Safety?

As my wife, 7 year old, and I entered the hotel, one of the employees immediately stepped out from behind the front desk with a gift. It was fireworks (hanabi, in Japanese), for our child to play with. In other parts of the world, a multitude of class action and personal injury lawyers would arrive on the scene to put an end to the fun prior to the guests being taken to the room. Not here.

A few minutes later, as we waited for the check in process to end, another family arrived. The same employee handing over fireworks to what appeared to be another 7 year old girl and her younger brother, who looked about 4 years old to me. The free hanabi at the hotel routine is quite common in fact.

The kids love hanabi and it gives them something to do after dinner. Not to mention the fact that parents can use the prospect of fun with hanabi as a bribe for good behavior at the dinner table. And other than a minor burn or two, what damage is likely to be done by some sparklers or small non exploding fireworks while being used under parental supervision? That's not the point. The point is that if something did happen, it is not likely that a law suit with an enormous payout would result.

On the same vacation we rented an ATV that I rode on a course with our child, no helmets offered or available, and no legal waiver to sign either. The family rented time at an archery center where the weapons (with sharp points no less!) were handed over for use under no supervision. At the water slide park, the lines at the top of the slides went unsupervised. Any rambunctious teen or near blind grandpa could negligently start sliding out of turn. Near the edge of the river, pool, or cliff there are no rails, or warning signs reminding passers by to not run or to not smoke or to hold on.

Maybe, just maybe, one could argue that it is a little less safe here, but it actually feels more free to me. People are expected to act in a responsible manner. Adults are not treated like children. Parents are assumed to be responsible and capable of supervising the kids. And you know what, people, at least here, do respond positively it appears to me. Things are not reckless or out of control.

Would Americans respond similarly if given the chance? Seems to me that America used to be more like Japan is now, in terms of these minor safety matters. I don't recall any problems, not for the vast majority of people anyway.

Hot Water

The big thing to do on vacation in Japan, at least for older people like me, is to go to a Japanese hot bath. These places are known as Onsens. They range in variety from being an actual hole in the ground, to being attached to a fine and modern hotel, or often they are old fashioned smaller mom and pop establishments that offer nude public outdoor hot springs bathing, delicious meals, rooms in the Japanese style (tatami mats and no beds), and an opportunity to experience Japan the way it was before America invaded. The waters are typically fed by volcanic forces that provide a constant stream of hot, sulfuric, and mineral filled water. The baths are usually larger, like the size of a small swimming pool, but sometimes smaller.

By the way, unlike in America, there is no connection between these public baths and any sexual high jinx. The Japanese public baths seem to be family places, often used by the elderly who feel that the volcanic waters feeding the baths will offer some sort of medical treatment. Also, you never ever bring soap into the bath. You shower before and wash off the soap before using the public hot bath as a place to soak and relax.

We like the older fashioned places. The challenge for me, at times, is that the older fashioned places do not cater to or have signs readable by foreigners. Instead, these places use kanji, the Japanese and Chinese symbol based language. Is this the ladies bath or the men's or mixed? It took me years to figure out the kanji. The symbol for the ladies bath looks like it has crossed legs whereas the men's bath kanji symbol has a block head.

This year we visited one very old fashioned onsen built half way up a steep mountain. It was more camping style, but did offer simple meals along with outdoor baths that had a beautiful view. It was an isolated place that required a long drive up a mountain road or a 4 hour hike. We hitched a ride in with the owner's wife who met us at the local train station and then we hiked out.

I was the first in the family to head out to the hot bath. The outdoor bath was tiny, maybe 2 or 3 times the size of a home bath tub and I could not see a changing room. Oh well, the view was spectacular so I started to peel off my clothes. Suddenly, my wife was shouting to me to stop. Oh no!!!! I was about to strip and jump into the DOG'S bath. Yes, this place specialized in having a separate hot bath for pets. I had never seen or heard of such a thing before. Too bad I could could not read the kanji sign. It probably said something like "This bath is for pets and illiterate foreigners only. Do not enter unless you want to get fleas!"

A cultural boo boo that was narrowly averted. The bath for humans was up a flight of stairs that I had not noticed.

Storage

If you live in Japan you probably need storage space. The house and apartments are small, for economic as well as cultural reasons. Japanese people seem to be efficient users of space, so they don't usually rent at public storage. Good for them.



We are efficiently using our limited space, but there's my beloved bike. No room at the inn. So I keep it at my mother in law's house. She has lot's of room because the back yard used to be a farm area.



At the rear of the house, in geographical order, there is an outhouse (last used in 1967), a shed for gardening equipment, barn filled with who know's what, the old house, the work shop (last used in December 2000 according to the calendar inside), and the small rear storage shed.



Bikes are kept in the small rear storage shed as the other buildings are innundated with spiders, falling apart, damp and moldy from leaks in the roof, or inhabited by my brother in law, in the case of the old house.



Imagine my balding head as a pin ball. That would make the work shop and the attached small rear storage shed a pin ball machine filled with rusty bumpers and junk with which I can bounce off of. How do you think I do it? What makes me so bad? It's not some strange distractions. There aren't any buzzers or bells. Always bump in the same place; could I use my sense of smell? Like a crazy bald headed pin ball, klutzy without fail. Living in a land of midgets, I quit, what the hell.



To date, I have repeatedly smacked my head on the rusted out light standards hanging approximatedly 4.5 feet from the floor (were Japanese people ever that short?), knocked over a half dozen empty plastic gasoline cans, tripped on the rake, which then fell and hit me in the face while knocking over 3 more plastic gasoline cans, tripped over some leftover plastic sheeting, and smacked my forehead on a door jamb. This is just within the first two weeks of using the storage area. Since then, I have tripped over the metal sheet on the floor, and covered myself with rust after dislodging another light standard when attempting to retrieve an air pump that was stored behind an old rice field plow.

Welcome to rural Japan. Please enjoy the storage while feeling like an oversized klutz.

ID

ID, as in Identification card, specifically a government issued photo ID Card is endemic in the USA. To enter the boarding area of an airport, to enter a courthouse or other government building, to take a hotel room, to get your blood tested, to rent a car, to open a bank account, even to pick up your mail at the post office all require a government issued photo ID.

Some might say I am overly sensitive, OK most people would say I am overly sensitive if they could stop themselves from snickering, nonetheless I am offended by the mandates requiring a photo ID. The ID requirement is an invasion of privacy. It wasn't all that long ago that photo ID cards were not required in the USA. My first driver's license in Pennsylvania didn't even have a photo.

They always say it's for safety, for our own good, to prevent terrorism or other such nonsense. It's really about the government wanting to spy on and exercise control over people. Think about it, there is no way that any photo ID could have prevented 9-11 from occurring. Having the photo ID mandate means there is a record of what you have done, a means of tracking your behavior and a means of denying access to something or someplace. I don't like it.

What does this have to do with Japan?　

One reason I moved to Japan was to escape from the encroachments of a Police State in the USA. Photo ID mandates are a minor irritation, but an intrusive one and an ever growing one that I resent.

Here in Japan, I did not have to show photo ID to take a hotel room, or to board a domestic airplane flight, though I did, as a foreigner, have to show a registration card that had my photo in order to open a bank account. Most recently, I had to pick up a piece of mail at the post office. The clerk said something about a card (Ka-Do) and even though I had a photo ID handy, I purposely decided to show her a health insurance card with my name on it, but with no photo.

Maybe she just didn’t want to bother trying to communicate with a non Japanese speaking person, I am not sure, but she handed over the envelope without any further questioning.

A small victory for freedom. And I didn't even bump my head in the process. I'll comment on that cultural quirk in a future blog.