#6: Japanese Fashion

I’m sure many people, both Japanese and foreign, absolutely love Japanese fashion. They feel like it fits perfectly into their little vision of the world. Unfortunately, I am neither of those people. Japanese fashion never fails to confuse and perplex me, both out in the real world and while I’m at work.

Let’s start with work. I work at a Senior High School, where the dress code is professional. No t-shirts, no jeans. You all know what professional is. Imagine my surprise when I showed up on my first day in a pencil skirt, a white button-down blouse, and a pair of heels, and only about half the office was wearing anything remotely businessy. What was the other half wearing, you may ask? I’m glad you did.

I have no photos of me looking businessy, but here's one sort of!

They were wearing track suits. Track suits with perfectly matching tops and bottoms, manufactured by adidas, nike, or any other sports brand you could think of. In fact, I’m pretty sure that Japanese schoolteachers are single-handedly keeping these companies in business. Forget running shoes and fancy pacemakers, track suits are their market. I didn’t let this get to me, though. I just assumed that all these teachers wearing track suits must have been PE teachers. Imagine my surprise, 8 months later, when I am invited to my first enkai and I finally get around to asking what subjects the teachers teach.

“My neighbour teaches PE, right?” I asked my supervisor, looking over at his track-suit.
“Right.” she replied, following my gaze.

“And my other neighbour?” My glance skipping over to another tracksuit-clad teacher.

“He teaches history.” she replied.

“Not PE?” I asked, surprised.

“Nope.”

“What about her? And him? And him?” I asked, picking out teachers at random.

“Japanese. Science. Also History.”

“None of them teach PE?” I asked, completely floored at this point.

“Nope, how many PE teachers did you think we had?!” my supervisor asked.

“Quite a few,” I admitted sheepishly, looking at the ground as my face turned red.

My point is that track suits are standard business attire at a high school, and for some reason I’m not allowed to wear jeans. I would personally never wear a track suit, but I can understand why others would if they are socially acceptable. I’m sure the things are comfy!

Then there is the question of what I am allowed to wear. When I was back in Canada, I knew what was business appropriate and what wasn’t, and I dressed accordingly. Here, that has mostly been completely thrown out the window. For example, My pencil skirts that I thought were great are too revealing. They have slits in the back. So I can walk. Also, any time I wear a shirt that shows a hint of collarbone, I suddenly have 50 teachers asking me if I’m cold. I get it guys, I’ll cover up a bit more. These things are okay, though. I understand them, even if it means I have to buy more appropriate shirts.

Appropriate work attire?

Once I get out of work, I figure I have a decent idea of how I’m supposed to dress myself in my spare time. I am a 21 year old girl, so I like to look youthful and stylish, but I try not to forget that I am still a teacher and have to be professional. I walk out my house feeling pleased with myself, wearing a floral tank top, jeans rolled up to my knees, and ballet flats. Then I realize that no one else shows their shoulders. Ever. I realize I don’t have a cardigan with me, so I throw my scarf around my shoulders, hoping that people think it’s some sort of new fashion. I don’t think I have to worry though. 

TOO MUCH SHOULDER!

A group of girls walks past me in skirts so short that I’m pretty sure I could see their underwear if I tried. These are my students. I’m learning the rules. Legs are fine, but I can’t show my shoulders. Got it. I’ve learned the rules. 

Me doing Japanese fashion right (sort of)!

Also, since they wear so many layers up top, they can have really frilly undergarments. I haven’t seen a single bra in a store that wouldn’t show under a t-shirt. Frankly, Japanese underwear scares me.

But there’s more! I had gotten the hang of dressing myself in Hokkaido, then I went to Tokyo and saw the Lolita fashion. These girls dress up in these victorian-era dresses, altered so that they are shorter, and accessorize with stockings, mary janes and headdresses.. The name comes from the female name Lolita, which according to Wikipedia referred to Japan’s links to Portugal, where the girls are pretty and modest.  The trend started in the 1970’s and grew from there. I can’t say I really get it.

Lolita fashion

Finally, Japanese women seem to dress for style rather than comfort. I know this happens in most places, but they take it to the extreme. Japanese women wear 4 inch heels hiking. Hiking! There is wanting to look cute and then there is being crazy!

I’m sorry that that pieces was kind of all over the place, but I hope you got from it the main point: Japanese fashion confuses me.

