Edojin : Rémi's life in Japan

Edojin is the journal of Rémi's stay in Japan. He obtained a working holiday visa with a plan to stay in the country for up to a year, moving in October 2009. Everyday, he will explore the culture, meet the people, and learn the language while sharing his experience with the world in writing, photos, and videos. This site is presented by Rémi's personal site, Rémino.

The Last Day of Kabuki-za

Mon, 2010-05-03 12:22

191 days

歌舞伎座、さようなら。

Last Friday, I paid visit to an historical landmark in Tokyo. At last, the weather is getting warmer, and we can all enjoy time outside under skies without clouds. They say this is the land of the rising sun, after all. (If you’re patient, it’ll rise eventually.)

Walking from Tokyo station, down in Ginza, I stopped by the Kabuki-za. It has been the most famous kabuki theatre in Tokyo since 1889. Kabuki is a traditional form of drama play involving Japanese folklore in which all characters, even female, are played by men.

The theatre went through rough times. It has been destroyed three times during the first half of the 20th century. A fire caused by poor electricity wiring, the Great Kanto earthquake, and even the Allied bombing during World War II got the best of it. Still, every time, it has been rebuilt better than its preceding construction, all in spirit of kabuki. (The article on Wikipedia about Kabuki-za has a nice collection of historical drawings and photos of the theatre depicting its reconstructions.)

Last Friday, the Kabuki-za made way for urbanisation. April 30th, 2010 was the last day this testament of kabuki history was opened to the public after four months of farewell performances. Crowds gathered around to take pictures of its last moments before it is greeted by the wreck ball next month. A new theatre complex will take its spot with a facade to be made in honour of what will be replaced.

For the rest of my afternoon in Tokyo, I visited a few stores in Ginza, took the train to Harajuku and walked up to Shinjuku station through Yoyogi park. The evening was spent with friends who gathered near the station. The nice weather is surely welcomed by everyone!

1 comment

The Week of Gold

Sun, 2010-05-02 23:57

191 days

いい天気で、日本人はゴールデンウィークを楽しんでいます！

Finally, some nice warm weather. The past few weeks were drowned in rain while the sun poked a few mere holes in and there in the grey skies over Japan.

While my girlfriend is gone to do some shopping nearby, I decided to take a walk around our place and get on the next train to Kawagoe, a small city at the end of the line also known as “Little Edo.” Most of the seats were taken, but compared to the last departures of the night filled with passengers, this was desertion. At the first stop after I got on, a few people got off and I was lucky to get a corner seat, where I sat and fell asleep… again.

I do not know what it is about the trains here. Rare were the times when I fell asleep on a bus in Ottawa. The only times when I dosed off was on the 96, late at night, when coming back from Kanata after a long day at the call centre. Despite my persistence back home, I often want to treat the benches on the Japanese trains as my second bed. Maybe there are comfortable and warm just enough to give me the desire to “see” some nice dreams. (In Japanese, people see dreams rather than having them.)

Once arrived at destination, I got off and crowded the stairways with all the other passengers. After touching my integrated circuit card at the gate, I entered the nearby coffee shop and set my notebook bag on the first available table. It is common here to choose a spot before ordering, as free seats are quickly taken. I ordered an iced chocolate drink and sat down. The next second, a lady came to me asking if they can use my extra seat, which I let her do. Finally, after a sip of my small iced drink, I took the notebook out of my bag, opened it, and started writing what you’re reading right now.

Today is busy, but I come here regularly and I’ve seen a lot busier. This Sunday is right in the middle of this year’s Golden Week. That’s how the Japanese call it, literally. (I guess it sounds fancy for them to name one of their own events in English. That wouldn’t be the first time. If you do not speak Japanese, you have no idea how many foreign words are used for even the most basic things.)

Golden Week, abbreviated to “G-Week” or simply “GW”, is an agglomeration of holidays at the end of April and the first week of May. There are four national holidays during that period, including “Showa Day” (Showa no hi, 昭和の日) on April 29, “Constitution Memorial” on March 3, “Greenery Day” (Midori no hi, みどりの日) on March 4, and finally “Children’s Day” (Kodomo no Hi, 子供の日) on March 5.

