Being A Broad, July 2009

Being A Broad July 2009 #46

The monthly magazine for international women living in Japan

our cover girl: NUA JAPAN’s Erika Gilberti Reis De Aquino

s.z. cairney on the TRIALS of SUMMER hot weather MAKEUP TIPS trailwalking for OXFAM JAPAN what it’s like to WORK WITH SHRIMP a broad in the boonies: TSUKUBA CITY tina burrett on JAPAN’S new LAY JUDGES

getting MARRIED JAPAN-STYLE help do your bit to FIND LINDSAY ANN HAWKER’S KILLER with our pullout poster

www.being-a-broad.com

IN THIS

ISS U E 4

6 If you wanted to find out about foreign women doing some REALLY interesting jobs then this is definitely the issue for you! On page 14 we profile Marcy Wilder who is here in Japan researching shrimp of all things! And on page 22 Dani features Olga Poema, a trapeze artist with Cirque du Soleil. With Dr. Parissa Haghirian sharing her experience and advice to other professional foreign women we have plenty to help those of you who are looking for some career inspiration!

There’s also some love inspiration in the form of Lisa’s article on getting married Japanese-style, and Kristen’s story of how she found love in Japan. Sin Den helps us out with makeup designed to cope with the summer heat, and we read about the Oxfam Trailwalkers on pages 20 and 22.

There’s good news as we go to print this issue—Angelica Shiraishi has been reunited with her children, and is extremely grateful for all the support she received from people all over the world. I know that we are all thrilled that she is with her little ones again.

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being a broad news

image: Kerry Raftis/www.keyshots.com

image: David Stetson

message from the founder BAB events, WAAF

our cover girl Nua Japan’s Erika Gilberti Reis De Aquino

women of the world news from around the globe

things we love

• small but significant—things we love in Japan

• a city we love: Sydney

making an appointment with ‘Dr. Fish’

10 Tokyo girl

6 our cover girl

image: provided by Marcy Wilder

11 beauty

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Sin Den gives us makeup tips for summer

real-life story getting married in Japan

14 working

we profile Marcy Wilder of Japan International

Research Center for Agricultural Sciences

15 pullout poster

Enjoy!

Caroline Pover BAB Founder

BAB supports Lindsay Ann Hawker’s family

unique aspects of being a woman working in Japan

19 working

14 working

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20 feature

Publishers Caroline Pover & Emily Downey Editor & Designer Danielle Tate-Stratton Marketing Consultant Amy Dose Advertisement Designer Chris May Contributors S.Z. Cairney, Tina Burrett, Gabbi Bradshaw, Nina Raj, Lisa Gay, Marcy Wilder, Parissa Haghirian, Alena Eckelmann, Saradia Hunnisett, Kristen McAree-Nishimura,

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Jodie Gilbert Cover Model Erika Gilberti Reis De Aquino Cover Photographer Kerry Raftis, www.keyshots.com Cover Makeup Naomi Saito, Sin Den Printing Mojo Print Opinions expressed by BAB contributors are not necessarily those of the Publishers.

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image: provided by Cirque du Soleil/Kishin Shinoyama

the broads (and boys!)

The Oxfam Trailwalker

mothers • swinging between motherhood and the trapeze • s.z. cairney on the trials of summer

political broad-cast Japan’s new ‘lay-judge’ system: will it work?

25 community

a new kind of pet sitting service

an easy transition to Tsukuba City

a lifetime of love built on laughter

26 a broad in the boonies 27 she found love in Japan

22 mothers

Being A Broad magazine, editor@being-a-broad.com www.being-a-broad.com tel. 03-5879-6825, fax: 03-6368-6191 Being A Broad July 2009

BAB NEWS

BAB supports Lindsay Ann Hawker A quote from the BAB book: My name is Lindsay Ann Hawker

Learning Japanese: schools

I was murdered in March 2007 and buried in a bath of sand on the balcony of Tatsuya Ichihashi’s apartment in Tokyo.

Ichihashi escaped from the police and still has not been found. If you have any information that may lead to his arrest, please call the Japanese police on 047-397-0110.

Please help my family find peace.

Subscriptions

Being A Broad June 2009 #45

The monthly magazine for international women living in Japan

our cover girls: INGENIUM’S Laetitia Leconte and Jennifer Lladoc-Penaverde

a broad in the boonies: ICHINOMIYA the life of a NAVY WIFE in Japan

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help do your bit to FIND LINDSAY ANN HAWKER’S KILLER with our pullout poster

s.z. cairney on TAKING CONTROL of the mornings

ASIA’S new UNIVERSITY, just for women real-life story: the ONLY GIRL in the OUENDAN

www.being-a-broad.com Thanks for picking up this issue of Being A Broad magazine. Like what you see? Then why not subscribe today? For just ¥4,500 you’ll get one year (12 issues) of Being A Broad delivered to your door. Email: editor@being-abroad.com to subscribe today!

You can pick BAB up at the following locations: Shibuya-ku: • British School Tokyo • Boudoir • Tower Records • Sin Den • Furla Yoga

Minato-ku: • Suji’s • Nakashima Dentist • TELL • Nishimachi International School • Gymboree • Global Kids Academy • Mitsubishi UFJ Azabujuban • Tokyo Surgical and Medical Clinic • National Azabu • Segafredo • Tokyo American Club • Nissin World Delicatessen • Crown Relocations • Temple University • Hulabootie

In March 2007, Lindsay Ann Hawker, a 22-yearold English teacher from the UK, was found buried in a bath of sand on the balcony of Tatsuya Ichihashi, after giving him a private lesson in a nearby coffee shop. Ichihashi escaped when police visited his apartment to investigate and has not been seen since.

As part of a recent effort to catch Ichihashi, the National Police Agency has introduced a new award of ¥10 million (previously only ¥1 million) for information concerning his whereabouts.

Based in the UK, it is so difficult for Lindsay’s family to maintain public awareness of the fact that Ichihashi is still missing—let those of us who live here try to do our best to help them.

Please help support the Hawker family in finding Lindsay Ann’s killer with our pullout poster on pages 15–18.

There are many schools established to teach foreigners Japanese. Class size varies, as do tuition fees, but they are usually reasonable.

Hours are usually flexible, and some schools have many different programs to suit your level and schedule, including intensive courses. Many of the universities offer Japanese courses that are regarded with more respect than the language school courses.

“Rather than language schools, apply for one of the university programmes—it looks better on your CV, works out cheaper (in many cases) than language schools, gives you a great social life and/ or network of contacts for jobs, and because of more contact hours, etc., you learn faster. In addition, after graduating from their language programmes, you are qualified to attend the university as a regular under- or post-grad student.”

Although one woman pointed out that: “…attending university presumes (a) an independent income or (b) a part-time evening job lucrative enough to keep you financed.”

Each ward also holds very cheap Japanese classes for foreign residents. Generally, with all schools, you are taking a risk regarding finding a teacher or style with which you will be happy.

You may even get a different teacher for each lesson. As with so many things, it’s best to go to a recommended school—ask friends [and see where they suggest].

Kichijoji: • Shinzen Yoga Koto-ku: • Toho Women’s Clinic Chofu-shi: • American School in Japan Tsukuba: Through BAB Rep Shaney (shaney@beinga-broad.com)

Shonan: Through BAB Rep Kelsey (kelsey@being-abroad.com)

Okinawa: Through BAB Rep Aiko (aiko@being-abroad.com)

Please note that the BAB book is currently being reprinted so please do email info@being-a-broad.com to reserve a copy for when they are released soon.

WOMEN’S ACTION

AGAINST FGM

by Nina Raj

WAAF founder Yanagisawa Yumiko with Khady and Mme Guissé, Mali Ambassador to Japan. image: Provided by WAAF.

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f you know what FGM is, you know that it is an issue that every woman will react to automatically. FGM is female genital mutilation, and the words themselves imply a violent act against the most private part of a woman’s body.

There are 140 million women today who are victims of FGM, and every day 8,000 girls and women are subjected to FGM, every year 3 million girls and women undergo FGM somewhere in Africa, the Middle East, Asia, or Europe.

What exactly is FGM, where is it practiced, and why is it perpetuated to this day? Can I do anything to stop this violence? These are questions that Yanagisawa Yumiko had asked herself since the ‘80s. As a writer, translator, and feminist, she has long had an interest in women’s health. In 1995, at the Beijing Women’s Conference, she attended workshops run by African women fighting against FGM. She met with those women and learned about the NGOs advocating against this harmful practice. They appealed to her, “Please support us—we need your technical support, your moral support, and your financial support.”

So that is what Yumiko did. She returned to Japan and started Women’s Action Against FGM, Japan, in early 1996. Today, 13 years later, WAAF continues in its main mission: to raise awareness about FGM, to offer moral and financial support to the African groups in their struggle against FGM, and to participate in the international movement against FGM. FGM is a social convention that dates back at least 2,500 years. It is reported in 28 countries in Africa, some Middle Eastern and Asian countries, and in western countries with African immigrant populations. Depending on the community, infants as young as seven days to young girls between seven and fourteen years old, or young women in preparation for marriage are subjected to FGM. The procedure takes a number of forms—from removal of the clitoris to cutting all the external genitalia and stitching up the vaginal orifice, usually without sterilised tools and with no anesthetics. It is difficult to describe the resulting pain, devastating health

complications, and trauma that women must endure for a lifetime. FGM is a traditional practice associated with religion, and it has persisted in the belief that it purifies girls and makes them socially acceptable and marriageable.

Although FGM is not practiced in Japan, WAAF sees FGM as a serious risk to the sexual and reproductive health of women and as a violation of the bodily integrity and human rights of women. The struggle against violence and discrimination against women knows no national or geographical boundaries. WAAF stands together with all who are working to put an end to this harmful practice.

WAAF is a small NGO with about 130 members run by a staff of 10 volunteers.

Awareness-raising and fundraising form the core of their activities. Awareness-raising is done through workshops, film shows, newsletters, an e-news service, the website, at African Festa, and at Global Festa, etc. A recent workshop speaker was Khady Koita, a Senegalese activist based in Europe, visiting to launch the translation of her book Mutilée. They interviewed Burkina Faso First Lady Chantal Compaoré for their newsletter when she was here for TICAD IV last year. The group’s fundraising depends mostly

on donations from individuals and also income from the sale of badges, t-shirts, African crafts, and publications. WAAF’s three international symposia and annual Zero Tolerance Day event are supported by many African embassies, and WAAF’s show of solidarity extends to attendance at international conferences for antiFGM organisations.

One of their most important activities is the WAAF Fund, an annual grant to support projects against FGM in Africa. Last year, WAAF selected two NGOs from Egypt and Sierra Leone, both countries with over 90 percent FGM prevalency rates, to receive grants.

New members and volunteers of any nationality are always welcome. While their staff is Japanese, the movement is international.

French, English, and Arabic skills can be put to use, and musicians and dancers can support WAAF through their performances. Additionally, financial support is always appreciated, by postal deposit (yubin furikae kouza) to: FGM Haizetsu o Shiensuru Onnatachi no Kai/Han FGM Kikin, account number: 00190-2-355679.

For further details, email WAAF at waaf@ jca.apc.org and visit their website at www.

BAB jca.apc.org/~waaf. image: theboywiththethorninhis side

Celebrate the launch of the Japan Global Family Project with Sun and Moon Meguro-based Sun and Moon Yoga studio is hosting addition, they share the works, free of charge, with a community potluck to support two important scholars and teachers around the world.

Asian initiatives; The Asian Classics Input Project The Global Family Project allows interested and The Global Family Project. The Asian Classics parties to ‘adopt’ Tibetan families who are involved Project works to preserve and freely distribute with inputting the texts, supporting both the families ancient Asian classical literature, and to support and the project. refugees in doing this work. Especially in the case Learn more at the event on July 25, from of Tibet, where many, many ancient texts were 6:30–8:30pm at Sun and Moon. ¥500 donation, and destroyed or scattered around Asia, the program please bring a vegan or vegetarian-friendly dish as does valuable work to find, scan, and preserve well as your own plate and cutlery. RSVP to Em at these cultural pieces that may otherwise be lost. In emski11@yahoo.co.uk.

Being A Broad July 2009

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our cover girl

D E AQ U I N O of Nua Japan, cover photography by Kerry Raftis Full name: Erika Gilberti Reis De Aquino Age: 33 Nationality: Brazilian Grew up in: I was born in Saõ Paulo and when I was eight years old my family moved to a small city in Minas Gerais, Brazil.

