Distant Lands

To a foreigner, the world of purikura can be confusing and difficult. Hopefully, I will be able to explain how they work, so that you can make the most of your purikura experience. Firstly, a lot of purikura shops are located underground, so even though the entrance is shady looking, most likely, once you reach your destination you will be greeted with a warmer atmosphere. However, if this is not the case, do not hesitate to leave immediately – chances are, this is not a purikura shop.

A purikura shop/place will consist of a paying station, several {maybe even 20 or more} purikura blocks, and a help desk. First, you will need to pay for your photos. Follow the prompts on the electronic screen as you would any other and you will receive a code / ticket. Next, you need to find a purikura block that is not occupied. There are hundreds of different types of purikura, so choose one to suit your tastes. For example, there are beauty blocks {that allow you to apply makeup}, themed blocks {such as space age themed}, and also idol blocks {involving famous Japanese idols}. Most photo booths function the same way, but the difference lies in the editing, so choose wisely.

Once you have picked your purikura, enter the photo booth, and enter your code/scan your ticket to begin the session. The screen will count down to when the photos are being taken, so just make sure you are ready and give your best smile. There are normally six shots in one package, so do a different pose and don’t worry about how you look, the purikura will greatly modify your face anyway.

After the photos have been taken, exit the photo booth and move around your purikura block to the editing station. If you can’t read Japanese, don’t worry! First, you will need to select a theme for your pictures {within the themed block}. This theme will set the background and determine what stickers, phrases and stamps are available to you. Once this is done, you will need to confirm by clicking the orange button. As a ground rule, the orange button is to confirm, and the non-orange is to deny. Edit your photos by applying stamps or phrases, using a stylus. Two people can edit at once. Remember to act quickly, as you only have a limited amount of time to add things to all six of your photos {around 250 seconds}.

Once you have finished editing, you are given a series of options for layout, and number of purikura. The higher the number of purikura, the smaller your photos will be. Therefore, I really suggest only doing this in pairs, though any number up to four should be okay. Choose a layout that appeals to you and click next {orange button}.

Now that you have chosen the number and layout of your purikura, move along to the final part of the block. It will have no curtains around it, just a screen and a slot. If you want, you can enter your email address {only if you have a Japanese carrier} to receive digital images. So, I suggest doing this with a Japanese person so you can have multiple copies. Then, your purikura will be printed.

Collect the purikura and head to the help counter. There will be several pairs of scissors there. Cut along the dotted lines and give out the purikura. They will be relatively small, so store them in a safe place, like your wallet until you get home. Just a reminder, this guide is purely based on my experiences, so some purikura places may differ. Though they can make you look like aliens, purikura are fun and lighthearted. I definitely recommend giving them a try!

As always, below are some new vocabulary words:

-H

Learning a new language can be difficult, even when totally immersing yourself in that language’s culture. It is all too easy to switch off and think English thoughts when not being spoken to, but this practice can prevent you from reaching your learning potential. Today, I want to discuss my current vocabulary learning method, so that in the future I can look back and judge its success.

My Japanese teacher in Australia advised me to write down any new words or phrases with their translation in a notebook, at present, I have over 200 new words from only 3 days. It is an easy way to record new vocab and have it all in one place, for easy review. My method is as follows…

If you think of yourself as a small child, this method is easier to understand. Small children use easy words as they are unable to express more difficult ones. For example, a toddler might always say: x is good, as they don’t know any synonyms. Once you expand your vocabulary, you are able to adequately articulate your thoughts and feelings. I’ve found that it is often discouraging to think of all the words I can speak in English but cannot express in Japanese, but reminding myself that I am the equivalent of a small child helps. Sometimes.

With that in mind, here are a few more vocabulary words that I recently learnt:

-H

In Japan, it is up to students to clean their classroom, not cleaners. So while cleaners may come in once a week {or even less}, students will be selected to stay back on particular days and clean. Alternatively, your homeroom teacher could just show up and order you to clean, as happened to me recently. Even 桜 and 莉莎子 had to chip in, despite being from a different class {北}.

Each classroom has a closet outside of it, next to the lockers, that contains cleaning supplies such as brooms, dusters, etc. There are several jobs that need to be done, and this post is about a small clean, so one with not many jobs involved. Below is a photo of the supplies cupboard outside the classroom.

Students who clean need to sweep the floor and collect all dust, dirt and hair {there was so much!} from under the chairs, as well as cleaning the blackboard and placing all rubbish in the bin. These jobs can be divided in to three categories.

