Take for example convenience stores. They’re pretty much ubiquitous in both Japan and the United States, but some little differences set them apart. And a lot of the time, those little disparities make a world of difference.

American Convenience Stores

If you’re unfamiliar with American convenience stores, you’re not really missing out on a whole lot. Generally, they’re attached to gas stations, and are seen as kind of scuzzy places.

American convenience stores don’t offer a lot of high-end products, but if you’re looking to buy cigarettes, gum, or three-day-old hot dogs, then they are the place to go.

Thank you, but no.

And convenience store bathrooms? They’re cesspools of disease and filth where superviruses are born. Convenience store bathrooms are places where you might be tricked into thinking syringes are standard issue.

In short, American convenience stores are places I only visit when I need to pay for gas (or have a Slurpee craving). Now Japanese convenience stores, on the other hand, couldn’t be more different.

The Konbini

There are a few things that Japanese convenience stores (or konbinis) have in common with American convenience stores.

First of all, there are a couple of American convenience stores that made it across the Pacific. 7/11, Circle K, ampm, and Lawson all have franchises in Japan. Well, kind of. Japan has absorbed a lot of these companies and made them into Japanese companies

Circle K in Japan

ampm recently got bought up by a Japanese convenience store, and Circle K combined with a Japanese chain called Sunkus. Lawson is now virtually unheard-of in the USA, and the Japanese 7/11 franchise actually got so big that it bought out its parent company.

And that’s not even mentioning all of the homegrown Japanese konbini chains like Family Mart, Ministop, and a bunch of other, smaller chains.

What Makes Them Better

But what sets the konbini part from your average, everyday American convenience store? For one, they do everything.

One Stop Shopping

Not only is there the typical convenience store fare of food, magazines, manga, and other assorted goods, but they sell concert and amusement park tickets. You can pay your bills, withdraw money from an ATM, and use the copier. Some sell clothes and other wares.

Konbini chain Family Mart has even considered getting into the funeral business. If that’s not one-stop shopping, I don’t know what is.

The Food

Konbini food, believe it or not, is actually pretty decent. Unlike the microwave chimichangas you’ll find in American convenience stores, konbini food appears edible and sometimes even fresh.

Not only are there convenience store staples like candy, chips, and soft drinks, but the hot food at a konbini is what makes them shine.

From the cherished onigiri riceballs to bento meals, pre-prepared konbini food isn’t half-bad. Some onigiri are even wrapped in such a way that the seaweed isn’t touching the rice, preserving its freshness and crispiness.

Even the TV-dinner style (not frozen) bento are pretty great (for the price, at least). If you want, you can get your meal warmed up for you in a ridiculously strong microwave. What should take a minute or two takes a fraction of that. I wish I had a microwave like that at home.

Drinks in a konbini aren’t limited to Slurpess and drip coffee, either. They offer hot drinks that are closer to a cafe a than old coffee grounds that are usually offered at American convenience stores. Of course, there’s also all the staples like tea, fruit drinks, and all the standard Coke and Pepsi fare.

Safety

One notable difference between American and Japanese convenient stores is the safety-factor. I read somewhere a while back that 24 hours konbini actually became a sort of safe-haven for women in Japan. If they thought someone was following them, they could go inside one of the brightly lit stores and wait a while before continuing on.

Besides that, though, they just have an overall feeling of “safe” to them. When I go into an American convenience store, I get out as quickly as possible, assuming that at any moment a gun wielding lunatic will be coming in demanding all the money (and then I’d have to use my super powers to save the day, and that’s just inconvenient if you ask me).

Of course, Japan is a generally safe country already, but while we’re comparing I feel like it ought to be brought up.

Loitering

Konbinis also tend to be a great place to loiter. I don’t know about you, but in America you don’t see people standing around for hours reading magazines. Konbini in Japan are a great place to do this. Even if a store clerk minded, they’d be too polite to tell you to leave (they don’t mind, though, everyone does this).

If you’re the loitering type, konbini are a great place to do it at. American convenience stores? Prepare to be yelled at by a grumpy employee.

Oh, And They’re For Everybody!

I think American convenience stores have pretty specific markets. When I envision a US 7/11, I see sketchy middle aged dudes and groups of no-good teenagers (damn kids!) hanging around inside the store.

Konbini, on the other hand, attract a pretty broad audience. They’re seen more as small corner stores for anybody to use. Not to mention, they’re pretty convenient, even when you’re not looking to get cigarettes and booze.

I would also recommend a write up about konbini from one of my favorite Japan blogs, This Japanese Life. You can check it out here.

Which is your favorite konbini store? What do you like to get there? Tell me in the comments!

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[Header image source]

Structure of the Japanese career system

In the United States, your career growth is primarily dependent on a few assets, but two of them are arguably the most important: the degree of specialization of your skills set and your performance. Typically, you develop yourself in a single market, moving from job to job, to develop specialized skills in order to move up the ladder and/or fatten up the paycheck. Your pay increases as you develop a highly specialized skill set, but eventually tapers off when you hit the limit of your progression. Your employment remains secure as long as you are productive. You have the option to jump from company to company, job to job, and obtain a position you are qualified for.

On average, an American goes through 5-8 different jobs and 3-4 different occupations in their lifetime. In other words, we are nomadic when it comes to who we work for; Short-term workers in a sense.

The United States style of career progression heavily contrasts that of Japan’s.

