My Rebirth Part VI

As I mentioned previously, the Japanese are typically very reserved and shy. This is especially the case when discussing the women here. I soon fell in love with their shyness. This adorable character of shyness being very easy to notice and especially as they would cover their mouths as they laughed. The women here even looked ten years younger than their actual age. I figured this was due to their healthy choices in life style, having a very high estrogen level, and possessing their natural born facial features. I have mistaken many women in America for men, and I always felt quite guilty for this past confusion. After discovering the true beauty of Japanese women, I no longer felt this guilt. Finally I had discovered what real women were. These were women that acted very feminine and cute, and not women that liked to hunt, and that had more testosterone in their bodies than most men. Japanese women seemed to be consumers of diet products because they were very concerned with maintaining their weight. The women also were consumers of a vast line of cosmetics and lotions. They rarely appeared in public without makeup and to have not washed and conditioned their faces with many types of soaps, creams, and lotions. Perhaps one of the best features of the women’s voices here is the beautiful sounds they produce. Their voice sounds very feminine and can even be high pitched at times, due to the high amount of estrogen in the women’s genetic makeup. Every time I received a letter or note from them, the letter always contained beautifully written characters on a very cutely decorated piece of paper, card, or of an anime or cartoon notepad they liked. There were always cute drawings that went along with the letter such as animals, and faces that were expressing various expressions such as happiness, or excitement. These letters were all very colorful and well drawn. It seemed every time that I received a letter or note it contained stickers called purikura. These are mini pictures of the person writing the letter with their friends that have various objects and writing on the sticker pictures, expressing their friendship. The amount to detail is incredible and an art that these women possess very naturally, which is absent from American women in many cases. Inevitably, I fell in love with a girl here, which would soon become my future wife. This first experience of being in love for me completed my evolution out of this state of paralysis. My heart was now beating; the blood flowing very rapidly through each and every vein of my body.

My Rebirth Part V

As I spent more time with the people here, it was amazing to how courteously they behaved, along with the hospitality they exhibited. This was true even in informal situations. While dining with them they constantly filled mine and other’s cups if it started to get empty. To let the cup get empty was not courteous to the people here; them wanting to ensure great hospitality to their family, workers, and friends. I learned that there were two ways to arrange the food and utensils. One was for normal situations, and the other was for if there had been a death in the family. It was very important to make sure one did place the food and utensils in the appropriate locations to avoid being disrespectful. There was also this sitting style that was practiced called seeza, which is a sitting position in which one sits with a straight back position, and with their legs bent and positioned to the left or right. One can best describe these mentioned acts as an organized structure that is in tact with them along with a series of long lasting customs.

I felt my heart to start beat for the first time in my life, but I could not appreciate this greatness. I immediately started to further obsess with the people instead. Without a doubt I noted of these striking physical features that they possessed. I could not take my eyes away from this greatness. The people of this land being very healthy looking, and rarely being at points of obesity. To my foreign eyes, they may appear too thin but in fact they are actually very healthy in weight. They are usually perceived to only eat healthy items but I noticed that they had a diet that was not very different from ours. How can this be? They have a similar diet to us, yet we are a very obese population as a whole. “It must be their self control,” I answered to myself. I then saw that they ate less while only eating what they needed, and not commencing in taking excess into their bodies. As I have worked at the Jay C Food Stores meat department for the past four years now, I could definitely verify the claim that Americans commence in extreme overindulgence. This can be seen with the monthly whole pork loin sales, and the never-ending ground chuck sales. It really is sickening to see how much these people can buy and eat, and to be forced to see how obese they can become; ultimately being punished with my twenty-twenty vision. A process of self control was being used to maintain an attractive and presentable appearance by the Japanese. I could not help to notice their very distinctive facial features as well. Such shiny black or brown hair that was groomed so beautifully and their distinct cheek bones that emerges slightly more from the face than that of the Westerner. Their eyes being of great size with either a single or double skin fold above or below their eye. As I actually looked into the eyes of these beautiful people, I realized that their eyes were not small or even slanted the slightest like many Americans have discriminated against them in the past with run-in-to-the-ground propaganda suggesting this. These eyes actually being of a great size, and having either a single or double crease below or above their eyes known as an epicanthal fold. I notice that these people have brown eyes, not black eyes. The pupil is black, like all human beings have, and the iris a brown color. I then noted another striking feature as I stood on a crowded train one hot afternoon. I noted that there was not even the slightest hint of body odor; making me wonder as to if their sweat glands were different than that of westerners? They appeared as if they did not sweat as much; making the effort of overcoming a horrible smell of an individual nearly nonexistent. This was so refreshing to my senses. I thought back to how many times I had been greeted with terrible smells of body odors from Americans, which would always make me wonder if they smelled like this because of being too obese and not being able to wash properly. I had been in such a daze of fascination that I had not even noticed that I now had complete feeling in my entire body. It had been such a long time since I had felt this before that I did not know as to whether this feeling was of pleasure or pain. I did know that I wanted to stand up and to experience this feeling I now had in my body. I would fight to be anything but this paralyzed being, this disgusting corpse.

