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Report From Nagano
Part 6 -- the end of the continuing saga
by Eric Wenocur
Subject: Report from Nagano VI: The Last Transmission 2/24/98 Dear Friends and Relations, And it came to pass that the dark days and nights reached an end: thewritten word became readable, vehicles returned to the left side and wateragain flowed into containers larger than 2 ounces. All was well...barringany unforseen travel problems. I did manage to get to a ski venue, finally. Went to the Women's GiantSlalom at Shiga Kogen. This is an area of ski lodges and resorts in thenorthern mountains, about an hour from Nagano. Of course it took us 90minutes to get there, but we're used to that. I don't think I have been toski areas since I was a kid and I was surprised at how they all look aboutthe same, even from that far back. It was fairly warm but unfortunatelysleeting and raining continuously. The event was on a substantial-lookinghill with an assortment of lifts running overhead, including these funnylittle gondolas that looked, oddly enough, kind of like Ultraman's head.The most troublesome thing was that there was no clear walking surface.Perhaps this is typical for a ski area but it presented quite a problem;when hundreds of people are tramping over the snow, and the temperature isup slightly, what you get is very slick packed snow. It was preposterouslybad--haven't they heard of SAND??? Fortunately there were a few securitytypes standing around and yelling in Japanese through their bullhorns. Harvey (from Quantel) and I had enough trouble getting around in our boots,but the laughable part was what some of the Japanese were wearing.Business slacks and wingtips, sneakers, flared pants and 4" platform heels. I am totally serious. There was one guy with dress shoes, golf pants, ashirt, sweater, yukata (similar to a kimono) and what looked like a redcorduroy blazer. And one of those giant stove-pipe hats that were aroundin the 70's--I think some rock musicians used to wear them (they've made acomeback during the Olympics). It was encouraging to see so many parentswith children but the conditions for a baby backpack were treacherous.Plenty treacherous for the skiers as well since about half of them wiped ordropped out. In the end it was good to get out and see the mountains("very nice") and a real ski event, but it was too rainy to stop at themonkey park, so that will have to wait for another time. Right. As an addendum to my previous list of GOOD things here, I should add theextremely low crime rate. This had slipped my mind until a recentconversation with a Japanese girl who had been to the States--we werecomparing various cultural differences. It is quite a novelty to be out onthe street any time of the day or night with virtually no fear of personalcrime. She was also surprised at the fact that you must lock your car inthe States, and that people even steal *parts* off cars! So, the Japanesescore a big point on this one; one of the tradeoffs we make for having suchan individualistic (undisciplined?) society back home. In fact, I havefound that my general opinion of Japan and its people rises whenever I havethe chance to speak with a native at some length. The younger people,particularly, are so curious and open about most things that it is hard notto like them. I would also like to add that I enjoy the department stores. There arequite a few, both swanky and K-Mart-ish, and they sell a wide variety ofitems. There are usually 6-7 floors--building vertically again--of men'sand women's clothes, household items and appliances (including displays offancy toilet seats), children's items, books and CDs, etc. The employeesare very helpful and friendly. But, of course, the best part is the fooddepartment in the basement. Sometimes they have an American-stylesupermarket but there are always an assortment of food stalls selling allkinds of raw and prepared items. It's good fun to cruise around looking atthe stuff (and eating samples if you dare). All the department stores arelaid out roughly the same, with a restaurant floor on the top. Strangely,I have NOT gone to any of these restaurants. I think this is due to awell-earned distrust of department store restaurants. Besides, they alwaysseem to have more of the same Japanese food. By contrast with these stores, one of the weirdest things I've seen is thestuff they sell at the counter of the 7-11. In the States it's day-old hotdogs spinning on those little rollers, here its a steamer box full of themost unappetizing things you can imagine; dough blobs, soggy-looking meatrolls of some kind, unsightly colored shapes, and tentacles. And thesmell...the 7-11s here actually smell WORSE than back home! I'm sure it isdue to those steamers. Generally, if you pass a 7-11 (or Lawson's) thereare always a bunch of young men loitering around the magazine rack, butthis is less because they sell girlie mags and more because they arereading the famous Japanese comics. The consumption of comic books here isastounding. In any department, convenience or bookstore there are likelyto be dozens, if not hundreds, of comics, mostly on newsprint. Theyinclude everything from super-heros and gangsters to serialized fantasyadventures to porn. I may have mentioned the bizarre "Lady's Comics" whichfeature all manner of extremely graphic and kinky sex (with the naughtybits obscured or erased). I have even seen what appear to be kinky gaycomics (oddly called "Boy's Comic" on the front). All are sold out in theopen, right next to the kiddie books. Not to overdue this topic but the one labeled "Young Man's Comic" was notsomething we would consider giving to an adolescent back home. This mademe wonder what is going on around here. What would it be like to be a boywho is raised in this atmosphere of propriety and public self-effacement,to be taught that sexuality is a private (if not downright unwholesome)matter, and then start in reading comics which include fairly graphic andkinky sexual behavior--some of which might be considered misogynistic aswell. Not to mention the way young girls are featured in the men'smagazines. I don't know if there is an age limit on these things but mostof the 7-11 clerks are mere teenagers themselves. I just have to wonderwhat the cumulative effect of all these messages is. Is it better or worsethan the screwy messages we give in the States? Saw Scott Hamilton