit and carrying an oversized bag dash from opposite sides of the bench seat for the last open spot. In matrix-like form, the salary jumped a little, twisted his body in mid-air, and landed beautifully seated in position. The jogging-suit guy grabbed the overhead rail to keep himself from landing on the salaryman, but momentum carried his bag right into the salaryman’s face, knocking his head into the window. Jogging-suit guy huffed and stomped off to another car and Mr. Salaryman just sat there grinning as if he’d won the battle of his life and everything was going to be alright from that point on.
@James Andrews:
If I’ve seen Terminator or Star Wars once or twice, does that justify an obsession with comic books? Are you saying that? Give me a break. Look, if some people are really into it, so be it. But, when the majority of grown men seems to be disinterested in any kind of reading material except comics, that’s a bit scary. But, whatever. It’s not a deal-breaker for me. I’m just saying…
Anyway, come live here for a year or two, buddy. Ride the trains every day, day in - day out, for the entire time. When you look around yourself every time and see legions of businessmen reading manga and others rarely reading anything else… When you spend a bit of time with various people and realize that a shocking percentage of them read nothing but manga… When you talk to most people about newsworthy world events and they look at you like, What the fuck are you talking about?…
And, if you think the percentages are the same as back home, you’re seriously mistaken.
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August 12th, 2009 at 5:22 am
Yup. Back in the States, the only people that read that many comics are most likely living in their parents’ basement. Here, comics are like a national pastime.
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August 12th, 2009 at 5:37 am
@Protocol Snow - Gonna have to disagree with you on Japan being the food capital of the world. You want fruit, you’re going to pay for it. Like I mean $5+ for one peach. Also, if you like Mexican food you are pretty SOL. There are a precious few places where you might be able to get a decent taco, but you’ll also find “Mexican” restaurants that don’t know the difference between salsa and ketchup.
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August 12th, 2009 at 7:30 am
Watching Japanese TV is like being a character in an H.P. Lovecraft story. Madness is always the result.
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August 12th, 2009 at 5:54 pm
I think you are watching the future. Tomorrow every big city or developed cowntry society will be much close to this picture you present to us. Consider this a training program.
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August 13th, 2009 at 3:56 am
I don’t really think so. There’s a huge cultural influence that can’t be ignored. Certainly, with an issue like overcrowding and the rudeness that ensues, there are big cities in the world that are much more uncomfortable to move around in at rush hour. But the rest of the things I’ve mentioned aren’t particular to Tokyo, just more prevalent there.
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August 14th, 2009 at 5:13 am
Ha, I know what you mean. My mommie-dearest taught me everything I know. I think it’s cute when she tries to scold me about using a certain word while using the same word (or, in most cases, something much worse). Personally, even though I think Japan is a great place to be, especially out by the ocean and in the southern islands, and even on the outskirts of the Tokyo prefecture (great places like the suburban parts of Ikebukuro), I don’t think I’ll ever come to love the pushing and shoving of places like Osaka (I’ll never, ever step foot in that city again…it’s sooo crowded, and full of teens, too) and Tokyo. Even the main parts of Ikebukuro scare me.
But I love the country anyways.
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August 14th, 2009 at 10:38 pm
that’s cool and all. but then why are you still there? take it or leave it.
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August 15th, 2009 at 3:47 am
Why I’m still here is spelled out, in boldface, in the post above. Don’t know if you’re a troll, you have ADD, or are just stupid. Either way, feel free to piss off and not come back
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August 15th, 2009 at 4:11 am
I got the same bad habit….from primary school…sigh.
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August 16th, 2009 at 5:21 am
After 2 1/2 years in the big mikan (part of a longer stay here in Japan, for any trolls looking to stroke their e-pen0r), I’m still not used to, as BW mentioned, the way people just out-and-out ignore you here in public. Got damn near hit twice today by obasans on their bicycles because they apparently just couldn’t process the fact that I was present and occupying space.