#5: Table Manners and Etiquette

This one isn’t perplexing so much. I understand where a lot of the rules and etiquette come from. It doesn’t make it any harder to follow though.

You cannot pass food from chopsticks to chopsticks, because that’s what they do with bones at a funeral. You cannot stick your chopsticks in your rice because they stick the chopsticks in the ashes at a funeral? Is that right? 

Also, you must start and end each meal with a saying. The saying at the beginning is “itadakimasu” or “I gratefully receive”, loosely translated. The saying at the end is “gochisosama deshita”, or “it was a feast”, designed to convey respect and gratitude for the food you’ve just eaten.

When drinking alcohol, you’re not supposed to refill your own glass. Wait for someone else to do it for you, and always offer to fill someone else’s if you see that they’re getting low.

Finally, slurping your noodles is alright. In fact, you should do it. Apparently it is so that you can eat the hot ramen without burning yourself, thereby keeping the maximum taste.

This is just my experience, and could be completely wrong. If I’ve made any glaring errors, please correct me in the comments. I quite like the table manners, although I do at least one thing wrong at every single meal.

Perplexing Thing About Japan #4: The Pornography/Sex Culture

Okay, to be fair, I don’t know THAT much about the pornography laws. From what I can tell based on a quick look at wikipedia about 5 seconds ago, it seems that in Japan, under Article 175 of the Criminal Code of Japan, people who sell or distribute obscene materials can be punished by fines or imprisonment. This particular code has remained the same since it came into being back in 1907. However, what has changed is what Japanese society deems as “obscene materials”.

Despite this clause in the Criminal Code, there is quite a thriving porn industry in Japan. In order to get around the clause, they simply obscure the genitals (or part of it? I don’t know, I’ve never actually watched Japanese porn).

Besides all this, there also seems to be quite a market for things beyond the norm, I don’t want to get too much into it, since this blog is a place for peace and love and normalcy, etc, but anime porn is quite big in Japan, and I’m pretty sure you can buy magazines upon magazines at any convenience store. I don’t really understand it. Also, pretty much any other fetish you can imagine exists here, from what I’ve been told.

There also seems to be a very disturbing subculture built around the sexualization of youth. Before child pornography itself was banned in Japan in 1999, apparently ⅔ of child porn was Japanese. Now, instead, adults are dressed as children, with school-girls being particularly popular. This is not just subculture, but it quite popular, perpetuated by girl groups like AKB48. It’s really worrisome, and I try not to think about it too much.

Now, like I said, all I know is what I learned from wikipedia and what I see around me in real life, but it’s definitely an interesting thing. If you’re interested in reading more about it, I would recommend that you read the wiki. Or watch the porn, I don’t judge you.

Perplexing Things About Japan 3: Face Masks

This one is going to be quite short. Basically, you know those surgical face covering masks? Japanese people seem to love those things. I’m not entirely sure why, but at least 2 or 3 of my students are always wearing them.

Why, you ask?

Because the students are sick, and wearing a mask prevents the spread of infection. In fact, I should probably be wearing a mask at work as I type this because I’m pretty sure I’ve got a little bit of a cough. 

Except here’s the thing. I’ve seen people wearing masks by themselves inside their own cars, which is doing absolutely nothing to spread germs to the people around them because there are no people around them. Also, they actually will take off the masks to cough or sneeze, which undoes all the germ trapping that the mask is supposed to be doing.

If you are sick enough to wear a mask, you are sick enough to stay home.

Perplexing Things About Japanese Culture Part 2

2. The indirectness

About 6 months ago now, I was told that I was being too loud in my apartment by my supervisor. She lives in Sapporo, which is about an hour and a half long drive away, so I had no idea how she could possibly know this. That is when I realized that my neighbour had put up with my noisiness for 2 months, then finally decided to talk to my supervisor about it, who in turn related the tale to the kyoto-sensei, who replied to my supervisor, who talked it over with my neighbour again, and then eventually came to me and said something along the lines of “Jeri, I understand that the customs are different here than back in Canada, but in Japan the walls are thinner, so if you could make a little less noise that would be great.”

I said “yeah, no problem,” and ever since then I’ve been the model tenant. Of course I can’t know this for sure, because no one has come to me recently, but I think that I’ve been more quiet.

