Links once again to the pics I snapped at the bottom of this post. Pics now sorted by day.
The next morning we were up at the crack of noon. Thanks to a combination of the heat and the down duvet supplied to each bed, I managed to only get about 4 hours of shuteye. Waking up bleary-eyed, we decided to head out to the Imperial Palace, nominally a 10 minute walk from our hotel, but in reality a trip that took us 25 minutes as I searched for a convenient store for a cell-phone recharger that uses standard AAs. With my phone back up and being charged (albeit slowly), we headed into the Palace grounds proper.
The Imperial Palace grounds are huge. While I don't know the exact size, it was certainly enough to be a district of Tokyo in and of its own. A 10x10 city block area might be an exaggeration, but not by much. There wasn't a whole lot to see though, other than your usual tourist trappings. Beautiful trees, interesting looking buildings, the massive walls and ramparts, and the ruins of the old Edo donjon. OK, but only fun in the sense that playing tourist is fun. It was a good wind-down to our previous night, and walking around was a relaxing experience.
Things picked up when Jon and his buddies showed up, as things inevitably do when a bunch of young guys go anywhere. We revisited some of the places Ian and I had gone to, but soon we were off, back to Akihabara.
Despite my initial impressions, I was keen to head back there. After all, there is nary the geek or otaku that can resist the call of such a place, and I qualify under both columns. Our intention was to find one the shrines of otakudom, the maid cafe, and armed with fliers and maps in hand, we set off. The first place we checked (porn-shops not-withstanding), was an over-heated bust. Our next stop seemed more promising, but it was small and we would have needed to break our group up, and still wait for a while for seating. We left our names and decided to check elsewhere. We, or at least 4 out of the 6 of us, ended up at a place call Cos-cha. I enjoyed it on a sort of basic level as an experience in Akihabara, but I as foreigners, the maid/waitresses were a little intimidated. Add to that our complete inexperience with the whole thing, we ultimately were a little disappointed...until the show.
While all we did was sit and have some drinks and oggle a couple of the maids, some of the more experienced Otaku (note the capital "O", for they were very obviously uber-otakus, made up from parts of lesser otaku like myself) decided to partake of the pancake eating game. This attracted the attention of all the cafe. The rules were simple. One of the maids and the customer face off in a pancake eating contest. If the customer can eat 2 pancakes faster than the maid can eat one, then the customer wins and gets something (I missed what the actual prize was), and the other patrons of the cafe can get a picture with the losing maid, a priviledge normally paid for. However, if the maid wins, the customer is punished. Easy-peasy lemon-squeezy, right?
WRONG!
Admittedly, the guy tried hard. He lost by one or two bites, but when he got up, his cheeks were definitely channeling some chipmunk. The maid on the other hand, somehow managed to combine pancake-gorging with dainty elegance. Must be a maid secret power. By this time, we had recieved a call from the other cafe, and we were settling up. Most of us were looking back at the antics going on with the losing customer and the maid with sort of casual interest, mostly because there were making some noise. Suddenly, we were treated to perhaps the funniest sight of my Tokyo experience:
As punishment for losing the pancake game, the maid got to BITCH-SLAP the customer!!!
That got a rise out of the rest of the customers, as well as the gaijin about to leave. I don't know if there was some pent-up aggression behind that slap, but it was loud.
We headed around the corner to the other maid cafe, Mefle. By this time, Jon and crew had to jet, so it was up to Ian and I to troop on. Ian was a bit reluctant, but I was determined to try at least one more place. We made out way to the cafe, and were treated to a much more authentic experience. At the risk of sounding too lecherous, I enjoyed myself and have pics to prove it.
Afterwards, having completed that holiest of rituals, we started to explore Akihabara with renewed vigour. For me, that meant hitting up some of the local hobby stores. While I didn't find what I had come to look for, I ended up with some neat stuff to make my Marui M4 more "tacticool", while Ian managed to flesh out his soundtrack collection even more. As night fell, we headed back to the hotel.
