Photographs from a small group of islands
Yesterday I painted a rather bleak picture of salary men and their work dominated lifestyles. But maybe I was being a little unfair, as it has to be said that their existence is not all work and no play.
As well as drinking with their boss, salary men do have other hobbies. Dancing is rather surprisingly one of them.
Take it away Watanabe-san!
Yesterday I did some teaching at a kindergarten. Well, I use the word teaching rather loosely. In reality, 70 or so 5 year-olds ran around making lots of noise, whilst I stood there looking bemused, shouting out random English words. It was good fun though.
But one thing struck me. As it always does. How do these cheery and inquisitive little boys turn into rather dour (and decidedly uninquisitive) salary men? It seems such a shame that a large number of these kids will turn into suit wearing drones, working every hour god sends, and having precious little time with their own children.
But maybe, just maybe, being a salary man isn’t such a bad thing. It could actually be my western thinking that’s out of place. As in class at the junior high school the other day, the students were talking about their dreams. Sadly for a group of 14 year-olds there were very few responses, but one boy stood up and proudly proclaimed that his dream was to become a salary man. To give him some credit, there was a slight edge to his answer. He didn’t want to be any old salary man, his aim was to become a great salary man.
I couldn’t think of a response then. And I still can’t think of one now. So here’s a picture of his future to pass the time along.
We all hope for nice neigbours, but what would you do if, horror of horrors, a foreigner moved in next door?
A similar question was recently put to a few young Japanese, with some predictably odd answers. My favourite amongst them came from 18 year-old Manabu Ishii. Not one to shy away from sweeping generalizations, young Mr. Ishii chimed in with this response
What a cad eh? Exclusive treatment indeed!
Hopefully my neighbours are a little more open minded than Ishii-san, as being neither female nor pretty, that leaves only one possibility. I must be a gangster! But having said that, it would help to explain why most of my neighbours refuse to look me in the eye, and always hurry past with barely a word of acknowledgement. Either that or they are just rude.
Despite Japan’s declining birthrate, the government confirmed this week that Tokyo’s population has reached a record high of over 12 million. 12,378,974 to be exact.
Thankfully the city’s extensive train network should still be able handle the extra numbers. There’s still plenty of room to squeeze a few more in.
You don’t say.