c o m ing up to i ts f ir st b ir th d ay in Bri ta in - a y e a r d uring wh i c h we trie d to show you various a sp e cts of Jap a n We j o urneyed through several regions of the archipelag o and you may have noted that Japanese society isn’t in as poor a state as some Western media would lead you to believe
A s we a re a b o ut to b l ow o ut o ur f ir st candle, we would like to hear your voices, to have your opinion on this mag azine in order to help fulfill your expectations and n e e d s O f c o ur s e , o ur ma in a m b i ti o n i s to bring you a number of new surprises and discoveries every month, while also responding to what you wish to read about THE EDITORIAL TEAM info@zoomjapan.info
67%
The territorial disagreement between Russia and Japan about the Southern Kuril Islands has been spoiling relations between both these countries since 1945. 67% of the Japanese population think it is about time their government was a little less intransigent on this issue.
I N THE EYE OF Eric Rechsteiner
RESOURCES Reassuring rare earths
If the discover y of rare earths at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean were to be confirmed, it would be good news for Japan, which depends heavily on China for 90% of the metal it uses for the development of advanced technology Samples have been taken near Minamitorishima Island, 2.000 km Southeast of Tokyo.
HEALTH Higher risks of cancer
According to a recent study published by the World Health Organisation (WHO), the risk of developing cancer in the most contaminated zones around the Fukushima nuclear plant has increased by 4% compared to normal base rates. However, Greenpeace stated that “The WHO report shamelessly downplays the impact of early radioactive leaks from the Fukushima disaster on people inside the 20 km evacuation zone who were not able to leave the area quickly".
Mount Fuji’s last eruption dates back to 1707 but three Japanese prefectures (Yamanashi, Shizuoka and Kanagawa) have just developed an evacuation plan in case of a lava expulsion or ash cloud – you never know A painted wall in the Nishi-Nippori quarter of Tokyo
Mount Fuji
ECONOMY The TPP, a risky bet for Japan
Tokyo has announced its participation in the Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership for Free Trade. Is this good news?
Prime Minister Abe Shinzo must have felt satisfied on reading the results of polls published th e day a f ter h e ann o un c e d Jap an ’ s p ar ti c ipation in the Trans-Pacific Partnership ( TPP) on the 15th of March. According to a study by Sankei Shimb un , 6 3 8 % o f p e op l e qu e sti on e d supp or te d th e g overnment ’ s decision The Japanese may have been impressed by their leader ’ s declaration, according to which “the TPP would turn the Pacific into an inn er s e a an d a va st e c on om i c z on e ”
Pu b l i c op in i on g ave the Liberal Democrat Party (LDP) a comfortable majorit y during la st D e c emb er ’ s ele ctions but it is still waiting for good news on th e e c on om i c f ront .
Two de cades of continuing crisis have driven the Japanese to the brink of a n er vo us bre a kd own S in c e b e c om ing l e a d er o f th e countr y, Abe Shinzo has made numerous announcements designed to boost electors’ morale before the S enate ele ctions next Ju ly These ele ctions are cr ucia l for the L D P a s it lack s a maj orit y in the upp er chamber It is essential for the Japanese people to supp or t Ab e S h in z o in ord er f or h im to win b a c k th e Senate from his opponents. That is why the g overnment launched a campaign to inform the population
of the positive effects the partnership would have on the countr y ’ s growth. Nevertheless, Japan’s participation in the TPP doesn’t necessarily g uarantee a brighter tomorrow. The TPP could risk harming many econ om i c s e c tor s an d s o c i a l we lf are , b e caus e i t wi l l completely disrupt the way the countr y has functioned up until now. Certain sectors that are already quite weak, such as agriculture, will suffer additional damage This explains the ongoing demonstrations by farmers against the TPP over the past few months, althoug h these are b eing p a id less and less attention However, the government needs to be clearer about what is really at stake, rather than just presenting th e ore ti ca l g row th figures The Japanese people have the right to know exactly what awaits them and any deception could cost th e L D P d e ar For e x amp l e , th e Prim e Min i ster n e e d s to e xp la in that in th e f ace of Ch ina’s g rowing power, he has to streng then his partnership with the USA , fierce supp or ters of the T P P Americans have a lot to gain with the creation of a vast free-trade zone adapted to their needs. The Japanese negotiators have their work cut out in order to defend their countr y ’ s interests among the eleven others concerned (the USA , Canada , Mexico, Peru, Chile, Australia , New Z ealand, Sing apore, Brunei, Malaysia and V ietnam) who see the Japanese market as particularly promising.
GABRIEL BERNARD
Participation in the TPP should be beneficial for the country.
SOCIETY Where have the children gone?
To start a family and have children isn’t an obvious choice in Japan anymore Zoom Japan investigated.
What does being a parent in Japan mean nowadays ? We a ske d se vera l Japanese families Do they find that difficulties for young parents are increasing ? And what do they consider to be easier for them than for previous generations ? In this countr y with decreasing numbers of young people, where the number of pregnancies has been falling since the seventies, what contributes to encouraging the Japanese to start a family ? Two years a f ter th e e ar th qua ke o f Marc h 2 0 1 1 , ha s i ts a f termath chang e d the situation?
The arch ip ela g o ha s re corde d its lowest bir th rate sinc e 1920, with an avera g e g rowth of 0 20% If it
carries on this way, Japan’s current population of 130 million can expe ct it to re duce by half by 2100 On the 1st of Januar y 2012, Japan’s birth rate was 8 39 p er 1,000 residents, a tota l that places the countr y in 216th position in demographic terms worldwide With 1 37 children per woman (an average o f 1 0 6 i n To k y o ) , t h e num b e r i s mu c h lower than the tipping point of 2 1 ne cessar y for continue d population renewal.
In Januar y 2012 a study undertaken by the Nationa l Institute for D emo g raph ic Stud i e s un d erl in e d th e d ramati c an d ur g ent character of the drop in birth rates This re duction means the number of pe ople over 65 years old will increase from 23% to 40% of the population by 2060, while the percentage of young people will be halved, with a de crease from 13% to 9% This situation is a
thr e a t t o th e Ja p
force is shrinking and cannot support the increasing number of elderly pe ople
What are the reasons for this haemorrhag e ? It is largely due to a society that is evolving and rapidly chang i n g Wo
With only 1.37 children per women, the necessary minimum of 2.1 is hard to reach.
