SO LONG, NIHON

I am lucky to spend a lot of time in Japan--it’s one of my favorite places. 

When I was younger, I used to feel so attached to New York and the New York jazz scene that if I was away for a month, I’d feel terribly cut off, like a fish out of water. Now, I really enjoy all the time I spend here, and today I was mulling over some of the things I’ll miss until I return sometime next summer. So, in no particular order, here they are:

1. 1) The subways and trains. True, they are 3 or 4 times as expensive as New York and during rush hour the train station attendants pack people into them like sardines (or they pack themselves, even more impressive, that) but they are many times cleaner, quieter and they run precisely on time. When you walk onto the platform there’s usually an electronic sign telling you when the next train is due (and it’s rarely more than a few minutes) and it arrives exactly when the sign says it will. More than that, the subway stations have a vibe, from little out of the way village-like ones (like Shibazaki or Shibamatta) to enormous ones like Shibuya or Shinjuku, they have food stalls, the mysteriously named “Mr. Mint” key and shoe repair chain, flower shops, photo booths and an endless stream of people.

2. 2) Convenience stores. (Like 7-11’s. ) They actually have 24 hour stores everywhere, with edible food--sometimes pretty good food, not the microwave burrito and 64 ounce slurpees that you find in the United States, batteries, digital data cards and an amazing amount of high quality and useful stuff.

3. 3) In general, prepared foods are quite good in Japan, whether it’s Original bento, takoyaki stands (octopus filled pancake-like spheres covered in mayonnaise, dried fish flakes and barbecue sauce), or the guy who sells the yakitori (barbecued chicken on a stick) outside of the train station. Every grocery store has a large selection of salads, cooked vegetables, chinese dumplings, croquettes, sashimi and rice balls wrapped in seaweed.

4. 4)The number of reasonably good pianos in jazz clubs. I’ve written in this blog before about the way the bubble economy years left the clubs here stocked with yamaha grand pianos in good condition. New York looks pretty shabby by comparison with good pianos only in a handful of the better venues. 

5. 5)Okay, this will be the last entry about food, but the food here is spectacular. From the quality of the vegetables, fruits, fish and meat to the variety of japanese/hybrid cuisines, Japan is one of the best places to be a human with nutritional needs. In addition to the foods you can find at a Japanese restaurant in the US (I’ve had pretty good sushi in New York, but never very good tofu or udon) I am particularly fond of yakitori and various kinds of Yoshoku--the blend of Japanese tastes with western foods that came here after the war. These foods often feature ketchup and mayonnaise in surprising quantities, but that’s just part of the fun. It’s the ultimate in comfort food, and I’ll particularly miss the Om Rice (an omelet filled with ketchup flavored chicken rice, sometimes garnished with ketchup and/or mayonnaise) and Chicken Dry Curry (ground chicken in a thick tomato-based curry sauce, served over rice with a fried egg on top.) Also, my favorite Japanese spaghetti house and the Japanese versions of Indian and Chinese food. (sigh) Dieting has forced me (reluctantly, believe me) to give up the bakeries.

6. 6)The level of politeness you receive from strangers, service industry people, embassy employees, gas station attendants and just about everyone else. Rudeness isn’t unheard of in Japan, but usually you have to be pretty tuned in to pick up on it, because very little is likely to be said out loud. Being here, you get a little spoiled, like when I went to the American Embassy to have more pages put into my passport and they did it overnight (and for free) because I was in a hurry. Or when I went to the New Zealand embassy for a work visa and one of the embassy staff gave me his phone number to have my contact in New Zealand call and go over some problems in my visa application. Or the times that the parking lot attendants stop to chat with my wife, or tell her where the closest open space is, or the time I left my ticket at the bus station counter and the woman who sold it to me came running after me so I wouldn’t miss my bus. New Yorkers DO get a bad rap--they are nice people as a rule--but they are busy and a lot of the day to day interactions with people here are simpler and more pleasant.

7. 7)Japanese bathtubs (neck deep) and showers (very controllable and user friendly) in Japanese bathrooms (either tile or plastic, but watertight with a drain in the floor and no shower curtains.)

8. 8)Hot springs and public baths (amply covered in this blog).

9. 9)Sumo.

10. 10) Tatami floors.

11. 11) Gardens. I never thought of myself as a fan of gardens in particular, but I became one here. A lot of my favorites are in Kyoto (and this summer I visited a terrific park in Okayama) but there is one chinese-style garden in Tokyo that I visit whenever I return. It’s called Korakuen and it’s in the shadow of the Tokyo Dome (sports stadium), several large roller coasters and a ferris wheel. It’s a strange place, once you turn the corner and enter the garden gate, you are transported to something entirely different from the modern world of Tokyo outside. There’s a wide creek with stones poking out reflected back into the shallow water. A red-orange bridge arches over the hillside above. The larger pond encompasses various habitats: rice fields, wisteria arbors, plum and cherry trees, lotus marshes. I’ve been there in spring, summer and winter and every time it’s different. This time, recent rains colored the garden in dark shades of green, a far cry from last summer when it was bleached out and desiccated-looking.

12. 12) And of course, last but not least, my japanese wife. She’s working after I leave so we are apart for a few weeks before she’ll rejoin me in New York. This is the nature of our life together, we both travel to work--she to Japan, and me a lot of other places--so sometimes we are apart for extended periods. This is occasionally hard, but less so if you look at it as the price of freedom.

There are lots of other things I’ll miss, but that will do for now. Sayonara, Nihon.