When I first arrived I was somewhat dumbfounded by how pervasive language is here, and how hard it would be to adjust without being able to speak any Japanese, but I have since come to realize that there is no way that I can properly adjust to living here in such a short period of time, it's more a matter of just accepting things for how they are and rolling with it. Sure it's really hard to get around, order food, and buy toothpaste, but somehow its just going to have to be alright. At first I was scared to go outside, because there aren't really street signs, there is nothing even close to a grid, maps are really hard to read, and my sense of direction is inconceivably bad. However, I got over it and just plunged in, spending a lot of time in the major areas, especially Harajuku and Shibuya, where most of the Lolita hang out and shop. Right next to Harajuku Station there is a bridge next to a large park where cosplayers and lolita often hang out. Sundays are the busiest day, when a lot come out to sit down, drink tea or wine, and pose for pictures with each other, with tourists that ask, and by themselves. There are also these older men (some of whom are there almost every day), who will walk up to random girls, start talking to them, then take their picture (asking them to pose in certain ways), and give them the photographs for free (it's some kind of polaroid). I asked two girls what happened right after I saw this, but they didn't speak English and I was alone, but I did get that it was free. Yesterday I met two American women who were dressed in lolita and they told me all about what they know about mostly 'western lolita', which is much different. Some of the other costumed Japanese people were asking to take pictures with them, along with random tourists. They were just a part of the show. I have also seen two men dressed like lolita girls. Overall there is always a lot going on, and a lot of it makes me really uncomfortable, but in a productive way. Its hard to watch all of these foreigners who are being so overtly foreign by ogling at these Japanese people who are for the most part acting like they are just apathetic to the whole thing even though their intricately chosen outfits and makeup denotes anything but apathy to the situation. They are thrusting their foreignness onto these Japanese people in such a conspicuous way, making me uncomfortable because I am always just so conscious of my own foreignness that it seems ludicrous that they can comfortably and self-consciously do this. The language barrier is definitely an aid--one time, this small group of four Japanese cosplayers were taking pictures with each other when these two American girls turned the corner and were caught completely offguard by what they saw, they literally stopped mid-sentence and started gawking. They proceeded to start taking pictures as if they were at a zoo or something--be careful not to disturb the animals, don't get too close, but it's okay to take pictures because they don't really know what you are doing--it's crazy!
Like I just mentioned, I've been struggling with/thinking a lot about how pervasive and constant my own feeling of 'foreignness' is. I've never felt so constantly out of place and like I don't belong. It's not that the people have been unfriendly, it's just that I feel as though there is a certain level of apathy towards me. On the other hand I have met some people that were way overly fascinated by me so I think it depends. But the cultural divide is so strong and so inescapable that in general, its hard not to feel isolated and even invisible. I'm existing in a world that feels very carefully designed and engineered, but not at all for me or anyone with my background. It can be somewhat eerie. From what I understand, that just never goes away, no matter how long you are here or how good at Japanese you become. And I think that whatever I film will be so influenced by that outsiderness, by my physical presence and outsider perspective that it seems hard to try to document reality without acknowledging that somehow.
Oh also worth mentioning is that two of the students I know from Tokyo University know have friends who sometimes dress in lolita at school, and I am meeting them this week. Wow wrote way more than I expected, and will probably write more soon, but I want to go find a shinto shrine or something where I can just have a pen and paper and think about all of this.
Glad everyone else seems to be having such great times, I hope to talk to you all soon!
-Lucas
To be sure the most important Japanese you need to know is "TOIRE wa doko desu ka?" or "Where is the bathroom?"
ReplyDeleteI think you are right when you say that the feeling of foreignness never goes away. It didn't for me after a year. In Japan you can never pass for Japanese unless you happen to be Japanese. I'm lucky in that, even though Italians think I look foreign, they accept me as Italian because I can speak the language, and race isn't an issue. In fact, when foreign tourists (esp. Americans) are around I usually find myself making every effort to blend in and never admitting that I am American. Usually, I find the whole tourist mentality a bit appalling.
Anyway, good luck with everything. If nothing else, it sounds like you have found what you are looking for!
Hey Lucas! I hope you found your shinto shrine (I think there is one next to that large park) and some peace and quiet to journal. I think it would be really interesting if you could harness your feeling of foreignness as part (for it already seems different from your experience in Korea, although perhaps I am reading in too much) of the film's "sense"
ReplyDeletedo you think you will try to incorporate some of those polaraids as stills, or the ways that various individuals around these lolita girls "picture" them(literally and metaphorically)? How the foreign tourists differ from the old men, which differ from yourself, which differ from the girls themselves....i.e. how to position your film in relation to the other practices?
And can commiserate with the language barriers--I found those japanese characters a bit impenetratable. but I hope they don't keep you from escaping to kyoto at least one weekend...I found much relied walking through the bamboo forests there...
take care!
(stay away from the blowfish!)
~cynthia
Luuuuuuuucas! Were Dustin-the-drummer’s tips any help? I’m with you on the time zone thing… For the first few days, I was going to bed at 11 and waking up at 3. Miserable! Now I’m going to bed at 9 and getting up at 6—it’s actually pretty fun doing the whole live-by-the-sun thing, though I doubt that would be possible for you if you’re going to experience any of Tokyo’s night life!
ReplyDeleteHave you considered taking a language class? If you ask around (or even check in a Lonely Planet), I bet you can find somewhere that offers relatively inexpensive one- or two-hour crash course (or series of short courses) that will teach you the bare bones you’ll need to get by. Another idea: when I backpacked around India with my deaf friend, she had this incredibly useful universal picture book. It had everything you might need to buy and anywhere you might need to go when traversing a foreign city—forms of transportation, different foods, even a toilet and toilet paper! I’m not sure if it was targeted towards the deaf or just foreigners in general, and I don’t know where you might find one, but I bet you could print one off or even piece together one of your own from the internet! Isn’t there usually some kind of tourist welcome center in most big cities? They could for sure lead you down the path to survival.
Have you considered the role you want to play in your film? I know we really ripped apart the films in which the filmmaker over-exerted him or herself, but I fully agree with Cynthia that there seems to be a lot of potential of tying in (or even focusing on) your relationships to these people and this place—especially given that you don’t know the language and that you seem to be deeply introspective (how could you not be in such an isolating situation?). Especially interesting (to me, anyway) is this triangular relationship between you, the Lolita girls, and the tourists/foreigners, and how all interact with one another. If it’s of any interest at all, I’d definitely recommend keeping a detailed journal in case you decide to go for an personal/expository piece later on!