It was not for sleep though, at least not yet. Tired as we were, the night was still young. So after a brief rest at the hotel, we searched out a local izakaya (bar). After 2 jumbo-sized beers, and some good izakaya-chow, we ended the night full and slightly sauced. I'll admit that the otaku in me was still ultimately unsatisfied with my foray in Akihabara, and the beer allowed me to voice my conviction to return there and buy something outstandly geeky, a souveneir par excellence of my time in otaku-Mecca. For now though, we called it a night relativly early, determined to get the most out of our last day...
Pictures Here.
4/01/2007
3/30/2007
Tokyo the Mad...
A link to the pics I snapped is at the bottom of the post.
We set out Monday morning bright and early. The weather was beautiful, and laden with our packs, we headed into the city. Soon we were off on our way to Tokyo via the Hikari Railstar, the not quite fastest Shinkansen Bullet Train. I sorely underestimated how tiring rail travel would be, and soon the novelty of the train wore off. We got off at Shin-Osaka, transfering trains for the second leg of our trip to Tokyo. After a grueling 6 hours, we arrived ready to get to our hotel and start exploring the city. Only as we watched mile after mile of city pass by our window did we truly start to grasp just how big Tokyo really is.
Tired, but excited, we left the train to the hell that is Tokyo Station. I imagine that a near-future Distopian world would closely approximate Tokyo Station. Not the nice, orderly, fascist world inhabited by clone-like baldies in hospital whites eating Soylent Green day-in and out, but rather the underworld where the underclass live. Tokyo Station was a multi-story building sprawling out in all directions, with people from all over the place hurrying about in some sort of Brownian-model chaos. Perhaps it was sheer stubbornness, but I was determined to find my way out. Sadly, after 40 minutes I was defeated, and asked an information booth how to get to the subway station near our hotel.
While the subway was another adventure that would take a few trips on for us to get used to, we managed to arrive at the Sakura Hotel with little fanfare. Checking in, we were greeted with a fairly nice place, decidedly budget but well worth what we were paying. At $40 a night per person, we had a clean, air-conditioned, and surprisingly roomly place to bunk down for the night. But it was still only about 4pm, and so after a consultation with my friend Jon, also by coincidence in Tokyo with his friends, as well my cousin Miwa, a 10-year resident of the megalopolis, we decided to head to Akihabara, Mecca of geeks and otaku the world over.
My first impression was that of being underwhelmed. Somehow, I imagined a more densely packed, almost European-style street market (local Toronto readers think: Kensington Market) filled with all manner of maid and cosplayers, reeking of geek-sweat and ionized air from all the electricity. Instead, what awaited us was what was at first-glance a built-up shopping area that
catered to the anime-oriented. After a while, we headed for trendy Shibuya, to meet up with my cousin and Jon.
Exiting Shibuya station at the famous Hachiko exit, we were greeted by a throng of young Tokyo-ites, all doing the same as us and using the famous dog-statue of Hachiko as a meeting place. The story of the dog goes that the dog would always wait at the train station exit for her master. One day, here master didn't return (I don't recall the reason why, but war seems likely). Hachiko waited and waited, every day, eventually dying from old age. This story is the basis of one of the more touching Futurama episodes.
After we all managed to meet up, we headed for Tucanos, a Brazilian eatery researched by Jon. There, I ate more meat than I thought possible. Vegitarians, Vegans, Jainites, and Animal Activists may want to skip looking at the picture I took of one side of beef. All others who enjoy the consumption of rump-roast, tenderloin, top sirloin, ribs, sausages, wings, and other parts of the meat portion of the food pyramids should make way to Tucanos to indulge their carnivorous habits.
After dinner, we headed to a bowling alley. An awesome place lit with black-light, I played my first ever game of 10-pin. Fun times were had by all, but soon exhaustion caught up with us at we called it a night. Travel back to the hotel was interesting, with drunk salarymen abound. We arrived back at the hotel just after 1am, and fell into fitful sleep thanks to my inadvertently turning on the heat.
Pictures here.
