To all who read, please forgive this little ramble, but it is a heartfelt tome of words that I feel I MUST get off my mind.
For starters, I'd like to say my thanks to all who made my time here in Japan
a memorable and wonderful experience: Dave and Atsuko Clare, Sam Lambson, John Shearen, Marvin Peace, Tachibana Ukyou (YES, that is her name), Tachibana Akane (same goes for her), Sakura Edwards, Matsuura Minami, Mizuyo Ai, Ichinomiya Shiro, Kagawa Nimoru, those I haven't mentioned here due to space considerations, and last but never least, Imae Kimiko, my fiancee and love of my life.
As I write this, this is my last full day in the land of the rising sun. The next day, I board a flight at Narita, and hours later, I'm back in the US for the first time in five years, in Pearl Harbor/Honolulu (ironically, I leave Narita at 2030 Tokyo Standard on Monday, and arrive in Honolulu at 0825 Hawaii Standard...on Monday. How's that for travelling back in time? ^_^). There I will begin my sojurn into exile, back in the country of my birth (if not the actual region).
Exile in Hawaii, some of you may say as you scoff, how can that be exile? The members of the FFML that are Sailors, such as I, will be especially annoyed to know that I am probably the only Sailor in the fleet to be complaining about five years shore duty in "paradise".
It's not paradise for me. Sure, it's shore duty. Sure, it's a chance to work on that long-delayed college degree, and to enjoy the fruits of seven straight years of sea duty. But it will never be paradise. Paradise is here, where I am now. Japan. A place that, in my 27-plus years of life, is the only spot on Earth that I have ever truly been able to call home. The only place where I am comfortable, can unwind, and feel as though I belong. A place where most of you wish to even see, and where I have been privileged to call home for these last two years. Even with its bad spots (and some of you who I've talked to know what they are), it is still more a home for me than other places that I should be closer in feeling to:
southern California - the area that was the nexus of who I was for so long;
Mexico - the place where a lot of my immediate ancestry originates;
southern Spain - where my family originally hailed from, centuries ago.
And yet, I feel more at home in the forests of Hakkone than I do on the shore of Huntington Beach. I feel more at peace near the spires of Tokyo than I do amongst the parks of Mexico City. I feel happier in the hills of Hakodate than amongst the streets of Cadiz.
Much of it is simply the way my life has evolved. Much of it is nurture, not nature, and even a bit of it may simply be the call to the peaceful life to be found here in the Kanto plain, the Tokyo metro area notwithstanding. Some of it could even be contributed to the influence of my fianc�e (who would, or so she's hinted, rather live in Hawaii).
It's all of that, and none of it. It is, in essence, simply, if a word could be put to it, the wa.
The wa. The inner harmony of being Japanese. Somehow, everyone here, whether you are born of the blood of Nihon or not, acquires it...or they don't. What that means, simply is that I have seen many a so-termed gaijin act more local than the locals, and Nihonjin that I could swear came from London or LA. I am probably one of the former, in that I have tried to become more at one with the culture than others I have known, including natives.
And there is nothing more special to me than living the life that I have here, trying to become one with everything I have known here. I'm not just talking the Playstation or the Y10000 VHS copies of Mononoke Hime, I'm talking about the little things. Wolfing takoyaki at 0300 in the morning on a Saturday night in the middle of Oppama-ku, Taura, with your friends. Staring at the gorgeous greenery and homey comforts of a little town in Hokkaido. Relaxing on the beaches in Okinawa. Gazing at wonder at the Daibutsu and grand temples of Kamakura. Living in your own place out in town, just like anyone else does, and getting to know your neighbors (in some cases, like they were your own family). Trying to stomach natto (okay, maybe not that). Sitting at Yokohama stadium, rooting for the BayStars (the local baseball team). It's all that...and more. Much more.
