XXI. Ad

After a week of brainstorming about ways to increase the value of Hitachi’s internal brand at the strategic branding office, this week I learned all about Hitachi’s outward appearance at its advertisement department. Of course this department is located in Akihabara; what better place for an electronics company to brainstorm about and create its outward appearance? It was a bit unsettling at first to work right across the street from where last Sunday’s terrible stabbing spree took place, but luckily this week’s schedule was too busy to dwell on it for too long.

The week with the branding office had consisted mainly of meetings with various managers, brainstorming and working towards a final presentation. The week with advertisement was spent partly in meetings, but largely outside the office. According to one of my advertisement colleagues, Advertisement is something you learn by visiting expos and looking at ad campaigns, rather than sitting behind your desk reading through instruction materials. And so the advertisement people had created a full programme with lots of trips. On Monday, I received an extensive introduction in Hitachi’s national advertisement campaigns and I was allowed to sit in on a meeting where the advertisement team discussed their progress. Remarkably, this was a meeting for the junior staff, without the General and Senior Manager. The staff discussed a new advertisement campaign, for which the posters had just been designed, and everyone talked about their activities that week. Unfortunately there were no hand-outs and the subject matter was not yet familiar to me, so most of the meeting went over my head. After the meeting, Koike-san, one of my new temporary colleagues, took me on a walk through Akihabara, in search of stores that stock Hitachi products, to see what is on sale and, more importantly, how it is presented. We didn’t find any laptops, as Hitachi doesn’t really produce these for the consumer market, but we did find pretty much everything else, ranging from super-thin Wooo plasma screens and sleek cell phones to huge refrigerators and self-cleaning aircos. Wedged in between Panasonic and Sony, I didn’t notice the Hitachi logo at first- grey and red is stylish, but not really striking, especially in a sensory overwhelming environment like Yodobashi Camera (or Akihabara itself, for that matter).

On Tuesday I spent the morning learning everything about Hitachi’s international ad campaigns, and how they are tailored to various audiences. The American campaign, for example, focuses on the people benefiting from Hitachi’s products, featuring personal stories about a remote village that got high-speed Internet thanks to Hitachi, or a pilot who was able to continue to fly whilst receiving cancer treatment using state of the art Hitachi equipment. The European campaign also focuses on the people-behind-the-product, but it is less sentimental. Hitachi’s Asian campaigns also differ among each other: mainland China gets an environment-oriented campaign, whereas the Hong Kong campaign offers a high-tech vision of the future. All in all it was a very interesting presentation, especially since the European campaign is only visible in France, Germany and the UK, and not in the Netherlands. In the afternoon, I went out with two colleagues on a trip to Hitachi’s Sakado printing factory outside of Tokyo, where the company’s advertisement material is being printed. I had already been on a JPP-outing to Asahi Shimbun’s printing factory, so I already knew the principles of offset printing, but here I was able to come much closer to the machines and really see how they worked. Once more I was struck by the efficiency of Japanese factory workers; it seemed as if they had paid a lot of attention to doing their work as quickly and correctly as possible, making no superfluous movements and keeping in pace with the machines.

Tuesday was a long day, as there was another activity planned for the evening. I had been told that we were going on a kengaku to the TV quiz sponsored by Hitachi, the hugely popular Sekai Fushigi Hakken. I had assumed we would attend a short meeting, take a tour, receive some leaflets, that sort of thing. Imagine my surprise when upon arrival I was ushered into a TV studio on to a set featuring large plasma screens and mildly kitsch Neo-Classissistic decorations. We were invited to sit in the audience, and were instructed on when/how to clap, how to cheer and what to shout (Hitachi!). The quiz contestants were six famous Japanese, and had to answer several questions about the culture and history of Slovakia (each week the quiz features a different country or region). This quiz was typically Japanese in its format: it featured only three questions and more time was spent talking and making jokes than answering the questions. But it was good fun, and as it featured short film clips of Slovakia it was relatively easy to follow. It sure was a terrific surprise and a unique experience which I won’t forget.

On Thursday I spent the morning attending a meeting of the advertisement department and members of the strategic branding office, as they discussed the effectiveness of Hitachi campaigns in Asia and Europe. It was not easy to follow, but thanks to the hand-outs that were largely in English, I did get a good impression of what they were talking about. The meeting room was, however, rather warm and stuffy, and I was glad to go out again in the afternoon, this time all the way to Chiba, to visit the Interop exposition at the Makuhari Messe. This expo focused on IT products and networks, and most of the Japanese IT giants were there. Again, surrounded by loud music, giant screens and girls dressed up in a wide range of (very short) dresses, it was difficult at first to spot Hitachi’s subdued colours. We did find the company’s booth, however, and it turned out to be one of the most interesting to a lay person like myself, as it featured a demonstration of an earthquake safety system developed by Hitachi. When you are at home and a big earthquake occurs, you can just press one button which switches on the TV and the lights, closes the curtains and opens your door, offering a way out and at the same time protecting you from broken glass. Having experienced a 7.0 earthquake in a simulator, I think it is great to have a system take all the safety measures for you when you yourself are too shaken (literally) to think of all these things.

Finally, today has been interesting as well. This morning, a colleague took me on a trip to the technology museum close to the Nippon Budokan. The museum itself is rather dated, with a 1960s interior. But the attractions it offers still greatly appeal to children, as they can experiment and learn about subjects such as DNA, dams, optic illusions and outer space. Hitachi’s offering to the museum is a display called Nature Contact, which aims to teach children about wildlife through the use of touch screens that feature three different habitats (polar, tropics, savannah) and their wildlife. The best bit is that you can download software at home which enables you to raise a pet on your PC (a bit like a Tamagotchi) and then you can print out a barcode, which you can use to display your pet animal on the touch screen and play around with it. During our visit, the museum was full of children: they loved this display. In the afternoon, we went to Dentsu’s much quieter Advertisement Museum, which features advertisements from the Edo period to contemporary Japan. I absolutely loved it; the exhibition was small but well put together and I loved the vintage TV commercials and products. It was a nice ending to a week of exposure to various forms of corporate image building, from brainstorm, strategy and evaluation to the actual advertisement itself: newspaper ads, poster campaigns, TV commercials, sponsorships and direct promotion at expos. I feel I now have a clear image of what Hitachi is trying to do in terms of creating and promoting its corporate image. It has been a very busy week, but it has been lots of fun as well- and I haven’t even mentioned the countless lunches and dinners (including yesterday’s wonderful nomikai). Tonight I will go out with my advertisement colleagues once more, which I am sure will be a nice ending to an exciting week.

XX. Brand

After weeks of CSR research, which was a quite solitary task and also offered me a good deal of freedom in planning my own work days, I was quite surprised to receive a very detailed daily schedule for my week with the strategic branding office. It turned out very well, as my sempai Obukuro-san had arranged for me to meet with virtually all the managers of the branding office, to talk about all aspects of corporate branding strategy, from unifying the company’s outward appearance to legal protection of its trademarks. Of particular interest was the CSR-hearing he had organized for me with several people from the CSR department. I had prepared a list with questions in order to get additional information for my CSR report and got some interesting new ideas with regard to the role of CSR in Japan.

In between meetings, Obukuro-san and I brainstormed about a survey that will measure the level of employee satisfaction at Hitachi. Employee satisfaction is an important part of the internal perception of the Hitachi brand, which is why the internal branding department wants to find a way to take stock of the opinions and wishes of employees. As a framework for our brainstorm we used a theory proposed by Frederick Herzberg, one of the most influential psychologists in the field of business management of the 20th century. According to this Motivation-Hygiene theory, people are influenced by two factors: satisfaction, which is the result of motivator factors, and dissatisfaction, which is caused by hygiene factors. Hygiene Factors are the most important of the two, and include pay and benefits, relationship with co-workers and job security. If these factors are absent or inadequate, they will cause dissatisfaction, but they are so basic that they are usually taken for granted and do not provide additional job satisfaction. For this, one must turn to Motivator Factors such as achievement, recognition, promotion and growth.

In addition to these two factors, we distinguished between issues that are company-related (management, decision-making) and those that are workspace-related (relation with boss, co-workers). In a free brainstorm we came up with 60 or so questions that we wrote down on post-its and later organised into groups such as "love for the company," "leadership opportunities," "work-life balance" etc. From each of these 27 groups we created a representative question, which resulted in a wide variety of questions, ranging from "Have you got a clear idea of your career development within the company?" to "Can you have fun with your colleagues?" Whilst coming up with these questions, we found that many issues related to employee satisfaction are culturally determined. When I proposed and explained the idea of an ergonomically suitable work space, my colleagues were surprised and said that this usually isn’t something Japanese people would mention when thinking about job satisfaction. But when thinking about all the physical complaints that can result from bad posture and/or excessive use of the computer, such as Repetitive Strain Injury, it is surprising that the Japanese, with their long working days, don’t really see this as an important issue. On the other hand, a typically Japanese question asked whether employees were able to say something or give their opinion during a team meeting (instead of remaining silent and just listening to what the boss has to say). Compared to the situation in most Dutch organisations where everyone is more or less free to give their opinion whenever they want to, this is a fairly Japanese question. As the team is thinking about using similar surveys for the overseas offices in the future, thought should be given to this issue.