We set out Monday morning bright and early. The weather was beautiful, and laden with our packs, we headed into the city. Soon we were off on our way to Tokyo via the Hikari Railstar, the not quite fastest Shinkansen Bullet Train. I sorely underestimated how tiring rail travel would be, and soon the novelty of the train wore off. We got off at Shin-Osaka, transfering trains for the second leg of our trip to Tokyo. After a grueling 6 hours, we arrived ready to get to our hotel and start exploring the city. Only as we watched mile after mile of city pass by our window did we truly start to grasp just how big Tokyo really is.
Tired, but excited, we left the train to the hell that is Tokyo Station. I imagine that a near-future Distopian world would closely approximate Tokyo Station. Not the nice, orderly, fascist world inhabited by clone-like baldies in hospital whites eating Soylent Green day-in and out, but rather the underworld where the underclass live. Tokyo Station was a multi-story building sprawling out in all directions, with people from all over the place hurrying about in some sort of Brownian-model chaos. Perhaps it was sheer stubbornness, but I was determined to find my way out. Sadly, after 40 minutes I was defeated, and asked an information booth how to get to the subway station near our hotel.
While the subway was another adventure that would take a few trips on for us to get used to, we managed to arrive at the Sakura Hotel with little fanfare. Checking in, we were greeted with a fairly nice place, decidedly budget but well worth what we were paying. At $40 a night per person, we had a clean, air-conditioned, and surprisingly roomly place to bunk down for the night. But it was still only about 4pm, and so after a consultation with my friend Jon, also by coincidence in Tokyo with his friends, as well my cousin Miwa, a 10-year resident of the megalopolis, we decided to head to Akihabara, Mecca of geeks and otaku the world over.
My first impression was that of being underwhelmed. Somehow, I imagined a more densely packed, almost European-style street market (local Toronto readers think: Kensington Market) filled with all manner of maid and cosplayers, reeking of geek-sweat and ionized air from all the electricity. Instead, what awaited us was what was at first-glance a built-up shopping area that
catered to the anime-oriented. After a while, we headed for trendy Shibuya, to meet up with my cousin and Jon.
Exiting Shibuya station at the famous Hachiko exit, we were greeted by a throng of young Tokyo-ites, all doing the same as us and using the famous dog-statue of Hachiko as a meeting place. The story of the dog goes that the dog would always wait at the train station exit for her master. One day, here master didn't return (I don't recall the reason why, but war seems likely). Hachiko waited and waited, every day, eventually dying from old age. This story is the basis of one of the more touching Futurama episodes.
After we all managed to meet up, we headed for Tucanos, a Brazilian eatery researched by Jon. There, I ate more meat than I thought possible. Vegitarians, Vegans, Jainites, and Animal Activists may want to skip looking at the picture I took of one side of beef. All others who enjoy the consumption of rump-roast, tenderloin, top sirloin, ribs, sausages, wings, and other parts of the meat portion of the food pyramids should make way to Tucanos to indulge their carnivorous habits.
After dinner, we headed to a bowling alley. An awesome place lit with black-light, I played my first ever game of 10-pin. Fun times were had by all, but soon exhaustion caught up with us at we called it a night. Travel back to the hotel was interesting, with drunk salarymen abound. We arrived back at the hotel just after 1am, and fell into fitful sleep thanks to my inadvertently turning on the heat.
Pictures here.
3/25/2007
Spring Break Report 2: Tenjin
Unlike yesterday, the weather was cooperating beautifully today. Sunny, almost hot without the breeze, it was a perfect day for exploring Fukuoka's Central Ward. After a very early delivery by Kuroneko Yamato, delivering a care package brought from Canada by my dad, and sent to me from my mother, I was delighted to recieve 3 new dress shirts, 2 new ties, a new hoodie, an old hoodie, and other sundry items. So very wicked.
We didn't actually leave until about 11am. Arriving in Tenjin, we first checked out Rainbow Plaza, a tourism office made especially for foreigners, grabbing a couple of brochures before grabbing some lunch. Then it was off to the ruins of old Fukuoka Castle. We walked there, a good 25 minutes or so. At first, we were underwhelmed, as all that we could see was 2 walls, shelter two a couple of bums. Concluding that there must be more, we wandered around until we found a gallery housing the excavation site of the Korokan, where Japanese lords parlayed with foreign emissaries.