There are a few concepts that distinguish the Japanese from the United States style of white collar career growth

1. 終身雇用 (しゅうしんこよう; shuushinkoyou). Life time employment. A hired professional under the 終身雇用制度 (しゅうしんこようせいど; shushinkoyouseido; lifetime employment system).
2. 年功序列 (ねんこうじょれつ; nenkoujyoretsu). Seniority by length of service. Salary is dependent on individual’s status under the 年功序列制度 (ねんこうじょれつせいど; nenkoujyoretsuseido; seniority system).
3. 人事異動 (じんじいどう; jinjiidou). Constant job position changes within the company, not necessarily tailored to one’s skill set.

Once out of school and hired on, the expectations are for the employee to commit themselves to the company until retirement. One life, one employer.

Requirements for getting hired by a firm are usually an excellent set of general skills, and an attendance at a reputable university under your belt (for example: University of Tokyo, Keio University, Kyoto University, etc.). No skill specialization is required early on because the company will ensure you get the training you need throughout your career. The trade-off for this is a low entry-level salary.

The loss of salary during the entry-level phase is made up later in the career. Unlike the U.S. system where salary is based on performance and specialization, the Japanese salary is increased by length of service. Late in their careers, the growth percentage of a Japanese salary tends to be greater than the U.S. counterpart. Additional benefits are also given based on length of service. For example, after reaching a certain seniority level, the employee may be offered free company paid housing near the office.

The importance of the general skill set is emphasize throughout the career of the Japanese employee. Human resources will assign the individual positions in various departments, and a lot of times the position given will in no way match their education or current skill set. In the end, the employee will be able to play out many hats and understand the company as a whole. This is great for shaping employees into managerial roles.

Promotion to a higher status position is based on length of service. Job performance and skill set are secondary when it comes to promotion time for the employee. Higher level positions tend to be filled from within. Thus, it is not easy to leave a company for another because doing so essentially resets your “seniority counter”, which will stall your career growth and salary.

While it is great that experience is valued, the downfall of the seniority system is that upper level positions are filled with aged workers (the old guard), regardless of their productivity levels and qualifications. How the system is set up, firing low productivity workers is difficult. This puts younger, more capable employees at a disadvantage, since they have to wait in line behind everyone else in order to be promoted to a higher status position. In addition, having all been trained under the same system, the culture doesn’t lend itself for “radical” or “outside” ideas.

On the upside, the Japanese career structure builds a strong loyalty culture amongst the company. Having everyone commit to one company in their careers and without the fear of being laid off, people tend to trust each other more. It is like being a part of a second (or third) family.

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Certainly the concept of overworking yourself to death is not unique to the Japanese, however the country perhaps does take the issue more seriously than others. Coined with the term 過労死 (かろうし, karoshi; added to the Oxford English dictionary 2002), overworking to death has become a problem in Japan and a favorite topic to cover among the media circles; As a social issue by the Japanese media, and as a characterization of the Japanese society and culture by foreign media. Causes of karoshi deaths are from developed health issues that result in heart attacks and strokes due to long periods of high-level stress. It can also lead to suicide, which is given its own term, 過労自殺 (かろうじさつ, karojisatsu; literally translated to overwork suicide).

According to the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare (MHLW), “sudden deaths of any employee who works an average of 65 hours per week or more for more than 4 weeks or on average 60 hours or more per week for more than 8 weeks may be karoshi.”

How serious is it?

The first recorded case of karoshi occurred in 1969. Nearly a decade later (1978), the concept was given the name “karoshi”. In 1982, the release of the book entitled Karoshi by Tajiri Seiichiro, Hosokawa, and Uehata brought the issue in the public view, but it wasn’t recognized as a major social problem until the 1980′s Bubble Economy.

A few high-ranking corporate executives died without any hints of illness leading up to their deaths. The deaths were picked up by the media, which promptly developed growing concerns from the public. They had every right to be concerned, since they too were putting just as many hours into their jobs as the dead executives. Concerns reached to the point where the government took action and started collecting and publishing information on karoshi as a cause-of-death option.

According to the Labor Force Survey, nearly one-fourth of male employees (7.8 million) clocked in more than 60 hours per week of work in 1988. Based on the numbers in 1975, it’s nearly a 2.4 times increase. Even though the statistics threshold is 60 hours and above, a typical work week can easily be 70-90 hours per week. Why do this? To show loyalty to their company. This loyalty stems from the Japanese culture of living for one’s master and superior. More often than not, the extra work is done as cloaked overtime (furoshiki), where the employee does his work off the clock and the employer turns a blind eye.

A survey conducted by the government showed that 90% of workers didn’t understand the concept of work-life balance. Four out of five would cancel any dates or plans if their boss asked them to work overtime.

More recent statistics showed the situation hasn’t changed. According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), 28% of Japanese employees worked 50 hours or more per week in 2001. The percentage is significantly a lot higher than many European nations: Germany (5.3%), Finland (4.5%), Sweden (1.9%), and Netherlands (1.4%). Japan is on the same level with the U.S. as developed nations that put in the most work hours, although many believe that the Japanese work significantly more hours than the U.S.. A lot of the Japanese overtime hours are left unrecorded (cloaked overtime), therefore not taken into consideration when generating the statistics.

In 2005, the MHLW reported 328 Japanese employees who suffered karoshi. The number is a little over 7 times higher than the recorded result in 2000.

Bear in mind that the statistic numbers are believed to be not on par with reality. Many families accept the death with silence and don’t push the issue any further. And most companies won’t outright accept responsibility for the deaths. Lawyers and scholars estimate the annual number of karoshi victims to be in the ballpark of 9,000 deaths, which is near the annual number for traffic fatalities.

To put some of this into perspective of how severe the overworking can be, let’s consider a karoshi case. Hiraoka Satoru’s story was featured in the November 13, 1988 Chicago Tribune’s article Japanese Live and Die for their Work. A foreman in charge of a ball bearing factory, Hiraoka usually clocks in 12- to 16- hour days, easily totaling up to between 72 to 95 hours a week for most weeks. The prior three years before his death, he clocked in at almost 3,700 hours annually. A typical 40 hr work week with no vacation equates to 2080 hours annually.

