Departure time has almost arrived--tomorrow afternoon. So I've understandably been reflecting about the high and low points of this adventure, the things that irritated me and those that delighted me.
I'll start with the negatives first to get them out of the way.
Bottom....6
6. The Cash Economy and Cash Machines: or lack thereof. Foreigners in Japan are forced to live in an almost exclusively cash-only economy. Most stores, many hotels, and bank cash machines don't accept foreign credit cards. So I've become accustomed to carrying around far more cash than I ever do in the U.S. Luckily the Post Office Postal Savings system does accept US atm cards. Without them we would have been in tough shape. An interesting question is whether I/we spent more or less as a result of working from cash.
5. Low and Lower. If the statistics I've seen on the net are accurate, the average height for Japanese adults is about 5' 5". (Which is rising; the average height for 17 year olds is now about 5'7"). I am just short of 5'10". So everything in our apartment is too low: sinks, mirrors, tables, chairs, desk. For two months I just bent over when necessary, especially shaving or washing dishes. Then my back said, "Hey, that's enough!" and for about 6 weeks, for the first time ever, I had a seriously bad back. The worst moment was at the onsen in Yufuin when I sat down next to a bath and realized that I couldn't get up.
Rachel, alas, has experience with back problems and said, "Start taking Aleve (an anti-inflammatory and pain-killing drug). Now." I followed her advice and combined with better sitting posture and an absurd, legs bent position while at the sink, have brought my back almost to normal. Whew!
4. High Prices. According to a recent survey, Osaka/Kobe is the second most expensive urban area on the planet. During our first month here, a visit to the store was inevitably a breathtaking event. (And this is after a decade of deflation and declining prices....). Gradually we adapted, buying fewer foreign items (though I couldn't live without peanut butter!), browsing the 100-yen stores, eating far less meat than we do in the States.
3. Concrete. Public works projects have been a vital element of the Japanese economy in the postwar period. As I understand it, this is easing as the Koizumi administration has cut such spending to try to reduce the country's huge budget deficit. But some of the projects are mystifying, such as the Kobe Airport. KIX airport in Osaka is an hour away by bus or train--why spend billions on a facility that will inevitably be underused? (See photo of the under-construction monorail to the airport on Port Island--the new terminal is just visible in the distance). More disturbing is the vast amount of concrete used for retaining walls, dykes, etc. Engineers here seem to have a penchant for overengineering and using as much concrete as they can, and in the process have badly scarred much of the countryside. Granted, earthquakes and unstable land are a factor--but they are elsewhere in the world, too and no other country I've visited has suffered similar damage.
During our first two months here, workers worked steadily on a paved path south of our apartment house. This will link the campus and Gakuentoshi to a vast housing development being constructed just over the hill. Not visible in the photo is a huge amount of concrete that was poured over the hills to the east and west of the path.
2. The Status of Women. Recent articles in the Japanese press have described proposals by some politicians associated with the ruling party in the arena of women's rights. They are considering changing government policy to emphasize "families" and deemphasize the need to encourage more gender equality in Japan's private and public sector organizations. This is astounding. On most international measures of gender-equality Japan continues to be far back in the pack.
While this topic deserves an entire essay, here are a few observations. I've wondered for a while now about the degree to which the extended economic slump in the country is related to the limited role that women play in the workforce and economy. There is a huge amount of talent and energy that, to this outsider, could be making a much greater contribution to the economy and society. Would this harm families? It would certainly require changes, and such changes could be difficult. Though I've seen statistics in the past on the length of the Japanese workweek, during my stay I've had the chance to talk to people about their hours of work and how they like it. Uniformly, they don't like having to work such long hours. Eventually, a change in the social bargain that keeps (mostly men) working long hours, with their wives at home, may prove to provide a way forward for everyone.
1. Noise. I'm sensitive to noise. Thanks to a defective firecracker that exploded next to my ear in middle-school, I have a bothersome case of tinnitus--that ear rings loudly 24 hours a day.
Alas, urban Japan is noisy. Subway trains are noisy; shopping districts are filled with screaming men and women encouraging people to visit their shops; open public spaces near train stations are now often dominated by huge TV screens that play mostly commercials. Worst of all, our apartment house in Kobe is in a particularly loud spot on a connecting road between an expressway and a boulevard, which many students riding deafening scooters use to get to campus. So every morning at about 5:30 am, the traffic starts in. During summer when we have had the sliding doors to our apartment open for ventilation the noise has been particularly bad. So I have cherished the occasions during this stay when we have found quiet.
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