All in all, it was a very interesting week, which ended with my first presentation at Hitachi, in Japanese of course, using Japanese PowerPoint slides. I had prepared as well as I could in the limited time I had, and judging from the reactions I was able to get my key points across. Thanks to Obukuro-san’s help, I got the specific business terms right, as well as some pretty daunting grammatical constructions. I am very thankful for all his help and I must say that this week with the branding office has passed very quickly. The goodbye-dinner (admittedly a little strange after only four days), was great fun. We went to a very nice Japanese restaurant close to my work place which I have to go back to, as the food & atmosphere are great, and the prices reasonable. After that, we went to Tokyo Tower which I had only seen from a distance until then, and we actually took an elevator up this Eiffel tower replica. A typically Japanese thing to do (apparently, Tokyo tower is something of a dating spot for Japanese couples), but I really enjoyed it. I hope my week with the Advertisement department will be as much fun!

XIX. Hakone

Sometimes it is necessary to escape the city with its stress and its deadlines and its throngs of workers. So off we went, Margreet and I, to enjoy the tranquillity of rustic Hakone. Unfortunately, the weather forecast was bad- but we weren’t going to let a little bit of rain stop us. When we arrived in Hakone, the weather was warm and humid- but it was dry, so we decided to go for a hike along the remains of the old Edo-period Tokaido. There’s a fairly large stretch of road that’s still intact, as well as the newly renovated Hakone Barrier. In spite of its historical significance, we decided to forgo the checkpoint as the rain was gradually setting in (a recurring theme during the weekend). Instead, we jumped on a pirate ship that took us across lake Ashi. It was really raining by this time, but of course we went on deck to enjoy the view, which was quite beautiful (what with the mist slowly rising from the mountains that surrounded the lake). Naturally, the Japanese all stayed inside, watching the lake from behind glass.

We stayed at a traditional Minshuku, with onsen-water baths. During the night the rain really set in typhoon-style. We had been hoping to take the ropeway to get a nice view of Fuji, but the fog was so thick we couldn’t see more than a metre ahead of us. Naturally, the ropeway didn’t run in such weather, and when we took the bus up into the mountains we found that the famous sulphuric waters of Owakudani were also closed off to visitors. Luckily we were able to get our hands on some of the famous “black eggs” (boiled over the sulphuric water so their shells turn black) and thus added 7 years per eaten egg to our lifespan. Rather disappointed with the weather, we spent a large part of the afternoon in the wonderful Pola museum of art. Its collection is fine (one painting per impressionist), but it’s the building and the location in the middle of the woods that make it special. On the ground floor, the building has huge glass windows rising up from the floor so that you almost feel like you’re inside the surrounding forest.

Work wise, the last week of May has been a busy one, as I have been finishing my report on Japanese and Western Corporate Social Responsibility as well as preparing for my week with the strategic branding office. The report was well received, and although it needs some editing, I think it will make a good basis for my final report. That's at least one deadline helping the other...

XVIII. Tea

Although I try hard not to think too much about it, the end of the Japan stay is gradually coming into view. June will be a very busy month at work, with me spending the first two weeks at different divisions. After that, I will be busy helping to organize the HISTEP conference, and little time will remain for my own research into CSR. In July I will be working on my final presentations (in addition to the JNI presentation, I am also expected to give a presentation at Hitachi). All this means that I am now working hard to finish a draft version of my Corporate Social Responsibility research report before the end of May.

I must say that I am looking forward to working with the other divisions for a while. My own division, GBR, is great, but it would be nice to get a broader view of the company’s activities. The first week in June I will be working with Hitachi’s internal branding division. The second week will be spent with advertisement. Last week, someone from branding came over to discuss my tasks for the four days I will be spending with them. This turned out to be a fine example of the non-communication that can occur in a Japanese setting. According to the schedule he had received, I had supposedly spent several weeks with different divisions already and given numerous presentations in Japanese. I was surprised- my schedule had the same date stamp on it, but was completely different. Assuming that I had lots of experience giving presentations in Japanese, the branding colleague proposed I conduct several surveys and use the results for a 20-minute powerpoint presentation- in Japanese, of course. Seeing my surprise, he suggested that if this was a problem, I could also give a presentation in English. But then he added that 80% of the audience probably wouldn’t be able to follow it. Indirect communication, anyone? In the end we decided that I would send him a summary of my work at the GBR division, and have another meeting to further discuss what I can do at branding. I hope my boss will be there as well, so they can straighten out their miscommunication errors.

With the “finish line” in sight, I have also made a list of non-work related things I should go see and experience. This week, I have been able to cross several off my list. Last Wednesday I went to the Kanda festival, to go see an open-air Nōh performance. Like natto, uni sushi or karaoke, Nōh is an acquired taste. Many people think this art form too highbrow or longwinded. But I was mesmerized. The hypnotic music, the fantastic costumes, the highly stylized dances and the simple story lines make for a unique form of fairytale-like theatre. The performance lasted three hours and consisted of a Gagaku performance, two acts of Nōh theatre and one Kyogen comedy piece. Unfortunately the seats we could afford were located at the back of the festival tent so we had to look over several heads- if I ever get the opportunity to go see a Nōh performance again, I will select better seats.

Another must-see on my list was the Sanja Matsuri at Asakusa, which I visited on Saturday. Moving through the crowd I felt as if I was in the train at rush hour; the place was packed. Luckily I was taller than most female visitors and therefore able to see most of the procession of Mikoshi. What a great experience! As the Mikoshi passed by, people were almost dancing, clapping their hands and cheering on the bearers, shouting something like “oisa.” It struck me that many of the bearers were women, although not the exquisitely manicured Ginza-kind. After the parade I sampled various Japanese foods at the countless stalls.

On Sunday, I had been invited by two ladies from my choir (both in their sixties) to attend a 茶の湯 (cha no yu, tea ceremony). One of the ladies, Oyama-san, has a mother (aged 86!) who teaches the tea ceremony to younger Japanese women. Together with four pupils, I sat down on the tatami mats of a specially reserved room in the older lady’s tiny apartment. Using proscribed, stylized movements, one of the pupils made us a thick and tasty kind of matcha. Oyama-san’s mother taught me the appropriate way of accepting the cup offered to me- when to bow, what to say, how to pick up the cup, how to hold it, from which side to drink, and where to place it when finished. It turns out that the tea ceremony is also an exercise in geometry, with objects placed at specific positions on the tatami, evenly spaced and in a set order. Basically the tea ceremony is an exercise in politeness, with cups being offered and accepted in a way that is mutually pleasing. With all this formality, I was surprised at the relaxed atmosphere. Only our host managed to remain in seiza position (sitting on the knees) throughout the ceremony (she has been trained to do so since childhood), and in between cups the women were chatting away, telling stories, making jokes and asking me all sorts of questions. All in all it was a unique experience that most short-term visitors to Japan won’t be able to experience. I did not have to pay any tuition (which is, incidentally, very elegantly presented in a white envelope placed on a spread fan), but I did bring some small Dutch gifts. They were unwrapped (!) and very well received: it’s amazing to see what effect tulips and windmills have on Japanese.

XVII. Quake

It is almost surprising how easy it is to get back into Tokyo life after a week of sleeping on tatami and eating wafu food. Big city life can be addictive, and sometimes it takes travelling through a countryside devoid of functioning ATMs or subways to fully appreciate its comforts. I was just getting back into the work-eat-sleep-study routine when early Thursday morning, a fairly large earthquake hit. It had a force of 6.8 on the Richter scale, and although the epicentre was off the coast of Ibaraki-ken, this was the strongest I’ve experienced so far. Although it was quite scary at the time, being woken up by my shaking bed, I must say that I usually don’t worry about the possibility of an earthquake. Of course, seeing the devastating results of the recent quake in China has made me very aware of how serious a matter it is. Yet, living in modern and comfortable Tokyo I do as the Japanese do: I am aware of safety precautions, but I go about my day-to-day business, not worrying too much about a possible quake. Of course, the earthquake in China has been big news with Hitachi as well, as the company has many factories and offices in China as well as Chinese employees working in Japan. Luckily, my Chinese colleagues have not lost any friends or family members in the quake, but they are understandably worried. Hitachi has pledged financial aid to the stricken area (as it has also done in the case of Myanmar). It makes me proud to be a (distant) member of the Hitachi family...

Other than that, the week after Golden Week has been fairly quiet. Walking through Marunouchi on the 7th, I did see several pro-Tibet protesters, who had turned up in response to the Chinese president’s visit to Tokyo. Apart from the Tibetan flags and banners, the demonstrators, standing in central Marunouchi, looked surprisingly like ordinary salarymen, dressed in suits and greying around the temples. Apart from that, the only big thing this week for me was the Tokyo International Singers concert on the 10th. It was great; the choir sounded a good deal better than before Golden Week, and the concert hall was quite full. Biggest and best surprise for me was to see the seven smiling faces in the front row, all belonging to fellow JPP students. The choir will give another concert in July, singing lighter repertoire such as songs from musicals and popular Japanese songs. Invitations will follow!

XVI. Golden

Now that Golden Week has come to an end I can only come to one conclusion: Japan must be one of the most beautiful and impressive countries I have ever travelled in. In just one week I have seen everything from snow-capped mountains and forests with Macaque monkeys to surf beaches and picturesque wooden houses and bridges. I have several hundreds of photographs to organize and will probably write a lengthy travel story in time, but here I will focus on the highlights of our trip.

