Month: April 2020

Nari could not participate last week because of illness in his family. He is still looking for a job, challenging in the middle of a pandemic and dangerous because the interviews have been in Osaka, a COVID-19 hotspot. He’s been to two interviews so far. I told him that in America, you often hear that the third time’s the charm. He said Japan’s lucky number is 7, and Nobutaka said there is a saying that goes something like “One, two, three is two.” I said that that makes no sense, how can three be two? This was spoken in Japanese, and after Nari’s repeated translation, I understood. The Japanese are unable to pronounce R when it is in the middle of a word and they were trying to tell me, “One, two, three is true.”

Nari had tendon (tempura on rice), Yuriko and Nobutaka had pasta with enoki mushrooms and Japanese spaghetti sauce, and I had lemon garlic shrimp. Because of the time difference, they had lunch, and I had dinner.

Nari read an ESL article about the success of Netflix during the lockdown, and sure enough, a share of Netflix is going for $424. For his questions about idioms, he asked about backwards and forwards and smell a rat.

Good luck, Nari-san!

It is no wonder that the suicide rate in Japan is twice that of the United States and prosperity does not translate to the happiness of the workers and their families.  Those that commit suicide have decided that life is too much and the alternative will free them from frustration and pain. They live with so many stresses in their lives, such as long commutes on trains and subways, watchful coworkers to check the time of their breaks, and group conformity.  Sometimes, as I read the opinions, studies, and reports about the Japanese people, it looks like the whole country will implode, yet the Japanese have always adapted and faced their challenges without complaint. 

I read somewhere that 58 percent of Japanese women do not want to marry, and have no problem with entering a restaurant alone.  When the host asks “How many?” the woman answers “Hitori” (one).  Many women will apply for jobs at foreign companies located in Japan, believing that they have a better chance of being promoted.  Ambitions stifled and with little help from husbands if they do pursue a career, women in Japan still remain second class citizens.

Throughout their long history Japan has been plagued with civil wars, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, typhoons, and the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.  It is the bushido of culture ingrained in their psyche that compels them to rebuild and thrive.

During the stay-at-home advisory, I’ve begun to miss some of my favorite restaurants. Fortunately, today I was able to have the Asian Mix Green Salad and Spicy Tuna Roll at Sen of Japan. It was not the same as sitting down at the table and enjoying the rituals of an oshibori, the napkin folded like a kimono, and the wonderful wait service, but the food was delicious and will hold me until I go back next week.

Nari does not have a job at the moment so he reads and listens to the news. He mentioned promising vaccines in Japan such as Avigan and BCG vaccine that might work for coronavirus. He has a job interview on Tuesday, but it is in Osaka, one of the epicenters of COVID-19. Nobutaka says there are only two cases in his prefecture of Miyazaki, so they feel safe at the moment.

Nari read an ESL article about computers translating brain waves into sentences, and he asked about the phrases make a monkey out of me and from the get-go. He also asked if Americans really used these phrases, and I said, not me.

Good luck Nari, on your job interview, and everyone stay healthy.