...and the bold ones

Well, I've talked about the shyness we encountered in Japan, and now it's time to talk about the boldness. It's funny that we would experience such extremes in one place, but we did.

My first encounter with the boldness of Japan's youth was about 2 weeks into our life there, when we had just met some other foreign teachers and had decided to go with them to a city called Nagaoka to watch their famous fireworks. When we got off the bullet train, the streets were packed like I had never seen streets packed before (until later when we visited Tokyo...) with people all pushing their way towards the water's edge where the fireworks would be best viewed. When we found our way to the water's edge ourselves, we saw that all along it there was a thick, cement pathway that people had thrown their mats and coats down onto in order to sit and watch the show. Not only the sidewalk was packed, but the grassy bits on either side. People were packed onto the ground like sardines. We managed to somehow find a spot to sit our bums down, with our knees pulled up to our chests and the pavement still hot from the day's heat, even though it was past sunset. At least we were there to watch some famous fireworks, right? Everything from the crowds to the strings of orange lit lanterns, to the speakers ready to alert the masses of the beginning of the show seemed to indicate that it would be a good night.

Well, it started. As the first explosion echoed across the sky and throughout the crowd, people oohed and aaaahed. Then there were a few more, maybe 10 in all, one after another, and then it stopped. Maybe that was just a test, we thought. Then on the speakers came a shrill, loud voice announcing something or other in Japanese. Then another 10 to 15 fireworks, and another announcement. Then another, and more announcements. This is how the whole night went. It was so anticlimactic that we almost fell asleep. Almost.

We didn't fall asleep, because shortly after the first fireworks went off, we found that something seemed to be falling from the sky. Was it bugs? Was it rain? No, it was ash. It fell the whole darn 3 hours we were out there, and by the end, we were wiping it off our clothes and arms and legs constantly, the heat of the pavement causing us to sweat and encourage the stuff to stick to us even more. Do I sound like a fireworks snob here? Maybe the Vancouver Symphony of Lights has spoiled me....

You may be wondering where I'm going with this. What does this have to do with boldness? Actually, nothing, but I just wanted to set the scene for what happened right after the fireworks, to let you know the mood we were in. So, we finally got up and left after the show, and a bunch of the people we were with wanted to go eat, so we gathered in front of an izakaya and waited while some of the more experienced Japanese speakers went in to secure us a room that was big enough. We stood waiting outside, with crowds swimming by us away from the fireworks, when suddenly I noticed a small group of rowdy teenage boys hanging around near our group. They were laughing and talking loudly, though I certainly had no idea what they were talking about.

It didn't take too long to figure it out, because they started walking towards us, as if just wandering past the group. When the first of them was right in front of me he suddenly turned towards me, grabbed hold of both my boobs, and gave 'em a little squeeze.

Um, what the heck was that? He trotted off with his friends, laughing hard, and I soon realized that I wasn't the only victim of their "curiousity". Another girl had had the same fate.

Sigh, it was a rather rude welcome to Japan, to say the least. But soon enough, we grew to love the country and the people around us, and would find that there was a certain level of what we would consider innapropriateness that was completely acceptable there.

For instance, the students would often asked questions or made reference to our ("our" meaning the English foreign teachers) bodies. It was totally typical to be asked for my 3 sizes (chest, waist, hips) of which I had no idea. They'd be absolutely stunned to hear that I didn't know... They also made reference to various parts of our "private" anatomy, and Ryan even experienced what the Japanese refer to as a "Kancho". It involves folding your hands together, but keeping your two pointer fingers straight, and shoving that up someone's bum. Yes, rather unpleasant, and shocking that it would be done to a teacher!

We jokingly wondered if the students were just so pent up all the time with serious study and work to get the best grades, that they had to let out their energy somehow.... But then we realized that there was actually a day during the school year when that would happen. Yes, the school festival day. It was something like our sports days here in Canada, but with a lot more hype, a lot more school spirit, and a lot more participation, if you can imagine. One of the highschools Ryan taught at had a particularly exciting day in which all the students had been split into a number of teams. The teams had created huge billboards to advertise themselves in the school grounds, and each did a cheer, or a presentation, of it's own in front of the school, the teachers, and any visitors or parents that came to enjoy the festivities.

Ryan happened to bring a camera to this very festival, and boy are we happy he did, because I never would have believed him if he had just told me that the students were running around mostly naked, pretending to do strip shows, and painting themselves from head to toe in various colours. But it was true. See for yourself. (click images to enlarge if need be)


(look closely, those guys nipples are attached by clips and a string)