There is no holiday on the last day of April, but since that would break a straight week of vacation, with the weekend included, many people here schedule time off on April 30. Even though the “week” may not start on Monday, seven consecutive days are enough for the Japanese to call it a week. (Although, it would be to their benefit to have the week start on Monday since you would have an extra weekend, totalling 9 days!)

The weather forecast only has great news for everyone. Many families are eager to travel within or outside Japan during this time. The Shinkansen bullet trains are packed everywhere. The young lad of a family singing off-key behind the fence in front of our apartment woke us up Saturday morning while they were getting ready to leave. Everyone is looking forward for the time off they’ve been working hard for.

For us, since we have no jobs yet, everyday is a day off. We’re not bragging — we miss getting income and we can’t wait for each of us to find work — but we saw no point in planning a vacation while we’re already on vacation. So, we decided to simply stay at home.

It’s not all bad. Actually, it’s better than I thought. Many places in our area are less crowded, probably because of all the people who left. Even the trains are not as packed as usual. Frankly, I’m surprised.

The only downside is most of the ATMs are closed during the holidays. I already mentioned before that most of the ATMs in Japan are not available 24/7. They are closed outside business hours and during national holidays. I was smart to open an account with a bank which has 24/7 ATMs available within reach! (Too bad their online banking service is a pain to use…)

Well, I’m done with my iced drink. Time to leave this seat to another customer and to enjoy the rest of my “staycation.”

Cosplay in Akihabara

Wed, 2010-04-28 14:02

186 days

秋葉原で初音ミクさんと会ってしまいました！

I have a friend in Saitama who I’ve met on Twitter through another follower. We call the three of us “Team Saitama.” Fernando (a.k.a. HelloNavi or Saitama-rama) is a photographer and the editor-in-chief for Anime 3000. Last Sunday, he invited me to attend a cosplay event. He even let me borrow his SLR camera while he used his friend’s similar model. I just had to bring my own memory card.

For those who don’t know what “cosplay” is, or “kosupure” (コスプレ) in Japanese, the word is a short form for “costume play.” It is a sort of performance art in which people dress up as their favourite character, often from an anime or a video game. Cosplay events are often organised in part of manga or video game conventions, for example, but many of them also stand on their own, with only cosplayers and photographers attending. (This is the kind of event we were about to attend.)

During my time in college, I browsed through many pictures of pretty Japanese cosplayers, even during class. I don’t really understand why, maybe it was just a natural extension to my obsession to virtual female characters and, in turn, to video games. Understandably, many people and even some friends of mine thought I was just a perverted weirdo. No hard feelings. Soon after, I dumped all that interest to move on to real attainable women. That was a healthy jump to make. Then unbeknownst to me, it was the thing to do to grow out of my little world and meet my girlfriend.

I was a bit nervous to attend the event. I’ve seen the pictures through the Web and now I was about to photograph those ladies myself, in person. After my admiration of cosplay photography years ago, I often looked back, wondering why people do such a thing and why I ever liked it. Why get dressed up and get into the skin of someone who doesn’t exist? Why take pictures of those costumed people? What kind of fanatics does it take to get involved in that popular sub-culture? Finally, after almost 10 years, I was about to get some answers.

The event was at the public hall near the train station in Akihabara. After entering the building and getting on the floor where the event is held, we were instantly greeted by cosplayers who asked us to pay a fee to enter. It was 1000 yen for ladies (around $12 CAD), 1500 for men ($18). They also gave us a list of rules to follow. Without surprise, one of rules clearly stipulates that no one should try to pick up the ladies we were about to photograph. What puzzled me, however, was men crossdressing as female characters are not permitted — there is no problem for ladies to dress as men. (I heard that if it was allowed, the event would be flooded with girls with Y chromosomes. There was no chance to meet the bass player guy dressed in a maid outfit.)

