lioness in japan

I took a photo of this sign at my local station. Yeap, due to the enormous number of gropers on the train at peak hour, there’s a women-only carriage from 7.26 to 930am. I’m all for women-only cars but it starts at 7.26am? I had to chuckle.

It’s also a clue that the Japanese are sticklers for punctuality. I must say I’m eternally grateful to Japan for curing my seemingly incorrigible habit of being late. Coming from Singapore, where things are more relaxed and easy-going, I used to regard time as fluid which has its good and bad points — spontaneity versus flakiness.

What I love in Japan is that you can pretty much count on people and things to turn up on time.

The shoe sizes I’m familiar with are single digit ones (US) and 30-something ones (EU), but in Japan, your shoe size is the length of your foot in centimeters.

I’m a size 23.5 (size 6.5 or 7; 36.5 or 37) in Japan, if anyone cares.

I always find it amusing that shoes are lined up on the shelves according to sizes in Japanese shoe stores. I guess it’s an efficient way to show what they have in your size. If it’s there, it’s there. If the design is not available in your size, it just won’t be on the shelf. Also, both shoes in the pair are on display, which is not the case in Singapore, so you can just try them on both feet without having to call for any assistance — cool.

Another only-in-Japan thing: you don’t need to pay at the cash register at a department store. The salesperson would go to the cashier and get the receipt and you just need to wait where you were when you asked for service. You can then keep browsing as you wait and that’s certainly more interesting than standing in a queue.

As you can see, I’ve been bitten by the kawaii bug in Tokyo. I can’t help but break out of my staid colours and solid backgrounds.

When I was at a stationary shop buying an adult and serious-looking folder, I spotted these adorable notebooks:

I was smitten by the hand drawn to-do list in the blue notebook. I’m a die-hard list-maker and cannot navigate my way through the day without one or two.

Since I don’t have a portable blackboard as a teacher, I use notebooks to scribble explanations to help my students understand me better.

Awww…Well, all my students are women so I think they wouldn’t mind looking at these while I’m imparting grammar rules to them.

If I had to teach salarymen, I definitely would lose all credibility if I used these notebooks…

In the month that leads up to spring (yay!), the weather goes a bit wonky in Japan — some days actually feel like spring and others are chilly and windy.

There’s a saying for this and it’s called, 三寒四温（さんかんしおん；sankanshion) that literally means three days cold, four days warm.

The winds on the cold days can be huge, whippy ones, as if winter is being pummelled out of the city. On warm days, people out on the streets wear light coats and pretty colours, as opposed to the sombre tones of last season’s.

As I’m writing this, it’s a cold day. I checked the weather report for this week on Yahoo Japan and sure enough temperatures are low for three days and go up on the fourth.

Photo credit: here

What I now accept in daily life was not quite what I was used to in the past — ’tis part and parcel of being an expat.

For example, to answer “Yes”, “Agree”, or “True” on Japanese related grammar workbooks, you have to put a circle, not a tick, in the box. You don’t circle anything, so you just pen a round line in the space provided. It took me awhile not to use ticks, to be honest.

It’s also called maru that means around or round or circle in Japanese.

“No”, “False” and “Disagree” are still a cross X.

But if you make an “X” with your fingers, you are calling for the bill in a restaurant in Japan.

Photo credit: here

I don’t always get funny queries when I pass through customs at a Japanese airport, in fact, I rarely do. But this time, I flew in from Singapore to Nagoya, and had a handful of puzzling questions from a very curious man in uniform.

Let me recount our convo here…

”Where are you from?” – Singapore.

”But you are Chinese…?” – so I told him my grandparents were from China who moved to Singapore, so my parents are Singaporean, and hence I’m Singaporean.

”You live in Tokyo, but why did you fly to Nagoya?” – that’s fair enough because most people commute through Narita Airport. I told him I couldn’t get an air ticket out of Narita.

”Why did you spend only one day in Malaysia? What did you do there?” – hmm, I guess it would look odd to someone who doesn’t live in Singapore or Malaysia. I answered, “Shopping.” And he raised his eyebrows — I suppose very few people outside of southeast Asia would consider Malaysia as a prime shopping destination. I was amazed that he picked that one out but he did flip through my passport very thoroughly.

”Why do you have so many clothes?” – I wanted to laugh in my red eye stupor! I was thinking, “It’s none of your business?!” as he ruffled through my entire suitcase, looked into my dirty laundry bags, and unashamedly flipped my bras about, while feeling the walls of my suitcase. I told him I took a month-long holiday back to Asia — in truth, it was a five-week one.

“Why don’t you have any omiyage?” — Because I’m a selfish b*tch?!

I suppose I looked like a possible drug mule in my disheveled, unwashed state. Or maybe he just wanted to practice his English — I must say he had a good command of the language.

“Will you marry me?” is not quite the phrase uttered when a Japanese man asks his lady for her hand in marriage.

My sensei asked me how Singaporeans said it. I laughed and replied, “Shall we get an HDB flat together?” If you’re not Singaporean, the cultural nuances might be a bit lost on you. Most people in Singapore buy a government flat when they get married because the schemes favour married folks (they give a sizeable grant for first-time married homeowners).

What do Japanese whisper to their loved ones when it’s time to cross that all-important threshold? This is what my sensei said…

パンスを洗ってください　Please wash my underwear.

毎日、みそ汁を飲みたい　I would like to drink miso soup everyday.

Photo credit: here

He looks like an average salaryman on the train platform. But then…

(more…)

You read that right. A “love” shrine north of Asakusa in Tokyo holds praying-speed-dating events for those seeking a mate, also called konkatsu (matchmaking) in Japanese.

Going onto the Internet and signing up with a discreet dating agency are pretty normal in huge cities where love is truly hard to find. But shrines are a new one to me…Read all about it here.

If you’re interested in other love shrines, here is another article on one near Mount Fuji that is more for meeting a suitable partner and improving existing marriages.

Photo credit: here

There’s actually under-the-table “tipping” in Japanese hospitals. How do I know this? I got the inside scoop from a student of mine. We were doing a fairly easy chapter on restaurant lingo and we were discussing Japan’s tipping culture.

“So no tipping in Japan at all?” I pretended not to know.

“Yes, except in hospitals!”

“What?!” I gasped in surprise. Hey, I thought I knew this town.

“My mother paid 10,000JPY to her doctor when she was in hospital recently.”

Why? Apparently, patients hope to get “better” treatment from busy, harried doctors. Do nurses get “tips”, too? Sometimes, but doctors are the ones you should be gunning for.

“If you press the emergency button when you feel sick in the hospital, the doctor might go to the one who gave him the tip first.”

Good advice if I ever get shipped off to a hospital here.

Photo: mmmfruit