John Stupart.com

Onishibetsu – A side road. One of many. By “many” I mean “four”.

So a month and bit into my embedding with quite possibly one of the most remote villages in Japan, I have begun to realize just how anomalous Sarufutsu strikes my stubbornly cynical South African mentality on just how a community functions. It would appear that everything in this town, from education through to basic civil service, functions as a component which serves more than the obvious purpose.  

The Town Hall. Nexus of all things ideal and cuddly.

For example, every year the area of Sarufutsu have an organized ‘street sweep’, whereby ordinary citizens, not civil servants, make the 5km-odd walk from their homes to a pre-arranged rendezvous (this year it was the Sarufutsu Park. A curious arrangement of monuments mourning/celebrating the accidental sinking of a Soviet warship in 1939, through to a 36-hole putt-putt course festooned with a giant Dutch-styled windmill.) One has to remember, of course, that this trek is voluntary, yet attracts well over 100 villagers and their families to take part, scouring the sidewalk for trash that has been thrown to the side over the course of the year. What’s more, a seemingly onerous chore that just about any other village (Sarufutsu is the only one who does this in the sub-prefecture) would rather pay someone to do, is transformed into a pleasant family walk to the park. For the kids, hunting cans is akin to a treasure hunt. The enthusiasm with which the children, aged between 1 and 8 years of age, hunt rusty old beer cans is quite humourous to watch. Indeed, there is even a scheme in place in the schools aimed to incentivise the collection of cans, whereby 10kg worth of ring-pulls can be exchanged for a ‘rare and precious ‘prize’ as my supervisor put it. The result is that the kids range far and wide along the length and breadth of the road, scouring the brush on the sides and rooting out even the most stubborn of shiny bauble in the hopes that it is an intact soda can, ready for disassembly and the furthering of their ultimate quest for the ‘rare and precious prize’.

At the end of the course, the families do not simply bundle into cars and head back home, as I had expected, but rather settle down for a large picnic in the nearby fields, enjoying what is essentially one of the few summer days left before the icy tundra of winter descends. Dodge ball and other games are started, and the parents as well as kids thoroughly enjoy themselves. The smaller kids are the hardest to hit with the ball. The little bastards have watched too much Naruto and thus bob and weave like only a true ninja of Konoha village could achieve.)

So what would have essentially being a mundane civic duty is turned into a fun-walk picnic dodge-ball treasure hunt extravaganza, and serves to foster an even greater community spirit. In South Africa, of course, such a walk would require policemen, the closure of roads, booking of the park and other incentives. I tried to imagine asking anyone in SA to walk 5km collecting trash and came up with a mental image of trash bags measured in tons, not kilograms.

The High School Staff. From nurses to headmaster, all are unfathomably dedicated to their jobs. And eating octopus…

From an education perspective, the school system here appears to have far more financial social motivation to improve. I had gone on what was essential an inventory-taking excursion in the 2^nd week of my stay here, and it was quite startling to visit these elementary schools that in South Africa, or indeed most places in the world, could hold hundreds of students, house not tens, but two, three or sometimes five kids! Likewise, each school receives a considerable amount of financial support, as I witnessed these schools receiving government-purchased bicycles, digital cameras and so on. For the larger schools, the stock received each year increases. For my Junior High in Onishibetsu, the largest in the area at a whopping 72 students (in a school which in SA would house easily 500-600 students), items included projector screens, books, dvd players and a curious-looking OHP thing which I was later told projects 3D holographic images of camera photos or general digital media. The obvious response in my head was that such over-expenditure was a needless waste of resources. But after experiencing just how integral school life is in Japan, the resources spent all contribute to making education something the kids can look forward to, or at the least not loathe. Instead of a boring day-long stretch of classes, the kids here truly seem to enjoy their schooling, and often pop into the staff room to chat to the teachers who have no classes at the moment. Indeed, even myself, the resident Gaijin foreigner, replete with mutant features and far too much body hair for Asian standards, is liked almost by default, purely because my presence is simply another fascinating aspect of the school. Simply being here in the classrooms, it seems, is enough…

From the petrol attendant saying ‘herro John-san!’ to the kids in the school asking every conceivable question and then some, the life in Sarufutsu is indeed a homogenous one. To be sure, there must exist some animosity between individuals, as Japanese folks, no matter how polite, are human after all. But as a whole, community life permeates throughout this community like the very air we breathe. An odd sentiment, given my rather grim opinion of humanity in general, but living in this anomalous bubble has shown me that it is possible to achieve some semblance of a decent society.