s i n g
y emancipated and wish to s t u d y a n d w o r k b e f o r e thinking of marriag e and motherhood and it is still difficult to reconcile these choices in Japan Althoug h p erceptions have e volve d since the 80s, on be coming a mother, a woman no long er ha s a p lac e in trad itiona l Jap anese business life. Org anising childcare is a lso her resp onsib il it y and the lack of supp or t is an add itiona l d if-
The Idas taking a family walk
ficult y for women when the y g o back to work af ter their maternit y leave
Another imp or tant chang e ha s to do with the fact that p e ople are g etting marrie d later and fe w ch ild r e n a r e c o n c e i v e d o ut s i d e m a rr i a g e , o n l y 3 % i n Japan, compare d with more than 50% in France and approximately 40% in the US Children present an obstacle in reach ing a c er ta in le vel of financia l c omfort, as the costs of pregnanc y and education are ver y hig h. Last but not least, am ong th e f am i l i e s we m e t , s e vera l o f them confessed to being worried at the idea of starting a family in such an uncertain economic climate. Fig ures show that in 2011, the year the earthquake to o k p lac e, the rate of p opu lation g rowth fel l to a n e w l o w s i n c e th e a nnua l c e n s u s w a s e s t a b l i s h e d in the 50s
tle time for their children. Since 2008, fathers have be en allowe d to take paternit y leave
But Watanabe Junko has strong opinions about this She believes that the drop in the Japanese birth rate is first and foremost a problem related to men ’ s educ ati o n w h i l e th e y a re sti l l c h i l d ren Fo r th i s re a s o n , s h e p r e f e r r e d t o m a r
I believe I am quite lucky. My husband helps me with everything at home. Things used to be different in Japan.
In an attempt to understand the situation, Zoom Japan m e t f o ur Jap an e s e wom en : Kurom o to K ana , Ida Tomoko, Watanabe Junko and Kusano Mie. These mothers agreed to tell us their stories and their experi en c e s o f m o th erh o o d in th e c onte xt o f Jap an e s e society today, with its difficulties, its joys and its fears.
“ We h a v e t o a d m i t t h a t t h e g o v e r nm e nt a c t i v e l y encourages us to have children” say Ida Tomoko and her husband Andre “ We benefit from the kodomo teate for our son, a 15,000 yen [£103] allowance per month until Lukas’ fifteenth birthday”. On the birth of a baby Japanese parents are entitle d to this g rant totalling 42,000 yen. The payments de crease as the c h i l d g r o w s o l d e r T h e y r e c e i v e 1 5 , 0 0 0 y e n p e r month until the child is three years old, then 10,000 until the ag e of fifteen In the 70s the allowance was worth only 3,000 per child
But it is still “ an insignificant amount of money when you count the cost of childcare compared to the hours parents have to put in at work,” says Kuromoto Kana “Day nurseries close at 7pm at the latest After that, there is no other solution if your parents don’t live in the same city,” Ida Tomoko adds. “I work full time in the textile industr y I often get off work at 9 or 10pm I need to organise for Lukas to be looked after when the nurser y closes” Her husband Andre, who works in computer sciences, rarely gets off work before 1am For this couple, as for others in Japan, it is the mother who jug g les with her timetable and who g ets back home in time for the children The tradition of the full time working father persists
Yet ideas are chang ing “I belie ve I am quite lucky,” recognises Kuromoto Kana . “My husband helps me with e ver y thing at home, the nappies, the bathing , the walks Things used to be different in Japan” Japanese me dia call these men ikumen, those who both work and help in the household This new g eneration of men that actively takes part in the children’s lives at home has be en a g rowing phenomenon for some years. The g overnment encoura g es these initiatives with seminars for fathers who have to o lit-
foreig ner. In 2008, 37,000 Ja
e ig ners, which is eig ht times more than fort y years a g o
“I belie ve that men today identif y with the soshoku kei danshi g eneration. Men are more feminine and wait for women to ask them out The Japanese men want to g et more out of life and have fewer respons i b i l i ti e s A s f or wom en , th e y are g a in ing in in d ependence, they don’t need men financially anymore
The y have more power ” .
The last person we met, Kusano Mie, has never had
any children of her own. We still felt we should tell her stor y In her own way she represents the “ maternal heart” of this article Originally from Fukushima, h er materna l instin c ts o ver wh e l m e d h er a f ter th e tr a g i c e v e nt s o f Ma r c
future of Japan, she left the US where she was living with her husband and returned to the reg ion of her bir th to help the children who had b e en upro ote d from their homes and cities as best she could, using a l l the means at her d isp osa l “I b el ie ve the fear of contamination is g oing to add to the financial prob l ems that y o ung Jap an e s e f am i l i
untering , ” she says
Al l these women l ive d throug h the exp erienc es of motherhood during or rig ht af ter the March 2011 e
h
s e accounts of their lives They all experienced the earthqua ke ver y d i f f erentl y an d th e y have a l l a g re e d to tell us their stories.
JOHANN FLEURI
BIBLIOGRAPHY When you stop believing in tomorrow
Exactly twenty years ago, sociologist Muriel Jolivet, a close observer of the evolution of customs in the archipelago, published Japan: The Childless Society? The Crisis of Motherhood [Routledge, 1997]. This reference book was all the more pertinent as it echoed the catastrophic situation that was becoming evident to those living in the country When that same
shed the symbolic birth rate of 1 5 children per woman, it came as a bombshell People were tal-
about the “Nixon shock” when the American president had deci-
standard Drawing on investiga-
views, Muriel Jolivet revealed the causes of this worrying situation
amongst the most educated in the world, were having increa-
conditions they were expected
case following pregnancy, and afraid of the resulting loneliness and isolation after giving birth They did not want have the aggravation of an interrupted career when they felt forced to leave their job to look after their children Others, who chose to follow a career path after giving birth, were considered to have abandoned their child Due to the prevailing conformism, a working woman is suspected of being “selfish”. A young television prod
more responsibilities If I had a child, I would need to bring it up I want to develop my own creativity, but
that implies not having any children This may sound selfish, but an increasing number of women want to take care of themselves rather than bring up a child I don’t have any time left to think of the future, except the immediate future And since the crisis burst upon us, all you can think about he day after next We’re a w o r l d t h a t d o e s n ’t lieve in tomorrow” e s p i t e t h e r e v e l a t i o
ese factors and the recoi t i
, thing has really changed t h e
p e l a g o T h e th rate has continued to op, presaging a worrying ure for the whole couny N
l is a desire to have chilen According to a study rried out in 2009 by the
Social Affairs, 90%
absence of belief in tomorrow that stops the Japanese from starting families? Maybe so, as businesses have
employees with children and the government has also decided to take the bull by the horns The effects of these decisions will only show up in the long run Even so, on a recent trip to Japan, this author was surprised by how many young couples she saw with young children Are things starting to change?
ODAIRA NAMIHEI
TREND Daddy’s come home
For the past few years, a new generation of fathers has been participating more in their children’s education.
