TRAVEL BUSINESS FAMILY
Cycling from Atami to Shimoda Survival of the Fittest: an interview with Paul Shippee (Life Fitness Japan) Christmas at Tokyo Disneyland
ENTERTAINMENT OPINIONS
Professor Risley and the Imperial Japanese Troupe
Return of the prodigal ‘flyjin’
INSIGHT
Editor in Chief Chris Betros Art Director/Designer Thong Van Contributors Mark Shriner
Patrick Budmar Account Managers Kieron Cashell Peter Lackner Advertising insight.sales@japantoday.com General inquiries insight@japantoday.com Publisher GPlusMedia Co., Ltd. 105-0011
3-1-1 Minotomi Bld. 3F
Insight Online
insight.japantoday.com
Schools and Family News Tokyo International School (TIS) Happy Days
Gymboree Play & Music
Saint Maur International School and Ecole française SuperSitters Tokyo
Health and Beauty Tsuruki Mita Clinic
Hotels and Japanese Inns ANA InterContinental Tokyo Hotel Okura Tokyo
Oriental Hotel Hiroshima The Peninsula Tokyo
Outdoors and Sports Tokyo Sail and Power Squadron (TSPS) Tsutsujigaoka Country Club
Shiba-koen, Minato-ku
Restaurants and Bars
Tel: +81 3 5403 7781
Hei Fung Terrace
Tokyo (Japan)
Fax: +81 3 5403 2775
Web: www.gplusmedia.com Back Issues http://insight.japantoday.com/ insight-magazine
Insight Magazine is published
weekly online and can be read and downloaded to your PC or tablet for free.
Bulldog BBQ
Kimono Wine and Grill Peter
Suji’s
The Irish Times
What The Dickens!
Professional Organisations Italian Chamber of Commerce in Japan Language Teaching Professionals
The British Chamber of Commerce in Japan O.G.A for Aid
Content may not be reproduced
in whole or in part without written permission from GPlusMedia. ©2012 GPlusMedia Co., Ltd.
Cover Photo courtesy of Tokyo Disney Resort © Disney
3
TRAVEL
CYCLING FROM ATAMI TO SHIMODA Since moving to Japan this past spring I have heard many great things about the Izu Peninsula (Izu Hanto) including that it has Hawaii-like scenery and beaches, loads of suitable places for surfing, wind surfing, fishing, and camping, and excellent roads for bicycle trips. Making it even more attractive is that the base of the peninsula is just a one hour train ride from our home in Yokohama. So, during a recent threeday weekend my two older sons and I decided to hop on our bikes and explore the eastern side of the Izu Peninsula between Atami and Shimoda. As BY IMARK have mentioned SHRINER on my blog, one of the benefits of owning a folding bike is that you can easily fold it up, put on the cover, and then hop on a train to get quickly out of the city and out to the prime cycling areas. In our case, we took the JR Tokaido Line from Yokohama Station to Atami Station an hour to the south at the foot of the Izu Peninsula. Atami is primarily a tourist destination. As such, the roads are quite busy and we decided to get out of town and on the coastal highway as soon as possible. Departing from the station we followed the road down through town and past the “Atami Ginza” shopping street and made the right turn onto HWY 135. HWY 135 mostly follows the coast most of the way to Shimoda, is very scenic and generally well maintained. That said, the traffic can be quite busy, particularly in the areas closer to Atami, and especially on busy weekends. Another thing to look out for is that the shoulder is quite narrow in many sections, and there are several tunnels that don’t have adequate foot or bike paths. I would 4
BY MARK SHRINER PHOTOS BY MARK SHRINER
8
Shimoda
advise that riders use both front and rear lights when going through all tunnels. You will have to make a decision in Matsuburahoncho to stick with HWY 135 as it heads inland on a more direct route, or stay on the coastal roads. We opted to stay on the coast following HWY 109, which in my opinion was a good move as traffic was almost nonexistent, and the road, often just on the edge of the beach, was incredibly scenic. This is a great section to stop for photos, grab a bite to eat, or just to kick back, relax, and enjoy the views.
