I would like to share with you my weekend, which was loaded with “Japaneseness” (a term actually used by Japanese academics). It started Friday night with the first earthquake I consciously experienced. It was not a heavy one and at first I thought someone was shaking his leg until it got to a point where the whole earth was somewhat shaking and I had to conclude that it was an earthquake. Except for me and the other gaijin (non-Japanese person) in the room everybody else was unfazed and continued undisturbed with whatever task was in front of them. On seeing my face one of the Japanese exclaimed: “welcome to Japan!”.
The next day I visited the Ghibli museum. Ghibli, for the ones who are not familiar with it, is the movie studio of which Miyazaki, a living legend in Japan, is a part and that makes anime (spirited away, my neighbor Totoro, and many more). The museum was somewhat small and not much of a museum in the traditional sense of the word but it gave you a good experience of the magic that makes for Ghibli’s succes. The ticket for example, was a little cut from a movie, and the entire building seemed to fit in a world normally only realized in Ghibli movie. The most interesting part of the museum was a room that copied the residence of Miyazaki: it felt as if what he say in his head had to surround him: drawings were tagged to the wall to a point where it was hard to actually see the wall, and a wide variety of odd objects filled the space. It was necessary for him transform his room in an extension of his newest brainchild so that upon entering his team knew how the movie had to look and feel. In the week leading up to this visit I watched about 7 Ghibli movies by the way, and they all were a delight.
Afterwards some of us decided that it was time for sushi and we sat down at one of the places where plates of sushi pass you on a little conveyer belt and you take whatever speaks to you. The taste was good and at 120 yen a serving I ended my diner with a big stack of plates in front of me. A visit to a typical Japanese manifestation of a hobby gone to the extreme was next on the agenda. The neko café (neko (ねこ) means cat) caters to the Tokyoite that finds it impossible to live without a cat in his life but is contractually forbidden to have one in his apartment. For 900 yen the hour we had access to room with about 8 cats spoiled to the bone. Most of them slept the whole time and were not interested in the toys continuously shoved in their face by the clientele that wanted to play with them. For an additional fee, however, one of the cat lovers got all the attention since he now had a small box of cat candy. This man was a regular for about nine years and told us tourists in a distinguished way how he knew all the cats from back when they still were kittens. While leaving I remembered the cat my family used to have and how this experience in no way is the same as actually owning a cat. But better than nothing I guess.
Sunday I went to visit Tim, a Dutch friend I met at the UVT. He is in Tokyo to study humanoid robots and he showed me around Waseda university during its festival. But first we went to his laboratory where his robot was being worked on. The lab is somewhat removed from the main campus and is open 24/7 and 365 day a year, simple, and no nonsense. With advanced software and simple tools a team of about 10 guys work on their passion almost nonstop, with sleeping bags under the desk to prove it. The lab, to me, was a manifestation of the Japanese work spirit. The downside of this spirit is that the Japanese team members have to have lunch at the literature department if they ever want to see a woman, at all. But, that is a problem that they are working on since after the army and the care industry, the sex industry is the most interested in humanoid robots. And, as I was explained, that industry only needs robots for simple and repetitive motions so they will come in the near future and be affordable.
And finally, a tortoise wearing shoes.
So there you go, a weekend in Tokyo.
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