July, 2010

All Posts / Culture / Places — No Comments
30
Jul 10

Kobe: Mountains, Business, and Beef

With about 1.5 million people, Kobe is Japan’s 6th most populous city. Located in the Hyogo prefecture, Kobe is nestled along the coastline approximately 310 miles west of Tokyo and is reachable from Tokyo in about 3 ½ hours by train. Once among the most important port cities in Japan after Japan opened itself up to trade, Kobe is still the fourth busiest seaport city in the nation.

Kobe is home to a number of famous Japanese companies, such as Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Kobe Steel, and ASICS, which is a sportswear and athletic equipment company. Global companies that make their Japanese headquarters in Kobe include Nestle and Proctor & Gamble. With so many companies and trades in Kobe, the area among the busiest for business and office jobs in Japan.

If you’re just there to sightsee, the first thing you’ll notice is the Rokko Mountains, which frame the long, rather thin city of Kobe on the opposite side of the ocean. The apex of the Rokko Mountains is about 3055 feet high. If you’re interested in seeing the city of Kobe from the mountains, there are a number of observation decks, restaurants, museums, and even a botanical garden along the mountainside. Perhaps most famous is the Arima Onsen (read here about onsen) atop the mountain, from which you can bathe and see the city at a stunning height. Taking a bus to the onsen from the city will only cost you about US$20 round-trip.

You can’t leave Kobe (unless you’re a vegetarian or not a fan of beef) without trying some Kobe beef. Easily one of the highest quality beef types in all of Japan, other Japanese cities import Kobe’s black Tajima-ushi Wagyu cattle beef. Some of the highest quality cuts of steak made from Kobe beef can cost about US$500 (!), but you can sample much more affordable Kobe beef in anything from burgers to shabu shabu to sushi (cooked) to sukiyaki.

Your trip to Kobe would be incomplete without a ride on the giant Ferris wheel at Kobe Harborland. The view from the Ferris wheel at night is stunning!

Have you ever been to Kobe? Have you ever tried Kobe beef? Is the beef worth the rave reviews it gets? Have you ever visited the Rokko Mountains?

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23
Jul 10

News of Immigrant Exploitation in Japan

The New York Times recently profiled a group of immigrants in Japan who are facing discrimination, unfair wages and unfair hours at their places of work in Japan. Asked to come to Japan under a “foreign trainee” program approved by the Japanese government, these foreign workers were told they’d earn a better wage than they could in their home countries and earn valuable technical skills in assembly factories. Instead, they’re being forced to work long hours in unsafe conditions for less than minimum wage. Some of them are mistreated by their fellow employees.

Because it’s an island nation, there aren’t as many immigrants to Japan as there are to other countries. But countries with poorer average wages for the majority or at least a large portion of citizens, such as China, the Philippines, and Brazil, are targeted by Japanese companies as sources of cheap labor for manufacturing and farming work. While some immigrant workers are treated fairly, mistreatment of foreign workers is prevalent enough that Japanese human rights activists are trying to address the problem.

Some immigrant workers are terrorized by their bosses and are told they’re not allowed to attend church (85% of Filipinos are Christian), they’re not allowed to get cell phones or do much besides work. Some report being physically assaulted by Japanese co-workers and bosses. One Chinese immigrant even reported that her Japanese boss told her Japanese co-workers not to go near her work station—where she was stationed every day—because of the danger of inhaling toxic chemicals during the manufacturing process.

The Chinese immigrant and several other Chinese immigrants who worked for that company are building a case with a Japanese lawyer against their former employer. Human rights activists are also helping other immigrants by investigating poor treatment, but there are likely more immigrants who are not being helped. There are about 190,000 immigrants in the “foreign trainee” program, although of course the majority are likely not mistreated. Nevertheless, the mistreatment is a growing concern, especially considering that these companies are receiving their workers through a government-sanctioned program.

Do you think the Japanese government is at fault for not keeping a closer eye on the companies that hire foreign workers through the program? What kind of steps could they take to make sure Japanese companies don’t take advantage of their workers?