HWY 135. The minshuku is located on HWY 109 just past 7-11 on the opposite side of the road. We paid ¥5,500 for adults and ¥3,500 for children for a small tatami room, and a full-course breakfast. The bath facilities were small but well maintained. The staff speak some English and were kind enough to allow us to put our bikes in a protected area behind the main building.
Towards the end of this section, as HWY 109 also leaves the coast, the road goes up a relatively sharp incline and past a small elementary school that probably has a better view of the Pacific Ocean than any other school in Japan. Lucky students!
The next morning, after enjoying one of the best breakfasts I have had in Japan, we jumped on the bikes for the 3-hour ride to Shimoda. We encountered more hills on this section often biking for 20 or so minutes up a hill only to quickly descend back to sea level and then repeat the pattern again.
We stopped for the night in at Hinodaeya minshuku in Izukogen, a small town located on HWY 109 just before it rejoins
Again, the scenery was very nice and made the ride, regardless of the hills, a real joy.
TRAVEL
81
Atami
km
After arriving in Shimoda we spent a few hours exploring the port, famous as the landing spot of Commodore Perry and Black Ships (kuroi fune). We also got a much needed and deserved lunch, during which I had the chance to try dried eel spines (dislike!). Eel spines aside, it was a very pleasant experience. We then continued down HWY 135 about 5km to Kisami-Ohama (Big Kisami Beach). Famed Ernest House was fully booked, and the place next door wanted ¥7,500 per person per night, so we ended up staying at one of the several minshuku on the other side of the small river that runs down the beach. These minshuku seem to cater to surfers and are fairly spartan in terms of creature comforts. When asked about meals, the owner told us that we should go to the “combini” for ramen. That said, at ¥4,000 for adults, and ¥3,000 for children, the prices were lower that we’ve experience in other places in Japan. The timing of our visit was excellent as there was good surf at the beach and the village of Kisami was holding its annual festival.
Atami where we transferred back onto the Tokaido Line for the ride to Yokohama. Less than 3 hours later we were back home and planning our next trip.
More Info We found that the last car on the train is the most bike friendly as there is a large area in the rear of the car where you can place bicycles or other large packages. We set our bikes there and just tried not to block the door into the conductors’ room. Be prepared for the tunnels. They are dark and noisy. You will want as lights behind you and a will benefit from a light in front as well as sometimes the road is difficult to see. You may want to try to reserve your accommodations in advance as many places fill up on the busy weekends and especially during the summer ‘obon’ time. Distance from Atami to Kisami: Approx. 81km
The next morning having biked for two days, body surfed for a few hours, and stayed up late observing the festival, we opted to fold our bikes back up and hop on the train at the Izukyu-Shimoda Station (伊豆急下田) the terminal of the Izukyu Line for an easy ride home. It’s a straight shot back up the peninsula to 5
BUSINESS
SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST Anyone who works out at a fitness club in Japan is probably using state-of-the art equipment from American company Life Fitness Japan. A subsidiary of Brunswick Co, Life Fitness has had a presence in the Japanese market since 1984 when its fitness machines were imported by Sony Enterprise. The company became a K.K. in 1999.
6
PAUL SHIPPEE General Manager Life Fitness Japan Ltd. www.lifefitness.com
Shippee speaks enthusiastically about the latest innovations in cardio equipment and trends in Japan. Last month, Life Fitness Japan launched the Discover SE and Discover SI consoles that integrate with the newest Life Fitness cloudbased technology, LFconnect. This new cardio line, in conjunction with the LFconnect website, allows end users to personalize their workout experience and helps fitness facilities customize the content available on the equipment with asset management tools. Discover, the third generation of Life Fitness’ touch-screen technology, is the most user-friendly and intuitive yet. The surface capacitive touch screen with Swipe Technology gives exercisers easy access to their personal iPhone, iPod or Android smartphone content, Lifescape interactive courses, open-Internet browsing, and On-Demand videos. Japan Today catches up with Shippee to hear more.
