I recently went to Akihabara, the electronics and geek capital of Japan, and took some pictures to document it. As you can see from some of these pictures Akiba is known for the various maid cafes and cosplay or costume play girls that inhabit it. These girls dress up as various characters from anime and manga who then act out fantasies with the geekboys of Japan. These pictures were all taken right outside of the main train station in Akiba were these girls wait to hand out flyers to their respective cafes to the throngs of otaku or Japanese hardcore nerds who come there. Sometimes these girls are veritably swarmed by photo snapping men as they all group around them with their high powered cameras to get that one perfect shot. However I came away from Akiba rather disturbed after viewing this subculture of Japan firsthand for a variety of reasons.

One of these reasons is simply how pathetic these otaku are as they pay ridiculous sums of money to go to maid cafes and chat with the maids as they have tea or play simple games such as patty cake. Some of the cafes have a more sexual theme as far as the costumes the girls wear, but it seems that the majority of them are not really selling the sexuality of the girls and instead focus more on their innocence. This of course creates environments where the very shy and repressed otaku do not feel intimidated by sexually aggressive women and can be comfortable living out their rather odd fantasies of chatting with maids or anime characters. I just feel that it is sad that Japan has emasculated these men to the point that they have to pay women to act so non-threatening that they can feel comfortable simply talking with them! Because no sort of sexual acts or even real physical touching occurs in these cafes, simply chatting and very innocent flirting. It just seems so humiliating that I simply could not imagine ever paying some woman just to talk to. Admittedly it is also harmless in that the girls are in no danger and they don't have to lower themselves by performing sexual acts or routines, yet I still can't bring myself to approve of it.

Another facet of this subculture that really disturbs me is the picture taking that goes on. As I mentioned above many of these men have very expensive cameras with powerful zoom lenses that they use when photographing these young women. They will stand directly in front of the girls and snap away as the girls pose in various ways. Now while many of the maid cafes do not showcase the sexuality of the girls that does not mean that scantily clad women were not present. A small number of the maids and almost all of the cosplay girls were wearing at the least short skirts or other revealing clothing. When I took the few pictures I did I felt extremely uncomfortable even though the girls obviously were there to have their picture taken. Sometimes when I would be near girls they would offer to pose for me, but I simply felt it was too intrusive and just simply perverted. While I would not categorize the Japanese otaku as being physically threatening towards women in any sense of the word they still had about them a very perverted addiction to these costumed girls from their fantasies. All in all the experience left me feeling like I was unclean in some sense.

Also just thought I'd throw out there that the one random comment from my friend Nathan wasn't the reason for comment changes, just a gradual change I've wanted to make for a while. However now I know that Nathan is out there watching and waiting I'm too nervous to make any other changes... Send help :P

Just changed the comment settings so people have to leave some sort of identification when they leave comments as I am very weirded out by possible randoms reading my blog and leaving comments. If random people do happen to read this blog that is fine, but I am blissfully unaware of that until they leave comments. Then the weirdness sets in mainly because the reason I write is for my family and friends to stay somewhat updated on my life without me having to send out mass emails or something similar. Thus the stricter comment regulations. Hopefully my massive readership of all of ten people or so won't be too upset :D

Just got back from dinner with two of Ayuko's high school friends and I must say I am won over. Both of them were incredibly nice and while we spoke almost exclusively in Japanese I still really enjoyed myself. Whenever I get together with some of her friends/co-workers/family I always wish I studied Japanese harder than I do now as no matter how much I may think I have learned I am constantly reminded of how much further I have to go.

Such as tonight when I would sit mute for 15-20 minutes at a time because I simply could not contribute to the conversation at the native level they were speaking at. I was proud enough that I could understand the basic outlines of their conversations and ever time Ayuko would mention some fact to me to try to keep me involved I would already know it. Still I need to study much harder than the casual pace I am at now if I ever want to actually engage in this society at the level I desire to, which is proficiency in all non formal situations and informal business situations. But I will gambarimasu or keep on trying as the Japanese say and one day be able to hold my own.

Also I am sure this will get me some hate comments, but just stumbled upon this picture and thought it was too funny to not post. Gotta use the content warning sometimes!

Well I have been in Tokyo for several days now and I am currently sitting in Ayuko's apartment whiling the time away while she works. The rather unfortunate thing about staying with her in her apartment is that since it is a company apartment for singles they are not allowed overnight visitors. However it is not really an issue as long as we come back to the apartment relatively late in order to avoid any random wanderings from her landlord who apparently lives close by. The real issue is that this means I can't leave the apartment unless I leave with Ayuko, so during the week when she is working I have the choice of staying in all day or leaving at 7AM and staying out until 8 or so when she comes home. However I don't really mind as it gives me plenty of time to relax, study Japanese, draw, workout, etc. Also it definitely allows me to save a massive amount of money as Tokyo seems to just suck the money out of you.

Speaking of money I have also decided to channel my funds towards updating my wardrobe or perhaps simply replacing the whole thing. I haven't really bought new clothes for several years and while I believed myself well dressed by American standards my outdated style simply pales in comparison to Japanese fashion. I went shopping with Ayuko the other weekend and picked up a few new outfits as well as some new sandals and when we were walking around Shibuya, the fashion capital of Tokyo, I didn't feel out of place as I usually do. In fact I felt that I was just as well dressed as everyone else and Ayko admitted that she much preferred seeing me in such fashion glory. Thus I am now dedicated to becoming one of the 'cool Japanese' I so often see.