Tabuchi, Hiroko. “Japan Training Program Is Said to Exploit Workers.” The New York Times. 21. July 2010. <http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/21/business/global/21apprentice.html?_r=1&src=mv>.

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16
Jul 10

How to Talk About Health in Japanese

If you plan on spending time in Japan or around Japanese-speaking people, it’s better that you over prepare than under prepare. Knowing how to talk about your health problems with your host family or a physician can help you get the treatment you need quickly—and accurately. Although you’ll likely be able to find an English-speaking doctor, you can get treatment faster if you’re able to explain yourself in Japanese as well.

(A cultural note: Unless it’s serious and you need medical assistance, it’s generally not considered polite to talk about your health in social situations. If you have a minor stomachache and you’re not that close to your host, for example, you might just excuse yourself without going into detail.)

Medical Term or Phrase in English Japanese Translation
I’m not feeling well. Kibun ga warui desu.
I’m sick. Byoki desu.
I injured myself. Kega wo shimashita.
I’m allergic to X. X ni arerugii ga arimasu.
My X hurts.* X ga itai desu.*
I have diarrhea. Geri desu.
I’m constipated. Benpi desu.
I have a cold. Kaze wo hiite imasu.
I have the flu. Infuruenza wo hiite imasu.

-or-

Ryuukan wo hiite imasu.
I’m on my period. Seiri desu.
I have hay fever / I have allergies (to pollen). Kafunshou desu.
I have a headache. Zutsuu ga shimasu.
I have a stomachache. Itsuu ga shimasu.
I have a toothache. Haita ga shimasu.

-or-

Shitsuu ga shimasu.
I have a runny nose. Hanamizu ga demasu.
I’m sneezing. Kushami ga demasu.
I’m coughing. Seki wo shimasu.
I vomited. Hakimashita.
I feel dizzy. Memai ga shimasu.
I have rashes. Hasshin ga arimasu.
My X itches.* X ga kayui desu.*
I want to go to the hospital/a doctor. Byouin ni ikitai desu.

*Some body parts that may hurt or itch (which you can use in place of “X” in the phrases above) include:

Body Part Japanese Translation
head atama
stomach onaka
tooth ha
chest mune
back senaka
shoulder kata
neck kubi
throat nodo
knee hiza
ankle ashikubi
toe tsumasaki
foot ashi*
leg ashi*
elbow hiji
wrist tekubi
finger yubi
hand te
arm ude
nose hana
ear mimi
eye me

* Yes, “foot” and “leg” are the same word in Japanese. Just point to which one you mean.

Just one more note. If you plan on working in Japan, you may become accustomed to their cultural views on becoming sick. As a whole, Japanese society values hardworkers and most companies actually discourage their employees from taking off from work, even when sick! If you do feel sick enough to stay home, your boss may pressure you to go to the hospital (as in a non-emergency walk-in clinic) and you may have to get a note from the doctor that says you should be permitted to stay home. If you don’t think you’re sick enough to get a note from the doctor, your boss will likely expect you to come in to work. If you have a cold or a contagious virus, you’ll be expected to wear a cold mask, which looks a bit like a dust mask, while you work. These can be very uncomfortable, especially after a while, but they’re important in an overcrowded country to prevent the spread of germs. However, while you won’t need to change your mask throughout the day to satisfy Japanese society’s requirements, scientists have doubted the ability of these masks to prevent the spread of germs after one hour of wear, so you may want to buy a bunch and change your mask every hour.

Even when you’re not sick, you’re likely to see people in public with these masks, especially in cold season. Now you know why!

All Posts / Culture / Food — No Comments
9
Jul 10

Japanese Curry (Best Served with Rice)

When you think of curry, you usually think of India, the homeland of the dish. In Japan, while they do have Indian curry on many a restaurant menu (it’s called “indo karee” in Japan), there’s a Japanese treatment of curry (called “karee,” pronounced “kah-ray”) that’s far more popular.