What is Life Fitness’ history in Japan?
Life Fitness has been in Japan since 1984. We used a distributor back then, Sony Enterprise. They were looking for gaps in their product line and they chose fitness equipment. That was when fitness was taking off in the 1980s, you know with Olivia NewtonJohn singing “Let’s Get Physical.” The market in Japan has always been slow to grow. Our typical buying cycle is 5-7 years because you can run one of our treadmills for five years straight, 40,000 kms and not have to change a thing on it. We had a bit of a growth spurt in the mid2000s. This year has been a challenging year, but we are doing OK and we are diversifying along with the market.
How did the disaster last year affect business?
Some of our biggest customers, such as Konami Sports and Central Sports, had facilities in the affected regions that were damaged and in lieu of the money they were reserving for possible expansion, they had to fix up those clubs first. So that did affect us.
Who are your main customers? Most of the major commercial fitness clubs, the majority of 5-star hotels, the Tokyo American Club and we are big on U.S. bases in Japan. Universities are very big for us, too. Besides Tokyo, we have offices in Osaka and Kyushu. We can cover the country because the head offices of fitness clubs, which are located in Tokyo, will work with us when they expand in other cities.
Do you sell equipment for home use in Japan?
Some but not as much as in other countries. There are voltage, service and pricing issues, as well as the size of homes to consider.
What is your bestselling machine?
Definitely treadmills are our best seller. For example, if you go to JEXER Sports Club at Ueno Station, they have about 45 running machines. That is huge. Even in the biggest club in America, there might be 30-40, so we are seeing increasing popularity in Japan.
What about languages?
Our commercial equipment comes in 16 languages. Some of our clients, which have English, Korean and Chinese-speaking communities, love our treadmills. Also, some customers want an easyto-read LCD to let them know how fast they are going, for how long, in kanji, not kana. All the other makers use kana or an English alphabet. We are the first and only one to use kanji in the LCD. We have done it for Russia, Japan and the Arab countries.
What other trends are we seeing?
We’ve gone way beyond the days when you would just walk up to a machine and hit QuickStart – even though many still do it. The trend now is to be able to use television, the Internet, your iPhone, Android phone—everything is open. We just launched our new console. It’s high-definition, Internet-connected. It works for iPhone and Android, and we are the only maker that uses both. It’s very exciting. The new consoles are also API (application programming interface) open to third-party app developers. Establishing a link between an exerciser’s digital life and the workout experience, LFopen provides developers access to
future Life Fitness equipment software technology and the ability to customize apps leveraging workout presets, workout results, real time monitoring and more.
BUSINESS
Heading up the Japan operations is Paul Shippee. Originally from Maine, Shippee worked in Japan in the insurance business before joining Life Fitness as general manager for Japan in 2003.
We have virtual reality landscapes. For example, you can get on the treadmill and jog in the German Black Forest or along the beach in New Zealand plus many more. And it is interactive, so the faster you go, the faster the frame rate is on the image.
How is the new tech being received in Japan?
Japanese are very tech-savvy. IT is entering everyone’s lives. Once they find out that they can go to the gym and use Facebook or Twitter, watch movies and be entertained while they are working out, they love it.
How popular are fitness clubs in Japan?
Market research shows that only about 3% of the population is a member of a fitness club, as compared to New Zealand which has membership rates of 14-16%, America and Australia at 10-12%, and the UK at 12%. We are seeing more 24-hour clubs open, more women-only clubs, personal trainers, among other trends.
How do you market the company?
We are at the health and fitness trade show in Japan in June every year. We also travel with customers to America for major trade shows there. We do some advertising in Japanese print media, but we believe the best way to market are products is through direct customer interaction, face-to-face.
Do you visit your clients much? Half a day every day I am out visiting clients. The thing that gives me the most satisfaction is when we open a new club, seeing the smile on customers who have been waiting for weeks for the club to open.
How often do you work out?
