Alien Karaoke

Japanese Word of the Day:
English: “Juice”
Japanese: “Jῡsu” (No hiragana this time, it’s a loan word and I suck at katakana)

               Did you know that Lady Gaga is popular in Japan? Well she is. In our orientation Wednesday morning we were taught how to fill out our names on forms with the following example.
 

               Clearly, the staff in charge of us international students have a good sense of humor. This was demonstrated again in our general safety in Japan orientation including such slides as:
 

               It was actually a very good and informative (if not a bit common sense) orientation on safety. I think it would have been more important if I had any intent to bike while in Japan as bike accidents are unfortunately common. One professor also professed his desire for students to wear bright colors and have lights on their bikes so that he could see them when driving out at night and avoid an accident. Touché, professor, your argument against getting fired for vehicular homicide is compelling.

               I confess the majority of Wednesday has either slipped my mind or simply wasn’t notable but we ventured out in exploration again before enjoying a short break for coffee at the Seattle’s Best Coffee on campus. It sucked. I should rephrase; it wasn’t bad coffee just had far too much foam, not enough substance and cost about 3-4x as much as the vending machine coffee. D-, would not buy again.

               Max had made plans to meet some friends of his at a karaoke bar near school and upon invitation the lot of us decided to come along. We met up outside the building literally next to the campus east gate and cautiously proceeded inside. Someone described it best by saying they thought we had stumbled into someone’s living room. Two incredibly soft couches with low coffee tables lined the wall opposite a bar with stools with a miniature karaoke stage in the corner. On the couches were stuffed animal Dalmatians that appeared to be shedding fabric but upon closer inspection I discovered were tissue box covers* We took our seats at the bar and the proprietor, a petite Japanese woman, ventured out of her back room and startled at the sea of gaikokujin in her bar. I should take a moment to reassure my parents but saying that I did not drink nor was it a requirement. Karaoke bars are called such because many people like to get drunk and sing but just as many people come to sing and enjoy themselves sans alcohol. Speaking of such, Ellen and Michael (who also don’t drink) weren’t overly interested in the karaoke experience so they opted to leave while I stayed to play chaperone^.  

               Now some of you are bound to be wondering how we sang at a Japanese karaoke bar considering none of us are fluent in Japanese. The answer to that is quite simple: American music is very popular in Japan. In fact, most restaurants and super markets I’ve been to have been playing American music though of many different eras and genres. While in a bento box shop we actually got rick roll’d after a Beatles song finished playing. But I digress! There was a fairly large collection of American music to choose from as well as an enormous section of anime music which the Otaku° among us delighted in, myself included. In our group we had a mixture of Lady Gaga sonds, Disney classics, and Gurren Lagann songs. All in all, I’d say it was a fun experience though I’m not sure it’s really my favourite activity in Japan.

For the Gurren Lagann fans.

               The next morning I confess I delighted in sleeping in not because we were out late at karaoke (it ended at 10) but because I had yet to get to sleep past 8 or 9 and there was nothing scheduled until afternoon. I did have to run by school around 11 to pay a fee for my art supplies upon discovering I got into the Sumi-e painting class I wanted. After regrouping for lunch the usual suspects and myself decided to explore the area in front of school (previously we’d been exploring the east side and near the seminar houses). While out we stopped in a convenient store for drinks and I stupidly left my orientation packet which I realized when we’d crossed the street and begun heading back to campus. When I returned to the scene of my clumsiness the store clerk saw me and smiled and handed me the folder she’d stored behind the counter for me. Japanese people are so nice! ²

               On our way back I feel I should mention we stepped inside a model shop. While it did have some western model kits like airplanes it was mostly Gundams and other anime mechs. I find it really interesting that there’s enough of a market in anime models to have stand alone stores for the hobby.

               When we did return to campus we went to an orientation on living in the seminar houses. Before the spiel on dorm life there was an advertisement video for the clubs on campus. At one point it introduced the culture clubs office and showed a Japanese student telling us to come visit them while students wearing storm trooper masks tossed balls back and forth in the background. Even more surreal was the fact that a Jessica Simpson song was playing as the background music to the video.

               One important thing the meeting discussed was the need to get an alien registration card for our time in the country. Given the lack of meeting scheduled for the day my friends and I had already planned to take a trip into Hirakata to the city hall to get that done. Alas, now everyone else was aware they needed to go to city hall and that this was a perfect chance to get it done. By the time we arrived at the train station in Hirakata we had bumped into another large group of students(8 or so) going to get their alien registration whom we joined up with.
 

