Show Interest, Don't Fangirl.

If you hang out in the Japan foreigner social media sphere, then you know that there's usually a VERY bad rep to being an anime fan and how Japanese people view our hobbies. After all, liking anime to a very very strong degree often translates to being a weeaboo.

I don't know if I was ever a weeaboo myself. Maybe I was. (usually when you don't know, it probably means you were right?) I was heavily in love with Japanese dramas, jpop and devoured quite a lot of anime. I probably did put Japan on a pedestal at one point, but having had some older friends working in Japan, I had a decently realistic idea of how living in Japan was like. Of course knowing is never quite the same as directly experiencing it, so you can never really know until you start living here yourself.

And perhaps that puts a lot of my blog posts in the most ironic spot haha, but either way - if my experience helps someone, then that's all that matters.

So. Let's honestly get one thing straight, liking anime doesn't mean that people see you as a non-functioning member of society. (Hello, reddit circlejerk trolls!)

However, the way you uphold yourself in public will highly determine if people judge whether you are functioning or non-functioning.

Yep, that's the end of the blog. Thanks for reading!

But no, seriously - use common sense. If something in unacceptable and taboo back home, it's most likely 100% the same here in Japan. Do you walk around in cosplay on the streets back home? No. Do you fucking Naruto run from your car to Wal-Mart back home? Maybe for your clickbait tiktok or youtube video, but definitely not normally. If the general public back home doesn't do it, they don't do it in public either.

Show interest in something, but don't fangirl/fanboy about it.

Especially in a professional setting. If you are an ALT new to a school, don’t introduce yourself to your new coworkers by telling them how much you love the new volume of ONE PIECE and how much so and so is your OTP (one true pair) because they are absolutely a match in heaven. Some people might be impress with the former part as it tells them you enjoy their culture, but I promise you - no one is impressed with your OTP.

I find that people are generally appreciative that you enjoy anime, or manga. Lots of adults were once consumers of anime and manga at some point. Mostly during their school days. Some carry on to enjoy it very casually. Many live only in the memory of their anime-liking days. After all, most adults really don’t have a lot of free time with the crazy work culture. And most adults want to appear as though they have moved on from their child-like stage.

Think of it from a western standpoint. You liked the Disney Channel and cartoons growing up. at school, you indulged in it often. Your friends also loved talking about it with you. But as you grow older, people moved on. People still love Disney in a way that’s not so obsessive, maybe. They might book a travel to Disney World. Watch and rewatch Disney movies in their own free time.

Which brings us to the part where I say it’s fine if you ultimately choose to indulge in your own hobbies very privately.

If you want 100 posters of ONE PIECE in your room, go for it. Just don’t brag about it and go around showing photos to everyone and anyone in the staff room who really cannot care less about your obsessive hobbies.

You want figurines? Collect them by all means!

You want a bag with 50 of the same pin badges of one character? Get one! But maybe don’t bring it to work… (an anime convention would love your bag!)

Do people really care?

Not really. But if you can’t figure out what’s to keep private and what’s to keep public, you will be heavily judged silently amongst your peers.

I also find that hobbies here are very heavily gendered. Gender norms are still very prominent in this country, so it’s no surprise that it should apply to hobbies as well. For example, it is more acceptable for females to like characters. Like Disney characters, Sanrio characters (Hello Kitty, Gudetama, etc), Snoopy, Rilakkuma, etc etc. For men, it’s a no-brainer for you to like action anime and action games.

Basically, if it cool it’s for men. If it’s cute it’s a women‘s hobby.

If it’s neither or both, it’s acceptable for all.

Not that you HAVE to fit any of these roles. But if you don’t fit a gendered hobby norm, you might get some head turns and ehhhhhhhhhhs. Maybe a couple of curious souls, maybe not at all. It will be strange, but no one is going to call you out. This isn’t that kind of place.

I really think liking anime and manga can help some people mingle with some students. Especially if you’re not an outgoing person to begin with, it might help some of you start conversations with students. Especially if the anime is more well-known and long-running like Pokémon, Anpanman, Doraemon or One Piece.