I try to do something every day, whether it is on the exercise bike or running. I apply every year to run in the Tokyo Marathon and I have done 7 Ironmans in Australia, New Zealand, Korea, China, Taiwan, Japan and America. I’m pleased to say that I finished them all.
7
FAMILY
Christmas at Tokyo Disneyland Nobody or nowhere does Christmas better than Tokyo Disneyland! This year the Christmas Fantasy theme is “Santa’s village,” with most of the attractions being decorated into confectionery factories so the Christmas spirit is really “up” this year. The highlight of the Christmas fantasy which runs until Christmas Day has to be the parades featuring all your favorite Disney characters in Christmas costumes and the big man himself – Santa-san! The floats are geared up to the max, including snow machine, ice skating pixies and a new addition to this year’s parade - the Three Little Pigs! The parade is held twice a day (morning and afternoon) and lasts for about 45 minutes. It is a good idea to bring a sheet as you may need to camp out about 30 minutes before the parade to get a good vantage spot. Look out for special commemorative items as well as seasonal food delights.
8
FAMILY
Tokyo Disneyland Hours: 8pm - 10pm Adult day pass: ¥6,200 Kids day pass: ¥4,100 www.tokyodisneyresort.co.jp/en
All photos © Disney
9
ENTERTAINMENT
PROFESSOR RISLEY AND THE IMPERIAL JAPANESE TROUPE Having introduced a Western-style circus to Yokohama, world-famous American acrobat and impresario “Professor” Risley brought his “Imperial Japanese Troupe” to America and Europe in 1867. Immigrants Manga.” He often served as Osamu Tezuka’s English interpreter. In 2009 he received the The Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette for his contribution to the introduction and promotion of Japanese contemporary popular culture.
FREDERIK L. SCHODT Author
These visits from Japanese performers helped trigger the West’s first craze for Japanese popular culture. Frederik L Schodt’s book is an exploration of a unique cultural connection with ramifications today: as we were seeing Japan for the first time, Japan was seeing us. Japan issued its very first passport to a member of Risley’s troupe in 1866, and a world-wide fever for all things Japanese was born. In “Professor Risley and the Imperial Japanese Troupe,” Schodt presents an astounding collection of 19th century primary source material. News articles, letters, playbills, photographs and sketches capture this extraordinary moment of historic crosscultural exchange between Japanese performers and Western audiences. Schodt is the author of “The Astro Boy Essays,” “Dreamland Japan” “Native American in the Land of the Shogun” and the editor-translator of “The Four 10
What sparked your fascination with this character “Professor” Risley? It seems rather removed from your previous books on Astro Boy and Japanese manga. Schodt: It’s true that I’m best known for my work on manga, but I’ve written many books on other subjects, too. I’ve written on U.S.-Japan relations, on Japanese technology, and on a Native American who visited Japan in 1848. I have a longterm interest in cross-cultural pioneers. Several years ago, when in Japan, I saw references to Professor Risley and his Imperial Japanese Troupe. I was intrigued because — despite having written about Japan for decades — I had never heard of this colorful character, and I was not even aware of the popularity of Japanese performers in the West in the late 19th century. I love eccentric characters, and I love lost histories. I had an immense amount of fun writing this book.
Did Risley always intend to have a Japanese troupe of circus performers, or was his career path rather accidental? Schodt: Since Risley left few written records, it’s hard to say with certainty what he thought, but there is no indication, at least until 1864, that he considered taking a troupe of Japanese
performers to the West. I think his bold move was a function of having taken a Western circus to Yokohama, where his performers deserted him and he became stuck, and needing to come up with a new idea to make money. While famous for being an acrobat, and later an impresario, Risley was also an extraordinary entrepreneur.
Who were some of the stars of the Imperial Japanese troupe? How were they received in the United States?