To be continued...

My Rebirth Part IV

I noticed at first glance the elegancy and complexity of characters that made up the Japanese language. Once my foreign eye overcame this shock of complex looking characters that made up this written language, I noticed how the characters were carefully written top-to-bottom, right-to-left. It did not my critical examination to see how each stroke flew to another, mapping out this appearing to be complex writing system. The characters being flawlessly and quickly written, yet so accurately executed. I looked at the amount detail that each character possessed; it was unbelievable. One wrong stoke on a character could make the difference in what is legible and to what is illegible. This language having a very unique style and sound when used verbally soon becomes an obsession of mine to master. I soon recognized that this verbal language of art that I was hearing was so distinctive to recognize and could not possibly be confused with any other language in existence. I soon felt my life being consumed in obsession with the sound of this language that was making my body to start to have feeling to it. “What was this,” I thought. Could I feel my arms and legs coming to life? There were these tones and pitches in this language that just did not exist in any other language. This language is verbally used as smoothly as it is written. To the foreign ear, this language first appears as a language spoken very quickly and even noisy. This is not at all what I heard. I then truly listened to this language being articulated, and annunciated. I do not think that many Americans can even annunciate, with my many past encounters with not being able to understand a person’s speech due to them having poor annunciation. It was very easy to hear each syllable being in the Japanese language though. I soon started hearing these syllables, and I then realized how each syllable was being effortlessly and flawlessly executed. This language is not spoken fast by any means. Instead, it is spoken very beautifully with listener depending on the speaker to annunciate and express each syllable effectively. The pitch of each syllable being spoken is something else that caught my interest. Some syllables I hear are spoken flat and others at a high tone. I then hear other syllables that are extended to even a few seconds sometimes, while ending with a high or flat tone. This was true beauty in speech, with the Japanese language not requiring ridiculously underused vocabulary, speech, and metaphors that are used in the English language to make the users appear to be more intelligent, when in fact the user is using only mere synonyms of common words that everyone knows, to give off this understood to be intelligence among many Americans.

“Would this language even be possible without the people that live here,” I thought? These people seemed to be a living, walking, and breathing fantasy. I thought it was only in our dreams that we could come in contact with such beings. It really is difficult for me to describe the very nature and culture that makes up the people of Japan, but here is an attempt to do so. With each encounter I noticed that the people were generally very reserved and shy. Even if this is so, I wondered why the people of this country were very easy to open up and to have a really enjoyable time with. Once I opened them up, the true beauty of their customs and culture really did emerge. I am not talking about this loud and obnoxious culture that is present in America, but a culture that is civilized, yet not too formal. I was first greeted with a bow that was conducted several times. This bow was the equivalent of the western handshake and I thought of how this was by far a much more sanitary means of greeting. Bowing was done several times when these people greeted me and others. Was this to ensure that they are being respectful to their greeter? Bowing of several times appeared to be conducted in more formal situations, whereas when the greeting was informal, a single bow seemed to suffice. I observed in astonishment after the people greeted with one another. They greeted each other with a very energetic tone, and continued a lengthy conversation with one another in this manner. This was observed when I walked on the street day after day not noticing a difference from the day before. Each day I saw people use this tone while greeting and carrying on conversation that was full of energy. How could they greet each other day to day being full of energy on the outside even if perhaps they did not feel energy in the inside? I soon felt my body start to feel this energy inside; knowing without the people of this country I would stay this lifeless corpse.

To be continued...

My Rebirth Part III

This all took me back in my head to the Narita Airport I had arrived at. It too was very ordered and structured with its facilities being very well laid out, which allowed the people to quickly get to their destination gates. The destination gates always staying at their original gate and not moving across the airport, making the flyer later to their departure gate which had happened to me numerous times in America. The public commodes being so overwhelmed with filth in America, yet these commodes in Japan were appearing to be some of the cleanest in the world. The Yokoso sign, meaning welcome, displaying very beautifully. All the shops reaching out with their great smells and fashionable senses at me. All the staff wearing uniform and being so welcoming. What about these features here that happened naturally which did not involve man?