Just don’t depend on your knowledge or extreme love for animanga to create everlasting relationships with every Japanese adult.

Things That Don’t Make Sense at Japanese Schools

I know the title reads... somewhat negatively, in a bashing sort of way, but let me explain. I really don't mean it in a bad way to put Japanese people down. There are things that schools here in Japan do, that are just... very different. And when brought up to Japanese people, it makes them sort of question why it's being done as well.

A lot of it is very highly ingrained in people, as it is just the way it is for them. Since lots of Japanese people are not used to questioning authority, a lot of the time they don't think it's so strange until someone else questions it.

But one or two of these things on this list is just... very wrong, though. And I don't have reasons why people allow this, but perhaps you can draw your own conclusions about it. I would love to hear your opinions on some of these in comments if you have any.

Anyway, onwards to the list!

Sports Day... Before The Actual Sports Day

This is literally the biggest mystery to me and while culturally I understand why it happens... still... WHY???

Let me explain.

Every year, schools would hold Sport Days for students to get active, do physical activities and really to promote togetherness and teamwork. Even though Sports Day has some sports events, a lot of it is just for fun - like tug-o-war, or throwing as many balls into a net - things like that.

And like clockwork, every year, one day (or two days) before Sports Day there is ALWAYS a “Rehearsal Sport Days”. You know, like if you had a stage performance, you’d run and practice the entire performance with costume testing and sound test. Yes, they run pretty much the entire Sport Days (not every event, but they might as well) in the name of familiarizing the students with their seating, where to bring their chairs, how they should march out to the field, where to stand when doing the warm up exercises, how & where to run in to the field if it’s your event, etc etc.

Almost the entire thing. Except it’s not the real thing.

So you’re sometimes watching the whole “practice” relay race happen, where there’s a winner… but it doesn’t count, because it’s just “practice”. I don’t get it. Honestly.

Lack of, or no AC Units (except library & staff room)

I feel like more public schools are slowly installing AC units in all their classrooms, but up until 5 years ago, I was still teaching at schools where they only had one portable kerosene heater per classroom. These aren’t big or anything. So essentially if you put these heaters in one corner of the room, it would only heat like… 5 or 6 students (out of 30-40 students) in that corner while the rest freeze their asses off.

Keep in mind that students can’t just layer up with jackets. They can only wear their uniforms in classes. I know many students who put layers underneath with UNIQLO heattech underwear (that might explain why it exists in the first place?), but I have worked at schools where there may even be rules on your undershirts. Girls might be forbidden to wear their gym shorts underneath their skirts (often done for convenience and for warmth), or need to wear a specific kind of sock.

Blankets are usually allowed to cover their legs for warmth in the winter time, but there are some teachers who really follow that to a T. I’ve seen students get yelled at for wrapping their blankets around their heads, or their bodies… yeah.

I asked why this is taken so seriously before, and a teacher told me that it’s possibly there to teach students to endure, and possibly build up their immune system? Hmmm..

I don’t know. What do you guys think of this one?

Desk and Chairs

I think this is pretty typical of Asian schools, not only Japanese, but as someone who did most of their schooling in Canada, I forgot how all the desks and chairs need to be in rows facing the backboard. Every classroom has this layout. It’s totally not up to the discretion of the teachers, like it is in Canada.

Of course, you can order students to make groups and move their desks. But they’re expected to move right back into rows immediately after.

There was one school in a city I taught at that was try to experiment with more “western” approaches and had all the classrooms do the horseshoe style… quite frankly, if a Japanese person were to draw conclusions of this experiment, it would have been a huge failure. I feel like they picked a really terrible school to experiment on, sadly…

(Some) Rules for Students

I'm sure you heard of this one: students cannot dye their hair. Though it's a bit of a doosy as the rules are made with Japanese students with black hair in mind, which really means "students needs to keep their hair black or as close to black as possible". (Article: Black hair, white underwear: A battle resumes over Japan’s school rules) Which really... doesn't make sense. Especially now when more and more of the student population is mixed race. There was a particular news story in Japan several years back when a non-Asian student in Japan was told that she had to dye her hair black, even though her natural hair colour was not black.