Schodt: The biggest star, by far, of the Imperial Japanese Troupe, was a little boy known as “All Right.” His real name was Hamaikari Umekichi. In San Francisco, he quickly became the favorite of audiences for the panache and poise he showed. Like the other Japanese performers in the troupe, in the beginning he did not know any English at all, but he very quickly learned to exclaim “All right” and sometimes “You bet!” after executing particularly dangerous stunts. The audiences loved this, and nicknamed him “All Right.” While he is not well-known today, in 1867 almost all Americans knew All Right. People spoke of him in conversation, and used his name as a metaphor for agility. Merchants were quick to jump on the bandwagon, and later there appeared All Right cigar labels and even a derringer named after him. E Mack, a popular composer of the day, wrote a polka to commemorate him, titled the “All Right Polka,” and the sheet music survives. My wife
On New Year’s Eve, 1866, Risley’s Imperial Japanese Troupe arrived in San Francisco, the first American city the troupe encountered. How long were they in the city, and was their visit a success? Schodt: The Imperial Japanese Troupe was in San Francisco for almost exactly a month, and was a huge success there. This was remarkable from two standpoints. First, in 1866/67, San Franciscans were fairly jaded; they had already seen a great variety of entertainers from around the world, including China. Second, another, smaller Japanese
group — the Tetsuwari faction — beat the Imperials to San Francisco by a few weeks, but in short order the Imperials in effect routed their rivals from the City. The Imperials’ success in San Francisco is a testament to the skill of both the individual performers and to that of Professor Risley, who used his vast experience in the entertainment world to stage them in a way that enhanced their appeal to local audiences.
Your research for this book took you into archives around the world. What were some of the most surprising places in which you found information about Risley, and what did you learn?
Schodt: I visited archives and libraries on four continents, and found something amazing in all of them. But some of the discoveries outside of libraries were also extraordinary. For example, I discovered that the Cirque Napoleon, where the Imperials performed in Paris in 1867, survives today in virtually the exact same state, renamed the Cirque d’Hiver, and still hosts circus acts. As someone who is used to the musty newspapers, microfilm, and card catalogs of 20th century libraries, I must say that the online newspaper databases researchers can access today are extraordinary. I thought I would never find anything about Risley in Indonesia, but I was amazed one day to discover that on-line archives in the Netherlands have copies of the 19th century Java Bode, a Batavia (Jakarta) newspaper. In the 1861 editions of the paper, there are advertisements for one of Risley’s circuses, prior to his visiting Japan, in French, English, and Dutch.
ENTERTAINMENT
is learning the tune on the piano, and it’s a catchy, upbeat piece.
You argue that Risley’s Imperial Japanese Troupe tour fueled the West’s first craze for Japanese popular culture, and that this obsession differs from the more well-known Japonisme art movement. How so?
Schodt: Japonisme is a very fuzzy and tricky word, and even many famous dictionaries do not bother to include or define it. Japonisme is usually associated with the art movement that emerged in Paris in the 1860s and ‘70s, when Japanese woodblock prints influenced the Impressionists, among others. The term can also be interpreted as a broader late 19th century infatuation with a unique Japanese aesthetic. Risley’s Japanese acrobats were part of the Japonisme movement and they helped fuel it, but they occupied a completely different space within it. Fans of the Japanese acrobats of course included the high-brow, high-culture fans of Japanese woodblock prints and crafts. But they also included the working and emerging middle classes of America and Europe. In a sense, the influence of Japanese performing troupes was much greater that of Japanese artists at the time, because their audience was so much broader, numbering in the hundreds of thousands and including both the literate and illiterate.
11
OPINIONS
OPIN IONS Return of the prodigal ‘flyjin’ BY PATRICK BUDMAR Patrick Budmar is a Sydneybased freelance writer. There was a time when Anders (not his real name) had given up all hope of returning to Tokyo after the events of 3/11 forced him to leave Japan indefinitely. Yet over a year later, he was back in the country he had called his home for half a decade.