And here with those personal notes of mine, comes a rant that I have been wanting to pen for the longest time. We all write about this land, this adopted homeland of mine, but how many out there have really tried to understand it? There are credible few in my mind that I feel have really done justice to what is Japan--Lurker, Greg Sandborn, the Wildes, Joseph Palmer, Libby Thomas, and John Shearen immediately come to mind, though there are others--but the majority out there, I feel, really don't bother with research. It is treated as superfluous at best, or insignificant at worst. I believe that's a total waste, and damaging to one's works. The best way I can say this is, the twenty-three wards (Juban, Nerima, Suginami, or whichever you're writing about) aren't Anytown USA (or whichever country you're from), and those characters aren't like Bob and Mary down the street.
My rant is threefold: items, locales, and culture.
ITEMS: a few months back, I ran across a writer who had one of his characters drinking Surge, an American soft drink that has not seen production in Japan. I explained to him that Mountain Dew would be better, since it has been here since the 80s. Another person asked what the menu is here for Taco Bell. Simple--there isn't one. The nearest Taco Bell is hundreds of miles away, on Guam (that is, if you don't count the ones on US bases, that as of this writing are still only in the planning stages). Kudos goes to the author (sorry, but I forgot who it was) who asked if there was any differences between the US and Japanese menus of Yoshinoya (a staple in Japan, and a few outlets in Hawaii and California as of the last time I was in the continental US, years ago) and MOS Burger (despite its rep as the worst fast-food joint in Japan, it has many outlets throughout Japan and one ~shudder~ in Waikiki as of the last time I was stationed in Pearl). In short, don't expect your character to use your favorite brand of toothpaste, because it may not be available here. Your favorite hero will probably not stop into McDonalds for a McChicken, because it's not available in Japan (nor for that matter, are McSalads, though he/she might have a Teryaki McBurger). If your character is drinking a Cherry Coke in Juban, he/she must have gotten it from a US base or an import store, because it's not here (but at least it's better than Pocari Sweat or Prio Guyavana). They're more apt to use Top in the washing machine than Tide or Ariel. The list goes on and on.
Do the research: look at the websites (www.coca-cola.co.jp, www.glico.co.jp, www.toyota.co.jp, www.fujikyu.co.jp, whatever) for the products...a great many of those sites have English sections. If worst comes to, ask myself or one of the other members of Studio YOGIPIGS (studioyogipigs@bigfoot.com), since most of the studio either lives in or is a native of Japan.
And with that, I move on.
Rant number two: LOCALES. I have a shock for you--all of Japan DOES NOT look like Tokyo. Hey, even sections of Tokyo look different from each other. Sarcasm aside, what point I'm getting to is thus: not everything happens in Nerima or Juban, and certainly not everything can even occur in Tokyo. Look at the masters: Takahashi, although mostly Tokyo-bound, did occasionally show other locales (Maison Ikkoku takes place nowhere near the Kanto plain, while the Mermaid Saga wanders all over the archiepelago). Shirow's tales take place mostly in Kobe.
Your stories do not have to always be straight in Nerima or Juban. Take, for example, Joseph Palmer's stories. Although they have a bent to it that is purely Nerima and Suginami, you can tell from his descriptions that he's done some travel on the Yamanote JR line (that's the central loop line that takes you all over a good portion of town). Or, Bridget Wilde's Monogatari--while it contains a grand description of Edo, could easily be wrapped around Kamakura or Odawara. Even Lurker's description of Meguro (that's the ward Juban's in, folks) is fairly accurate. Another kudo should be mentioned to Doug Murphy, who took the time to do research on Fujisan and which trails are best for climbing to the top (Fujiyama-yoshida is the least difficult) and which is the best for training and scenery (by far Gotemba is it, though Kawaguchi isn't too bad, either).