Time in Japan: I first came to Japan 14 years ago. I lived by the beach in Shizuoka for two years and then I returned to Brazil briefly, but I missed Japan so much I had to come back! Since then I have lived in many different Japanese cities, worked various jobs, and have been lucky to learn a lot about Japanese culture and Japanese people.

Japanese level: I learnt how to speak Japanese from talking with my Japanese friends, and I can now read hiragana and katakana after seeing it every day. I never studied Japanese in school, but I managed to pick up enough to get by. It has been great for me working at Nua, because it gives me the opportunity to speak more Japanese to our Japanese clients. Nua has clients from many different countries and that has also been a bonus for me as I am still learning English, too.

Works at: Nua, the new waxing salon in Omotesando. The idea for the salon came about from talking with my family and seeing a great opportunity in the marketplace. We opened Nua in March of this year and it has been such an exciting and successful venture. I love the fact that my family and I can work together while working in an industry that helps people feel beautiful about themselves. It is such a nice and relaxing environment to work in and feels like home. Everything is very Brazilian, from the music to the products, and I think when Nua clients come they feel like they can get away from the rush of Tokyo life.

Why did you come to Japan? My grandmother is Japanese, so I was always interested in exploring my family heritage and I knew I would enjoy experiencing another culture.

Brazil is a beautiful country, but I grew up in a small city and saw an opportunity to travel to the opposite side of the world and have an adventure.

Due to the family connection, my brother and I came together to work in Japan when I was 18 years old.

Why do you stay in Japan? Japan has been a great place for me to expand my horizons. I have worked in many jobs in different fields and have now found my passion with beauty therapy.

I plan to stay in Japan and grow with Nua as the business progresses. Japan is such an easy place to live and I am fortunate to meet so many friendly people every day.

How do you manage to balance everything in your life? I take pleasure in both my work and personal life. I am fortunate to

image: Kerry Raftis/www.keyshots.com

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ERIKA GILBERTI REIS

have a very supportive husband and family, and also my dog helps to alleviate any stress I have at the end of the day. As part of the Brazilian culture, we learn to always live life with joy in our hearts and welcome every day as a new day to learn, communicate with others, and appreciate everything. It is possible to work hard and be relaxed at the same time.

What do you do to relax? I live close to the coast, so in my free time I take my dog to the beach and try to spend as much time as possible outdoors. If the weather is not great I prefer to stay in and watch movies or shop. Luckily I live in a very quiet suburb so even going for a walk around the neighbourhood is relaxing.

Best thing about being a foreign woman in Japan?

Being a foreign woman in Japan gives me a sense of belonging in the foreign community and I get to meet friendly people of different nationalities every day. I feel fortunate to be constantly learning and have become more open-minded as a result of my experiences here. I don’t think I would have had that opportunity as much if I BAB were anywhere else.

A Day in the Life: 7:30am: Time to get up!

8am: The first and most important thing on my breakfast menu is coffee. I follow that up with a meal of fresh bread, fruits, and yoghurt before I start the long commute to Tokyo.

9:15am: My commute starts and I get some time to check my emails, study, and read on the train.

10:30am: At Nua I prepare the salon equipment to start the day, check the emails and phone messages, and schedule appointments.

11am: Nua opens and the first client of the day arrives. noon–2pm: Greet clients as they come in to Nua and chat with people about their day.

It is always the busiest time of my day, but very energising!

2pm: Grab a bite to eat and people-watch as I walk around Omotesando.

3pm: Back to the salon, check product stock, and coordinate the rest of the days’ schedule.

3:30–8:30pm: Attend to clients.

9pm: Close up Nua. 10:30pm: Come home, am welcomed at the door by my dog, and usually my husband has cooked a fantastic dinner that we can then sit down and enjoy together.

WOMEN OF THE WORLD image: gabivali

The UK’s National Cancer Intelligence Network, Cancer Research UK, and the Men’s Health Forum have released information showing that women are 40 percent less likely to die from cancer than men, since they are more willing to go to the doctor and less likely to lead an unhealthy lifestyle. Men are also 70 percent more likely than women to die of cancers that affect both genders, such as liver and stomach cancer.

Researchers at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology showed that women who never gave birth developed arthritis, if they did, on average 5.2 years earlier than women who had given birth at least once.

Research at the University of Michigan has suggested that women who gossip may lead longer, healthier lives. This is because it seems that sharing personal details with other women raises or steadies progesterone levels, a hormone that is known for helping with long term physical health and lowering levels of stress.

image: myllissa

The number of cases of rape in Sud-Kivu, an eastern province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has been rising rapidly recently, where in just the past three months, the number of rapes reported has equaled the total number of incidents reported over the previous year. In May, 3 sisters, all aged between 12 and 17 were raped, and their younger sibling, a 3-year-old child, died as a result of injuries from rape.

A study published in the Archives of Neurology showed that women with Multiple Sclerosis who continue to breastfeed for at least two months after birth seem to be less likely to relapse within a year after the baby’s birth. MS is a chronic inflammatory disease that typically affects women less during pregnancy, but currently the choice is often made between continuing to breastfeed and re-starting treatment, where the drugs aren’t recommended for ingestion by babies.

Two women, both working for a US-based media company named Current TV, which was cofounded by Al Gore, were arrested in North Korea and sentenced to 12 years of hard labour in June. The women were arrested in March and eventually convicted of illegal border crossing and not-yet-defined ‘hostile acts.’

The House of Representatives in the US recently passed The International Protecting Girls by Preventing Child Marriage Act of 2009, an initiative to end child marriage in developing countries.

Part of the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, the Bill calls for the Secretary of State to act on behalf of the President in order to research child marriage, which is still common in rural areas of developing nations, and develop strategies to end this practice.

Noura al-Faiz, Saudi Arabia’s first female cabinet minister, will not appear on TV or take her veil off unless given express permission to do so, and has also said that it is too early for women to participate in sports in school. However, her appointment is generally seen as the first step towards reform in Saudi Arabia, typically known as a very conservative country.

Egypt recently approved a measure to increase the quota allotted to women in parliament in the Lower House, creating 32 new constituencies, each with two seats just for women. This increases the number of total seats to 518 from 454. While some see this as a big step forward, others view it as a superficial measure.

image: mckaysavage

compiled by Danielle Tate-Stratton

President Pratibha Patil has also announced an initiative to include more women in politics in India, introducing a plan that would reserve one third of the seats in state legislatures as well as half the seats in local governments for female politicians. At the same time, Patil announced a goal to make every woman in India literate within the next five years.

The US Department of State recently released their annual Trafficking in Human Persons report, which has grown 30 percent since its release last year. The report includes some 52 countries including Iraq, Cambodia, Pakistan, Ireland, Germany, and Japan. Human trafficking includes enforced labour and sexual slavery and affects nearly every country in the world.

7 A group known as the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) will collectively receive a Congressional Gold Medal of Honor, which is America’s highest civilian honour. The women, approximately 300 of whom are still living, were part of a group of just over 1,000 women that flew in ‘non-combat’ service missions during World War Two. At the time (and until 1977), the women involved with the WASP program were not given veteran status and the families of the 38 women who died in the line of duty even had to pay for their remains to be repatriated to the States from their place of duty in Europe.

A 32-year-old woman from Minnesota was recently fined 1.9 million dollars for illegally downloading 24 songs from the internet. It was the first time a copyright infringement case such BAB as this one had gone to trial.

Being A Broad July 2009

THE LITTLE THINGS

WE LOVE IN JAPAN a.

image: The Meat Guy

b.

d.

a. I love the Kettle Kitchen in Azabu Juban. This cute, 6th-floor restaurant half way between the Wendy’s and Roppongi Hills uses a high-tech steam cooking technique to boil water within 40 seconds and specialises in risotto, soup, and gumbo. Delicious and friendly, it’s a perfect place to drop by for lunch or even host an evening gathering in. www.kettle-kitchen. com—DTS

c.

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c. I love Havaianas sandals—more than ever since I have been living in Tokyo. You can find them all over the city in various shades and styles. (I have bought two pairs in the past year, one in gold and one in a dark grayish-silver.)

Since they are so comfortable, you can wear them while walking around and then exchange them for proper heels upon hitting the office or restaurant.

They are so light and portable, I just throw them in my purse for safe-keeping in the meantime!—UN

e. OK, so it’s the epitome of ‘trashy TV,’ but I love the fact that MTV allows those of us outside the US to watch its shows here in Japan. So many networks put all of their TV shows online but then block out-of-theUS IP addresses, so it’s a nice change to be able to escape into some utterly fluffy English-language TV without torrenting, IP-blocking, or otherwise skirting the system. www.mtv.com—TW

Do you have a ‘little thing you love in Japan?’ If the answer is yes, email 50– 150 words about it plus a picture to: editor@being-a-broad.com so we can share it with all the other broads reading BAB.

b. I love the meat products from ‘The Meat Guy’ (www.themeatguy. jp). Says president Jason Morgan: “This is one of our very best sausages, it’s not so easy to get the perfect balance of spices, especially when working with strong flavours like semi-dried tomatoes, but with these we nailed it. The basil and thyme really give the sausage a top-shelf taste and whenever I do a sausage tasting these are always the crowd favourite.” I can see why!—NW d. I love the little tiny cafe and senbei shop in Oookayama. While I’ve never actually eaten in the cafe, its my new favourite place to buy presents to take to someone’s house or to bring home as omiyage. The shop sells a huge variety of absolutely delicious senbei, all packaged attractively in a variety of sizes and gift packs and priced very reasonably. They even have gorgeous little candies that look too beautiful to eat, but are sure to delight my younger cousins back in Canada. It’s just beside the Family Mart to the right of the gates as you come out of the eki. —DTS

f. I love Franc Franc! This chain of shops was founded in 1992 and is based entirely around the idea of ‘casual stylish.’ Offering a wide range of house wares and soft furnishings, bath products, dishes, stationery, and even some furniture, it’s a fantastic place to pick up a couple of new pieces to brighten up a room. Products are generally well-made, brightly-coloured, sized ‘down’ to Japanese-apartment proportions, and reasonably priced. www.francfranc.com/eng—LW

[A CITY] WE LOVE:

SY D N E Y

by Danielle Tate-Stratton all hotel images: provided by the DIAMANT Hotel Sydney

As two girls travelling alone, we loved the combination of security and prime location offered by the DIAMANT Hotel near Sydney’s King’s Cross District. A neighbourhood known for its clubbing and nightlife, while I never felt unsafe, exactly, I was very glad to have the security and serenity of our hotel to return to, all the while being just feet from some of the best nightlife of the city.

The DIAMANT hotel is part of the Eight Hotels hospitality group in Australia and with just under 80 rooms was a fantastic boutique hotel option for us. As two girlfriends spending just a few days in the city we wanted something unique and stylish and got exactly that—a step away from the typical salarymanstyle business hotel, but without compromising on amenities.

In fact, the room offered a huge 42-inch flat screen TV (where we binged on all the English-language TV we’ve been missing since we left our home countries), an iPod docking station to pump us up while we primped for a night out on the town, and—for when we wandered back ‘home’—beautiful linens on a bed so comfortable we needed to work hard the next day to convince each other to get out of bed to see all the harbour had to offer!

Doubles from approximately AUD$170 (¥13,000). www.eighthotels.com

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I love Sydney! I recently had the chance to spend a long weekend there with a fellow ‘broad’ met in Tokyo and we had a great time exploring this city, which is built around an amazing series of harbours. While it might not be close (expect to spend 11 hours on a plane from Tokyo), it is much easier to reach from here than from, well, nearly anywhere else. Plus, for those of us lucky to be coming from Japan, it’s a relatively inexpensive destination at the moment, something we all appreciate now! I was lucky enough to hit upon a great seat-sale from Jetstar (Qantas’ discount airline, www.jetstar.com) and paid about the same amount to get to Sydney as it cost me to fly to Hokkaido earlier this year! Combine that with the fact that Sydney is currently in the middle of winter, which means you can escape from the humidity to gorgeous 20C days, and with the mere one-hour time difference, I think it’s clear why this is one of the cities I really love right now!

