Exams, Capsule Hotels... and Tokyo

Tokyo

Two weeks ago I went to Tokyo to write a Linguistics exam through Unisa (the University of South Africa). Unfortunately Tokyo is the place in Japan where Unisa students can write their exams. On the other hand, I am very grateful that I can write Unisa exams in Japan. :D

Tokyo is pretty far from Matsusaka, my home city. It's a short 2 hours if you take the Shinkansen, Japan's bullet train, but this option is quite expensive however.

Instead, probably because I have some Scottish blood, I took a Night Bus, which travels the distance in 7-8 hours at about half the price of the Shinkansen. (One of my work colleagues was kind enough to organise the logistics of the trip. It seems the website that can be used to make the booking is mostly in Japanese, and unfortunately still beyond my ability to navigate.)

The night bus was comfortable enough. It is a little bit like an aeroplane, but with more leg room, and you can recline your seat a bit further. I slept alright on the way to Tokyo, but on the way back I was quite uncomfortable. I would recommend getting one of those traveller's pillows that supports your head nicely. I think that one of these would make all the difference!

I arrived outside Shinjuku station, Tokyo's most used train station, on Sunday morning just before 6am. What this means is that I arrived just in time to see the last of the die-hard party-people of the night before staggering off in the sunrise, or climbing into cars with "new friends".

Using Google Maps I navigated my way to the Shinjuku Kuyakusho-mae Capsule Hotel - (Men Only), where I would sleep the next night. I would not be allowed to officially check in until 15:00, but they were kind enough to let me lock up some of my belonging so that I needn't walk around Tokyo with everything I brought with me.

As you can see from the image above, the entrance to the Capsule hotel is fairly nondescript. The sign is visible in the photo above. It has the red background near the top left of the photo, but with all the other equally-prominently lit notices around, it's easy to overlook the sign.

The idea behind a capsule hotel is to squeeze the maximise number of guests into the available space. They try to do this by using most of the space for beds. But they still want their guests to be comfortable, and they try to make sure the guests are comfortable. 

So by putting all the bathrooms together like this, they are also saving quite a lot of space. Instead of having separate showers for each person, they would rather use the space to have a communal sauna. And the sauna was great. It was big and spacious, and felt far more luxurious than having my own small shower.

Here is the communal sitting room. Now here there is one major improvement that I would like. I would love it if the room was smoke free, but it wasn't. But hey, it's not the end of the world, and for 3500 yen for the evening, in the middle of Tokyo, it was a gripe I was quite happy to live with.

As you can see, the vending machines are also a nice solution to the midnight munchies :D.

This little notice is left outside the elevator that can be used to go between the various floors of the hotel. It looks all very sweet and innocent, but there is a surprise on 2F. Or at least it was a surprise to me. I'm sure it'll get many of you giggling :).

Also, interestingly, one of the main reasons for the existence of Capsule Hotels, is to accommodate people that are working late (or something) and don't have time to commute back home. For this reason the hotel provides you with toothpaste, toothbrushes, hair products, face-wash and basically everything you need, including your own pyjamas!

In the foyer, they even have shirts and ties on sale, in case you want to give the impression, "... of course I went home last night."

So after I spent the day moving around Tokyo and trying to study in Starbucks, I did eventually find my way to my own little capsule... it's the invitingly illuminated capsule in the bottom right of this photo.

And to be honest, this little capsule had everything I needed. A couple of square meters of bed space, a television (I think, although I never turned it on). I also paid an extra couple of hundred yen to get a power point (which was totally worth it as I had my usual arsenal of electronic devices keeping my company on my journey).

And this was what I saw moments before going to sleep. My TV (probably), my bedding, and the tiny bamboo roller blind separating me from the rest of the ruffians spending the night.

 

This is the night view of the view of the road I was staying on. As it turns out I was spending the night in Shinjuku's famous red-light district. Who knew?!? o_O

Well, all I can see, is that the pimps and hookers know how to decorate a road. Doesn't it look fabulous?

The morning of my exam, I got up early once again (05:45), just in-case Shinjuku station would prove difficult to navigate early on a Monday morning.

As it turns out, by getting out of bed early, it was very easy to get to my destination, so I had time for some last minute revision and a couple of cups of coffee before my exam. This Starbucks was conveniently only about 200m away from the examination centre.

The Unisa exam was hosted by... The British Council! Strange but true. I think that the British Council has some infrastructure in please to facilitate exams, and it seemed that there were 3 different institutions writing on the day I wrote.

Thank you British Council and Unisa for working together to help students change their lives. Your cooperation is very much appreciated!

So during my time in Tokyo, was I all work and no play? Of course not. One afternoon, between sprints of studying, I went to Ueno park.

This photograph is of a commemorative mound, built in honour of the Shogitai warriors; Samurai that resisted the Meiji restoration, unto their own death, here at the top of Ueno hill. You may recognise this battle from is poetic representation in the movie, 'The Last Samurai'.







Before calling it a day, and despite having walked excruciatingly far, I forced my feet to take me to the Metropolitan Art museum, surprisingly (and conveniently) located in Ueno park.















Ueno park in early Autumn.










Although this photograph is overexposed, I think it does nicely juxtapose the old and the new Tokyos, that seem to coexist quite peacefully.

After 2 days in Tokyo  I began feeling fatigued by the sheer number of people that surrounded me every day. It's really quite overwhelming, and more than once I found myself thinking that it feels like every day in Tokyo is a  Matsuri (festival) day.

In Closing...