Counter this with the person who made a mention of the seashores of Nerima. Maybe in Tokyo 3, folks; Nerima's nowhere near Tokyo Bay, and the closest public beach locales that come to mind are in Yokohama, Kawasaki, Kamakura, and Zushi (again, there are others; it's those that are clearest in my mind at the moment). Another person wrote about the 90 minute trip by car to the summit of Fujiyama. NOT. Folks, it's at least a four-hour drive from oh, say Suginami/Nerima to station five at Gotembaguchi (and that's halfway up the mountain, NOT to the top; there is no drive to the top on any of the four trails). A third wrote about (and this is the worst by far) the ten minute train ride between Osaka and Tokyo. If JR has a shinkansen that fast, I'd really like to see it; I live in Yokosuka, 55km SE of Tokyo, and it takes me about an hour on the JR to get to Shinagawa, on the outskirts of Tokyo. To be fair, I've made mistakes, and I live here: I placed the Budokan in Shinjuku, when I should have said Ueno-koen.
Then, there are other locales that you can write about. Hakkone is scenic and known for its hot-springs. Odawara and Hakodate castles are absolutely astonishing. Asoyama, Fujiyama, and Shiroyama are grand mountains to have settings. Lakes Biwa or Kawaguchi are impressive in and of themselves. Hokkaido's many towns can sometimes seem like Colorado. The tidepool crags at Miura are hauntingly gorgeous and historically known, as well (it's the location where Commo Perry landed his black ships). Maybe a park, like Ueno, Daiba, or even the Imperial Palace (the outer grounds are beautiful, and I've been there enough times). Your character's not the outdoors type, you say? Okay, they can take in a museum, such as the Picasso Museum in Chokoku no Mori, the castles at Odawara or Hakodate, or the many displayed temples at Kamakura or Nikko. Or what about one of the many basho (Sumo tournaments) that abound here? A kabuki or noh play, perhaps; maybe an aquarium, like Yokohama Sea Paradise, or Miura Sea World. If they want to go the amusement park route, there's always Tokyo Disneyland, Namco's Namjatown, Sega's Joypolis centers, or Fujikyu Highland. A mallrat is the type you're writing about? Well, there's the ever-famous Ginza. What about the Yokohama 21st Century Mall, Motomachi, or Chinatown instead? If he/she's a techie, then there's Akihabara, or Ikekebukuro, if that person likes eletronic play. A gaijin is your hero? Well, anyone who's not born here eventually ends up in the "High Touch Town", Roppongi. The list and possibilities are endless.
Again, look it up: www.disneyland.co.jp, www.fujikyu.co.jp/hl, www.sumo.com, www.lonelyplanet.com.au/neasia/japan, www.w-vision.com, and so forth and so on can be of great assistance. For trains, it's www.japanrail.com, or if you want the actual stations, www.west-jr.co.jp, www.jr-east.co.jp, www.jr-hokkaido.co.jp; I'll leave out the smaller lines (Odakyu, Keikyu, Fujikyu, etc). Again, don't be afraid to ask. If you must, reference my journals on climbing Fujiyama, or the Yokosuka basho, or I'll even tell you about my trips to Hakkone or Lake Kawaguchi, and staying in ryokans (Japanese inns)--BTW, a public bath is a great experience that I think just about everyone should do.
Which brings me to the third part of my rant.
CULTURE: this, by far, is probably the most difficult and hardest to peg. The list of "You know you've been in Japan too long when" simply doesn't cover it. This is a land where any girl in a Sailor fuku is a sex symbol. This is the land of the samurai drama, the land of Mario and Sonic, of Fuji and Sony. It is a place of contrasts, where the old and the new constantly strive to mesh together. And somewhere within that is the Japanese identity.
One time, an author inquired as to what are the bar hours for Shinjuku, since he wanted to have a couple of his characters drinking there. The fact is, underage drinking in Japan is nonexistent, and if such a real teen were to go into a bar, it would only be to use the toilet, then step out again (there is also the fact that they would probably be partying in Daiba, Ueno, Ikebukuro, or Roppongi--NOT expensive and stuffy Shinjuku). Greg Sandborn has asked me a few questions on teen life here (and I'm still waiting for all the results on your inquiries, so I haven't forgotten, Greg). These are minor examples, but just two of many that I have been asked or pointed out since I began writing.