I love Bonza Bike Tours (www.bonzabiketours.com)! We took the Sydney Classic Tour and spent most of the day exploring the harbours, Chinatown, Hyde Park, one of the oldest pubs in the city, and more. It’s a perfect introduction to help you get your bearings and decide where to spend more time later on. I also love Darling Harbour (www.darlingharbour.com), where the restaurants and clubs surrounding a beautiful bay reminded me of my childhood near Miami’s marinas. They’re celebrating their 21st anniversary this year, which means plenty of special events and parties. Finally, our favourite club was Slide (www.slide. com.au), which is located in the heart of Oxford Street, Sydney’s vibrant gay district. Straight or gay, it’s a very friendly place and we enjoyed the fun vibe in an amazing art-deco building; the former home of a large bank.

Being A Broad July 2009

IS I N

by Gabbi Bradshaw

image: dee_m

Tokyo girl

THE DOCTOR

one swim through my toes and worried Ifelt about squishing it, so I spread my toes apart.

A

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fter seeing an episode of Ugly Betty where Wilhelmina Slater dips her feet in a white plastic bucket of flesh-eating fish and screams in horror, I’ve been fascinated with ‘Dr. Fish.’

Wilhelmina got what she wanted: babybottom feet to seduce her foot-fetish boss Bradford. My purpose was less sinister. I’m a runner and suffer from ugly feet and a bit of a skin affliction. Ichthyotherapy has been scientifically proven as an alternative treatment for skin afflictions. I wanted to try it out.

Serendipitously, the Monday after watching the episode on my computer, one of my Chatty Kathy friends went on and on about her weekend and her encounter with ‘Dr. Fish’ at Odaiba’s Ooedo Onsen Monogatari. I added it to my ‘Tokyo To Do List.’

My friend Carrie’s visit from DC was the perfect excuse to check it out. After soaking in the ¥2,900 onsen until we were pink, we meandered through the foot baths. Carrie discovered the plastic tent first and read the literature to me. “Garra rufa started eating flesh in the Turkish spas. Because they live in temperate waters (70F), nutrients weren’t able to exist. They survived on humans.”

I read the price, ¥1,050. I paused and then rationalised it as a cheap pedicure.

“Are you in, Carrie?” I asked.

“You go first,” she said.

For somebody who ate raw fish, I was surprised she was squeamish. But I wasn’t discouraged. I shuffled up to the hut, the attendant scanned my bracelet, and I slipped under the flap of the plastic circus tent.

I sat down on the wooden bench and surveyed the small wading pool filled with around 500 innocent, black fish. They reminded me of the cute minnows my sister, brother, and I would play with until they turned silver-belly-up while my dad fished in the Mississippi River. Harmless.

I pulled my yukata up around my legs and looked to the attendant for further instructions.

He nodded, and I dipped in my feet.

Whoosh! A swarm of black engulfed my feet.

My first, second, and third instincts were to pull my feet up and run out of the tent with my yukata flapping in the wind. But I had already paid. I’m from the Midwest. You pay, you stay.

I took deep breaths and clenched my teeth.

I called, “When do I get out?” The attendant motioned that he would come back for me. And I relaxed a bit. Somebody would notice if I was eaten alive.

I held my breath. My friend continued to read the literature and called through the clear plastic tarp: “In Turkey and even in Japan, they are used to treat psoriasis and dermatitis.”

I had dermatitis as a child and it was hell.

I wish I had met ‘Dr. Fish’ earlier for relief and perhaps a cure. It took over six years to get rid of my dermatitis. The itching, cracking, and bleeding were painful and embarrassing.

Carrie continued, “Did you know that Cleopatra was said to have been a client of these little critters?”

The ‘little critters’ were not only feasting on my calluses from my 10k Fuji run but also on the

if I could stick my hands in and get a manicure at the same time. That would make for a very cheap beauty treatment.

‘Keep Hands Out!’ a sign read. Being a rulefollower, I changed my mind. But I wondered what it would be like to have them feast on my face. I really needed a facial treatment. My face was really beginning to show age. I visualised the fish eating away years of sun damage and neglect.

Then, I visualised the carnivores snacking on my eyes and swimming up my nose to my brain. Not going to work.

I watched the dead-skin suckers carefully and noticed they acted like little vacuum cleaners.

Since they are toothless, the fish sucked the skin for about 1.5 inches and then started over again.

Like a typewriter. Or eating corn on the cob.

After about ten minutes, some of the fish were full and swam away and the white of my feet was visible again. I felt one swim through my toes and worried about squishing it, so I spread my toes apart.

Dessert. Several feasted on skin afflictions that I’ve been meaning to ask my doctor about.

y first, second, and third instincts were to pull my M feet up and run out of the tent with my yukata flapping in the wind. blisters from my favourite white patent leather stilettos. I had to remind myself to breathe. I saw the cloud of black and felt the weight of the fish, but I couldn’t look. My heart pounded. I felt trapped. Finally I yelled, “It’s freaking me out!”

Carrie put down the literature, put her nose to the tarp, and peered in. “Are you OK?” “It’s freaking me out,” I said evenly.

Carrie backed away from the tent and I was left alone with 500 fish.

Unlike Wilhelmina, I wasn’t in pain. It was like having your feet in one of those vibrating water bin things that pedicurists use.

And after I started breathing without thinking, I peeked at my feet. Surprisingly, it wasn’t only my feet they were feasting on. Any bit of body in the water was a treat. I wondered

I relaxed and enjoyed this organic treatment. I thought, “It’s like the circle of life.”

I heard a ding and was disappointed. There wasn’t anybody else around so I hoped the timer would be ignored, especially since the fish weren’t quite finished. Several hundred were still feasting.

But in typical Japanese fashion, rules were rules. I was motioned to get out.

I worried the fish would suck on for dear life.

But as soon as I moved my big toe, they scattered.

After all, they do have fish brains.

I stepped out of the magic hut where Carrie was waiting. I flashed my shiny new feet at her; they glowed. Carrie admired my pedicured feet.

“May I?” She ran her finger along the top of my foot. “Like butter.”

And better yet, my skin affliction is cured. BAB

FOR SUMMER

makeup: Naomi Saito (Sin Den), hair: Sin Den, modelling: Elena De, text and images: Leigh Wellsview

beauty

BEAUTIFUL MAKEUP

Summer is here with a vengeance, and with it comes the opportunity to wear lots of great shimmery colours and lighten up your look to match the weather. Here, Naomi Saito, Sin Den’s makeup artist, shows BAB readers just one great look for summer.

Hot T

ip: Protect your ma keup by apply ing a thin layer of clear fac e powd er to yo before a ur skin pplying makeup applicati . Follow on, use ing one of s designe e ve r a l s d for ke p r ays eping m akeup in and a va ilable in tact Japan, s ‘Makeup u ch a s Forever ’ or ‘Sta y Long.’

After prepping skin with cleanser and moisturiser, apply a liquid foundation (Naomi used Colour-Adjust Liquid Foundation 385 from Shu Uemura’s ATELIER MADE line) to even out skin tone and trouble spots. During the summer, especially, try to use a sheer, colourless face powder, such as ATELIER MADE Face Powder Satin. As a bonus to foreign women, this product has no tint, meaning it’s perfect for any skin type or colour. It also includes an SPF, which is very important for daily wear.

Naomi’s favourite colour for this summer is gold, and to make use of it on your eyes, swipe a metallic gold eyeshadow (try ATELIER MADE’s ME gold 380) just above your lashes and from the outside towards the inside of your lids. Follow this up with a rich brown (try ATELIER MADE’s P brown 890) on the outer half of your eyelid and blend throughout the lid. Next, get that bright-eyed, wide-awake look by highlighting the inside of your eye with a dab of a bright, light shadow. Finally, blend a lighter beige (such as ATELIER MADE’s P beige 810) up to your brow line. Carefully use a black, pressed eyeshadow as an eyeliner, and finish the look with mascara. t Ge ook If you want to see these instructions in person, have Naomi give you a great l the yes]: summer makeover, or even get a totally different look for a special event this summer, [e make an appointment through Sin Den by tel. 03-3405-4409, or visit www.sinden.com.

Want to add some new colours to your summer makeup kit? Why not try these: Foundation: ATELIER MADE Colour-Adjust Liquid Foundation 385 ¥4,725, 10 colours.

Face powder: ATELIER MADE Face Powder Satin (sheer, colourless), 28g., ¥3,675, 2 colours.

Eye colour: ATELIER MADE Pressed Eye Colour, ¥2,940, 40 colours.

Cheek colour: ATELIER MADE Pressed Cheek Colour, (Naomi used: P peach 450, M Amber 840), ¥2,940, 10 colours Lip: ATELIER MADE Lip Colour True Chrome (Naomi used: beige 84), ¥3,150, 15 colours.

ATELIER MADE Lip Gloss, (Naomi used: pearly crystal) ¥2,415, 3 colours.

All prices include tax and all products are available from Sin Den. www.sinden.com.

11

Summ buys er :

Being A Broad July 2009

IN JAPAN

by Lisa Gay

Nina Mai’s very traditional wedding.

image: provided by Nina Mai.

real-life story

MARRIED...

S

12

o you’ve found love in Japan, and maybe you’ve considered marriage. If you’re like most foreign women contemplating marriage in Japan, you might have dreams of white kimono and dancing shrine girls. But the traditional wedding doesn’t come easy—or cheap. Just renting the kimono can set you back tens of thousands of yen, and many shrines aren’t comfortable in dealing with foreign customers. What’s a girl to do?

If you go the Shinto route, you’ll probably be tagged as more Japanese than the Japanese— around 60 to 70 percent of Japanese couples opt for a Western-style wedding. A growing number opt for doing the wedding and honeymoon in one fell swoop in exotic locales like Guam or Fiji, a surprisingly economic choice. Not that any of this ceremony business really matters to the government, because in Japan, it’s all up to the guy at the counter in city hall. No marriage is recognised in Japan without registering it with the local wards, and whatever you decide to do (or not) from there is up to you.

The decision: Assuming that exchanging vows in front of a fake priest isn’t exactly your style, then how do you plan a Japanese wedding? I asked several women (and one man) who have done the deed in Japan to give us the low-down on marriage, Japan-style.

For Kristen McAree-Nishimura, the decision to get married in a shrine was easy: “We decided on a shrine because it seemed weird to do a Christian wedding in a country that is basically not Christian. My background is in kimono. I have a license for kimono and dressing people in kimono.

It’s kind of the epitome for any person who likes kimono, you want to wear the wedding kimono.

My husband was like, ‘Can’t we just elope? Can’t we just sign a paper and be done?’ I was like no!

That’s not a wedding!”

When Nina Mai, now living in California,

got married in Japan in the summer of 2006, she chose Yaegaki, a tiny shrine that was the marriage place of a legendary couple. The story goes that a family had lost seven of their eight daughters to the eight-headed monster Orochi, but the god Susanoo defeated the monster and saved the final daughter from a gruesome fate. They married at Yaegaki, and people have habitually come to the shrine to pray for a marriage partner.

Marrying an eldest son meant having to deal with in-laws that were big on tradition, said Megan Carter-Katayose: “We did the hotel wedding thing, and that was basically because his parents wanted us to. We just wanted to have a little bit of a party with family and friends, but his parents kind of insisted that since we were getting married, we should put on a big show...that was the directive.”

Ben Treharne-Foose proposed to wife Gemma a mere 33 days before the wedding, but decided not to tell anybody but family their plans.

“One thing we knew that we didn’t want to do was to tell anybody, because we knew that if we did, loads of people would try to come to the wedding and we wanted it to be a day for us.”

The plan: Planning is actually more convenient in Japan simply because you don’t have to go running off to the florists or to the caterers to try a million varieties of cake. It’s all done with a wedding coordinator on site. Most of the bigger shrines and hotels have package deals and give you brochures that outline the services and fees. The choices are rigid, however, and the ‘set menu’ is difficult to deviate from—you’ll have to cough up cash to use your own dress, invitations, and the like.

Megan recalls that when it came time to pick her wedding dress, she ran into a problem with sizes—even though she was tiny for a Westerner, she was limited in what she could wear. “There were like two dresses, only two dresses that fit me, and they were both pretty ugly...You know how you have an image of your wedding when you’re a little girl? My wedding was absolutely not how I imagined it at all!” Said Megan.

Kristen had some trouble finding a shrine that would accommodate her desire for a blend of East and West. “I really wanted us to write our own vows or do something with a little more meaning for us then saying what the shrine had prepared,” said Kristen, “but he read it...and I just held the paper and said ‘Kristen.’” She did fight for a father-daughter dance, and it was a big hit at the reception. Shrines aren’t really used to dealing with foreigners, said Kristen, and she had some trouble with the quality of service—she had to enlist her husband for help in a lot of the planning.