After spending some time setting up our cameras, we were ready to ask cosplayers to take photos of them. They were already dressed up with their uniforms, shiny make-up, and colourful wigs. We pick the girl, the background, and the pose (if we have any in mind), and we just shoot. It may sound simple, yet I felt like such a newcomer. Frankly, I was a bit intimidated. My friend apologised several times on my behalf and we often explained that I was new to this. No one had a problem with my lack of experience and all of them suggested different poses between every shot. On top of that, I only operated one SLR camera before, and this one was from a different brand. The focus and lighting was way off in many pictures I took, but luckily, I was able to salvage a nice set of photos.

We were the only foreigners. All the cosplayers are young ladies — some I assume are still in high school — and all the photographers are older men. Talking with the girls, I found out they simply like their characters and they want to be in their shoes once in a while. As much as the photographer bring a lot of gear to take the perfect shots, the cosplayers will go to great lengths to make their own costume and flawlessly reflect the character they want to represent.

Photographers often keep in touch with cosplayers they like to take picture of. Some even partner with their favourite cosplayer and go together to other events they wish to participate at. All this aside, there’s usually a fair distance between the cosplayer and the photographer, as the later will use his real name while the former always uses a “cosplayer name,” establishing some sort of layer between the characters she portray and herself in her normal daily life. Fernando wished to follow this kind of relationship and exchanged business cards with each model he photographed. (Sadly, I forgot mine at home.)

It was a nice day in Akihabara. After the cosplay event, we walked around and browsed in surrounding shops. We also stopped at a parlour for a 40-minute massage. (Not the sexual kind, for those curious to know.) Just before ending the day by walking to Ueno and catch a train back home, we also plunged ourselves back in the 8-bit era of gaming by looking at the old consoles for sale at Super Potato. Going in that store made me feel like being a kid again.

The experience of doing photography at a cosplay event is surely something I look forward to do again. Now, I’m also interested to purchase a second-hand entry-level SLR camera, just to get starting and hopefully becoming a bit more serious about photos. I’ve been taking pictures for years with consumer fixed-lens cameras, so maybe it’s time I step up. Fortunately, many shops in this electric city carry those.

Besides Akihabara, the past few days prior to that stroll were also filled with meeting people in different meetups. One I attended Thursday was for GaijinPot while the other was a farewell party for a man from Montreal who started a group on Twitter. If you’re interested to hear about what I’ve been doing recently, watch my latest video!

Until then, take care. I’ll now resume my job search.

Miku Hatsune and Luka Megurine, Gothic Style

2 comments

From Tsukiji to Odaiba: A Day Out Eating, Walking, and Playing

Tue, 2010-03-30 09:52

157 days

友達と一緒に東京でよく遊んだ日でした。

A friend of mine, who I’ve met online years ago, and her boyfriend invited my girlfriend and I on Saturday, March 20th, to spend a day with them in Tokyo, eating at the famous fish market in Tsukiji and enjoying ourselves at a popular arcade in the coastal Odaiba.

I missed my chance to go to the well-known fish market in Tokyo during my two-week trip to Japan in 2006. The night before I was supposed to wake up at 5AM to accompany my travel partner to the market, I ended up hanging out with other guests of the ryokan and some members of its staff at a nearby karaoke until 3. Obviously, I was too tired to follow my friend the next morning.

This time was our chance, finally, and we even woke up at 4:30 to be sure we won’t miss anything. Luckily, it seems to be customary in Japan to nap on the train, so catching up on some sleep during our 90-minute trip to Tsukiji was not a problem. What was our problem, however, was our empty stomachs, with only a kiwi in each of their bottoms which we quickly ate before heading out, running to catch the early train.

I suppose I’ll never know what I missed four years ago. Most of the market has been closed to the public since last year. When we arrived there with my friends, after they joined us in the Tsukiji subway station at around 7:30 in the morning, we were greeted by large trucks and forklifts, so I can understand their decision to exclude their hungry customers from danger. Extra caution is a must, but it looks like workers there mentally paved a way around the crowds of tourists.

After the long train ride and the short walk, it was finally time to… wait in line for our breakfast, in front of a sushi bar, in a really small room. We talked for half an hour, while sipping the green tea the lady of the shop gave us after thanking us for our patience.

My friend gave us a beautiful present: large balls of bath salt that look like round decorated eggs which quickly dissolve when touching water. The gift was due for Valentine’s Day, but since we couldn’t meet them until that morning, and given the appearance of those balls, it could have also been for Easter, even if the Japanese and I do not celebrate that religious event.

