ASAKUSA Underground > A shelter from the Japanese society
The cafe is called Mickey House. I dont know why it has such a name. It
is an English Conversation Cafe (See the article in Things to know section) in Takada-no-Baba, where I
used to go quite often.
I was a senior student in a college, looking for a permanent job. I didn't really know what I wanted to do in the future. Sometimes I thought of travelling abroad for a year or two, and a moment later I tried to dissuade myself from it, because it was not realistic and I needed to find a position in a Japanese company like other students. I simply didn't want to decide anything. I just wanted to put off everything. I said to myself, I should do something to widen my horizons, but in fact I didn't want to work. At least, not yet.
That is the time when I frequented the cafe I was unsure of my future. While other senior students had secured their job, it didn't seem that I would get one. I don't know if I was looking for a shelter from the harsh reality. Anyway, I went there very often. I met many tourists from abroad there. It was fun, rather exciting. My fondest memory of all is talking with the owner of the cafe.
He was more than fifty years old even then. Now he must be in his late sixties. He had a very nice smile.
One day, I told him and his regular customers that I wanted to spend a year or two travelling abroad. Everyone was against the idea. It was quite understandable because I had no particular purposes to go abroad. Then, the owner gave me good advice, telling me about his own personal experiences.
I was a bit like you, young man, he said, When I was a senior student at
college, I also hunted a job like others. I got a position in a post office.
Then I wondered if I really wanted to be a postman. I wanted to travel
abroad, too. It was a difficult choice between the secured life of a postal
worker and the precarious life after the long voyage. Well, I was not able
to imagine me working in a post office. I made up my mind. I saved up about
20,000 dollars, doing part time jobs. I worked all day long, from early
morning till late night. I fried millions of schnitzels in a ton-katsu
restaurant. After that, I left Japan.
I spent two years in England and three years in Switzerland, the owner said. I travelled and worked. It was fun. I learned English at a language institute, and worked at a chalet in the Alps. Then, I came back to Japan. I could stay in Europe and I should have, but I came home.
After I came back, I found a job in a hotel in Tokyo, he said. It was my first full-time job in Japan. It wasnt easy at all. Since I was almost thirty, some experienced workers there were younger than I was. They didnt want to tell me how things are done at the hotel. Some of them are unkind, rather nasty. One kicked me while working. I felt miserable.
Sometimes we had an office party, which the management organized for tax exemption. Some of the managers I worked for were bad drunks, and so happy to let off steam on my colleagues and me. It was terrible.
It seemed to me that his advice was the most convincing of all. In spite of his kind and thoughtful dissuasion, I couldnt help travelling abroad. Eventually, I left the college and set off. No one can stop his own craving.
I had worked for ten years at the hotel. The owner continues his story. Thanks to my experience in Europe, I was able to speak English, but it was useless in a small hotel like that one. It bothered my colleagues. They thought it was cheeky of me to speak English. One day, we had a customer from abroad and I spoke to him in English. My manager said to me, Stop it, idiot! You don't have to show off. If you show you can speak English, all other staff has to learn it. Just pretend you cant speak it! The owner grinned.
In a way, I was lucky, he said. While I was working for the hotel, I happened to meet the former owner of this cafe He asked me if I wanted to buy the cafe Then, I saved enough money and finally bought it.
His story was very scary to me. Though I hadnt had any experience of working
full-time in a Japanese company at that time, I was able to feel the misery
at work, which inevitably I would have to go through after graduation.
It is easy to conclude that an old-timer kicking a newcomer is a phenomenon
resulting from the caste-like Japanese corporate climate. However, analyzing
it is not the same thing as really working in that environment. The word
kicking petrified me. Oh, my goodness, I will be in a big trouble, I thought.
Japan looked like a civilized country, but at personal level, especially
at work we were not democratic at all. I felt like I was confronting a
barbarous and cruel reality, which would haunt me for the rest of my life.
Watch out! The life of a salaryman must be a nightmare, I said to myself.
At that moment, I felt something had snapped in my heart.
The cafetier told his bitter past frankly without patronizing me. While talking, he kept smiling nicely. I couldnt recognize any expression of a grudge. I liked his smile a lot. The more often I came to his English conversation cafe the more I liked it. I thought his life was a story with a happy ending in an unexpected way.
The Japanese society has changed. Of course, yes, but old soldiers do not disappear so easily. Certain things still remain the same. One of them is the punishment on a black sheep. If you are different from others and gutsy enough to fight against a Goliath, they will not only exclude you from the group but also bully you. It is not just at work. At school, in a neighbourhood, in a family, it is like this almost in any sphere of the Japanese life.
You have to be a worker in this society. It is better if you are a salaried worker. To be one, you are forced to melt into the homogeneity of the company. How can a black sheep find a job? If you are a black sheep without a stable job, you have to be ready to provoke suspicions among your neighbours. He doesn't go to work. He must be a troublemaker, they may say behind your back.
You are looking for troubles if you say, I will travel for a year or two, instead of working. To others, you are a man swimming away from their boat only by your own might. Why dont you do like us? When you are in trouble, it is your fault. Don't look to us for help. They wont tell you anything, but it is what they would like to say. They think they know better than you do. Thats what Japanese people are like and it is what the Japanese society is based on.
Despite such prejudice, or probably jealousy, I find it worthwhile to live abroad for a certain period of ones life in order to expand his horizons or promote international cultural exchange in a small way. I dont think you can use your experience abroad in an ordinary corner of middle class Japan. Neither can you make a living by your language skill right away. Nevertheless, in the long run it will enrich your life.