The thorn in most of the karoshi victims’ side is that they are often not compensated for the overtime work.

How is karoshi being handled?

A few Japanese companies are making some effort to reduce karoshi and promote a work-life balance to their employees. For example, Toyota has set a hard limit of 360 hours of overtime annually. In addition, some of their offices play a recorded message every hour during the evenings urging the staff to go home and get some rest. Some companies enforce no overtime days where everyone must leave the office at 5:30 pm.

Sometimes the measures implemented by these companies aren’t enough for the employees. While on paper it may seem like they are recognizing the problem, the competitive work environment demonizes those who decide to partake in these policies. For example, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking has a program that allows their employees to go home up to three hours early to care for children or elderly relatives. Only 34 out of 7,000 employees are signed up for the program.

Frustrated with the situation, more and more workers and/or their families are taking on their negligent employers in court.

Some individuals are avoiding the situation entirely by taking on short-term jobs, rather than be a worn out salaried cog for large companies. Although the pay and benefits don’t match to a corporates compensation, the work-life balance is significantly better.

There is this adage I like to use when differentiating U.S./Japan work culture to the European style: U.S. and Japan live to work, while the Europeans work to live. I do believe that everyone should give their 100% effort in performing their jobs, however having your health deteriorate to the point of death is certainly not worth it. Many Japanese are slowly coming to realize this.

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Featured Image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jamesjustin/
Sleeping (Really! They are not dead, just sleepting!) Japanese Salaryman Images: http://www.flickr.com/photos/torek/

Hiyama, T & M Yoshihara. “New occupational threats to Japanese physicians: karoshi (death due to overwork) and karojisatsu (suicide due to overwork)” Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Vol.65 No.6 (June 2008): 428-429. Print.

Morioka, Koji. “Work till You Drop” New Labor Forum Vol.13 No.1 (Spring, 2004): 80-85. Print.

Rowley, Ian & Hiroko Tashiro. “Recession Puts More Pressure on Japan’s Workers.” Bloomberg Businessweek, 5 January 2009: <http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/jan2009/gb2009015_807968_page_2.htm>. Online.

“Karoshi Strikes Japanese Businessmen” British Medical Journal. Vol.303, No.6815 (Dec 7, 1991): p 1419. Print.

What is Yukigassen?

Just like the literal translations implies, it is a sport of snow battles, or more specifically, snowball battles. The difference between Yuukigassen to your typical neighborhood snowball fight is the wealth of regulations and professionalism one needs to adhere to. Two teams of seven on-field players duke it out, battle-royale style. Game mechanics are similar to capture the flag, where a team can come out victorious by capturing the opponent team’s flag or “tagging out” the opposing team. The end goal? Fight their way for one of the coveted spots on the Showa-Shinzan International and obtain the top prize, the Public Welfare and Labor Minister’s Award and Cup.

This game is very serious business. An official international federation exists with a strong sponsorship backing. A few of the sponsors are the major media outlets NHK, HBC, Yomiuri, Mainichi, Asahi Shimbun Presses, Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, Japan Airlines, and Sapporo Beer(!). There are many Japanese men who dedicate their lives to this sport, training themselves everyday for the big games that only occur for a couple days out of the year. Some even forgo having spouses and raising a family due to all the time required to dedicate themselves to perfecting the throwing strike or volley.

The sport isn’t limited to inside the borders of Japan. Many countries participate in the games, many of which have their own leagues and tournaments: Finland, Norway, Sweden, Canada, and the USA.

So how did the idea of regulating snowball fighting came about in Japan?

(Short) History of Yukigassen

The idea came about in 1987 by a small, sub-3,000 population Hokkaido town called 壮瞥町 (そうべつちょう, Sobetsu). At the time, Sobetsu’s claim to fame was a summer tourist town. Nearby is Mt. Showa-Shinzan, the main attraction for many visitors.

During the long, snow-filled winters, tourism halted to a stand-still. The town’s young, aspiring population saw a need to improve Sobetsu’s economy during the long winters. Forming an ideas committee, they began brainstorming methods of luring in tourists. They already knew that their idea had to be unique and not have been implemented elsewhere in order to fully realize their goal. Days went by with no home-run idea in sight. What began to be an optimistic search to improve their town slowly spiraled into the thought that in reality they might have to settle to just being a summer town. Then the fateful day finally came.

Members of the committee took noticed that tourists were having playful sessions of snowball fighting around town. The flashing light bulb appeared in the minds of the committee, and the rest was history. The first Yukigassen tournament was held the following winter, which brought in 7,000 visitors and 70 teams for the event. Twenty-three Showa-Shinzan Yukigassen tournaments later, the event is now drawing in an annual average of 25,000 visitors, with a set 128 coed and 24 female participating teams.

How is it played?

As mentioned earlier, a game of Yukigassen is played out with two teams of seven on-field players each. Each team can have two additional back-up players and a captain, making it a total of ten players.

In a tournament style setting, three teams are grouped together and pitted against each other round-robin style. Games are played best two out of three, where each game’s length is a maximum of three minutes. Victor is decided when either

1. The enemies flag is in possession of the opposing team
2. All players on the opposing team are knocked out (one hit from a snowball is considered out; doesn’t matter where the source of the snowball came from, either the enemy, your teammate, or even yourself), or
3. The time runs out one team has more remaining players than the other team.

The team with the best record moves on to face the other victors. This continues until one team comes out on top.

The map of the battlefield is pictured below.

