Reflected
Feb 6, 2004, 10:51
Some people I have met have told me that Japan is not a free country. Some others have told me that it is. Some have told me that this is a Socialist nation. :eek:
I can't really tell anymore. In some ways I think this is a freer nation than America (and I thought that well before Bush ever became president). And in some ways I think this is not a free nation at all. Confused? :confused: Yeah, me too.
One of the ways Japan seems to me a very free country is that there is still very little crime. When I lived in America, I always worried about my parents or my wife being a victim of crime whenever they stayed out after dark. Heck, I was afraid to be out in downtown LA. by myself after dark! Maybe I was made so afraid because of sensationalist TV news in America. I don't know.. I don't think I can make an objective judgement about that anymore. But I think fearing for your own personal safety in your own neighborhood is a kind of "oppression"
I have never felt this fear in Japan. Okay, well I did. Once. I was walking down the street late at night by myself after drinking with some friends. It was probably about 1:30 in the morning. I had just gotten to Japan and still didn稚 really know what was going on here -still don稚.
Anyhow, I walk down this dark street and out from behind me pop two guys from a dark alley. I got real scared! I thought these two guys were going to "roll" me. I started walking a bit faster. They were gaining on me! But then I remembered I wasn稚 in downtown Los Angeles, I was in downtown Tokyo. Maybe living in L.A. so long had made me a bit "jumpy" (L.A. has a funny way to make anyone "jumpy" for that matter). I thought,
'These guys aren稚 dangerous. Hell, I知 probably the most dangerous person around here!" I stopped and the two guys walked by me and I overheard them talking about some girl at work that they thought was "hot."
A few of the ways that Japan is not as free a nation as America seem sometimes to really have nothing to do with what the government does or decides. This is an extremely crowded place. Imagine your worst last minute Christmas shopping at the mall nightmare and multiply that by 50... Yeah, that's about right. That's what any train station around Tokyo is like on any given workday at 9 in the morning. :mad:
Some comments I've heard from people is that, "It's so crowded here that you don't have room to change your mind." Or "My apartment is so small, I put the key into the lock, and cracked the bathroom window." Being so crowded, Japan is a great place to learn patience. There's no point in getting mad or really being in so much of a rush...You aren't going anywhere!
And, if you got mad here, lost your temper and started screaming, well that痴 the worst thing you could do. Japanese people don't really raise their voices (unless they're drunk) and if you raise your voice and start screaming the only thing they will understand is that you are mad. :angryfire ...U could be shouting the most logical, rational sentence in the entire world and all they will do is give you a blank look and think: "What's this guy shouting about?" So it does you absolutely no good to start shouting here. You'll be "turned off" by everyone around. You'll be ignored and realize a few moments later that you are standing there, shouting by yourself, and everyone is staring at you with little question marks floating over their heads. :confused:
But there are times when the Japanese government makes rules about this or that. Well, I guess so. Isn稚 that what governments do? Sure the US government screws things up and very often makes rules that are just ridiculous. I am reminded of the warning label on a package of drain cleaner that said something like: "If you are unclear about the proper usage of this product or you are unable to understand or read these instructions, do not use this product!" (I知 not making that up either!)
But the Japanese government has their own unique, well... let me say "cute" way of screwing things up. One great example is what I call the "TV Police"
I知 sure if I say "TV Police," it conjures up images in your mind about jack-booted cops bursting into your house and clubbing you over the head for watching some anti-government propaganda programs. Or like the RIAA Nazis you have in America who want all 12 year olds arrested for downloading music off the Internet.
No, no! That痴 not it. You are thinking too deeply here if that痴 what you are imagining. It痴 even more simple and devious than that!
The doorbell rings. I answer it. The guys says he痴 from NHK. NHK is the nationally run broadcasting station in Japan. It痴 kind of like PBS, except they have interesting programs � sometimes. I open the door and talk to the guy. He tells me I have to pay some money.
"Money, for what?"
"For your TV"
"For my TV!? Why?"
"Because it痴 the law."
"What!?"
He痴 right. It is the law. NHK is the government run broadcasting network here, but they don稚 take money out of your taxes to pay for it. No! They have a much more efficient system of running it here!
They have some guy who comes around to every house in the neighborhood, kind of like the newspaper boy, to make "collections."
"I知 not going to pay you any money!"
"You must! It痴 the law!" I can tell that this guy isn稚 going away easily.
I realize that I had already "blown it" by speaking Japanese to him in the first place.
"I don稚 watch NHK." I counter.
