This month marks my first year if stay here in Japan. I can’t believe that I survived here in Japan being almost alone all the time. If not because of some Filipino friends and other few good Japanese colleagues, I would have gone home after my 2nd month. Like most Filipinos say, I disagree when they say that Japanese is easy to learn. The further you learn Japanese, the tougher it gets. Japanese has so many levels of politeness and different readings of their Kanji. The worst, the spoken word is not the same as it is written. When I worked last year in a pure Japanese company, I almost lost my sanity. They were pressuring me to learn full fluency of Japanese in just a short period of time. Yet being able to study in the Philippines for four (4) months is I believe not enough. Going to Japan without any background of their language is a totally impossible to survive.
Office Custom
Japan and Philippine way of doing business is entirely different. In Japan, you have to please your boss by giving them a lot of suggestions and solutions. In Philippines, you only suggest if you are on the top hierarchy of the organization.
In Japan, as much as possible, do not leave the office unless your boss already gone home. In the Philippines, if the clock strikes at 6PM or even it strikes, people are already preparing to go home or may have gone home by exactly 6PM. Being late in coming to office is a big NO for the Japanese. If you will be late in coming to the office and you won’t be able to join the morning greetings, call your office at least 5 minutes ahead of time and inform your superior about it. Say in exact for how many minutes you will be late and state the reason. I was once assigned to lead the morning greetings (朝礼 or chourei) for 3 months. It was very tough. I had to do it in Japanese and the script that was given to me was all in kanji. The fact that I was assigned this task, I have to be in the office before the clock strikes at 9AM. It’s really strict. In the morning assembly, each department head should report to the entire employees who will be late and the ones who took their vacation leaves. Once, I was asked by my boss over the phone “Iansa, boku no pasokon wa dengen o kitte motte koreru?” (イアンさ僕のパソコンは電源を切って持って来れる) Honestly, I learned Japanese only with very short sentences and yet he instructed me to shutdown his computer, and bring it to the other facility where he stayed. Confused and puzzled, I just turned it off knowing that it was the instruction. Several minutes later, he called back again saying that instruction. I was in a way frustrated with what he meant. Finally I understood with what he meant. There are some simple things that you will find it hard to do in the office. All of the machines are in Japanese. Even though in Makati, I have operated a machine exactly the same as the machine in our office in Tokyo, it deemed futile for me to use it. Even answering a phone is entirely difficult for me because they are using the most polite form of Nihongo which is very difficult for me. These are the things that a foreigner, working in a pure Japanese company, is going to deal with if they come and work here. I tried sending a few e-mails to the employees of the company but it also proved difficult. You should be using some technical terms that you have never encountered before in learning Japanese. If you try to use your own Japanese, they would laugh at your Japanese because it’s too elementary. Well, what can I do? I just been here for a few months and I am just gradually absorbing everything as much as I can.
Food
I have learned to love some local delicacies here in Japan. Admittedly, it was just about four (4) months ago that I have learned to devour natto in huge quantities in just one meal. I can consume three boxes of it every meal. I had no problems with raw fish since I am from Davao City and kinilaw is one of the dishes we enjoyed since we were young. Only here in Japan where I have learned to dip beef strips (of gyudon) into egg and sometimes even mix all of it in a bowl of rice. I have somehow became a Japanese when more recently, I am contented with eating onigiri-to-go (rice balls) sold in convenience stores especially during rush hours. One of the things I have been fond of eating for the entire year was Nagasaki Champon of Ringer Hut, magurodon (tuna rice bowl), and Sukiya’s okuradon (Okra Vegetable Beef Rice Bowl). Food that is still difficult for me to eat are ikura (fish eggs), uni (raw sea urchin) and wakame (sea weed) in oden-style soup. Maybe it takes a lot of courage to eat those kinds of food.
Transportation
A piece of advice, if you want to learn different readings of kanji, memorize the each of the train station’s names in Kanji. It’s a lot easier than conventional studying. The more train lines you know, the further you can go especially in Tokyo area. Learn the proper etiquette especially when riding the train in Tokyo.
