Rice and Ramen

I have officially lost all sense of time, here in Japan.  Technically yesterday was Saturday and today was Sunday--the weekend, a joyous time for most people!--but for me I just had more job training. I'm looking forward, instead, to this upcoming Wednesday and Thursday when I have my next two days off: my newest "weekend." Conversely, I like commuting to work/training MORE on the weekends because the morning trains are much less crowded. Maybe the days of the week would matter more if I had friends I could meet up with on a regular basis, but since I can only see people I know here irregularly, if at all, if doesn't really matter much if my days off synchronize with everyone else's.   So on my last two days off I did several things, some fun and some practical. The practical side consisted of doing laundry on one of this month's rare sunny days--since everything has to dry outside, whenever there's a sunny day in the midst of the rainy period, most...

Well, it has been quite a week, everyone. For the past six days I've been commuting an hour to and from Nitori's main office in Tokyo for my first week of job training, albeit of the intellectual variety. And since it's of the intellectual variety...I actually am legally not allowed to tell you guys terribly much of the content of what I've learned. The short of it is: if I can find the information elsewhere (e.g. it's already on Nitori's website or there's already a public article written about it) I can talk about it, but otherwise everything I've learned, including things as seemingly basic as company slogans, are private information. So. Moving on. Here I am on day one, looking all bright and shiny in my very basic black suit (sans jacket, in this photo). It is so hot and humid, now that Tokyo is in the rainy season, and wearing these suits is a miserable experience. Almost as miserable, in fact, as the state of the trains during my daily co...

So. 6.5 weeks into my internship, there's finally enough time for the society section to throw a small "kangeikai" or "welcome party" for me. So in the early evening, the society section chief, who we refer to as "buchou," and the reporters I spend most of my time with all went out for yakitori. The man making the weird face is Buchou, next to him is Kitamura, who I often go out with, then me (obviously) and finally Morita, who is in charge of my schedule (and therefore my life). It was really nice to feel like a true part of the company and the society section. They made me go around and say what animal each person reminded me of (which put me on the spot to make sure nothing I said was bad) and just generally had a good time. They said that next week (probably Thursday) they'll have my "Going Away Party," so I apparently get two parties in short-succession. In other news (and I'll have another post tonight or tomorrow fi...

Before I dive in to what I've done these past few days, I'd like to just comment on what I've observed of Japanese companies (at least of the newspaper variety). With every new reporter and official photographer I'm paired with, I ask them how long they've been working for the company and if they enjoy it and if they wanted/were interested in journalism when they were younger. Most people say they've been working for the company anywhere from 4-8 years, but their responses for the second two questions are often less than enthusiastic. Most people say the job has some fun parts; others just say it's downright a pain. None of them were interested in journalism when they were younger--they all just said "I applied for jobs after college and this is what I got" more or less. The atmosphere in the office is also difficult to describe. At some points it's very relaxed, but at others it seems quite tense and stressful--many people with pinched faces...

This has been one of the most dizzying, confusing, exciting, and intimidating days of my time in Japan. I thought that reading manga or watching anime or even talking to other adults about their jobs had given me some idea of what the working company world in Japan is like, and I did have an idea to a small extent, but the full-on company inundation was rather overwhelming. Let me start at the beginning. I had a late start today so I wasn't expected in the office until noon. I took the time to admire the very offical-looking office building: This is the third largest building in Kanazawa and houses the Hokkoku newspaper, a hospital, a performance hall, and a golf club, among other things. At noon I was met by my liason, Mr. Yasuda who took me around the building and generally put me at ease. At two we drove to the Ishikawa prefectural government building where Zoey and I had a very formal meeting with the head of the government. I had a three minute speech, mostl...