But Ben’s experience is a strong contrast to the usual strict routine of a shrine: “The

smaller community shrines are quite excited to have foreigners, and we were the first foreign couple for this 80-year old priest, so he was very accommodating and happy to do whatever we asked.”

Booking the date you want is easy, provided that your ideal day is not on a lucky daifuku day.

“You look on any Japanese calendar and it will say ‘good day for a wedding,’ explained Nina. “Does it apply to everybody in the world? Apparently so, and the Japanese go out and book their weddings on those days. Those days are booked solid at all of the big venues.”

But Nina got married according to Vietnamese tradition, which is more ‘person-specific’ in that an individual person will have certain lucky wedding days, and she and her husband Mike used those days to figure out a good day for marriage. If you don’t care about getting married on a daifuku day, you can sneak in a date relatively late.

The big date: Japanese tend to keep their wedding ceremonies to family and close, close friends, but both Kristen and Nina wanted to invite everyone to their wedding ceremonies, even though custom dictated a closed family affair. Kristen and her husband invited everyone they knew to come see the ceremony. “The place was packed, and the shrine said they never saw anything like that,” said Kristen. Nina did the same as well, inviting everyone at her school, right down to the janitors, to come watch her and Mike tie the knot at Yaegaki. “For us, we invited everybody, and because everybody was invited, nobody was obligated to go.”

At Shinto weddings, sake is considered the glue that binds the couple together. In old Japan, contracts were made over sake, and the wedding ritual is a holdover of this idea. San-san-kudo is the name of this ritual, and drinking from those cups is harder than it looks. “They’re these little itty bitty wooden bowls,” said Kristen, “and your hands are shaking, and you can’t keep these little cups from spilling!” After the priest offers up his prayers, you’ll exchange rings, an obvious import from the West. “My fiance grabbed the wrong ring,” said Kristen, “he proceeded to try put it on himself...of course the photographer got a photo of that!”

Nina was unsure of her choice of the intimate Yaegaki, because wildly famous Izumo Taisha (one of the three big shrines in Japan) sits only a half hour away. “Only after we booked it, we realised that at places like Izumo Taisha, the technical stuff is a lot less personal. They whip up a CD and they play the CD during your ceremony. Everyone at Yaegaki was playing an instrument and performing live music. It was an actual band, if you want to call it that. You don’t see that anymore.”

Gemma and Ben’s kimono-clad wedding.

image: provided by Ben and Gemma Treharne-Foose

and decided to do a full-stop talent show.

“They did the Japanese performance thing, with umbrellas, masks, happis, and sang, “oh happy day”. It was amazing. [My boss] Arashi-sensei, he said that was the most fun wedding he’s ever been to in his entire life, including his own son’s, and that he has never been to a reception that didn’t bore him before.”

Remains of the big day: The days following the wedding can cause headaches of their own and the pain goes far beyond the cramps you’d expect from a few hundred thank-you notes. In Japan, guests give gifts of money to the bride, and the amount depends on the relationship.

Normally, you’d have to pony up ¥30,000 to attend, but the closer you get, the more that goes up—close family members pay ¥100,000 or more. However, people that make speeches or just help out in some way sometimes get part of their gift back as a thank-you. “If you do that with my family,” as Kristen ended up explaining to her husband, “they will be insulted.” Not only that, but after the wedding, you usually have to send summer or winter presents, but a popular and less stress-inducing option is to let your guests order from catalogs.

Ben’s biggest advice was to splash out for a good photographer: “the Japanese wedding photo is typically staged, we thought they were horrible because they were posed people with fake backgrounds, and we wanted a documentarystyle.” Ben went on to suggest grabbing all the wedding images and printing them out yourself, because if you end up leaving Japan, it might be difficult to track down the wedding photographer from abroad.

Planning a Japanese wedding is easy; the devil is in the details. Nina was easygoing about her wedding, and said that though you do want what you want, at the end of the day, being flexible was probably the factor between a headache-inducing experience and a more enjoyable one.

For Ben and Gemma, the key was to make their wedding about them. “We made it all about us. With so many weddings, there’s so much stress...we were completely selfish for that day, and it was wonderful.”

Megan didn’t enjoy herself as much as she would have liked: “It was stressful...I wish I’d been a little more relaxed. Walk out, turn right, turn left, turn around, walk out, oh my god, am I doing this right? No one knows what you’re really supposed to do, but there’s all this pressure!”

For Kristen, besides the obvious draw that she’d get to wear—and make—that wedding kimono, she was also excited for another reason. “I wanted my family to see another part of Japanese culture that BAB they probably would never get to see.”

real-life story

On the night before Ben and Gemma’s wedding, a typhoon hit. “There was a typhoon, and we were laying there on the futon, listening to this thrashing wind and all this rain, and the weather report said the typhoon would have moved on by the time we would be getting married, but because it was March, it was sakura season, and we were worried that the sakura blossoms were going to be blown off the trees, that it would be rainy, but it turned out to be a gloriously bright and sunny day!”

Megan decided to skip the chapel wedding and kept it simple. There were no vows—they didn’t say a thing, she said. They pinned flowers on each other, exchanged rings, and kissed each other, and then it was straight into the reception.

Reception: The reception is what will cost, and Japan has a few distinctive elements to the whole after-wedding party. For one, the family sits in the back. For Kristen, who’s family was flying in from the States, this was a non-starter. “We flat out explained to everybody why the seating was like that so Japanese people could understand what was happening here, because usually in Japan family is in the very back of the room...and I said I’m not having my family fly how many miles to sit in the back of the room.” So who typically gets the honor of the front seat? Most likely it’s the head honcho and other company bigshots who’ll occupy the front seats at your wedding, then close friends, and then your family at the very back.

“Japanese people are more apt to invite coworkers than their own family members,” says Nina. “They try to keep it small, maybe 50 or 60. But with that, they are leaving people out. It’s really stressful for the work scenario...they invite the wrong people, they invite people who don’t want to go, they make it all awkward for the rest of the time there. That’s why everyone dreads weddings in Japan.”

If you happen to be marrying a Japanese guy who has to invite his boss and co-workers, it’ll be a crushing experience to drop people off your invite list. This actually happened to Kristen: “I ran into a problem [in that] I invited this person, but I didn’t invite this person[...]. It ended up being a very sticky situation and we had to un-invite three people to our wedding, from my side.”

Receptions are usually full of speeches, beginning with the boss on down to friends. Megan had to make two speeches at her reception: “I had to make a speech to his parents and then read a letter I had written to my parents saying goodbye and thanking them for raising me.” She told me this was because she was marrying the oldest son, and it’s supposed to symbolise that she’s leaving her family and joining her husband’s.

Nina’s co-workers at school all got together

Wedding costs: One reason that Japanese weddings are so expensive is the simple fact that just renting a kimono costs more than your average wedding dress back home. When Nina Mai was planning her traditional shrine wedding, she had to take into account these budget busters: Shiromuku (white wedding kimono): ¥170,000 Katsura (black wig): ¥50,000 Iro Uchikake (red and gold thread outer robe): ¥80,000 Kimono Dresser: ¥200,000 Shrine Cost: ¥15,000 Mike’s hakama: ¥40,000 The flow of a Shinto wedding: Shubatsu: A purification rite before the wedding starts. A Shinto priest will say prayers and shake an onusa (scepter) over the visitors to purify them. The priest will then start chanting in Japanese that is so ancient, no one in attendance will likely know what he is saying.

San-san-kudo: Quite literally, 3 by 3 = 9. The couple shares three cups of sake—going from the small sake cup to the medium to the large.

Ideally, you’re supposed to take three sips from each cup—hence the math.

Wedding vows: After the san-san-kudo, the main binding force of Shinto weddings, couples exchange vows in Japanese—and here, you can’t say your own, only what the shrine has prepared for you to say. After the vows are said, you generally offer up a few twigs called tamagushi to the gods—there’s a whole ritual to how to turn them that only the priests really understand.

Ring exchange: A Western custom that the shrines have embraced.

Miko Dance: If you’re lucky, the shrine will have miko, ‘virgin maidens,’ perform a sacred dance to the gods.

Even more sake: The two families drink sake together to symbolise unity.

Being A Broad July 2009

13

working 14

WE PROFILE:

MARCY WILDER

of Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences Name: Marcy Wilder Nationality: American Qualifications: PhD, Fisheries Science; Bachelor of Arts, Chemistry Job title: Senior Research Scientist/Project Leader Employer: Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences Time in this job: 14.5 years Additional job title: Associate Professor, Department of Global Agricultural Sciences, the University of Tokyo (five years).

Job description: I originally came to Japan as a graduate student in 1987, seeking to utilise my background in chemistry and biochemistry towards understanding basic processes in aquatic organisms and applying the knowledge thus obtained to aquacultural development. At that time, shrimp culture was just starting to become a viable industry. Today, half of the world’s shrimp designated for human consumption is farmed— this is a total of three million tons of shrimp produced per year, having a market volume surpassing ten billion US dollars. In graduate school, I pursued research on the hormones controlling molting and reproduction in shrimp, a theme which is highly relevant to my job today.

In the fall of 1994, I commenced employment at the Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences (JIRCAS), a research institute that is affiliated with the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries. At present, I am in charge of running a laboratory having two formal employees (myself included), three post-doctoral researchers, a technician, and a secretary. In addition, through my appointment as an associate professor at the University of Tokyo, I am supervising the research of one doctoral course student. In our basic research, we focus on understanding the mechanisms of molting and reproduction in crustacea in terms of basic biochemistry and endocrinology. (The study of the chemistry and physiological functioning of hormones.)

We employ many different experimental techniques such as liquid chromatography to isolate and purify new hormones, organ culture to test the effects of these hormones on, for example, their ability to promote yolk production in target organs such as the ovaries, molecular biological techniques to study gene expression in context of reproductive mechanisms, and so forth. By better understanding how molting and reproduction occurs, there is the potential to control these processes through hormonal administration and environmental manipulation, for example in the artificial environment of a shrimp hatchery.

In terms of on-site work, from 1995–2004, I worked with Vietnam’s Cantho University in the Mekong Delta region to develop freshwater prawn hatchery technology and prawn farming methods integrated with rice farming. We set up simple, low-cost hatchery technology that utilised stagnant ‘green water’—water with lots of plant algae that

stabilises water quality and handmade feeds based on egg yolk and powdered milk, to rear prawn larvae to a size suitable for aquaculture in rice fields.

Then, we provided these artificial prawn seeds to impoverished farmers, and jointly conducted prawn-rice farming trials. Our studies showed that farmers could significantly improve income levels just by releasing larvae in the rice fields and providing minimal feed inputs. During this time, I travelled to Vietnam one to two times per year, spending about a month there on each occasion.

For the past five years, I have been involved in a more ‘high-tech’ form of aquacultural development.

I am working with the private sector to develop land-based recirculating shrimp culture technology, which minimises impact to the environment and can be set up anywhere. Our lab elucidated the proper conditions of water salinity and oxygen content for the newly-popular ‘vannamei’ shrimp (or Pacific white shrimp), and a venture capital company specialising in aquaculture engineering developed the hardware for a shrimp ‘plant.’ The first commercialised plant has now been in operation in Niigata Prefecture for two years. It utilises 2 pools of 600 tons of water each and can produce up to eight crops of shrimp per year. It has been really rewarding to see these developments and research being translated into usable technology.

General requirements: The direction of one’s research is determined by mainly two factors— firstly, the needs of the employer, and secondly, the researcher’s own academic interests. Many people I know are able to pursue themes that truly interest them, but it is always important to keep in mind that research is a job and that one is hired to fulfill a specific purpose. Generally, a PhD is the preferred background for obtaining a position at a governmentrelated institute, but there are many people who enter with a master’s degree and through affiliation with a sponsoring university, receive their PhD based on work conducted on the job.

Japanese requirement: At Japanese government-related institutes, almost all formal employees are Japanese, although many institutes do employ some foreign nationals. Meetings, paperwork, and all institute activities are conducted in Japanese, so I am grateful that I had the opportunity to study Japanese language at my alma mater in the US. It took a long time and a lot of practice to get up to speed writing email and doing grant applications and reports in Japanese, but this helps me to be recognised as an employee in my own right and shows that I can stand on my own.

