Walking on the road as a foreigner in Japan

Though not common, I have experience of getting surrounded by kids two times so far. Yesterday was the second of such incident happened. The first incident was on July 2008. I thought of sharing this experience here as it was an interesting experience.

Those kids must be below the age of 7. I was walking on a lonely road at Kiba that lead to the Tozai line railway station. On the way back to home is the time when thoughts of the past try to prevail on the routine work related stress. I found this revisiting childhood days effective to control day to day negative experiences if any, by refreshment.

A tree with deep roots may withstand a heavy storm. It is always the tree that do not have deep roots deracinate in storm. Travelling through forgotten roots rejuvenate and makes them adept to survive tempests.

Yesterday there were 4 kids trying to walk up with my speed of walking, all of them in a celebrating mood as if they have found a new creature from another planet! Those Japanese kids were almost dancing around me. I could hear some words like “Kono hito…” and somewhere in between a sound similar to “gaikokujin”. In total I understood that they were happy to see a foreigner on the street.

Hey, that will be interesting! I should not shout at them to go away like we do to dogs. They are kids and won’t do any harm. This situation might have turned little bit embarrassing to me had it been happened in a crowded place. The road was almost empty but I could see two Japanese women back to the kids when looked back. They were calling the kids, probably to stop running behind me. One of the women ran to catch the kids. When she reached near to me, she said sorry for all the things happened.

She got two kids at her hand but one of them was interested to touch me! She again told so many excuses in Japanese and was almost like getting angry towards the kids for their play. I tried to convey her in my broken Japanese not to scold the kids. It is quite natural for kids to get excitement by seeing a foreigner. I looked different to them from other people whom they daily see. Even though Asians, Indians have different physical figure from East Asians.

I could enjoy the excitement of Japanese kids on the road. Walking away towards the station by saying sayonara to the kids, I was thinking similar scenes when along with my younger brother I walked behind the ISCON group when they camped at a temple in the village near to our home. We saw many white skin people and got excited to talk with them. We did not know what to talk. We guessed they were from America. ISCON were getting a kind of popularity at that time. My brother and I targeted a white man, who showed interest in us with a smiling face when we walked near to him.

When the ISCON group camped near the temple, we approached him but feared to talk with him. He called us near to him and asked our name and about our school. He was surprised to see us replying in English to his queries, because English is not our mother tongue, but still student in villages in India could manage to talk in his language. He gave us sweets from his bag.

We were very thrilled by talking to that American man. Is it not that same kind of feeling yesterday those Japanese kids experienced? Astonishment in seeing somebody different from them, touching a foreigner, talking with a foreigner…….for kids and why even for many of the adults these are kind of different experiences.

And that is what the life is: a collection of different experiences here and there in a chain of repetitive similar experiences.

Life as a stranger in Japan

Length of the day is becoming long and now both day and night are in equilibrium. The night was longer and day was shorter. Some how, the longer night is not attractive. Our days are becoming short in this earth?

It is better to be in the space always where there is no sense of time. No sunrise in the space and therefore no sunset. Stephen Hawking’s keyboards were powerful to convey such magnanimous reflections of his thoughts. When there is no sense of time in the space, how the days will be counted, how we get old and how the death come?

Nietzsche was playing chess inside the mind. He will win again. There were children on the street playing. One of the teen ager showed his acrobatic skills and his friend also followed his performances. Let Nietzsche take rest. I don’t want to get lost once again to him.

The black holes and the stars in the unknown and unrevealed places of the cosmos brought enough disorientation and I used to stretch arms towards the sky to get more energy. Is this an apparently meaningless and absurd world? The cherry buds coming out of the Sakura trees have something different to convey. If Sartre and Kafka were born in Japan, existentialism might have lost two strong proponents. Existence is strongly justified in the land of Samurais.

It is not the brief history of time here in Japan. The pavements would have murmured a long history of time if I sit and listen to them. The road is busy with people, but still I am alone on the street. Is this not a strange world, a world full of strange people? I could not complete reading ‘The castle’. The longer days tempted me to walk on the roads like a stranger along with many other strangers. So far I did not like the shorter days.

