The sunny side of the Land of rising sun - Japan

By Ramaprasad Subramaniam

I saw two Japanese fight !

"What's the big thing in it ?", you might think. Believe me ! It was almost as much as a spectacle as the Kyoto Temple or the Mt.Fuji. Because normally, Japanese dont fight. In the strict code of honour and good conduct they live and die by, any public show of emotion is frowned on; raising ones voice or losing ones temper is the worst form of behaviour. Talking loudly or speaking on your mobile in a train are considered to be extremely impolite !

This fight happened in a local train in Osaka, Japan, during the World Cup Football. Two men sitting next to me; one was a suited businessman, the other a man in jeans and T-shirt. Both in their mid-20s and apparently strangers to each other. From what I could gather, the conversation was about the match Japan was due to play in half an hour.

I was gazing at the mobile-cum-internet browser-cum-camera which a boy next to me was holding, when raised voices made me look up; as I said, you dont hear raised voices here. The man in suit was the more agitated, waving his hands and trying to keep his voice down. The jeans clad chap was talking in monosyllables, it appeared he was provoking the other. Eventually, Suit got up stomped past Jeans - knocking his bag against JeansEknee - and spent the next five minutes standing at the exit and glowering.

Jeans was coolly studying his fingernails. All this took about two minutes and would have passed unnoticed in any Indian bus, train or tram. But a hushed silence descended on the car and an elderly woman sitting opposite looked like she might faint at any moment.

Japanese are the most polite society I have come across. They will begin every sentence with "Pardon me, but..." (Sumimasen...) and end with "Thank you" (Arigatho gozaimas). When you enter any shop or restaurant, a chorus of welcomes (irrashaimaasaey) will greet you, all in a sing-song voice. Leave and you"ll get the arigatho-gozaimus (Thank You) even if you havent done anything other than glancing through the days papers for free.

And theyll never say no to you; instead, theyll hint and imply. In his book on Japanese society called "Culture Shock", Rex Shelley counts 16 ways they say no: silence, hestitation, counter-questions, changing the subject, saying "Yes, but...", saying its difficult, apologising, explaining the listener is in a difficult situation...You get the drift.

Now you can understand why a fight is a big thing in Japan.

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Surprise and a sense of pride - these were the emotions that came across my mind when I saw a couple of things in Ginza, an upscale-premium-locale of Tokyo. If one draws parallels, Ginza is to Tokyo what Times Square is to New York City !

First, it was a NAIR's Restaurant right in the middle of action. Yes.. and I was amazed to find a long que to get into the 40 seater restaurant. I did not think twice to get inside. I was greeted by a "Japanese-looking" elderly person, who showed me a table. Here comes the waiter, Babu, with a menu, which proudly boasts of Kerala Kozhi curry, etc.. and many rice dishes. The only genuine Kerala dish being Pulissery. He was also happy to see a mallu and was kind enough to reel out the history behind the restaurant.

Ayyappan M Nair, after whom the restaurant is named, came from TVM around 60-70 years back to study Structural Engg in Japan. Later he jumped into the Indian Freedom struggle alongwith Subash Chandra Bose. He was known as Nair-san. Meanwhile, he married Yomiyosu, a Jap Kudi. Their son, Gopalan M Nair, is the elderly person who showed me the table initially. Gopalan Nair being born & brought up in Japan, hardly speaks any malayalam. He also married a Jap lady & is running the show now, with his 25% mallu son, whose name is a typical Jap one.

The Concept of Nair Tea stall anywhere in the world is proven again.

The next surprise of the day... the story which all of us have heard a lot. But, it was kind of seeing is believing for me. Adjacent to the Nair restaurant is a Theater complex.. running 3 movies.. Planet of the Apes, Return of the Mummy.. and the third one.. yes.. BAASHA of Superstar Muthuraja a.k.a Rajnikanth. It was amusing to see this movie running 3 shows a day for the whole of August, alongwith other Hollywood blockbusters. Remember, this is a re-run and is specifically targetted at the high volume summer vacation crowds !!!

Japanese people love watching the histrionics, dance & style of "Dancing Maharaja", as Rajni is known in Japan.