All four of us entered the small room, sat at the bar, and promptly ordered some nigiri. Frankly, I didn’t really care in which form I would get the fish, as long as I eat something soon. Raw fish for morning… I never thought I’d ever get that kind of breakfast, but when the salmon and the rice touched my tongue after I’ve dipped them in the soy sauce, the delicious fresh taste of the fish made us forget the wait we just went through. You know something is really good when everyone stops talking and just focuses on the food. It was so silent at some point, the sushi chef struck a conversation with me and was pleasantly surprised that I was actually living in Japan and not just another tourist. Interesting. Surely, I’m not the only foreigner who decided to stay in Japan, am I?

Enough of that food. Time to pay our bills and leave our seats for some other hungry customers. They were probably staring at us from outside, salivating over the pieces of raw fish between our chopsticks, with the soy sauce dripping.

Following a stroll around a bright yellow flower field and some beautiful old trees in the Hamarikyu gardens, we got on a water bus heading to Odaiba, where we spent the rest of our day.

Odaiba is a large artificial island, initially built as a defence in the 1850s. It has largely expanded since then and is now a leisure district with a futuristic look. Many young couples and families entertain themselves in restaurants, stores, museums, and attractions on that island.

We went to the famous Sega Joypolis arcade, twice. Once before noon and again after we filled ourselves at an Indian buffet in the same building. It has been years since the last time I’ve stepped into an arcade, so I was really excited to go in there. This visit deserves an article on its own.

We finished our day by eating Italian in the Venus Fort shopping centre. The interior of the building is designed to look like you’re outside in Venice, after all. The food was great, but my only regret is not ordering the pizza of the day. My friend ordered it and he got something that looked like a calzone. And I love calzones…

Once our stomachs were full and our bodies were begging for sleep, our friends went on their way just before my girlfriend and I went back on the Rinkai line. Only one train to get back home is quite convenient, and less expensive than the Yurikamome line, but not as fancy-looking. We were too tired to stay awake for the entire ride back home, anyway, so the aesthetics no longer mattered.

It was midnight when we arrived. We were exhausted, but we had so much fun during that long day that it felt like we left for a three-day weekend and just came back, thanks to our dear friends.

Three Japanese Students Sleeping on the Train

Spring is Coming!

Mon, 2010-03-29 23:50

157 days

もうすぐ春ですね。

The end of March has a particular significance in Japan. It is way past the first day of the year on both the Gregorian and lunar calendars, yet it feels that the new annual cycle only starts now.

Spring is coming and the cherry blossoms are ready bloom, setting the parks for people to picnic and have a few glasses of beer under beautiful pink trees. This tradition is called “hanami,” or “flower observation.” I’m looking forward at participating at this event myself. (Yet, the temperature is getting colder recently and there are still warnings of heavy snowfalls in many regions across the country.)

It is also the end of the fiscal year, when all the income tax forms should be prepared and submitted. For students, the school year finished, and a new one is about to start in April, after a short two-week break. Television stations are shuffling their programming, retiring old dramas and variety shows to replace them with new ones.

Even though the New Year is the holiday the most celebrated by the Japanese, the most important changes seem to only happen now.

Yesterday, our local train station inaugurated its new refit, adding a much-needed second entrance finally allowing people living at the other side of the station to enter without having to go around it. I missed all the celebration, but there’s one person who loves keeping tabs on Nisshin and its train station. The fan also maintains a whole Web site dedicated to the region and its history.

The new Yamate (or Yamanote) tunnel also opened yesterday, allowing car drivers to get faster to their destination within Tokyo. Also in the capital, the new Tokyo Sky Tree tower, still under construction, became 338 meters tall this morning at 10:17, breaking the record of the tallest artificial structure in Japan. The new tower will be 634 meters tall upon completion. The previous record of 333 meters was held since 1958 by the Tokyo Tower, which turned its lights off last Saturday during Earth Hour.

On my end, I applied for a visa extension last Friday. Let’s hope I can live here for at least another six months, until October. I just have to wait and see.