By then we realized that there was far more to the ruins of Fukuoka Castle. The terraced walls rose just beyond the Korokan. We braved dangerous steps to reach the top, which rewarded us with a fantastic view of the city, which I captured on my phone, and a fantastic view of a pair of fine asses, which I leave to readers imagination.
The view, not the asses.
We then headed back to Tenjin, another long trek. We stopped first by SWAT, the local airsoft gun store, then to a variety of stores in Tenjin. We ended the evening with at Ippudou, one the more famous ramen restaurants in Fukuoka, where we filled ourselves with one of Hakata's finest cuisines.
By the time we got home, we where knackered. Packing is complete, and we have a 6am wake-up for our trip to Tokyo tomorrow. Can't wait.
We didn't actually leave until about 11am. Arriving in Tenjin, we first checked out Rainbow Plaza, a tourism office made especially for foreigners, grabbing a couple of brochures before grabbing some lunch. Then it was off to the ruins of old Fukuoka Castle. We walked there, a good 25 minutes or so. At first, we were underwhelmed, as all that we could see was 2 walls, shelter two a couple of bums. Concluding that there must be more, we wandered around until we found a gallery housing the excavation site of the Korokan, where Japanese lords parlayed with foreign emissaries.
By then we realized that there was far more to the ruins of Fukuoka Castle. The terraced walls rose just beyond the Korokan. We braved dangerous steps to reach the top, which rewarded us with a fantastic view of the city, which I captured on my phone, and a fantastic view of a pair of fine asses, which I leave to readers imagination.
The view, not the asses.
We then headed back to Tenjin, another long trek. We stopped first by SWAT, the local airsoft gun store, then to a variety of stores in Tenjin. We ended the evening with at Ippudou, one the more famous ramen restaurants in Fukuoka, where we filled ourselves with one of Hakata's finest cuisines.
By the time we got home, we where knackered. Packing is complete, and we have a 6am wake-up for our trip to Tokyo tomorrow. Can't wait.
3/24/2007
Spring Break Report 1: Cultural Fukuoka
As some of my readers may know, Ian made the trip across the pond to visit me in J-Land. And so marks the beginning of our 2-week long oddyssey.
Despite horridly uncooperative weather, and despite our best efforts, we managed to get in quite a bit of culture today. The day started off at good ol' Hakata Station, where I met my dad, also coincidentally in Japan. We secured Ian's Rail Pass, and our tickets to Tokyo for Monday, and then sat down to a hearty brunch.
Next stop: Yodobashi Camera. Long-time readers will recognize this name from many moons ago, from my previous trip to Japan 3 years ago. While we didn't pick anything of significance up, we did spend some time goofing off at the game center on the top floor. But enough of that. Off for some culture.
We travelled by subway to Hakozaki Shrine, one of the big three in Fukuoka Prefecture along with Dazaifu and Miyajidake. It was interesting, for me mostly because I was able to update my charm. Unfortunately, the facade of the shrine seems to be undergoing restoration. So today, it was shrouded in some sort of cloth, precluding any nice pictures. The weather was cooperative during out visit to the shrine, as well as our visit to the nearby Buddhist Temple, but as we left the temple, the rain picked up pace. We hurried back to the subway station, stubbornly refusing to put our hoods up.
We encountered this strange stone, inscribed with lyrics. Didn't check the lyrics, but it's kinda cool...
Next stop, Dazaifu, home of the Kyushu National Museum. By the time we got out of the station, the rain was a steady downpour. Leaving Dazaifu Station places you almost directly next to the shrine grounds, which is itself located next to the museum. After wandering around the shrine, we finally found the museum.
Then long hallway leading to the museum proper, with the occasionally pulsing light which made me feel like I should launch from a Viper MkII...