So in case you were wondering, I think the exam went well enough. It wasn't easy, but I think I was adequately prepared. I'll be very surprised if I don't pass, and I would a lot less surprised if I did quite well. But it's always so hard to predict. :)

So in summary: The exam was not too bad. Tokyo was great. It's a beautiful city, with lots of well dressed and beautiful people. The downside of Tokyo is that there are many, many millions of people, all living on top of one another. Capsule hotels, they're cheep and not very private; but they're private enough, and to be honest, they're quite good value for money! And night buses. Well, in my opinion, I'd rather save 7500 yen, and spend it on something nice, than on the Shinkansen... but that all depends on how precious your time is.

Thanks for reading everybody. As always, please feel free to like or comment. It's always great to hear from you all.

And who knows... Maybe next time you hear from me... will be in person ;).

To all my friends and family, I love you all. And to perfect strangers... I probably love you a little bit too :).

Iinan's Inconspicuous Bakery

On Saturday morning, Taryn and I went to Iinan High School, for a practise of the music duet (Aladdin's, "I can show you the World") that we will be performing at the school festival next Friday.

Autumn colours sweeping through Japan.

After the rehearsal, one of Taryn's work colleagues took us to the town hall (or something) where the school festival will be taking place. You can see it in the background of this photograph.

Taryn remembered that someone told her about a local bakery where an old man and woman bake bread which they sell to the local community. The store opens at 12 o'clock, and apparently it closes fifteen minutes later on some days, due to the popularity of their produce.

This is the house from which the bakery operates. The house is fairly unremarkable, other than that it looks very, very new. Inside it even more  immaculate than it looks in this picture.

Outside the house, some berries and fruits are drying in Japan's Autumn sunshine.

We arrived too early for the bakery to be open. With 20 minutes to spare, we decided to take the opportunity to explore the neighbourhood. Although there are houses around, and this is probably a residential area, there is quite a lot of farmland here as well.

Here you can see some of the hay that laid down to separated the fields. (I have no idea why; but it looks pretty doesn't it?)

This picture was taken just behind the bakery, and in the distance, just above the valley in this photograph you can see an eagle souring.

This photograph was taken from the patio of the bakery. It is an amazing view, isn't it?

Needless to say, we went into the bakery, and  bought way more bread than any sane people should buy... and two slices of the best, home-made-pizza we've had since we got here!

The food was delicious, and I felt that I could justify the calories, at least in part, because we were supporting the livelihood of an elderly couple in the local community.

~ The end.

A picture of the author, and his beautiful wife

Thank you for visiting my blog. I hope you enjoyed learning a bit more about our little adventure in Japan.

Please feel free to share your comments. It's always great to hear from you, and it's a wonderful way to let me know this blog is appreciated!

On Young People's Minds

Today I went to an English speaking contest in Tsu, a town close to my home town of Matsusaka. It is also the capital of Mie prefecture. The setting, Tsu cultural centre or Town hall,  is beautiful (as you can see from the photo below).

The contest today had a category for speeches, where the topic of the speeches was decided by the students. For this reason I believe, the topics they discuss are very much a reflection of what these students think about, and in some cases may even be a reflection of the Japanese people themselves.

Race, Language and Prejudice

My students, being of some Filipino descent, and living among the more-or-less homogeneous Japanese population spoke about their experiences.

One student spoked about difficulties of living apart from her parents, for years at a time, as her parents sought to provide her with a better future by working in Japan. (Later she was brought to Japan and came to realise how hard her parents worked, and came to appreciate sacrifices that they parents made for her future.)

Another student wrote about his difficulties in learning 3 languages as he moved from country to country, following his parent's work prospects. He is now studying English as a 4th language. He no longer fears nor resents language as he once did; but rather, he sees languages as a door to opportunities, and windows to the thoughts of the global community.

Our last student tackled the mature topic of prejudice in Japan, and how some foreigners felt discriminated against to the point that they no longer felt comfortable shopping. It's a powerful thing to hear a 16 year old say that everyone should have the right to shop without the fear of being discriminated against.

The Heavies

The most meaningful and emotional speech for me was about the repercussions of the 11 March 2011 Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami.

The Personal Touch of Science

One student mentioned how he was now inspired to become a scientist, because during the crisis, he was impressed at how scientists stepped up to the plate during the crisis, providing support and expertise, probably in the analysis of the earthquake, prediction of the tsunami and affected areas, as well as the handling of the nuclear disaster that followed at Fukushima. He believes that science and scientists stood as pillars in society during those difficult times, and in the future, he wants to be an active member of this solution orientated niche of our society.

Unfulfilled Dreams

A second student mentioned that she lost 8 friends that dreadful day. She told the story of how her mind and her body rejected the news that so many of her friends were dead. She spoke about how she was unable to eat and cried everyday. She despaired, and wanted to cease to exist.

She went on to challenge the audience by saying that on that day, 16 thousand people died, leaving 16 thousand unfulfilled dreams and ambitions. It was the opinion of this girl that the Japanese people should accept these 16 thousand ambitions as their own, and try to work towards realizing the unfulfilled dreams of these people prematurely taken. Now, that is how she find meaning in life, by living her life with the purpose of accomplishing another persons dreams.

Conclusion

So yeah, it's quite a weighty topic for a Sunday night, but undeniably important and undeniably powerful. That is why I am here, on the opposite side of the world from my home country, South Africa. 

Japanese people are different. There is something special about their culture, and while I may be too foreign to understand them, I am mesmerised by their attitude and resilience.

I am so grateful for this opportunity.