Report From Nagano

Part 5 of a continuing saga

by Eric Wenocur

Subject: Report From Nagano V: Intermediate update
Date: Wed, 18 Feb 1998 14:39:59 -0500
From: Eric H Wenocur (EHW_LTS@compuserve.com)
To: editor@s2n.org

Hidey-ho!

I've been collecting observations over the last week which have become sonumerous that I have to use some of them up, despite nothing big going on.I expect to do one more update before I leave Tuesday morning (!) whichwill hopefully have my last few adventures.

I hope most of you had a chance to catch some of the more interestingOlympic events. Certainly the figure skating always fares well in theAmerican eye (and some would say CBS's coverage has been skewed heavily inthat direction). I personally found the snowboarding quite exciting towatch and the Curling kind of interesting. The debate continues overwhether Curling should be an Olympic sport at all; it requires skill, butlacks the usual athletic aspects. On the other hand, neither Luge norBobsled appear to be heavily athletic either. I just liked the Curlingbecause it had its own brand of quirkiness.

I also thought the Speedskating was kind of weird this year; guys in skin-tight devil suits, withvery specific preparatory stances, and that strange starting voice and thenall those horns blasting that one cacophonous chord. I don't know if itwas obvious from the TV coverage, but they have taken to playing thisinsipid background music at the arenas between the action. It wasparticularly noticeable yesterday when we saw the live raw feed of theWomen's Hockey final. During the entire medal ceremony it never let up;this continuous, cheesy movie score music from the loudspeakers. It's asif someone has decided that the emotion of the event itself is not enough;it has to have a soundtrack as well. Horrible. It reminds me of EPCOT.

I had last Sunday off, which meant staying up all night trying to occupymyself. Once the stores closed, by about 9pm, there was not much to do.First thing I did was go for a MosBurger. It's really not as bad as itsounds! This is a Japanese chain which features American-style burgers andsides--served by guys in white paper hats, no less. Naturally I HAD to tryit. The "Fresh Burger" was kind of like a Whopper, but heavy on theThousand Island. The Spicy Mos Cheeseburger had this sort of weird salsabut was okay. I was enchanted by the Japanese eating technique, which isto keep the burger in the paper wrapper and peel it back--like we used todo when I was a kid. A Canadian couple sat down next to me and we had alively discussion about THE JAPANESE. They have been living here for acouple years and were able to put finer points on some of my ownobservations. The guy, apparently, really likes the Spicy Mos Cheeseburger(and claims that MosBurger is better than Wimpy Burger, a UK chain thatlooked horrible when I was there). His defining description of Japan,which I think is quite apt is, "Kafka meets the Gong Show."

I stopped in at this one Jazz club, which claimed music until 10:30, but itstopped an hour early. No sooner had I ordered my Gin Rickey (one of fivedrinks listed) then the band, as the Japanese have learned to say,finished. This is the same club, incidentally, that advertised the "MJQ" acouple weeks back. Turns out this was NOT the famous Modern Jazz Quartet,but the not-famous Manhattan Jazz Quintet. Sorry I missed that. So Iheaded for a bar that was supposed to have live Celtic music by someCanadian band. As usual, noisy, smoky and hot, and unfortunately the bandwas quite awful. [Gee, sounds like a trade show! -- Ed.]

Half-hour later I'm back on the street and spent some time trying to figureout what was in this building across the way. I know I've mentioned to afew people how the fact of living in such a small country informs everyaspect of the Japanese culture. In this case, the Japanese must use morevertical space for retail than we do at home. We would never put typical"storefront" businesses on the upper floors of a building, only offices orhousing. But here the banks, hairdressers and other stores are oftenseveral floors up. Therefore the buildings have lots of signs outsidewhich tell what businesses are upstairs; almost every multi-floor businessbuilding has a big (luridly colored) vertical sign running up the outsideand this creates a defining element of the urban environment.

Thisparticular place looked like an apartment building but had a huge sign withabout 20 different businesses listed. After a while I decided that thismight be some kind of fantasy-themed "Love Hotel" because all the signs hadthese sort of exotic-sounding names: The Sahara, The Night Runner, Snacks(well, maybe not that one). I walked up a few floors to see what was goingon but naturally they were all closed. Then I met a bunch of Western guyswho live in Tokyo and were in town for the Games. They dashed my hopes byinforming me that most of the places were, in fact, restaurants. The thingis, you have to imagine how all these little restaurants are behind whatappear to be standard apartment doors in a "garden-style" building. Theywere also able to tell me, by knowing the language, where the businesses ofill-repute actually were, but I decided to hang out with them insteadbecause the primary male-oriented entertainment seems to be the "hostessbar."

