Indian Embassy, Radhabinod Pal and a cultural shock

Mr. Grant was on a short trip to Japan, when I met him near Kudanshita station. I was on my way to Indian Embassy to get the application form for renewal of passport. A tourist from Britain, Grant was curious to hear my opinion about Japan and more on Japanese attitude towards foreigners. Interestingly, this is one of the snooping topics many of the foreign travelers in Japan trying to get answered from foreigners living in Japan. Grant did not hesitate to tell his intention to know Japanese attitude towards foreigners.

The subject of talk was particularly important considering the place of our meeting. There were much in the western and East Asian press connected with Yasukuni shrine in the past, but it is quite natural for Indian people to support Japan’s stand during World War II. As the post-war trial judge Mr. Radhabinod Pal mentioned, victors decide what is wrong and what is right. It is a controversial issue. Opinion polls conducted by various newspapers and other media across India reveals that Japan is the most admired nation in India even today. It is common that school history teachers in India used to tell inspiring facts and incidents of Japan's growth as a powerful nation in Asia. Japan has been a source of inspiration for many young Indian politicians and industrialists. After all, Japan helped Indian freedom fighter S.C Bose to make INA and fight against the British East India company rule in India. Radhabinod Pal has done the justice to millions Indians too through the dissent notes and observations.

While walking towards Indian Embassy, I remembered Justice Radhabinod Pal and his reasons. Each cause could be justified with the theory of relativity. The justice is relative, the crime is relative, the punishment is relative and the whole social structure and laws are relative. Moral values are relative. When the Observer and the observed are two different identities, there exists a line of difference. That difference will bring conflict and conflict will generate injustice. The justice or injustice depends on the perception of the observer. Moreover, the judgment is influenced by the observer’s attitude.

There are three entities in the process of observation - The observer, the medium for observation and the observed. The inference is affected by the relative positioning of the three entities. The difference creates such a division between the observer and the observed. The difference between the observer and the observed is the source of conflicts and injustice. If there is no difference, the observer and the observed becomes one. This is the reason Mr. Pal is revered in Japan and there is a monument dedicated to him that stands on the grounds of the Yasukuni Shrine.

Grant was also curious to know the cultural shock I might have faced in Japan. Cultural shock is a much debated subject in Japan among foreigners. Periods of cultural shock are a necessary phase of any expatriate’s life. The perception and excitement the expatriate bear with while entering to a foreign country have great influence on magnitude of cultural shock. As every expatriate may pass through some form of cultural shock during the expatriate life I also have undergone a mild cultural shock. It was not severe to totally obliterate the good feelings.

If the host culture is extremely different from ours, we may psychologically disorient for a period of time. For some people it takes more time. Very few people, unable to cop with the differences, decide to put an end to the expatriate life. The saddest part of the cultural shock is that during many of the life situations, the expatriate may feel as if they are children, a kind of helplessness, as if we are thrown out from our mother's lap. Some feels loss of face. Frankly, I did share the feelings to Grant the difficulties of carrying a different head in public places! It is a strange feeling while riding a subway train or walking on the roads. A different object among things of uniformity! It is easy to get noticed in the crowd. Foreigners from countries other than some of the East Asian countries have different looks. Grant has been carrying his head through many cities and villages, but he agreed the psychology of a visitor is different from the psychology of an expatriate.

If the host country is hostile, expatriates will feel more uneasiness. In this case foreigners living in Japan are lucky that Japanese people are not hostile. Japanese people are warm and there is a considerable percentage of philanthropists in Japanese society.

After around thirty minutes of sharing on history, justice and culture shock, we bid adieu. Walking back to the Exit-2 of the Kudanshita station after completing the work at Indian Embassy, images of S.C Bose and his marching soldiers flashed in the memory.

Tail-Post: Taking the exit-2 at Kudanshita Toei Shinjuku line/Tozai line is one of the shortest routes to reach Indian Embassy at Tokyo. Embassy is called Taishikan in Japanese language and the kanji is 大使館.