Kuromoto Kana chose to call her daughter Chihiro, like the hero of Miyazaki Hayao’s famous animation The dark haired child is sleeping in her cot. Her maternal grandfather, Miyao, stands proudly near his “first granddaughter” and gently pulls the cover up under her chin Kana is 33 and she gave birth to Chihiro on the 14th of May 2012. She lives with her child and her husband in a small flat situated in Asakusa, a popular quarter in the northeast of the capita l Children’s toys are strewn across the apartment The atmosphere is peaceful “ When I got pregnant, it was a surprise,” says Kana. “It was earlier than p lanne d , but it wa s g re ete d with j oy by the who le family.” At the time, the young woman was temping at a design company Her husband, Hiroyuki, 39 years old, works for a printer of school textbooks The couple has been married for three years. “Summer 2011 was very hard here in Japan,” recounts Kana An energ y shortage meant several festivals were cancelled, including locally in Asakusa, which is one of the biggest in the countr y “I learned I was pregnant in September and I wanted to forg et this difficult period completely I wanted to view life optimistically, benefit from it, think of a better world for my child”. It’s a desire to leave this painful episode behind and make the most of the present; to turn a new page Hiroyuki, Kana’s husband, isn’t here today “He works hard , and he of ten g ets home late in the e ven ing ” Nevertheless, it’s important to him to find time to see his daughter and take part in her education “My husband tries to g et home as early as possible He finds it natural to help bring up our daughter He also wants to spend time with her and help me He bathes her, does the shopping and makes dinner, and he takes her out for walks He even changes her nappies” Hiroyuki isn’t an isolated case For a few years now, a new generation of dads have sprung up in Japan, the ikumen It’s a g eneration of fathers who make sure of g etting home early enoug h to take care of the children. The Japanese government has noticed this trend over the past two years and is enthusiastically encouraging these initiatives There even exists an Ikumen Project that supp or ts these fathers and offers seminars to teach them how to best take part in life at home. The Japanese dad’s role is not just to b e a financia l supp or t, it’s also to be active at the centre of the family and take part in the children’s education In short; being present for the children as they grow up The "iku" in Ikumen is derived from iku-ji, meaning children’s education
By rethinking the Japanese family, the mother has been accorded a new role “I am going to be able to go back
to work My husband helps out a lot, so it will be easier to do now I don’t have manage everything at home on my own ” Kana will be able to go back to work at the company where she was employed before becoming pregnant “ The company I used to work for, a small Japanese business sp e cia lising in desig n, is offering to give me back my temping position. Because of my precarious situation, I still don’t have the same rights a s other emp loye es On the other hand , I work set hours That will allow me to collect my daughter from the nurser y in the evening ” She doesn’t question the situation as taking her husband’s timetable into account, she says that she “ can only have this kind of temporary job. But I’m not too bothered by it. My motivation in going to work is essentially financial I don’t really have
any long -term career project I have to admit that if I worked in a company that was equipped with a nurser y, so that I could sometimes see my daughter, I probably wouldn’t talk about my career ambitions in quite the same way ”
With b oth their sa laries and the g overnment a l lowances (kodomo teate), Kuromoto Kana believes that “it’s sufficient to bring a child up in Japan On the other hand, it isn’t sufficient for a parent bringing their child up alone, or to have a second child For this reason, my husband and I can ’ t imagine having a big family Nor even having a second child, it would be too difficult f i na n c i a l l y But w h o kn ow s , w i th ti m e , w e m i g ht chang e our minds”.
Chihiro can count on both her parents support through life
STATEMENT The fate of the herbivores
If the Japanese are not having enough children, it’s their own fault. At least, that’s the opinion of one mother.
Wata na b e Jun ko ha s b e e n ma rr i e d t o a
S c o t , R i c ha r d D aw s o n , f o r f i v e y e a r s
a n d i s t h e m o t h e r o f t w o c h
Alexandre and Rika Her husband, from Edinburgh,
i s t h e d i
To k y o . T h e f a m i l y l i v e s i n a c o m f o r t a b
M i n a t o i n t h e Ja p a n e
9, is a little tornado. Between racing around at break ne ck spe e d he bends over and kisses his little sister, Rika , just 9 months old and sitting on her mother ’ s lap. “He’s a lways l ike that,” says h is mother ap o log e t i c a l l y “ It ’ s h a r d t o c h a nn e l h i s e n e r g y ” L i t t l e R i k a w a t c h e s a t t e n t i v e l y. Wa t a n a b e Ju n ko , w h o c omes from Na g ano, exudes g entleness and kindness She likes spending time with her children and a d m i t s s h e i s n ' t i n a r u s h t o r e s um e h e r w o r k a s a secretar y "I feel so happy while I ’ m with my babies,” s h e sm i l e s . At 3 9 , Jun ko d e f i n e s h er s e l f a s a n o l d mum " "In Jap an, I ’ m a lready c onsidere d qu ite o ld to have children, even thoug h today the trend is for an increa sing numb er of Jap anese women to want to have stud ie d and star te d a care er b efore having c h i l d r e n . T h e y w a n t t o w o r k o u t s i d e t h e h o u s e m ore , an d b e c om e m ore in d ep en d ent f inan c i a l l y W h en th e y re a l i s e that th e y want a c h i l d th e y are to o o ld , or are to o invo lve d in their work , and it’s h a r d f o r w o m e n t o r e c o n c i l e t h e i r p r o f e s s i o n a l care ers with family life in Japan,” she continues.
O n th e q u e s ti o n o f c h i l d c a re , Jun ko ha s h er own idea to help young mothers with too much on their hands “I think we should create a communit y that a llows us to help each other For example, I live in M i n a t o . T h e m a y o r h e r e h a s c r e a t e d a s u p p o r t g roup, and the way it works is ing enious : experience d mothers, who live in the area , take part for 800 yen per hour Its ver y affordable when compared to the c ost of b aby-sitting ser vic es It’s a g o dsend for mothers who can ’ t c ount on their p arents ’ help a s the y live to o far away ”
Watanabe Junko considers herself privileg e d in her professional life
“I was ver y lucky, because my comp any ta kes g reat care of mothers For examp le, we are allowe d a year and a half of maternit y leave. We can a lso choose to work part-time or to do some of the work from home until the ch ildren are 12 It’s idea l , ” she confirms with a smile
According to Junko, there is only one reason for the drop in Japanese bir th rates : Japanese men . “ Well , e sp e c i a l l y th e s osh oku ke i d a n sh i w h o r e j e c t th e i r w
Japanese, aged between 20 and 35, that doesn’t want to de vote life to a professional career. So the y avoid re sp ons i b i l i ti e s or any c omp e ti ti ve
sp en d
tl e and ta ke care only of themselves For them it’s just a ca se of ma king the most of time a s it pa sses. S osh o ku ke i d a n sh i , tr a
“h
e s ” i n Europe, are also uninterested in love and sex Fukas a w a Ma k i , a u t h
m p l o y e d t h e word for the first time in 2006 “In Japan, the word for sex l itera l ly means flesh,” she says in an ar ticle. That is why I ca lle d these men herbivores, b e cause th e y ’ re n o t intere ste d in f l e s h” It ’ s e stimate d that
SEXUALITY Don’t touch!