I realize that we all have the things that we'd like to do with those events, characters, and situations, but we do have to keep this all in perspective: they are not American/Canadian/Australian/Filipino/whatever teens, and you should not expect them to act like it. Japan is a country where you will find women as virgins until their wedding night (80%, according to a recent poll by Tokyo Weekly magazine). Japan is a country where (some recent colorful exceptions notwithstanding) teenagers are still polite and well-behaved. Japan is a nation where most members of the military are stoutly anti-military (though this will change in the next few years as the Japan Self-Defense Forces become the Japan Armed Forces). It is a land that has gone through fundamental changes in the way they are, yet still have retained some semblance of who they were at the core. The writing, to some degree, should reflect that basic (and I say basic, since most of you are thousands of kilometers away) sense.
Try to use what a person would actually be feeling at that point. For example, in TOS2, the teen view is very much based on thoughts and feelings of Japanese teens at that time, since I'd interviewed Kim and Ukyou on that. You might not always have a Japanese person to interview, so try to read up on what they might be thinking. If you have the requirements, drop into a chat line to see what's up. Or, read a book on the Japanese culture. From Hagakure (the celebrated 17th century treatise on the samurai) to Monkey Brain Sushi (a compilation of stories on modern day Japan); from Legends of Yokai (a thorough book on monsters and ghosts by Mizuki Shigeru, Japan's Stephen King) to Sailor Chan (a very graphic, revealing, and descriptive book on teen sex); from Baroque (a Japanese view on foriegners in Japan) to Dave Barry Does Japan (^_^), it will give you insight on this place. Oh, and if you're curious, all the books above are available in English, and with the exception of Legends of Yokai and Dave Barry's tome, are published by Kodansha USA/Kodansha Europe.
(A side note I will note to those who don't read lemons: try reading Sailor Chan. If you can stomach the sexual descriptions, it is at its heart, the tragic story of a teenage girl who is trying to be normal at all costs but ends up trapping herself in the worst way imaginable. I personally don't read lemons, yet I found the story in this novel absolutely intriguing).
I suppose that's all the rant I have, but I can say this: if you truly wish to experience Japan, then there's only one way to do that: COME HERE. I'm sure that's easier said than done, but there is nothing that can explain life more than that. You'll never know what it is to be around Japan (the concept) until you arrive in Japan (the land). Until you can sit in a public bath and BS about the basho results, you haven't gone Tokyo urban. Until you've been in the Tama forest and stared at the nighttime sky, you haven't searched for Orahime and her ill-fated lover like many of the others have from so long ago. Wandering in the streets of Yurakucho (that's the district where the Ginza is) or the walls of Hakodate Castle will bring evocations of what Japan is.
And as I begin my exile back to the US, I realize now that I, an American by birth, of Mexican and Spanish ancestry, feel more Japanese than anything else. Tomorrow, I leave home. There is an old Japanese saying that every mariner on the oceans searches for home in the end.
I've found it. And tomorrow I leave it.
I leave it behind. I leave my kith and kin behind, though they will eventually end up away from Japan as well (in truth, a couple of years from now, Kim, Ai, Akane, and John will all be lounging on the Waikiki sands next to yours truly). I leave the culture behind, though one can arguably pick up anything from Tokyo in Honolulu. The only thing I cannot pick up will be the sense of longing for home, for a place which I feel I belong. Returning to an alien culture, one that I derived from.
And in closing, I leave you with a quote from the Hagakure, one that is apt to our given scripts:
"The proper manner of calligraphy is nothing other than not being careless, but in this way one's writing will simply be sluggish and stiff. One should go beyond this and depart from the norm. The principle applies to all things."
I will see you all sometime in the next few days, from the sandwich islands.
Aloha and dewa mata nochikodo.