What really confuses me, though, is why my neighbour couldn’t just come knock on my door at the first sign of a problem, and mention to me that I was being a little too loud. Then he wouldn’t have had to endure 2 to 3 months of my unchecked loudness before I finally got the memo that it was unacceptable. As of now, 7 months later, I still haven’t really spoken to him, but I hope that everything will work out as planned.

Oh Japan, why you be so indirect?


I don't have any photos for this, so here is some Engrish I saw recently:

Perplexing Things About Japan 1: Toilets

So, I've decided to write a list about some of the most perplexing cultural aspects of Japan, but I had too much to write about so it's going to be a series of posts. Here goes!


Before I get into why they are perplexing, I suppose I should start by explaining them to people that are not familiar with them.

Basically, there are 2 different types of toilets here, western and squat toilets. The squat toilets are just that, you squat down on top of something that sort of looks like a urinal that has been knocked over and shrunk. It’s cool. You do your business, apparently it’s actually better for your colon (see here and here), all good things.

The western toilets are where the Japanese seem to have gone a bit crazy. They are like regular toilets, but more Japanese. Basically, any possible add on you could think of for a toilet to have, they’ve got it. Have you ever wondered why your toilet has no bidet for your unclean bits? Move to Japan, and you won’t have to do without! What about toilets that will play flushing sounds without actually flushing so people won’t hear you doing your business? We’ve got that too! You can control the volume of the flushing sound, the strength of your bum washing, how much soap you want, basically you name it, you can probably find it somewhere on a toilet in Japan.

Don’t get me wrong, I think that the toilets in Japan are awesome. I mean, there is no limit to what they can do! If someone came up to me and told me that the toilet in the other washroom was actually a rocket ship designed to send the user to the moon if they pushed the right buttons, I wouldn’t even be surprised.

But what I don’t understand is WHY. Why do we need toilets that are so high tech that you can’t even find the flush? Why do we need toilets that sing to us and talk to us? Why do we need toilets that have heated seats and lids that open automatically when you enter the stall? (sidenote: I actually really love the heated seats)

Also, in my school teacher’s bathroom, there is one stall with a traditional squat toilet, one with a regular western toilet, and one with a decked out japanese toilet. Why do we need 3 different options when going to the bathroom? Surely something as short-lived as using the bathroom doesn’t mean we need 3 different ways of doing so? Oh well, to each his own, I guess.


So yep. Toilets are weird.

Oral Surgery in Japan

I need to get my wisdom teeth taken out. Unfortunately, this is no longer an option for me, but more of a necessity. My straight teeth are slowly becoming less straight as my back molars grow in, and this is starting to bother me.

I know, I know, it’s not what you look like on the outside that matters, but who you are on the inside. Seriously, though, screw that. I want straight teeth.

So with that in mind, when I heard that one of my ALT friends had gotten all four of her teeth taken out in Japan for ONLY $100 DOLLARS, I knew that I would get it done here. It was now or never.

ANYWAY.

I had my first appointment a few weeks ago. I got my supervisor to call and get me an appointment. She spouted out a bunch of words that I didn’t understand, and let me know that I had an appointment with Dr. Saito on at Omni Dentix on Friday, February 3rd.

I don’t particularly like going to the dentist, or any medical professional for that matter, so when that Friday rolled around and Jessica drove me in for my appointment, I begged and pleaded with her to stick around until I was done.

“Stop being a little baby about it,” she said. “I’m going shopping, act like a grown up.”

She didn’t really say that, but I’m sure she would have if she wasn’t so ridiculously nice. Instead, I put on my big girl face all by myself, and told her to have fun shopping. I’d call her when I was done.

I sat down in the waiting room, filled out the forms, and waited for them to call my name. When I was finally called, I was brought into an impeccably clean, stylish room, with about 8 dental workspaces separated by chic barriers. Seriously, the most posh dentist I’ve ever been to. I was greeted by a dental hygienist who spoke no English, and when I gestured to the chair to ask whether I should sit down, she shook her head, and pointed at a tiny little stool thing.

“That’s a little weird,” I thought. “Oh well.” And I sat down on the tiny little stool. Immediately, she ran towards me, and shook her head, pointing at one of the tiny stools that was in a different dental area. It was occupied not by a human, but by a purse, scarf and jacket.

Oh. Oops.

I sheepishly climbed off the place I was supposed to put my stuff, and did things the right way. Go me.