There are other nonsensical rules, though some can differ in severity.

Skirt length in female uniforms seem to be a commonly practiced rules. Some schools that are lower in academic abilities may not enforce these rules at all, while more traditional schools may enforce it more strictly. Some schools may even allot days where teachers stand in front of the school entrance as students are arriving in the morning just to check skirt length and other rules in the dress code. This can include things like: length of sock, colour of sock, type of shoes worn, whether your blouse is tucked in neatly or not, whether you wore the correct "shirt" under your blazer, etc etc. The list goes on.

Students are also not allowed to leave the school property during lunch time: This surprised me a bit coming from Canada as it was commonplace for students who lived close to the school to be able to return home for lunch, and promptly return when lunch break ended. This is absolutely not possible for students here. Whether or not your school provides school lunch, you are expected to stay at school to eat.

Students are not allowed to drink beverages during class: I'm not sure if this is really a rule, or more of an unspoken rule, but schools seem to really enforce this one quite strictly overall. There are some teachers who allow students to drink if they ask, but most students seem to know and accept that it's not something you do.

There also a rule where students cannot bring snacks to school to eat. Which... I guess makes sense? In a way... but at a high school level, it's sort of a bit too much. I wouldn't necessarily call it strange or doesn't make sense. I don't know...

There are a few other rules but if I say it, I'm afraid I might reveal too much about where I work because I feel like those rules are very strictly happening at the school I work at only... I may reveal them once I stop working there later though. Anyway, I mostly only wanted to talk about the hair colour rule in this part. So that's ok.

If you teach in Japan, what are some rules you've come across at your schools that don't seem to make much common sense??

Teaching Credentials for Pedophiles

I was clued in on this during one of my twitter threads today, and I think this absolutely fits the topic for today. Someone mentioned that teachers convicted of child sexual abuse only get their teaching license revoked for THREE YEARS before they can essentially go back and have a chance to return to their job once again. What??

I looked into it some more, and found this newspaper article on Asahi Shimbun:

Petition calls for ban on pedophile teachers getting licensed again

It seems like there is a huge issue with after school programs here in Japan as well. As this article outlines, there's almost no way for employers to check & verify whether or not someone had disciplinary issues in the first place.

There is a more recent Japan Times article I came across that says they are trying to make it harder for "teachers" with revoked licenses to get licensed again, but I don't have high hopes for this... usually this means that the rule exists, but not followed through in practice.

This seriously makes no sense to me, and sends a message that this country really doesn't care all that much to do anything about sexual abuse or child protection.

That's all I can think of so far... what do you guys think? Do you have an "why the fuck is this happening" moments at your school you teach at? Did anything shock you? Let me know in the comments! :)

Traveling for Unique Ice Cream in Japan

I promise you, I absolutely do not travel solely for ice cream... but it would be silly to say that it isn't one of my goals for traveling around Japan. As each region in Japan, and each city in Japan fames itself for one or two or even a list of foods they're known for - so do they for ice cream. Usually the ice cream flavours reflect on the particular food items they are known for, so definitely don't be too shocked if you find some soba ice cream... because actually, I definitely have!

Of course, as an avid photo-taker, I have proof!

Top right of the glass display says 出石そば (Izushi Soba)

I got this particular ice cream cup with the りんご紅茶 (Apple black tea) flavour, which was absolutely delightful. Now if you ask me what I thought of the soba... well... actually, I wasn't offended by it. I did remember liking it. But pairing it with the apple black tea was clearly a mistake because I wanted more of that than the soba flavour. To be fair, if I got it on its own, it would have made a better impression on me.

Location: Around Izushi Tourist Information Center (Hyogo Prefecture)

Though Soba flavour isn't even the strangest, of course...

In Kurayoshi, at a soy sauce factory/shop in the middle of the Shirakabe Historical Street, I found a 生姜醬油 (ginger soy sauce) flavour. Thought? It had been awhile ago, but I definitely still remember not being a HUGE fan of it.

