Week 6: Golden Week, part 1

This is the long-overdue Golden Week installment.

Golden Week is a series of holidays that take up most of a week. I'm a bit uncertain about the history of the separate holidays, but I think the names (and purposes) have changed over time. Right now we have Constitution Day on Wednesday, National Day on Thursday and Childeren's Day on Friday. Boy's Day, also known as Koinobori, is Friday. No one seems to do much on Monday or Tuesday and, like Ohanami, everyone seems to have a place to go or something to do for the five day weekend.

Because of the short week there were really only two significant events, a welcome dinner party for new IMBA Japanese Trackers and a trip to Chiba-ken with Honjin, the Waseda University Kyūdō Circle.

Cave Escoffier

The dinner party was hosted by Sekine shachou and his wife at Cave Escoffier, a very nice French restaurant in Ginza. Did I mention it was a formal event? Each course and corresponding drink was a separate work of art. The etiquette training we had during our first year of the IMBA program and the time with the IMBA Wine Society proved very useful.

I can't recall all of what we ate but one unique dish was a seafood custard, a seafood/vegetable flan with prawns. It was very good, but unlike anything I have eaten in the US.

Sekine shachou is a former graduate of what is now called the International MBA program at the University of South Carolina and a strong supporter of the Japanese Track. In the picture he and his wife are seated in the middle on the left.

I suppose this is as good a place as any to mention Japanese honorifics. In Japanese society everyone is addressed by their last name, followed by the suffix -san which is roughly equivalent to "Mr." or "Ms." It doesn't matter if they are male or female, everyone is -san. Shop clerks often call their customers 0-kyaku-sama, which is "honorable customer sir/ma'am."

There are two categories of exceptions of which I am aware. One pertains to familiarity or relationship and the other to titles and advanced learning.

Very young boys are addressed using the -kun suffix with the first name and girls using -chan. By junior high or high school most boys drop the -kun in favor of -san, but girls may keep the -chan until college or they start work. Using -san shows respect, while the -kun and -chan suffixes are somewhat diminuative.

The -kun and -chan suffixes may also be used by close or childhood friends while other, less familiar individuals would use -san when addressing a young man or woman. If a couple is dating, they may start off using -san with the last name, then progress to using -san with the first name, and -kun or -chan in informal settings. A variation of -chan is -tan, but it is not mainstream Japanese terminology; use it out of place and people will think you are really weird.

If a group is mixed in terms of familiarity it is best to use -san, even if a more personal or informal suffix is acceptable in private. Using the first name with the honorific shows a significant degree of familiarity. I am told many Japanese feel uncofortable being addressed by their first name.

Suffixes related to title or advanced learning are usually used within a company, the govornment, doctors and teachers. Doctors and teachers - including martial arts instructors - are addressed as -sensei, but medical doctors may also be addressed as -isha. In some cases the name is dropped and a person is addressed by the honorific alone.

Japan is also quite unique with respect to the sempai/kouhai relationship. It is a kind of mentoring relationship and is found throughout Japanese society. In general terms sempai are upperclassmen or seniors and kouhai are underclassmen or juniors. There is a great deal of obedience and respect expected from the kouhai and the sempai is responsible for the kouhai's development and general well-being within the organization. As I learned in the Cadet Corps, RHIP (Rank Hath It's Privileges), but RHIR (Rank Hath It's Responsibilities). Kouhai often address sempai as -sempai or just plain "sempai." Sempai may address kouhai as -kun or -san, depending on the organization and situation.

Within a company, for example, a section chief or general manager would properly be addressed by last name followed by title. Sekine-san is President of Nikko Chemicals Co., Ltd., therefore he is addressed as Sekine-shachou (President Sekine).

After the dinner we had the opportunity to stroll through the Ginza, a very famous and historic shopping district in Tokyo. This is the IMBA Japanese Track, Class of 2008. From the left is Dan, Ryan, Peter, Andrew, (Me) and Courney. In front is Eli's wife Amy and Eli. Amy is a professional artist studying pottery at a famous school in Japan.

Even the food sold by vendors on the street was worthy of the reputation. These are plain and matcha (Japanese green tea) mochi (rice paste) filled with adzuki (sweet red bean) and picture-perfect giant ichigo (strawberries).

It is not uncommon to find a shop of some kind in Tokyo that predates the founding of America. One I found was established in the mid-seventeenth century. I am told there is a sake-ya in Takadanobaba that has been at that same location for over 600 years. That is older than most countries!

This Ginza landmark clock tower is a good reminder that one needs to be where one wants to be by 10PM or plan on staying until the morning. The JR (Japan Railway) lines usually shut down within a few minutes of midnight and stay shut down until 5:30AM or so. Local lines and subways start shutting down after 10PM.

I've made the mistake twice. Once I got caught in Shinjuku during a transfer between lines. I was able to walk home, but it took some time. The second time I was on the other side of Tokyo and had to stay in a hotel. A taxi ride home would have cost more!


つづく。。。　TO BE CONTINUED...


PS: Blogger is having technical problems. I understand the servers were down for a while, now many people can not upload pictures. *sigh* including me. Hopefully my writing will spark your imagination and you will see Japan through the eyes of your heart...


PPS: Until now we have had short rain showers every other day or two or three, followed by the same number of clear days. The cool crisp days of Ohanami are just a memory as it gets warmer - and warmer... Tsuyu, the rainy season, is about two weeks in the middle of Summer where it rains all day long. Already we can feel tsuyu approaching in longer, heavier rain storms. It is not tsuyu yet, but it is starting to feels like it.