I become a stranger when keeping myself away from all others on the road. Life as a stranger has no attraction. Being with the mainstream makes the life flow. But is it possible to be with the mainstream? Walking on the road may not necessarily ensure the possibility of being with the mainstream. Otherwise is there anything called mainstream? It is all a feeling individual strangers shows outside as a group to escape from existential fears. Sartre and Camus can sardonically smile.

One Japanese teen-ager threw stones on a tree near to the roadside. Is the tree his enemy or is he trying to find his enemy on the tree? All minds may not like to be forged and there may be odd incidents of aggression.

Pushing commuters into the train in Japan – A page from daily life in Japan

Today there was an unusual crowd in the Toei Shinjuku line in the morning. Generally everyday morning travel is on the heavily packed trains. Most of the commuters will get down at Morishita.

Yesterday due to heavy wind, there were some delays in the Tozai line. I heard an announcement in Japanese saying that something happened in the Tozai line due to wind and trains will be delayed. Combined with the common sense I guessed the rest part of the announcement. My Japanese speaking level is still at low!

Later in the evening while watching television (terebi in Japanese) I realized the danger effects of the storm. There was an accident in the Narita Airport and two pilots of FexEx courier service met with death. 16 of the international flights were cancelled due to the accident.

Heavy wind is not an uncommon thing in Japan, especially during season changes. Japan is witnessing a season change at present. The winter is just finished and the spring will start within a few days. The start of spring will bring more colors to the life of Japan. Sakura trees are getting themselves prepared to welcome the spring. It is a festival to the eyes, the Sakura flowers blossom. The cherry blossom is typical to the Japanese life and it is almost symbolic to the psyche of Japanese people.

Coming back to the crowded train today, I have been witnessing a strange scene at railway stations for many months. I have seen crowd in the railway station and crowded trains in my country also. But in Japan what is strange is the station staff help to push people inside the train. They use all their energy to push commuters inside the train. Japanese people are co-operative and they adjust to the maximum extent. When the trains are crowded or otherwise too, Japanese people do not make any noise. They are silent throughout the journey and walk out of the train without making any noise. They move in line slowly towards the escalator to the exit.

Most of the commuters will have a book with them. They are busy with their book while waiting for the train and travelling. Some people read while walking also. This keeps them busy with the things they like to do rather than looking around and talk with others and making public nuisance. The public discipline of Japanese people is noteworthy to mention here. How to bring a whole nation to such a military discipline?

When the station crew push the struggling passenger inside, people inside adjust themselves as far as they can to accommodate one more co-passenger. Pushing passengers is the typical thing I have seen in Japan.

Japanese obsession towards cleanliness makes the crowded trains also tolerable. The passengers are clean and gentle. They wear decent clothing that makes the journey comfortable even in such a crowed train. Public morality is also high in Japan. The reasonably low crime rate and immoral activities at public places makes the public life in Japan more convenient.

This is just a page from the daily life in Japan, not representing any reinforced ideas based on many years of experience. As some of my friends like to comment on my views, probably I am yet to know the real Japan! Wonder I though how different it will be than what I have been passing through!

Australia – World War II, Japan, India and Indian National Army

Magarri was shot by Japanese military. Magarri was on his mission to save the trapped children in an island in Australia when Japanese war planes bombed and destroyed most part of the island including an orphanage run by missionaries. Japanese military men shot Magarri from back when he tried to run to the boat where Drover and Nullah along with saved children were waiting.

Magarri fell on the sand. Japanese army men approached to the half dead Magarri. They tried to get information about others from him. He did not say anything. Japanese army men shot him to confirm his death.

It is a scene from ‘Australia’ which I saw yesterday along with friends in 109 Cinemas in Ito Yokado, Kiba. The movie ‘Australia’ directed, co-produced and written by Baz Luhrmann is interwoven well with fiction, romance, fairly tales, history and aboriginal believes.