Here's another strange one up in the Tohoku area. In a small town near Hachinohe, called "Takko", you can find almost anything and everything garlic. Yep, that's right - even garlic flavour ice cream. Honestly, it was extremely delightful. We even had a hand in garlic-flavoured cola. That was ok. But the garlic ice cream is definitely a must try for garlic lovers!

You can get some at the Garlic Center at Takko.

Another not-so-common flavour I tried was seaweed ice cream. I tried this on Shikoku in Tokushima, somewhere near Naruto (where the whirlpools are).

Alright, let's take a break from the strange flavours and talk about Japan's most beloved winter season fruit - mikan! If you're ever in Matsuyama, visit the shopping street near Dogo Onsen and you can get all and every kind of citrus ice cream of your wildest dreams!

Mikan ice cream! (Matsuyama)

What? Did you just say that having every mikan flavour of ice cream is underwhelming? You want an instagram-worthy view with your mikan soft serve??

I gotchu, my friend.

Head over to Onomichi, and just before you take that bike ride (or after) over the Shimanami Kaido, take a stroll around town. Take the cable car up to Senkoji Park, and towards the observation deck, there is a little snack shop that sells mikan soft serve. Take that ice cream with you to the top, and get your insta-worthy view!

Eh... maybe without the soft serve in the picture makes for a more insta-worthy shot.

Still some great soft serve though!

On the topic of fruits... what about some Apple soft serve?? Taking a detour back up to Tohoku in Aomori, the apple capital! The Hirosaki Apple Park has a restaurant that sells all things apples, and of course - apple soft serve is on their menu!

Apple apple apple!

You can even get a full meal if you order a Apple Ramen! Yep, they've got apple ramen.

Staying in the same area, you can even get Cherry ice cream! Yamagata is famous for cherries so definitely get your fill of cherries (and watermelons) before you leave!

Cherrrrrrrries

Down in Sendai, zunda (a type of bean? like edamame..?) is famous. You can get zunda ice cream in a lot of places. We even got to try some rose/raspberry mix ice cream. Yum yum! I loved the zunda ice cream a lot, and really fell in love with zunda shakes that are famous in Sendai. Definitely try them if you're in Sendai!!

Finishing off our Tohoku ice cream tour here (haha), ramune ice cream! It's exactly how you imagine it to taste, if you know how ramune tastes like.

In Kyushu, unfortunately I don't have any pictures of these. I'm not sure where they went, but I swear to you that I tried some shrimp ice cream in Miyazaki. Just off of Route 220, take a turn off towards the coast to the Phoenix Road Michi-no-Eki. There's a great lookout by the roadside station, and you can get not just the shrimp ice cream (it was probably one of the strangest flavours I've had) but also a few other local specialty flavours - like something called "Ashitaba" (a plant? or a flower?) and "Hyuganatsu" (a citrus in this area).

This google review has some photos of these ice creams I mentioned: https://goo.gl/maps/VEoa1rAjGvYj4cQe6

Before we end this blog, I want to give an honourable mentions to some of the best ice cream in the country - Blue Seal. I know, I know. They're quite readily available in Tokyo, and you can even get them in Fukuoka Canal City. But in Okinawa, you can get SO MANY different flavours. Probably in Tokyo too, but since Blue Seal is from Okinawa, doesn't it seem wrong not to eat a ton of ice cream in Okinawa?

I mean... how can you resist these??

Ugh, I miss Blue Seal ice cream... I wish they had an actual store here in Osaka. (Brotip: you can actually get Blue Seal ice cream in Osaka at LINKS Umeda, just not at an actual Blue Seal stall)

And one last bonus ice cream you guys should know about brings us right back to Kansai, in Kyoto. If you're ever in Arashiyama, right at the entrance of the Bamboo Forest route from the main road, there's a snack stall that sells soy/tofu ice cream. This stall fames itself in having its customers being able to flip their ice cream upside down.

It's one of the softest ice cream soft serves I've ever had! Definitely give it a try!