Each blue box represents a snow-made shelters, while the red solid circles encompassed by the black bordered circles are the flagpole points. Field areas are either 40m x 10m (~130ft x ~33ft) or 36m x 10m (~118ft x ~33ft).

Team players are split into a four strikers and three defender/feeder positions. No point during the game can the 4 strikers move behind their own back line. In addition, no more than three strikers can cross the center line into the opposing team’s territory.

A few of the common position strategies are outline below in the two figures below.

Standard Position

Attacking Position

You may be wondering why one of the figures points out a snowball storage behind the rear shelter. Each team is only allowed to have 90 snowballs per match. These snowballs must be made before every match. But wait, couldn’t the players make snowballs from their environment during the game? Nope, that is against the rules. So, if the strikers are not allowed to cross their back line and they can’t make their own snow balls, then how can they attack? They are fed snowballs from the snowball storage by the defenders (or feeders, as I called them earlier). Balls can only be fed to players by rolling it to them, no tossing allowed (think of all the friendly fire that’d happen if they did!).

Ok, but wait a minute, 90 snowballs sounds a lot. Is there an efficient way to mass produce the snowballs? Yep, there sure is. The Yuukigassen Federation would be more than happy to sell your a snowball making device for US$740; produces snowballs in batches of 36.

Follow these instructions...

... And you get perfect snowballs like these! No yellow snowballs, please.

After reading and watching the videos on Yuukigassen, we are fairly pumped to start our own team. Now if only we can get snow to stick around our parts for more than a day… I leave to you a video of a complete game, for your viewing. Check out the volley skills at work! Pew Pew!

Although Yukigassen isn’t quite ready to be a Winter Olympic sport (c’mon, Curling got in somehow!), we’ll be pulling for it every chance we get. To get into the Olympics, a sport has to be “widely accepted around the world.” Yukigassen is starting to get there, though it’s probably not quite up to the standards of whatever committee chooses this sort of thing. Still, I hope to see it sometime soon. Who thought childhood playtime could turn into something this cool, though?

So, are you ready to go out and join your local team, people-who-live-in-places-with snow? We hope to see you on the snow battlefield.

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Must be a costly fix after hitting a small bump

I do think it’s worth paying the $5,000 fines, though.

The Japanese sensation called, デコトラ (dekotora, short for decoration truck) has been around since the late 1960s. Originally present only in northern Japan, the art of truck decorations went mainstream with the release of the 1975 Toei (the company that produces the awesome Kamen Rider series) movie, とらっくやろう (Torakku Yarô, Trucker) and it’s subsequent sequels. Every guy in the nation wanted to drop their boring サラリーマン (salaryman) day job to live the life of a trucker rebel riding his デコトラ.

I’m sold. Changing my profession now. (Some parts NSFW)

What are some of the common themes among these trucks? Lots of stainless steel and chrome, enough flashing neon lights to produce light pollution seen miles away, random pipes sticking out, awnings adorned with more light fixtures than an Indian casino, huge bumpers that can mow down zombies, and paintings of  anything that may be dear to the driver. Each of these trucks art style usually fall into these categories: Gundam, retro, kanto, and kansai. It isn’t just the exterior that is blinged out. The cab is also adorned tastefully.

A chandelier can bring instant classiness to any truck

The truckers take pride in their vehicles, spending upwards of ten of thousands of dollars to add the modifications to their trucks. In their view, they spend most of their time in the trucks and not in their homes, so why not decorate their main living quarters?

Could you see yourself sleeping in one of these? I can.

The lighting set-up is very elaborate. This isn’t like going to your local Spencers, buying up their neon lights stock, super gluing the lights, powering them all through one breaker source, and calling it good. A lot of technology, engineering, and time goes into designing and setting up the light display.

No, this post wasn’t sponsored by Alienware

A majority of the paintings on these trucks are done by one man, Tatsuaki Matsumoto. With a huge backlog of commissions, the self-taught painter applies his art to fullfil his client’s sense of style and personality. Some of the paintings are a tribute to the Trucker movie. Others are paintings of gods to help bring luck and fortune while on the road. A few are of manga or celebrities. If you had a truck, what would you have painted on yours? I would have Steve Buscemi’s face on my truck, greeting every Japanese we pass by.

Here are some more dekotora photos. The images do speak for themselves.

Dekochari, the children’s version of dekotora

The craze is not just limited to adults awe-strucked by the movie. Kids are also digging dekotora. Unfortunately for them, their age obviously restricts them from affording or driving these rigs. Do these kids settle for some Hot Wheels? Nope. They bring the style to their bicycles, with full force.

Dekochari biker gang

Posing with their dekochari. What a badass.

Apparently, there exists legitimate dekochari biker gangs located throughout Japan. I bet they can give the Hells Angels a run for their money.

Would you own a dekochari? I could see myself riding one of these bad boys down the bicycle streets of hispter Portland with PBR.. errrr, I mean, One Cup Ozeki, in hand. Hipsters riding their double-decker bikes would have to eat their hearts out.

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Ainu Population Distribution Map

Unlike the Burakumin Dowa, the Ainu are genetically, physically, and culturally distinguishable from the Japanese majority. They are akin to what the Native Americans are to the United States (actually, there has been some claims that the Native Americans and Ainu are share an origin and language relationship). Government numbers point the population as 25,000 humans strong, but many alternate resources claim the numbers are as high as 250,000. The varied numerical claims can be attributed to many reasons that are common among the minority groups 1) The people are assimilated into the population through intermarriages that they now just consider themselves Japanese, and 2) Falsely claiming ethnicity for fear of racial discrimination. So who are the Ainu and what role do they play in Japan?