International Military Tribunal for the Far East: Dissentient judgment

Lectures on universal declaration of human rights,

Two years of life in Japan

It is more than two years in Japan!. Still the moments of departure from Cochin airport remain fresh in memory. It was not so long before that I left India to Japan. The period spent in Japan is around 5% of my life till now, but the diversities and excitements of experiences have been vast and have substantial effect in life.

I did meet a young man from China at Morishita last week, who was in Tokyo for a short business trip. While sharing general things like the socio-political and cultural differences between China and India, he got curious in my stay in Japan and attitude towards life in Japan. My answer was short: Life in Japan is calm and peaceful.

When I say the life in Japan is calm and peaceful, it just reflects the general attitude of a majority of foreigners living in Japan. This ‘calm and peaceful life in Japan’ image should be embroiled with the private or professional life. The experience of working in Japan, that also for a Japanese company is totally different from that of working for a company from any other countries. The calm and peaceful atmosphere prevails in the general life affairs in Japan.

Almost all basic necessities of are easily available and easily accessible in Japan. One of such thing that will strike in the mind of a foreigner in Japan is the ‘convenient stores’. They are really convenient and make the life simpler and easier. We don’t need to wait behind long queues to pay the utilities bill when it can be paid in less than one minute in a nearby convenient store. The food for breakfast, lunch and dinner, snacks and many kinds of eatables and juices are available all the time, all the days in a week.

Convenient stores are called Konbini’ in Japanese language. It is written in Katakana as コンビニ [Ko-n-bi-ni] and this is one of the Katakana words I liked to use frequently while talking with friends. As sensei compares jokingly, Konbini is the friend and Konbini is the spouse of many of the workaholic and lazy people. Convenient stores are now a synonym with a life partner for many of the bachelors in Japan.

Another striking point during the last two years is the obedience to the law and order in Japan. This can be translated into the discipline in public places. The life in Japan is like a life in a company called Japan Incorporated. Whatever be the roots to this existing discipline and obedience to the law, it is a great plus point for the Japanese society, which they might have cultivated with consistent efforts over many years. Such kind of public discipline can not be implemented with the aid of external forces within a short period. It is the inborn nature of Japanese people to obey the rules and regulations. This is one of the concerns when Japanese companies bring foreign people from different cultures to Japan that the new comer to Japan may feel uneasiness to easily absorb into Japanese culture. It takes long time to get adjusted with the new social structure and in many cases the foreigners does not get involve in the mainstream. They resemble the floating element that may fly away after some time. There are cases where foreigners who can manage communication in Japanese language get involve in Japanese social and cultural events along with local Japanese people. If the language barrier is removed many of the routine concerns of foreigners will be solved.

The life in a company called Japan, ruled by some rules and regulations, is convenient when the new comer to Japan starts learning what is good and what is bad in Japan. One of the great information sources maintained by Japan Police is really helpful to foreigners to understand the rules in Japan. Rules Regarding life in Japan is a must read document which is written in English.

There are many websites dealing with the life in Japan especially made for foreigners in English language. Japan is one of the leading countries in terms of broadband internet users, second after South Korea, but tops in terms of fiber to the home broadband internet connectivity. The websites and online information sources dealing with the life in Japan for foreigners are helpful to those who wish to come to Japan. One of such useful sites, that is worth to add to the favorites in your browser is Your Complete Guide To Life In Japan!

Looking back to the two years life in Japan, by knowing only survival Japanese language to communicate, I feel what is more required to live in a different culture is the ‘empathy’, which will drive us to fusion.

Sumimasen, oshitemo daijoubu desu ka? - Pushing people into the crowded trains

On an average, three to four visitors of this blog comes from a google search for “Pushing people into the train in Japan”. The google analytics gave this statistical data of visitors from different parts of the world to this blog. It was interesting to know that people from 79 countries out of 167 countries searched for “Pushing people into train in Japan”. This shows the popularity of this “pushing” in Japan in the outside world.

It took around 10 months after reaching to Japan for me to realize this phenomenon and on November 2008 for the first time I noticed one such pushing. I might have come across similar scenes but could not have noticed while rushing for own entry into the train. As many things are unique for Japan, it seems, this pushing people into the train is one the unique phenomena to Japan. I like to call it ‘phenomenon’ irrespective of the creation of this action. It might have formed as part of the subway journey requirements over a period of time.

