Russia on Ice

Japanese Word of the Day:

English: Party or banquet (though usually drinking parties)
Japanese: Enkai (宴会 or えんかい)

So yesterday I was making my weekend to-do list and suddenly remembered “oh shit, I have a blog”. So if you’re wondering why I haven’t been posting lately it’s because I’ve been quite busy and in my scarce free time I’ve been doing thing other than writing. Sorry! I’ll try to do better but no promises if things stay busy for a while. On to your regularly scheduled entry!

Let’s talk about Japan’s problem with drinking.

Specifically, let’s talk about how Japan doesn't see it as a problem but a Westerner like myself would.

To better explain the cultural divide I’ll start by explaining today’s word of the day, enkai. An enkai is usually an office party at a restaurant where there is a lot of alcohol and drinking. If you are a Japanese businessman (or woman!) and you are looking to move up in your business ladder you will attend every enkai you can. Please bear in mind that I don’t work in a position like that so all my perspective is from outside looking in, but I have been told that enkai are a very important bonding event for coworkers and essential if you want to move up in the world. That means after work ends at late-o-clock you will go out with your boss and coworkers to a restaurant where you can pay anywhere from 3,000-10,000Y (~$30-$100 USD though I’d say ~$50 is average) at a venue specifically for this type of party. Usually enkai restaurants have unlimited drinks and food or set meal courses for the larger price tag and getting drunk is entirely acceptable if not encouraged.

Wait, you get drunk with your boss? That sounds like a terrible idea!

Herein lies another key difference between Japan and America. In America if you get completely drunk or are regularly out drinking it is viewed as a problem you don’t have control of. In Japan, it’s viewed as being fun or the life of the party to be completely drunk and there doesn't seem to be the same stigma attached to alcoholism. In the words of my very perceptive friend in Niigata, alcohol is the Japanese’s way of saying it’s ok to loosen up. Bear in mind that the Japanese people work some of the most hours in the world and get the least sleep of most developed nations. From what I can tell, being Japanese is incredibly stressful, busy, and full of protocol. Enkai are a chance to break that rigid structure and let your hair down

Despite being a rather relaxed social event Enkai still have very specific social rules you need to keep in mind. For example, you should never take a drink before the kampai, or toast, has been made. In the case that someone is struck by the overwhelming desire to make a speech you will have to sit and stare at your glass patiently waiting for the word “kampai” so you don’t miss the toast. This happened to me except the people at my table were all holding our drinks expecting a quick kampai so we had to slowly put them down. At least I wasn’t the only one!

Another important rule of enkai is that you shouldn't pour your own beer. Usually, large bottles of beer are brought to the table and placed between individuals. If you notice that your neighbors glass is getting low then you snatch up the beer and refill their glass unless they specifically ask you not to. Failure to do so leaves your neighbor sad and drinkless and probably makes you seem self-absorbed to not notice their need.

There are still a few more rules to enkai. Reaching across the table or even your neighbor is considered entirely acceptable for some baffling reason. This led to a bit of confusion with me  when people were encouraging me to take food but I kept waiting for it to be passed nearer to me. It is also entirely illegal to drive a car or even ride a bicycle if you have had *any* alcohol. As a result, this leads to many intoxicated people on public transit and as a result public drunkenness is tolerated far more than in the states. It’s also possible that public drunkenness just sticks out more in Japan since normal life is so orderly and polite so one drunk on a train gets a lot of attention.

Since coming to Japan I have been to 2 enkai with different groups. My first was shortly after I arrived and was a welcome party for me hosted by my Board of Education. The second was a post-Sports Day celebration with the Elementary school whose Sports Day I attended. I’m going to try to give the highlights reel of each to give a feel for how enkai work.

Welcome Party Enkai; Timeline: August 29^th
For my Welcome Party enkai I was told what day to keep open but not much else. Allen assured me the restaurant that had been picked was good and my supervisor gave us both a ride a town over to where the enkai would be. I think my town may have one or two enkai style restaurants but the norm seems to be going a town or two over to a larger enkai establishment. In the cases of both enkai I’ve been to they’ve also been next to train stations which seems to fit in with the getting home safely while drunk idea. Anywho, Namba-san drove us to Kyotanabe and our group settled in to a separated booth area in a restaurant that specialized in yakitori (chicken skewers). I soon learned that the way this particular restaurant worked was you paid a set cover price and got to order as much food or drinks as you wanted. The food was brought in serving plates or bowls so they could be passed around for people to take what they wanted. Aside from the beers that were placed strategically around the table drinks were ordered for oneself and not poured by neighbors.