Together with 3 other JPP students I spent the first leg of our Golden Week vacation in Takayama. This village in the Japanese Alps was praised by my colleagues as a connoisseur’s choice. They were right- it was great. We slept in a former temple turned into a youth hostel, but still with its characteristic features intact. There’s nothing like the feeling of bare feet on clean tatami mats after a long day of walking! The town itself was equally picturesque. With its wooden houses, narrow streets, traditional restaurants, morning market and countless rickshaws Takayama seemed almost untouched by modern times. Even more so was the secluded mountain town of Shirakawa-go, a UNESCO World Heritage Site famed for its Gasshozukuri style houses. Walking around the green village in the blazing hot sun it was difficult to imagine that from November to April, this town is covered in several metres of snow, making it as isolated as Yasunari Kawabata’s Snow Country.

We did manage to see some snow during our trip when we went hiking at Kamikochi. This area is famous for its natural beauty- and rightly so. With the snowy mountains in the background, our hike past the river was amazing. Large chunks of snow lined the road, Macaque monkeys were foraging in the woods and the walk through the Takazawa marsh (walking on elevated wooden walkways) was very atmospheric. All in all, this was yet another great hiking experience in Japan- unbelievable how such a densely populated country can have so many areas of exceptional natural beauty. And the greatest thing about enjoying nature in Japan is that you can soak in an onsen afterwards, even if the water is so sulphuric you have to wash your hair twice to make sure it doesn’t smell afterwards.

The second part of our holiday was spent on laid-back Izu-Hanto, as we wanted to include some relaxation in our holiday as well. At the coastal village of Shimoda we relaxed on the beach and explored the exciting nightlife of the town (aka the Cheshire Cat Jazz Club, which was very cosy albeit a bit quiet). As this was also the landing place of the famous Black Ships, we decided to go and visit the Shimoda Historical Museum as well, which featured a large exhibition on Perry and Harris, especially on the latter’s maid Saito Kichi, whose tragic life story has been the subject of many books and plays. The exhibition also included a fairly large section on Harris’ Dutch interpreter Henry Heusken, who was assassinated a few years after their arrival in Japan. It was interesting to see how the Americans used several interpreters working in Dutch as well as Chinese to communicate with the Japanese.

The last stops on our journey, Matsuzaki, Dogashima and Shuzenji, are less historically important but were still nice. Highlights included joining the locals to pick flowers in the fields surrounding our gorgeous wafu youth hostel in Matsuzaki, taking a boat tour round the cliffs at Dogashima where I saw my first flying fish ever, soaking in a tiny cliff-top onsen with an amazing view, taking a stroll through the very picturesque village of Shuzenji and drinking matcha in the sunny garden of a small teahouse in the hills overlooking the town. I must say, the traditional red bridges and bamboo grove at Shuzenji were exactly what I imagined Japan to look like when I was a kid.

All in all this holiday was just what I needed and it has inspired me to plan more trips for our last months in Japan. I can’t wait to go out and travel through this country again.

XV. Future

The last days before Golden Week were not easy, as I was trying to keep focused at work but my mind was wandering elsewhere. Outside, the sun was shining. At home, travel guides and bag pack were ready to go. At work, Golden Week was The Lunchtime Topic. It struck me that whilst most managers had to go on business trip during Golden Week and had only a few days off, many Office Ladies were using Hitachi’s long Golden Week to go on trips to far and exotic destinations, ranging from Italy to Trinidad. I guess the combination of having fewer responsibilities than their male co-workers and being able to save up more money living with their parents enables many young Office Ladies to make trips many salarymen can only dream of. It made me wonder: should Japanese career women really aspire to careers similar to those of their male colleagues? Or had Japanese salarymen better follow the example of their female counterparts and invest more in free time and having fun? I wonder if emancipated Japanese women will want to adopt a salaryman lifestyle or if they will be able to change Japanese corporate lifestyle as they rise in the company’s ranks.

All this Golden Week talk made me eager to get out and travel. Luckily the working week ended early as I got Friday afternoon off to go to the Dutch embassy’s Queen’s Day reception. Although I am not too fond of expat culture in general, it was quite nice to chat to other Dutch people and find out how they are experiencing life in Tokyo. The Dutch cheese was also wonderful, although I did miss the dropjes.

The first days of Golden Week I spent relaxing, catching up on sleep, e-mails and enjoying the gorgeous weather. I discovered Hamarikyu Teien which is now officially one of my absolute favourite parks in Tokyo, and sipped matcha in the tea pavilion in the middle of the park’s salt water pond. I also explored Odaiba, which sometimes feels like a city from the future. There are dancing robots at the Toyota Universal Design Showcase, there are the Fuji Building and Tokyo Big Sight which seem like spacecrafts carelessly left behind by aliens, there is even a Tokyo Teleport Station. It doesn’t get much more SciFi than that. I read somewhere that Tokyo is the place the rest of the world goes to in order to see what the future looks like- looking back at the island’s futuristic skyline from the deck of the water bus, I myself felt a bit like a tourist back from the future. It was a strange sensation, yet at the same time “just another day in Tokyo.” Be it a miniature Statue of Liberty, a trumpet playing robot or an indoors recreation of Venice: if you can’t find it in Tokyo, it probably doesn’t exist- or you’ll have to wait at least another decade before it does.

XIV. Yarikata

Suddenly I find myself halfway through my stay in Japan, which is a very strange feeling. I have already experienced so many new things that January feels ages ago, yet I can't believe how fast the days fly by. I try not to think too much about leaving Japan and focus on Golden Week instead. Having worked with Hitachi for 2 months, I feel in need of a holiday, even though I only work 4 days a week and my overtime hours are limited. I must say I have gained a new respect for the salarymen and office ladies of Japan. Granted, the image of the overworked, underpaid and sleep-deprived salaryman is a cliché, but when I observe my colleagues I do think the company makes up a much bigger part of their life than is the case in the Netherlands. For example, when his wife delivered their first child, my colleague only had the weekend off and returned to his desk on Monday, his wife still in the hospital. He had been on a business trip a week before his wife was due. My female colleagues are, naturally, at the bottom of the unit’s hierarchy. Usually they stay longest, often clocking up to 3 hours overtime. Managers, too, stay longer than they have to. Often, their business trips fall in weekends or on holidays, in order to limit the impact on normal business proceedings.

But does all this devotion make the Japanese more productive or better at what they do? Working at a division that is largely involved in information gathering and dissemination, as well as generating a good deal of information in English, I must say the answer is no. Over the years, Hitachi has developed a rather peculiar form of English. In an earlier report, I already mentioned the infamous Hitachi-go: a mixture of business Japanese, technical terms, jargon and a couple of "invented words," that even employees of similar Japanese companies don’t understand. The term "monozukuri" is an excellent example. It means something along the lines of manufacturing, although it can also include design or management of production processes. Japanese from outside the company generally do not know what it means. In fact, the word is so wholly untranslatable that it often appears in Hitachi's English-language texts as well.

This special Hitachi-speak leaves its mark on most English-language texts we produce. In Brussels I received intensive article-writing training, learning to write succinct and accessible articles, often about complex subjects. There are a few tricks of the trade, such as concise, enticing headlines, clear phrasing, and putting the essence of an article in the first few sentences whilst saving background information (that which would usually be put in the introduction of books and essays) at the end of the article. After all, most readers have little time and even shorter attention spans, and getting the correct information across is essential. Unfortunately, all my pieces for Hitachi's newsletter (including some really good headlines) were reviewed and largely rewritten by a Japanese colleague, rendering them as dry and factual (and, frankly, boring) as the articles from previous issues. This confrontation with the "yarikata" (way of doing things) of the company, which is essentially reducing the effectiveness of its own (information) products, was a little frustrating.

At the core of the problem is, I think, the reliance on the company's yarikata. Once a certain practice has been established, it is virtually impossible to change it. And even if you manage to make some changes, your work has to go through such a long chain of people that by the time it comes back to you it’s hardly recognizable. The same thing often goes for top-down instructions. There is a popular children’s game where someone whispers a sentence into his neighbour's ear, who in turn whispers it into the next person's ear, who whispers it into someone else's ear, and so forth, until the last person in the group is reached and he then repeats the sentence out loud. Laughter is the result: the original meaning of the sentence is completely lost. This whispering hierarchy, with instructions trickling down from bucho to kacho to sempai, can form a communication problem even larger than the language, and sometimes results in superfluous work.

Yet, despite these more trying aspects of working in a Japanese work environment, it is still a great experience- not because of the system, but because of the people who are all very friendly and at the same time quite committed to the work we do. Even though I want to work to live, instead of living to work as some Japanese are doing, I do think the devotion of Japanese to their company can be fascinating to watch. If a little impractical at times.

XIII. Local

Even though life in Tokyo is never dull, there can be weeks that are relatively quiet, with nothing much going on. Not so this week. Last Friday one of my bucho’s invited me along to a meeting at UN University. Together with a group of Hitachi employees working in the field of CSR, Supply Chain Management and Human Rights, we had a meeting with prof. Yokota, an expert on UN/CSR-related issues. The entire meeting was of course in Japanese, and the details were often lost on me, but I still managed to get the gist of it. It goes to show that collecting and learning job-related words really improves the kenshuu-experience. I had prepared some questions and was able to ask one, which made a good impression on my colleagues. It was nice to get out of the office for a change (working at Hitachi is fun, but very sedentary) and I got some new ideas for my CSR-research.