Despite the definition given by the Japanese Sexology Society, “sexless” does not apply to a specific situation It means not having any consensual intercourse or sexual contact for over a month But this definition goes back 17 years In a poll carried out in 2007, which asked what length of time should l a p s
approximately 30% of the people questioned replied six months And so the severity of the “sexless” problem progresses. O. N.
identif y with this lifest yle. According to a p oll of 500 young Japanese, taken by Lifenet Seimei Insur a n
inter vie we
were concerne d ab out this ne w trend. “ The soshoku kei danshi are e ver y where now, ” says Watana b e . “ Th e y are ver y f
f or women pick them up, which the y don’t want to do It mig ht be due to the way the y were broug ht up by t h e i
absence of a father, who was unintereste d in young children . On their part, women are g aining in independence : the y don’t ne e d men financia lly anymore S o me eting some one is much harder. In g enera l , I b el ie ve t
nese man nowadays. Japanese men don’t like strong p ersona lities Of course, young women don’t p ose that p ro
n d sta
t to assert themselves, thing s g et harder. And past a certain age, Japanese women have a lot of difficulty find
It
with a touch of bitterness
J. F.
Watanabe Junko with her children and her Scottish husband
DESTINY Extreme care
The tragic events of the 11th of March 2011 affected this couple’s dream of having many children.
Sa itama is a suburb in the northeast of Tokyo. We’re in a trendy two -room flat in which Ida Andre and his wife Tomoko live. Lukas, their son, is cuddled up in his mother’s arms With his tousled hair and his mischievous pout, he stares at the people around him with curiosity, before bur ying his face with a smile in his mother’s shoulder Lukas was born in December 2011. He has little chubby cheeks and leg s A shy, smiling boy : he makes sure his mother is never far away And when his parents have their backs turne d , he enjoys t yping on his father ’ s computer, althoug h he isn’t allowed to His parents watch him, delighted.
Andre and Tomoko, 33 and 35 years old respectively, started thinking seriously about having a child three years ag o. They’ve known each other since Fukuoka University in Kyushu, where they studied together “My family is Japanese, but they live in Brazil, and I was born in São Paulo,” Andre explains I came to Japan to study in 2005, and I stayed” Tomoko is from Mie, the prefecture south of Kansai. “For a long time, we thought of having three children,” says Andre “But what with the difficulties we had trying to have Lukas, we thought of giving up on having a big family,” he says gloomily Tomoko’s pregnancy was a morally testing time, March 2011 Tomoko learne d of her preg nanc y four days before the Earthquake took place She had been carr ying her child for 6 weeks. “I was so happy to be pregnant But then everything went dark All I wanted was to protect my baby I felt confused”
After the earthquake and then the Fukushima Dai-ichi power plant accident, the young mother’s worries intensified. “I didn’t dare drink tap water anymore. Nor go shopping Which vegetables could I risk buying ? I had no idea So I started buying bottled water in shops and ordering food over the internet to ensure precise traceability” Tomoko is outraged when she remembers this worr ying time in her life. “ We suffered from lack of information from the government It’s true We were told that food with under 10% microsieverts of radiation was edible and not dangerous for human beingsbut what about my baby ? I was uncertain” It was out of the question for Tomoko’s baby to become a guinea pig
For the six months after the earthquake, Tomoko and Andre washed their vegetables with mineral water “The cost of bottle d water rose at that time,” says Andre There were reg ular medical appointments though no more or less than for a regular pregnancy, although the stress was more intense. “ We thought of leaving for Brazil , to me et up with my husband’s family,” Tomoko
A large family is possible again for Tomoko and Andre
admits. “ We didn’t feel it was safe to bring up our child here I even thought the worst: I thought of aborting ” Now, Lukas is here “ When I look at him, I am glad I endured all the fear, and that he is here and in g ood health,” Tomoko smiles Step by step, she started using tap water again, because “I can now check the quality of the city’s water on the internet” Life goes on Lukas will soon be a year and a half and Tomoko and Andre are starting to think about having a large family again
Last October, Tomoko’s maternit y leave came to an end and she went back to work The nurser y school won ’ t admit Lukas until April so, “ my mother came from Brazil to take care of Lukas for the time being , until e ver y thing is in order,” Andre explains As for Tomoko, she has negotiated to be allowed to leave work when the nurser y closes “I ’ m l u c k y T h i s ki n d o f arrangement is rare for full-time positions: my bosses are ver y understanding ” J. F.
COMMITMENT In the name of ever y mother
Even though she doesn’t have any children, Kusano Mie has understood that a healthy future needs to be ensured for birth rates to rise.
At 5 2 , Kus a n o Mi e ha s n e ver ha d a ny c h i ldren, but we wanted to g ive her a platform after all she has done as the “maternal heart” of the action to help children of the Fukushima prefecture where she herself grew up This native of Shira kawa saw “the land of her ch ild ho o d c o l lapse in March 2011” She now belie ves that “fear of contamination will be an obstacle to the creation of new families in Japan In the Tohoku reg ion, as well as in other areas of Japan”
She had been living in Main for seven years, with her husband, Steve Athearn, and was devastated by March 2011’s trag edy. “My mother, my brothers and sisters a s wel l a s a l l their f am il ies l ive in Fu kush ima , ” she e x p l a i n s “ My y o un g n i e c e s a n d n ep h e w s l i ve i n Fukushima, Koriyama and Shirakawa, the city where I wa s b orn Now, that zone is b ad ly c ontam inate d because the Abukuma River flows across it”. Mie tenderly remembers all the happy hours she spent in this Japanese province “ When I think of my childhood, I s e e l i l a c s p l a nt e d i n th e m i d d l e o f a d a rk f o re s t :
it’s like a never-ending spring day” Since March 2011 she says that “ e ver y th ing ha s chang e d. The f armer throws his produce away The surface of the ground needs to be removed and is deprived of its essential micro -organisms. The children can ’ t touch the grass in the garden, and most of them will never be able to go home because ever ything is contaminated”. A feeling of g uilt over whelme d Mie “I reg ret, and I am ashamed that when the Fukushima power plant was bu ilt, I sa id noth ing . That is why I wish to c ontribute to repairing our soil”
Mie’s father died in November 2011 and her mother ne e de d treatment for brea st cancer “I went to live with her My family needed me, ” she says But when she got there, Mie became involved in another form of action “I also wanted to help my family leave Fukushima . The Japanese government ordered the evacuation of p e ople living in area s with a radiation le vel over 20 millisieverts per year But that also means that many residents are stil l l iving just under that l im it daily It mig ht be lower than the level specified but it still exists. Most people are aware of the risk they take, but often they don’t have the means to leave the area where they live And it’s also reassuring to stay in familiar surrounding s, e ven if it isn’t safe anymore, ” she
confides Mie decided to take action locally and joined Honda Takafumi, who founded the World Network f or Saving Ch i l d ren f rom R a d i ati on in Jun e 2012 This international organisation aims to protect children from nuclear and radioactive dang er. “ We share news and information on the effects of radioactivity on children. We also participated in creating a citizens’ clinic in Fukushima We hope that this place can g ive answers to worried mothers’ questions and find solutions to the illnesses that mig ht develop in the future The children who were subject to the strong est radiation will follow a 24 day treatment, thre e times a year for 10 years ” According to Mie, “fear of contamination will add t o th e f i na n
that
encountering Having a child is a heavy financial responsibilit y in Japan. This countr y ne e ds to chang e the way it thinks about life, the economy, culture and industry” In March last year her sister-in-law, Nozomi, gave birth to a little girl. “ They both live with my sister-in-law’s husband, Yoshitaka , in Shirakawa It was quite a challenge ; throughout her pregnanc y she was afraid of contamination,” she says They probably calle d their daug hter Nozomi to ward off bad luck It means “Hope” in Japanese.