What is special with the movie Australia for me is it is the first movie I watched in Japan. Generally I do not prefer to watch movies at theatres mainly due to some of my physical limitations. When Tom-san and Wong-san proposed to watch this movie at Kiba, I also joined with them. It was slightly difficult to follow the Australian version of English but the flow of story in Australia was never boring. We could enjoy the beautiful landscapes of Australia.

The character of Magarri is played by David Ngoombujarra who is an indigenous Australian actor. He played the role of assistant to the main character Drover played by Hugh Jackman who was looking after the livestock in ‘far away down’ in North western Australia own by Lady Ashley. The leading role of Lady Ashley was played by Nicole Kidman.

Incredible is the role of Nullah, the son of an aboriginal woman and a white father. The boy plays an equally leading role like Lady Ashley in the movie. Nullah's role was played by Brandon Walters, an 11 years old indigenous boy from Broome. The scenes of the boy Nullah riding a horse were excellent with an astonishing Australian landscape as background.

Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman were in Tokyo, Japan on 26th February for a promotion of ‘Australia’. The movie Australia was released in Japan on 28 February 2009. I am not going to the detailed story of Australia as it will kill the thrill of watching the movie for many of you.

The Australian aborigine grandfather of Nullah played by David Gulpilil is exciting. He played the role of King George, a magic tribal leader, whose grandson is Nullah, the boy living with Lady Ashley. Nullah is son to an aboriginal woman and a white Neil Fletcher, a station manager who plans to take Faraway Downs from Lady Sarah Ashley. Mother of Nullah is daughter to King George. All scenes of black magic and aboriginal dance shown in the movie were new to us. The movie Australia conveyed new knowledge on Australia.

There is love, passion, desire, fear, anger, hatred, racism, jealousy, simplicity, superstition and history in Australia, all interwoven so nicely that we enjoyed watching the two hours and forty five minutes lengthy movie in one stretch without any intermission.

Japanese Army was shown as negative characters in the film. The Japanese war planes bomb at innocent human beings and kill them. The orphanage was also destroyed by Japanese army. They killed Magarri. History says Japanese people were wrong at the time of World War II, but how come my mind justifies the Japanese stand!

Did the history teachers conveyed me wrong lessons that Japanese military was in the right direction? Was British imperialism opposed severely by Indian people and at the same time justified Japanese imperialism? I am not a scholar to comment into the exact details of support of Indian people to Japan even after many years of the war. Was it due to the anger towards the British who were ruling India at the time of war?

Japanese military helped one of the great Indian freedom fighter Subhash Chandra Bose (S.C Bose) to form Indian National Army (INA) and fight against the British at the time of Second World War Almost all Indians consciously or unconsciously supports S.C Bose and consider him equal to Gandhi. Some Indians consider him as the real Indian freedom fighter. He has shown courage to form a military with the help of Japanese military and fight against British. They captured some eastern parts of India and established the Independent India Government (Azad Hind). Unfortunately Japan lost the war and rest is part of the history well known.

Contrary to the official opinion, Indians supported the stand of Japan at the time of World War II. It is worth to recall the name of the Indian judge Radhabinod Pal, who was on the 11 judge panel of the Allied tribunal and was the only one to voice dissent. Radhabinod Pal opposed punishing Japanese war criminals convicted by an Allied tribunal.

Other East Asian countries may not support Japan and the new generations at these countries might have studied a different history about Japan as opposed to the history books in India. Therefore it was little difficult for me to accept first the scene of Magarri shot dead by Japanese army. I don't want to personally justify any crime committed by the Japanese army during World War II, but just wanted to convey the influence of teachings and different perspectives on mindsets. Probably the truth is what the majority believes not always may not be the absolute truth. So is the fate of history too. What the majority and the winner believes and implements is the true history and the defeated one is always a sinner!

Yahoo answers have an interesting discussion on this movie. To read please go to this link; The movie Australia

Anyway, my first movie in Japan ‘Australia’ invoked memories of the history classes at high school. Thanks to Baz Luhrmann and team.