Japan and the Environment 2017

Our day started at the beautiful Waseda campus. After meeting Aridome-Sensei’s old friend and our tour guide Ozaki-San, who is a beautiful, energetic lady, we took the busy morning train to our first stop, Tsukiji Market. To my surprise, Tsukiji was still very busy even after the crazy auctions (which we were not able to go today), and it was incredibly engaging and rich in culture.

To my surprise, Tsukiji was still very busy even after the crazy auctions (which we were not able to go today), and it was incredibly engaging and rich in culture. Observing the structure of the market reveals some interesting facts about Tsukiji. As it is distinctively divided into the intermediate wholesaler’s area and the outer normal market(I don’t know how to call it), the two parts target on different clients. The wholesaler’s area, as the name suggests, targets at the wholesalers and focuses on the early morning auctions. Whereas the normal market was flooded by tourists of all nationalities taking selfies while holding a giant piece of grilled squid or たまこ焼き. In the 通り outside of Tsukiji Market were a row of all kinds of small restaurants hosting all kinds of guests–middle school students, workers, サラリーマン in suits, and of course, some tourists. Although crowded and not neat, the diversity of the street created harmony in the smell of sea(food), car exhaust, and all kinds of foods.

Shops inside the wholesaler’s area

However, just as you think at Tsukiji you have all the choices in the world, you will soon realize the choices were already made for you. Although there are 200 tons of fish (I might be messed up with the number a little) sold every day at Tsukiji, the categories you can buy are limited. As we observed in the market, all the shops had almost identical 種類 for guests to pick, Tuna being the major fish. Lobsters and crabs and some other less common fish were less popular. All the shops had giant Tuna heads on the counters to scare off or impress clients and innocent tourists. Bringing up the different concepts of いちば and しじょう mentioned in the article “Wholesale Sushi Culture and Commodity in Tokyo’s Tsukiji Market”, Tsukiji is a place where the two concepts interact: the shijyō influences the economics of fish markets and determines the distribution of different kinds of seafood at the ichiba.

The opposite of Tsukiji Market, which strives on the lowest level of Tokyo’s architectures, the skyscrapers are the defining features of the height of Tokyo. Looking down from 46th floor in Dentsu Tower (電通タワー), it amazed me how the incredibly diverse architectures of Tokyo talk to each other. While the whole city was crammed with buildings of all heights, there were still parks and greens to let it breathe, as well as the multi-level futuristic design of some buildings that brings out fantasies of the city. Although so densely organized that all land is utilized, Tokyo allows an organic mixture of modernity and nature, as evident not only in the 偉い view from the top floor of 東京都庁舎 but also in Ueno Park where people and nature, as well as religions, interact.

View from 45F of 東京都庁舎

Ueno Park was nothing more than a square of greens if looking from high up, but when actually wandering in the park, I found it a highly culturally engaging place. First, there is a temple and a shrine, allowing people to make wishes accordingly; in fact, the most fun part of our Ueno Kōen trip was reading all kinds of wishes and seeing other people’s 悩みや願望–perhaps we all have the desire to peek into other people’s private lives. Also, Ueno Kōen incorporates all kinds of people–small children, tourists, サラリーマン, and lovers. Surrounded by ambitiously tall “towers”, Ueno Kōen supports them like the roots deliver nutrients to their fruits. In this sense, the Shinto shrine and the Buddhism temple Ueno is providing a shelter for could be seen as the roots for the tall buildings of modernity.

And we are in Tokyo!! I love it here 😀 Cities are always so exciting for me, and Bowdoin has deprived me of Asian food, so I was even more excited to just eat haha. First on our trip agenda was to meet Ozaki-san, our incredibly 元気 tour guide and long-time friend of Aridome 先生. She led us  on a tour in Tokyo, with the first stop being at Tsukiji.

Prior to visiting Tsukiji market, we had to read the following article:

1. Wholesale Sushi Culture and Commodity in Tokyo’s Tsukiji Market by Theodore C. Bestor

Tourists love Tsukiji, but Tsukiji does not love tourists. Unfortunately we did not get to experience the rush of Tsukiji–although this was probably better for safety reasons–but we did get to see what remained. It was interesting that the Tsukiji workers don’t like it when people take photos because it causes traffic jams. Something that stuck out to me while doing the reading and also while walking through the fishy aisles was the prominent idealized perception of what is fresh food. In Japan, there is so much attention to presentation and food being perfect and uniform. This isn’t to say that Americans or people of other cultures don’t value looks, but in my experience, American produce in the same display do not usually look the same (i.e. they are of varying quality). In contrast, all the food, down to the vegetables, in Tsukiji looked photo-ready. Again, the idea of purity appears!!! Nature has to be controlled, and it only has value when unblemished.