Curry has only been in Japan since the late 19th century, but it’s already considered a fairly quintessential Japanese dish. Curry made its way to Japan via the English Navy. As India was an English colony at the time, the British had been influenced by Indian cooking and introduced the way in which they replicated the dish to the Japanese once Japan opened up to the West. In the British recipe, curry mimicked the style of Western stew, and that became the basis of Japanese curry.

Japanese curry took a while to catch on, but it positively flourished in the late 1960s. Besides being available in many food stands and restaurants, the curry roux mix made it possible for Japanese homemakers to easily make the dish at home. It wasn’t until the 1990s that actual Indian-style curry became somewhat popular in Japan as well.

Japanese curry is traditionally much less spicy than Indian curry, although it can be extra spicy at the chef’s discretion. The sauce is typically made from curry powder, flour and oil (and can more easily be purchased rather than made in the form of curry roux in supermarkets). The basic vegetables cooked in the sauce are carrots, onions and potatoes, but the chef can add any number of vegetables (and fruits!), such as peas, scallops, eggplants, turnips, broccoli, lotus roots, pears, melons and apples. Also in the curry is usually a meat, either cooked without additives or deep-fried first. Popular choices in Japan include beef, pork, chicken, oyster, duck and even deer.

Served over rice, Japanese curry is known as just “karee” or “karee raisu.” Other popular ways to eat Japanese curry include as the filling in bread (“karee pan”), over Japanese noodles (“karee udon”), with a raw egg (“yaki karee”) and as a soup (“suupu karee”). Japanese curry is usually quite affordable and can be found at most types of restaurants in Japan, fast-food and sit-down alike.

Have you tried Japanese curry? Did you like it more or less than Indian curry? Which type of Japanese curry seems the most appealing to you?

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2
Jul 10

Visual Kei Music: When Gothic Meets Flair

A style of music native to Japan with a sizeable following is Visual Kei (“visual” of course is an English word and “kei” means “style” in Japanese). This type of music is known for its performers’ visual style as much as their music, as they’re dressed in incredibly ornate fashion.

Visual Kei may owe some of its roots to flamboyantly colored and stylized ancient performance styles from Japan, such as kabuki and noh. They may also owe some of their style to glam rock singers, such as Ziggy Stardust (David Bowie). However, their look is largely unique and not quite exactly like any of these influences.

Visual Kei bands typically—but not always—wear clothes inspired by overly colorful or Gothic black-and-white Victorian-era European attire, with lots of ruffles and large, baggy sleeves. Feathers, ribbons and lace are common accessories. The band members’ hair is typically dyed bright colors and is styled in long, wavy or spiky style, but may also be elegantly tied back. The band members may also wear color contacts, since most Japanese people have dark brown eyes and they want to appear a little more European. (However, the contacts may also be a color not found in human eyes.)

The band members’ faces and exposed skin are also typically painted pure white, which is a direct connection to the kabuki and noh style of theatrics. (Pale, white skin is traditionally seen as a sign of beauty in Japan and may represent delicateness.) Perhaps more closely tied to the theatrical traditions of kabuki and noh is the fact that many Visual Kei bands feature at least one band member who dresses explicitly as a woman—despite being a man. All of the band members tend to embrace a sense of androgyny, but some more so than others.

The type of music you might hear from a Visual Kei band might be described as some sort of punk, classical music or operatic music and glam rock mix, with hints of metal. Songs can be both hard-core and upbeat or slow and ballad-like.

Visual Kei debuted in the late 1980s and was quite popular during the 1990s, but the popularity died down somewhat toward the end of the decade. It’s had a sort of revival since 2007, but it’s more popular these days with a core audience than a widespread one.

Here’s a taste of some Visual Kei:

~Versailles, a modern band~

~Malice Mizer, one of the most popular bands from the ‘90s (now disbanded)~

What do you think of Visual Kei music? What about the bands’ style? What do you think is more important to this genre of music, the music itself or the style of the band?