The alarm went off at around 3:30am and up we got. Kindly, Yohei had offered to take me to the airport at that ungodly hour. Shimukappu is about a two hour drive away from the airport and my flight to Tokyo left at 7am. After brushing the newly fallen snow off his car we headed to the airport. It was going to be a long day. The last couple of days I had been planning out my lay over time in Tokyo—which was about 9 hours long. March 25th is prime ‘sakura viewing’ time in Tokyo; meaning the cherry blossoms were in full bloom. I had seen the sakura in Hokkaido (the island I live on) in May 2009 but from what I understood the flowers in Honshu (the island where Tokyo is located) are truly spectacular. With the help of a few people I had mapped out train times and the best places to go see these amazing flowering trees instead of wasting away in the Tokyo airport.
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| Maya with the sakura trees of Hokkaido |
The Japanese see the sakura tree as symbolic to life. Because the tree flowers for such a short period of time it is important to always have your eyes aware to the moment they open. One must treasure them while they last because if you don’t today they might be gone tomorrow. There is truly a sakura obsession in this country! People travel all over Japan to see them; they start blooming in the south in early March and move north until finally Hokkaido blooms in mid May. There are actually people who arrange their holidays around this…and apparently I was one of them.
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| Sakura tree outside the Sapporo Beer Factory |
After saying goodbye to Maya and Yohei I got on the plane to Tokyo. Armed with my maps and timetables I could see as soon as we landed that today might be the worst for sakura viewing. It was POURING rain and foggy. It was 9:15am and my flight for America wasn’t leaving until 5:45pm…hmmm. The frugal person I am decided to save my money for home and spend the hours at the airport. I had a lot of luggage and a lot of time to kill. Thankfully one of my Rollins professors turned friend (Jill Jones) had recently suggested a book for me. DUNE. Reading, window shopping through Tokyo Narita’s vast airport shopping, the occasional sleepy doze, and people watching filled in the hours.
One particular people watching exchange that both saddened and fascinated me was between a tiny little Japanese airline representative and a robustly tall and infuriated Australian man. It seemed the cause of the problem was something over someone in his party not having a booked ticket. As is usual in Japan I am certain the woman was doing all she could to get to the bottom of the issue, however she also was going to follow all of the proper procedures and rules. He, on-the-other-hand, was going to do what has become known to him to get his way which is yell and berate her as loudly and publicly as he possibly could. What the man didn’t know is that yelling isn’t as highly regarded here in Japan as it is in other parts of the world. And I had to laugh a bit at his misunderstanding even though I felt quite terrible for her.
Here's a bit of Japanese cultural information for you from JB Intercultural Consulting:
In Japan everyone has two faces:
"Tatemae" is your public face, the opinions and actions that are appropriate to your position and role.
"Hon-ne" is one's personal opinion or feeling.
Where Americans and other westerners usually feel a person is insincere or outright lying if these two do not match, Japanese tend to see the ability to keep your personal feelings and interests separate from your public role as a sign of maturity. Playing one's role, even if privately you disagree with the policies or actions that you are required to uphold, is usually considered honorable rather than hypocritical.
Conflict within groups is managed through:
1. Hierarchy (age, gender, position).
2. Using intermediaries and indirect methods of communication.
3. Enormous amounts of energy put into behaving appropriately in human relationships, maintaining them through gifts, favors, creating powerful mutual obligations.
4. Stigma and penalties for those who raise questions, who are not sufficiently "cooperative."
http://www.culture-at-work.com/contents.html#japan
Here’s a little something I’ve learned while in Japan. There is one right way to do almost everything. And that one way is the path the majority of Japanese people will take. Asking for an exception is unacceptable and frowned upon when done. Suggesting a new and (in your own opinion) better way to do something may be listened to politely but will likely change nothing (especially if your an American 27 year old female who doesn't play all the games). On top of that, yelling is simply not a means of communication here. In fact, if something’s really important…they often lower the voices to a near whisper.
I felt sorry for them both; she was simply trying to do her job the best way she knew how while staying inside the strict lines she felt safe in and he was simply responding to an inconvenient situation in a way he was used to getting results with. As for me, I figured it was western culture reintroduction right there in the Tokyo airport. I wondered, am I ready for this? And with a smile I thought to myself...definitely!
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