By far the best out of these three jobs is cleaning the blackboard, and though time consuming, it is much nicer to do that picking hair off a seat. When cleaning the blackboard, first erase all notes/messages, and collect any papers stuck to it. Place the papers on the teacher’s desk, and the magnets in a neat line at one end. Then, grab the duster and move along the blackboard, cleaning it again by running the duster from the top to the bottom, and then moving along a foot and repeating the process.

If you are stuck with the second best job, placing rubbish in the bin, don’t fret. Grab the duster collector and look busy until the sweepers have brought up some dirt. If anything looks disorderly in the classroom, then this is the time to fix it, less you too will be picking up hair.

Finally, other people have taken the desirable jobs, or you are new to cleaning and are stuck with the worst job, like me. Grab your broom and sweep up everything efficiently. Japanese brooms are slightly different to Western ones, and are made out of straw {sometimes}. When picking up hair, lift the chair and try to dislodge it with your broom or foot. If worse comes to worse than you might have to use your hands, but don’t whine. Be light hearted in your cleaning and it will make the whole experience more enjoyable, for everyone. Sweeping can be heaps of fun, especially when you can pretend to ride your broom as a Harry Potter character, or Kiki, a famous Japanese witch from anime.

I hope that this post has provided a little insight in to how Japanese classrooms work, and please remember that this is only relevant for a small clean, one that is delegated randomly by a teacher, rather than a designated cleaning time. My number one tip is: if the classroom is dirty, don’t hang around alone, or a teacher will find you are order you to clean it! Good luck.

-H

Harajuku is Tokyo’s central hub for the weird and wonderful, its colourful streets are filled with interestingly dressed people, and it offers a plethora of wacky and offbeat experiences. Food, Fashion and Festivities {especially around this time of year} are plentiful, and last night 夏帆, 桜, 莉莎子 and I spent the evening exploring the area.

After doing several laps of the main street, 竹下通り, we descended underground in to a shady looking building to do some Purikura. This is a Japanese photo booth that involves timed editing, and needs a post to itself, so I’ll save the nitty gritty for another day. After taking several photos, we re-emerged outside to find it slightly less crowded, and went in search for food.

Though not famous for its Japanese food, Harajuku boasts many foreign dishes for tourists {and locals} to try, and we decided to go to a spaghetti shop. The food was very cheap compared to rivalling shops, but delicious. Feeling the call of familiar food, I ordered mozzarella tomato spaghetti, and was really happy with my choice. A photo of my meal is below. At most Japanese sit-in food shops / restaurants there is a table holding items such as sugar and napkins. This may seem normal to Westerners, but these tables also hold sugar syrup and an incredibly odd-tasting coffee cream/syrup milk. While waiting for our host sisters to return from the bathroom, 桜 and I opted to try this coffee concoction, shot style. What we expected to be smooth milk turned out to be odd tasting cream lumps, and our eyes met as they watered in surprise. Perhaps the coffee milk tastes better actually mixed in with coffee, but I don’t recommend drinking it alone.

Following our main course we moved down the street to try “Santa Monica Crepes”. さくらand I ate the Caramel Cream Cheese Nut one, whilst 夏帆 opted for Matcha Vanilla Ice Cream Fudge Brownie. The variety of crepes surprised me, likewise the interesting combinations of sweet and savoury, as I found out from the Taco Ice Cream crepe. I found is humorous that, in Harajuku, the crepe shop names were that of foreign places, whereas in Australia, most Harajuku style crepe shops are named just that, Harajuku crepes.

After dinner, our gang traipsed off the beaten track and explored the outskirts of Harajuku. We went in to several shops and were surprised by the cheap prices. There, you could buys shoes for around $10! We spent a lot of time browsing, and eventually stumbled upon the Disney shop. It was really beautiful, marketed towards older people rather than the commercialised craziness of Disney Land. Inside, there was a huge screen that played memorable Disney songs accompanied by relevant clips from the movie.

Trying on glasses in a shop

The shops were all incredibly bright and colourful, and it was interesting to see the difference between marketing in Japan and marketing in Australia. As always, I am going to include some Japanese vocabulary that I recently learnt.

Out of these, my personal favourite would have to be 'ladybird', though 'tantrum' is also tempting. Tomorrow, I will go to the aquarium with 桜 and her host mother. I’m looking forward to it! 

Foreigners traveling to Japan can be stumped by the mass of technology involved in a Japanese toilet. While some of the squat toilets or public toilets in Japan are self-explanatory, you will most likely encounter a newer toilet over the course of your stay in Japan. These modern toilets are most commonly located in private properties, or fancy hotels. Thus, I present: The foreigner’s guide to Japanese toilets.

