[ frangipani ] [ a life in tokyo ] [ photoblog ]

Hands up all you Tokyo-ites who thought the last days of summer had kinda passed? Yup, me too. Oh how wrong we were... today is 34 and hellaciously humid, as was yesterday. Planning to head out to Yoyogi Koen later for Sigsy's bday party but hot-damn, it's gonna be hot out there. It's a public holiday here today, so it's gonna be busy out, too.

Had a pretty shitty, busy week (even with my old uni buddy, Ivan the mountain goat staying with me [not that I saw him much]) - post holiday blues combined with some irritating (but hopefully now resolved?) trouble at work saw me hitting the Japan-eject button in my head on a daily basis.

I read this apt comment by one of my favourite photo-journalists, Shanghai based Howard French (please check his excellent photos!):

The most underrated aspect of vacation is without a doubt its end. Returning to work and especially returning to a foreign country where one works has at least one precious element, however, and that is clarity.
Except for one’s first arrival in a country, when all is new and hopefully exciting, no moment rivals the vacation’s end for perceptiveness. Unlike stumbling into a country fresh for the first time, the returning vacationer also has a store of experiences, a baseline that gives his observations valuable context and keeps them honest.

The post-holiday perceptiveness (so true!) which he speaks of here has had quite a shake-up effect on me this time around. I see a life with little challenge which has somehow ended up unexpectedly in a dull rut, and a country that is falling apart quietly at the seams (or should I say mutating into a strange, unpredictable and somewhat unattractive shape?). But I shan't bore you with the details. The phrase leap and the net shall appear keeps rolling around in my head. Anyways... I need to stop being so damn serious.

Fortunately, the weekend arrived and with it, a whole lot of restorative events to smooth my troubled brow: Dr Dave's sayonara party at Araku in Golden Gai; Tsukasa-san's photo exhibition at Mikorin's with a bunch of my lovely old Japanese buddies; a day at home spent cleaning and sorting and getting on top of my domestic mess; and yesterday - Kat and Darin's baby shower here at my house: a lovely day spent hiding from the heat in the air conditioned sanctuary of my room with good people, great food and beer. Beer. Beer is very good for soothing a troubled brow. Temporarily anyway. Baby Dudley's (that's the working name for now, anyway) e.t.a. is 24 days now, and Kat's officially on maternity leave now so it's getting very real. We're all so excited. Clair and Jess gave Darin an awesome Super Dad disco shirt which he slid into immediately and will no doubt live in for the next year :). Hope so anyway.

My hunt for a room mate may be over, it seems, following my embarrassingly drunken post-baby-shower skype web-cam ramble with Greg in Toronto. He fortuitously does not have 2 heads, nor a nervous tic and seems an affable, gentle smarty-pants (erm, his last job was in cloning, this next one here in Tokyo is microbiology research at Tokyo Uni) with a love of listening to and playing music so I think we'll get on well. I am yet to meet a Canadian I don't like. We'll meet face-to-face next weekend. When I'm sober.

There was a lot going on yesterday in other parts of the world... it was my lovely sister-in-law Elissa's birthday (happy birthday Liss!) and also Mirko and Kirsty's wedding in Brisbane. And this Thursday is my nephew Fraser's birthday. Must.not.forget.to.call.him.to.sing.that.song.to.him.

Listening to:

Angus and Julia Stone's new full length album, A book like this.
Notwist - Neon-Golden
White Stripes - Icky Thump
Nina Nastasia - Dogs
Amiina - Kurr
and, best of all, The Modern Lovers. Nothing like making something old new again....

frangipani wrote this on September 17, 2007 12:00 PM

frangipani said:

Hi Deaks.

Must be brief, have to go to work.

1. extensive political corruption and unrest at all levels
2. inverted age/population triangle and no real aged care systems in place outside the traditional family care model which is being dropped like the proverbial hot potato by younger generations. Who's going to take care of the oldies? And where's the money going to come from?
3. the worlds most sexless and distant marriages, astonishing levels of cheating (ie all men cheat on their wives, it's expected), the rising prevalence of sex-themed cafes and fetish clubs including train carriage simulators for disgruntled husbands and fucked up young men who can't talk to girls.
4.a rising (and already one of the worlds biggest) suicide rate helping form internet-based suicide groups (hey let's kill ourselves together)
5. the downward spiral of the economy (when I moved here, the Australian dollar was 76 to 100 yen, now it's over a dollar, same story with all other currencies)
5. major social shifts in generational ideas regarding fundamental ethics resulting in the worlds biggest generation gap and millions of selfish, young wealthy people who are more interested in cosmetics/fashion/shopping /brandnames / sport / foreign western cultures / manga /etc than issues facing their country or maintaining unique Japanese traditions. simply put, an impressive breakdown in traditional values.
6. Extensive rise of bullying (one of my very own students teased and then head-butted one of his juniors in front of a crowd at school, and broke his nose) leading to a surprisingly large group of school and uni students who are mentally incapable of leaving their rooms - their is a name for these kids: hikikomori. Actually, this is as much to do with family pressures and the ridiculous school system as it is with bullying.
7. increasing hideous family murders with teenagers killing their parents, wives killing husbands, all sorts killing grandparents, strangers killing children - these crimes usually involve a big knife or a heavy object and it seems quite commonplace to dismember the body.
8. Oh, and I forgot the appalling police force. Ineffectual and corrupt.

and I could go on but I have to run to work. that's a start, anyway.....

On September 21, 2007 8:46 AM,

gleek said:

great pictures from kat's party! wow, she's gotten so big! those last few weeks are always the roughest. it's great to get out and get to a party :) glad to hear that you've found a potential roomie, too!

On September 17, 2007 10:36 PM,

innocentgirl said:

Hey there auntie marty, totally understand... what is with that lack of perspective after a holiday. Why can't the brain make the shift more smoothly... me thinks we aren't meant to travel so fast everywhere. Should be like the old days when the travel took months to get to destinations... then we could truly 'enjoy the journey'. Must remember Fraser's bday too considering my hubby is his godfather!
Kat is looking awesome, pregnant peeps fascinate me! and I must say even though your brow may be furrowed your bod is hot! You're looking real sexy Auntie Marty the heat must agree with you!
lots of love Andrea

On September 18, 2007 12:00 AM,

deaks said:

I see a life with little challenge which has somehow ended up unexpectedly in a dull rut, and a country that is falling apart quietly at the seams (or should I say mutating into a strange, unpredictable and somewhat unattractive shape?). But I shan't bore you with the details.

Heya,

I'm intrigued by this statement. If you don't mind, could you expand on what specifically worries you about the direction Japanese society is taking.

On September 21, 2007 12:41 AM,

< Angus and Julia Stone | MAIN | Simplicity >

The heat rolls on and baby Dudley-Taiga's almost here....