Utility Bills
Have you ever experienced being disconnected with your gas service during winter? Yes, it was a terrible experience. My housemate was not able to pay for it due to some reason and I was just surprised one morning why it doesn’t turn warm. I had to call Tokyo Gas and fought with them. I already paid the unsettled bills and they were asking a lot of questions from my end. All I wanted to know was if when they can resume the service because I just want to take a bath. It took me a day of absence just because of that incident.
One time, I decided to inquire about Softbank phones in a local shop in Tamachi. I tried as much as possible to give keywords in Japanese but the guy in the shop insisted on something which I do not want and did not understand. Before I went there, I made it sure I had to research a lot of things about it so it would be easier for me to talk to them. But to no avail the shop attendant said to me “日本語が分かる？” (Do you understand Japanese?) Then I replied “はい。少し分かります。” (Yes, but only a little.) Then the man just said directly to me “すみません、英語で出来ない。” (Sorry but I can’t explain in English.) Then he just stopped talking. I was a little frustrated because I was trying to understand what he meant. I even used dictionary but he just gave up explaining and even said in excuse that he can’t explain it in English. I was not even asking him to explain in English. All I was just asking from him was if he could speak slowly and use simple terms because I am still a newbie in learning Japanese. So I just went home with nothing accomplished.
Few months ago, I tried exploring. I subscribed NTT Flets and Yahoo BB. I exhausted their two months free subscription. I did it with only minor glitches in verbal communication. I can’t believe that I was in way I was beginning to understand things gradually.
New Career
A new company harbored me for a new challenging work as an English Teacher. I had to do it since my previous company was in a way already hostile to the gaijin. It’s somehow frustrating to work in an environment where even your Japanese English teacher colleagues are not even speaking a lot in English inside the classroom. To the extent, you will learn more from them about Nihongo rather than they will learn from you in English. It’s a very big challenge for me to be a bilingual speaker. If I tend to speak in English, I also do some interpretation of it in Japanese.
Conclusion
Now, I appreciate our Filipino culture and heritage. After experiencing Japanese culture, I began to have more respect and a sense of appreciation for our culture. The very differences that we see from the Japanese culture are also a reflection on how we behave and act as Filipinos. Our language, food, customs, and different traditions should be given importance and preservation. If Japanese people tend to dislike the oily and fatty Filipino dishes, then so be it. That is how our culture has developed that taste for the food. In fact, the more different it is with other food around the world, the more it reflects on how unique our culture is. Many people say that we do not have our identity, but I always defend to most Japanese that our culture is unique in its ways. In fact, I have been promoting the Philippines as a tourist destination in my vicinity. People tend to say that you will begin to value the things around you if they are already gone. It’s true. When I went here, I appreciated the way how lively and dynamic the Filipino culture is. We always have a high regard for the elderly and for our family. We always have a high regard and value towards life and its existence. Even how many times we fall from our problems, we still consider it as a blessing and just a challenge. Here, it’s entirely different. In Japan, how many times have you heard suicides, random stabbings, and family members killing each other? We should be thankful that most of us Filipinos are Christians and have faith to God and Jesus Christ. It’s also true that money can’t buy everything. My Japanese friend who worked in Makati once said that in the Philippines, even people have less or no money at all, people are still always smiling and the atmosphere is in a party mode. According to her, here in Japan, once you lose your job and you don’t have money, you are nothing. That is why, according to her, most people here are not always contented with what they have. I think it’s really true. I just hope that someday, I can fully understand more the Japanese society in all aspects. Society here is tough even for the Japanese themselves, and even tougher for foreigners like me. I thank God for knowing a lot of random Filipinos who already became my friends and helped me along the way. Now, it is my mission to also help Filipinos especially random ones who have difficulty in fitting to a Japanese society. As the movie says “Pay it Forward.”
