Theory on Japanese Society

As most of you can probably tell, Ive been a little bitter lately and, in general, quite miserable. I havent been able to exactly pinpoint this growing ball of frustration until just this last weekend.

A few posts ago, Aaron wrote about how frustrated he became during a staff meeting because all the teachers were speaking keigo and the meeting took about 20 times longer than it should have. Keigo is the polite form of Japanese and used to only be used to talk to the emporer... right? Or is there another uber-polite/humble form for talking to him? Anyway, thats beside the point. Keigo is the humble way of speaking and is only used in meetings and extremely formal situations. There is no equivalent in English. Verbs change and vocabulary is different. Its hard to explain but basically there are a bunch of fluff words you use to humble yourself and your opinions which cant be translated and really dont mean anything at all. Basically, you say a lot without really saying anything at all. Could it get any more annoying?

Ever since this post of his, Ive been observing their society and the way they present themselves and things in general. While Adam, Aaron, Tsukasa and I were all in "Diamond City" (the big mall in Yagi) it finally hit me. Japanese culture is "All Show, No Substance", period. Ive yet to find an example that doesnt fit this. I will explain a few that do, however. Keigo is one example and leads me to believe this concept has been in their culture for a very long time and has since been severely exacerbated. Everything is pomp and show but when you look behind the curtains you're bound to be disappointed. For example, when you buy what looks like a normal package of cookies, you would expect to open this package and eat the cookies directly out of it. Well, here you open a package of cookies to find that EACH INDIVIDUAL COOKIE is INDIVIDUALLY WRAPPED!! (excuse me? but, are you kidding me??) Who the hell eats only one cookie?? Everything is packaged insided of another package at least 2 times! Its the most wasteful thing Ive ever seen. (Japan has actually taken 1st place as the most wasteful -- ahead of the US!) When you buy something at a store, they wrap it up, put it delicately in a plastic bag and then tape the bag shut with their own store brand tape (ie, tape that has the store's name on it). I have yet to find a logical reason for this besides making it very difficult to open your plastic bag without tearing it. When I bought a snazzy new umbrella the other day (Yes, umbrellas are a fashion statement here. If you dont have a cool one, you're doomed to be frumpy), I stood in line and watched 3 clerks concern themsleves over this guy who was buying some mini-plants for someone as a gift. When they finally wrapped up his plants twice and graciously thanked him for paying, they turned to me. One girl took my umbrella and set it on the counter while asking me if I wanted it gift wrapped. When I gritted my teeth and said, no thats ok, the other proceeded to tape a piece of green paper around it (complete with the company tape or course). The last girl then dealt with the money. Since I placed a 10,000 yen note on the counter in a little dish thats reserved for the money, she picks it up with 2 hands looks at me and says, "10,000 yen?" uhhhhh, yes.. I did just put it there...(since this is a mainly cash society, me paying with the equivalent of a 100 dollar bill is really not a big deal). Anyway, my point is, this would NEVER happen in America. They'd just give me my damn umbrella, take my money and thank me for shopping there and it would have taken half the time. Theres so much friggin ceremony that goes into every single little thing they do! Everything is just so fake and superficial. "All show, No Substance."

Not only that, but the honor system is just assumed here. Had I been a thieving person, I could have stolen loads and loads of stuff from every store because nobody watches and everyone just pays. Everyone obeys the rules here and no one questions authority. I think thats what gets me most of all. No one questions authority, ever. People might grumble about it to each other, but will they stand up and speak their mind? Never. They tell us that if we need help on the street, like say in an accident or we get mugged, we should yell "fire!" instead of "help!" because no one will come unless its something that threatens them. They are so non-confrontational that its seriously detrimental to their society. They dont have any balls, at all. Honestly. Its really starting to get on my nerves seeing as how Im really not like that at all and if I could speak Japanese I would be saying what I think all the time. Im starting to feel so rebellious here and keep thinking to myself, "no wonder committing suicide is such a popular way of dealing with your problems!" I keep wondering if this lack of confronting authority is a recent phenomenon, as in post-WWII. Ever since they lost the war they've been focusing on being peaceful and non-militaristic. Maybe they went too far and created a sheep/blind faith society instead. I don't know. I'm not an expert. This is just an idea. Comments?

Ive also been second guessing my decision to recontract for a second year. If Im so miserable and everything about this place pisses me off, why do I stay?? Well as sad as it is, the money is awesome. Im saving so much money right now its crazy. I keep thinking, if we stay for one more year and keep saving the same amount of money, we might end up with around $20,000 EACH in savings!! How crazy is that? The thing is, we're not being frugal, we pay all our bills, I pay my loans every month, we travel to various different and exotic countries and we just bought a brand new computer! How could I pass up another year of that? My sanity might get a little shaky here and there during the next year, but to secure a good foothold in my future, I'd like to have that money and Im willing to put up with the temporary insanity.

I feel almost guilty for feeling this way about their culture, but I guess I cant like everything. It works for them, kinda so whatever. They dont realize it at all though and maybe thats better? Is ignorance really bliss here? Dont get me wrong, there are plenty of things that need to be changed about every country, and things that piss me off about every culture, including my own, but not nearly as much as here.... It saddens me.

On a random note, I think Im back on eating pork (!!!). Only hot dogs and bacon though and those very, very, very sparingly. Me dealing with other pork products will make mine and Adams lives here much easier. No, I will not eat pork chops, they gross me out. Nor will I eat ham or any other type of pork I dont like. Except for hot dogs and bacon, which are the only 2 pork products I actually enjoyed, I will continue to be picky about it... sorry!

Also, I think Im going to pick up knitting. Ive been wanting to learn how for some time and ever since Katy mentioned the fact that shed started to do it to cure her boredom, Ive thought it was a great idea. Whats more, Aaron knows how and is going to teach me!! So, now instead of losing my eyesight reading all day at work, Ill be knitting... hopefully...