More recently, I learned not to be embarrassed to ask for help if I really need it—if there is a little too much Japanese to handle at a particular time, I can ask my staff to finish my thoughts for me and write up what needs be done at that particular moment.

In turn, I will be more refreshed and less frazzled, and better able to help them with their scientific writing in English.

How she found this job: After I finished my PhD and was doing my post-doc, I applied to many fisheries companies and public organisations in hope of finding a job. While the idea of hiring a Japanese-speaking American was intriguing, no one was really willing to actually give me a chance. I continued, however, to talk about my career goals to whoever was willing to listen when I went to conferences, visited institutes, etc. One day, an associate of my husband called me on the phone, and at first I couldn’t fathom that he wanted to talk to me, not to my Japanese husband. I was told that JIRCAS was seeking to employ a foreign national as a formal staff scientist, and would I be interested in visiting the institute sometime? It took nine months for my position to be confirmed, but I was really thrilled when I got the telephone call saying that I got the job. I always tell people that are seeking to get established to network as much as possible, and tell everyone what your career dreams are. This inevitably leads to great opportunities.

Best thing: It was really rewarding to visit the Vietnamese farmers in the Mekong Delta and see them proudly displaying their up-and-coming crops of prawns.

It made me feel that I was making a difference and helping people to improve their lives.

I have also received some wonderful news recently—I and two others, one of the people I work with from the venture capital company and my sempai from graduate school, received an award from the Japanese government entitled ‘Award for Persons of Merit in Industry-AcademiaGovernment Collaboration (Award of the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries)’ in Kyoto on June 20, for our work on recirculating aquaculture technology. The ceremony was held in conjunction with a Forum on Scientific Collaboration in IndustryAcademia-Government and was attended by over 2,000 people. It is really nice to be acknowledged this way as a team.

Worst thing: I guess that I would have to say it is the paperwork—however, that is a necessary evil.

Issues affecting her as a woman: In general, fewer than ten percent of the formal staff of government-related institutes are women, and professorial-level faculty appointments are still considered insufficient. I often find myself to be the only female in a roomful of men. However, I think that at times being female and foreign works to my advantage—one never knows who is going to be the next evaluator of a grant application and it always helps to have made a previous impression BAB and to be remembered.

15

Being A Broad July 2009

Please help my family find peace.

My name is Lindsay Ann Hawker

I was murdered in March 2007 and buried in a bath of sand on the balcony of Tatsuya Ichihashi’s apartment in Tokyo. Ichihashi escaped from the police and still has not been found. If you have any information that may lead to his arrest, please call the Japanese police on 047-397-0110.

There is now a ¥10 milllion reward for information leading to Ichihashi’s arrest. If you know anything, please share it!

AS A WOMAN IN JAPAN

by Dr. Parissa Haghirian

working

UNIQUE ASPECTS OF WORKING

image: contrapart

No matter the career, Tokyo offers lots of opportunities for foreign women, some unique to being female.

I

started my first full-time job in Japan about five years ago. At that time I had just finished my PhD in International Management in Austria. I had planned to become a professor teaching international business, but Austria did not offer any jobs in the field. By accident I came across an ad for a position at a small university in Kyushu and decided to apply for the job. I went to Japan twice to interview and finally got the job, becoming the first Western woman hired as a professor by a very traditional and conservative Japanese university in Fukuoka When I moved to Japan in ‘04, I could speak reasonable Japanese because I held a degree in Japanese anthropology next to my business degree.

I had also spent about three years in Tokyo during the ‘90s when I was a student. I assumed that I was very well prepared for my adventure.

But I was very wrong. My start in a Japanese company was a very challenging experience. I had to get used to an entirely different university system and many so-far-unknown Japanese work practices. My Western teaching style was not very successful at first, which frustrated me quite a lot.

Students in the Japanese countryside were not used to answering any questions in class, nor did they show any interest in discussions. I also missed my family, friends, and home country. And I had to communicate in Japanese all day, which proved to be much more difficult than I had expected.

Misunderstandings were quite common. One major problem were handwritten notes that my older colleagues would send or give me, which I could not read. I also had some rather curious experiences, too. I still most vividly remember my first health check in Fukuoka, which was organised by the university. I found it very irritating to be examined next to my boss and colleagues. The

first six months in my first Japanese job, I had enough experiences to fill a book. It took me about a year to overcome a major culture shock and adapt to the Japanese workplace.

Despite this I really loved my new job. After the initial difficulties I started to enjoy teaching and researching in my new and exciting environment and after two years I was offered a professorship at Sophia University in Tokyo, where I now teach Japanese and Strategic Management at the Faculty of Liberal Arts. In the meanwhile, I have settled in

new ideas. We meet interesting people and live in a wonderful and exciting country. And we do stick out. Not only because we aren’t natives to Japan, but also because we do unusual things. In doing so, we often also open up new avenues for Japanese women to follow in our footsteps.

But even if I am very happy to live and work in Tokyo, I still remember the doubts and anxieties I had before moving here and the first struggles to adapt that I faced. A major problem was the lack of information on what to expect as a foreigner in the Japanese workplace. Neither is there much information on how international women can build careers in Japan or in Japanese firms. Before I came here I asked myself many questions: Which challenges will I face and what opportunities will I find? Do I need to speak fluent Japanese to be successful in Japan?

And how different is Japanese management from Western management? Will I manage to adapt? Do international women face racism or discrimination in a Japanese workplace? Will there be other international women or will I be the only one? And what long-lasting effect will the move to Japan have on my life?

None of these questions were answered before I came to Japan. And in some sense, I benefited from having no information at all. I made all my experiences first hand. But all of my learning, even if successful at the end, was very hard work. I always had to make a mistake first,

not only learned how Japanese organisations really Iwork work, but I also started to see the benefits of their styles and practices. very nicely, I love the city, and have made some very good friends.

Today I think that moving to Japan was the best personal and professional decision I ever made. Working in Japan has not only improved my understanding of my research field (I am researching Japanese management), but also broadened my personal horizon and shaped up my intercultural skills. I not only learned how Japanese organisations really work, but I also started to see the benefits of their work styles and practices.

And I am not the only international woman enjoying my work life in Japan; I am a member of a growing group. More and more Western women join Japanese organisations or open businesses in Japan. They decided to leave their home countries for very different reasons, took the brave step of moving to this country, and started a new life here.

Like me, many of them find their careers in Japan very satisfying. We often find more business opportunities here than in our home countries.

We are often hired to change things and introduce

to find out that I am not doing things in a way that can be accepted in Japan. Many times I made mistakes and did not know why. Often I was completely at a loss as to how to communicate and get problems solved. The first two years of working in Japan were mainly trial and error. This was time consuming and an extremely stressful and exhausting process.

The more of us that come to Japan to work here, the more information is needed on how to succeed in the Japanese workplace. In the following months I will write about international women in the Japanese workplace, what challenges they face, and which special opportunities are being BAB offered here.

Dr. Parissa Haghirian is an associate professor of International Management at the Faculty of Liberal Art at Sophia University, Tokyo. She is the editor of J-Management; Fresh Perspectives of the Japanese firm in the 21st Century. www. parissahaghirian.com

Being A Broad July 2009

19

feautre

THE OXFAM TRAILWALKER

by Alena Eckelmann

all images: provided by Souzoudou

The ‘Don’t Run. Walk’ team in top shape between CP2 and 3 (from left to right Michelle Berry, Lisa Berlet, Louise Lendon, Lisa McMurtrie).

L

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adies, can you imagine swapping your high heels for some walking boots, your handbag for a sweat towel, and your families for some head-strong teammates to spend a weekend on a countryside trail with, while getting completely exhausted and blistered up, and all for a good cause? This is the Oxfam Trailwalker for you!

In this endurance fundraising event participants take on the triple challenge of completing a 100km trail in 48hours, do so in a team of four, and raise funds to support Oxfam’s work around the world.

The trail starts in Odawara City and leads up and down the hilly terrain to Lake Yamanaka in the vicinity of Mount Fuji. Participants commit to raising at least ¥120,000 per team to support the work of Oxfam. (http://trailwalker.jp/en) The Oxfam Trailwalker Japan is the latest addition to the Trailwalker event, which also takes place in four other places (Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, and the UK). In its third year this year, the race has already become a major event on Japan’s charity calendar. As the word has spread, the number of participating teams has risen continuously. This year, on May 22, 171 teams went to the starting line and 103 teams completed the 100km with all four team members.

‘Don’t Run. Walk’ is one of these successful teams. They are four British women who bravely conquered the course and completed the walk in 42:49 hours, coming in number 62. They not only did great on the trail but they also raised a staggering one million yen of total sponsorship money, ranking them number three amongst all teams in terms of fundraising achievement.

Congratulations and a big thank you!

Let’s meet the ‘Don’t Run, Walk’ team; Louise Lendon, Lisa Berlet, Lisa McMurtrie, and Michelle Berry, and get their stories of the 2009 Oxfam Trailwalker: Have you had any similar experiences before? How did you get to sign up for the Trailwalker?

Louise L: I had some friends on another team called ‘The BST BG’s’ who were going to do it.

I offered to be their backup should anyone drop out but then I thought: “Hey, if I can train hard enough to be able to do it, I may as well put a team together and do the walk myself.”

Lisa B: Louise asked me to do it with her.

Actually it was more a gentle persuasion...I had never done anything like this ever before.

Michelle B: I signed up for the Trailwalker as my friend Louise asked me to. After a little thought and a discussion with my husband, I decided to go for it. I’ve never really had any experiences like this before. I had done some 10km runs with a small amount of sponsorship but nothing on this scale before.

Lisa McM: I have friends who had taken part in the Trailwalker last year and I felt inspired to participate in 2009. Louise decided to put a team together and asked me to be part of it, the rest as they say…I had never taken part in any long distance endurance events before or indeed any charity events.

How did the training go and how did you prepare physically and mentally?

Louise L: The training went very well. We started in January and, when possible, trained as a team on the actual course. Before the event, the team

had walked each stage of the course and we were very familiar it. We even had names for some of the really steep and nasty hills! My own personal training consisted of bootcamp four times a week, walking around my area (Daikanyama/ Nakameguro), which has some very good hills to train on, and a personal training session with Jeff Liebengood (founder of Jeff ’s Fitness) twice a week. I also made myself walk a section of the course every week or weekend.

Lisa B: We trained a lot. As well as boot camps and gym trips, we walked the actual course. Some sections we had hiked four or more times. The biggest training session we had was walking from CP5 to 9 (CP: checkpoints set up along the trail) in one go.

Michelle B: The training, I felt, took so much time, much more than marathon training as the best training is actually walking parts of the course and getting to know these parts in all kinds of weather. We prepared well in advance and started preparations about five months before the event.

However, it was time-consuming and the more it went on the more nervous I became and I started to doubt my capabilities. The best training is lots of stamina and very strong legs. I went back to England in March and April and there I really extended my running for approximately one and a half hours at least four times per week and I did at least 100 lunges a day to keep my legs strong.

Lisa McM: As a team we took the whole event quite seriously. We realised early on that it is a very challenging course that would require commitment on our parts to finish. We started training about five months before the walk. We

feature

Excitement in the air—at the start of the 2009 Oxfam Trailwalker Japan. all took charge of increasing our personal fitness each week and we walked on the actual course.

The training required a lot of time away from home. As we all have children we had to rely on the support of our husbands but we agreed that the goal was to finish together and have fun. We had amazing support from friends and from Jeff Liebengood, who put together a bootcamp to specifically train our bodies for this kind of event along with some inspirational words. As far as preparation is concerned we really could not have done any more.

What were the most difficult parts and the most enjoyable parts during the walk?

Louise L: For me, the most difficult parts were first arriving at CP4 and realising that I had horrible blisters but still had another 64 kilometres to walk. Then the last 20 kilometres from CP7 to CP9 were definitely the hardest, both physically and mentally. The most enjoyable parts were the start (for the anticipation) and the finish (due to exhaustion)! I think for me the whole event was special as I was with great friends and I knew it would be a great personal achievement and a wonderful memory to take with me from my time here in Japan. The whole event was a rollercoaster of emotions, from complete highs to lows. During the walk I met fantastic people and I was completely overwhelmed by the camaraderie of everyone.