J. F.
Since she’s been back in Japan, Kusano Mie has been leading the battle to protect children from radioactive contamination
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BOOK Higashino at his best
Wakayama Hiromi, assistant to famous artist Mashiba Ayane and her husband’s mistress, unfortunately discovers the husband lifeless in the marital home. It is later proved that he has been poisoned with arsenic after drinking a cup of coffee Inspector Kusanagi is in no doubt: Mashiba Yoshitaka, the husband, has been poisoned by his wife Ayane because he was about to leave her for the young Hiromi. Not only did Ayane know about her husband’s affair with her assistant, she also knew he would leave her if she hadn’t
become pregnant after a year of marriage. The motive is clear, all that is
EXHIBITION Excavated Reverberations
Hiraku Suzuki uses drawing to extend a primitive method of expression into a contemporar y technique of reflection and transformation. He associates the act of drawing with the process of 'excavation' and reveals memories and 'unknowns' that lie dormant within our daily life. Paper sur faces become excavation sites in which the moment is carefully inscribed by generating the different dimensions of time and space from a limited twodimensional plane. In his latest exhibition called Excavated Reverberations, Hiraku Suzuki presents his recent approaches to drawing through a series of works on
needed is proof. Keigo gashino draws on the usanagi-Yukawa couple om The Devotion of uspect X and once again eaves together a nuanced ystery, in which seduction nd deduction are onderfully played against ne another, resulting in a harming novel that ceived the Noaki prize, ne of the most prestigious Japan.
eference :
igo Higashino, Salvation of a Saint, translated by Alexander O. Smith, Little, Brown, £12 99
paper, using several different methods and reaffirms his continuing interest in the genesis of letters and symbols.
Visitor information:
Runs until the 10th of May Mondays- Fridays, 9:30am- 5:00pm
Daiwa Foundation Japan House, 13/14 Cornwall Terrace, Outer Circle, London NW1 4QP
T HIS MONTH’S EVENT
DVD Long live the King!
Adapted from Yuji Iwahara’s manga, Kazuyoshi Katayama’s King of Thorn is a fantasy horror-survival film that attacks the complex subtleties of our dreams and fantasies. It draws inspiration from fairy tales such as Sleeping Beauty, which is a common theme throughout the film, and several times the story attempts to take root in a dreamlike context full of uncertain implications Numerous clues lead us on: monsters straight out of young Timothee’s video game, references to Sleeping Beauty The observant viewer will inevitably anticipate a final revelation similar to Philip K Dick’s Maze of Death
However, the twists and turns and the ending of King of Thorn are a little too predictable The last third of the film draws us into a succession of frenzied scenes, halfreal and half-fantasy – though the edges become increasingly blurred – just smoke and mirrors that completely distract us from an already sufficiently convoluted scenario. This willingness to lose the viewers somewhere between reality and dreams, even if it is in line with the initial atmosphere, only contributes to disorienting and confusing them Should the incoherencies be considered part of the dream? Ultimately, what is just illusion? What could have been a mind game, along the lines of Inception, becomes an unsolvable brainteaser that isn’t worth untangling, as what lies beneath all this confusion appears merely simplistic Despite this disappointing ending, the film stays the course and the graphics hold their own, with just a few 3D inlays that could have been left out On the other hand, the music is beautiful and suits the ambiance perfectly
ODAIRA NAMIHEI
King of Thorn, Manga Entertainement, £14 (DVD) and £17.50 (Blu-ray)
INTERVIEW “Literature and life are like gambling”
Writer Takahashi Genichiro on writing , politics and the charms of horse racing.
Takahashi Genichiro is one of the most important all-around Japanese writers of the last 30 y e a r s a n d o n e o f th e p i o n e er s o f th e p o s tmodern novel in this countr y From fiction to essay, from literar y criticism to sports writing and political c o mm enta r y, th e 6 2 -y e a r- o l d Ta k a ha s h i m i xe s a strong m ora l stan c e wi th an e xtra ord inar y ima g ination which constantly challenges the reader to aband o n r ati o na l i t y i n o rd er t o e x p l o re th e w o rl d s h e creates. Takahashi’s life is almost as picaresque as his stories As a student radical, he was arrested and his experience in prison left him incapable of expressing himself with words for many years
When did you decide you wanted to be a writer ?
Sinc e when I wa s in h ig h scho o l , a lthoug h my l ife took several detours before I actually decided to give it a serious tr y I belong to the “1968 generation” and I wa s d i re c tl y i nvo l ve d i n th e s t u d ent s p ro t e s t s
Actually, in Japan the demonstrations reached their peak in 1969, i e the ver y year I entered universit y After being arrested and expelled from school, I worked as a manual laborer for ten years You see all the roads in this area ? I worked on all of them ( laug hs)
And then, when I hit my 30s, I suddenly remembered my old dream
You had been involved in the student protests even before entering universit y, right ?
Yes, the radica l movement e ven swept throug h my hig h school in Osaka We were ag ainst the V ietnam War and share d the same re volutionar y ideals with the other movements in Europe and America but we
were also dealing with some typically Japanese issues like the US-Japan Security Treaty and the American o ccupation of Okinawa . Howe ver, apar t from any specific problems, I think there was a lot of raw anger We were f undamenta l ly fr ustrate d toward so ciet y an d th e e du cati on s y stem an d we re a c h e d a p o int when we felt we had to do something
quality of life g ot better and better throug h the ‘70s and as you know, when people feel well-fed and satisfied they stop complaining .
You were arrested during the demonstrations. How long did you spend in prison?
Actually I was arrested three times The first time I pent three weeks, the second one week, and the third me they kept me in for ten months
In the 1950s and ‘60s people in Japan were of ten in the s tre e ts pro te s ting . Then , in the ‘ 7 0 s , the y s u d d en l y s to p p e d a n d n o th ing h ap p en e d unti l recently Why was that ?
