Tokyo and the five senses

One of the amazing things that we notice is the contrast between public and private and between places of commerce and residential. Our area is very residential and peaceful. Ten minutes away in Shibuya – which is one of the biggest train stations in Tokyo, the area is far different. In our neighborhood you can hear a pin drop; in Shibuya you cannot hear your phone ring. The same society that has signs in the subway to not use the cell phone and to be quiet and respect your fellow riders has the most obnoxious noise in its commercial areas – one’s ears get assaulted every time you venture near an electronic store. Many stores have employees with megaphones outside to yell about the newest product.

The smells are quite different in the public and private. The Japanese have been rather successful at getting smokers to smoke only at designated spots and not to walk and smoke at the same time. This means that even though more folks smoke here than in America you do not have to be near the smoke when outside. The restaurants are still unpredictable at separating the smokers – some do a better job and some do nothing. The enjoyable smells have to do with food preparation. There are more French bakeries in Tokyo then you could ever imagine and it is quite enjoyable to be near one. The other night while walking home I could tell that a neighbor was preparing an Italian feast – too bad I did not have an invitation for dinner.

The residential areas are very clean and tidy while the more commercial area have trash – not as much as in US cities perhaps, but very visible litter none the less. Unlike the US I commonly see someone cleaning the public area outside an establishment – sometimes with a broom sometimes with a mop, and sometimes with a steam cleaner. However, yesterday while walking down the street a 20 year old in front of me threw his cigarette package – presumably empty - into a flower pot and then walked into a fast food store to talk with a friend. Public garbage cans may not be as readily available as in US cities – but this was still quite surprising.

What few public garbage cans exist are often overfilled, especially in the parks and gardens, with litter on the ground due to lack of space. Once again if it is a free public space the area tends to be poorly tended. I find it odd that parks in NYC and Washington DC are nicer than ones in Tokyo. The areas set aside for children are really disappointing. Usually the ground is dirt – which of course turns to mud in the rain. I have been to what are described as the better playgrounds for children in Tokyo and I have not been impressed. Very little attention is paid to make the area welcoming – these are not spots that invite you to stay for long periods. In contrast to the roads which are overmaintained – the parks are ignored and it shows.

The food available in Tokyo is overwhelming. I’m certain that we could eat out every night for the next year and still not sample all the food within a 15-minute walk of our apartment. Down the street we have Portugese and Italian. Several blocks away is one of the best French restaurants in Tokyo. The noodle shops are too numerous to count – with the plastic food outside to help you see what is offered. The only problem with eating out -- besides the language problem of knowing what you are getting – is the serving size. The servings are often too small for our children. This really encourages you to order an appetizer and dessert and thus turns most dinners into a larger bill than you might expect from just looking at the prices on the menu. The only places where we find larger portions are the noodle shops.

The biggest change for us is buying food at a department store. Most department stores have restaurants on one or two of the upper floors. In addition most have food emporiums in the basement where you can purchase numerous types of prepared food. (The odd part is that you are not supposed to eat in public – so the only way to eat these selections is to either go to a park for a picnic – or take them home.) In addition the large Tokyu (that is the correct spelling) store at Shibuya has a regular grocery as well as a prepared food section. I would love to purchase more at this store but fighting my way through the crowds is rather difficult. Shibuya has the largest public crossing in Tokyo – that is the most number of people crossing the street every 3 minutes. The crowds have to be seen to be believed. This works in Tokyo since very few people jaywalk.

Moving

We have moved into what will be our home for the next year. The move went well. The passenger van driver showed up on time and everything was loaded and unloaded in less than an hour. (We will not talk about the hours spent stuffing everything back into the original luggage or about how little space was actually used in the van.) Everything went according to schedule except for the internet connection. The wiring person showed up and did his part on time – no problems. However, the password and connection information did not reach us in time. When we placed a call the next day during their business hours (10-6) we discovered that a notice was had been sent to our e-mail (how do you check your e-mail if you do not have a connection?)

Before moving in we had an apartment inspection to go through and look for damage and to show us how to work the security, entrance, AC and kitchen appliances. What was most interesting was that the native Japanese speakers could not figure out how to use the combination oven/microwave: perhaps they only eat out? Nor did they do much better with the AC or security system – touch only these 2 buttons in this order, please ignore the 6 other options for the security system. Please ignore the other setting for the AC, ditto the ventilation system, do not touch the floor heating until it turns cold. Gads, if they cannot figure out the systems why don’t the engineers make simpler systems?

I spent about an hour on line hunting up the Kanji on the oven and was only able to succeed due to a website that understood that this is a common problem (they also had a section for Japanese toilettes which we also have). I’m not sure what is scarier – the need for assistance or the ability to find the answer on google.

So far everything is working quite well in our new place. The hardest part is hunting for specific items that we now need. For example, we have a balcony with a set of laundry drying racks that need poles. (The reason these are so useful is the price of energy, which makes running a dryer a real luxury for most Japanese.) Finding poles took over a week – the Japanese insistence that every single item be removed from the apartment when it is vacated helps create this problem – do you think that the former renters needed them for their new apartment at the same length and width? It took visits to more than 3 stores to find the proper item.

Before the move

In order to get ready for our move I went up to Shimo-bashi, to buy some odds and ends from a Briton trying to make it in the music business returning to London. A good reminder of graduate student days and how many young people live here. Shimo-bashi was on a local train out of Ikebukuro in the northwest of Tokyo, still on the JR. The apartment, up three flights of narrow stairs, was a small studio that would induce claustrophobia. Somewhat of a reminder of graduate student days and the concept of the individual investing in his professional tools (several thousand dollars of musical equipment were crammed into the room) instead of better living quarters now in hope of a large payoff later.

We signed the apartment lease at Ken Corporation. We were, alas (or fortunately), just regular customers, not members of Ken Platinum, an elite group paying no doubt equally elite prices, so we were ushered into a long room with twelve partitioned meeting areas – table and four chairs – for signing leases. The room remained me of a car dealership.

I picked up my business cards, so I am now truly official. We have to get cards for the family now. I have given the card to a few people and it is impressive to see how they react to the words “Tokodai” (Tokyo Institute of Technology).

Lisa, Caroline and I attended a talk hosted by the Harvard Club of Japan by Robert Dujarric, the Director of the Institute of Contemporary Japanese Studies at Temple University Japan. The venue was the 20th floor of a bank and the view, a wealthy city brimming with light, was spectacular. And a bit incongruous with the topic, ”Japan’s new isolation”. Or not really. One subtheme was that Japan had modernized so successfully and become so economically prosperous that there was not a pressing and obvious need to open itself to the outside world.

The evening was unusual by American standards. Instead of a reception, dinner, and talk, the order was reversed. We arrived a few minutes after the opening time of 6.30 to find a score of people seated quietly in rows of desks (which were a bit short for my legs). Very few people were talking to their neighbors – it felt a bit like the first day of class. By 6.50, the audience had swelled to 50-60, but the volume had not increased. After the talk, we moved to a small buffet and cash bar to mingle and discuss the talk. The concept of the post-talk reception makes sense, but next time we will eat beforehand.

The audience was 2/3 Western, 1/3 Japanese. Several were from the financial world and there was a slight air of uneasiness. One person was formerly from Lehman. At least one ASIJ parent had the same distinction.