Over the course of the 2 or so hours we were there I tried many different foods, most of which I was pretty unsure what I was eating. Occasionally, I’d be encouraged to try something “delicious”, grab a skewer, and then right after I took a bit be told it was cooked chicken skin or chicken heart; yes I ate both of those things. Rather, I took a bite and couldn’t shake the image of eating a chicken’s actual heart from my head and abandoned the rest of the skewer to the edge of my plate. Waste is bad in Japan, so I really tried to eat what I took but a few times I absolutely drew the line.

For those worried, there were also lots of really, really delicious foods. Yakitori in general is basically chicken kabobs that sometimes has a delicious sauce in addition to the marinade and I ate quite a bit of that. I also recall some delicious edamame, cheesy potato bites, and even French fries.

Those of you who know my usual distaste for drinking are probably wondering how I handled a party specifically designed for drinking that had me as the center of attention. The answer is I impressed my coworkers with my apparently impressing ability to drink.

Wait. Stop. Just let me explain myself.

I strongly suspect that Japanese drinks are not as alcoholic as American drinks. Usually the biggest turn off for drinking for me (besides being a control freak) is that I dislike the taste of alcohol. I can barely taste any alcohol in the Japanese drinks I’ve tried and that includes beer (as part of the kampai). At this enkai I had 3 drinks though I can only recall the name of one since they were in Japanese and Allen teased me a fair bit for having a fuzzy navel to drink. What can I say, it sounded good (and was). As a result some of the people around me noticed I was completely and utterly sober and that apparently impressed them enough to call me a “skilled” drinker, literal translation. But honestly I just think the alcohol is a lower concentration and I don’t do silly things like chug drinks on an empty stomach.

One good thing about drinking with coworkers in Japan is it apparently causes them to develop the ability to speak English. I suspect that in truth they’re just shy about using a foreign language but damn, they could help me not look like an idiot from time to time by using English! I was seated between two of the library staff who also worked in the board of education. One was a very friendly lady who speaks perfect English (even when not drinking) and who helped translate a lot of what happened for me. The librarian on the other side was a nice guy I hadn’t had a chance to speak to much but had noticed some comics on his desk I liked. I actually mentioned this and it turns out he’s a nerd like me and we had a great conversation about the different games and animes we liked. He even gave me an awesome pen with Hatsune Mikumi on it! If you have no idea who that is, don’t worry I’m sure I’ll explain at some point in this blog.

Speaking of intoxicated educators, one of the BoE guys ended up going outside to smoke or make a phone call or something and ended up making faces against the glass window at us. Apparently Japanese people don’t hold their alcohol very well or they allow the placebo effect to let them let loose. Either way it was pretty funny.

This guy was a principal, by the way. He's also a lot of fun!

After the party drew to a close we divided into groups to head home. The nice librarian man on my left was driving a few people back to Ujitawara and offered to drive me as well so I gladly went with him and the others. On the ride I found out that not only is he a librarian but also a priest at a shrine literally down the road from my apartment. I think it’s a family type role that you’re born into but I was still shocked and probably offended him by asking “…no, really?” a lot. In my defense I usually don’t trust people at drinking parties who tell me they’re priests.

Elementary School Undoukai Enkai; Timeline: September 27^th
My second enkai took place much later so I was feeling much more comfortable in general with being in Japan and trying to speak broken Japanese by this point. The people inviting me were also the teachers from my favorite school who I genuinely enjoy talking to so I went into the situation feeling confident.

Well, except for the part where the enkai took place the afternoon after a busy morning of having sports day (Undoukai) after which I felt pretty exhausted. The enkai was scheduled for around 7:00 in Nara which meant that I had to leave Ujitawara by 5:30 to catch the right bus to get there a little early and find my way to the restaurant. Sports day ended sometime around 3:30 so I didn’t have a whole lot of time to bike home, shower, change, and prepare.

I had actually realized a day or so earlier that because the enkai was taking place so far away in Nara I would have trouble getting home because the last bus for Ujitawara left at 9:00. After discussing it with a coworker at the elementary school she arranged for me to be able to ride home with another teacher who lived in town but who did not speak a word of English. So with that arrangement made I planned my trip to Nara knowing that I didn’t have to worry about the return. Yet fate conspired against me. A stop or two after getting on the bus and happily zoning out with some music I felt a tap on my shoulder and saw the gentleman who was taking me home smiling at me. Despite the fact that I had boarded the bus successfully he checked to make sure I knew when to get off and how much fare to pay and that I had taken a number ticket. I showed him my bus card and he seemed to understand that I knew what I was doing.

Here’s the thing; I think I've said before that I’m pretty confident with the public transit system in Japan. I can plan to go to Osaka and make it happen with little to no trouble just by reading the train maps.

My somewhat elderly companion did not seem to share this skill.