               As we waited for all members of the group to finish their registration we looked around in a park outside the building and I saw my first woman in a kimono. Using my super awesome 32x zoom stalker camera I managed to get a picture of the woman from across the road and delighted in the wearing of ethnic dress. The more normal people discussed a nearby department store and we deemed it a waste to have walked all the way out here³ and not at least look around. So with the last person registered as an alien we set off to a 6 floor department store by the train station.

               As one might expect the department store was mostly filled with boring things like clothes and shoes, pshaaaw. By the 3^rd floor we’d discovered a supermarket and by the 4^th floor a super cute shop. And when I say a cute shop I mean it literally sold cuteness. Every pencil, every bag, every clock had a big smiling adorable face. It was amazing. Eventually I tore myself away from the overwhelming adorableness and we continued up to the next floor where we found… could it be?! Surely not! An anime and manga store! Oh gloriousness the true fun had begun! Oh wait, I forgot, everything is in Japanese. Dammit. It was still incredibly fun to go through the aisles pointing out the things we knew and the variety of merchandise sold for comic series.
 

               Eventually we left and continued wandering around the complex. There were several restaurants in the building and they all had absolutely amazing looking food and I think 2/3rds of them seemed to specialize in desserts. It was mouth watering. They were also about 1000 yen each, so that kind of killed the desire for them, though. As we ascended the final escalator we debated what we might find on the top floor, having seen so many other shops below. None of us guessed it. The top floor was taken up by a giant arcade. Bright colors lined each machine that flashed lights and yelled out their own slogans and music each competing to be the flashiest and draw in customers. At least 2 walls were completely lined with gachapon⁺ which are like the 25¢ machines that sell stickers and plastic toys in America. Except in Japan they have popular anime and cultural characters often in the form of phone dangles. I personally had to resist getting a kitty one.
 

            After fully exploring the amazing top floor we departed the store to seek out food only to find that here in the epicenter of town everything was rather expensive. Everything except for McDonalds and KFC˘ which were placed side by side. Michael and Jordan opted for McDonalds while Ellen and I headed to KFC. In case you were wondering, I order food by pointing at the menu pictures or names if I’m feeling daring. We got our food and retired to a quiet corner by a window where the boys joined us shortly. As we sat, a little girl walked by with her parents and upon seeing me in the window became wide-eyed and pointed. I smiled and waved while her mortified parents tried to stop her and hurry her away. While Japanese adults have been incredibly courteous and patient with us the children betray the wide-eyed curiosity with which non-Japanese individuals are viewed. I confess that after a week of being surrounded by the Japanese it’s begun to affect me too. Yesterday (2/9) I was bagging my food at a market and turned to see a Caucasian adult male next to me which deeply surprised me enough to double-take. The poor man just smiled at me and joined his Japanese wife and daughter with their bags.

            But I digress. Again. After eating we found a video game store next to the station in which we proceeded to nerd about the international versions of all our favourite games not available in America. The best part was going upstairs in the store to find a mini arcade where Jordan and Michael played Silent Hill the arcade game. All Silent Hill fans may now weep over the death of the famous silent hill plots. Also, pyramid head was there. That sell out.

Even better was the juxtaposition of what was next to Silent Hill.

            After our fun adventure it was getting late and we had an hour walk back to the dorms from the station so we set off into the night. Also it was uphill. And 2.2 miles. Needless to say, I was a tired Madeline when we got back to the dorms and delighted in a grape soda I’d picked up from a drink machine in the way. As a general rule in Japan any drink with fruit in the name is good. Or Lipton. So if you ever go to Japan try all the drinks you can! Also be prepared to walk a lot.

Ja ne!

The Usual Suspects: Jordan, Max, Michael, and Ellen respectively.

Random Facts Footnote Section:
*Enka is a type of Japanese ballad that requires the singer to show great emotion, often to the point of breaking into tears. A professor noted it most resembles the blues.
^Remember kids: The first time you drink unknown drinks in a foreign country be sure someone in the group is sober.
°Otaku is a Japanese term for people interested in anime, manga, etc; it’s similar to calling someone a nerd.

²I heard from another student that a (foreign) professor did an experiment where he set his briefcase down in the middle of a subway and went to sit away from it but where he could see if it was tampered with. He waited three hours and no one so much as touched it.
³From the dorms the station is an hour walk. From campus, about 30-40 minutes.
⁺The name “gachapon” is a phonetic name. “Pon” is described as the sound of the plastic balls containing the toys hitting the machine as they drop out. I forgot where “gacha” comes from.
˘KFC has an interesting persona in Japan; On Christmas day everyone in Japan wants to eat KFC causing there to be a reservation list. I’ve heard this trend comes from a misconception that that’s what Americans do on Christmas.