Lisa B: The hardest part for me had to be the last 20 kilometres from CP7 to 9. For our team it was getting late into the second day, which was both a mental and physical challenge. Before the start on the actual day it was exciting and there was a great atmosphere.

Michelle B: The most difficult part of the walk for me was setting off from CP4. We decided to rest for quite a long time and when we set off in the morning everyone had already left and the place was deserted. When we reached CP5, again, everyone had left and I started to panic and think we were going to be the last to finish.

However, we caught up as we were ‘fresher’ and therefore much quicker by the time we reached CP6. I felt like we were in the game again. Another difficult part was my blisters. They were really bad and extremely painful. Nothing can prepare you for that. We had completed walks of up to 45 kilometres and I’d never had a blister, and there I was with so many blisters I was scared to look, and the pain was at times so bad. However, it is amazing what the body can do and the pain just eased eventually. It just proves that you can be really fit and really be prepared but something as simple as blisters can stop you. There were many special moments. For me it was just having a good time with my teammates and having a good

laugh at the situations we found ourselves in.

Some of our teammates (me included) could be described as ‘high-maintenance’ women, yet we found ourselves without makeup, covered in mud, soaked to the skin, and to be honest, it was really fun! And completely out of character....Also, it was very special that my husband met me at the end and brought a bottle of champagne and then took me home. For me that was lovely.

Lisa McM: When the day finally arrived I felt a bit relived, to be honest—it was finally there. There was such a brilliant atmosphere and seeing all the other teams was really very exciting. I definitely felt different during the walk as opposed to the training; I was more motivated. We had an amazing support team who meet us at the end of most of the stages with fresh supplies of water, food, clothes, etc.

My own personal nemesis was CP7 to 9, two of the toughest stages and right at the end. I had to really dig deep to get through those. Luckily I had no aches or pains so physically I was OK to go on but mentally I had to really talk myself into it. The thought of not finishing with the rest of the girls did it. We had such an amazing team.

How did you go about fundraising and what was your experience?

Louise L: We were very, very lucky with our fundraising as people were exceptionally generous with their donations. We basically emailed all our friends and family and got our sponsorship from that. This was not as easy as it would appear. I had to be really pushy (and sometimes very cheeky) in order to get people to put their hands in their pockets!

Lisa B: We all had great support from family and friends and we were overwhelmed by their generosity, especially in the current economic climate.

Michelle B: For fundraising I spoke to my friends and also sent them the link to the webpage that my husband very kindly constructed for us. People were just so generous. It didn’t matter how much

people contributed but the fact that they thought of us and tried to help really meant a lot to me.

Lisa McM: For fundraising I sent out our team’s webpage to family and friends with a personal message about the walk. The response was overwhelming and in all we raised almost 8,000 pounds. At the end of the day this is what it was BAB all about.

Introducing the team: Lisa Berlet: From England. She came to Tokyo ten and half years ago with her husband.

They have two children who both were born here in Tokyo, Samuel who is seven and Phoebe who is three. “I was lucky to be walking with friends, all of whom are extremely strong mentally. We had a great team.”

Lisa McMurtrie: 34 years old, originally from Edinburgh, Scotland. Tokyo has been her home for almost ten years. Lisa is married with two children, Catherine almost seven and Andrew, two. “The Trailwaker was not only a fantastic way to raise money for a great cause but a big personal challenge for me.”

Michelle Berry: 40 years old, from the north of England. She moved to Tokyo with her husband, who works for Apple 2.5 years ago. They have two children, three and eight years old. “I became 40 the day after the Trailwalker. I was so exhausted on my birthday and my legs were so tired I could not even put on my high heels.”

Louise Lendon: 39 years old, British. She has been living in Tokyo for 11 years. Louise is a full-time mummy to her little boy Joshua, nearly seven years old. She is married to Jonathan, who works at Totan Capital Markets.

“I love living in Tokyo and now and again I like to give myself a challenge, hence my decision to do the Trailwalker.”

Being A Broad July 2009

21

mothers

BALANCING LIFE AS A

MUM AND TRAPEZE ARTIST!

by Danielle Tate-Stratton

image: Cirque du Soleil/Kishin Shinoyama

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Not your mom’s job! Olga flies through the air during ZED’s trapeze act.

Olga and her daughter Rosa at ZED’s practice gym. grounds of Tokyo Disneyland in Chiba, it’s obvious that the two are both very close and very happy in Japan. Rosa excitedly tells me about how much fun it is to try out her mom’s work by testing out the trapeze in the training room on occasion, as well as meeting the crew and seeing the show on a regular basis. As it seems is the case with anyone I’ve spoken to at Cirque du Soleil, there is no getting bored of the shows this company makes!

Speaking to Olga, it quickly becomes apparent that her concerns as a parent are (perhaps not surprisingly) exactly the same as just about every other mum’s, with schooling ranking right at the top of her list. In fact, it’s the only concern she recalls having had when deciding whether or not to take the posting in Japan as well as, in a larger sense, whether or not she should continue life in the circus once she became a mum. In this aspect, it seems Cirque du Soleil has come through with flying colours, as both Olga and Rosa enthused over the school provided by the company, which adheres to a Canadian curriculum and involves six hours a day of instruction, both in person and online, and has both an English and a French stream, though all students learn the

image: Danielle Tate-Stratton

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or Olga Poema and her nine-year-old daughter Rosa, moving to Japan about a year ago was a great move. Rosa is thrilled with the extra freedom she is afforded here as compared to Las Vegas, where her family was living before, saying: It’s really safe and I can go everywhere I want and it’s fun. At home I had to say home…,” as Olga pipes in: “Here, she is free.”

It’s a common enough story for children and their families coming to Japan—my favourite part of three months spent in Tokyo as an eight year old was the freedom I had to go buy bread on my own and explore the local grocery store with a few hundred yen and a meishi to help strangers guide me home in case I got lost—but the reasons Olga and her husband and daughter came to Japan are perhaps more unique than most of ours; they are members of the Cirque du Soleil family, here on a multi-year contract with ZED, the newest show in Asia.

Originally from Russia, Olga, along with her husband, a third generation trapeze artist himself, worked in Las Vegas for one of the other major circus shows before coming on board with ZED, her first Cirque du Soleil show. A former Russian gymnast and acrobat, Olga was scouted by a member of the Cirque du Soleil team just before embarking on a contract with the show in Vegas. Upon the completion of that contract, she was again offered the position with ZED and her husband followed her out to Tokyo, eventually gaining a role on the show as well.

Speaking with Olga and Rosa in the training room of ZED’s purpose-built theatre on the

without as much time for just playing.”

Yet as she mentioned earlier, Japan is providing a space for Rosa to play on her own with more freedom than before, perhaps while

long as you know it’s good for the kids, do it.

Enjoy it. Live everyday.” “...as

second language as well as their main language of instruction. While some concessions are made to the unique nature of the show; for instance days off are Tuesday and Wednesday, not Saturday and Sunday, there are plenty of similarities, with field trips such as a recent jaunt to the aquarium still providing a highlight as they did back in my elementary school days.

Since ZED is a permanent show, life with the show is a little bit different than a touring show. On those shows cast members and their families often stay in hotels, travelling from city to city every month or two. In each new location, Cirque du Soleil pitches their trademark blue and yellow tent and builds the practice gym, school, canteen, and offices directly on sight. In contrast, ZED performers live in apartments away from the show (though all close to each other), and the school is located in that area as well. This gives the artists the chance to both maintain the incredibly strong bond they build on the show as well as have the chance to enjoy living in Japan.

For instance, Rosa can take extracurricular classes within their neighbourhood and Olga can now reflect on what stands out to her about mums living here: “In Japan, they really do a lot—a lot— of activities with their kids. Because it’s safe, they let them go to school since they are tiny. Parents also seem to put their children into a lot of sports,

Olga prepares to go on stage in one of the ten shows a week that the cast and crew of ZED put on. On giving the best show she can, despite being a mum, Olga comments: “Being an artist, performing, it’s like living magic, what we do, it’s something to entertain. You have to be a Mum on the side,” but it’s clear that overall, being a parent is a top priority, as she says soon after: “Mums: even if it’s hard, leave your hardest behind you, try to think about your kids; they can see if you’re sad, and they’ll be sad.” However, it’s obvious that neither Olga or Rosa are even remotely sad about having moved to Japan—that both are very happy in their new home, and that they would encourage others to make a similar move (though perhaps not in the realms of trapeze!). In fact, about living overseas, Olga comments: “It’s a good opportunity to change your life and see other cultures and as long as you know it’s good for the kids, do it. Enjoy it. Live everyday.” Words BAB we can all live by!

To learn more about Cirque du Soleil, which celebrates its 25th anniversary this year, visit www.cirquedusoleil.com. To buy tickets for ZED, a truly magical way to spend a couple of hours, visit www.zed.co.jp/ home_en.php.

BLUES

by S.Z. Cairney

arcasses lay strewn around. The odd dismembered head or limb posed like a Damien Hirst creation. The screams of the dying punctuated by Michael Jackson’s Friends on the radio. “Bloody ‘ell!” I mutter under my breath… and away from the selectively, highly receptive earlobes of wee ones in the adjacent room, “Bloody…bloody hate this time of year. All night blitzes from bloody cockroaches and now early morn’ raids…bloody summer!”

I watch as more ants scurry out from a hole no bigger than a hamster’s toenail. “Here comes the second wave.” I shout to no one in particular.

“We really have to do something about these ants,” announces Hubby as he enters the kitchen.

“I am,” I reply, peeling his socks off from my hands, one at a time, whilst discreetly shaking off a few insect corpses, “Just fluff,” I add as he starts to lean forward for a closer look. Sometimes there’s a lot to be said for living in a country where it’s too chilly for anything to venture out without at least four fake dead animal skins draped over it. Here, you hit that rainy season and boom…

I watch as more ants scurry out from a hole no bigger than a “ hamster’s toenail.”

out in the aforementioned rainy season in a tissue paper dress and then getting annoyed when folk start leering at your undies.

“Where are these ants coming from?” I ask myself, opening the toilet door, only to be assaulted by a stench so vile that I actually look for a portal in the walls that has opened up, linking this world to the netherworld. “Sorry!” giggles Hubby, embarrassed,”...yesterday’s curry!” Muttering, I open the window and three mosquitos dive in. I can almost hear their triumphant cheers at

n case you haven’t guessed, I intensely dislike here. I want to get an injunction out Ionsummers the heat. Heat that stalks me night and day. every insect Joe is out and about, partying at your expense...and sometimes sanity. We live in a gorgeous house. Real old style. Gardens back and front. We might as well be on a raft made from a giant, juicy, raw steak bobbing up and down in shark infested waters. The dinner gong must be heard all over Tokyo with the amount of creepy, crawly creatures I’ve dealt with in my time. Bloody summer!

In case you haven’t guessed, I intensely dislike summers here. I want to get an injunction out on the heat. Heat that stalks me night and day. Some might even welcome the heat, describe summer here with words such as ‘sultry’ or ‘heady.’ I spend three months of every year looking like I have just exited the shower and smelling like I bathed in Eau de Pampers landfill body gel. Just putting the garbage out in the morning leaves me with a delightful stain under each pit, a savaged Nick Nolte hairdo, and a face that makes me look like a wino who has just enthusiastically downed the necessary one litre of ‘hair of the dog’ to start the day.

Oh I try! How I try! I studiously scour the stores for products that will provide me with full on body armour against the sweaty onslaught.

Makeup that won’t run a mile…couch potato mascara that’s willing to spend the day vegging on my lashes, hair products that don’t take siestas. I seek…to no avail. Subtle hint of ‘fleur’ or, in fact, subtle hint of anything, is about as useful as going

the possibility their famine could be nearing its end. “See?” I pout, “You can’t even get some bloody fresh air without ‘something’ flying in and attacking you. Bloody summer in Tokyo!”

Where’s the spray? “Don’t worry!” chirps Hubby, who feels he must now redeem himself in some way, “I’ll light up a katori senko [mosquito incense coil]. That’ll sort out the mosquitos soon.” Yeah, and you know what, it’ll finish me off too. One mere whiff alone of that stuff is enough to get me and the toilet bowl in an intimate embrace. Talk about caught between a rock and a hard place!

“No thanks,” I snap. “I’d rather take my chances with the poisonous gases very kindly expelled by my loving husband…”

I turn towards the garden again, and: “Oh! you’ve got to be kidding me,” I screech, slamming open a patio door and grabbing my work shirt.