When we got off the bus and to the train station he told me to stand aside while he handed getting our train tickets. I watched him stare blankly at the map before asking another person what the correct ticket fare was and then attempt to use the wrong machine to get the ticket. Around this point I began to be concerned. Regardless, the kind old man gave me my ticket and we headed down to the train area. I had checked on my phone when the train we ought to take would come and after a few minutes it pulled up to the station. My companion made no attempt to get aboard which led to my attempts to convey through broken Japanese that we might want to get on this train. Eventually he smiled and agreed and we got on.

The trip took way longer than it should have and we ended up arriving in Nara only a few minutes before time for the enkai to start. We found another coworker in the ticket area and the three of us set off for the restaurant. One of the nice teachers near me had given me very specific instructions on where to go, telling me to take exit 3 and then go up to the 7^th floor. My companions didn't seem to get this memo so I pointed them to the exit and then stopped them from leaving the building  before pointing out a sign showing our destination next to an elevator.

Eventually we arrived and we ushered to a private room where 3 tables were set up with the teachers seated around them save a few open seats. Upon entering, I got to pick a paper crane that told me my assigned seat number and I sat at a table of teachers I didn't know and whom didn't have a lot of English knowledge. This was shaping up to be fun!

Actually it was. Communication finds a way and one of the teachers had seen my self introduction and told the others little things about me to spark conversation. At one point she told them I was an artist which prompted another teacher to ask to see something I drew (which I pulled up on my phone) and then begged me to draw a banner for an event in the future. I agreed and he was quite pleased and acted like I had made his night. Feels good to be appreciated, man.

The restaurant itself was a fancy Chinese type restaurant that brought out large dishes of food from which we could all take servings. At the first dish I furrowed my brows as I tried to place the strange looking food in front of me. By the second dish, someone was kind enough to tell me I was eating shark fin soup and I decided I should stop trying to figure out what I was eating because it would probably save me some mental images of sad sharks with tracheostomies because they lost their gills.

One thing that differed about this enkai was that individual drinks could be ordered but for the most part everyone had a glass for beer and beer bottles were placed around the table. At one point I tried to explain to my neighbor about the cultural differences between enkai and American parties. For example, I said that generally people wouldn't pour you a drink or refill yours without asking and that reaching across the table or peoples plates was considered rather rude. I think my genuine attempt at cultural discourse was misunderstood as a cultural fence with a “do not cross” sign as my neighbor decided to not refill my drink again (which is rude by Japanese customs). Opps!

Since coming to Japan I have discovered that if there is one thing the Japanese like more than drinking it is giving speeches. So clearly, we should do both at the same time! This won’t end poorly at all.

Throughout the party there were various speeches. Before the kampai (cheers) there was a speech that was so long everyone around me set down their drinks they had picked up expecting a quick toast and cheers after. As the night progressed, more and more people gave speeches. I watched a woman break out sobbing uncontrollably talking about (as best I could understand) how moved she was by something someone did at the sports day. It was also apparently appropriate to stand up to make your speech with a full glass of beer and drain it slowly (or quickly) as you spoke.

Listening to everyone talk a tiny voice in the back of my head wondered if they’d ask me to make a speech. I concluded that no, surely I was safe this time since no one here spoke fluent English and it would be too difficult to translate. Yet… sure enough, once everyone else had spoken a few people began looking around to see if anyone hadn't spoken yet and their eyes landed on me. I was instructed that I could speak in English and someone would translate and I just needed to say something about sports day. I opted to express my amazement at the incredible feats of gymnastics the students had performed and how that would never happen in America (for legal reasons, I’m sure). Granted, I said all this in much less, simpler words so I’m not sure my point was conveyed properly. Either way, I was clapped for and I retreated back to sipping my beer (which was also not strong).

The speeches honest to god went on for at least 45 minutes to an hour after the food stopped. By then I didn't have much to entertain myself with since I couldn't understand a word of what was going on and there was no food to debate the nature of. Eventually all things come to an end and so too did the speeches.

Hurray! Now I get to go home with the old guy who speaks no English and doesn't understand the train sys- oh wait. Crap.

Actually it was really easy. The kind old gentleman had offered rides to 2 other teachers as well so they came with us and were much better versed with the trains. One of them was a bit more intoxicated than the others I think as he loudly informed the entire train out of the blue that I resemble the Mona Lisa. Well, at least he did it in English so I’m not sure anyone else understood him. Strangest compliment I've gotten since arriving in Japan, by the way.

We took the trains to a town near Ujitawara where nice old man’s wife picked us up in her car and proceeded to drop everyone off one by one. When it got my turn I quietly sat since neither of the couple spoke English until they arrived at my apartment. The nice older man actually got out to help me out of the car but saw that I could manage and we both said goodnight. I thanked him and his wife profusely before crawling into my house and immediately going to bed.

So there you have enkai in Japan. You know, because two anecdotes are clearly representative of the whole! But seriously, despite my not being a drinker they were both very fun and pretty interesting as an outsider looking in on Japanese culture.

I still think people here drink too much though. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go have a Kahlua milk.