A word about Love Hotels and Hostess Bars: Love Hotels are the Japaneseanswer to "by the hour" rooms. The difference is that, in addition tocertain commercial uses, they are considered respectable places for amarried couple to go for some privacy (Japanese often have extendedfamilies living in very small houses). They work anonymously in that thereis no contact between the desk clerk and the customers. There is one, theHotel OX, near Yanagimachi Village. Well, the sign says "Hotel O X", whichwe read as "ox", but it might stand for "hug and kiss." I don't know forsure.

Hostess Bars are kind of like the old Playboy clubs; well-offbusinessmen go there to be fawned over by attractive women, but sex isgenerally not part of the deal. Apparently they can be quite expensive,just paying for these women's time and attention, with any other servicesat the discretion of the female. I do know that a couple of CBS guyswandered into one by accident and actually hit it off with the girls, tothe extent that they have become kind of temporary "girlfriends" for theduration. I don't think my luck is that good these days...

The rest of the night was just hanging out with the guys from Tokyo, thenmeeting some more Westerners and going to a different restaurant and all ofus trying to have a conversation with some Japanese girls. All prettysilly. I just don't know if there is anything else to do around here afterhours. Perhaps if I were Japanese I would know where to go. Perhaps thisis it; the Japanese (men at least) love to drink and smoke.

A quick summary of various observations:

Top 5 Most Annoying Things About Being Here
5) The steps in the staircases are too close together; they make my calveshurt.
4) The temperature is always either too hot or too cold.
3) Ceaseless cigarette smoking everywhere (with poor ventilation).
2) They continue to drive empty buses past empty stops while we wait inthe snow.
1) They have virtually RUN OUT of Olympic souvenirs! How is thispossible???

This last one is particularly vexing and disappointing to me because therewere barrels of stuffed Snowlets and other items for weeks and weeks, thenwhen I decide to go buy some they are GONE. I mean vanished. I suspectthe vendors decided to take any stock from outlying locations (such as theIBC) and move it to the main outlets by the train station, but even thosehave been swept clean. And there are still 4 days left! This is goodplanning.

Despite their politeness and apparent concern for everyone's safety inpublic (did I mention the safety instructions that came with our roomfurniture?) I have noticed a decidedly cavalier, even aggressive, attituderegarding vehicles. There is a lot of bicycle traffic on the sidewalk,which is fine, but they never use a bell or horn when coming up frombehind. And they drive very fast, even in crowds. I have been nearlyside-swiped several times just walking along; if I had stepped a few inchesoff-center at that moment they would have plowed right into me. Then thereare the taxis. I had a hair-raising trip through the back streets theother night in which the driver pressed on as fast as possible down alleysonly wide enough for 1.5 cars and filled with milling people. He just keptgoing and would slow momentarily, until they realized he was behind (nohorn, of course), and then swerve around and speed on. It reminded me ofsome scene from Indiana Jones or James Bond: driving crazily through avillage in Bombay or somewhere.

Okay, enough complaining for now; people are going to think I'm some sortof CURMUDGEON or something! So, what's good about this place?

Top 5 Positive Things About Being Here
5) Good sushi readily available (for those who like it).
4) Good bread, pastries and chocolate.
3) Excellent iced tea available everywhere!
2) General sense of manners and civility (which is disappearing in much ofthe U.S.).
1) People are generally polite and helpful (almost to a fault).

Is this list as superficial as the other one? I guess so. Does it soundlike I would rather be back in the States? Anyone who knows me well knowsthat I have many complaints about the U.S.--its politics, culture,economics, etc. But I certainly cannot say that I think things are betterhere; just different in many ways, worse in some. I suppose some of itcomes down to what you are accustomed to, and what you have learned tobelieve about your own society. For the Japanese, the aspects that I findunacceptable are perfectly reasonable (at least on the surface), and theway we do things is often looked at strangely. But I do believe there aretimes when it is possible to evaluate an aspect of a society and, somewhatobjectively, decide that this aspect is good or bad. Perhaps this is notthe forum to get into sociological theories, let's just say I've had aboutenough. It was fun for a while, when it was still new and curious.

And on that note, let me note that I leave in FIVE DAYS!

Still to come: a ski venue (hopefully) and the public baths...

-- Eric,
Nagano, Japan

For pictures documenting some of the highlights of Eric's trip, check out this Web page.

Copyright 1998 Eric Wencour, all rights reserved.