After living in Japan for close to ten years and once never breaking the law I was quite angered when I learned that the next time I re-enter Japan I will be fingerprinted and my photo will be taken. My photograph and the image of my fingerprints will then be ran through a database of international terror and crime suspects as well as domestic records.
It felt like a bit of a slap in the face at the time. I have always believed that Japanese are not racist, at least not to Hakujin (white people). However, this was yet another case of discrimination in a ,at times, backwards country with more than enough social, political and economic problems to worry than concern itself with fingerprinting every foreigner that comes into the country. Japan has been fingerprinting all foreign visitors for security measures since November 2007.
This an another example of Japanese bureaucracy wasting money and resources. Japan is only hurting herself making this move. It will make many people think twice about visiting Japan. It will especially frustrate businessmen. Just imagine you arrive at Narita airport after a 10 to 15 hour flight. Your tired and want to get to your hotel or destination and you are going to be requesting politely requested to have your fingerprints and photo taken. If you refuse you’ll be deported. This kind of bureaucratic nonsense really fuels the fire of my love-hate relationship with Japan.
I can’t think of any reasons that justifies this “security measure”. Japan has not experienced any terrorist attacks by any foreign group or individual. The only recent terrorist attack I can think of was the Sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway in 1995. this attack was committed by the Japanese religious cult Aum Shnrikyo.
Japan can be a wonderful country to visit and live in. However, the longer you live there the more you realize the less you understand. After ten years and many experiences I knew that Japanese could never really be a home for my family. It was a difficult decision to leave, but it was the right decision. I certainly didn’t want my son exposed to certain aspects of Japanese culture. His mother is Japanese and he was born there, but he was always considered a foreigner or half before a Japanese because of the way he looked. I think growing up in Japan would have been very difficult for him.
I lived in Japan for almost 10 years, married a Japanese, had a child in Japan and I couldn’t even apply for permanent residency. My wife, on the other hand was able to apply and received permanent residency immediately to my home country of Australia last year.
Giri is an important value and social custom in Japan. In short, it is the duty one has to fulfill various social obligations. These include the giving of gifts, returning favors, attending functions such as weddings and funerals, the sending of New Years cards and avoiding actions that would cause harm to any one’s livelihood or reputation.
While these acts or obligations are common to Western relationships, the act or practice of giri is very different. When practicing giri one will not take into account one’s own suffering when serving or helping another. To use the workplace as an example, Japanese will serve their superiors with a self sacrificing devotion. Employees will even tolerate abuse and humiliation to fulfill their giri to their superiors or employers. The purpose of this devotion being support and respect for human relationships.
Possible meanings:
- Obligation, moral obligation
- Duty
- Self-sacrificing devotion
Special note:
Giri has a far more pervasive influence on the Japanese world view and culture than its English equivalent. Many foreigners dealing with the Japanese are first impressed by exquisite manners and sense of duty or commitment. However, over time most foreigners come to find these acts of giri to be hypocritical and superficial.
In the Western mindset Giri would be something similar to doing the right thing or repaying kindness. One custom or practice Japanese often find frustrating is gift giving. When Japanese receive gifts Japanese they know they must pay back the kindness and give something in return. This means that for many Japanese receiving gifts is something they wish they could avoid as they know will have to go to the trouble of buying something in return to do giri.
Should You Practice Giri?
You should be definitely aware of and practice giri if you are living in Japan. Practicing giri will help you build strong relationships and help you in the long run. You can actually build up giri with friends and associates by doing unsolicited favors. A sort of an unspoken, but very structured “I’ll scratch your back if you’ll scratch mine.”
Ordering food at restaurants and cafes is pretty easy once you learn and understand a few set expressions. These set expressions are said all over the country and you will have the same exchange when ordering no matter where you go. The Japanese service industry lacks personality. All waiters and waitresses sound the same, say the same things with the enthusiasm of a programmed robot. Staff will rarely start up a conversation, comment on the weather or local news, or ask you anything other than “May I take your order?”.
For someone new to Japan or to the Japanese language it is great because you will hear the same service phrases every time you go out to eat. It won’t be long before you can walk into a restaurant without the fear of being misunderstood. For someone living in Japan for several years you really get sick of the programmed exchange. In most places of customer service Japanese follow a strict code of “by the book” service. Of course some staff are friendlier than others and may make a comment or show a smile, but generally everyone behaves in exactly the same way. Straying from this “by the book” service is frowned upon and considered time wasting.
I have worked in restaurants in Japan myself and learned not to talk to customers “too much” and just stick to the manual. I also have discovered restaurants aren’t generally customer friendly when it comes to requesting slight changes to menu items. Try ordering a pizza without onions and chances are they just can’t do it. It is quite funny. If you do ask for changes on a menu item the waiter or waitress will give you a perplexed look and then run off to the manager. He or she will then return to tell you it can’t be done because of “quality control” or some other bizarre reason. If you are a vegetarian life is going to be difficult in Japan.
Some people may argue that they don’t like to be disturbed when eating out by staff and just want to order and eat - fair enough. However, I do thinking I am losing my brain when I am at a restaurant and I order two things off the menu and then have the waitress announce to me that she will repeat my order, have my order repeated, then told that the “drink bar” is on my right 3 meters away by the entrance (as if I hadn’t seen it). Keep in mind that I have been served by the same staff before and that I am a regular customer of the establishment.
