succulent sashimi treats,
dashi, uu-mami!
As I slide open the door to Butanchu, the rich meaty smell of pork marrow that's been simmering for hours is the first thing that permeates the senses. Only then do I register the jingle of the yobirin (doorbell), and manage to collect myself and vaguely respond a konnichiwa to the chef who welcomes me back with a knowing smile. This time I've brought along Jessica to try my favorite tonkotsu (pork) ramen shop. The first thing she comments on is the two vats of pork broth simmering away, as they have been for over 20 hours. The chef uses a full-size shovel to stir it every now and then. Our orders have already been taken as we waited for a seat outside of the restaurant.
There is not much foreplay or pillow-talk involved in the ramen experience, you often get started standing up, and as soon as you're finished, you leave; however, the love, dedication, and obsession for ramen is stronger than ever. The slurping technique that I have yet to master allows the experienced ramen eater to devour a nearly-boiling-hot bowl in under 5 minutes. There are well over 100 types of ramen in Japan and every Japanese person has a favorite, and only one Japanese person has ever told me they don't like ramen.
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| Butanchu's tonkotsu ramen |
Another honorable mention for my favorite ramen experience so far goes to Mugen, which makes shirunashi tan tan men (broth-less spicy ramen). They make a luscious, thick sesame sauce which they serve with a bit of broth, a sprinkling of ground pork, and a heaping pile of noodles. The spice comes from some cracked szechuan peppers which round out the nutty, spicy, rich meal. It reminds me a lot of a Thai noodle dish: a bit sweet, bright, spicy, nutty, and of course, salty. I discovered this spot thanks to my students' recommendation. It's amazing how much my students were in tune with good quality food even though only a few of them could cook--maybe the US will get to that level some day. That's not to say they didn't like snacks and junk food, but that comprised a small part of their diet instead of being a mainstay.
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| Shirunashi tan tan men |
Karooshi (working yourself to death)
That's enough foodie fantasizing; the main inspiration for this post was an increasing recognition that I don't fit into this place--mostly culturally but sometimes physically. There are a few things that, if I lived here long term, I would never be able to accept. The biggest thing is the work culture. To be fair, after living in Australia, where I had the best life-work balance I've ever experienced, the US seems like a super-toxic working culture. Yet compared to Japan, it seems like a paradise. As foreigners and English teachers, we are largely insulated from the Japanese working culture but it is a reflection of a communal society that has had to haphazardly incorporate global capitalism.
In Japan, the whole comes before the individual and the individual's job is to prop up and help improve the society. This attitude has been extended to working in for-profit companies and mean that complaining about things such as long hours, extra work, or unfair treatment is socially unacceptable. Many companies expect around six months' notice when a worker wants to quit and they will even ask the departing employee to find an adequate replacement. Employers have also been known to sit leaving employees down with management and try to convince them to stay until they give in or they manage to withstand many hours of such pressure. And yet, Japanese labor laws are actually quite progressive; only one-week's notice is required by law. However, societal pressure and expectation trump the law.
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| Nonchalantly making 64 okonomiyakis at once at a festival stand |
Ojo-san (women, literally "someone else's daughter")
Another shocking discovery here was the level of gender inequality. On some level, I was aware of how entrenched and well-defined gender roles were here because of my Japanese students in Australia. That being said, it's astounding how if you ask a young Japanese person if they think there is gender equality in Japan, they will almost unanimously say yes. There are exceptions, especially those who have spent a good deal of time abroad but it still surprises me that most are blind to how gendered their society is.
It is still largely unacceptable for a women to be unmarried and without children at age 30. Most of my female university students say their aspiration is to become a housewife. Take my student "Isa" (this is not her real name), for example. She is brilliant, engaging, funny, questioning, open-minded, irreverent, and unafraid to make mistakes (a rare trait among Japanese students). She has no qualms about speaking up or correcting her male counterparts or even the teacher if it's deemed necessary. Personally, I don't think there is any way she would be fulfilled by becoming a housewife. She would be an invaluable asset to many different organizations.
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| Some of my students |
In almost any establishment I've been to, any women are subordinates and the bosses are men. There are certainly more women in the workplace than ever before which gives women more freedom to choose to get married or not but there don't seem to be many options for upward mobility. Men who are married to university-educated women have an advantage when being considered for getting a promotion, though--even if she is a housewife. There is a lot more to why gender roles are so entrenched here than I know or can hope to cover but while the male-breadwinner and female-housewife roles are intact here, fewer and fewer Japanese are choosing to have kids or even get married. Women here are supposed to be passive and they are often looked down upon if they act differently; it was very hard for me to learn of any professional ambitions from my female students which really disappointed me.
As with any place I've lived, it makes me appreciate how great of a country and family I come from. It helps me see what the US lacks: efficiency, cooperation, infrastructure, and an ancient food tradition and culture to list a few but also what we have: creativity, spontaneity, multiculturalism, empathy for the individual, a questioning of the status quo. Living in Japan has made me realize that the US is a young country with more flexibility to define what it is which gives me a lot of hope for the future. Most of all, though, it's made me realize that I miss home; I look forward to being back on my home turf in just over three weeks!
-Paco