To begin with the natural environment is a difficult place to start due to the many varieties that are present, but once again, here is an attempt to describe these natural phenomena’s. I cannot mention the natural environment of Japan and not mention the item that gives life to this natural environment; the sun. The sun rose around three each morning, which brought the entire natural environment into a much more visible view early each morning I observed. Once the sun rose, the mountains and hills were then very easy to see in about every direction I decided to look. These mountains one can see varies from some of the highest in the world, containing snowcaps and soaring into the skies, to smaller ones being full of the color green and vegetation. The mountains usually gave off a grey look at the base during midday but appeared more of a purplish tint during sunrise and sunset that was absolutely amazing to see firsthand. All I had remembered seeing in America was of the endless sight of the vast cornfields that were anything but beautiful to behold. There were not mountains with the sun beautifully gleaming on the mountains each day during sunrise and sunset, giving off this beautiful tint of color that I had never seen before where I lived. I only had the dull grey and brown fields to see, with the sun dehydrating this vegetation. I had the disgusting skies which gave off a tint that was nothing more than dark and gritty; lacking color and personality.This was in fact not even worthy of recognition. The soil of this volcanic island is another natural beauty that is a true gift. This soil is a very dark brown color, in which actually appears black at most times due to the great amounts of basaltic rocks present. The soil being so soft and moist, due to the humid climate, making this soil very pleasant in touch. The soil in America being of a rocky, rigid, dry shell, that was just something that you only noticed when it was stuck on the bottom of your shoes, or of when the scorching sun had dried up the grass in the summer and one had to be confronted with this ugly sight of mere dirt and rock. The smell of the ocean is another magnificent feature of the natural environment. This smell not being like that of the smell of the Atlantic from Florida, but of a different, indescribable smell that is not necessarily a treat or an obstacle to one’s sense of smell. The smell not being of a bitter, foul fishy one, but of the natural elements and minerals that compose the ocean itself. This smell includes sediments compacted on the ocean floor and beach, and of the sodium and water all combined into a single fragrance. This was a smell of freshness, yet I knew there was something else present that I never did pinpoint. The sakura tree, with its soft pink to white blossom, is also a gift that the natural environment gives to the people. This blossom being very short lived but much like that of life itself. I then felt this throbbing sensation from inside my body, and it was as if my heart was trying to beat.

To be continued...

My Rebirth Part II

As I further observed this dazzling manmade environment I began to notice so many other aspects that captured my interest. One of these was of the order and structure of the Japanese traffic system. I always seemed to find myself on a nice paved sidewalk, whether in a rural or urban setting. I saw that the bicycle and automobile users were always very aware of one another’s presence, never once even coming close to contact. Here in America, people are very unaware as they drive, with their absence of using turning signals, and only driving half way on the road or sometimes on the wrong side of the road. The thought of bicycles being used in American traffic systems as they are in Japan is a very scary thought due to many Americans just not paying attention as they drive. The crosswalks were safely and effectively allowing the bike users and pedestrians to cross, with nice, clear lights and signals that always worked properly, even if there had been construction or storm damage previously. It is like chaos in America when construction is taking place in the city or if there has been storm damage, with the poor traffic conductors and defective or absent traffic signals. The trains of this country were also very ordered and structured and were always on time. “Trains, what trains!” Here in America there are not any national public transportation systems that allow the people to travel across the country by train. This is a very convenient means of transportation in Japan, but if America had such a system, it would not be nearly as convenient with the common poor order and structure of American transportation. There would be all kinds of delays, and absence of employees that were supposed to be operating the trains and trains stations, like that at the airports here in America; it is pathetic. Not once did a train arrive one minute later than the posted time, or was there never ending construction that took place here, like in that of America. If there was a job to be done, it was done, and not milked out until the last minute. This was true order and effective execution of structure here in Japan.

This was true order and effective execution of structure here in Japan. This next aspect might seem somewhat odd, but they were always very clean, well structured, and very original. Each and every commode was very clean and offered many sanitizers that could be applied to it, contained buttons for cleaning after one had finished, and was equipped with heated seats. Some places even had motion sensors that opened, closed, and flushed the commode during use, using one third the water of American toilets. I still kept questioning how this was all possible, and kept stammering my way around this very unique place of Japan. I often found myself in the more urban setting of this society, being exposed to the great architect here. I was not surprised to the least when I saw that all of the buildings here had structure, beauty, and originality. These urban settings overflowing with beautiful signs, with the vast electrical lines feeding them power to display this great beauty of light. These electrical lines were responsible for sending vital charges into my heart; charges that started my existence. These signs were exhibiting so many compliments to these buildings and I always found myself gazing up at the signs with awe. A great aspect that I favored greatly here was to the amount of shops and that existed. These showed some of the world’s best clothing, and produced a great fragrance of food being prepared. The smell of the noodle, fresh bakery, and grilled chicken shops along with the endless arcade shopping streets was a place very easy to get lost in time with. This was so refreshing to all of my senses. Finally I was in a place that was not owned by a corporation that had bought all these great places that used to exist in America. I also noted that the people in this environment all appeared very structured in appearance and work ethics. Workers all wearing a neat uniform of the corporation or company they worked for, and students wearing their school uniform of the school that they belonged to. All these people seemed proud to wear these uniforms as to the conversation one could hear being discussed about them. They were representing who and what they were, still keeping in place their individualism that cannot be appreciated by the American perspective to the degree it is in Japan. It is a common sight in America to witness employees wearing their uniforms incorrectly, with their pants sagging down and oversized t-shirts that are not even tucked in. Sometimes you will find that they are not wearing a uniform at all.