Brief Origins And History

The flag of the Ainu People

The origins of the Ainu and their cultural & racial relationships are, for the most part, speculative. It is believed that the group existed some 2000+ years and are descendants of the Jōmon-jin of the Jōmon period. Hypotheses have been made that the group is of proto-Caucasian origin, as opposed to the dominant Yamato ethnic group (Wajin) and the Okinawan Ryukyuan. Part of the rational behind this are the differing physical traits the Ainu people exhibit oppose to the Yamato people: lighter skin, hairiness, jaw protrusion, hazel-to-bluish eye color, and rounder heads. Characteristics that are more inline with the inland European and Asian Caucasian. One hypothesis believes that the descendants traveled to Japan from the mainland via previously existing land bridges.

Studies of the language is usually one way to determine a group’s origin, since most languages follow common roots. Unfortunately, researchers have found no conclusive origins and connections of the people, apart from some borrowings of the Japanese language. In other words, the language appears to be unique and isolated, and so are the people.

Researchers and scientists are surely baffled on the origins of the Ainu, but what do the Ainu believe? Their version of the account (folklore?) is that they are descendants of the first ancestor named Aiona, who was quite the traveller and stud, having traversed the globe and took on many wives. Taking on many wives from across the globe explains why so many foreigners resemble the Ainu. It is the name Aiona that the Ainu name was derived from. Specifically, it is a shorten version of “Aioina rak guru” or “persons smelling of Aiona.” However, Ainu is more commonly defined by many as “human.”  The name also has some negative connotation, popularly due to the Japanese during the old time periods associating the name (and the people’s social status) to a particularly kind of animal of similar name. Can you make a guess on what the animal was? A more historical, and tamer name for the people is Ezo, people of the northern modern Japanese lands.

Contact between the Yamato Japanese and the Ainu first began some 2000 years ago, but the relationship status between the two was a mystery until sometime around 700 AD, when the Japanese laid campaigns in “subduing” the Ainu, which were somewhat unsuccessful. Warfare between the two groups did help lay the foundation of the Samurai class in Japan.

Fast forward to the Tokugawa Shogunate era, the Ainu controlled much of Hokkaido, while the Tokugawa-led Japanese nation controlled much of southern Japan. There were a few scuffles here and there, but the relationship between the two groups stabilized and a lucrative trading network was set up between the two groups. It all came to an end in 1899, shortly after the Meiji Restoration.

The newly formed government passed an act declaring the Ainu official Japanese citizens, thus former indigenous group. The act wasn’t out of kindness, but it paved the way for the Japanese to take control of Ainu land and have access to its resources and provide some security to the expanding Russians up north. With newly economically untamed land in their possession, the Japanese began to flock to the area to establish a few new cogs in their economy. Even though on paper the Ainu were considered Japanese citizens, racial discrimination still persisted. Many were forced to work in slave-like conditions in the Japanese fishing industry, fishing for salmon from land that was once theirs. Worst is that they are now forbidden to fish for salmon in Hokkaido, which is a huge part of their culture. Displaced from their lands, faced with discrimination and slave-like working environments, and forced to assimilate, it was the beginning of a deterioration of the group’s culture and existence.

Ainu’s identification as an indigenous group was officially reinstated in 2008. Why the change of heart? The Japanese Government isn’t known to prioritize minority issues. Sure, the Ainu people and their supporters have been trying for years to get the Japanese Government to overturn the 1899 act. However, overturning the act was probably a reactionary response to a U.N. investigator calling Japan out on their profound racism and xenophobia.  After being called out, the Government put together a panel to draft up a report and policy suggestions towards the Ainu. There were panels like this before, but this was the first time an individual of Ainu descent was allowed to participate in the drafting. This kind of racism publicity and reactionary response (as opposed to being proactive) doesn’t help much for nation that has been trying to obtain a seat on the lucrative U.N security council.

Culture

Ainu-Japanese musician Oki Kano plays the tonkori, a traditional Ainu string instrument.

The Ainu culture is believed to be derived from the agricultural Satsumon culture, prevalent in Hokkaido and northern Honshu. They were a society of hunter-gatherers, hunting and fishing live game such as deer, bear, and salmon. All protein consumed were cooked, usually in form of stews with herbs and roots. This is opposed to traditional Japanese, where consumption of raw proteins is not uncommon.

Japanese culture has had some influence on the Ainu. For example, household utensils were formerly made out of pottery and bark, however they were replaced by Japanese wooden utensils and steel knives.

For physical appearances, the males grow out full beards and mustaches. Both males and females maintain shoulder length hair. The females begin tattooing their mouths and lips at an early age of 10-12. Once the tattooing process has been completed, typically around the ages of 14-15, the female is then considered to be a woman and fit for marriage. The traditional formal clothing is a robe made out of Elm tree bark.

Ainu Female with Traditional Garb and Facial Tattoo

Music and many unique instruments were also enjoyed by the Ainu. Every Ainu song is considered sacred and it is believed that musical instruments are infused with souls. The two common instruments played by the Ainu are the tonkori (pictured in the section header) and the mukkuri, a jaw harp.

Ainu Today

Shigeru Kayano, Japan’s first Ainu politician to enter the Upper House Diet, 1994.

The Ainu culture and people has been steadily garnering recognition and respect for the past couple decades due to the hard work and efforts of the Ainu people and their supporters.

One of the more landmark cases for Ainu recognition began in the early 1980s, when the Japanese Government (in the form of the Hokkaido Development Bureau) planned for the erection of two dams on the Saru River, located in southern Hokkaido. The issue with this is one of the proposed dams was planned to be built near a prominently populated Ainu village, one with historic and cultural importance. There’s something about the Japanese building/authorizing construction of  unwanted structures in areas where Wajin people aren’t as concentrated (an example would be a majority of the American military bases are located in Okinawa, which has been extremely unpopular with the locals and Ryukyuan).