There was a strong feeling of disappointment throug hout the student movement This led, in 1971, to th e b ir th o f th e Jap a n e s e R e d Army that c o n d u cted a series of terrorist actions and further distanced society from left-wing politics At the same time the
Was it at that time that you b eg an to suffer from phasia ?
Yes. You have to understand that only one visitor a a y wa s a d m i t t e d a n d th e y c o u l d s ta y o n l y f i ve minutes. On top of that we had no privacy, as a g uard was a lways present In those conditions I g radua lly ost my abilit y to talk, even when my g irlfriend was isiting. It took longer and longer to put my thoughts nto speech and even when I came out I had trouble sing ever yday lang uag e. This experience left a psyholo g ica l scar that in a sense ha sn ’ t hea le d to th is ay Eventually I fig ured that if I couldn’t speak proerly, I could at least express myself in writing , so you ould say this was a blessing in disg uise
o in a sense even your writing st yle was affected y your problem.
Yes, you can definitely say so
Is it true that “Sayonara, Gangsters” is partly autobiographical ?
Cer ta in ly you can find many referenc es to my l ife experiences but e ver y thing is told in a roundabout way Th i s i s a l s o du e to th e pro b l ems I sti l l ha d in expressing myself. In other words, I had to find a way to say what didn’t come out naturally So I came up
CULTURE
with this particular style The end result is that all the autobiographical parts are camouflaged and made invisible by the way I told them
When critics and reviewers talk about you, they often use such terms as post-modern, meta-fiction and metanovel. Do you agree with them?
I think if I was a critic I would do the same, as it is true that I was influenced by a number of post-modern writers. At the same time I’d like to point out that I liked them simply as writers, without really consciously thinking I want to write meta-fiction or something like that. Also, post-modernism can be difficult to define For example, my favorite writer is Italo Calvino Many of his books can be defined as meta-fiction but he flirted with so many styles and there are so many sides to his work . I don’t think anybody would call him a postmodern novelist
How about you? How would you define yourself as a writer ?
I wish I could write like Calvino. I particularly like his American lectures, where he compares lig htness and heaviness, and states that his lifelong work has been a slow process of subtraction in order to make his stories and language lighter In my books I aim at the same goal Then it’s up to the reader to decide whether I’ve been successful or not (laughs)
Apart from that, I have always loved modern Japanese poetry and I consider my creative roots as being poetry rather than novels In Japan, the mainstream novel is dominated by realism, whereas the world of poetr y is high modern For many years I have read the works of such poets as Tamura Ryuichi and Yoshimatsu Gozo who pursue their style of language very self-consciously
In the past modernism wasn’t ver y popular in Japan, was it ?
That’s right As I said, Japanese literary tradition – let’s say mainstream literature – was represented by the socalled “I novel” and naturalism on one side (think about Natsume Soseki) and the political novel on the other. In both these trends, content was valued much more
than form and style Now, according to this point of view, modernism was light on content and rather out of touch with reality, therefore not worth taking seriously Even now things have hardly changed in this respect
“Sayonara, Gangsters", your debut novel, was published in 1982. Do you think that being a writer in Japan now is easier or harder than 30 years ago? It depends For example, when my first novel came out there was a rigid distinction between literature, comics and movies etc If you were a novelist you were supposed to work in a certain way. There were also technological limitations and budget restraints Once I asked my publisher to include a flexi-disc in my book because I wanted to present the last chapter in that form but I was told it was too expensive But now the multimedia approach has become common and people mix genres all the time Already in 1984, my second novel “Over the Rainbow” contained photos and other typographical innovations. So you can say writers have gained considerable creative freedom and with the advent of the Internet, blog s, e-books and mobile phones it’s g etting more and more difficult to define a novel At the same time though, so many people write now that even a successful debut is no guarantee of a successful career. Publishers have grown impatient; they don’t have the time or the strength to nurture new talents and the competition is so great that at the first flop they dump you for the next big thing
What do you think is Japan’s position in international literature?
Japanese literature is a rather peculiar, sometimes even strange entity First of all, compared to other countries, Japanese society has reached the post-industrial stage in record time We don’t have new frontiers to explore Our society seems to have reached its limits and this sense of crisis – what I call the end of capitalism – comes out in many novels Another thing we can say about Japanese writers is that they are a little crazier than in other countries (laughs) They seem to know no bounds and are always experimenting and pushing the envelope. By comparison, Western writers seem to be more conservative
Has your writing been affected by the disasters of March 2011?
Definitely For many years I rather consciously avoided writing explicitly about political and social issues Then in April 2011 ( i.e. only one month after the disaster) the Asahi Shimbun asked me to write a monthly opinion column. I took it as a chance to contribute my thoughts on the subject There was a period soon after the earthquake when most people seemed to pause and think before expressing their opinion. Instead I felt it was important to speak soon, even at the risk of saying something wrong and being criticized. I’ve kept writing for the last two years and now I can say it’s been stressful and I’m tired I’ve also realized I’m not really fit to write this stuff.
What are in your opinion the most urgent issues Japanese society needs to address ?
The 2011 disasters happened only two years ago, yet people seem to have already forgotten about it. Soon after the disaster, it became clear how dangerous nuclear energ y was and how the whole system was based on the corrupted alliance between TEPCO and the government For the first time in about 40 years people made their voice heard through mass demonstrations. In other words, it seemed that Japanese society was finally ready to change for good. Yet in December the Liberal Democratic Party – i e the main culprits responsible for the disaster – won a landslide electoral victory and now they are talking about restarting the nuclear plants. I kind of expected this but I was really surprised by how conservative Japanese societ y is ; how much pe ople dislike change It seems as if nothing really happened in these two years
Can literature change society ?
This is a tough one to answer. Taken as straight political propag anda I don’t think that books can affect chang e Nevertheless, a writer can express what people feel but can ’ t put into words You can show that other lifest yles are p ossible In this sense a work of fiction can be a ver y political thing .
D o y o u th in k c ontemp or a r y wr iter s a r e d o ing enough in this respect ?
It’s a g eneration th ing Older p e op le l ike O e Kenzaburo b elong to a g eneration that wa s p o l itica l ly invo lve d an d have kep t e xpre ss ing th e ir i d e a s in a clear and strong way On the other side you have those writers who are now in their 40s and 50s, who experienced the trauma of the student movement ’ s defeat The y have larg ely kept away from these issues But the young er g eneration, i.e. people who are in their 2 0 s a n d e a rl y 3 0 s , have g ro wn i n a ver y d i f f erent s o c i e t y w h ere g o o d j o b s a re ha rd t o f i n d a n d th e young are uncertain about their future I think these writers are ang rier and show their concern in their stories.
Between 1990 and 1997 you didn’t write any novels, did you?