12
were animated structures in a Looney Tunes cartoon.” “When I exited the office building after the quake, there was already a shell-shocked crowd gathered while alarms and sirens were going off in the background,” Anders says. “My co-worker commented that it all felt as if aliens had invaded the Earth, and I felt it was an apt description of the situation at the time.” While Tokyo as a whole was left relatively undamaged by the earthquake that day, most if not all train lines in the greater Tokyo area were shut down following the disaster, meaning that many people had no immediate way to return to their homes. Because Anders lived on the outskirts of Tokyo,
asked me whether I knew what was happening in Fukushima and if I was making preparations to leave the country.” Anders was a bit perplexed that his parents would suggest he leave Japan only because of an earthquake and tsunami in Tohoku, but it turned out his parents were concerned about something else. “When they first told me that there was an explosion at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, I had trouble believing what they were saying,” he says. “I just told my parents that it’s probably not as bad as the media makes it out to be, and that Fukushima Prefecture is really far from Tokyo.” When Anders came into work the following Monday, he had barely sat down
“It’s a strange feeling to be back,” Anders says. “On one hand, Tokyo is exactly as I remembered it, almost as if I had never left. Yet at the same time, some things have changed and they remind me of how much time has really passed.”
“It’s a strange feeling to be back... On one hand, Tokyo is exactly as I remembered it, almost as if I had never left. Yet at the same time, some things have changed and they remind me of how much time has really passed.”
Like many of Tokyo’s inhabitants, Anders was at work when the large earthquake struck Japan on March 11, 2011. Although Anders had lived in Japan for several years, this was the first time he had experienced an earthquake of this magnitude. “I remember there were some tremors in Tokyo following the big (Chuetsu) quake in Niigata in 2007, but the Tohoku earthquake last year was much stronger and lasted longer,” he said. He admits to riding out the initial quake on March 11 sitting at his desk and being transfixed by spectacle taking place outside the office windows, where high rise buildings were “swaying ridiculously from side-to-side, as if they
he was able to get home by foot, joining the hundreds of thousands of people who had the same idea. “I had never seen so many people crowding the footpaths before, not even during a fireworks festival in summer,” he says. “Fortunately, all the people were so orderly and composed that the whole experience wasn’t as chaotic as it could have been.” While the weekend following the earthquake was mainly marred by news of power blackouts and continued train issues, a more precarious development would soon rear its head. “Two days after the quake, my parents (from overseas) called me out of the blue,” Anders says. “They
at his desk when he received another phone call from overseas. “Another explosion had occurred at the nuclear power plant and my parents were absolutely hysterical at the news,” he says. “They were begging me over the phone to drop everything and get on the first flight out of the country.” After ending the call, Anders turned to the Internet for additional information and updates about the crisis brewing in Fukushima, but instead found himself faced with more damning evidence. “At that very moment, NHK was running a story about how radiation from the power plant was making its way to Saitama, which is next to Tokyo,” he says. “Additionally,
it seemed like everyone I knew in Tokyo was posting on Facebook about how they were evacuating to Osaka that day.” Anders called an emergency meeting with his superiors to ask for permission to temporarily leave the country, only to be told that the company’s official position was Tokyo was safe, as no formal evacuation orders had been ordered for the city and surrounding prefectures. “The only way I could convince them to let me leave was by promising that I would be back at work within two weeks,” he says. “I think we all expected the situation in Fukushima to be over in one way or another by then, though it didn’t quite end up that way.” The following day, Anders was on a plane back to his family’s home in Sweden. “Before I got on the train to the airport, I saw numerous people walking on the streets with open umbrellas but there was no rain that evening,” he says. “People were genuinely afraid of radiation raining down on them.” After Anders boarded the plane and it began to taxi for take-off, he found himself overwhelmed with emotion. “As soon as I got on that plane, I knew I would be saying goodbye to my life in Japan forever,” he says. That initial hunch would turn out to be prophetically true, as what initially started out as a two-week sabbatical from Tokyo would soon stretch into a month and beyond. As the days went by, Anders hoped in vain for a breakthrough at the Fukushima plant that would enable him to return to Japan and the life he had left behind, but he says that day never came. “While there were no further explosions at the nuclear power plant after I left, the situation there never really seemed to
OPINIONS
“Despite the fact that I had failed to keep my promise to return to Japan and quit my job, they seemed to be completely understanding of my situation and didn’t seem to hold a grudge against me in any way,” Anders said. “I felt like I was returning to family after a long absence.”