Of course, the reality of the situation (ie the politics of it all) is that towns like Sarufutsu are dwindling in population. When the viable career options range from fisherman to fireman, the more service industry-minded high school graduates flock to Sapporo, Tokyo and beyond. It happens around the world, and Japan, no matter how idyllic, suffers the same problem. Young people my age are a rare commodity here, and are encouraged to marry up, pop out some sprogs, or go to the cities where there is more fun and financial reward to be had. Ironically, this probably contributes in no small part to the peaceful state that Sarufutsu exists in, as the youth are not around to cause trouble, as it were, and spit n curse n such.

The result – a damn-near perfect place to grow up, make friends and get lots of fresh air, and a great place to come to spend your last days as a pensioner. For the youth, all the enthusiasm of a community spirit cannot substitute drunken karaoke sprees and the pursuit of a career outside of the timber or fishing industries.

Norris, my resident spider. He too is committed to his job (catching and devouring tasty moths.)

One of the most striking aspects of Japanese society that I find I am unable to fully wrap my head around is how damned paradoxical it is. How a country with such friendly people who exercise an unnatural amount of self-discipline can also produce some of the most utterly weird stuff ever!

The country’s amazingly widespread and adhered-to environmental ‘green’ attitude being a prime example. A plethora of different coloured bags for recyclable cans, bottles, paper and so on ensure that the nation’s trash is reused many times over. And yet this country is a big proponent of whaling, commericialised (over)fishing and has no laws against smoking or drinking in public. I guess they just assume one will ‘behave’ or act with honour and appropriate discipline when plundering the seas or sipping some whiskey.

Likewise, upon my trip to Sapporo for the JET programme’s prefectural orientation I received a packet of money from my supervisor, to pay for transport etc. It was a considerably generous amount and I assumed that it was in order for me to pay for my hotel bill on checkout. However, when I asked about this my supervisor assured me that the hotel was paid for by the Board of Education already. Even more curiously, he couldn’t quite understand why I would want to bring him receipts of everything I paid for with the money. No, this money was for me to spend, and it was generally assumed I would spend it as I must. In South Africa, or any western country, this would be unfathomable. If you give an employee a fat sum of money and send them to the big city and leave no measure of accountability, that money is going straight to the nearest casino, liquor store or combination thereof.

Indeed, even upon return my supervisor could not understand why I wanted to give him back the difference left over. Something which left myself a bit confused as well. Completely weird!

The same applies for many bureaucratic and social functions as well (such as the bill for a group meal with drinks being split equally), and it’s truly remarkable to see functioning in such a large population. Indeed, in such a large commercialised population, one would have expected the customs of old to have been cast aside a long long time ago. And yet in Japan it functions, and functions well.

It’s an intangible aspect of Japanese society that I can’t quite understand myself. Most likely because no such notion of personal self-discipline or ‘honour’ really applies in western societies anymore. Or at the very least, do not exist as an inherent national culture. The same people who will allow drinking in public, sing to Elvis remixes and sell panties in vending machines will greet each other every morning at work with a stiff bow, and then say farewell in the afternoon in the same fashion. The same people who practice horrendous policies in fishing rights and so on will allow an employee to travel far far away from their office, equipped with a considerable amount of money, and simply trust that you will spend as much of it as you need, and in a manner that is befitting one’s station as a government employee. There are levels of sophistication and decorum I couldn’t begin to understand in just one year, but I find it fascinating nonetheless.

And yes, because I know you want to find out, I spent the money responsibly… With the exception of one or two (or ten) packs of Pocky candy 😀 As for my own money, however, I wish I could say I was as disciplined!

So it may be almost a month into my Japanese year as an ALT, but here is my first ever post on my zany adventures with my madcap crew of sidekicks. Or something…

Truth be told it’s just been an insane month, full of constantly new sights, smells and sounds. From Tokyo, Sapporo, Sarufutsu – my home – and back to Sapporo for a quick JET orientation, it’s been an insane journey. I keep thinking each day I will get to lay down on my bed and wake up to the sounds of 5fm, morning television or the sounds of cars hooting at each other, but instead each day simply presses the little red “start” button and the ride begins again.

Likewise the lack of camera has meant there are precious few visual aids I can use to spice up my horridly academic writing. But this has all changed! John has a camera!

Most who read this will have heard of my Tokyo experiences etc etc, so I shall spare a recap and simply label the past several weeks as “Awesome and Fantastic” and proceed on with more current affairs.

Hugs, Kisses, Unicorn Giggles and Generic Farewells

John