Ozaki-san also took us to places like the Tokyo Metropolitan building, a couple 神社, でんつ. I wish I was fluent in Japanese so I could understand more

Although slowed by fatigue and jet lag, our first day in Tokyo went well. In the morning, we met with Ozaki-san, a friend of Aridome-sensei who gives tours of Tokyo. I gave my first jikoshōkai, or self-introduction, to Ozaki-san. I was pretty nervous beforehand, but once I got into it and finished, I felt relieved and more at ease with the new setting. Jikoshōkai will likely be important for me throughout the summer to introduce myself to my teachers at the language immersion program which I will attend.

We spent the whole morning in and around Tsukiji fish market, but we did not go to the early morning auction. Seeing the space and the vendors at work helped put together a picture to go with the chapter on the market which I discussed in my previous post. The production and consumption of food is part of process with various stages and I think we got a good sense of how the more industrial aspects of seafood production meet the commercial and individual consumption aspects of the food cycle.

Please forgive the brevity of this post, as I’m getting over jet lag and need to rest my mind a bit. Tomorrow I will be working in the National Diet Library by gathering research materials for my project and making photocopies. My advisor and I will break away from the rest of the group, who will start discussions with professionals of fields relevant to each student’s project. I’m looking forward to getting some hard copies of research material that will be invaluable to my project.

(I am skipping the travel day because plane rides are one of my least favorite things in the world, especially over 12 hours plane rides.)

With plenty hours of sleep, I gladly started the tour of Tokyo. It has been a long time since I am in a country/city that I cannot freely communicate in. I can understand, but I cannot respond. Luckily, because of frequent visits to cities in China, I am not *scared* by the fast-paced lifestyle. I do wish that I can better express myself in Japanese. If this trip taught me nothing else, it, at the very least, provided me immense motivation to keep working hard at Japanese this summer.

Back to the tour… we met Ozaki-san quite early. What a genki and sweet lady! It is hard to believe that she leads walking tours daily and can still show us so much positive energy. We started in Tsukiji -> Shiodome -> Ueno Park -> Municipal Building -> Shinjuku. I am very grateful to not only have Ozaki-san explaining but also the dear senseis inserting their historical/cultural knowledge at certain points. I will now begin with a random assortment of thoughts:

• Tsukiji is famous for fish, but the meticulous representation of fruits and veggies is the most attractive of all to me (along with a number of household items one could purchase). Everyone has a designated role and is dedicated to fulfilling the role.
• Gaijin excuse
• I am still getting used to walking on the left side of the street.
• People extremely adept at dodging the flow of other people.
• The attractiveness of viewing the city from above and afar.
• Terrible thought: cities are more similar in superficial appearance than not. I know that each place has its distinct history, but it is hard to distinguish at times.
• The extensiveness of “thank you” culture
• Being able to think about the city from an academic POV is very enjoyable compared to one from a popular guide book.
• I used to follow a lot of Japanese Tumblrs/Instagrams and would marvel at the posts. The built and “natural” environments are both very aesthetically pleasing, hence the very postcard-worthy photos.
• Efficiencyは最高です。

At Bowdoin, we are tricked with the illusion of being carbon neutral by 2020 through using “reusable” water bottles, etc. In Japan, a country known for its “convenience,” the price of the ease comes at the expense of the environment. Most common are the prevalence of plastic bottled drinks and meals packagings with disposable chopsticks. I do feel extremely terrible when I have to use certain things, which is why I tend to carry metal utensils with me. As I always tell myself, 5 minutes of ease for me, but how long for the environment to have to suffer?

I have just finished the readings for tomorrow (kanpo and Edo-Tokyo Museum) and I am very excited to be meeting professionals and seeing the exhibits. Museums are my favorite places to go in any city/place and I have always wanted to practice “East Asian” medicine (I really don’t know what to call it…). I want to focus on looking at the very “everyday” practices, sometimes overlooked. What lies outside of the official discourse? For example, in kanpo, how does the herbal medicine usage directly impact the amount of herbs available and the need for energy to transport the herbs from abroad?

We shall see!