improve overall,” Anders says. “Then the Fukushima nuclear disaster was given the highest rating (on the International Nuclear Events Scale by the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency), and that was the final nail in the coffin.” While Anders felt it was safe enough to return to Tokyo, his family, who had lived through the Chernobyl accident in 1986 that affected Europe, did not. “I tried on numerous occasions to change their mind, but every time I
failed,” he says. “I knew if I returned without their blessing, I would either get disowned or have to take responsibility for any undue stress I would cause them, and neither prospect appealed to me.” Anders eventually emailed his resignation to his employer, but made sure to keep an open line of communication with his Japanese superiors “to avoid burning any bridges.” “My boss was very patient and understanding of my situation, and he tried
on many occasions to convince me to come back,” he says. “Sadly, my hands were tied the entire time and I was unable to do that.” Anders would only have the chance to return to Japan over a year later, once the nuclear disaster in Fukushima had come to a standstill, mainly to take care of what he describes as “loose ends” left in the wake of his departure. On that occasion, Anders decided to visit his former workplace in Tokyo to meet with
his former boss and coworkers in person for the first time since leaving last year. Any fears Anders had about being scorned by his Japanese employers vanished when the first thing they did was invite him to an impromptu lunch. “Despite the fact that I had failed to keep my promise to return to Japan and quit my job, they seemed to be completely understanding of my situation and didn’t seem to hold a grudge against me in any way,” Anders said. “I
13
OPINIONS
“I caught up with two married couples, one Japanese and one mixed one, who were trying to have children in 2011 but have since reversed their stance,” he says. “Whether they are right or not, they have decided it is not safe to raise children in the Kanto area...”
felt like I was returning to family after a long absence.” While people like Anders may have grudgingly accepted their fate in the wake of 3/11, others such as Stuart accepted it as a sign to pick up and leave the Japan permanently. Although Stuart weathered the earthquake that had shook his Tokyo office much in the same way Anders had, he admits to immediately researching the distances involved in the Chernobyl and Three Mile Island disasters following the news of what was happening at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. “I was trying to figure out if people in Tokyo would be evacuated, whether we were in any danger and what the extent of the risk was if we were exposed to radiation as in those earlier cases,” he says. The lack of what Stuart felt was “trustworthy information in a timely manner” about food and air radiation levels in various locations around Japan, as well as the resulting aftershocks and threats of future earthquakes, would convince him to finally uproot from Japan after living there for over a decade.
14
“Both my fiancée and myself are not Japanese with nothing except our jobs keeping us in Tokyo, so we immediately began considering leaving,” he says. “However, we ultimately decided to stay and wait for more information, hoping that the risks, transparency and general outlook would improve over the next two months. Only after we did not see any significant solutions, nor much future change, coming did we begin making mutual plans to leave Japan together.” After preparing all of the relevant paperwork involved in quitting work, such as HR documents, taxes, and pensions, Stuart handed in his resignation at his workplace, citing “family reasons” as a reason for his departure. “After 10 years, I find Japan work relationships to be a very funny, fragile thing,” he says. “At certain places I could have been more honest, but due to the industry I worked in and where I was specifically, I thought it best for my future career possibilities to have a Japanese style tatemae (official position) excuse that did not upset anyone or break the so-called harmony of the workplace.” Stuart found that by giving his Japanese employers a nondisaster-related reason for quitting the job shortly after the events of 3/11, as opposed to telling them directly that he was leaving Japan because of the nuclear disaster, meant there were no awkward discussions or questions that, for example, Anders said he had to field. With news of non-Japanese fleeing Japan in the wake of
the Fukushima incident, then branded under the “Flyjin” moniker, there was concern among some of the ex-pat community that this reaction would reflect badly on them. A popular opinion at the time was that if a company is faced with the choice of hiring a Japanese and non-Japanese candidate, the Japanese one will be hired because there will be concerns about whether the non-Japanese is going to stay long term. A Tokyo-based pharmaceutical executive headhunter, who spoke under condition of anonymity, says the notion is true but “not because of the Flyjin effect.”’ “It has more to do with Japanese culture and how Japanese prefer to stay at one company their entire career,” he says. “Foreigners, on the other hand, change often.” He adds that whenever a foreign candidate was sent to an interview, the one question that came up time and time again was whether or not they plan to stay with the company or change in three to five years down the tract. Another concern attributed to the exodus of non-Japanese last year was the portrayal of non-Japanese as ones who view Japan only as a place to work for a few years, earn a lot of money and then return their home country. “Employers do raise concern over long term prospects of foreigners, and the Flyjin phenomenon may have increased that distrust,” the recruiter admits. “Though, I’m not convinced about the ‘foreigners making a lot of money and leaving for home’ part.”
