LETTER FROM TOKYO
November 16, 2013
I decided to make another trip to Tokyo this year to show my friends there who had visited me in the hospital last year when I had my hip replacement that I'm not disabled. I stayed as usual at the elegant International House of Japan situated in a famous ancient garden, a serene oasis in the midst of Tokyo's frantic pace. The most exciting event at I House during my stay was the appearance of the Empress to attend a meeting. As I stood at the railing of the stairs up which she was scheduled to climb, I was moved back from the railing by one of the forty-man security detail, since no one is ever allowed to look down on a member of the Royal Family.
The day following my arrival, Caroline Kennedy, our new ambassador tro Japan, as well as the Dalai Lama arrived. And on November 16th Bill Clinton and Adam Powell both arrived to participate in an international conference. This confluence of world power and wealth is a daily feature of Tokyo. The choice of Caroline Kennedy for ambassador was greeted enthusiastically, people lining the streets to catch a glimpse of her as she rode in a horse-drawn carriage to present her credentials to the Emperor. Papers report that she has been studying the language, including the world's most difficult writing system. Japanese have a fondness for the last survivor of Camelot, and her choice as ambassador was propitious.
Beyond this confluence of wealth and power at the top, drastic cultural changes are ocurring at other levels of society, amounting to a social revolution. Many young women turn their backs on the traditional role of
wife and mother, and this extraordinary negative attitude toward marriage is shared also by men. While they may choose to live together, co-habiting does not include choosing to have children, as in the U.S. I pointed out to a successful career woman that this demographic shift would have drastic consequences for Japan as the government struggles to provide health cafre for the elderly. She replied, "Why should I care about the future of Japan?" This absolutely shocked me, such a shift in attitude toward one's nation. She, like many in her position, feels no sense of responsibility for the consequences of her choice.
The broader range of life choices for women today, accoding to economists, has not provided women with greater equality.. Wealth and powoer still gravitate to men in what remains an androcentric society. If women choose a university course in the arts rather than in sciences, this choice perpetuates a track leading either to clerical employment or to marriage and children.
There is general scepticism about what the government is telling citizens, something aggravated by the tsunami and nuclear disaster and fall-out, with the accompanying dissembling by Tepco. One friend said to me, "It's like World War II, when the government told us we were winning."
I had two opportunities to walk around on the sidewalks, one day in the Nippori kimono and fabric area in old Tokyo, and another on the Ginza on a Sunday, when the whole street is closed to traffic and the resulting surge of pedestrians offers arresting sights. The contrast between the two areas was stark: the Nippori district marked by rows of small shops, vestiges of old Edo, and then the Ginza with rows of up-scale stores selling designer goods from Paris, Milan, and other fashion centers.
Walking in Tokyo can be hazardous, since apart from the crowds, many pedestrians have their heads down, eyes glued to the phones in their hands. Collisons are inevitable, and the general response is just to keep walking rather than to apologize.
On the Ginza I spotted many men carrying babies in chest slings and not one woman carrying a baby on her back, the traditional method that allowed her to keep working. Several women had small dogs, each dog coated despite the warm weather. One young man had a baby carriage for his little dog. Chairs and tables dotted the center of the road, where people sat enjoying the weather and the passing scene. Another Ginza sight attested to the prosperous consumer economy: shoppers not only carrying large bags but also trundling suitcases to hold their many purchases.
Japan has long been known as a country whose people are so honest that if someone loses a wallet, not to worry. Some kind, honest soul will take it to the nearest koban, where it will be kept safely until the owner appears to claim it. The Japanese community police system, with a police box at every major intersection, has been cited as a model for other countries. This too is changing. The crime rate has risen dramatically,
in particular for cell phones and other high-tech products. I gained insight into this phenomenon when I could not find my new iPhone and reported it stolen. This necessitated international phone calls to my insurance company, to Apple, and to AT&T. I had to visit the ward police station to report it stolen. For two hours I sat in a grubby interrogation room while a young police officer spent the entire time re-writing the same page by hand on endless pieces of paper, jumping up and down to get more paper as he balled up many he had written with errors. When I asked why he didn't use a copy machine, he vigorously replied, "no copy." At the end of two hours all I gained was a case number. I was left wondering what had happened to the vaunted police efficiency in Japan, and whether this paper-pushing frenzy could ever result in solving a crime.
I later found my iPhone in an unobtrusive pocket in my carry-on, much to my chagrin.
As I prepared to leave Tokyo I told friends this was my last trip. I said the same thing last year, but this time it somehow felt different.
Aloha,
Joyce Lebra