On Saturday Margreet and I wanted to escape the city for a day, so we made the two-hour trip to the supposedly sacred island of Enoshima. To get there, you need to take the Enoden line, which runs over tracks so narrow you can almost reach out of the window and touch the houses and garden walls. The weather was pretty good, and although we had intended to lounge on the beach all day, we decided to have a look at some temples instead. Of course we ended up walking all around the small island, working our way through throngs of weekenders shopping for kitsch souvenirs, visiting pleasant but mildly bland temples and walking around on the rocky coast, where young families had pick nicks and children tried to catch tiny sea crabs. Apart from an older woman chanting in an atmospheric, dimly-lit temple, and the bicycle locks with hearts and dates that were chained to fences everywhere, the island wasn’t particularly noteworthy, although I’ve never before seen a beach with signs warning people to watch out for hawks.

It was a good idea to go to the beach on Saturday, as the weather on Sunday was bad: cold and wet. It was perfect museum weather though, so I seized the opportunity to finally visit the Edo-Tokyo museum in Ryogoku. Although the outside of the building is more overwhelming than the inside, it’s still a nice museum. I liked the scale-models of Edo Ryogoku and Meiji Ginza best; they are so detailed. The temporary exhibition of Japanese fashion designer Kansai Yamamoto’s work, especially the costumes he made for David Bowie, were a highlight of my visit. I am also looking forward to the next temporary exhibition, which will be about Matthew Perry, Townsend Harris and the beginning of American-Japanese relations. I will definitely go back to view it and bring my camera with me- the museum allows its visitors to make photographs inside!

As the weekend is never long enough, I’m very happy to have Wednesday afternoons off to experience living in Tokyo too, rather than just working there. Yesterday I ended up exploring Yanaka, an area close to Ueno Park with a very cosy and old-fashioned atmosphere. As the area was mentioned in several Tokyo guides, I had wanted to go there for some time. Walking past traditional shops at Yanaka Ginza, it was difficult to imagine Marunouchi’s skyscrapers were only 15 minutes away by train. The area reminded me of Kyoto, with shrines and old shops and warehouses on every street corner. Walking through Yanaka cemetery, I saw a couple of old men trying out Japanese traditional flutes they had made by hand. They were playing from sheet music, but the notation was very different from what I am used to, using numbers rather than notes to indicate pitch. I talked to them for a while and they explained to me how the flutes are made and showed me how to read their sheet music. It is chance encounters like this that make me realize how great it is to have learned the language before coming here. Even though our grasp of the language is still relatively basic, being able to chat to the locals really adds to the experience of living and working here in Japan.

XII. Ghibli

The blossoms have all but gone now and in the office, last month’s frantic activity has been replaced by calmer planning and introduction meetings. Last week, a group of employees was introduced that came to work with us, having previously worked in another part of the company. This morning, I went to a meeting where all Global Business divisions introduced their plans for the coming financial year. Unfortunately, the presentations were rather difficult to follow. Not because of the speakers’ speed or unclear pronunciation, but because of what my colleague termed “Hitachi-go”: too much company lingo. And finally, this afternoon, our new colleague (a real nyuushain, fresh out of university) joined us. After an extensive briefing about the team’s work, we are going out for his welcome party. Although I have been under the weather since Tuesday (flu-like symptoms), I will of course come along- but no sake tonight.

Apart from these new developments, we’ve also begun working on The Caring Tree, Hitachi’s CSR newsletter. Thanks to my colleague who has devised a system of forms people reporting their CSR activities can fill in, only two topics required much back-and-forth e-mailing to get sufficient data for the article. It’s a nice change from the research to be able to write straightforward pieces again- thanks to all the concise article-writing training I received in Brussels, I was able to write the bulk of the articles in one day.

Of course, I had some free time as well, this week. Last weekend I went to the Studio Ghibli museum in Mitaka. I have seen some of the anime studio’s films before (Spirited Away, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind) but even though I like them, I am not a hardcore fan. Many others are, however, and we had to book our tickets a month in advance. But it was worth it: the museum was built in typical Ghibli-style, with pastel-coloured walls, winding staircases, odd turrets and stained glass windows depicting scenes from some of the studio’s most famous anime films. On the ground floor there was an exhibition of various animation techniques, including a carrousel similar to those used in 18th century Europe. But this one, lit by a stroboscope lamp, showed 3-D animation. This room, as well as the quaint study/library/drawing studio upstairs, with countless Miyazaki sketches tacked to the walls, was my favourite part of the museum. There was a special animated film as well (one that can only be viewed in the museum). The best thing about the film was not the plot, which was a little simple, nor even the animations, but watching it surrounded by Japanese children who really got into the story, holding their breath, laughing uncontrollably and reading aloud all the hiragana that featured in the film. The museum’s motto “Let’s lose our way together” doesn’t really apply to the museum itself, as it is a little small and not quite the Disney-like overwhelming fantasy experience one expects, but I liked it very much. Standing on the roof, taking pictures of (and with) a Laputian robot statue, it struck me once again that Japanese have an imagination and a fairytale-world of their own, less sugary-sweet than Disney, but perhaps even more imaginative.

XI. 入社式

Time flies when you’re having fun. Or when you’re working hard. In my case it’s both. I can’t believe that my first month with Hitachi passed by so quickly. For me it was a tougher month than I expected, as I needed to get used to my new place, my new job and especially my fuller schedule. I must admit I didn’t have much energy left for planning trips, planning Golden Week, going sightseeing etc. But as I have established a routine, I find there’s room in my head again for other things, and I’m beginning to enjoy Tokyo-as-a-tourist again. Perhaps this has got something to do with the countless Hanami trips I made. Apart from Hibiya and Ichigaya, I have now also seen the blossoms at the Sumida Kooen (Asakusa), Yasukuni jinja, (where we saw great traditional dances as well), the Imperial Gardens and Shinjuku Gyooen. Shinjuku Gyooen is by far the most gorgeous park I’ve been to and it’s definitely going to be one of my favourite summer hangouts.

At work, things are still going well. One of my bucho’s regularly requests me to do small research assignments for him, which always take more time than expected (partially because they can be difficult, but also because the research question is often rather vague). Apart from that, I have my own CSR research which is going slower than expected -due to aforementioned assignments- but, as my other bucho regularly takes time to discuss my progress with me, I still have a good feeling about it. My first deadline is at the end of this month, so I’ll really have to keep up the pace. This is why, when I stay longer, I stay not just because it’s good form, but because I actually have work to do.

Luckily it’s not just all work and no play. On Thursday my colleague and I went to Hitachi’s 入社式 (nyuushashiki, welcome ceremony for new employees), which turned out to take place in the Tokyo Big Sight Convention Centre in Odaiba. It was great to get out of the office and travel with the Yurikamome line through sunny Odaiba. With the nice sea breeze it must be a great place to escape the summer heat. The convention centre looked like something straight out of a Star Trek episode, with huge bronze-coloured inverted pyramids resting on four broad corner pillars. Walking underneath it, the building reminded me a little of Le Grande Arc de la Défense. Inside, we were ushered into a huge hall where a stage had been erected, flanked by large TV screens showing the Hitachi logo. Rows and rows of 入社員 (nyuushain, new employees), all dressed in black suits and white shirts, were patiently waiting for the ceremony to begin. My colleague told me that Hitachi’s Head Office has recruited one thousand 入社員 this year- it was quite a sight. As the ceremony began, the lights in the hall were dimmed and the stage lit up with a Disney-esque light show accompanied by similarly dreamy orchestral music. A great entrance for Furukawa-shachō, whose speech was short but inspirational (as far as I could understand). Many other speeches followed, including one by a 入社員 who subsequently got to shake Furukawa’s hand- he must have a great future ahead of him. The ceremony lasted several hours and although I tried my best to understand as much as I could, it was hard to keep focused. My colleague even dozed off. But it was very nice to experience this part of Japanese corporate life. Our division will get its own 入社員, too: on the 10th of April we’ll go out together for his welcome party. I’m looking forward to meeting him, but first I’ll have some manual labour to do as I will have to move to another desk, which is now cluttered in a way only Japanese desks can be...