Unlike in many other countries, the subway discipline is much stronger and strictly followed in Japan. Even if the trains are late due to some unexpected reason, passengers keep their patience. Japanese people generally would not deviate from their disciplined behavior and they follow the beeline into the trains too even if they know that they are going to be late if not rushed to the crowded trains. Trains towards Tokyo are terribly crowded in the morning hours. For almost all, it is a rush holding the time in hand. If any of the connecting train is missed or becomes late, reaching at the office will be delayed. Being late to the office is considered a shame in Japanese companies, where work is given the topmost priority.

What prompted me to write this blog post with a heading like ‘Sumimasen, oshitemo daijoubu desu ka?’ is one of the interesting conversation heard recently in the crowded Toei Shinjuku train, which I could managed to board from Higashi Ojima to Morishita. There was snow in the morning and due to troubles in the Keisei line, the trains in the Shinjuku line were also got delayed. I think, this was the reason for delay, if my understanding of the announcement in Japanese language made on the platform was correct! I have to frankly admit my inability to catch Japanese words.

When the train stopped at Nishi Ojima station, two stations from Higashi Ojima, and the doors opened, I could see many ‘heads’ waiting outside that were eager to enter to the train. Hardly there was space for them enter. The people inside the train were already crammed that entry of some more people into the train was almost impossible. It was hard for the closed door to open at the Nishi-Ojima station as the crowd inside was sticking to the doors. The time was almost 9:00 and everybody knew that they were going to be late in the office. That might had been the same feeling of people waiting at the platform too.

I was sure, only one or two managed to put their legs into the train, but with them in that position the doors could not be closed. It was then the driver appeared on the scene. The two passengers who managed to put their legs inside the train were struggling to get their body inside when the doors tried to close. It was impossible to close the doors with their body almost outside!

I could see the ‘heads’ and hear some sounds. I could hear a male voice asking ‘Sumimasen, Oshitemo daijoubu desu ka?’ and then a female voice ‘onegaishimasu’. Then the crowd inside felt a ‘Push’ from outside. The pressure from outside might have pushed the owner of the female voice inside the train! We were almost squeezed and there were grudges and exhaling sounds inside. The doors were closed and the train moved.

For me, the incident was an opportunity for revision and practice of one of the often used Japanese words ‘Oshimasu’. Oshimasu is one of the Japanese words I learned in lesson 16 of Minna no Nihongo I book. Oshimasu is the polite form for pushing or pressing. Minna no nihongo have examples of sentences using oshimasu and osu to. Osu is the dictionary form of Oshimasu. We learned the oshimasu, oshite, oshita, osanai and osu form to make sentences where we need to press or push any kind of button or keys.

Use of Oshimasu in subway trains to push the people into the train was a new knowledge for me. I went skeptic on what I might have heard. When confirmed from friends and sensei, I got an idea of the usage of oshimasu in subway trains also. The meaning of the conversation ‘sumimasen, oshitemo daijoubu desu ka?’ is ‘excuse me, is it OK if I push you?’ and the female voice replied politely ‘Yes, please (do)’.

This is not really an extraordinary or odd incident to write a blog post, but being a foreigner having no such experiences in the past, it stimulated me to think of the discipline, obedience, politeness and after all the compassion in the society where I do live. Is it not the manifestation of ‘compassion’ in Japanese society that I have heard through the words ‘sumimasen, oshitemo daijoubu desu ka?’ I mean the compassion in the sense of consideration, care, concern and kindness. I do not intend to use compassion in the meaning of ‘sympathy’ or ‘empathy’ here. Pushing people into train is a form of that consideration from the side of the person who pushes passengers into the crowded train. He helps them to reach their offices in time!

雪が降っています

Yuki, the snow in Japanese language is one of the words I like most. When I did learn to use the ‘te’ form in our Japanese language lessons, I was almost obsessed to repeat the sentence ‘Yuki ga fute imasu’ means ‘It is snowing’. ‘te’ form is used to express a continuous action.

