Monday, July 2, 2006
Who do you think I look like? Most people would say my Dad. Others say my Mom or my sister. What about a celebrity? When being introduced to new Japanese people I have heard on several occasions that I appear to look like the one and only Matt Damon. Wow! They could have said anyone...Mick Jagger (ugly), Chris Farley (overweight), Patrick Stewart (bald), or Jude Law (pretentious) but no, they said Matt Damon. Score! Yes, yes yes! Of course I look like Matt Damon...or rather Matt Damon looks like me! Who wouldn't be complimented with such words of affection? But then I started thinking about it a bit more and became a bit less impressed with my new fame. When an American meets an Asian person in America what goes through our heads? Perhaps we compare to other Asian people like Ichiro Suzuki (Japanese), Jackie Chan (Chinese), or Lucy Liu (Chinese). We try to put the people we meet in our lives into familiar boxes just like my Japanese counterparts are doing to me and Matt Damon. The only difference is America has Hollywood. American pop culture is popular world wide and our movies/music and stars are well known, including Japan. Therefore, there are far more boxes to put us Americans into. At first glance I often am put into the Matt Damon box. The only constellation prize is that the boxes us Americans get put into happen to be attractive, fit, beautiful people (like Matt Damon). You say I look like Matt Damon? Maybe I am or maybe I am!
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
Sunday I woke up in the late morning after a late Saturday night out. I had no plans to speak of. The day was mine to make. With no plans in mind I remembered a conversation the previous night I had some friends from Canada (Dennis and Sara) and a buddy from Hawaii (Ray). They were all going to take part in some sort of shrine festival in the city shrine park. At the time, the event didn't seem all that exciting, and it was not something that immediately hit me as a top priority on my free Sunday afternoon. However, having nothing better to do I ventured to see what the fuss was all about. I'm so very glad I did. I arrived at City Park and for the next four hours was part of a Japanese Mikoshi. A Mikoshi is a portable shrine parade. It is a replica of a shrine located in the city that is carried on large wooden beams around the city by men and women. The more important the shrine the bigger the portable shrine. This particular portable shrine (see picture) was estimated around 1 ton! It took around 20-30 men and women to carry it. Accompanying the shrine were drums and clapping and the participants had to keep in step with the beat. Along the way it is customary to 'purify' the shrine of evil spirits by pouring water over the shrine. This was quite amusing as I think the 'purify' tradition is just an excuse to have a large water fight! Many times I saw business owners come out of the depths of their businesses with buckets of water, proceed to douse the poor people carrying the shrine, watch as they passed with a big smile on their face and eventually retreat back into their business like this was normal as could be! There were many stops along the way as well when snacks and beverages were served. Even though I was only a spectator that followed the group I was always invited to partake in the snack provided. Sometimes it was watermelon, sometimes friend potatoes, sometimes rice balls, all which were quite good. Nearing the end of the route the men that were continually carrying the shrine showed their wounds on their shoulders (no pads provided). I'm convinced the whole event is one big mild tempered masochistic party as many of the men had bruises and sores from all the weight. The afternoon ended with the group finally making its way back to the actual shrine it was replicating. Many pats on the back (not the shoulders) prevailed and smiles seemed endless. It was funny. I woke up with no plans and on a hunch had one of the best experiences in Japan since I've been here. It was an afternoon full of smiles, water fights, laughing, learning, fun, and in a small way I became part of my new community I call home.
