Hanging with Takahiro

Sunday, April 4th, 2010 in: News, Travel

The ride back to Shibuya seemed to go much faster. I got in touch with Ehtesham to see if he and Willy wanted to hang out in the city, but he still wasn’t quite back to himself, and Willy had since caught whatever had Ehtesham bedridden for the Waseda graduation, so he wasn’t up for it either. Takahiro was done with his tasks so he came to meet me at 溝の口 to grab some dinner. We were between Tokyo and Kawasaki, but it had a very comfortable atmosphere. A happening place full of people going about their business and having a good time, without feeling too crowded. We ducked into a Teishoku restaurant and grabbed some cheap grub while I told Takahiro about my day in Sawara.

He’d been running around getting ready for his upcoming 研修, training for his new job. Many of my friends are going through this; the recruitment process out of school is another one of those shared experiences that college graduates get to have. The 3rd year of school is dedicated to the task of finding a job, which is like an even more stringent application for college itself. Actual studies are set aside in order to do a little soul-searching to decide what industries you want to pursue, seminars to help prepare you for etiquette and protocol in the work environment, creating attractive resumes for potential employers (hard to do considering there is ONE standard template for resumes in Japan), let alone the process of actually applying to a company, going through the interviews themselves (oh yes there are usually several of those). And when you’ve finally got the job, you get to look forward to years of being a peon until your seniority eventually grandfathers you into management. I have a sneaking suspicion that the true reason for Japan’s record longevity is that people want to work long enough to actually have the power to do something, though by the time they get there they’re probably too senile to remember what it was they wanted to do. I don’t think I could handle this system; the stress and etiquette and all that is fine, it’s the locking yourself in to a single job would feel like I’d caught myself in a net. After all of that effort trying to get a job, I would probably wonder to myself what other opportunities I’d had to pass up to pick this one position. We never know to which extent the decisions we make cost us. I tend to get caught up in the infinite possibilities life has to offer, which can often prevent me from choosing a solid direction for myself. This trip is kind of a combination of both. I’m very much flying by the seat of my pants, but the trip itself is a major commitment to follow this path wherever it leads me. Sometimes that path leads me away from people and places I’d rather not part with.

Takahiro led me up the hill to his place; his family has an apartment overlooking the stations with a good view of both Tokyo and Kawasaki on a clear day. I’d stayed in friends’ apartments and mansions before, but never one in which their family lived as well. It was very much like a Japanese house, with an entry gate with a small porch, and a genkan at the door for you to remove your shoes. The long hall running to the living room and kitchen was lined with doors leading to bedrooms and the water closet. The bathroom and shower were spacious, and they had their own washing machine. It really did feel like I’d stepped into a house; I had forgotten I was on the 8th floor of an apartment complex. Takahiro said his room was too messy, so I’d be sleeping on the couch in the “Party room” upstairs. Another benefit of the apartment is access to this room on top of the building with splendid views and enough space to throw a pretty decent social gathering. This wasn’t quite what the party room is meant for, but we found ourselves laid out on the couches chatting about work and life while I processed photos from the previous day and Takahiro polished the shoes he’d used for 就職活動 (job hunting). The heels were practically shot from being slipped on and off so many times, but he managed to breathe a bit of life back into them with his new polish kit. Another task of the salaryman is to maintain his work wardrobe; how you look is how you’re judged in the workplace. Look sharp, look happy, look busy.

I thought Takahiro would set me up in the party room and head back to his apartment, but he pushed some chairs together and slept up there too. We woke up a little early to clear out of the room before the cleaning lady discovers us asleep on the couches, and headed back to his place. We hung out in his room (which wasn’t really that messy but there’s no arguing with Japanese people on this point), then headed to the kitchen for a sushi breakfast. Contrary to popular opinion, Japanese people probably eat sushi with even less frequency than Americans, it was kind of strange to see a bunch of nigiri sushi on the breakfast table. Takahiro had more packing and preparation to do for the big day tomorrow, so I set up my computer on the kitchen table to get some photos organized and articles written for you good people back home, accompanied by pleasant conversation from Takahiro’s parents who were curious about me and my travels. It was a productive afternoon, and it was fun to talk to his parents despite their constant apologies for the interruptions. No really, I can work on photos and chat with you, I rather enjoy the company and it would be rude of me to sit silently at my computer in the face of your sincere hospitality; no need to apologize at all!

I got caught up with my work and Takahiro with his packing, so after lunch we headed towards Roppongi to check out an art event around Roppongi Hills. The fancy section of town was alive with locals and ex-pat families walking around, checking out art exhibits in a festival atmosphere. Held right in front of the NHK TV station, there were many characters walking around through the crowd posing for pictures, including Pikachu and Crayon Shin-Chan. The Blue Man Group even made an appearance to promote their new show starting in late April, walking silently through the crowd, staring eerily at people and miming like aliens who had just crash-landed on our planet, experiencing everything for the first time. One of them caught my eye and gave me a nod before throwing me a bag of Blue Man candy. It was a pretty funny moment. I wish I was still going to be around to see their show.

We found our way to Roppongi Midtown, the building that had just opened back when I was an exchange student. It’s still filled with ridiculously expensive stores, but that makes window shopping so much more fun. We found a fruit store that is specifically for gift-giving. A single strawberry cost 420 yen, a ripe mango was 13,000 (about $150). Kind of unbelievable, but this is just an example of how the “haves” experience the world; cost really has no meaning so why not enjoy the “finer” things. A $200 cantaloupe is just a nice gesture!

We stopped at the Fujifilm center and I grabbed a beautiful postcard with a picture of a boulder on it for the folks back at Pipeworks. I had the idea to send them a little something from my trip, I’m trying to be fair and send everyone at least one postcard from various places. If you have a particular request please let me know, but if you don’t get one from me it doesn’t mean I don’t loves you!

Back in Shinjuku, we gathered with Kaoru, Ayaka, Aiko and Takashi (one of the Niji no Kai kouhai). I hadn’t seen Aiko in years, so it was awesome to see her again; she’s been living in Tokyo for a while now, working for a headhunting agency. She must be doing well, she has her own assistant! Takashi let me stay the night at his place, and he told me about his plans to go climb McKinley later this year. He’s also been to Nepal, so I got to pick his brain a bit ab0ut that. It was another random but very helpful connection, and he’s a very interesting character. His apartment is famous amongst the Niji no Kai people for being messy, but it didn’t really matter to me since I was just happy to have a safe place to sleep. He even went to the trouble to do some cleaning before I got there, throwing away several garbage bags worth of trash that had accumulated on his floor. As I settled in for the night, I realized how important it was to appreciate things while you still have them: a warm place to sleep, a hot shower, a healthy meal, a friendly face. There’s no telling what the future looks like, so it’s important for us to appreciate the moments as they happen.

---