OPINIONS
“Employers do raise concern over long term prospects of foreigners, and the Flyjin phenomenon may have increased that distrust,” the recruiter admits. “Though, I’m not convinced about the ‘foreigners making a lot of money and leaving for home’ part.” In the event an employee candidate submits a resume that may show a gap in employment after March 2011, possibly due to evacuating Japan and/or quitting their job, there is concern over whether this would affect one’s job prospects. According to the recruiter, whatever perceived negative effect the Flyjin phenomena may have had, he is not seeing it. “It’s still not easy to get hired, but I’ve seen an increase in openness for foreigners at the manager level or above, and many Japanese companies hire more foreigners as new graduates,” he said. “A few of my Japanese clients have even mentioned that they’d like to hire a few foreigners to help shake things up.” After having returned to the U.S. with his fiancée, Stuart would return to Japan over a year later to officially cancel his visa status in order to claim his pension refund, as well as catch up with friends and former co-workers. Despite having left Japan soon after 3/11, Stuart says his former employers were happy to see him again and even asked if his Tokyo visit meant that he was moving back to Japan. “All-in-all, they treated me as someone they respected and missed, and they were happy to see me for the day,” he says.
However, when the discussion turned to Stuart’s fiancée and whether he was thinking of having kids, the mood of the conversation changed. “When I asked them the same question, they told me they had no plans due to the ongoing nuclear crisis, as they now felt Tokyo was not a safe place to raise children,” he says. “This was not said by just one person, but by multiple people that I caught up with during my visit to Japan.” Stuart admits to being surprised by these admissions, as one year earlier he had found an overall unwillingness by his close Japanese friends, some whom he had known for many years and even attended their weddings, to discuss anything about the nuclear crisis, such as the food quality and the radiation in the air. “I caught up with two married couples, one Japanese and one mixed one, who were trying to have children in 2011 but have since reversed their stance,” he says. “Whether they are right or not, they have decided it is not safe to raise children in the Kanto area due to various reasons and will now wait to have kids, presumably until they move farther west or out of the country.” For these reasons, Stuart admits that he does not foresee himself resettling in Japan in the near future, if at all.
“As more and more news is released about what really happened with the reactors in Fukushima, as well as about the cleanup efforts of the radiation contamination, it makes it really hard to want to live in that environment and raise a family when so much more of the world is available to me,” he says. “Additionally, I want to see and explore more of the world now after having 10 years of Japan under my belt.”
“Even after I had greatly inconvenienced him and the company by leaving soon after the earthquake, he showed a willingness to set me up with another job.”
While Anders says that he often spent time contemplating how different his life would have turned out if the events of March 11, 2011 had not deteriorated in the way they had, he finds himself doing less so as time goes on. “Throughout 2011, not a single day went by without me considering how I could return to Japan and pick up my life in Tokyo from where I left off,” he says. “But the passage of time, as well as my recent trip to Japan, has gradually helped me to accept my fate.” Despite having started a new life in Sweden, Anders adds that he still has not given up on the idea of returning to Japan and resettling there one day.
“When I had lunch with my former boss, he told me drop him a line if I ever decide to return to Tokyo,” he says.
15