That’s true I went into a slump, or maybe I should say I got tired of writing fiction – especially the kind o f p o st-m o d ern n o ve l s I ha d wri tten in th e ‘ 8 0 s I increasing ly felt I was wasting my time. So I decided to take a break, which became a seven-year-long hiatus in which I mainly went to the horse races (laughs)
I he a rd ab o ut yo ur intere s t in hor s e r a cing . Is it really so interesting ?
It’s a lot of fun but only if you like g ambling That’s what first attracte d me to the races But then I g ot interested in the whole horse-breeding culture that was born in England, like the way the breeder, almost like a god, shapes and controls a horse lineage in order to produce a thoroug hbred This is something that only an aristocrat with a lot of mone y and time on his hands could achieve It’s an extremely fascinating world but once it sucks you in, it’s difficult to quit Luckily I did it. After all, for a writer, life itself is like g ambling
INTERVIEW BY GIANNI
SIMONE
Takahashi Genichiro, on March the 18th 2013, in a temple near his home
EATING & DRINKING
RESTAURANT Au t hen ti c fa mi l y-ru n
day the 18th March saw estaurant, situated in on's Soho, play host to “Honkaku Shochu” tasevent, an evening that med to introduce a range Shochu that Kyushu land, a southern region f Japan, has to offer. hochu is a distilled beverage that, due to it's high alcohol content of around 25% and versatiity, is extremely popular n Japan, but has yet to despread recognition as sake (known as nihonshu) in the West. Whereas sake is a wine made from rice, Shochu is more diverse and can be produced from rice, potato or barley. It's enjoyed a number of ways, on the rocks, neat or with water. When consumed with cold water the flavour becomes sharper and cleaner, whereas the addition of hot water softens the edge, resulting in a gentler, yet deeper and more rounded flavour. It can be chilled but, unlike vodka which remains unchanged, when frozen will become slightly syrupy. It is also an excellent base for cocktails and the 'chu-hi', Shochu on ice topped up with soda, juice or even Chinese Oolong tea, is equivalent to our vodka mixers. Add to all this the proven health benefits, such as being low in both calories and sugar content, it shouldn't be too long before the word of this amazing tipple reaches British shores.
s u sh i bar i n Cam d en To wn
Sushi is undoubtedly the most famous Japanese dish, comprising of ving ered rice either rolled up ( ma ki ) or s e t in
( n i g iri ) an d toppe d with raw fish or veg etables As Japanese cuisine is now widely recognised, sushi isn't ver y hard to g et i n b o t
countr y
Howe ver, finding delicious, g enuine
Japanese sushi is a little harder
Lu c ki l y, tr a d i ti o -
n a l f a m i l y r u n
Sushi-bar in L ondon do exist, and “ S u s h i Wa k a ” i n
Ca m d e n t o w n i s o n e o f t h e
It's an unassuming an
vegetable tempura is lig ht and fluff y, just as it should b e , a n d t h e m
Japan, loaded with wakame seaweed and small cubes of silky tof u
For an authentic Japanese setting to match your meal, head upsta irs to the private tatami floore d room A fantastic setting , it holds between 12-
many personal mementos, such as the wall of family fish ing trip p hotos, but these are not overly intr us i v e a n d o n l y a d d t
There are a lso many placards of pra ise, written pers o n a l l y b
which are proudly scattere d around Th e venu e ha s b e en s er ving up d e l e
sushi for over 20 years and it’s not hard to se e why, as we indulg e in the Sushi Waka Special set (£19 50) w h i c h c o mp ri
teriyaki chicken, extra rice and a bowl of miso soup The sushi rice is perfectly made, and the fish is wonderfully fresh, with cuts of soft oily salmon, and tuna s
you want to have
m e without bothering your fellow diners. In
entrance, and your p e w c
s o f a humble cushion on the flo or, set b eside low tables
With no minimum spend and part y menus at a reasonable price (£20) for groups of 10 or more, it’s the p erfe ct place to kick back and rela x with a b e er Or may b e ma ke a star t on some of that sho chu . JANAN JEDRZEJEWSKI
EATING & DRINKING
DISCOVERY A Tramway Named Desire
A unique sur vivor of Tokyo’s old tram network, the Arakawa line has a few beautiful surprises in store for eager visitors.
I’ ve always had an obsession with trams Maybe it’s be cause I love trains as well and trams look like trains that happen to criss-cross our cities So I was somewhat disappointed when I moved to Tokyo and I found out that the once extensive tram system had been demolished for g ood It had sur vived both the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake and the American aerial bombing s in 1945, reaching a peak of more than six hundred thousand passengers per day in 1955 but in 1960, with the Olymp ic Games appro ach ing , the metropolitan government suddenly decided that the clums y o ld trams cla she d with the ima g e of a ne w, modern Japan that it wanted to show the world and set out to dismantle the network
My disappointment partially disappeared when I finally managed to find a line that had sur vived the slaughter, the Toden Arakawa Line. It is a ver y peculiar line to be sure, because even thoug h it is labelled a tramway, it actually almost never ventures into the heavy Tokyo traffic , a s it uses an indep endent ra ilway that cuts through the streets only at one point, thus freeing the trams from red lights and traffic jams.
Apart from this, the most important thing I noticed the first time I rode on the line was that the 12 2-kilometer 50-minute trip took me throug h some of the more un-cool and now neglected districts in northern Tokyo. This area is way off the two main beaten tracks of this labyrinthine metropolis – the ultramodern district centres on one side (e g Shinjuku, Shibuya) and the fake folkloristic neighbourhoods near the Sumida River on the other (e g Asa kusa) These t wo urban extremes are respectively the favourite hunting grounds of the h ip young crowd and those (namely tourists coming from abroad or the countr yside) who want to have a ta ste of Old Tokyo By contra st, the nor th is somewhere that nobody ever goes unless they happen to live or work there.
What I saw on that first ride convinced me to make
One of the Arakawa line’s trains, with Tokyo Sky Tree tower (634 m) in the background
another trip to the area. But this time I decided to make several stops and follow the tracks on foot to check out what I had only half-seen from the train Actually following the tracks is by no means an easy thing to do because the tramway often runs ver y close to the walls of the many houses that crowd the area (I can ’ t imagine how the people who live there can stand the noise and the vibration) So I had to make frequent detours
However, that wasn ’ t a problem, because my main goal was to see what was hiding beyond the tracks In this respect, I wasn ’ t disappointed. It felt like a sort of time travel, as if I had stepped into an older, long-gone Tokyo I kept running into small, family-run factories and tiny little shops, full of dust and strange objects most people don’t even remember how to use And trees That’s a peculiarity that sets this area apart in a city that is not ver y tree-friendly (to give an example, the metropolitan area devoted to parks per capita is only one-twentieth that of Washing ton D.C., and the absolute area is well under that in Philadelphia and only a bit over Detroit – both of them much smaller cities).