A work shirt now splattered with some birdy’s bodily waste. “Bloody Japanese summer and bloody Japanese birds!” I screech, on the verge of tears. Coming over and gently rubbing my shoulders, Hubby remarks: “Oh come on. So British birds don’t ever poo poo on clothes?”

Stammering for a moment, I finally blurt out: “Stop splitting hairs” and stomp off upstairs to get dressed for work. Never mind seasonal affective disorder (SAD). At least with SAD you can go find a nice sun lamp with an on and an off button. My shirt is a reflection of how I feel in the summer.

Bad spelt ‘SHITE:’ ‘Steaming Hot In Tokyo

Everyday.’ Rampaging through my drawers I finally find a substitute top, a little black sleeveless number, and as an afterthought sling on a light, lacey, short sleeved mohair cardigan to complete the look. Mirror check...looking OK. “Have a good day, Grumbelina!” Salutes Hubby as I grab my briefcase and launch myself out into a blanket of heat, which welcomes me most heartily.

“Well, gentlemen,” I address the class, “Any questions?” Now I am starting to get paranoid as I catch a couple of clients averting their eyes back onto my face. I’m used to guys staring in my booby region but my armpits seem to be the focus of everyone’s attention for some reason today. A cold feeling seeps through me...no... no, I sheared the pits, so what the heck?! Yes, there again. Another guy who just can’t seem to keep his eyes off my pits. Wonder if Japanese guys secretly find a western gal’s pits sexy?

What base would pits be? Second with the old favourite boobies lagging at third? Wonder which is considered sexier? Domesticated or untamed?

Tatooed or henna? Maybe I could inch in on V. Secret’s niche with my own range of accessories and lingerie for armpits? Well....whatever entices the eel into the cave, baby!

Later, while touching up my makeup in the restroom, I check out my reflection in the mirror.

I took off the sweet little cardigan hours ago as it was starting to itch. My body just doesn’t seem to appreciate mohair. But I better put it back on for the journey home. The trains can get chilly if you find yourself suspended in a rush hour carriage with what seems to be the entire population of mainland China and get you trapped directly under the air conditioning! Lifting up my arms to pull the cardigan over, I gasp with shock. My armpits have turned black! What the hell? Rubbing gently, something comes off on my fingers. It feels like...it feels like fluff; like mohair fluff. Checking again I can see what has had my students staring in complete awe. Both armpits are totally black and ‘furry’ looking. I’ve spent the last five hours waving my arms around and revealing gorilla-like pits to my working world. Goooooooodddddd, I BAB hiss. I really hate summer!

Being A Broad July 2009

image: smile_pls

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mothers

SUMMER

23

political broad-cast 24

JAPAN’S NEW LAY

JUDGE SYSTEM

by Tina Burrett

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rom May this year, Japanese citizens joined professional judges in trying and sentencing those accused of serious crimes in Japan’s new saiban-in or lay judge system. Allowing for a few exceptions, any Japanese citizen over the age of 20 who has the right to vote for a member of the House of Representatives is eligible to serve as a saiban-in, or lay judge.

Mixed panels of three professional judges and six saiban-in will decide both guilt and sentence in cases of murder, arson, serious assault, kidnapping, and drug crime, some of which carry the death penalty.

The Ministry of Justice anticipates that saiban-in will be involved in around 3,000 cases a year.

The new system, while praiseworthy for seeking to improve public confidence and understanding of the judiciary, contains measures that could create as many problems as they solve. Several elements of the new system are drawing criticism from the legal community and citizens alike: whether professional judges will exert undue pressure—either directly or indirectly—on lay judges in the deliberation room; reluctance of Japanese citizens to serve as judges; and harsh secrecy provisions that may impair media access and reporting of misconduct in the courtroom. Furthermore, the latest legal reforms do little to tackle endemic bias against foreigners and women within the Japanese legal system.

The lay judge system is just one facet of a wider programme of reforms that Japan’s leaders hope will enhance active citizenship and democratic participation among the country’s traditionally passive population.

From the mid-‘90s, in response to economic decline, increasing competition from regional neighbours, and an ambition to play a greater role in international affairs, the Japanese government has pursued a policy agenda aimed at equipping citizens with the necessary skills to compete in the globalised world.

Legislation to introduce lay assessors into Japan’s courts was initially recommended by the Judicial System Reform Council in 2001, with the stated intention of transforming Japanese citizens ‘from governed objects to governing subjects.’ In the post-1945 period, Japanese citizens were largely absent from the justice system, which was dominated by a cosy relationship between the police, prosecutors, and professional judges and that resulted in a conviction rate of 99.9 percent. High conviction rates are explained by the weight given to confessions by judges and prosecutors, despite the widespread knowledge that confessions are often forced from defendants by the police. Former Supreme Court Judge Kunio Hamada, speaking at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan in June, expressed hope that the presence of saiban-in will break down the inappropriate spirit of camaraderie between prosecutors and professional judges that has led to many wrongful convictions. In Hamada’s view, “now that career criminal judges have to face citizens across the table, they will return to the

principles of criminal justice that [have] been lacking in the system for too long.”

In the words of Law Professor Satoru Shinomiya, the previous justice system “was a prosecutors’ paradise.” Prosecutors had the power to interrogate the accused, write up their version of what happened, and submit this document to the judge. As president of the Japanese Bar Association Makoto Miyazaki explains, “criminal trials in Japan are not adversarial like those in the West, but are merely a chance for the prosecution to hand over its documents to the judge; there is very little discussion or testing of arguments.” The new system, however, will increase transparency as prosecutors have to verbally explain why a defendant was arrested, how they were interrogated, and the basis for indictment to citizens as well as professional judges.

Although their presence in the courtroom will undoubtedly improve accountability in the legal system, many citizens are reluctant to serve as a saibanin. A survey conducted by the Ministry of Justice found that 62 percent of the populace ‘do not want to’ or ‘would rather not’ be called as a lay judge. However, despite their reluctance to serve, evidence from over 300 mock trials conducted before the introduction of the saiban system suggests that once appointed, lay judges take their responsibilities very seriously.

Furthermore, transcripts from jury trials held in Japan before the Second World War provide evidence of frank and pertinent discussions among jurors.

It is this sense of responsibility among lay judges that critics of the new system hope will mitigate the effects of any overbearing professional judges in the deliberation room who attempt to influence the decision of their citizen colleagues. Co-service with professional judges as a duty of citizenship is not uncommon and works well in Denmark, Germany, and Finland. However, critics worry that a cultural tendency to follow authority among the Japanese will allow professional judges to sway decisions in a way that is not possible in European courts. Were misconduct of this, or any other type to occur, secrecy rules preventing lay judges from releasing any information from their deliberations could land whistle-blowers in jail or with a hefty fine. Such measures seem to fly in the face of the new system’s stated aim of ‘promoting public understanding and confidence in the judicial system.’

Currently, the majority of Japanese citizens receive almost all of their information about the legal system from the crime-obsessed Japanese media. If the media is to be believed, Japan is no longer the safe country it once was, in large part owing to a heinous crime spree conducted by an influx of foreign criminals. Sensationalist headlines in the national press have created a fear of crime that is not proportional to the likelihood of being victimised. In reality, Japan has a comparatively low crime rate and an especially

low rate for violent crime.

The media’s obsession with crime in general— and foreign criminals in particular—is clearly affecting judicial standards when it comes to decisions and sentencing in cases involving non-Japanese. In response to media-induced public panic concerning crime, legal scholars accused prosecutors with fasttracking cases where the defendant is a foreigner. By way of evidence, Professor David T. Johnson, in his book The Japanese Way of Justice, shows that while only between one and four percent of crime in Japan is committed by foreign perpetrators, in 2000 ten percent of all trials had a foreign defendant.

Writing in the Japan Times, columnist Debito Arudou noticed another emerging pattern: If you are a Japanese committing a crime toward a non-Japanese, you tend to get off lightly, while if you commit a crime against a Japanese, especially as a foreigner, you will have the book thrown at you. Consider, for example, the case of Hiroshi Nozaki, who in 2000 was caught flushing a Filipino woman’s body parts down a public toilet.

Nozaki was not charged with murder, but only with ‘abandoning a corpse’ and was jailed for just three and a half years. By 2008 he was free to dismember another female Filipina victim, Honiefaith Ratila Kamiosawa.

In contrast, in cases where Japanese men kill Japanese women, they tend to get the hangman’s noose.

Freedom of the press and the right to a fair trial come into conflict in any democratic society and it would be naïve to consider Japan’s new lay judges as immune to the effects of the media. Professor Shinomiya, however, is confident saiban-in will follow the law and not what they see in the media. “Mock jurors asked about the effects of the media said they saw news reports but realised that trials take place in court, and not in the headlines,” he says. Bar Association President Miyazaki concurs, adding that “professional judges are more influenced by the media than lay citizens, with the latter taking ‘innocent until proved guilty’ much more seriously than the former.”

Cases that receive the most media attention are those involving the death penalty. As Miyazaki points out, professional judges often feel the need to render the death penalty to satisfy public demands for justice whipped up by the media. Yet while capital punishment is supported by the vast majority of Japanese citizens (80 percent in 2005), in mock trials, few lay judges were willing to hand down a death sentence. This hesitance may precipitate a renewal of the public debate on the death penalty that could see an end to this cruel form of justice.

Despite its many potential problems, the introduction of the saiban-in system should be welcomed for opening up the closed and elitist world of Japanese justice to public participation and scrutiny. If properly nurtured, the saiban-in system could be the first step on the road to greater justice BAB for all who appear before Japan’s courts.

FOR YOUR FOUR-LEGGED FRIENDS

by Saradia Hunnisett I

Lene with a possible pet sitting client.

image: provided by Lene Kimura

f you’re anything like me then you love animals and hate the idea of them getting anything less than the best in terms of love, care, and affection.

A long-time dog lover myself, I adore puppies but I absolutely hate going into pet shops here because the tiny cages leave me feeling queasy. I would love to get a dog of my own someday; however I don’t like the idea of leaving it alone in a cage for a couple of weeks when I go on vacation, so this has always been a major factor in my decision not to get a dog. Well, that and the ¥250,000+ price tags, the vet bills, the puppy-poop, the…you get the picture!

Still, the puppy club is indeed one I am hoping to join someday in the future, and this is just one reason I was super happy to talk to the lovely Lene Kimura and hear all about the fantastic pet-sitting introduction service that she is running here in Japan.

Lene hails from what she describes as “the lovely little duckpond” of Denmark. She arrived in Japan in 2002 for a one-month summer holiday and, after a summer flirtation became much more serious, has been here ever since in the beautiful city of Yokohama. It hasn’t always been easy for Lene, and most recently she became faced with the challenge of living alone with her two-year-old daughter whilst her husband lives and works in another part of Japan (tanshin funin). So, how has she managed through the difficult times? “Fortunately I have some really wonderful friends; the foreign wives of AFWJ, and an absolutely fantastic neighbour who are always willing to help me out when things get tough.”

A fellow animal-lover, Lene is now facilitator of a project called PetSitting Connection Service, or PetConnect. So, what is PetConnect all about?

“Well,” Lene explains, “it’s a service that connects pet owners with either pet sitters or other pet owners for mutual pet sitting. There are two types of connections: pet sitting exchange (pet owner to pet owner) and paid pet sitting (connection to a pet sitter). Then there are three types of pet sitting styles; the Homestay, where the pet moves in with the pet sitter, the In-Home pet sitter, where the pet sitter moves in with the pet, and the Visiting Style.

The least common is the In-Home pet sitter—it’s difficult as it requires a pet sitter without any family obligations, no pets of his or her own, and for the pet’s location to be easily accessible from the pet sitter’s workplace. The most popular is the Homestay because it provides the pet with the care and attention all pets need, regardless of species and temper, and it allows the sitter and family to be in their own home.”

And how much can we expect to pay to take advantage of this great service? “My service is free— and most of the pet sitting exchange connections are also for free pet sitting, except, obviously, for the paid pet sitting. I don’t have any influence on the fees and most of the time I am unaware. But pet owners

community

PETCONNECT: PET SITTING

are kind enough to tell me if a fee seemed higher than they expected so I can often give the next pet owner advance warning about this.

PetConnect is about giving the pets a decent holiday. I am aware, though, that lately, due to the financial crisis, many pet sitters sign up with me and expect to get some income. Nothing is wrong with that as long as the pet sitter enjoys spending time with the pets.”