It is hard to explain just how large the museum is. Though I have never been inside a airplane hangar, this was the immediate impression I got. The museum is effectively one big room, which houses all the exhibits. Being shown now is an archeological history of Japan. As Ian smartly pointed out, it's almost inconceivable to comprehend numbers like 1500 BC, except on an academic level. For a country like Canada, with a history measured in centuries, it's humbling to see artifacts from as old as 90,000 years ago (a tree stump discovered and dated, burned by a pyroclastic flow that incinerated the Dazaifu area up to almost Hakata Bay 90,000 years ago).
The roof of the museum must be at least 6 stories high, enough to contain the 5-story high building pictured here...
By the time we got out, it was about 4pm, and raining very hard. We trekked back to the station, our shoes and pants soaked from the knees down. Thankfully, we caught the special express, which bypasses all but 1 station on the way back to downtown Fukuoka. From there, it was a taxi ride to fabulous Canal City.
While not particularly "cultural", at least not in the traditional sense, it was fruitful for me as I got to update my wallet. I bought a new Porter wallet, fairly similar to my old one, but a but smaller.
The store I bought it from however had an unfortunate Engrish name...
We wandered the mall a bit before heading back home. Dinner was order-in pizza, my first time since arriving in Japan.
Tomorrow: Tenjin.
Despite horridly uncooperative weather, and despite our best efforts, we managed to get in quite a bit of culture today. The day started off at good ol' Hakata Station, where I met my dad, also coincidentally in Japan. We secured Ian's Rail Pass, and our tickets to Tokyo for Monday, and then sat down to a hearty brunch.
Next stop: Yodobashi Camera. Long-time readers will recognize this name from many moons ago, from my previous trip to Japan 3 years ago. While we didn't pick anything of significance up, we did spend some time goofing off at the game center on the top floor. But enough of that. Off for some culture.
We travelled by subway to Hakozaki Shrine, one of the big three in Fukuoka Prefecture along with Dazaifu and Miyajidake. It was interesting, for me mostly because I was able to update my charm. Unfortunately, the facade of the shrine seems to be undergoing restoration. So today, it was shrouded in some sort of cloth, precluding any nice pictures. The weather was cooperative during out visit to the shrine, as well as our visit to the nearby Buddhist Temple, but as we left the temple, the rain picked up pace. We hurried back to the subway station, stubbornly refusing to put our hoods up.
We encountered this strange stone, inscribed with lyrics. Didn't check the lyrics, but it's kinda cool...
Next stop, Dazaifu, home of the Kyushu National Museum. By the time we got out of the station, the rain was a steady downpour. Leaving Dazaifu Station places you almost directly next to the shrine grounds, which is itself located next to the museum. After wandering around the shrine, we finally found the museum.
Then long hallway leading to the museum proper, with the occasionally pulsing light which made me feel like I should launch from a Viper MkII...
It is hard to explain just how large the museum is. Though I have never been inside a airplane hangar, this was the immediate impression I got. The museum is effectively one big room, which houses all the exhibits. Being shown now is an archeological history of Japan. As Ian smartly pointed out, it's almost inconceivable to comprehend numbers like 1500 BC, except on an academic level. For a country like Canada, with a history measured in centuries, it's humbling to see artifacts from as old as 90,000 years ago (a tree stump discovered and dated, burned by a pyroclastic flow that incinerated the Dazaifu area up to almost Hakata Bay 90,000 years ago).
The roof of the museum must be at least 6 stories high, enough to contain the 5-story high building pictured here...
By the time we got out, it was about 4pm, and raining very hard. We trekked back to the station, our shoes and pants soaked from the knees down. Thankfully, we caught the special express, which bypasses all but 1 station on the way back to downtown Fukuoka. From there, it was a taxi ride to fabulous Canal City.
While not particularly "cultural", at least not in the traditional sense, it was fruitful for me as I got to update my wallet. I bought a new Porter wallet, fairly similar to my old one, but a but smaller.
The store I bought it from however had an unfortunate Engrish name...
We wandered the mall a bit before heading back home. Dinner was order-in pizza, my first time since arriving in Japan.
Tomorrow: Tenjin.
3/21/2007
The end of the year
Well, March 20th has come and gone, and so has the end of my first school year here. Lets rewind a bit, because I've been lazy, to March 1st, when the 3rd years graduated. I had dim recollections of my own graduations, first from Japanese school and second from high school, but I don't think they were as initially boring as this one was.
