"Hai" and the etherial Japanese meaning of "Yes"

One of the interesting oddities of Japanese is the meaning of the word "yes". On the face of it "yes" would normally be inferred to mean, well "yes". But not necessarily so in Japan.

Here "yes" can literally mean yes, no, maybe or even "I'm sorry, I haven't a clue what you're saying". You can imagine the depths of the confusion this can lead too especially when first encountering the word "hai" (the Japanese word for "yes").

The yes and no meanings typically happen in business. A question asked in English may genuinely receive a positive confirmation. However, and this is often the case, it could be a strategic yes, where the answer is actually no but everyone in the room is working out exactly how to break the bad news. 

Added to this, there is often a concern about clarifications. Asking a Japanese colleague "do you understand" will invariably illicit a positive response however the reality could very well be "may be, I'll have a think" or even "what did he say?". Especially in a group it would be rare for someone to actually put their hand up and "Sorry, didn't get that. Could you explain again?" 

And then there's the I haven't a clue what you'er talking about. If someone says "hai" but with a distinctly upward inflection and then just stands there looking at you, you need to try again. This wasn't a yes confirmation but more a statement of "what did you just say?". 

Oh, and don't even get me started on the answers to negative questions. I'll save that one for another day.

The PoW's of Karuizawa

Karuizawa is a quiet town some two and a half hours drive from Tokyo. However, before the highways were built it was a post town on the Nakasendo, one of the main routes from Tokyo to Kyoto where people could rest for the night. And their journey was a lot longer than two and a half hours. Before trains and reasonable roads the journey would take up to four days and part of that was scrambling over rocky hillsides.

So in 1939 when hostilities broke out between Japan and the western allies it seemed the perfect place to intern non-combatant prisoners of war. In America there were camps on the west coast where people of Japanese descent were interned. In Britain people of German ancestry were held on the Isle of Man. And in Japan they were held in Karuizawa, in the central mountains, in the middle of a forest covering half the journey back to Tokyo. And if anyone did try to escape, where were they going to go to anyway?

It's interesting that this is a little known side of Karuizawa however the father of an American friend of mine was one of those caught up in the chaos of war and spent several years in actually quite a beautiful area. Deep snow in winter and cooler than Tokyo in summer. And now, all these years later his son is building a summer retreat here. He learned of it from the stories told by his father and has decided it's somewhere he wants to spend more time. I guess it's true, every cloud does have a silver lining after all.

Dengue Fever Grips Japan...

A little melodramatic as a title I have to admit. A month ago the first cases of Dengue Fever occurred in Tokyo since the end of WWII. It seemed to originate from Yoyogi Park, the main open expanse in central Tokyo, a little like Central Park in Manhattan or Hyde Park in London. The theory is that someone carrying the disease brought it back from overseas and was then bitten in the park infecting the mosquitos there. And since then it's been steadily spreading across Japan.

The fact that it could be eradicated in 1945 with all the hardships and constraints on resources the country was experiencing speaks well for the chances this time around as well. However, it's not pleasant for those who contracted it and you have to be impressed it was identified at all considering it hasn't been around for nearly seventy years.

And so people are beginning to avoid anywhere where mosquitos are known to inhabit. Yoyogi is closed, a friend's building in Shinjuku is only allowing entrance through a side door avoiding a garden harbouring the insects. And this morning I found it very easy to get coffee at my local Starbucks. Normally at 8.00AM on a pleasant summer morning I wouldn't be able to get a seat. But today, there wasn't much competition.

Kei Nishikori - a turning point?

First, congratulations for Cilic for taking his first grand slam title and to Kei Nishikori for being a worthy opponent. Although the match was a little one sided let's not forget Nishikori beat Djokovic to get there. Not many people have that feather in their cap. 

And then to address the question of whether Nishikori is the first Asian in a final the devil is in the detail. He is clearly the first man from Asia and one holding Asian nationality at the time to be in a final. Michael Chang was born in New Jersey to Taiwanese parents and is listed American so although of Asian descent, he wasn't actually from Asia or holding an Asian nationality at the time.

However for me this match seems to have been something of a turning point for the fans even if not the players. One area of development the Japan sports authorities has worked hard on over the years is to encourage the average fan (as opposed to the dedicated one) to support their team / player / athlete even when they're losing. Historically, if a team under-performed, the support simply dried up and interest moved on. England would regularly play to empty stadiums if people there took this approach!

So the most interesting aspect of the Nishikori defeat for me has not been the condemnation but the wide spread support in defeat. Losing is taboo in Japan with even Olympic athletes being forced to apologise to the nation if they didn't bring home a gold. However, so far on-line media is reflecting on the positives. He made it. He beat Djokovic. He's put his name firmly on the global map of athletes. And everyone seems to be saying "well done". Congratulations Cilic. Congratulations Nishikori. I wonder if this is a turning point. I really hope I don't need to delete this post in the coming days.

Farewell Virgin - it's been a good flight

[Update] And so it ends. The last flight flew and an era ends. Great team and great people. Thank you for all.

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Twice in a week I've started a post this way. After twenty five years Virgin Atlantic have announced they're pulling out of Japan. And I've been flying with them for twenty three of those years. A huge thank you to the staff and crew who have provided an outstanding service over that time. I still miss the lounge on the plane which preceded even the bar. And yes, I'll also miss the bar. And the massage. And the car. And the lounge at Heathrow. And the in-car check-in. And all the people I've met over the years at that in-flight bar.

The alternatives for those travelling Japan to the UK are now limited to BA, JAL and ANA. JAL seats are designed for people with knees approximately six inches closer to their body and BA employs a layout designed to make you introduce yourself to the person eating from your lap. So I guess it's going to be ANA (pronounced zen-nikku if you were wondering) but I hear good things about them. They have a habit of landing on the correct runway and parts of the planes don't seem to come off too often (also reasons I'm not that keen on JAL).

I choose to live in Japan but some aspects of life can be difficult and complicated for the non-native. The service provided by Citibank and Virgin made some things just that little bit easier. As the phrase goes, "so long and thanks for all the fish". And the parties with Richard Branson of course.

The sirens of a tsunami

Some things in life you like to forget. Indeed some people in life you like to forget. Let them go, move on. However some things in life you can't forget. Changing channels last night I came across a documentary on the earthquake and tsunami of March 2011. And in every piece of film footage there were the tsunami sirens. As I say, some things you'd like to forget. And some things you can't.

Time - A very Japanese concept

Soon it will be the Autumnal Equinox, a phrase I have never heard used outside Japan but as it's one of the national holidays here, it makes it into every calendar there is. For those unsure of the actual nature of an equinox, it's a day that occurs twice a year when night and day are precisely the same length. Twelve hours of daylight and twelve hours of darkness. In Spring it signals the advent of longer evenings and in Autumn it's the bringer of cold mornings and huddling home early.

In Japan though it was one of the few days of rest for the local village monks for one of their roles was always to adjust the clocks. Time in medieval Japan was not measure in the regular way of dividing the day into twenty four hours. This was a European concept and not adopted until contact was established hundreds of years later.

A day in Japan was divided into twelve hours. Six of them for daylight and six of them for darkness. And there lay the problem and the need for constant adjustment. As the period of daylight and darkness varied throughout the year, so the clocks needs moving slightly forward or backwards depending on the annual cycle. Life for the village monk used to be a busy one, rushing to update time pieces everywhere. 

You have to wonder though what they do now to keep busy in the modern era of quartz watches and hours that remain an hour irrespective of the time of year.