Lene’s inspiration for this service came during her early days in Japan when a visit to a pet shop to see cats and dogs locked in tiny cages gave her an enormous shock. I can empathise entirely; in the UK, pet shops have long since gone the way of the Dodo, and apparently in Denmark they are also an “unknown concept.” One particular incident that rings clear for her is seeing a golden retriever puppy sitting in a cage too small to turn in with people outside screaming “kawaiiiii!” at it. So, how did this make her feel? “I thought; ‘How on earth can you teach your children that this is OK?’ My future husband dragged me out of there with tears in my eyes and swore that he would never take me anywhere with pet shops again...” However, her first experience with pet hotels had just as profound an effect, and, as Lene explains, was the starting point for PetConnect: “People’s pets are ‘a part of the family’ but then they go on holiday and suddenly the dog or cat is reduced to ‘just an animal.’ It’s not fair and I was still missing my dog from back home, so I started a pet sitting service. Two weeks later I took in my first cat. I had no pricelist and so people ended up paying whatever they thought the pet sitting was worth to them. (A Japanese concept that my husband introduced me to.) It went really well. It was so nice to have the pets and I realised just how big a demand there is for the ‘private and friendly’ pet sitter.” The arrival of Lene’s daughter a couple of years ago meant she was no longer in a position to care for other people’s pets, so she had to stop the service. But a friend of hers told

her she had met another pet owner and they were planning on pet sitting for each other. This gave Lene the idea that if someone were to coordinate the service they could probably still keep some animals out of pet hotels. The website was launched in the late-summer of 2007. So, what kind of response did Lene receive? “During the first weeks I got a lot of responses and people signing up. It was difficult in the beginning as there were not that many people in PetConnect, but I managed to place a few pets anyway. Gradually membership built up after some media attention, and then last year at Christmastime I managed to place all pets! I am very proud of that as the Christmas season is the top peak of all peaks of the year!”

I, for one, think that this is a brilliant service and fully commend Lene for her efforts to improve the lives of cats and dogs (not forgetting other animals!).

Most animal-lovers will hate the idea of their beloved pet (or anyone else’s) trapped in a cage barely bigger than they are, and this is a great way to avoid that.

What does Lene find the most rewarding part of her work/hobby? “The PetConnect is, in a way, a passion. I don’t make money on it and I don’t want to. Some people say, ‘You should really charge a fee,’ but if I do, I turn it into a business and that’s not the point with the PetConnect. What I enjoy the most is when I get an email or photo from people who have taken in a pet and they send me a message saying: ‘We are having so much fun,’ or ‘We loved having kitty or woofer around.’ That can occasionally bring tears to my eyes; just the knowledge that my efforts have kept another cat or dog out of the little cage and in to a loving home is all the reward I need!”

If you wish to get in touch with Lene and become involved with her pet sitting service or be put in touch with a pet sitter who can help you, please visit the PetConnect website: www.royalbluedk.com/ad/ pet_sitting_connection.html and leave your BAB details, being careful to get them correct!

Being A Broad July 2009

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TO TSUKUBA CITY

by Jodie Gilbert

Scenes from Tsukuba City (and the tasty fare at the vegetarian restaurant!). all images: Jodie Gilbert

a broad in the boonies

AN EASY TRANSITION

“

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Over there is a vegetarian restaurant,” my friend Shaney explains to me as we drive back from the airport and I get a first glimpse of my new home—Tsukuba City. I can tell I’m going to like it here already!

Being a vegetarian in Japan is hard. Very hard.

I had lived in Hitachinaka City near Mito for a year between the summers of ‘06 and ‘07, and was expecting Tsukuba to be the same. It didn’t take long for me to realise they are not the same; in fact, Tsukuba is unlike any other place I have seen in Japan!

The city looks new and spacious. The roads are wide. There are gardens and trees and bike paths. As we drive around I see swimming pools and tennis courts, and when I look north, I see Mt. Tsukuba, standing there watching over the city.

There are beautiful, big new shopping centres to visit and they are decorated in fairy lights, Christmas-looking trees, and flower gardens, all giving Tsukuba a nice vibe.

The shopping centres include my favourite stores such as Loft, Lush, and Shoo-La-Rue. You can buy Vegemite, Tim Tams, and Weis Ice Cream (yes I’m from Australia), and in Tsukuba you have a choice of six Indian Restaurants, two Mexican restaurants, and eleven Italian restaurants, among many, many others.

There are a large amount of gaijin living in Tsukuba and I am surprised to see quite a few foreigners in the streets going about their day.

How strange! I still remember all the “Eh! Honto!” or “Mite! Mite!” comments when Japanese people would see me buying groceries or doing anything in my old hometown of Hitachinaka. Here, although of course I still stand out, I’m not getting as many stares and surprised looks. This is good.

The amount of English around really surprised me when I first arrived. I went to the police station and post office and there were English signs. The city hall had English maps. I went to the doctors and

they spoke English. The library had a good range of English books and magazines. The shopping centres were even making announcements in English! I remember in my first week here, while looking, confused, at a parking machine’s instructions, a Japanese man came over and explained with perfect English how to use the machine. This never happened in Hitachinaka!

In Tsukuba there is even a mailing list for foreigners living here that people post events and items for sale on. I bought my little Mitsubishi Minica from someone advertising on the site. Yes, it’s a matchbox and possibly has seen better days, but it was a bargain and I like it! Having a car has been fantastic and with my English-speaking Navi, I have ventured around Ibaraki, Chiba, and into Tochigi, too. Over the summer I will drive all the way to Hokkaido, my next grand adventure!

I have found many interesting places both here and further away, and thinking back to that first day as Shaney and I drove home from the airport, I remember that we stopped off at a bakery called Andersons. It was delicious and I was surprised to find out that there were many more delicious bakeries and cafes in Tsukuba.

One of my favourite things to do is to relax in a little cafe or cake shop with the sun shining down and a view of a park or garden. So I was very happy to find this! Then I can read my Lonely Planet and research my next adventure in Japan, study Japanese, write in my journal, or read my Bible.

On that note, being a Christian in Japan is also hard. Perhaps safe to say harder than being a vegetarian! I attended a Japanese Church when I was in Japan last time. It was wonderful and I treasure the time I spent there. However, it is difficult to understand sermons in Japanese.

Very, very difficult! I amazingly met another English-speaking Christian from Australia at that old Japanese church, Anita, who I became good

friends with. Together we would study the bible together and talk about God. But I still really missed group fellowship in English and even small things like singing songs and understanding the words. So naturally I was curious about how things would be in Tsukuba. Luckily, Tsukuba has a good selection of churches with English and the ones that aren’t in English have translations available. So I happily go to church and a bible study group each week—and I can understand!

In fact, it only took me one day of being here for me to realise I liked Tsukuba City. I feel like it has the best of both worlds. I live west of the city, which is countryside, and wake up in my cute town house to the sound of chirping birds and children playing. I usually have breakfast while looking out on our garden before driving to work through rice paddocks and various farms. People grow potatoes, cabbage, onions, and grass (yes, grass!), among other things.

I work as a teacher at an international school, and it is in a beautiful location, meaning that I am surrounded all day by forest and greenery. Some visitors from Tokyo even ask, “Are they real birds?” This is a Japan I know and love. A far cry from Tokyo! Old women greet you as you pass by, people are out walking their dogs, and children catch frogs and tadpoles from the rice paddies. If I do feel like the hustle and bustle, however, Tokyo is also just a train ride away, with the Tsukuba Express whisking you to Akihabara in less than 45 minutes.

As you can tell, life in Tsukuba has been going great. From Japanese lessons to swimming laps in the pool, from taiko drumming to climbing mountains, and from garden cafes to visiting onsens, Tsukuba has it all. It is so great to be back in Japan, and it’s so great to be in Tsukuba, the city full of surprises.

As for now? I’m off to that vegetarian BAB restaurant. Yum!

LAUGHTER

by Kristen McAree-Nishimura

S

Kristen and Jun in traditional wedding garb.

image: Roberta Stober

ome girls wonder what man waits for them in their future. They fantasise and pray for their Mr. Right to sweep them off their feet. They probably would even say they want the classic tall, dark, and handsome guy. If you had asked me when I was a child what kind of guy I wanted to marry, I would have said, without hesitation, that he has to have a good sense of humour. Laughter is medicine and if you can’t laugh; go home. However, I am certain that anything about Japan wasn’t in my answer.

In June 2005, while I was teaching English in Saitama, I received a bit of a strange, yet funny email. In preparation for returning to Japan after five years, someone had researched English groups and teachers and found SIEN English and me. His email simply said: “I’m 100 percent Japanese, in Chicago, going to Yokohama, and I’m curious about you. Let’s chat! Jun.” This curiosity from America sparked some curiosity on my side of the globe.

Jun and I initially conversed through emails and IM chats discussing things about the English group and our backgrounds. We were soon shocked to discover how many similarities we had, such as we both grew up and lived on ski

and over time became frustrated and depressed.

It progressed to the point that he was unable to

most women would probably walk away from the relationship but something inside me Isaidthink not to give up on him.

slopes in our home countries. We had explored the same national parks in America. Then we started to laugh as we swapped ski slope stories, cultural differences, and found that some things are the same wherever you go in the world.

When Jun returned to Japan in July, he made the trek from Yokohama to Omiya for a visit to my English group. When I should have been conversing with all the members, I found myself strangely transfixed by Jun. He often used catchy phrases and English slang in his conversation. But it was when Jun used the phrase ‘Bite me,’ that I literally froze with the surprise that he knew this phrase and how to use it. We then started playfully teasing each other with our wit and sarcastic humour. He didn’t strike me as Japanese at all and had an amazing grasp of American humour. It was a humour that I hadn’t enjoyed using since arriving in Japan.

It was that sense of humour and our playful attitudes coupled with our love of nature that spurred us on into dating. We enjoyed summer adventures hiking mountains and getting lost, going to fireworks festivals, working together at a beach house, and more. It was the typical dating life. But it wasn’t too soon after we started dating that the hard facts of life hit Jun. Jun was having no success at re-entering the business field in Japan

she found love in Japan

LOVE BUILT ON

leave his house sometimes, and just being in public would make him physically ill. It was amazingly painful to watch Jun go through this. I felt helpless.

I think most women would probably walk away from the relationship but something inside me said not to give up on him. As corny as this may sound, I really believed that Jun saw something in me that others hadn’t seen before. So for just over a year, I offered support, understanding, lots of jokes, and plenty of laughter to Jun and reminded him that things would get better. The

he had prayed for that year. I told him it wouldn’t come true if he told me, so it was best to keep silent. The retort was that the custom works on birthday cakes and in America only. Jun then said he wished for ‘a yes.’ I was oblivious as to what was coming as Jun stopped in the glow of a lighted stone lantern, turned, and asked for my hand in marriage. Up until then, Jun had often joked about getting married and made many failed proposal attempts, i.e. weird places, strange timings, wrong wording, etc. So my initial reaction was to chuckle as usual. But then I stopped laughing, looked at Jun again, and realised this time this was no joke.

Happily, this year on May 16 we were married at Kanda Myoujin in Tokyo. And even during the Shinto ceremony, when both of us were white faced from nervousness and wondering if we

couple can be loving and passionate, but it takes real lovers to be silly together.”

“Any humour that caused us to come together was now going to be the bond that would get us though and keep us going.

Sure enough, Jun was hired into a small company and he regained his confidence and his spirit, but more importantly, he started to laugh again. Knowing that depression is one of the more difficult things in life to have to go through; if we could get through that with a smile on our face, I felt that we could get through anything together.

On the night of January 3, after spending the 2008 New Year’s holiday with his family, we went to a local shrine to offer our prayers for the New Year. Jun asked if I was interested in knowing what

were doing the right things, we could still look at each other, wink, or give an odd look and make each other chuckle. Quietly, of course.

Some girls want a loving relationship filled with lots of romance and all that lovey dovey stuff. Or think it should include chocolates, heartshaped cards, and long walks on the beach. Well, we don’t like the beach, chocolate will end up on my hips anyhow, and I’m an eco-girl, so save the trees and don’t waste the paper. We don’t have that, but we have something else that is special for us. So in the end I leave you with this…“Any couple can be loving and passionate, but it takes BAB real lovers to be silly together.”

Being A Broad July 2009

27

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