X. Spring

Spring in Tokyo is quite a spectacle. This week, all the cherry trees in the city decided to bloom simultaneously, turning the parks and boulevards of the city into bright swatches of pink. On Wednesday I went cherry-blossom viewing with a couple of JPP classmates. During our lunch break we went to Hibiya Park, which has immediately become one of my favourite spots. This verdant pocket of tranquillity right in the middle of busy Marunouchi is an example of what I love about Tokyo. It has got an idyllic pond and a beautifully landscaped garden- surrounded by some of Tokyo’s tallest high-rise buildings. I love this contrast. Later in the afternoon, we went to the Ichigaya area where we walked along a boulevard lined with cherry trees. Salarymen were taking pictures of the blossom with their cell phones and students sat on blue plastic sheets for an early hanami. As the sun set, the slanting evening light rendered the blossoms almost transparent and made them look even more delicate. As I strolled down the boulevard, taking lots of pictures and gazing out over the river, I could completely understand the Japanese fascination with this fragile and transient beauty. It made me think of Lucebert’s poem ‘de zeer oude zingt’(the very old one sings), famous for its much-quoted line ‘alles van waarde is weerloos.’ (all that is valuable is defenseless)

On a more mundane level, this week at Hitachi has been busy but interesting. The research assignment I got from one of my bosses turned out to be more difficult and time-consuming than I had expected. I love a challenge, but in the end I wasn’t completely satisfied with my piece; basing research on online sources only is something I’m still very sceptical about. However, my boss seemed content with the end result and announced with a smile that more research work was to come. But for the time being I focused on assisting with the preparation for the HISTEP orientation day, cutting and folding nametags. On this orientation day the Japanese teachers that will be going to the US and Europe as part of the HISTEP exchange programme were briefed about their stay abroad. The first part of the day consisted of discussing practicalities concerning travel and the exchange programme’s schedule. It was relatively easy to follow and amusing at times, as every little detail was addressed and often discussed in great length. The teachers worried about things like fitting everyone’s luggage in a European taxi (a problem that we Westerners would just solve on the spot) or whether there would be a blackboard in the classroom (I assured them that yes, usually, European classrooms provide for adequate teaching material). Although this Japanese trait of meticulously planning everything beforehand often seems funny and sometimes stifling, it must be said that when Japanese plan something or create a schedule, there are very few mishaps or delays. Still, I think they go too far sometimes in their desire to plan and control everything beforehand, focusing more on the dangers and difficulties of such a trip than anticipating the pleasure it will give.

A similar principle applies to business meetings. I am, for example, allowed to sit in on the team’s weekly meetings on Friday mornings (to my surprise, I can understand a reasonable part of what is being said). What strikes me about these meetings is that we spend a lot of time going over what has been discussed last week, checking off whether everything is still going according to plan (it always is) and only discuss a handful of new additions to the unit’s planning, which, of course, have been discussed beforehand in one of the countless uchiawase (preliminary meetings). Coming from a country where holding meetings and reaching consensus are essential elements of the decision-making process, I understand why regularly confirming we’re still on the same page can be key to the team’s success, but sometimes I wonder whether all those meetings are really helping us improve our performance. Then again, if precision and perfection are what you’re going for, then the Japanese approach is definitely the best.

Luckily, it’s not just ‘all work and no play’ in the office. On Monday the China Business Department took me out for lunch in a traditional Japanese restaurant. It was great! They are a very lively group and asked me lots of questions. And although I can hold my own in casual conversation, I was glad they had a lot of patience, rephrasing or clarifying their questions in Japanese instead of switching to English, as some people do. It was great to get to know them better and I’m truly in awe of the Chinese in the team, whose Japanese is virtually accent-free. Apart from the Chinese team, we (my female colleagues and I) regularly have lunch with women from other departments and today, we had lunch with several men from our team as well. At the moment I am really looking forward to next week, as I will attend the 入社式 (welcome ceremony for new employees) next Tuesday. I’m curious to see what kind of people from my generation start working for Hitachi and how they are welcomed. I’m sure it will be another memorable ‘only in Japan’ experience and I will definitely write about it in my next report.

IX. Museum

Living, working and studying in Tokyo is a typical case of “work hard, play hard.” Work hard: although my working hours are more than decent and the work itself is very interesting, I am genuinely tired each night. At Hitachi, I have been working on my Corporate Social Responsibility research assignment, drawing up a framework and research questions. I’m very enthusiastic about this research project and don’t mind a little 残業 to make a deadline. Apart from this research, I sometimes get additional tasks such as translating or doing some research for projects that the team’s members are working on. The newspaper cuttings and magazines that are read by my colleagues are also passed onto me. I try to read most articles and grasp at least the essence of what is written, but I find my lack of kanji-knowledge renders me virtually illiterate. Especially since when someone reads parts of the article out loud to me, I can understand what is being said. This can be frustrating at times, although I try to give it a positive spin, trying to memorize new kanji as I encounter them in e-mails and the like. When it comes to using the Japanese-language version of Windows I can generally circumvent the problem as I have enough experience to know where I can find commands, even though I can’t read the kanji.

Play hard: whenever I have an afternoon to spare, I try to go and explore a new part of Tokyo. Last week on Wednesday I met up with some other JPP students for a drink at one of our favourite cafes in the Shin-Marunouchi building. An essential part of the Tokyo experience: drinking coffee & tea on the 7th floor terrace with CoolJazz floating out of the speakers and a view of the Marunouchi skyline. That day we also explored Ueno, strolling around the Tokyo University campus and having dinner at a dodgy izakaya crammed with blue-collar workers. This Wednesday was memorable as well. Although I must admit that I don’t know a lot about video games and had expected to hear a bit more about the company during our site visit to Sony ComputerEntertainment, it was nice to see how advanced the latest game computers are. I loved the idea of linking PS3’s worldwide to create a supercomputer capable of the most intricate calculations. It rather reminded me of SETI, a project that uses linked-up PC’s in order to scan the universe for signs of extraterrestrial life forms. It sounds like something out of a science fiction novel, but it is, in fact, a serious research project by the University of California, Berkeley.

Inspired by futuristic ideas, we spent the rest of the afternoon at the Mori Art Museum in Roppongi. It was terrific! We had an amazing view over Tokyo and saw some great pieces of art. The visit reminded me of how much I love modern/contemporary art and so I decided to spend part of my free (but rainy) Thursday at the Hara Museum of Contemporary Art, which was equally impressive. This is one of the things I love about living in a metropolis like Tokyo: there is such a large volume and variety of museums to choose from and you can pretty much go and visit one whenever you feel like it as some stay open until late. It is nice to get out of the city once in a while, like I did last weekend when I went for a hike at Mount Mitake, but museums and cultural life in general keep pulling me back to the city. There are more cultural things I still want to experience, such as a tea ceremony or a Kabuki play, so I’ve started to compile a list- I don’t want to miss a thing.

VIII. Apaato

Settling in in my new living/work situation is surprisingly easy, despite the occasional telephone-related hiccup. I love my new apartment. Although I do miss living in central Tokyo from time to time, my new neighbourhood is quite nice. It has got several supermarkets that stay open until late, and several small restaurants and cafes.

But the thing I like best is the apartment itself. Located on the 10th floor of the Hitachi dorm building, with the station ridiculously close by, it is very comfortable to live in. The building is so new that no one has lived in my apartment before me, which is a first, and the apartment itself has got everything I need- more, even. Apart from being quite spacious for Tokyo standards, it has got a wooden floor which I’ve always wanted to have, a balcony, a kitchen, a washing machine and, above all, a bath! Most appliances are, of course, Hitachi products. The only drawback is that all the buttons have kanji on them, some of which I can’t read, and all the manuals are in Japanese. But I figured I’d just give it a go- it was a great moment of victory once I got my bath to re-heat the water without actually refilling.

I don’t spend a lot of time at home, though, since there is still too much to do. Even in my own neighbourhood, there is a large temple complex just a short walk away. It’s a very nice place, with locals coming to pray at the various temples and old men with huge cameras taking pictures of early blossoms. With all its stray cats and tiny dark shops the place seems like it has come straight out of a Murakami novel. Very different is Colton Plaza, a huge American-style mall not far from my place, where the less culturally inclined locals go to spend their Sundays.

Of course, as interesting as my new neighbourhood might be, I still go up to Tokyo in weekends to have fun. As my choir rehearses near Yoyogi park, I figured it would be nice to finally go and visit Meiji-jingu. I went there last week, late in the afternoon. It was quiet at the shrine, but the sunlight was just amazing. Walking around a bit, taking pictures, I was just about to leave when a traditional Japanese wedding procession came out of the temple and started walking across the large square. I’ve been told that these are a fairly regular occurrence; still it was a beautiful sight to behold. Equally impressive, although less high-brow, was the visit to Studio Alta in Shinjuku. I went there with some friends from the Dutch embassy and we had lots of fun sampling contemporary Japanese youth culture, from frilly lace dresses to cowboy Wellies.

It’s good to see that, although I am now working most of the time, I still have some time left to experience Tokyo and discover new places. I can’t wait until Hanami begins- I’m already scouting for good spots!

VII. Ltd.

After my first week at Hitachi, I can say that it’s great to work in a genuine Japanese company, where overtime is the rule and it’s udon for lunch. I feel very welcome. So far, the work seems interesting and my colleagues are really nice- although I must say it has been quite overwhelming to go from being on a holiday to suddenly having to go to work every day. It is nice, though, to be working again and engaging in slightly more intellectual activities after the past 6 months of intensive language study.

On my first day I was introduced to over 30 people working on my floor, which was quite daunting. Luckily, my self-introductions went well and after chatting for a bit, most people thought me very “joozu.” I am now in possession of a thick pile of meishi, but I must admit I forgot which names go with which faces. I do know everyone from my team, though, as each of them took some time to introduce me to their specific area of expertise. They are seven in all, but one lady is currently working in Brussels. That leaves two bucho’s (managers), one of whom is my direct superior, two male colleagues and two female colleagues. We work in an open-space office in rows of three desks, grouped together according to division. There are big windows on one side and there’s an open space with round tables, like we saw at Taisei. This is where we have our division meetings. Our office is on the 24th floor, which means the view is simply amazing, especially at sunset. If I didn’t have to work, I would just sit there all day with a cup of tea and a good book. However, I do have to work. Luckily, my working conditions are quite comfortable. I’ve got a big desk, a chair with adjustable armrests, my own cabinet and, if I crane my neck a little, a great view of Marunouchi’s skyscrapers. Almost everyone, including myself, works on small Hitachi laptops with tiny screens. Also, instead of fixed desk phones, we have mobile phones sitting in a docking station on our desk.