Refusing the Government’s offer to buy the land, a Project Authorization was granted to the bureau, effectively requiring all residents of the area to vacate. Obviously not happy with the situation, the Ainu took the government to court. Unfortunately, by the time a verdict was drawn, the dam was already completed and standing. Nevertheless, the claims set forth by the Ainu were recognized by the court, most importantly that the court recognized the group as indigenous people for the first time and that the Japanese nation has not been, but should be, responsible for taking care of its own indigenous groups.

The attitude towards the group has certainly improved significantly the past couple decades, that is for certain. But what was the general attitude like in the early 1990s? I’ll end this post with an old documentary. As I’ve said before in my Burakumin Dowa post, there are multiple sides to this issue and a whole lot more going on. A lot of the readers had strong opinions to share on the assimilation choices made by Japan’s Ministry of Education toward the Burakumin. Now, having viewed a different minority group and the way the assimilation has affected the group, what are your opinions now? If you have any interest in Japan or ever thought about living there at some point, it may be worth your time to educate yourself on the Ainu and all of the minority groups in Japan. Japan is commonly referred to as a homogenous nation and does have the appearance of one from the outside, but it really is a multiethnic nation.

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Swords have always been a big deal in Japan. Japanese swords, or nihontō (日本刀) are one of the most highly sought after types of swords in the world today. A sword was even involved with the mythological creation of Japan. The Japanese sun goddess of the universe Amaterasu gave her grandson Ninigi the legendary sword Kusanagi (along with a mirror and jewel) when he was sent down to Earth to plant rice in Japan. But what makes these legendary swords so awesome? And who if anyone is making them today? Korehira Watanabe, that’s who.

A Master of His Craft

Korehira Watanabe has the kind of passion and dedication you can’t help but respect. He is not only doing what he loves, but he is doing it for his country, for the Japanese people, and for tradition. He is keeping the ancient Japanese sword-making spirit alive. From an early age he knew what he wanted to do and he never gave up on that dream. Despite protests from his family (he was more or less disowned for his career choices), he followed his own path and ultimately succeeded in his endeavors. He is truly an inspiration.

Korehira Watanabe is one of the last thirty traditional sword makers left in Japan today. He has been painstakingly perfecting his craft for the past forty years but only in the last five has he really started to achieve results acceptable to him.

Many traditional craftsmen respond to modern times when handing down his craft. But the essence of the tradition suffers in doing so. I think it is meaningless to carry on the tradition that way.

He is attempting to recreate the legendary craftsmanship found in Koto swords from the Heian and Kamakura periods (794-1333 AD). This is nearly impossible to do because there are no blueprints or directions for making these swords and it’s not exactly possible for him to reverse engineer them. But these overwhelming odds have not slowed him down in the slightest. Even after forty years of hard work, Korehira Watanabe is still going strong with no signs of slowing down.

Recently he believes he has managed to create a few swords that match the quality of Koto swords, however. The art of true Japanese Shinken (lit. real sword) is in danger of dying out and Korehira Watanabe is striving to keep it alive.

It’s hammer time!

Luckily for the tradition, Korehira Watanabe already has a budding apprentice, Nobuhiro Kikuchi. And it’s not only the refined sword making techniques he is passing down, but also the passion and dedication to the craft that makes it so special. He hopes that this tradition of master and pupil will continue on for generations. While there may not be many traditional Japanese sword makers left in the world, what they lack in numbers they certainly make up for in dedication.

It is my duty to build up a disciple better than me. Otherwise the tradition will wear thin with time.

For further reading, a very thorough post of the sword making process can be found here, and a great post detailing samurai sword history can be found here.

So What Makes Japanese Swords so Cool, Anyway?

There are a handful of different types of Japanese swords and they are differentiated by size, application, and method of manufacture. But it’s not only the craftsmanship that makes these swords so special, it’s the deep tradition and connection to each masterfully crafted piece. When you own a sword made by one of these master craftsmen, you’re not owning a mere blade, but a part of the blacksmith’s soul, a part of Japan, and part of an amazing tradition.

Undeniably, the most well recognized Japanese sword today is the classic katana. These long, single-edged swords were traditionally worn by samurai starting in the 15th century. Other types of Japanese swords include the tsurugi, ōdachi, nodachi, tachi, wakizashi, and tantō. Even though the naginata and yari are pole-mounted like spears, they too are considered nihontō due to the process in which the blade is forged.

And the forging process is most certainly a process. One small mistake can ruin hours upon hours of hard work. Quality swords can take more than three months to craft (three months!). The art of Japanese swordsmithing is a painstaking one indeed.

For the complete series the above video was taken from, see here.

And this is a really cool post with pictures depicting what differentiates each style of blade. I think it’s really interesting so you should check it out too.

So tell me, what’s your favorite kind of sword?

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via Etsy

But fear not! You aren’t the only person who’s ever gone through this cycle of culture shock, and you definitely won’t be the last.

So let’s take a look at fitting into Japanese culture, everything from the initial culture shock to deciding to become a full-blown Japanese citizen.

First Stage: Culture Shock

When I was thinking about doing the JET Program, a representative from the program visited my school and gave a little presentation to everybody who was interested. I was really surprised when he straight-up told prospective JET-ers that it’s not only normal, but expected that you’ll get frustrated with Japanese culture and homesick for your native country.

JET even has a 4-stage description of culture shock on its site, breaking down what culture shock looks like:

experiencing anxiety, lack of self-confidence, panic attacks, loss of initiative and spontaneity, excessive anger over minor things, strong desire to associate with people of their own nationality, and isolation.