walking down by the train station. I neglected to takehis photo. Another interesting thing I saw by the train station is, what seems to me,a relic of some bygone age of Japan: the yam seller. These guys have acart or small truck with a wood burning stove and they roast and sell giant(and I mean GIANT) yams. The one by the station has a recording whichcomes out of an old-fashioned speaker horn on top of the truck. It singsthis rather plaintive tune in Japanese, which I assume means somethinglike, "Come buy my yams..." There are also guys with little carts thathave a steam whistle attached to the stove which just blows a single noteall the time. It is terribly quaint and tends to make me feel some vague,wistful yearning for a time and place that no longer exists, perhaps neverdid, and which I never even experienced. Kind of like how I feel about the1950's USA. I guess it is partly from our exposure to images of the oldImperial Japan, with all it's apparent grace and fortitude. These yamsalemen seem like a final vestige of a past which is almost beyondretrieval in modern Japan. At least in Nagano. Which brings me to another old-world holdout: the bath house. I didfinally get there, the Barrato (almost like "The Day the Earth StoodStill") public bath near the IBC. This place is not exactly like atraditional Japanese bath because it is completely modern and has manydifferent pools. Massage is available but, naturally, Monday is the oneday they leave early. There is a men's locker room to change (and smoke)and then a main pool area and and outdoor area. First you must wash, whichis done at rows of stools, each with faucets, sprayer and basin. The menwash themselves sitting down, which I found awkward, but they do anextremely thorough job. I suppose this contributes to the notion that theyare a very "clean" people, but how do you explain a culture that often hasno napkins or toilet paper available? Many men also do other groomingtasks at the wash stations, then you just roam around this steamy room anduse the facilities. They have various temperature pools and an assortment of water-jetmassages, the likes of which I have not seen before. The best thing aboutthe massage pools is that the jets are STRONG. For example, one has twojets at about mid-back level, standing, and you have to willfully hold theside rails to keep from being pushed away. They are very conscious ofapplying jets to various areas, such as the feet, which are oftenforgotten. There was also one whirlpool where you lay on this bumpy backsupport, and another (which I did not see in use) that apparently runs anelectric current through the water! I also tried the regular steam roomand the steam room where you rub coarse salt over yourself. There was asauna, a cold pool and a couple of outdoor hot pools. Air temp was about 40tonight which I liked because the pools make me too hot. Outdoors therewas also a sitting area with pointy rocks that you put your feet on(accupressure?). The whole place was very clean, with water continuouslyrunning over all the seating benches. I struck up a conversation with aGerman fellow, who was in town dealing pins, and he told me this was thebest bath he had seen anywhere. The bath part was not coed, but a fewfathers brought young girls (3-4 years). Interestingly, at one point amiddle-age woman came through the men's area to pick up towels and such.Nobody paid her any mind, so this made me wonder even more about Japanesesexual mores. Would they have a male steward work on the women's side? Idoubt it. Lastly, the question you all really want to know: From what Isaw, the men's equipment, in the relaxed (but not shrunken) state, was nosmaller than any I've seen at home. Deduce what you will. Once again, in an effort to kill the night hours before my train to Tokyo(most of us that were on the bus trip from Hell opted to spend our ownmoney rather than take our chances on the 6-8 hour bus ride), I headeddowntown and, once again, found that the main social activity is drinking.I encountered three Americans who I had met on my last night off and wetalked about how they came to be in Japan. They all had similar stories ofcoming for a purpose and just never quite making it home. Ten years laterthey are still here tending bar or playing gigs, drinking and sleeping,marrying Japanese women and having kids. There almost seems to be a sortof American expatriate sub-culture of people who might inhabit"Palookaville" in the States. Then I suddenly realized one of the temptingaspects of staying here...can you guess what it is? I guess that's a wrap. This trip has been interesting, moderately fun andmoderately eye-opening. I feel I have learned a great deal about theJapanese, though I know that Nagano cannot be taken as the sole example(for one thing, I have been told that the distinct lack of trashreceptacles around here is NOT a problem in Tokyo). The work and workconditions were not what I expected, mostly in good ways; the TV peopleprobably were, if I'd thought about it. I don't know what to think aboutthe Olympic broadcast effort in general; for the most part it seems likeWAY too much work for such a short event--and I wonder if the viewer wouldbe better served by less production and more simple coverage. The spectreof the 2000 Games in Sydney has, of course, come up. While I would love togo to Sydney on someone else's nickel, I cannot decide if I would want todo another Olympics (assuming I have the opportunity). Many people I'vespoken with here seem to "end up" at the Olympics over and over via somekind of selective memory erasure; at the end they swear they'll never doanother and then mysteriously find themselves in Nagano (or Albertville orBarcelona or...) a few years later. There is a kind of "Stepford" qualityto it. I guess it's easy to forget the ridiculous hours, housing,transportation and food after a few years, and remember the overallexperience as a good one. I almost feel like I should do another, just forthe perpsective, but I'm not young, or interested, enough to do it simplybecause it sounds "cool". The Goodwill Games this summer in NYC? Nah. -- Eric For Eric's Postscript to his Nagano adventure, click here. For pictures documenting some of the highlights of Eric's trip, check out this Web page. Copyright 1998 Eric Wencour, all rights reserved.
Date: Mon, 23 Feb 1998 13:20:13 -0500
From: Eric H Wenocur
To: editor@s2n.org
Nagano, Japan