Japan Notes 3 12-17-2003 (1, 2, 3, 4)
Ok, Korea. Unlike Japan, people push and shove, seemingly for no reason. I
got so sick of people shoving me aside I got local and threw a shoulder to this
guy standing in my way, definitely caught him by surprise. Hey, when in Rome.
We found the Korean equivalent to the crazy Akihabara Electric City and it was
literally hundreds of stores selling computer equipment, cell phones, even wires.
Everyone had their specialty and stuck with it: cell phones, cameras, entire
stores filled with nothing but wires and connectors. How do these guys stay
in business selling 2-year-old refurbished laptops for 1,500,000 Won? Maybe
your little white dog with the ears dyed pink isn't bringing enough good luck
your way. Hello Best Buy.
This was our first serious business expedition on the trip, and we started by
meeting a bunch of Korean guys for dinner. We ate at a traditional place where
you take off your shoes and sit on the floor. But there's no table. At least
not until you order. Then they make the food, set the table, load it up with
about 25 different dishes and bring the entire thing out to your area of the
floor. It works pretty well, except when they kick over all the water glasses
as they swoop that giant thing in. And we did hear a few loud crashes from the
other side of the restaurant, but they were covered up by the girls on stage
and their floor show (well not that kind), lots of pink costumes, dancing around
with fans, 12-tone harp playing.
Back to Tokyo. If you're japanese and drunk you might as well have a sign over
your head saying, "I am completely hammered on sake" cause you're
red-faced, bleary-eyed and stumbling around the train station. You can walk
through Ebisu and play "that guy's smashed, that chick's wasted" with
incredible obvious accuracy. Since a lot of these guys work until all hours
of the night, they tend to miss the last train and I guess stumble into those
capsule motels to do it all again tomorrow.
Last night I did some laundry in a public bath house (no not that kind). It's
a place where you pay 400Y and go jump around the hot and cold baths with all
your friends. Everyone has their little wooden locker and is hanging around
naked all over the place. After dumping about 20 bucks worth of coins into the
washing machines I met these kids doing a photo shoot in a tunnel around the
corner. There's a designer, a photographer, hair and make-up and lighting. They
brought a bunch of colored gels and taped them over the tunnel lights. Then
they set up and shot pictures of model guy in some kind of native american kimono
gear. I learned how to say nihongo choto dake dekimasu, which isn't really true
because I don't speak even a really little bit of japanese but it definitely
loosens them up, especially after I Gets them and bust out the flying pigs phrase.
Then they realize that all that english they've been studying since age two
really does work on americans and get all excited when they hear you know some
kids in san francisco that make clothes too. Ooh, can I get your email? Are
you famous? Yeah, I'm Zack Posen here to check out the tokyo underground fashion
scene and get some new ideas for the fall line.
Apparently there's an ultra-polite form of japanese called Keigo and it's used
all the time in business meetings. But here's the thing. If you learn a little
bit as a foreigner you're in because everyone really appreciates the effort.
But learn too much and then they're thinking you know what you're doing, so
screw up at your own peril. My favorite is this american guy we met at dc's
who speaks Keigo better than the japanese. He says they really hate it when
you correct them, but it's so fun he can't resist. Seems only fair considering
they've taken just about every american electronic invention and improved it.
Shinkansen == badass. Seriously the bullet train is broadband for humans. Cranked
up to 300km/hr straight out the gates of Tokyo, none of this putzing around
waiting for the smooth tracks like in Europe. Looking down out the window at
the return tracks there's a wear path just a few centimeters wide of metal polished
like your grandmother's fine silver. The thing floats along on dainty little
wheels but is so muscular it silently rips through the countryside so fast the
oxen don't notice. When two trains pass it's like a controlled pressure wave
of 180mph cotton balls brushing each other.
So we're all prepared in our business suits, neatly wrapped little box of san
francisco trolley car chocolates as a gift, business cards at the ready and
we walk into a japanese business meeting to be greeted by a woman in an untucked
button-down shirt and jeans. Uh, did your culture take the last shinkansen out
of tokyo? Oh I see, you're just playing it cool.
We checked into the gorgeous Hotel Granvia right in the main train station in
Kyoto. First thing I saw was they have a pool and a gym, so I go down there
looking to get in a good workout. Ok, I know the dumbbells will be in KG so
I look through the rack, 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10KG which is only 22lbs. Well, I
never thought I'd be the bad mofo in the joint, but I wound up lifting the 5s
and 10s together. The little gym caretaker guy was definitely freaked out, skinny
little punk that he is. Then I did a nice bike workout, swim, hot tub, and sauna.
Definitely nice to untangle some of those aching muscles that have been dragging
suitcases up and down subway steps all day. One nicety in the locker room was
a set of q-tips that have cotton on one end and a little scraper on the other
- perfect for going deep and cleaning out some brain that's dripped down there.
bre++