Snow is ardently attractive to me and the Japanese word for snow carries some mysterious beauty with it. Yuki is one of the names of Japanese girls too. I like the kanji for Yuki 雪. The Kanji character for snow or Yuki bears a modified Kanji character for rain. Rain is called ‘Ame’ in Japanese language and is written as雨. Kanji brings the nature into scripts. We can see the rain drops falling from the roof of our universe in this Kanji character or we can imagine as we open the window, we see the water drops falling and we call it rain! Snow is another version of rain and so it carries the kanji for rain too, but on a modified form.

Thus Yuki ga fute imasu is written in Japanese language as 雪が降っています. This is a combination of Kanji and Hiragana. Though I have been learning Hiragana and Katakana in our Japanese class, Kanji is still a dream project. It may take years to learn Japanese Kanji.

This year this is the sixth or seventh snow fall in Tokyo today. Last two years there were only one snow fall each. Though we got more snow falls, only twice it became heavy. On February 1st and today snow accumulated on the ground and remained for some time. Today it was second of such snow fall in the morning, but not very heavy as happened in the first day of February. The snow accumulated on the tree tops and on the play grounds, but was melting soon.

Taking the opportunity, some of the students got an excuse for absence from the school and play on the ground. There were not many, but in the morning some of them made their way to the play ground. We managed to capture some of the moments of today’s snow fall. It was morning 7:00 and my hands were shivering while standing at the balcony.

When the glaciers melt and volcanoes turn ice skating resorts

There is one more snow fall out of the windows in front of me. Rarely, we open these windows during winter season. Occasion like snow fall are precious for us and we like to snapshot them in cherished memories. This is the fourth day in this winter season that we are lucky (!) to get snow. Compared to the previous years, snow fall in Tokyo this year is high this year.

This year’s winter is the coldest one I have ever experienced with more snow falls. The climate world over is changing unpredictably and this was one of the hot subject of debate when leaders met at Copenhagen on January to discuss and outline carbon emission regulations. That was a failed climate conference. The depressing fact of the climate change is that it is a universal phenomenon. Those responsible and not responsible for more carbon emission to the environment will equally share the burdens of climate change.

Copenhagen has not given anything hopeful to us that our national leaders in the recent future will be able to find a common chord to start a reverse process for the climate change. Reminding the biblical predictions we hear the variations in the weather predictions world over. The Vancouver winter Olympics was interestingly highlighted by the media with the absence of snow! Deserts starts getting more rain, migration of tropical sea creatures towards the poles are now the subjects of talk in coffee shops.

When I visited Indonesia, it was supposed to be a rainy season in the typical tropical area. When enquired to Indonesian friends the reply was pointing to the recent shift of the climate due to global warming. It was hot and the temperature was around 40 degree C. Recollecting own experience, I have also noticed the drastic climate change happened in Kerala, a southern state of India. We used to comfortably enjoy the cool climate of the green state of India during our childhood with the temperature moderates at 24 to 30 degree C throughout the year. During the 1990s we started hearing about the upward shift of the maximum temperature and now it reaches during summer at 40 deg C that reminds me of Indonesia’s climate now.

 

Human migration happened in the same way as the insects move from the unfavorable climate to the more favorable climate. It is the survival of the fittest theory that forces all the living things. When the desert becomes forest and when the forest becomes desert and the snow fall turns into fire of the desert, creatures also have to shift their habitats. When I talked to some people from Maldives at Trivandrum some years before, they shared similar concerns of migration at a near future to a nearby friendly country due to the rising sea water. Maldives will be one of first few island nations that will suffer the serious consequences of green house effect.

The reason for more snow during this winter may not be due to the climatic change or it may be due to the heavy snow at the northern hemisphere. Recently Japan has also concerns of virus and bacteria migration from the tropical countries as the climate at the tropical countries turn hostile to those viruses and bacteria.

Copenhagen was the graveyard of Kyoto protocol. More glaciers will melt in the coming years and the sea will gulp more island nations. Those who live at the top of the mountains think they are safe and laugh at those living down. They don’t know that ice at their bottom is melting. This happens at a time when the volcanoes turn ice skating resorts!

It is still snowing outside!