The doctor then came in, told me I needed an x-ray, and made me take out all 7 of my earrings. One of them just wouldn’t come out, so after about 10 minutes of effort, Dr. Saito just told me that it was fine, and that it shouldn’t make that much of a difference. Great. So I go in, get my teeth x-rayed, and come out relatively unscathed. I go to put my earrings back in, and drop one on the ground. Dr. Saito comes back in and looks really confused when he sees me crawling around, muttering to myself in English with my little dental bib still on.

And we wonder why the Japanese people think foreigners are strange.

I straightened up, gave another sheepish smile (I think I’m getting quite good at it) and sat back down in the dental chair, accepting the fact that my earring was forever lost. He then went into an explanation about wisdom tooth removal, and how the roots of my bottom teeth were dangerously close to the nerve that runs across my jaw, which meant that I could end up numb for days, weeks, or possibly permanently.

“I see,” I said, trying not to openly panic. “And approximately how common is that?”

“Well, it’s happened twice and we’ve been open for over seven years,” he replied. “No need to worry. Also, your roots curve in, so we might have to saw your teeth in two to be able to take them out. And you’re only getting local anaesthetics. But don’t worry, it will be fine.”

He then left while I got my top teeth cleaned. Apparently, according to Japanese insurance policy, they are not allowed to clean all your teeth at once, so they must clean your top teeth during one appointment and your bottom teeth during another. Don’t ask, I don’t know.

Then, I grabbed my card, paid for my appointment (only $17!!) and went to meet Jessica, a new appointment made for extraction 2 weeks later.

I fretted and worried for the next two weeks, but my next appointment came way too soon.I was practically crying as Jessica drove me into Sapporo for my appointment, scared to death that something would go wrong. “BUT YOU ARE GOING TO BE THERE THE WHOLE TIME, RIGHT?” I asked Jessica. “Yes, dear. I’ll be right outside waiting for you.”

Seriously, Jessica, you rock. I can’t sing your praises enough.

Once again, they called my name, and this time led me into the room where it would all go down. The oral surgeon came in, and with surprisingly good English, told me exactly what was going to happen. I admitted that I was a little nervous, and he assured me that it was all going to be okay. I liked this guy already.

He wasted no time, putting some numbing cream on the spot, and leaving for a few minutes while it worked its magic. When it was done, he came back in with a giant scary needle, and quickly assured me that it would be over before I knew it. I opened my mouth, and he shoved the needle into my skin about 2395846 times, making sure the entire area was numb. I was holding my breath the entire time, and halfway through he had to tell me to breathe, because I was too tense for him to put the needle in again. Oops.

After the anaesthesia, he left for a little bit longer so it could become effective, then came back. He mentioned that there was going to be a bit of pressure, but if I felt any pain I should raise my left hand.

And then he put a giant set of pliers in my mouth and yanked out my tooth. I mean, not quite, but almost! He put a lot of pressure on my tooth, and I raised my left arm in pain, then he injected more anaesthesia in, and all of a sudden he was waving my tooth in front of me!

That was it! No having to cut it, no anything!

I was all excited that it didn’t even hurt and ready to have the next three teeth pulled out, when he said “Well, that’s it for today!”

“What? I thought I was going to get them all taken out?”

“No, we only do one at a time! Otherwise, you’d never be able to eat anything!”

“Oh, so I have to come back three more times?”

“Yep!”

Great.

He gave me a piece of gauze to stick in the area and keep there for 30 minutes, and with that, I was done. I paid, picked up my prescription of antibiotics and painkillers and hopped back into the car with Jessica.  On the way home, the anaesthesia started to wear off, and man did my mouth hurt. I popped 2 of the heavy-duty painkillers, and my mouth went back to it’s previously painless state.

Pretty sure the painkillers I was given were just like extra strength tylenol, but they did the trick, and I managed to get to sleep immediately when I went home.

The next day, I was feeling fine, so  I took the drugs as prescribed and went out to sing karaoke with Jessica and some other friends. We also drove all the way back into the city for a check-up, which Jessica was more than happy to do. Have I mentioned how much she rocks recently? Well, she does.

Anyway, one week later I had my stitches taken out and I made an appointment for my next one. I’m left with just a hole where the tooth used to be and no pain whatsoever!

Here’s hoping that it will be equally easy when I go to get the next 3 taken out!