Hitachi is a rather traditional company, and it shows. At lunch time, for example, I go for lunch with my female colleagues, as the men go their own way. Also, although there are quite a lot of women working on our floor, all managers I have been introduced to are men. As I get to know my female colleagues better, I hope to be able to ask them what they think about this- and how they see their own career prospects. For now, I am still absorbing the experience of working at a Japanese company. There are so many things that would never work in a Dutch working environment, induce ridicule even, but are perfectly normal in a Japanese setting. For example the start and end of each working day are punctuated by Big Ben chimes, as well as the lunch break. Not to mention the strains of violin music that pour out of the loudspeakers at three in the afternoon, when it’s… exercise time! (everyone ignores the soothing female voice, instructing us to stretch our muscles and rotate our head)

Each morning at 8.50 sharp, our working day begins. I try to be at my desk before the bell, and so far I’ve succeeded. The commute to work is hell, but that’s part of the salaryman-experience (or so I keep telling myself). Getting from my station to Ichikawa station is usually ok. But then, waiting the train pull in at Ichikawa station, its windows steamed up and faces squashed against the door, I never believe I’ll make it to work –let alone on time. Yet, although maybe three people get off, I always manage to get on the train, along with at least ten other Japanese who were waiting with me. I am now learning where and how to stand, so that although I will inevitably be pushed about, at least my ribcage will remain intact. On moments like this, I love my mp3 player and the illusion of private space it creates. Without it, I don’t know how I would get through this daily ordeal.

Luckily the work itself more than compensates for this minor inconvenience. From day one, I have been taken good care of. One of the bucho’s has really gone out of his way to help me get as much out of my time with Hitachi as I can. Of course I will participate in the division’s daily work, but as the first few months there isn’t much to do for me, he has come up with the idea of letting me do some research on Corporate Social Responsibility, the way Hitachi is implementing it and how CSR relates to the development work of NGO’s and organizations like the EU and the UN. It really is great to be given this opportunity to learn more about something that really interests me. Finally, as cherries on the proverbial cake, I will be working with the brand division and the advertisement department for one week each. All in all things look more than promising. To quote a famous musical and childhood-favourite: I think I’m gonna like it here!

VI. Kansai

Checking out of the Asia Kaikan at 5.45 in the morning, I had a feeling that our trip to the Kansai region was going to be more than just a relaxing outing. I was right; although the trip lasted only five days, we experienced so much it feels like we’ve been away longer. Maybe we’re turning Japanese a bit, cramming so much sightseeing in such a short period and taking way too many pictures. However, I believe we all had a great time and got a good impression of the Kansai-region. Also, this trip was a great way to get together as a group for one last time before we would be separated.

Our guide Watanabe-san, although quite small compared to us Dutch people, was very much in charge and guided us firmly but gently from the Shinkansen into the tour bus, and then to temple after temple, all the while telling us about Kyoto’s history, its people and its peculiarities. At first I tried speaking Japanese with her but as all of us found her English to be incredibly good, we gave in and just spoke English with her. Of the sights we visited on our first afternoon in Kyoto, I liked Ryoan-ji’s rock garden best, although it was lacking in serenity because of the tourist crowd. I also enjoyed visiting the Kinkaku-ji complex, although up close the golden pavillion was slightly kitsch. Perhaps I should read Mishima’s novel about it.

Luckily we did find some serenity and authenticity at our mountain retreat at Hiei-zan. The view from our room was just amazing: a steep slope, going down endlessly, covered with fir trees under a thick blanket of snow. Equally wonderful was the communal bath: big, hot, with a view of the mountain. At night, we had dinner together in our yukata, enjoying a Buddhist meal that, although some of it tasted strange, at least looked gorgeous. That night was my first night in a wa-shiki room, sleeping on a futon. It was surprisingly comfortable and I loved lounging around on the tatami. Getting up the next morning at a ridiculously early hour was hard at first, but after another hot bath, the early morning’s zazen meditation and a brisk walk outside through the snow, I felt like a different person. I was glad I’d brought my walking boots so I could actually explore the area and visit some of Hiei-zan’s temples, as the snow was very thick on the ground. Also, thanks to Watanabe-san, I discovered the genius that is the heat patch. What a terrific invention! You just stick one on your shirt, wait a couple of minutes, and voilà, you stay warm, even though you’re up to your ankles in snow.

We definitely needed those heat packs during the next days in Kyoto. Although it was warmer than up on the mountain, the wind was cold in the city. But this didn’t stop us from using our first free afternoon to walk around in Higashiyama and Gion, looking for geisha’s. We didn’t spot any, unfortunately, although we did keep bumping into other JPP students. To compensate, we decided that if we weren’t going to meet any geisha, we should perhaps dress up like one. Giggling in the photo studio at Toei Uzumasa Movie Village, first dismissing it as a tourist trap, none of us could resist temptation once we saw our fellow JPP-students dressing up as samurai and geisha. Having my “authentic” Japanese portrait taken was hilarious, especially since I had to twist and turn in strange ways until I stood in the correct pose for the picture. A nice way to loosen up the muscles for the mock-sword fighting lessons that followed. It was very amusing to learn some Samurai-flick moves and appropriate grunts, but I am not sure I can take out an attacker when necessary, especially since I usually don’t carry a wooden sword…

Although I loved the temples we visited at Arashiyama and thought the bamboo grove quite impressive, I was happy to leave Kyoto’s picture-perfect Japan for a day and enjoy the bustle of business-city Osaka on Tuesday. I took an immediate liking to it and although I’ve only seen a small part of the city, I definitely want to go back to explore it a little further. I had thought about returning to Osaka the next day but decided against it. Instead, I spent a day exploring Kyoto by bike, together with four other JPP students. It turned out to be a brilliant idea. The weather was mostly sunny, the bikes were sturdy and our route took us right through the city. We first cycled from the hotel to Toji temple, to view the largest pagoda in Japan. It was interesting, but our next stop, Fushimi-inari taisha was much more impressive. Our route took us through a beautiful neighbourhood with temples at every corner and spacious traditional houses in between. Fushimi-inari taisha itself, famous of course for its endless row of tori’s, was incredibly atmospheric. Walking under this red-wood canopy in the middle of the forest felt like walking through a National Geographic photo shoot: too gorgeous to be true. The same can be said of the sunset at Kyomizu-dera. We had timed our arrival at the end of the day and although the view was a little hazy, it was great to look over Kyoto at sunset. This cycling tour helped me to really appreciate Kyoto. On the first day, racing from highlight to highlight, I felt no connection whatsoever with this famous city. Cycling through it at a much more leisurely pace, I got a very good impression of the town’s lay-out and feel- I definitely want to go back to Kyoto when it’s warmer. Another reason to go back there are yatsuhashi, Kyoto’s local delicacy. These warm black-sesame sweets were too good to be true, especially after a day of cycling through the cold.

And then, finally, Nara. As I wrote a couple of weeks ago, I had been to Kamakura already to visit its famous Buddha statue. Now, standing in Todai-ji, gazing up at Nara’s slightly bigger and slightly more famous Buddha, I couldn’t help but liking Kamakura’s Buddha better. I think it’s more impressive, as it is sitting in the open air and you can walk around it more easily. Nevertheless it was great to be in Nara and view so many temples. My favourite has to be Nigatsu-do, as it is beautifully situated, has a great view and as there are less tourists than at other temples. Although Horyu-ji also deserves a mention, as it is incredible to see wooden buildings that actually date from the 7th century and are still intact.

All in all, our trip to the Kansai region was, of course, way too short- but this is a good sign. I had a great time and am definitely going to visit Kyoto again before I leave Japan. In the meantime, I will enjoy the photos and share anecdotes with my colleagues: they’re often amazed to hear that, being in Japan for just over two months, I have travelled quite a bit already. It’s a good start as it shows I’m interested in Japan, its history and its culture. Traveling as a networking tool… Who would’ve thought?

V. Choir

Time flies when you’re having fun. As I am writing this, February is half past. I can’t believe that the last two months of studying Japanese are drawing to a close, and that in two weeks, I will begin my internship with Hitachi. Although I am sad to leave the Ajia Kaikan (or more precisely, its terrific location in central Tokyo), I am looking forward to having my own small appartment in the Hitachi dormitory and starting “normal life” as someone who works in Tokyo. As I wrote a couple of weeks ago, I am well and truly settling into the Tokyo lifestyle, discovering where to shop, what to eat and, most importantly, how to make friends. So far, most social activities have been limited to trips and evenings out with other JPP students or other international friends. Apart from the Japanese language teachers and the JNI staff I had hardly met -let alone talked to- Tokyoites in a social setting. Until last Sunday, that is, when I went to do what I always do after moving to a new place: join a choir.