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It's a Dog's day. You cannot understand what your pet dog wants to convey to you ? Japan has the answer. Go for Bowlingual - A gadget that interprets the warp and woof of a dog's bark. The unit comprises an 8-cm microphone attached to a dog collar, which transmits information to a palm size console for the owner.

It classifies the sounds into six emotional categories: frustration, menace, joy, sorrow, demand and self-expression. Phrases are displayed to fit the emotional state of the dog, such as "I am sad. I want to play", and "I am super angry. I am going to explode!"

US based science humor magazine Annals of Improbable Research awarded Bowlingual, it's 2002 Ig Nobel Peace Prize for promoting harmony between the species !!!

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Another interesting incident in a Train. I happened to be in the first car/coach of a local train and was casually looking at the Driver's cabin. Whenever the train approaches a signal, the driver points to the signal, when the train approaches a station he points to the nameboard of the station and then to the clock in front him, during the motion of the train he points to the speedometer and then to the speed chart in front of him.. all this while he mutters something to himself. And later I observed that all the train drivers do it.

A friend of mine explained to me about this rather interesting (need I say funny too) behaviour. As you maybe knowing Japanese people are a very procedure oreiented society. The driver's manual tells him that he should make sure that the signal is green/red, he should be sure about the station he is approaching and similarly the times of arrival & departure and the speed at which he travels. So, he has to point at that and make himself doubly sure that what he is doing is correct. That's why he points to the signal, station nameboard, etc and mutters to himself that it is Green.. "it is Shibuya", etc. They continue this practice throughout their career. The guard at the rear end of the train, similarly gets down at every station and checks whether the last car of the train has stopped against the line where it is supposed to. He also points to the nameboard of station when the train leaves the station and makes sure of the station he has just left.

Talking of trains, the signalling system is also little different than India. In India, by default the signal is red on the tracks and turns green only when the line is clear for an approaching train. In Japan, the signal by default is Green. When Train 1 leaves Station A, it has a green light and it moves forward to Station B. As soon as it crosses the signal, the signal turns red and it turns to Yellow once Train 1 leaves station B. After the train 1 has left Station C, the signal near Station A turns Green again.. assuring the next train that the tracks till Station C are free of other trains.

p.s.- The average lateness of the world famous Bullet Train (Shinkansen) for last year was 24 seconds !!! And yes, there was an inquiry into the high degree of lateness.

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We all have heard of Valentine's Day, Veteran's Day, Thanksgiving Day, etc. Ever heard of Toilet Day ? It is time to shun thinking toilet as a very private & dirty corner of one's home... atleast in Japan.

Nov 10 is declared Japan's semiofficial "Toilet Day", by Japan Toilet Association. Why Nov 10 ? Because in Japanese, the numbers 11 and 10 can be read as ii toire, meaning "nice toilet".

Consider this. JTA has their annual conventions around this Day. This year, from Nov 11, its two-day symposium in Kyoto was on the theme, "What Should Toilets Strive for in the 21st Century ?"

Japan's craving for technology did not exclude Toilets. One of the most popular models in Japan is TOTO company's Washlet. It provides warm seats, auto flushing & much more. Another, more recent innovation is "Otohime" model, which means "Sound Princess", that features a built-in noise-maker. This was developed because some users are in the habit of flushing repeatedly to mask their audible emanations. Hence the need for artificial background noise - which also saves water.

The "Neorest" model which is the current rave in Japan has a seat that rises automatically when a user approaches, and closes after he or she departs.

Perhaps the most technologically intriguing of TOTO's newer range of toilet add-ons is its "Well You", a toilet model that provides on-the-spot urine analysis within the minute. Already in its second generation, this gives diabetcis an easy way to monitor their condition. It is said that research is also ongoing to extend the scope of diagnostic loos, so that health data may one day be transmitted straight from water closet to medical record !!!

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Ramaprasad had a chance to experience the amusing land of rising sun, as his job as a consultant in the US took him to Japan on a brief assignment. This article was penned out of his own experiences and exposure he got to the Japanese life through the media too.