"It doesn稚 matter. Everyone who owns a TV must pay!" He demands. This does not register in my brain. It痴 like I知 having some sort of short-circuit. Sparks are flying out of my ears and my eyes are twitching. I can稚 think straight. I repeat,
"But I don稚 watch NHK!" :angryfire
"It痴 the law. Everyone who owns a TV must pay for NHK regardless of whether they watch it or not!" He hands me an explanation paper. It痴 written in English. The guy is maneuvering me into a corner.
I come up with my next snappy line of reasoning, "I知 not paying!"
"You must pay. NHK does not have commercials so everyone must pay!"
"What!? Look this isn稚 the Soviet Union!" I say, "If you guys don稚 want to have commercials that痴 your choice. I didn稚 decide that! No one asked me!"
"It's the law that NHK has no commercials!"
"Look," I say, "I'll write you a note giving you my permission to air commercials, okay?"
"No! You must pay!"
I act like I知 going to step out of my apartment, so he steps back. That was my chance! As soon as he stepped back, I slammed the door shut and locked it!
"Whew!" I thought. But damn if this guy wasn稚 persistent! He must have kept knocking on my door for two minutes after that, until he realized I wasn稚 going to answer it so he gave up and left.
"What a bunch of crap! I don稚 even watch NHK!" I thought as I turned on the TV and watched Sesame Street with my kid. Okay, well, I do watch NHK. They show Sesame Street! That "Cookie Monster" and "The Count" just crack me up!
The next day the doorbell rang and it was the same guy. I couldn稚 believe it! And this time he showed up with his boss! My kid answered the door so it was already opened. I couldn稚 act like I wasn稚 here.
The boss is even pushier than the other guy. We go around through the same conversation that we did the day before. The boss is not going to give up as easily as the other guy did. He痴 got his foot in the door.
He痴 not going to leave until I give him the money. What am I going to do? Well, what would any self-respecting husband in Japan do? I blame my wife! Yeah, I tell them that I don稚 have any money anyway and that my wife controls all the money so talking to me is just a big waste of time.
This kind of logic works well in this country. People in the West think Japanese women are treated as second-class citizens here. In some ways yes, in some ways no. But in a very large percentage of households in Japan, the wife has complete control of the family "purse-strings." So you tell me, if the women have all the money here, who really holds the keys to power in Japan?
So the NHK guys ask me when my wife will be back. I tell them "tomorrow."
The next morning I知 at work talking with an old-timer in the broadcasting business here in Tokyo. This guy had worked in the broadcasting business for almost 40 years at the time. I知 sure he is retired by now. I tell him about my little escapades with the NHK guys. I ask him what I should do. He says: "Don稚 pay."
I am quite surprised at what he tells me. I mean, here is a Japanese guy, working in this broadcasting business and he痴 telling me not to pay!
"No one in this business ever pays, Mike." He says.
"But what about the law? If I don稚 pay they said they壇 penalize me!"
"Yeah," he says, "In the law it is written that if you don稚 pay NHK, you will be given a penalty. But the law doesn稚 state what the penalty is!"
"Just like Japan!" I think. I say, "So if I don稚 pay, there痴 nothing they can do about it?"
"No." He says, "They are just worried that if the neighbors find out that you didn稚 pay that the neighbors will stop paying. That痴 all. I had the same experience and after several times that NHK came over, finally they sent a very high-ranking official to my house. He told me, 前kay. You don稚 have to pay. Just don稚 tell the neighbors that you don稚 pay and we won稚 bother you anymore.� So we agreed."
Unbelievable! Well, actually very believable if you致e ever been here before.
So, that was about 18 years or so ago. I have seen the NHK guys many times since. I致e tried everything to get rid of them! I acted like I couldn稚 speak Japanese, that didn稚 work; I致e acted like I wasn稚 home, they waited for me; I致e even tried to act like I was just the house-keeper, no dice! I guess I知 a bad liar. It must show on my face. They keep coming back.
One other day I woke up in the morning and saw my 15 yr old daughter standing at the door talking to a different NHK guy and he was having her sign a form for an automatic bank-withdrawal for the fees! A 15-year-old kid! I grabbed the form from her and told her I壇 take care of it.
The form was in Japanese, so I acted like I couldn稚 read it. I pointed at a line on the form and said to him, "What does this say here?"
He adjusted his glasses and took the form from me so he could explain what was to be written in each space. As soon as he did, I slammed the door shut and locked it.
Of course, he stood outside and knocked on my door for a while until he gave up. God! Do I hate these control freaks! So I goosestepped into the living room and told my kids that if it痴 the NHK guy at the door that they are "verboten" to answer the door under any circumstances.
So I was trapped in my apartment. Living in fear. I was afraid to go outside and be accosted by the TV Police. Yes. NHK in Japan- PBS with teeth! Well, maybe not teeth, more like dentures.