Japanese ceremonies seem to all be made of standing, bowing, sitting, speech-making, all in that order repeated ad nauseum. Add to that the fact that the gymnasium isn't heated. It's a wonder everyone wasn't falling asleep. Still, the latter half was as emotionally charged as a graduation ought to be. I was a little misty-eyed, but I'll be honest and say I almost lost it when the 3rd Year rep broke down in tears during her thank you speech. In the aftermath, I think it was a pretty touching ceremony.
Fast-forward to last week. Class match, where the kids from each class squared-off against each other in various sports. Sadly, the weather was uncooperative, and it was raining all day. It was truly cold and miserably, and in the end all the sports were cancelled and replaced with table-tennis. In the end, I think the kids enjoyed it, or at least, enjoyed not being out in the rain. Some of them I'm sure had rebounds of colds or influenza, which has been kicking the shit out of the students for at least 3 weeks now.
Yesterday was the last day of school, coupled with the revealing of who got in and who didn't to Genkai High School. A little bit of explanation here is in order. First, entrance into high school, any high school in Japan, rests on an entrance exam. It is this exam that kids spend at least a year, and for some the entire 3 years of Junior High School, preparing for.
Students can take 2 exams. The first is for a private high school, which is less desirable as the tuition costs are higher and are thought to offer a lower level of education. Which this is not true, it's hard to break out of that preconception. All of these private school exams take place on the same day, and are usually fairly easy, so as to almost ensure success. The reason for this is the other exam.
Prefectural (or public) high schools are the other exam. Thought to be more prestigious and offer a higher level of education, the primary consideration is it's lower tuition costs. These too are held all on the same day (but on a different, later day than the private school exams), and are intentionally harder to weed out the students.
Of course all students know this, so virtually all students study like maniacs in their last year to prepare for this. All schools offer a limited number of spots (for Genkai, for example, we had 320 regular spots open, and 40 International Culture Course spots open), so competition is fierce. The private school exams are held before so as to shift expectations, so that if you do well or poorly on that exam, you can adjust which public school exam you can go. Genkai is a mid-academic school, where as some place like Fukuoka high school is a high academic, and the exams given reflect this.
This year, we had 595 regular course applicants, and 49 ICC applicants. Around 9am, most of the students converged on the signboards displaying the student numbers of those who succeeded. Screams of joy abounded, as well as I'm sure shocked kids who slinked away in tears. What happened to them? Were they the stupid kids? Just unlucky that day? Somehow I don't think so. It's a tragedy inherent in the Japanese education system that puts 15 year old kids through a pressure cooker. Those kids that didn't make it failed to get in because they might have lost a single point somewhere on their exam, or scored the same but failed the interview portion because they didn't participate in club activities in JHS, perhaps ironically because they were preparing to get into high school. Most of the more forward thinking teachers seem to feel that this is something that needs to be addressed, but ultimately, save for a complete revamping of the system, any changes would be merely cosmetic. Still, this is something that all Japanese kids know and understand, and oddly, I think any other system would feel strange to them.
Back to the last day of school, the closing ceremony had it's requisite bows, but was over pretty quickly. The rest of the day was a sort of dreamy day, as those teachers getting transfered or leaving the profession cleared out their desks. It was a good chance for me to do a little spring cleaning on my desk.
Later than night, we had our 2nd Year Teachers End of the Year Enkai. It was, as always loads of fun, but ended badly for me when I discovered I had left my wallet somewhere. I knew were I had left it, checkout register #4 at the Kinokuniya bookstore nearby. Unfortunately, the store was closed. Oddly, knowing that I had left it there, I wasn't really flapping or anything. The most dominant feeling in my gut was that I didn't want to have to bother coming all the way back to Hakata to get my wallet. Luckily, an employee checking the doors came by. I knocked hard, probably scaring him, and he told us (my supervisor, bless his heart, was with me) that the wallet had been taken to the building security office. We went down, talked to the security guards, identified my wallet and left a happy man.