Before I begin, it should be noted that the toilet I am translating is currently the newest model on the market, so don’t be discouraged if you find that your electronic toilet is missing some of these features. I would also like to point out that some Japanese toilets differ to the one I am translating {e.g. some include sound features to cover the sound of you going to the toilet}, and would like to remind readers that this guide is based on my experiences only. 

Above is a photo of the control panel that you use in the bathroom. It will most likely be located on the wall beside you. Though not pictured in the photo, two important and probably most used buttons sit on top of the control box. They are labelled 大 and 小. The former means ‘big’ in Japanese, and is the equivalent of a full flush, whilst the latter translates to ‘small’, and consequently is the equivalent of a half flush.

On the control panel, you will see an orange button, with this kanji: 正. This is your “abort mission button”. It will cancel any other button that you have pressed, and is a good one to remember in case of unwanted water spray. The next button to the right is labelled おしり {bottom} and is accompanied by a picture of a blue person with a small spray of water. This is the bide button, meaning that is shoots water up your おしり to clean it. However, a word of caution, this is the higher jet powered setting, newbies might prefer the next button to the right. Labelled やわらか, and depicting a similar image, this button also starts the bide, but at a lower pressure. I recommend using this button if you are a first timer, or else you might receive a nasty shock.

It should be noted that the two former buttons are intended for men/boys to use, and though it is alright for females to also use this, they might prefer the next button to the right. This button is simply labelled ビデ {Bide} and functions as above but on a different angle. Diagonally to the right from this button is one labelled パワー脱臭, which translates to: power deodorisation. Press this button if the toilet smells a lot, and it will freshen itself up. However, my host family told me that this button is never used, so perhaps it is best to proceed with caution.

To the left of this button is what looks like a slider, and is titled 洗浄位置 with buttons that read 前 and 後 below. The title roughly translates to ‘washing’ and the buttons below indicate the place that you want to wash, 前 being the front, and 後 being the back. However, the button also is seldom used. The next series of buttons to the left are titled 水勢, which translates to ‘force of water’. The two buttons below control the force of the water in the bide. The button to the left, 弱, means ‘weak’, and the button to the right, 強, means ‘strong’. For those who haven’t figured it out, you press the left button to weaken the water stream, and the right to strengthen it.

Diagonally to the left of this is a series of buttons that look like glasses with text above. The text reads 温度設定, and the direct translation of this is: temperature setting. The buttons below are used to alter the temperature of the toilet seat, and the water in the bide. I’ve heard that in some public toilets, the water temperature can be set to an incredibly high temperature, so this might be one to look out for. The buttons that are connected read 便座 on the left, and 温水 on the right. These buttons translate to ‘toilet seat’ and ‘water temp’, respectively. Therefore, if you want to adjust the temperature of the seat, press the left button, likewise, the right if you want to adjust the temperature of the water.

The rest of the buttons are marked 入/切on the actual face of the button. This means that you press them to turn the specified ‘thing’ on/off. However, each title is different, and it is important that you know the difference. The only button in this series not connected by a line is labelled ノズルそう, and this is used to clean the nozzle of the bidet. Consequently, you will rarely use this button, even more so if you are a guest. The next button to the right is connect to others via a line, and marked オート洗浄, meaning, automatic cleaning. If you want your toilet to automatically clean itself, this is the button to press.

Following this button is one titled おまかせ節電, which is pressed when you want the toilet to remember how often it is used. This is sometimes handy to save power, as, on days when the toilet is seldom used, the machine won’t keep the seat warm as often. It also ensures that, on days when the toilet is used often, the seat is always kept warm. To the right of this button is one marked タイマー3 6 9, and is pressed so that the toilet goes in to “saving electricity mode”. The numbers indicate the hours that the toilet will remain in this mode. Finally, the last button, which has no title, is used to confirm any button you press that is connected by the black line. It can also cancel buttons, however, according to 嘉穂 these buttons are seldom used in her household.

For those people who see the Japanese toilet as too high-tech, don’t worry! You can use a Japanese toilet as a Western one, and most will flush automatically. If it doesn’t flush, simply press the 大 or 小 buttons and be on your merry way.

I hope that this guide has provided some insight as to how to use a Japanese toilet. Please don’t accidentally bump into the control panel and get spurted in the face by the bide, as my host mother has done. I wish you good luck with your Japanese toilet adventures!