:shock: :wary: :bluush: ;) ;)
I can't really tell anymore. In some ways I think this is a freer nation than America (and I thought that well before Bush ever became president). And in some ways I think this is not a free nation at all. Confused? :confused: Yeah, me too.
One of the ways Japan seems to me a very free country is that there is still very little crime. When I lived in America, I always worried about my parents or my wife being a victim of crime whenever they stayed out after dark. Heck, I was afraid to be out in downtown LA. by myself after dark! Maybe I was made so afraid because of sensationalist TV news in America. I don't know.. I don't think I can make an objective judgement about that anymore. But I think fearing for your own personal safety in your own neighborhood is a kind of "oppression"
I have never felt this fear in Japan. Okay, well I did. Once. I was walking down the street late at night by myself after drinking with some friends. It was probably about 1:30 in the morning. I had just gotten to Japan and still didn稚 really know what was going on here -still don稚.
Anyhow, I walk down this dark street and out from behind me pop two guys from a dark alley. I got real scared! I thought these two guys were going to "roll" me. I started walking a bit faster. They were gaining on me! But then I remembered I wasn稚 in downtown Los Angeles, I was in downtown Tokyo. Maybe living in L.A. so long had made me a bit "jumpy" (L.A. has a funny way to make anyone "jumpy" for that matter). I thought,
'These guys aren稚 dangerous. Hell, I知 probably the most dangerous person around here!" I stopped and the two guys walked by me and I overheard them talking about some girl at work that they thought was "hot."
A few of the ways that Japan is not as free a nation as America seem sometimes to really have nothing to do with what the government does or decides. This is an extremely crowded place. Imagine your worst last minute Christmas shopping at the mall nightmare and multiply that by 50... Yeah, that's about right. That's what any train station around Tokyo is like on any given workday at 9 in the morning. :mad:
Some comments I've heard from people is that, "It's so crowded here that you don't have room to change your mind." Or "My apartment is so small, I put the key into the lock, and cracked the bathroom window." Being so crowded, Japan is a great place to learn patience. There's no point in getting mad or really being in so much of a rush...You aren't going anywhere!
And, if you got mad here, lost your temper and started screaming, well that痴 the worst thing you could do. Japanese people don't really raise their voices (unless they're drunk) and if you raise your voice and start screaming the only thing they will understand is that you are mad. :angryfire ...U could be shouting the most logical, rational sentence in the entire world and all they will do is give you a blank look and think: "What's this guy shouting about?" So it does you absolutely no good to start shouting here. You'll be "turned off" by everyone around. You'll be ignored and realize a few moments later that you are standing there, shouting by yourself, and everyone is staring at you with little question marks floating over their heads. :confused:
But there are times when the Japanese government makes rules about this or that. Well, I guess so. Isn稚 that what governments do? Sure the US government screws things up and very often makes rules that are just ridiculous. I am reminded of the warning label on a package of drain cleaner that said something like: "If you are unclear about the proper usage of this product or you are unable to understand or read these instructions, do not use this product!" (I知 not making that up either!)
But the Japanese government has their own unique, well... let me say "cute" way of screwing things up. One great example is what I call the "TV Police"
I知 sure if I say "TV Police," it conjures up images in your mind about jack-booted cops bursting into your house and clubbing you over the head for watching some anti-government propaganda programs. Or like the RIAA Nazis you have in America who want all 12 year olds arrested for downloading music off the Internet.
No, no! That痴 not it. You are thinking too deeply here if that痴 what you are imagining. It痴 even more simple and devious than that!
The doorbell rings. I answer it. The guys says he痴 from NHK. NHK is the nationally run broadcasting station in Japan. It痴 kind of like PBS, except they have interesting programs � sometimes. I open the door and talk to the guy. He tells me I have to pay some money.
"Money, for what?"
"For your TV"
"For my TV!? Why?"
"Because it痴 the law."
"What!?"
He痴 right. It is the law. NHK is the government run broadcasting network here, but they don稚 take money out of your taxes to pay for it. No! They have a much more efficient system of running it here!
They have some guy who comes around to every house in the neighborhood, kind of like the newspaper boy, to make "collections."
"I知 not going to pay you any money!"
"You must! It痴 the law!" I can tell that this guy isn稚 going away easily.
I realize that I had already "blown it" by speaking Japanese to him in the first place.
"I don稚 watch NHK." I counter.
"It doesn稚 matter. Everyone who owns a TV must pay!" He demands. This does not register in my brain. It痴 like I知 having some sort of short-circuit. Sparks are flying out of my ears and my eyes are twitching. I can稚 think straight. I repeat,
"But I don稚 watch NHK!" :angryfire
"It痴 the law. Everyone who owns a TV must pay for NHK regardless of whether they watch it or not!" He hands me an explanation paper. It痴 written in English. The guy is maneuvering me into a corner.