“Man, I hate being an outsider in a strange, new culture!”

But this kind of culture shock is usually just a little bump in your visit to Japan. Given enough time, most people adjust and get right back to loving Japan and its culture, moving into what JET calls “Adaptation and Biculturalism.”

Seconds Stage: Longer Stays

The longer you stay in Japan, the more the situation changes. Some people stay in Japan for years for work, study, or personal reasons. And over time, people usually go back to that feeling of culture shock and begin to wonder about certain things:

“Do people accept me? Am I acting Japanese? Am I fitting into society? Can anybody hear what I’m thinking right now?”

There was a great discussion of this topic last year that got kicked off by YouTuber and gaijin-in-Japan bobbyjudo:

bobbyjudo, watch out for that kappa! It’ll suck your insides out your bum!

After that video, tons of people responded with their own videos and thoughts. The Gakuranman did a great roundup of the responses from the Japan YouTube community.

The people in the Gakuranman roundup are a lot smarter than I am, so you should check out what they have to say if you’re interested.

Third Stage: Turning Japanese

Some people love Japan so much that they decide to permanently become a part of Japanese society by becoming a citizen. Why? I’d say typically for family reasons (marrying a Japanese person), but there are tons of other reasons too.

Take Donald Keene, for instance. Donald Keene is knows pretty much all you need to know about Japan after studying and living in the country for decades. Keene has even received honors from the motherlovin’ Emperor himself. And this year, at the age of 88, Keene is to abandon his native United States and resettle in Japan for the rest of his life as a Japanese citizen.

Talk about dedication.

“Haha yeah, me and ol’ Akihito go way back!”

Obviously, becoming a Japanese citizen isn’t something to take lightly. Citizenship is an incredible commitment, and in the case of becoming a Japanese citizen, you have to do a lot more compared to countries like the United States. Not only do you have to adopt a Japanese name, but you have to renounce your citizenship from your native country.

Like I said, it takes commitment.

There are even websites like Turning Japanese that give you step-by-step guides about how to become a legal Japanese citizen.

Have you been to Japan and experienced culture shock? What have you done to deal with it? Tell me about it in the comments!

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[Header Image Source]

“Drugs are bad, m’kay?”

Let’s face it, Japan can be a weird place sometimes.When Japan isn’t inventing such useful things as poop-powered motorcycles, they’re churning out some of the strangest movies known to man.

And while you might think that only explanation for Japan’s weirdness must be copious amounts of psychedelics, it turns out that the Japanese do not mess around when it comes to drugs.

Japanese drug law is among the harshest in the world, and can be even worse if you’re a foreigner. Nobody is safe, not even a (former) Beatle.

Drugs in Japan

Japanese law and society at large usually view drug possession as almost an unconscionable act. Japanese citizens who are caught growing, possessing, or using illegal drugs of pretty much any kind find themselves in deep trouble.

Not only do drug offenders face up to five years in prison for their first offense, but there’s tons of other, non-legal repercussions too. A couple years ago, both a rugby player and a sumo wrestler were found to be in possession of marijuana, and both athletes had their Japanese sports careers ended.

People who get caught with drugs can be fired from their jobs, expelled from school, and have their life flipped, turned upside-down Bel-Aire style. In other words: it sucks to get caught with drugs if you’re a Japanese citizen.

Drug trip, or classic console game Rez? You decide.

And if the criminal penalties weren’t enough of a deterrent, drugs are really pricey in Japan compared to other parts of the world. According to the United Nations, Japan is the most expensive place in the world to get high. Tokyo sure ain’t Amsterdam.

So between the threat of jail time and the incredible expense, it’s not surprising that drug usage in Japan is pretty low.

But the way Japan treats its own citizens pales in comparison to the treatment that foreigners face for drug charges.

Gaijin on Drugs

If you’re visiting Japan from another country, it’s probably best to not even think about drugs. The law is never kind to foreigners in any country, but if you’re a gaijin with drugs, you’re a gaijin in trouble.

The US State Department warns of how harsh Japanese law can be on foreigners caught with illegal drugs in Japan:

…offenders can expect long jail sentences and fines. In most drug cases, suspects are detained and barred from receiving visitors or corresponding with anyone other than a lawyer or a U.S. consular officer until after indictment. Solitary confinement is common.

Yikes. Given, this sort of treatment might be more reflective of Japan’s justice system, but that’s a whole other issue for another post.

But seriously, don’t do this – you’ll be shot where you stand.

The Rolling Stones, former Beatle Paul McCartney, and Paris Hilton have all been denied entrance to Japan because of prior drug charges in their home countries. (But really, can you blame the Japanese for banning Paris Hilton from their country?)

Usually though, celebrities are eventually allowed into Japan. But for the rest of us who aren’t lucky enough to be greeted at Narita by hordes of screaming fans, it’s doubtful that you’ll ever be welcome in Japan if you’ve faced a drug charge at any time in your life.

And, as a recent story shows, if you try to get drugs into Japan from elsewhere, you can find yourself in pretty hot water. An American student studying in Japan is in jail at the moment because a friend of his sent him marijuana-infused sweets. In the eyes of Japanese law, it doesn’t matter that this student legally receives medical marijuana in his home state.

Is Japan’s drug policy too harsh? That’s definitely an issue up for debate. But the bottom line is if you’re looking to visit or live in Japan, you should be so drug-free that you make the Pope look like Hunter S. Thompson.

