Rough week. Much happened, good and “bad.” I think the good outweighed the bad, but at this point in time, I really can’t differentiate for myself…let alone for anyone else’s sake. Took a lot of pictures though, though I don’t have the time or the patience (moreso, time) for that right now.
As the title implies, this be another segment of facts and experiences that I have complied about Osaka & Japan. A few of them might be slightly exaggerated due to various obstructions in sensibility and language. Mostly in sensibility. Nevertheless, I’ve been in enough stores and seen enough young Japanese students to be as blunt as I am about what’s to come. I’ll be darned if I forget the quirky things about this country.
In my last TGE segment, I mentioned that some Japanese guys are really shy. What about the other side of the spectrum, you ask? Well, basically the other ones you can find hanging out in shaded areas around corners on campus in a group, dressed in trendy suit jackets, button-down white shirts, a black tie, and typically hair (usually dyed a light brown) that falls down to their shoulders or farther. These guys, who are undoubtedly aware of their debonair looks, also are the types you’ll find hanging out in big city areas after dark, also in a group, smoking a cigarette, and trying to pick up chicks wearing short skirts, a ton of makeup, and just generally appear to be in wanting of a “good time.” Credit for this info goes to me, and my friend, Yuri, who told me herself that is what they do when we saw some at a famous bridge in Shinsaibashi. These guys bring a whole new meaning to the term “metrosexual.” I don’t think the guys in America could hold a candle to them.
There are some guys in Osaka that are just flat out [physically] popular, but have nothing upstairs, and then there are some guys in Osaka that have a cute charm to them that enhances their physical qualities that makes it surprising when I find out they don’t have a girlfriend. There are plenty of the former in Japan, and not enough of the latter. Some of them even make it to television. Though it seems that if you’re popular enough, you can potentially be in multiple commercials that may or may not air in a consecutive pattern. There’s this one guy that I see in so many commercials, smiling his cheezy smile and/or posing for some product. It amazes me how commercial Japan uses physical appeal/popularity to its full extent, while America is figuring out how to add more sex in their propaganda without being backhanded by the censor bureau.
Want to be a l33t Japanese glamour girl? You can become one by following these steps:
- First, you have to look the look. Go to your nearest Hoop shopping complex — as far as I know, that’s in Abenobashi — and spend a minimum of 20,000 yen on clothes and boot-like shoes that not only make you six inches taller, but creates the illusion that you have long legs. To look that good and to keep up with the times, you will be spending that much money. The same goes for the guys above.
- Be sure to have a few necklaces dangling from your neck that match with your heavy application of makeup and trendy, dressy clothes. As you can tell, maintaining appearances in the best possible way is important among college men and women here at KGU.
- Then, pick up a keitai (cell phone) that flips open and buy a few kawaii (cute) charms to hang from it.
- If you don’t have natural highlights, get some, or just go the whole mile and dye your hair light brown. Maybe get a dirty blonde highlight or two.
- Now spend somewhere around 5000-10,000 yen minimum on a handbag. If it is larger than the usual pocketbook, it should have a American or French name plastered on it somewhere. Sometimes, a larger bag to house that larger mirror you carry to make sure your makeup or hair hasn’t been ruined will be necessary at certain moments…like while eating lunch.
- Now here comes the tricky part, but should be no problem for any girl who knows how to multi-task. Maintain the every day necessities above each day, while riding a bike with one hand, holding your handbag with the other arm, and talking on your keitai…at the same time. If you can do this as a gaijin, I applaud you.
There is a kami (god) in Japan that if you rub the statue’s feet, you are said to find happiness in the future. Yeah, I don’t get it either, but it’s Japan. What’s there to get? ^^;
If you join a school club, you are expected to attend every meeting. To miss a club meeting is to show disregard for the group that you made a conscious decision to join. I don’t know if there are any consequences, but I do know that it is highly frowned upon — a club becomes something like a family. That is why gakusai (school festivals) are so astonishing; every club works very hard, even into the night hours, to truly make it the best.
“Plumber’s crack” does not exist in Japan because the mass majority of people stay thin, even if they aren’t in shape. Though to my great misfortune, it is the foreigners that make it exist. Two examples: Heavy-set guy from Europe hunched over on his bike, and a dark-skinned girl with her pants WAY too low. Seriously. Why must I see these atrocities? To blog about them, of course.
Spelling & phonetics in Japanese is super important. I already knew this, but I have a new sense of it, thanks to Yuri, who asked me randomly on a street corner to say “girl” in Japanese. I, by mistake, said “shojo.” Shoujo means “young girl” in Japanese. Shojo, on the other hand, means a girl who has yet to have sex. That’s like…news to me.
A Japanese male shiriai (acquaintance) told me that it would be bad to be seen as something of an anime otaku among his friends. He isn’t one, but to be mistaken for one would pretty much ruin his repuation. In other words, in Japan, you’re either an otaku, or you’re like everyone else.
The Japanese have superb balance and posture. When you could potentially grow up riding a train every day of your life, you apparently get used to the jolt of the starting motion, the rocking on the tracks, and the slowed halt. I have seen many Japanese salarymen on crowded trains just ride standing up and reading at the same time without any sign of worry of crashing into the schoolgirl tinkering with her keitai in front of him. I find this impressive.
This is just speculation, but I’ll say it anyway, since things like this do occur. Older men read so much on trains for a reason: To keep their eyes from wandering to younger females. Also, if both their hands are gripping a newspaper or book, they could never be accused of sexually molesting a younger woman, as both their hands are in plain sight.
Being on time is very important. If you are so much as 5 minutes late for a business meeting, the person waiting will assume that you aren’t coming. Hirakata has an analog clock outside connected to a pole at the park across from the Seminar House, and two when you are traveling towards the main KG campus. This way, you’ll always know if you need to run to class or not.
Having a random Japanese child say “hello” to you on the street is probably the most surprising and awkward thing that could happen to someone. At least it is for me. This has happened to me three times (once today, actually). The first thing to pop into my mind was “WTF! We’re in Japan! Why and how are you saying hello?!” By then, I’ve managed to utter an audible “hello” that probably wasn’t heard anyway, while the second thought of “I’ve been here too long” hits me with a vengeance. Quite hazukashii (embarassing) to be honest…
For the record, I’m not making fun of anyone but myself in these sorts of entries. Everything here is generally the honest truth, regardless of how my sarcasm seeps through in my retelling.
Currently Listening To: Utada Hikaru – Ultra Blue – “Making Love”
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