Teaching English in Japan can be a worthwhile and rewarding experience. Not so much because of the of the job, more because of the opportunities that Japan can give you. The actual job and enjoyment of the job itself really depends on where you work and who you work for. If you desire to work for a large commercial eikaiwa (English conversation) school then your job will most likely be pretty average. It doesn’t mean the you won’t have fun. Just, the actual job and working conditions are pretty average. Working in Japan as a English conversation teacher is just a job. Don’t expect to be well paid for what you do.
I sometimes think that rather than being a teacher the average Eiakiawa teacher is a part coach part entertainer. Japanese students are very teacher dependent. You have to “baby” students English with simple exercise and drills. Getting them to freely talk and express their opinions is very difficult and at times frustrating. Also, all students have a confidence problem and will never recognize there own ability or improvement. Students will speak negatively of their ability even when they are reasonably fluent. “I can’t speak English very well” and “I’m not good at English” are proclamations you hear all the time. Some Japanese are also ashamed to use there language skills. They hide there skills or again just speak badly of their ability.
English Teachers
Qualified Teachers: Qualified teachers coming to Japan should know that unless you are working at a University your teaching qualification won’t really make you any more important than anyone with a any kind of degree or anyone without a degree. There is just too much demand for teachers. Most companies are solely focused on making money rather than providing quality teaching. Not trying to discount anyone with a degree, but your education and qualification would most likely not prepare you for English conversational lessons in Japan. At most schools you teach 2 to 8 students, usually about 4. The environment is not a like classroom. It is usually a small room where everyone sits down while the teacher coaches students.
NOVA
NOVA: The Eikaiwa Giant finally bit the dust. It was just a matter of time. It actually blows my mind when I think about how large and how much consumer trust the company had. NOVA had about %45 market share of the Eikaiwa School industry. In the year2005, NOVA had almost 500,000 students. It is extremely unfortunate for the 6000 staff who have lost their jobs and haven’t been paid for the last few months. Also thousands, and I do mean thousands, of students have lost a lot of cash. Some students had purchased 3 year contracts and other students had paid for contracts for kids classes for 2008. They will get nothing. However, the warning signs were there for about 6 months. Anyone who joined NOVA in the last 6 months were far too trusting or just plain stupid.
Japanase Universities
University jobs: These are the jobs to get. The money is excellent. I work part time at a Fine Arts university. Admittedly it is not the greatest university out there, but the money is very good. I receive about US$95 for a 80 minute lesson. I can do pretty much what I want. I have no homework or reports to write or anything like like. However, I am required to try and get classes of 15 to 30 students conversing. This is near impossible. When Japanese get together in large numbers they just switch off completely. They say nothing, no eye contact, no facial expressions. I pretty much get zero participation with my students. Forget about the polite diligent student. That is a myth. Students won’t greet me, they roll up 30 minutes late for a class and say nothing, sleep during lessons and never do their homework.
When I think about the industry and the huge demand for teachers and products in Japan it just blows my mind. A culture or society conditioned not to express their inner feelings or thoughts, and in my opinion socially challenged, compared to other cultures or countries, spends millions and millions of dollars on learning English. Students learn English with no real goal in mind, and are often afraid or ashamed to use their English abroad. Learning English is more of a hobby, than about learning a skill in Japan.
The subject of whaling certainly stirs the emotions of most people. New Zealanders and Australians are particularly found of whales and are currently doing all that they can to legally stop Japan from killing these beautiful creatures. Whaling is a gruesome and barbaric practice. Just do a search on Youtube and you really will see some disgusting and disturbing images.
I believe whales should be protected and respected. I am all for a total whale ban. However, living in Japan for so long had given me more of a balanced understanding of whaling and what it is to Japan. On two occasions I have eaten whale. The first occasion I was unaware of what I was eating and on the second I was in a position where I felt I was strongly compelled to eat it. My employer at the time had taken me and my mother out to dinner. He was the president of a large chain of restaurants. He ordered the whale meat especially for my mother and I. I felt it would be insulting to not eat the meat. It was actually raw whale meat. It was cold and quite tough. I felt it really didn’t taste all that good.
Why Japan whales
Japan’s whaling certain gives the country a very bad public image in New Zealand and Australia. I have spoken to many Japanese about this and they find it difficult to understand. Whale meat is pretty much on a par with beef. Japan don’t see whale as wonderful majestic mammals. Unfortunate as it is they see them as a food source and viable industry.
In fairness to Japan it should be known that the reality is most Japanese don’t eat whale. A majority of my friends and students have in fact never eaten whale. Traditionally whale was a cheap source of protein for the Japanese diet and was prepared for school lunches. In elementary school in Japan lunch is provided for students. Now , most Japanese now don’t eat whale, either because they choose not too or because it is not sold at most supermarkets. It has now become more a delicacy served at expensive restaurants.
The arguments the Japanese make for whaling is that it is a tradition, a food source and that they use the entire whale carcass for not only food, but oil and materials for crafts. Japan believe they have a right to choose it’s own food source and hunt what it wants.
I guess what makes New Zealand, Australia and the US angry are the lies, and dirty work Japan does to go about getting a ban on commercial whale hunting lifted. Japan maintains that it hunts whale for scientific research. I am not sure as why Japan needs to research whales or the kind of research it does. It is interesting to note that since the International Whaling Commission suspension on commercial whaling in 1987 Japan has managed to steadily increased it’s catch of whales under its special permit for scientific research, from 273 in 1987 to over 1200 in 2005. Japan also hunts very close to New Zealand and Australia. In recent years there have been dangerous classes with protesters and whaling boats.
Japan has also been accused of bribing developing countries to help them get votes to pass a resolution calling for the return of commercial whaling. Japan has also threatened to pull out of the International Whaling Commission altogether. Japan also believes whales are depleting fish stocks.