The line starts in Waseda, not far from the famous universit y campus, and af ter a few stops reaches Z oshigaya, one of the most fascinating neighbourhoods along the line On the rig ht side of the tracks you will find the Zoshigaya cemeter y. I don’t know about you, but I love cemeteries I know it may sound cre epy but I think many of them are ver y charming and the ones in Tokyo are among the most beautiful and, hopefully, quiet places you will find in the city Zoshig aya is no exception. Walking its grass-covered uneven paths, surrounded by trees and the pervasive fragrance of incense, one can easily forget that the huge and ugly Sunshine Cit y hig h-rise complex sits on the other side of the tracks If you like hunting for famous people’s tombs by the way, this place is home to writers Natsume Soseki, Nagai Kafu and Lafcadio Hearn, and Prime Minister Hideki Tojo who was executed in 1948 as a war criminal
Many people say that Zoshigaya’s days are numbered and “ progress ” is coming , but a diminutive old man I met assured me that as long as he and the other elders
Walking through the Zoshigaya cemetery can be full of surprises.
Level crossing by the Koshinzuka stop
TRAVEL
in the area are around, gentrification will have to wait. Speaking of senior citizens, all the city’s northern districts seem to be home to a good number of old people. This part of Tokyo has ne ver be en too fashionable It’s considered too traditional and the pace of life is too slow for the younger generations. Besides, it lacks the status to attract those who think that living in the rig ht place is ever ything In a sense the tramway mirrors this lack of glamour. Instead of the high-tech subway stati ons , h ere y o u have mu c h s imp l er a f f a ir s : concrete blocks, a wooden bench for three or four people to sit, with no ticket vending machines or ticket gates
Leaving Z oshig aya , it is better to board the tram, as the next stretch is not that interesting – a grey area of dull building s and the usual shopping malls. However, after the line intersects the Yamanote L ine loop and shoots north towards the outer limits of the city, it is back to the usual old Tokyo feeling . Walking the ma ze of back stre ets and a l le ys that comprise these supposedly unappealing neig hbourhoods is a refreshing experience after the usual hustle of the business and entertainment districts
About half way from the terminus, the tram reaches Asukayama and finally takes some courage and decides to join the car traffic. This is a pretty busy intersection and the tram has to reduce its speed to a crawl This is the right time to get off and explore the area, as it is a place of great historical and natural interest. Located on high ground, with streams that spill over waterfalls to feed the Shakujii River, it was subject to largescale tree planting in the 18th centur y by order of the shog un Many cherr y trees were planted on the hilltops and when they bloomed hanami (flower viewing ) parties were g iven that attracte d sophisticates from the cit y centre some 8km to the south. S ome of the trees still remain (even though a panoramic look from the tower on the top of the hill will show you a forest of mostly low, g re y building s) while four of the orig inal se ven waterfalls are hidden in the Nanushi no Taki Park just behind the Oji Inari Shinto shrine. This show of endurance is no mean feat, considering that
industrialisation destroyed a good part of the natural environment and in turn made the area a targ et for heavy US wartime bombing
After some more zigzagging at random I found a Buddhist temple, half hidden behind a group of houses. Its official name is Shojuin, but I learned from a small sig n near the entrance that it is a lso known a s Akachan-ji (Babies Temple) Actually, this is not the only example of the g enre Almost ever y town has a place like this, easily recognisable by the many dolls and toys one can find piled up in front of the altar Many women who can ’ t get pregnant or who seek divine protection for their soon-to -be-born child come here and pray Still many others seek forg iveness after they have had an abortion In Japan, abortions are relatively easy to perform and neither Shinto nor Buddhism has problems with that. On the other hand, sexual education is nearly non-existent and for many couples, condoms
are the only known or readily available means of birth control.
Back on the tram, the final stretch of the line offers other little jewels to the curious urban explorer (e g the Arakawa Amusement Park near Arakawa Yuenchimae Station, first opened in 1922) However, being a train otaku I decided instead to make two more stops: one at Kajiwara Station, where next to the tracks is Akemi S eika , a shop that sells ca kes in the shap e of trams (a real treat for train otaku); and one at Minowabashi Station (the end of the line), where I paid a visit to a coffee shop whose owner is even crazier than me about trams Besides coffee he also, sells windup toy trams I heard all kinds of tall and fascinating stories from him and just before I left he whispered in my ear that the Tokyo suburbs are actually home to one more tramway. But that’s another stor y…
GIANNI SIMONE
The Shoju-in temple is also called the temple of babies
A persimmon tree and Akemi Seika’s famous cakes
LANGUAGE The art of refusal in Japanese
How to ref use natto for breakfast without upsetting your host.
おいしいですよ。どうぞ、食 � べてください。
Oishii desu yo Dozo, tabete kudasai
It’s very good Go on, help yourself
Some thing s are offered so kindly Yet they are just not acceptable for physica l, physiolog ica l, org anic , or somatic reasons For some people, such as me, natto is just a collective misunderstanding , a dietar y illusion. Some love it, others like myself just don’t understand it Especially for breakfast Natto isn’t edible, or at least that’s what you mig ht think when you catch a w h i f f o f th e s e f erm ent e d s o y a b e a n s a s th e y a re mixed tog ether
どうですか。おいしいですか。
Do desu ka ? Oishii desu ka ?
So? Do you like it?
How to answer such a question? To tell a lie now will condemn you to forcing down natto ever y morning for the rest of your stay. But how not to risk b eing r ude and offending the lady of the house, who g ot up at 6am to prepare breakfast for the whole family ? How can you ref use one of Japan’s symbolic dishes on your first day in the country ? It's a terrible dilemma that must be faced up to by refusing… Torture! Don’t worr y, just be brief and polite :
けっこうです。遠慮 ���� します。
Kekko desu Enryo shimasu
No thank you. I’d prefer not to have any.
Your host will wonder why, and appear a little disappointed You can then justif y your refusal due to cultural differences :
イギリス人の口 �� には合 � わないようです。
Igirisujin no kuchi ni wa awanai yo desu I don’t think this is made for British tastes
But that isn’t always enough, because your host knows a b o ut Ma rm i t e , a n d m i g ht b e s ur p ri s e d that y o u wouldn’t like natto seeing how smelly the black spread is So be fair, and show that you also turn your nose up at thing s in your own culture :
イギリスでもマ マイトはあまり
食 � べませんので…
Igirisu demo maamaito wa amari tabemasen no de When in England, I don’t really eat Marmite
Then, all that is left to do is fill up on fish, miso soup and marinated veg etables
PIERRE FERRAGUT
PIPO IN JAPAN
PRACTICE
THIS MONTH’S WORD
必 ��� ず (kanarazu) : For sure, without fail 納豆 ���� が大好 ��� きで、毎朝 ���� 必 ��� ず食 � べます。
Natto ga daisuki de, mai asa kanarazu tabemasu I love natto, I eat it every morning without fail