This is partly in fact that I don't really spend a lot of money on material things, so I have decided to use my spending money exclusively on my wardrobe. Unfortunately as I am much larger, both in height and muscle mass, to the average Japanese man a great deal of their clothes don't fit me well. Never in my life have I ever felt I was some muscle bound beast, but I certainly do here. In America I often felt smaller than a good amount of men simply due to my lean build coupled with my height. However here I often feel like I could take on a group of four or five Japanese men and come out not only the victor, but ready for more. Gaijin ego out of control? Perhaps, but the men here are much smaller. However the younger generation I see in my junior high and local high school are more comparable to their American counterparts, even if still slightly small. To give you some idea of the difference my junior high had a assembly the other day and I was perhaps one of the five tallest people there out of close to a thousand people. I am only 6' tall.

Just three more days of school until summer vacation! My tolerance for the children has hit absolute rock bottom due to the fact that I know I will be seeing Ayuko in several days, so this week has been rather irritating so far. Yet the end is in sight, so I will soldier on.

Tomorrow is Friday and that makes this boy happy. Been a rather uneventful week, but when all is said and done I will be more than happy to walk out of school tomorrow being able to look forward to the weekend. No big plans as of yet, some of my friends are going into Osaka to celebrate a birthday tomorrow night, but as they are planning on staying out all night I will not be joining them.

Definitely have come to the slow realization that staying sober until 9AM makes for a very long night. Clubbing just doesn't hold the drunken allure it used to with my new found sobriety, so I am in the rather annoying process of trying to find new things to do on weekend nights. Unfortunately this means that the majority of the time I part ways with my friends once they go off to a club and usually end up heading home earlier than I used to. I just don't enjoy myself at clubs as I am too self conscious to dance sober and having Ayuko takes away the whole trying to fool girls into talking to me part as well. Alcohol and women were the main reasons I went to clubs and with those two things out of the equation I am left with very neutral feelings towards them.

While some may argue that this stage of socialization only really occurs in my general age group I would have to disagree. I feel that at any stage in life one is left searching for new and inspiring things to occupy themselves with in their free time and that alcohol often plays a role in loosening social boundaries. Not that I feel there is anything inherently wrong with that, I just don't partake in that part of it anymore. I really am just an old stick in the mud now :P

The past few days I have been in a rather depressed mood for several reasons. Sometimes living apart from Ayuko can drag me down as the frustration and loneliness it causes builds up until it overwhelms both of us. This only happens occasionally and whenever either of us does feel this way a phone call from the other is always more than enough to bring our spirits back up. However when the dark feeling it brings on does hit, for me at least, it is like being clouted over the head with a sledgehammer. Immense feelings of depression and longing for Ayuko seem to overwhelm my usually solid mental defenses and it brings me to my knees emotionally as I wonder why the hell I am not living with her in Tokyo. This then couples with anger at my company for lying to me in saying I would be working in Tokyo, the only area I applied to work in, and then telling me the "job" I had there was no longer available three weeks before I was set to move there. However as I said after talking with Ayuko I am always fine, as I am now, but it still sets me back.

Another reason I have been feeling rather down is after talking with my father's friend, a doctor from Japan who know lives in America, I feel that I am woefully unprepared for a future career in America. Up until this point I have not put a great deal of thought into grad school beyond wanting to achieve both my MBA and possibly a Masters in Japanese, but after speaking with her she opened my eyes to the reality of the situation. Competition is much fiercer than I had imagined and so specialization will be necessary for a successful career. It also made me realize that I may have to choose between doing something I enjoy and something that is financially viable. I am the kind of person who views a job as something you do to earn a living and not something that is necessarily your life's passion, but having to confront the reality of it so head on was a sobering experience. However as I have mentioned before after my experience with NOVA I will never again be in a situation where I have to worry about my finances.

All in all I am now even more motivated than before in my Japanese studies, as well as planning for my and Ayuko's future. I am not a terribly ambitious person, but I like to view myself as a slumbering giant such as America before WWII and once I am galvanized into action I can accomplish a great deal. The beast has awoken.

Maiko

Just watched a BBC documentary about maiko or apprentice geisha training in Kyoto and thought I'd share some snippets from it.

Before beginning formal maiko training a girl must first undergo six months of intense training simply to prepare herself for the exam at the end of this time. Said exam is one and a half hours long and includes dance, instrumental skill, overall presentation, etc. They begin their training at 15 years old. During these six months the girl is not allowed to call home and for the first two months she can have no contact with home or friends whatsoever. After those two months have passed she is allowed to write letters home. During her training she lives in a teahouse that is run by the house mother and shared with several other maiko or geisha.

As well as not being allowed to have contact with friends or family for the first two months she can also not speak back to the house mother or sisters for that time. In the past geisha could not leave the house unattended, but modern times have seen a relaxation of such strict rules. However, as the house mother pointed out there are no set rules for geisha, simply the rules the house mother decides.

The kimono alone costs over 10K dollars and fully dressed a geisha's outfit, including jewelry, will cost approximately 60K dollars. The wide cloth belt or obi that the maiko wear is seven meters long and requires the strength of a man to handle it into position.

A maiko can expect to earn $180 an hour for her services at a party, but due to the expenses the house mother must pay for during her training she won't begin to earn a real wage until after she has been working for five years or so. Lessons alone cost over 4K dollars a month during this six month training period. Geisha are expected to master a variety of instruments, four of which were shown in the documentary. Along with that Yukina, the girl featured in the documentary, had to change her intonation to match the Kyoto dialect.

When entertaining guests maiko and geisha are not allowed to eat and only drink if offered it. They often stay up into the early hours of the morning with their clients and due to their busy schedule have little chance for romance or friendship outside of their fellow maiko and geisha.