I come up with my next snappy line of reasoning, "I知 not paying!"
"You must pay. NHK does not have commercials so everyone must pay!"
"What!? Look this isn稚 the Soviet Union!" I say, "If you guys don稚 want to have commercials that痴 your choice. I didn稚 decide that! No one asked me!"
"It's the law that NHK has no commercials!"
"Look," I say, "I'll write you a note giving you my permission to air commercials, okay?"
"No! You must pay!"
I act like I知 going to step out of my apartment, so he steps back. That was my chance! As soon as he stepped back, I slammed the door shut and locked it!
"Whew!" I thought. But damn if this guy wasn稚 persistent! He must have kept knocking on my door for two minutes after that, until he realized I wasn稚 going to answer it so he gave up and left.
"What a bunch of crap! I don稚 even watch NHK!" I thought as I turned on the TV and watched Sesame Street with my kid. Okay, well, I do watch NHK. They show Sesame Street! That "Cookie Monster" and "The Count" just crack me up!
The next day the doorbell rang and it was the same guy. I couldn稚 believe it! And this time he showed up with his boss! My kid answered the door so it was already opened. I couldn稚 act like I wasn稚 here.
The boss is even pushier than the other guy. We go around through the same conversation that we did the day before. The boss is not going to give up as easily as the other guy did. He痴 got his foot in the door.
He痴 not going to leave until I give him the money. What am I going to do? Well, what would any self-respecting husband in Japan do? I blame my wife! Yeah, I tell them that I don稚 have any money anyway and that my wife controls all the money so talking to me is just a big waste of time.
This kind of logic works well in this country. People in the West think Japanese women are treated as second-class citizens here. In some ways yes, in some ways no. But in a very large percentage of households in Japan, the wife has complete control of the family "purse-strings." So you tell me, if the women have all the money here, who really holds the keys to power in Japan?
So the NHK guys ask me when my wife will be back. I tell them "tomorrow."
The next morning I知 at work talking with an old-timer in the broadcasting business here in Tokyo. This guy had worked in the broadcasting business for almost 40 years at the time. I知 sure he is retired by now. I tell him about my little escapades with the NHK guys. I ask him what I should do. He says: "Don稚 pay."
I am quite surprised at what he tells me. I mean, here is a Japanese guy, working in this broadcasting business and he痴 telling me not to pay!
"No one in this business ever pays, Mike." He says.
"But what about the law? If I don稚 pay they said they壇 penalize me!"
"Yeah," he says, "In the law it is written that if you don稚 pay NHK, you will be given a penalty. But the law doesn稚 state what the penalty is!"
"Just like Japan!" I think. I say, "So if I don稚 pay, there痴 nothing they can do about it?"
"No." He says, "They are just worried that if the neighbors find out that you didn稚 pay that the neighbors will stop paying. That痴 all. I had the same experience and after several times that NHK came over, finally they sent a very high-ranking official to my house. He told me, 前kay. You don稚 have to pay. Just don稚 tell the neighbors that you don稚 pay and we won稚 bother you anymore.� So we agreed."
Unbelievable! Well, actually very believable if you致e ever been here before.
So, that was about 18 years or so ago. I have seen the NHK guys many times since. I致e tried everything to get rid of them! I acted like I couldn稚 speak Japanese, that didn稚 work; I致e acted like I wasn稚 home, they waited for me; I致e even tried to act like I was just the house-keeper, no dice! I guess I知 a bad liar. It must show on my face. They keep coming back.
One other day I woke up in the morning and saw my 15 yr old daughter standing at the door talking to a different NHK guy and he was having her sign a form for an automatic bank-withdrawal for the fees! A 15-year-old kid! I grabbed the form from her and told her I壇 take care of it.
The form was in Japanese, so I acted like I couldn稚 read it. I pointed at a line on the form and said to him, "What does this say here?"
He adjusted his glasses and took the form from me so he could explain what was to be written in each space. As soon as he did, I slammed the door shut and locked it.
Of course, he stood outside and knocked on my door for a while until he gave up. God! Do I hate these control freaks! So I goosestepped into the living room and told my kids that if it痴 the NHK guy at the door that they are "verboten" to answer the door under any circumstances.
So I was trapped in my apartment. Living in fear. I was afraid to go outside and be accosted by the TV Police. Yes. NHK in Japan- PBS with teeth! Well, maybe not teeth, more like dentures.
:shock: :wary: :bluush: ;) ;)