Nothing like a little bit of drama on a Tuesday night.
Japanese ceremonies seem to all be made of standing, bowing, sitting, speech-making, all in that order repeated ad nauseum. Add to that the fact that the gymnasium isn't heated. It's a wonder everyone wasn't falling asleep. Still, the latter half was as emotionally charged as a graduation ought to be. I was a little misty-eyed, but I'll be honest and say I almost lost it when the 3rd Year rep broke down in tears during her thank you speech. In the aftermath, I think it was a pretty touching ceremony.
Fast-forward to last week. Class match, where the kids from each class squared-off against each other in various sports. Sadly, the weather was uncooperative, and it was raining all day. It was truly cold and miserably, and in the end all the sports were cancelled and replaced with table-tennis. In the end, I think the kids enjoyed it, or at least, enjoyed not being out in the rain. Some of them I'm sure had rebounds of colds or influenza, which has been kicking the shit out of the students for at least 3 weeks now.
Yesterday was the last day of school, coupled with the revealing of who got in and who didn't to Genkai High School. A little bit of explanation here is in order. First, entrance into high school, any high school in Japan, rests on an entrance exam. It is this exam that kids spend at least a year, and for some the entire 3 years of Junior High School, preparing for.
Students can take 2 exams. The first is for a private high school, which is less desirable as the tuition costs are higher and are thought to offer a lower level of education. Which this is not true, it's hard to break out of that preconception. All of these private school exams take place on the same day, and are usually fairly easy, so as to almost ensure success. The reason for this is the other exam.
Prefectural (or public) high schools are the other exam. Thought to be more prestigious and offer a higher level of education, the primary consideration is it's lower tuition costs. These too are held all on the same day (but on a different, later day than the private school exams), and are intentionally harder to weed out the students.
Of course all students know this, so virtually all students study like maniacs in their last year to prepare for this. All schools offer a limited number of spots (for Genkai, for example, we had 320 regular spots open, and 40 International Culture Course spots open), so competition is fierce. The private school exams are held before so as to shift expectations, so that if you do well or poorly on that exam, you can adjust which public school exam you can go. Genkai is a mid-academic school, where as some place like Fukuoka high school is a high academic, and the exams given reflect this.
This year, we had 595 regular course applicants, and 49 ICC applicants. Around 9am, most of the students converged on the signboards displaying the student numbers of those who succeeded. Screams of joy abounded, as well as I'm sure shocked kids who slinked away in tears. What happened to them? Were they the stupid kids? Just unlucky that day? Somehow I don't think so. It's a tragedy inherent in the Japanese education system that puts 15 year old kids through a pressure cooker. Those kids that didn't make it failed to get in because they might have lost a single point somewhere on their exam, or scored the same but failed the interview portion because they didn't participate in club activities in JHS, perhaps ironically because they were preparing to get into high school. Most of the more forward thinking teachers seem to feel that this is something that needs to be addressed, but ultimately, save for a complete revamping of the system, any changes would be merely cosmetic. Still, this is something that all Japanese kids know and understand, and oddly, I think any other system would feel strange to them.
Back to the last day of school, the closing ceremony had it's requisite bows, but was over pretty quickly. The rest of the day was a sort of dreamy day, as those teachers getting transfered or leaving the profession cleared out their desks. It was a good chance for me to do a little spring cleaning on my desk.
Later than night, we had our 2nd Year Teachers End of the Year Enkai. It was, as always loads of fun, but ended badly for me when I discovered I had left my wallet somewhere. I knew were I had left it, checkout register #4 at the Kinokuniya bookstore nearby. Unfortunately, the store was closed. Oddly, knowing that I had left it there, I wasn't really flapping or anything. The most dominant feeling in my gut was that I didn't want to have to bother coming all the way back to Hakata to get my wallet. Luckily, an employee checking the doors came by. I knocked hard, probably scaring him, and he told us (my supervisor, bless his heart, was with me) that the wallet had been taken to the building security office. We went down, talked to the security guards, identified my wallet and left a happy man.
Nothing like a little bit of drama on a Tuesday night.
3/13/2007
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