Nippon News Volume 2 Issue 3

Maintenance on the ticket-taking machine in the subway. (right)



With the New Year holiday break over, we headed out to visit the famed Tokyo Fish Market this week. This is a huge complex near the waterfront in which all of the seafood for the metro area is sold, prepared and distributed. While strictly a business operation, the odd tourists such as ourselves, are tolerated as long as we don't get in their way. Which is not easy, considering the swarming trucks, merchants, and the horde of little motorized carts zipping recklessly among the throngs. Fish is offloaded and auctioned starting at 7 am in the morning. The rest of the day is taken up in cutting, packaging and re-selling the catch on the spot. It is then hauled off to local wholesalers and retails in a fleet of trucks, motorbikes, and even bicycles. Eventually the fish ends up in the local markets, take-outs and restaurants that are everywhere in the area.

Given that the metro area the market serves is some 31 million people, virtually the size of Canada, you can imagine the scale of the operation. And the variety. Japanese love seafood of all kinds; chicken and pork are available, but beef is rare. There were tuna, swordfish, flounder, and all kinds of fish. also seen were octapus, eel, oysters, clams, scallops, shrimp, lobster, and some other stuff that was completely mysterious. We saw everything from frozen fish, to live fish, to fillets, steaks, chunks, hunks and mush. The noise and the smell was overpowering; I could only imagine the place on a hot July day!!

Surrounding the market itself were a variety of shops and restaurants catering to the workers and the visitors to the area. Breakfast was being served, in the form of a bowl of noodles (and fish, naturally), from many small enterprizes. This was eaten with chopsticks while standing on the sidewalk. However simple this meal, I had to note that the bowls were not styrofoam as one might expect in the West; they were China. And, I also noted that they were always returned to the shop by the customer with thanks. A future edition of the Nippon News will deal with the overwhelming variety and types of restaurants and eating establishments available in Japan.

Elsewhere, I noted that the Japanese continue to exhibit an interesting mixture of the new and traditional culture that makes Japan unique. Privacy is hard to come by in a traditional Japanese home; these are small and compact by western standards. Usually the family sleeps together in the common room that houses a low table for the serving of means, and serves as the common room durning the day. At the end of the day, sleeping mats are taken out from storeage, and the whole family stretches out for the night in the common area. The only separate area might be the bathroom and a small kitchen for the preparation of food. Even so, it is not common to have a dishwasher, or even an oven, and many fridges are about the size of a night-table. Thus, food is purchased daily for immediate consumption, and many meals are either eaten out or purchased as take-out on the way home from work. It is common to advertise the size of an apartment for sale or rent by the number of sleeping mats that the common room can accommodate.

Sandra and Jay's apartment, at 1700 square feet, is huge by local standards. One of Della's friends has a 400-square foot apartment, and he can almost touch all of the walls with outstretched hands. That tiny apartment has an equally small bathroom, an alcove for a kitchen, and rents for about $700 CDn per month. Sandra and Jay's apartment, with three bedrooms, two bathrooms and a bathing area, surrounded by balconies, and with a large living room and a dining room as well as the kitchen, is very rare here.

Another significant difference I have noted is the Japanese attitude towards the bath. It is most definately not for cleaning! Quite apart from the two toilets that they have, (one with the heated toilet seat and all the electric gadgets that you come to respect through trial-and-(mostly)-error), they have a separate area for the bath. This is a large enclosed and tiled area. It has a shower, and beside it, a deep tub. An attached changing area with a basin and mirror are available. The idea is that one showers and scrubs before entering a nice tub of hot water. The tub is for relaxing in; not for cleaning. In fact, it is considered polite to leave the hot water in the tub for others to enjoy. The Western approach of scrubbing, soaking and cleaning in the same water is considered uncouth. On a par with the wearing of shoes indoors, or the lack of washing hands with the towel provided before eating.

Sited On The Way:

• the lot behind the apartment is empty and is for sale. Every weekend the Century 21 Salesman arrives about 10 am, sets up his signs, card table and lawn chair, and then settles in for the day. Hopefully, somebody will come by and a deal can be struck. In the six weeks we have been here there has been no luck!! You might wonder why real estate is sold this way, but remember Rule No. 1!!!!
• Kyoto Rail Station is graced by a multimillion-dollar ultra-modern building complete with attached deparment store. And, to decorate the entrance, the architect chose .......
• Astro-Boy!! I think he read too many comic books as a kid. You gotta love that!

At the right are the male models for the hot new Mario Brothers video game! Cool, eh? Well, the inside report is that the game is as cool as these two are! Kinda makes you think, right?

• speaking of video games; the Japanese take this seriously. Here is Scott trying out one of the current favourites; the Japanese Kabuki Drums. Since we can't read Japanese, we aren't really sure what goes on, but apparantly you have to hit the drums in time to video characters that marches across the screen in order to score valuable points! It is a difficult game and talented players attract admiring crowds, eager to enjoy the performance.

Having a whale of a time at the Osaka Aquarium!

Stay tuned for much more!!

Doug-san In Japan saying Sayonara for now.