The Black Sheep

Here in Japan, class is far less distinct. At least, that’s how it appears to an outsider like me. Social mobility seems to exist, but it doesn’t apply to industries.  Workers are expected to devote their lives to their profession and industry, often working for their first companies faithfully their entire careers.  The expectation is to work constantly to hone their skills and serve their employers.  Moreover, the fabric of society is sewn with an astonishing amount of shame. It’s hard to imagine anywhere in the developed world where confidence is so low, confrontation so rare, or conformity so glorified. Corporate employees are like bees in a hive. And you don’t steal honey from the hive.

Enter Yuu Koyama.  A few weeks ago I introduced to my readers this young blue collar worker, whose eccentric behavior by Japanese standards is immediately noticeable to any who share a “conversation” with him in English or Japanese.

Yuu Koyama

Yuu Koyama

On our Golden Week vacation, my co-trainee Rob Milchling (link to his blog), his coworker Ayako, Koyama and I took a drive down the Izu Peninsula to coastal Shimoda.  Koyama was the only legal driver, and the entire drive, he spoke softly in Japanese, without smiling or breaking determined eye contact with the wild and twisting road before him.  Ayako, a Japanese bilingual English teacher, translated while guiding Koyama from the passenger seat.  I share his tale here, accompanied by pictures of the stunning drive and Shimoda itself.

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TBT: Battling Sharks in Chatham

Summer 2012:  In a summer that saw the vicious return of great white sharks to Cape Cod, it seemed inevitable that an avid swimmer like this author himself would soon encounter the great beast.  And so to he would fall the onus of saving civilization itself.

Proudly presenting the tale of the mighty encounter, written in its original form (with the help of Brad Hoffman and Alex Blumberg), in all caps to emphasize its truthiness:

I WAS BUSY MOVING BOULDERS, LAYING THE LAND, WHILE SIMULTANEOUSLY SPEARFISHING. I SAW A FAMILY OF SEAL PUPS PLAYING JOYOUSLY IN THE SHALLOWS, OH, THEY WERE MAGICAL.

THEN ABROAD IN THE DISTANCE I SAW A TERRIBLE SIGHT, THE LONG FIN OF A MASSIVE GREAT WHITE SHARK. INSTANTLY I STABBED THE SPEARGUN THROUGH MY HAND, A SMALL SACRIFICE TO DRAW THE BEAST TO THE SCENT OF MY WARM BLOOD.

I SWAM FORTH, STOPPING ONLY WHEN I STOOD BEFORE THE GREAT PREDATORY FISH. AND ALMOST GRACEFULLY, WE BEGAN TO CIRCLE ONE ANOTHER, KNOWING WE WERE DRAWING A RING ONLY ONE OF US WOULD ESCAPE.

sharksA NATURAL AGGRESSOR HE LUNGED, AND I SWUNG AT HIS NOSE, THE BEAST’S GREAT WEAKNESS. HE RECOILED AND INSTANTLY PREPARED FOR ANOTHER CHARGE. AS HE SHOT TOWARDS ME I HELD MY BREATH AND DROPPED BENEATH THE STOMACH OF THE MONSTER, A REVERSE OF THE SPRAWL MY TRAINING HAD PREPARED ME FOR. INSTANTLY I FIRED THE SPEARGUN INTO HIS GUT, BUT RETREAT I DID NOT.

GRABBING THE SPEAR, I THOUGHT ONLY OF A MORE INNOCENT KIND AS I WITHDREW THE METAL SHAFT AND REINSERTED IT, AGAIN AND AGAIN, WITH ALL THE FORCE MY BREATHLESS LUNGS COULD MUSTER. FAITH FOR MY VICTORY WAS ALL I COULD AFFORD AS THE SALTY SEA TURNED TO A BLOODY RED. FINALLY I EMERGED FOR SWEET BREATH… BUT IT COULD NOT BE AS SWEET AS THE SIGHT OF THE SEAL PUPS, JOYOUSLY EMBRACING OUR VICTORY, AS THE MARAUDING MONSTER FLOATED DEAD AND DEFEATED OUT TO SEA. AND AS THE PUPS CIRCLED ME WITH A SONG OF THEIR OWN, MUSIC OF A MORE HUMAN NATURE REACHED MY EARS; CHURCH BELLS WERE RINGING UP AND DOWN THE COAST OF CAPE COD, A LIBERATED PEOPLE CELEBRATING THEIR FINAL VICTORY OVER A TERRIBLE FOE.

With help from Brad Hoffman and Alex Blumberg

Thrilling Memories During A Near-Death Experience

It seemed I was in terrible danger.

Whatever happens, I thought, as Death trotted towards me, I won’t regret trying.

Such is the attitude of any kind of exercise.  On some t-shirt I once read “‘Boy, I really regret that workout,’ SAID NO ONE EVER.”  To me, physical recreation has a purifying effect on the soul.

And as I faced mortal peril deep in the mountains outside Kyoto, I experienced a moment of clarity, remembering the very physically active day I had so far experienced.

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Introducing TBT Posts: The Nasifs Go To Normandy

#TBT: As a lazy, unorganized perfectionist, it has been difficult for me to make posting to this blog a regular event. Therefore I’ve decided to fluff up my blog with Throwback Thursday posts, featuring stories or editorials I’ve written in the past.  If they are edited, it will be minimal.

In belated honor of Bastille Day, I am proud to present (a very slightly modified version of) the essay I submitted in response to the question, “Why do you want to study abroad in France?”

May 2011:

When I was told to write “a short history of your life and why you wish to study abroad,” my first instinct was to write a long-winded account of my strengths and weaknesses, tragedies and triumphs.  I could absolutely characterize that in a way that would convince my readers of my desire to go abroad. But as an avid writer, I despise convention. I don’t think that would do it justice.

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Japan in a Nutshell

Long reigns the Gion Matsuri (literally Gion Festival), a celebration in Kyoto, Japan since 869 A.D.  That’s no typo – this tradition has been celebrated annually for 1200 years.  Originally founded as a sacred ritual to pray away famine, death, disease and disaster, Japan’s oldest and greatest celebration has morphed from one oppressed religion to another.  Today it is a kind of open party, complete with a parade, huge floats, public drinking, carnival games, and food stalls, across the entire city.  It is the pride of this archipelago nation, a celebration fit to rival Chinese New Year, or Mardi Gras in New Orleans.  Keyword: fit.

The Gion Matsuri, on a side street.

Hoko Shrine: The Gion Matsuri, on a side street.

Some of the ancient festival’s parade floats, parked throughout the Gion district in the days before the festival, tower 100 feet above the street. A few even have a dozen men on board, participating in ancient, graceful and mysterious rituals of singing and drum-tapping.  The lore of these rituals continues to this day.

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