To be continued...

My Rebirth Part I

My next few posts will be of my first experience going to Japan. I plan to have at least five parts of my experience, in which I will post a continuation each week.

I had become a corpse prior to visiting this land; every drop of life had abandoned me. As I first gazed down upon these natural and manmade environments from the airplane that thrived among each other, it caused this forgotten sensation of a feeling to commence inside my corpse. I could not recall as to what a feeling had even felt like. Once this thought to be feeling started, I felt as if I was coming to life for the very first time. I knew this was not true once I started to gain my feeling back. I had lived before but there was something much different this time.
Once I stepped off the plane, I found myself in the only airport that accepted international flights to the country; the Narita Airport of Chiba-ken, Japan. This airport that I arrived at was a good insight for the rest of my stay here. This place being one of cleanliness, order, beauty, originality, structure, and inspiration. The cleanliness of the airport shined at me with its spotless floors that one would not expect from an airport that permits mass numbers of individual traveling through at such rapid rates every day. This was a pleasant welcome as I ventured through this unfamiliar land of Japan. Could the entire country be like this? Japan was very a populated country, but still it seemed to stay unbelievably clean, despite the mass number of endless crowds that made their way through the country. The people seemed to take great pride in their property in places such as their homes, cars, and community, and constantly upkeep and nurture these items of property. The paper, cigarette butt, chewing gum, dirt and litter free streets and sidewalks, with people down on their hands and knees scrubbing and picking up such items on their property, brought this feeling of inspiration into my once empty corpse. I thought my eyes were surely deceiving me because this was something that could not ever be accomplished in even the smallest cities in America. These activities were occurring in even the biggest of cities, such as this massive metropolis of Tokyo.

The pollution that was present was of a different format than here in America. I could see the pollution, but I could not figure out as to why I was not coughing and wrinkling my face in disgust at the smells of the pollution from the city. I could feel my lungs beginning to function again, and to be able to breathe this refreshing air. This pollution that was present was not of this thick black cloud over cities in America that makes it difficult to breathe. This was of a controlled pollution that did not create this black smog. This pollution was merely pollutants that were unpreventable that originated from the factories, homes, and transportation. I observed that these pollutants were coming from properly proportioned items that were well engineered, fuel-efficient, and not oversized. The presence with them was not an unpleasant one like I had been most familiar with. Their smell was of gasoline, oil, and natural gas burnt in a clean manner that gave off a smell that was somewhat sweet to my senses. I could breathe, and see the blue sky’s natural clouds even in the most metropolitan areas, rather than the black, manmade clouds I had grown accustomed to here in America.

To be continued...

Dating in Japan

This is going to explain in short detail some of the things that me and my wife enjoy in Japan when we live there for six months out of the year. I am in Japan with my wife any time that I am not in school, and she comes here for usually a couple months when I am in school here in America. Nevertheless, we enjoy our selves all the time, and I would have to say that our most enjoyable time is usually spent in Japan due to all of the fun dates that we can go on. We are the type that really just likes to stay at home and watch movies together on the couch, but we do find ourselves enjoying karaoke, izakayas, fine-of-the-art restaurants, and internet cafes. To ellaborate further upon those, many couples find themselves enjoying going to places like this on dates. Karaoke is nice because all of the karaoke parlors allow you and your date to have your own private booth/room and you do not have to worry about being embarrased singing in front of people that you do not know. These rooms are equipped with an electronic library book of music that you can choose from to sing to. One can also enjoy the quick room service that these parlors offer, in which they bring one all the beer and food they desire. Izakaya's are very much a part of Japanese culture where couples, or anyone really, can go to socialize in a Japanese style bar. Do not like karaoke or going to bars, then head over to the internet cafe with your date. This is not what you think it is, this is a place of endless amusement. Couples can enjoy billiards, ping pong, darts, drinking, computers, or pachinko. There are also private rooms that you can rent to just hang out and spend time with your partner.

The above photos were taken in Japan, and one of those was taken in the electronic district of Tokyo called Akihabara. Tokyo is a couple of hours from me and my wifes home in Japan, but we enjoy going to Tokyo at least once a year. It is a true blast and is a place where one can really loose track of time, but that is what being with your partner is all about, loosing sense of time and enjoying the moment.