The Tokyo International Singers are a large choir consisting of approximately 80 members. About half of them are Japanese, whilst the other half hails from all possible countries of the world. Musically, TIS are also an interesting group, as they aim to perform large-scale pieces on a high amateur level. Last semester they performed Brahms’ Ein Deutsches Requiem (which, coincidentally, I have been singing simultaneously in Leiden). Now, rehearsals have started for Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle. The rehearsals are structured in an interesting way: each Saturday, Sunday and Monday members of the choir can attend rehearsals at the National Olympic Memorial Youth Centre at Yoyogi Park. Attendance is required at least once a week, but members can pick the day which suits them best. This arrangement struck me as strange. Usually, even choirs of this size rehearse once a week on a fixed day and time. But in fact, it’s a very sensible way of organizing rehearsals, since many of the choir’s members are hard-working Tokyoites or English-language teachers who have to work at night or during weekends. This goes to show that even when it comes to organizing Western-style activities, there is a Japanese solution that may seem rather farfetched at first, but is actually very efficient.

Other main events in the past week included the JPP site visits to Taisei Construction and the large drainage pipe near Honancho. I very much enjoyed visiting Taisei’s beautiful office overlooking Mt Fuji, and I was amazed at the ingenious solutions the company has come up with to improve the working conditions of its staff. This is what I really love about the Japanese: their ability to look at things differently, to continually improve upon existing ideas, their drive for perfection. The drainage pipe I found less subtle, but equally impressive. As both my father and brother are engineers (TU Delft, of course), I’ve seen my fair share of civil engineering landmarks. Yet to be standing in a tunnel this long and wide, realising that in summer it will fill up with water, was pretty cool.

Finally, I made another daytrip in anticipation of the upcoming trip to the Kansai region. Together with another JPP student and a friend I went to Kamakura. As I love to go hiking and the weather was great, we put on our walking boots and planned a route past several temples, following a hiking trail through the hills (mountains? or is that a Dutch perspective?) up to the giant bronze Buddha. The temples were spread apart further than in Nikko and were more sober in their design. There were also fewer tourists, which definitely gave Kamakura a more relaxed feel than Nikko. Except at the Buddha statue: coming down from the idyllic hiking trail, we were slightly disappointed to see soo many souvenir shops and large groups of people wanting to have their picture taken with the Daibutsu. Yet the statue itself is fascinating, not in the least because it has withstood 750 years of war, earthquakes and fire. I’m very curious to see its rival, the Nara Buddha- now I can compare…

IV. Countryside

Week 5 in Tokyo went by so fast that I didn’t have time to reflect, let alone write on, all the things I did. Luckily I have the photos to go by. This week was the first time I ventured outside of Tokyo (not counting my foray into the Kichijoji suburbs). On Saturday, I went to meet an Australian friend who has been living in Tokyo for over a year now, and a German friend who stopped by on her round-the-world travels. We went to Yokohama for the day, which was great fun. As it was just days after the beginning of the Chinese New Year, we decided to go to Yokohama’s Chinatown. Unfortunately we didn’t come across any celebrations, but we did visit several beautifully decorated temples and sampled all kinds of Chinese dishes in an all-you-can-eat restaurant. I have had Beijing Duck before, but never just its skin. What can I say… at least it was served in a nice sauce. Other highlights included the giant prawns and the mochi filled with azuki paste. The rice cakes were covered in sesame, and hot! Which is the best way to eat them, as it keeps the azuki filling from being too overpowering. After enjoying Chinatown’s many attractions (including a shop stuffed with panda bears and Hello Kitty), we went to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building near Shinjuku to enjoy the alledgedly amazing view. Allegedly, because when we got up there, it had started snowing. As the world down below turned into a fairytale-like scene with lights in the trees adding to the effect, the tower itself was surrounded by a thick white fog. Luckily, there were several amazing toy/gadget shops on the top floor of the building, stocking everything from tap dancing Disney dolls to electronic pets and musical piggy banks.

The next day, I went to study in Kanda, around Jimbocho, where the area is filled with second-hand book shops. One of them also had an entire floor devoted to English-language publications, from obscure books on gentleman’s fashion or Britain’s gardens to well-thumbed editions of Catcher in the Rye and the Graduate. I spent some time browsing through books in the shop, which was clearly modelled after British second-hand booksellers’shops –including heavy dark-wood book cases reaching up to the ceiling. This is an area many students frequent as well, and so I ended up memorizing my kanji surrounded by Japanese students at a nearby Starbucks, where I sat at a library-style reading table, complete with desk lamp. That night, I had my interview with Yanagisawa-san about the practicalites of my internship. There was a lot to discuss, but so far everything looks good. I’m really looking forward to working at Hitachi, and quite curious about what life in a Japanese company dorm will be like.

As this was a long weekend, I boarded an outbound train once more early Monday morning. With a couple of other JPP students, I went on a daytrip to snow-covered Nikko. Arriving at Nikko after the two hour train ride was simply amazing. The sky was a bright blue, the snow lay thick around the area, and behind the Chalet-style JR station we could see a nearby mountain range. As we had only one day, we decided to forgo the waterfalls and focus on the Tosho-gu complex instead. Walking up from the station we first passed the Shin-kyo bridge, which, with its red-laquered wooden structure and the mountains in the background, very much looked like the mental image I had of Japan before coming to Tokyo. The temple complex itself was equally wonderful: the elaborately decorated roofs were covered in thick snow blankets, and the setting in the middle of the woods added to the atmosphere. There were quite a lot of tourists, but not as many as we had feared beforehand. Of course, after visiting the temples, we climbed up the two hundred steps to Tokugawa Ieyasu’s tomb. It was surprisingly sober compared to the temples below, but the light coming through the trees in the grove was simply amazing. Having spent the best part of the day temple-viewing, we were chilled to the bone by the time we went back down into the village. We had dinner at a quaint little restaurant- which later turned out to be listed in all major travel guides. It was run by an elderly woman who turned out to be a great cook, and the walls were covered from floor to ceiling with visitors’ thank-you notes, drawings and meishi. The food was quite simple (yakitori, tsukune, soba) but the taste was amazing.

All in all, Tokyo still is an amazing city of which, despite my best efforts, I’ve only seen a tiny portion. Yet it was a terrific idea to leave the city for a change. Living in a cosmopolitan city like Tokyo, sometimes it seems like I’m not living in Japan at all, what with all the Western-style clothes, food and shops. The fresh air, the change of scenery and the historically interesting sights of Nikko have really done a world of good and made me very curious about what the rest of Japan might look like. I can’t wait to venture outside of Tokyo again.

III. Settling in

It is strange to think that I’ve now been living in Tokyo for a month. The days are still passing way too fast, but the settling in has begun. I’ve now built up a routine of studying, shopping, going out for dinner, and I don’t need a map anymore to find my way around the JNI/Ginza area. As I usually prefer to go out and study in a café rather than staying in my Ajia Kaikan room, I try to combine exploring new parts of Tokyo with making my homework- until now it works out rather nicely. I am also busy looking for a choir in Tokyo. At first I wanted to join a university choir in order to meet some Japanese people as well, but as these choirs appear to be performing at a high level I don’t think they accept members for shorter periods of time (at least, the choirs I used to be in generally didn’t). So now I have sent an e-mail to the Tokyo International Singers, a choir which is at least partly Japanese. I hope to hear from them soon.

Apart from settling in in Tokyo life, I am also getting used to the way lessons are structured. At first I didn’t always know how to prepare or what was expected of me during tests, but now I am getting the hang of it. All in all, the language studies are coming along well. I am a big fan of the red 3kyu grammar book. I wish we had received it earlier on in Leiden! With its concise and clear explanations, examples, overviews and useful exercizes, it has become my Bunpo Bible. I use it all the time. I am also quite enthusiastic about the JETRO text book. I know that some of the other JPP students might disagree, but for me, learning business terms and practicing dialogues (making a business phone call, introduce oneself properly etc.) are very useful. Those newly learned words also come in handy during company visits, such as today’s visit to Canon. I am, by the way, quite a fan of these company visits. They are generally fun and they break up the week nicely, so that each Thursday I come to the language lessons with renewed enthusiasm.

During the weekends, I try to relax and catch up on my sleep, but of course I also want to see and experience as much of the city as I can. Each weekend comes with its own adventures. Last weekend, for example, almost all of us JPP students went to sushi-chef Suzuki-san’s restaurant, where he had prepared a huge multiple-course meal. It included salads, roast beef, Dutch cheese (!) and of course sushi and sashimi. But the most important course of the evening was the tuna head steak. It was brought in on a huge platter, and although cooked, still very much looked like what it was: a fish head. Including the eye. As he scooped up generous bowls, Suzuki-san explained that this was a special dish one rarely finds in restaurants. We now know why. The fish itself is quite tasty, but the texture of skin and eye ball sent shivers down our spine. Of course, since Suzuki-san was so proud of this dish, we felt obliged to help ourselves to seconds. Luckily our bravery was rewarded with very good sushi indeed.

On Sunday, we had snow. I decided I had to go out and experience Tokyo dressed in white. Together with Vivian I went to the Imperial Palace Gardens. It was cold, it was wet, but it was gorgeous as well. We took lots of pictures and almost had a snow fight, if only it hadn’t been snowing so hard… Maybe next time.

II. Alien?

As of this week it’s official: I am no longer a tourist-in-Japan. And it isn’t just due to the fact that I am now in possession of my alien registration card. Last week, for the first time since I started learning Japanese, I experienced that wonderful moment every language student is yearning for: speaking a foreign language without noticing it. It happened quite suddenly- one of the sensei asked a question, and not until I was halfway through answering it did I realize that I was, in fact, replying in Japanese. Apparently, after four months of intensive study in Leiden the best thing I could do for my Japanese language skills was not to learn more kanji or to drill more verbs, but to come to Japan. Here, kanji are everywhere! In Leiden I sometimes struggled to remember the ON- or KUN-yomi of the kanji, or even worse, their stroke order, but in Tokyo travelling by chikatetsu alone has already imprinted the kanji for ao, kin, za, roku and many more on my mind in a way that studying them in the library never could.