Overall, I felt like the people were nicer, the prices and living conditions were better, and the food was tastier back in kansai.
Incidentally, I came to Tokyo for work; smug “take it or leave it” posters can kindly GTFO. kthxbye.
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August 17th, 2009 at 12:27 am
@John - People always say that Kansai is friendlier than Tokyo, but I honestly can’t tell a big difference. Could be that I’ve been away from Tokyo too long, though. Gotta love the extremes, though - either get ignored or brutally stared down.
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August 17th, 2009 at 3:29 am
LOL, or maybe I’ve been away from Kansai long enough to have romanticized it. Come to think of it, I used to get the brutal stare-down sometimes back there as well…
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August 18th, 2009 at 3:11 am
Oh, Lord, I can’t stomach those prick customers at Sukiya/Matsuya/Yoshinoya. No manners at all, barely look up, no “thank you.”
Nicely done with the “See-ma-seeeen!” That must be how these 30-year-old boys call for mommy’s second round of natto at the breakfast table.
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August 18th, 2009 at 5:48 am
My theory on the comic books is they read for one of two reasons…
1.It’s cheap porn with bedroom action they will never get/see/touch/smell in real life in 100 million+ years… unlike charisma man…
2 They are living their secret ninja super hero, muscular bodied, get the girl looks, fantasy lives…
Either way, living a life vicariously through the comic book studs for 100yen second hand is as good as it gets for some…
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August 22nd, 2009 at 7:11 am
For me, the lack of public trash cans and hole-in-the-floor toilets are the hardest for me to adjust to.
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August 26th, 2009 at 10:00 am
Now im wondering what is it like to live in Sendai hehe
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August 27th, 2009 at 9:15 am
I lived near Sendai for a year and thought it was a great town. Big city squeezed in between the mountains and the sea. Love it. I would be happy to live there again if the chance came up.
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October 2nd, 2009 at 1:35 pm
Omigod, how many times have I been whacked into in a relatively uncrowded space! It drives me nuts. I regret giving up smoking last month, because now my sense of smell is more accute, and I really don’t need to know what you ate or drank, how much garlic was in it, or who you slept with last night, or how sweaty you got at the office. Bleh.
I think it’s the car accident effect that draws people to us terribly gaijin-looking people. We’re conspicuous, which draws attention. And then the average person wants to pretend they don’t notice us, but it’s really hard not to, and then any human being is drawn to the exotic or differnt. Which leads to the inevitable collision, despite the desire to the contrary.
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November 5th, 2009 at 2:14 pm
This is an interesting post. I’ve always been curious what it’s like to move to Tokyo after living in another area of Japan. I have friends that have lived in Gunma and after spending just a little time up there I know that it’s a completely different world more similar to where I’m from back in my own country.
For me, the thing about Tokyo I am still having problems adjusting to is how hard-boiled the groups are, all with their fixed aesthetics, pattern of speech and social interaction.
I’m also often completely blown away if I listen in to groups of people who are discussing as hyper-superficial matters as I could ever imagine, and it is a reminder of what happens at macro-level in the mega-metro. Sometimes, not so much, as it turns out.
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January 14th, 2010 at 1:12 pm
Thats because you dont have cable then. You shouldnt complain about free tv. It’s free. Even in the states free tv sucks. The number one past time here is Food. food + tv = Happy Japanese
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January 14th, 2010 at 1:19 pm
i think comic / hentai books fit perfectly here since both the women and the men are despondent from reality. Men here have no balls and the women dont seem to want them. both are colder than a polar bears arse. men supplement fantasy sex for the real thing and the women supplement shopping for sex. go figure.
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January 14th, 2010 at 1:22 pm
obaasan are going to take over the earth. they are a secret army from hell. everyone parts from my way except them and i can see the pride in their eyes as they jab me. mark my words they are mutant warriors, fearless and deadly
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