-H

At 学主因, after exams, students spend their school day reviewing their work and chatting. My experience of school today was vastly different from the stereotypical quiet classes of Japanese anime, yet, simultaneously, exactly what I expected. After a train ride to the school, via 渋谷, I met with the principal and my homeroom teacher. My class is the West class {西} and all of the students are incredibly friendly. After introducing myself I was whisked away to meet the Japanese language teachers with 桜さん and ニナさん. The latter has been living in Japan for four months now, on exchange from France, and both her English and Japanese is amazing.

学主因 exams are slightly different to those I am used to. In Australia, our exams are composed of many pages, with questions varying difficulty. The exams that I saw today were made up of fewer, A3 pages, with hard questions. Therefore, in these Japanese exams, every answer counts, as it makes up a larger part of your mark. It was interesting to see the English exams, especially the essay topic. If I recall correctly, it dealt with the reliability and effectiveness of email as a method of communication. 夏帆 response was extremely eloquent, and consequently, she received high marks. 

During this period of receiving exams, 桜 and I were left to do as we pleased. We spent some time chatting with other students, as well as completing some holiday homework from Australia. I should mention that 桜 and I are in different classes, but as today was a relaxed day, teachers were scarce and students ran wild through the corridors.

After lunch I was taken to meet the ESS club {English Speaking Society}. Members of this club spend their club activity time working on English speech and grammar, as well as watching difficult English movies, such as Les Miserables {in English, of course}. This club had prepared a party for us, and we ate interesting Japanese candy while chatting in English. Clubs span all high school year levels, so I conversed with students from 中学一年生 (Year 7) to 高校三年生 (Year 12). Through my conversations, I learnt that most club members would be spending their holidays lazing around the house, and that listening to music is an extremely popular hobby, likewise drawing.

After school, 夏帆 and I explored 桜新町, the area that I am currently living in. There is a popular Mangaka (manga writer) who lives in the area, and consequently the streets are decorated with various figurines from the manga. The name escapes me, but the manga characters feature everywhere in the area, and there is even a café dedicated to it, where you can buy pancakes in the shape of characters. Kaho and I also stumbled in to a Japanese Christian Church. This Church functions as an English school during the week, and then as a Church on weekends. It was very interesting to see how Christianity functions in Japan, as it is not the dominant religion.

Tonight, my host mother will cook Chicken Katsu Curry – my favourite Japanese food. I am looking forward to eating it. Below are some more Japanese words that I recently learnt:

Attached is a photo of my classroom (西) when it is empty. Usually, every desk is filled with a student. On the board are the exam answers, in Japan, students independently check their answers, rather than going through the exam with a teacher. Thought it seems harsh, I really want to try taking a Japanese exam {for English, though}.

Last night at around 6:00 I arrived at Narita airport, where I was greeted by my host family. It was really lovely to see them again {especially 夏帆} however the onslaught of Japanese that followed left me slightly confused. Having only visited before as a tourist, I was not prepared to be fluently conversing in plain form {覚えた、買った}. Plain form is the Japanese equivalent of casual English speech, and drops the honorific off the end of verbs. I should note that, like in Australia, this form of speech is only appropriate among family and close friends. So, even though the verb stem is the same [think: swim or meet] the ending is different, and as a result this form of speech is often spoken faster.

Nevertheless, once this small barrier was partially overcome, I was able to (some-what adequately) communicate with my host family. The house that I am staying in is really beautiful, with an exquisite Japanese garden out the back. My host father {義人} kindly put up some Christmas decorations, including a tree and a “very scary” Santa figurine. We all ate dinner together, and I reacquainted myself with the use of chopsticks.

This morning I woke up at 5:30am, still operating in my own time zone {as 5:30 in Japan is 7:30 in Australia}, and stared idly at the ceiling until I heard signs of life. The first to get up was my host mother {千嘉ちゃん} and I wasn’t surprised. I’ve been told that, in Japan, one never sees the mother of the house sleeping, as they wake in the wee hours of the morning to prepare food for the day. As today is my first day at school, I do not need to be there until 10:30, when I will meet with the heads of 学主因and the International Student Club.

In my endeavour to learn more vocabulary, I am including a few words that I learnt in the car on the way to 夏帆 house.

My personal favourite would have to be the latter, the result of me enquiring as to what the Japanese equivalent of “How dare you” is. I’m pleased with the response and hope to use this expression in the future. Above is a photo of the view from my room, I am living in a very peaceful and calm neighbourhood. Odd, considering it is located very near a train station. >.<

-H