As for enhancing my conversation skills, Tokyo still feels like one big language lab. It is still incredibly cool to notice that the exotic and at times downright strange language I started learning back home is actually being spoken on the streets here. I am beginning to feel at home not just in this city, but also in this language. Still, using Japanese can be infuriating at times: emotions, for example, are very difficult to express. Of course my command of the language is still very limited, but I also find that Japanese is much more indirect than other foreign languages I’ve learned in terms of voicing an opinion, or expressing hopes and fears, likes and dislikes. Practical things like shopping for clothes (Structural Functional Japanese lesson 10), sending post cards home (SFJ lesson 2) and making small talk (SFJ lessons 1 through nan demo ii desu), pose no serious problems though. But finding the right shampoo or make-up remover can be very difficult. It took me a lot of patience, comparing labels, bothering shop assistants and visiting every drug store in a 3-mile radius of the NichiRan Gakkai in order to finally succeed.

However, this sort of practical stuff is also fun, and one of the reasons I wanted to participate in the JPP in the first place: living in Tokyo, rather than just visiting it, is so much more rewarding. The homework can be too much at times and the sleep I’m getting is definitely too little, but sitting in a café in Asakusa, practicing my kanji and watching the passers-by, I cannot imagine anything else I’d rather be doing right now. Especially last weekend, when fellow JPP student Evelien had arranged for all of us to go to a concert/party in a club in hip and happening Kijijoji. Advertised as an Otaku music party it featured bands such as YMCK and Sexy Synthesizer performing electronic dance music based on the blips and beeps of old-fashioned 8-bit computer games. It was great! Not only did I actually like most of the music (I’m quite a lover of eccentric electro-music), but being there and observing our fellow party-goers was great fun as well. The room was filled with (mostly) male gamers, ranging from reasonably hip to terribly geeky. All of them had one thing in common, though: they hardly ever danced. The beats were great, the beer was not too expensive, but they just stood there, packed together on the dance floor, standing transfixed by the animations projected on a large screen at the back of the room. It was a strange experience, but we still had a lot of fun, especially since most of the acts mentioned us “oranda-jin,” thanking us for our presence that night.

Apart from the Otaku party, one of the coolest things this week actually happened today. Five of us got up at around four o’clock this morning, taking the first metro to the Tsukiji fish market. Upon arrival we were welcomed by sushi-chef Suzuki-san, wearing a green jacket to match his signature green hair. Not wasting any time he immediately took us down to the tuna auction hall, where the floors were covered wall to wall with huge tunas, freshly imported from Spain. Apparently these fish can weigh up to 500 kgs, selling for up to 10,000Y per kg. Before the auction started, fish buyers gathered to poke at the tuna with specially shaped hooks whilst shining into the carcasses with their torchlights in order to determine whether the fish were fat enough (yes, the fattest parts are the tastiest). The auction itself went very fast, with several auctioneers yelling out prizes and buyers too fast for us to understand. Suzuki-san then took us to a part of the fish market that is usually off-limits for tourists. There, in the inner heart of the market, was the widest variety of most amazing fish I’ve ever seen. There were fish in all shapes and sizes, ranging from tiny shell fish to bright red octopi with tentacles as thick as my forearm. There was so much to see I never knew where to look or when to pause for a photograph. What struck me was that although we must have been standing in the way all the time, taking pictures, walking slowly, obstructing passageways, we never got one dirty look. Most people smiled, several people offered us tea and coffee, some told us their stories and one of them even let us taste some whale meat. Whilst I do feel slightly ambiguous about Japan’s continued whale hunting activities, I had decided beforehand that I would, at least, try some whale meat if it was offered to me. Well, it was terrific. I don’t think I’ll go looking for a restaurant that sells it, partly out of principle and partly because I don’t think I’ll get in as a foreigner, but I must admit: now I understand what the Japanese are on about.

Having experienced things this cool in an otherwise “quiet week,” I am already looking forward to what next week will offer. One thing is certain: whatever you’re looking for, if you can’t find it in Tokyo, you probably can’t find it anywhere else in the world.

I. Bewilderment

Two weeks in Tokyo have gone by in the blink of an eye. There are so many things to see and do that I’ve already begun to compile mental lists of places to go to, things to experience and “interesting” food to eat. The list is endless. However, so far the score is pretty good: I’ve had jellyfish in an izakaya which was quite nice, tried the sea urchin sushi when the sushi chef came to Nichiran gakkai (loved it!), and last weekend I had octopus which looked interesting enough but was actually rather disgusting when eaten. Still, I’m all for experiencing new and preferably Japanese things. The sumo match we went to last week was terrific, especially since we got to see the usually composed and dignified Japanese business men screaming their lungs out when their favourite wrestlers walked into the ring.

Before coming to Japan I bought a new digital camera (Canon, of course) and I am glad I did. So far I’ve seen so many beautiful and sometimes bewildering things I haven’t been able to keep track of how many pictures I took. What strikes me about Tokyo is that many things seem very “normal,” “Western” or “similar” at first, but turn out to be completely different (or at least have a strange twist). In some ways this city reminds me of Paris: the way people dress, especially women in their skirts and high heels, the metro system (organized according to final destination, instead of where lines are bound like London), the love of food and eating out, and the ideas of centre-periphery (the Route Péripherique and the Yamanote line being the respective boundaries). Yet Tokyo is also completely different. My daily chikatetsu ride, for example, is nothing short of bewildering. As the doors open, the commuter-tide comes rushing in: bags, feet, elbows, knees, ribs, coats, arms are everywhere- no room left to move, or, indeed, to breathe. Yet amazingly enough, the Tokyoites remain calm and keep their poker faces on; even when crushed between tall Dutch people, they keep their cool. The silence in the metro (no cell phones, hardly any conversations) came as a pleasant surprise the first time I traveled by metro- I expect the readjustment to the Dutch railway system will not be easy.

Of course there are low points, as well. Living in Tokyo, I try to use my Japanese as much as I can, whenever wherever. Usually, subjecting unsuspecting Japanese to my limited command of the language is fun- it got me an exclusive guided tour at the Ueno Mori bijutsukan, where the English-speaking guide got so enthusiastic about my interest in Kanji and Japanese history that we explored the expo on the origin of Kanji for at least an hour together. Old ladies in shops and restaurants also respond well; they start explaining about Japanese seasonal flowers, holiday cards or which ingredients make up Gyoza. But often I’m confronted by the limitations of my Japanese language skills and/or the unwillingness of some Japanese to converse with me. This can lead to comic situations where I start asking questions about the menu in a restaurant and all I get in response is “CHIKIN! You know CHIKIN yes?”, but sometimes it’s really frustrating when I’m trying to, for example, fill out some paperwork or buy electrical appliances, and all I get are blank stares or frowns. Nevertheless, most Tokyoites I’ve met so far have been very kind and helpful and generous with compliments about my Japanese (I, of course, respond with “Iie, sono koto nai desu,” or “iie, mada mada”).

In short, my first two weeks in Tokyo have been great- I’ve experienced my first earthquake (which was quite scary, even if it was only a simulation) and as I love singing and corny pop songs, my first visit to a karaoke bar with my fellow JPP-students has been a great success. On a more serious note, last week’s self-introduction speech and meeting the Hitachi people at the Dutch embassy really boosted my willingness to get stuck in with the language studies again. Not only were my future colleagues very friendly and interested in what I had to say, it turns out that I share several interests with one of my future bosses (including Dutch history and classical music). It was great to discover that I already knew enough Japanese to keep the conversation going and explain reasonably well about my background, or ask questions about Hitachi’s Corporate Social Responsibility. We basically spoke Japanese all night, and my other boss joked that anyone speaking English to me during the internship would get fined.

I am really looking forward to my internship, but for now I’m also enjoying my freedom, going for a run at the nearby Hinoki-cho park, browsing for books at Tower Records, partying in Roppongi, making grammar exercises in the Shibuya Starbucks, and experiencing wonderful and at times surreal things on a daily basis, reminding me that I do, in fact, live in the city of Haruki Murakami- one of my favourite authors ever.

I already had a blog. But...

... it's in Dutch. It has been up and running for the past 3 years and I'm pretty proud of it. You can find it here. Why I started this new blog? One of the reasons is that from January to August 2008, I am living, studying and interning in Tokyo, Japan. Which is cool in itself, and very cool to write about. Until now I've kept (most of) my friends up to date through my Dutch blog and, having limited time to spare, have been reluctant to translate or rewrite my blog entries into English. But, as I now have to write weekly reports in English so that the people of the people of the Japan Prizewinners Programme can keep track of what I'm doing, I figured I might as well upload them to this blog, thus offering my international friends a small and hopefully interesting glimpse into My Life In Tokyo.

As for the name of this blog? Stupeur et tremblements was written by Belgian writer Amélie Nothomb and has been one of my favourite books on life in Japan ever since one of my friends from the EP suggested I read it. It has also been made into a wonderful film.