Category Archives: Japan

Finally…

  • Even Shibuya’s Hachiko can now be seen wearing a mask

Finally, the long-awaited State of Emergency has been declared in Tokyo and several other prefectures last Tuesday, April 7, 2020.

Don’t get me wrong. I was waiting for this not because I don’t want to work because honestly, I do! I love seeing the cute faces of my little students and I always look forward to their antics and learning moments each day. So why was I waiting for that declaration? With the rising coronavirus cases here in Tokyo, being outside (especially in a very packed train) has become very scary for me. For the past two weeks, the Governor of Tokyo has already asked Tokyoites to stay in their homes during the weekend. Fine. Most people followed the request. The usual busy streets of Shibuya, Shinjuku and Ikebukuro among others were unusually quiet. But then comes Monday. Crowded stations. Jam packed trains. What is the use of being at home the entire weekend when you will be in a crowded train the next Monday, right?

  • Yes, before the declaration of the State of Emergency, trains in Tokyo were still this crowded in spite of the coronavirus pandemic.

I know I’m being paranoid, but we all know that this virus can be passed on easily if people are standing close to each other which is exactly the scenario in a train every single workday morning.

Just imagine how scared I would be the moment I’d step inside. I would be looking around, suspicious of everyone around me because they might be virus carriers already. It’s like watching the horror movie, The Nun, in a scene where the girl was walking along the dark hallway with a candle in hand and she didn’t know that the demon nun was already behind her. She felt it but she didn’t know where it was because she couldn’t see it. It’s the same when I’m inside a packed train these days. I know that the virus is there somewhere but I just don’t know where it is. And that scares the hell out of me.

What kept me sane throughout my train ride from Kita-Senju to Ikebukuro though is the fact that when I’d look around, everyone (well except for a handful of stubborn people) would be wearing masks. Then once inside the train, people would be very quiet that you would hear even the slightest sound coming from a plastic bag.

“This scenario reduces the chances of saliva or any kinds of fluid from flying or dropping on any surface.”, said me to myself.

Yes, talking to myself and telling this to myself can calm my nerves. Plus, I have already mastered the art of standing (or sometimes sleeping!) in a moving train without touching anything and with my hands inside the pockets of my jacket. Well, I still sometimes wonder until now how I do it.

The declaration of the State of Emergency is indeed a welcome respite for me and for some others who are also paranoid like me— a respite from all the anxiety, fear and paranoia of the unknown and of the invisible nemesis. I just hope that this COVID-19 pandemic will end soon.

    Lightning Show in Tokyo

    Photo credit: tamegoeswild

    Last night was crazy!

    I was to meet my son, Zach, at Aeon Mall after work. I was sleeping inside the train (as always!) when a frightening sound woke me up. I looked around and saw the surprised and scared faces of the passengers. The train was still moving so I knew that there wasn’t any accident.

    Then it came again…first a flash of light, then a sound which was so loud that for a moment, it felt as though my heart leapt out from my chest. Thunder! I looked out and it wasn’t raining. I checked my phone and the weather said that there won’t be any rain. Good!, I told myself. I didn’t have an umbrella with me. Then, another flash of light and that loud, cracking sound again.

    Inside the bus, the thunder and lightning came nonstop. I was just about to fall asleep (again!) when I suddenly heard a continuous and a very loud rapid dripping sound from the roof of the bus. I looked out and there was heavy rain already. I got worried because I was just three stops away from where I will get off. Uh-oh, this isn’t good, my brain told me over and over again.

    At my stop, I braced myself for the rain that was waiting for me the moment the door opened. I let out a shriek once I got off because the rain poured heavily on me. How heavy? It was like someone was continuously pouring a bucket of water over my head. So by the time I got to the mall (which was, by the way, just less than a hundred steps from the bus stop) by running, I was soaking wet.

    To make the long story short, both Zach and I were soaking wet by the time we were home. Apparently, Zach didn’t bring an umbrella because he said, he checked the weather forecast on his phone and it says: 0% chance of rain. Yup, hooray to Iphone’s weather app for accuracy!

    Maybe some of you might ask, why the hell didn’t we just buy an umbrella from the mall? Well for one, umbrellas inside that mall are freaking expensive! The cheapest is around 1,800 yen! Also, during our trip in Kawagoe a few days before, we already spent unnececessary yen just buying umbrellas which we never used. That story will come up on one of my blog posts soon.

    Anyway, I have compiled some pics from last night’s lightning storm. They are so beautiful and scary at the same time. Nature can be so freakingly amazing sometimes.

    photo credit: twitter @iyphotooffice

    photo credit: twitter @KAGAYA_11949

    photo credit: twitter @KAGAYA_11949

    Bon Odori Matsuri

    It was an unusually cool August evening…it was the perfect timing for a Bon Odori Matsuri.

    Bon Odori is a festival dance which is held in the evening during Obon. In the old days, Bon Odori is performed to welcome the spirits and to send them off again. The people danced while wearing a yukata to the beat of the flute and the Japanese drum called taiko. But nowadays, Bon Odori is usually done as part of the summer festivities of the towns or villages.

    My son, Zach, and I went to a Bon Odori in our neighborhood this evening. At first, we were just walking around, trying to find something to eat from the stalls that were aligned in the different corners of the place. They held the festival inside a big bamboo park.

    After munching on some popcorn, we lined up for yakitori. Yakitori are grilled chicken skewers. The sellers were volunteers around the community so these yakitori were home made. And I tell you, they are 100 times better and tastier than the commercial ones.

    After we finished the yakitori and the cotton candy which Zach tasted for the first time, we decided to watch the festival dance.

    There was a make-shift stage and the main dancers were on the stage while the people playing the taiko (Japanese drum) were on the upper most part of the stage.

    Below the stage, the other dancers performed and guests such as ourselves were welcome to join.

    The dancers were so lively that one will be enticed to join them. So I did! I danced with them for the last 30 minutes of the festival with Zach joining us later on. There was one very nice lady who taught the steps to us and to some Junior High School boys while we were doing the dance.

    We definitely had fun and it was one of those moments when how I wished I can speak fluently in Japanese so I can tell the people there how much fun we had. But since I can’t, all I could utter, especially to our “dance instructor”, was a heartfelt Arigatou Gozaimashita!