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Coffee, coffee, coffee! The kick-starter fuel that many of us consume every waking moment. For some, like us Pacific Northwest dwellers, coffee is pretty much a religion. We aren’t alone, of course. Many parts of the world enjoy and make a living off of this pleasing beverage. But how many coffee beans need to sacrifice their lives in order to appease us, their drowsy, crabby, overlords? Turns out that number comes out to nearly 2.5 billions cups of joe, per day. That’s about 40% of the world population, assuming that only one person drinks one cup (like that’d happen)! To further put it into perspective, coffee is the 2nd most traded commodity in the world, putting it right behind crude oil. The industry itself is valued to be 70 billion dollars. So where does Japan fit in all of this?

Coffee And Japan

Japan only ranks as the 39th largest consumption per capita for coffee, tallying in at 3.2 kg per individual. However, they are the 3rd largest importer of coffee, sitting behind the United States (1st) with 4.23 kg per capita and Germany (2nd) with 6.93 kg per capita.^1,2 Working out the numbers, Japan imports over 440,000 tonnes of coffee annually.³ This means they import about 7% of the world’s annual coffee exports.⁴ So what is a country where tea is the more common mainstay brew doing with a product that is common in the West and Near East? Is it to fill all those coffee bean sniffing cups for all of their insane department stores’ fragrance floors? Nope. Like a KFC Christmas, it is the result of fifty years of clever marketing and Western influence that helped coffee become the go-to-brew for the Japanese.

Brief History of Coffee in Japan

Nothing like a refreshing, cold bottle of coffee before battle.

Like so many Asiatic nations, Japan’s first introduction to coffee occurred in the 1800s via Dutch trade ships. However, coffee didn’t start booming until the 1960s. Shortly after the import suspension ended in 1949, coffee started to trickle itself back into the Japanese market. As noted earlier, Japan imports more than 440,000 tonnes of coffee annually. Back in 1960, the yearly import was 15,000 tonnes.⁵ Quite a huge difference, wouldn’t you say? A 3,000% increase in only 50 years.

Interesting there wasn’t much of a drop after the 1990s bubble.⁶

What is responsible for the coffee boom? It’s a combination of many things, but it can be boiled down to Japanese interest in everything Western (especially after World War II), and large investments in marketing and R&D.

The first breakthrough for coffee came in 1965, when Japan released the world’s first かんコーヒー (canned coffee) called Mira Coffee. Unfortunately, it wasn’t much of a success as the hype cooled down(!) shortly after. Four years later, UCC Ueshima Coffee Co., who is often credited for pioneering canned coffee, released their product to the masses and the rest is history.

Although the concept of canned coffee was a success, it alone was not responsible for the bean’s early success. In 1973, the hot and cold beverage vending machine was introduced in Japan. Coupled with the 100 yen coin that began circulation in 1967, vending machines and subsequently canned coffee became a huge hit. Ready-to-drink (RTD) products were just part of the equation for the rise of coffee.

On a different part of the spectrum, Japanese coffee houses and chains also began to emerge in great numbers. Doutor Coffee chain opened their first store in 1980 and established the coffee culture in Japan. Recovering from World War II, the Japanese spent great lengths to recover their economy. With their perseverance and hard work attitude, grabbing a meal and drink on the go for the long commute to work or the late-night working sessions was becoming a more common sight. Doutor Coffee anticipated this. In response, they modeled their business for the on-the-go working Japanese. This has been a successful model that many associated with coffee until the mid 1990s, when Starbucks entered the marketplace with their friendly, casual “third place” model.

Coffee Products in Japan Today

Can you spot the famous Starbucks located in Shibuya?

The Japanese Coffee market is a very competitive, saturated market. A few of the popular Japanese canned coffee brands are Boss (produced by Suntory), Georgia (produced by Coca-Cola), Nescafe (produced by Nestlé), and Roots (produced by Japan Tobacco). Quite a diverse group of producers we have here, wouldn’t you say? Liquor, soft drink, food, and cigarette companies all making canned coffee. Some of the aforementioned popular coffee shops are Doutor and Starbucks. Starbucks entered the Japanese canned coffee market in 2005, partnering up with Boss’ producer, Suntory. Fast food joints are also joining the fray. McDonalds, not wanting to be left out, launched their own chain of coffee store fronts, McCafés, across Japan a few years back.

As with anything Japanese, coffee isn’t exempt from their weirdly fascinating marketing. Take for example Boss coffee. In 2006, the company hired Tommy Lee Jones to be their spokesman. Since then, he has appeared in many commercials as character “Alien Jones” who was sent to Earth to examine the human society. Roots Coffee also has their own celebrity spokespersons (Ewan MacGregor and Brad Pitt), however they aren’t on the same level as Tommy Lee Jones. Here are a couple commercials for your viewing pleasure:

Who watched all seven and a half minutes of these BOSS commercials? *Raises hand*

So, what Japanese coffee brands do you prefer? I don’t think I really have a preference, but I think the BOSS ads have affected me. Tommy Lee Jones coffee all the way, baby.

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P.P.S. More of a tea person? Perhaps Facebook or Google+ will meet your fancy.

¹ Takada, Aya (February 4 2003). “Japan brews record coffee demand, more growth seen”. Reuter News.
² ”Resource Consumption: Coffee consumption per capita“. World Resource Institute. Retrieved November 30, 2011.
³ ”Imports By Selected Importing Countries From All Sources: August 2011“. International Coffee Organization. Retrieved November 31, 2011.
⁴ ”Medium-term prospects for agricultural commodities: Coffee“. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Retrieved November 30, 2011.
⁵ Lewis, Leo (November 23 2010). “Coffee at heart of a new cultural revolution”. The Times. London.
⁶ ”Resource Consumption: Coffee consumption per capita“. World Resource Institute. Retrieved November 30, 2011.