They have various purposes when they come to an English conversation cafe. Some come there to brush up his English. Others come to meet a boy or a girl. Travellers can exchange their information. Whatever your purpose is, you can meet different kinds of people there. It is very refreshing. Outside the cafe prevails the monotonous and homogenous Japanese society. It is really choking. When one needs to breathe some fresh air, it is a good place. The cafe guarantees that you will meet free people and have humane conversations with them. I want visitors from abroad to see this unusual establishment.
Personally, I haven't been to the English conversation cafe recently. Is it a sign that I am stuck in my daily routine?
Every time I think about the cafe it reminds me of my university days when I was not sure of my future at all.
[Related articles]
・Confession of Nampa Samurai
A shelter from the Japanese society
The cafe is called Mickey House. I dont know why it has such a name. It
is an English Conversation Cafe (See the article in Things to know section) in Takada-no-Baba, where I
used to go quite often.I was a senior student in a college, looking for a permanent job. I didn't really know what I wanted to do in the future. Sometimes I thought of travelling abroad for a year or two, and a moment later I tried to dissuade myself from it, because it was not realistic and I needed to find a position in a Japanese company like other students. I simply didn't want to decide anything. I just wanted to put off everything. I said to myself, I should do something to widen my horizons, but in fact I didn't want to work. At least, not yet.
That is the time when I frequented the cafe I was unsure of my future. While other senior students had secured their job, it didn't seem that I would get one. I don't know if I was looking for a shelter from the harsh reality. Anyway, I went there very often. I met many tourists from abroad there. It was fun, rather exciting. My fondest memory of all is talking with the owner of the cafe.
He was more than fifty years old even then. Now he must be in his late sixties. He had a very nice smile.
One day, I told him and his regular customers that I wanted to spend a year or two travelling abroad. Everyone was against the idea. It was quite understandable because I had no particular purposes to go abroad. Then, the owner gave me good advice, telling me about his own personal experiences.
I was a bit like you, young man, he said, When I was a senior student at
college, I also hunted a job like others. I got a position in a post office.
Then I wondered if I really wanted to be a postman. I wanted to travel
abroad, too. It was a difficult choice between the secured life of a postal
worker and the precarious life after the long voyage. Well, I was not able
to imagine me working in a post office. I made up my mind. I saved up about
20,000 dollars, doing part time jobs. I worked all day long, from early
morning till late night. I fried millions of schnitzels in a ton-katsu
restaurant. After that, I left Japan.I spent two years in England and three years in Switzerland, the owner said. I travelled and worked. It was fun. I learned English at a language institute, and worked at a chalet in the Alps. Then, I came back to Japan. I could stay in Europe and I should have, but I came home.
After I came back, I found a job in a hotel in Tokyo, he said. It was my first full-time job in Japan. It wasnt easy at all. Since I was almost thirty, some experienced workers there were younger than I was. They didnt want to tell me how things are done at the hotel. Some of them are unkind, rather nasty. One kicked me while working. I felt miserable.
Sometimes we had an office party, which the management organized for tax exemption. Some of the managers I worked for were bad drunks, and so happy to let off steam on my colleagues and me. It was terrible.
It seemed to me that his advice was the most convincing of all. In spite of his kind and thoughtful dissuasion, I couldnt help travelling abroad. Eventually, I left the college and set off. No one can stop his own craving.
I had worked for ten years at the hotel. The owner continues his story. Thanks to my experience in Europe, I was able to speak English, but it was useless in a small hotel like that one. It bothered my colleagues. They thought it was cheeky of me to speak English. One day, we had a customer from abroad and I spoke to him in English. My manager said to me, Stop it, idiot! You don't have to show off. If you show you can speak English, all other staff has to learn it. Just pretend you cant speak it! The owner grinned.
In a way, I was lucky, he said. While I was working for the hotel, I happened to meet the former owner of this cafe He asked me if I wanted to buy the cafe Then, I saved enough money and finally bought it.
His story was very scary to me. Though I hadnt had any experience of working
full-time in a Japanese company at that time, I was able to feel the misery
at work, which inevitably I would have to go through after graduation.
It is easy to conclude that an old-timer kicking a newcomer is a phenomenon
resulting from the caste-like Japanese corporate climate. However, analyzing
it is not the same thing as really working in that environment. The word
kicking petrified me. Oh, my goodness, I will be in a big trouble, I thought.
Japan looked like a civilized country, but at personal level, especially
at work we were not democratic at all. I felt like I was confronting a
barbarous and cruel reality, which would haunt me for the rest of my life.
Watch out! The life of a salaryman must be a nightmare, I said to myself.
At that moment, I felt something had snapped in my heart.The cafetier told his bitter past frankly without patronizing me. While talking, he kept smiling nicely. I couldnt recognize any expression of a grudge. I liked his smile a lot. The more often I came to his English conversation cafe the more I liked it. I thought his life was a story with a happy ending in an unexpected way.
The Japanese society has changed. Of course, yes, but old soldiers do not disappear so easily. Certain things still remain the same. One of them is the punishment on a black sheep. If you are different from others and gutsy enough to fight against a Goliath, they will not only exclude you from the group but also bully you. It is not just at work. At school, in a neighbourhood, in a family, it is like this almost in any sphere of the Japanese life.
You have to be a worker in this society. It is better if you are a salaried worker. To be one, you are forced to melt into the homogeneity of the company. How can a black sheep find a job? If you are a black sheep without a stable job, you have to be ready to provoke suspicions among your neighbours. He doesn't go to work. He must be a troublemaker, they may say behind your back.
You are looking for troubles if you say, I will travel for a year or two, instead of working. To others, you are a man swimming away from their boat only by your own might. Why dont you do like us? When you are in trouble, it is your fault. Don't look to us for help. They wont tell you anything, but it is what they would like to say. They think they know better than you do. Thats what Japanese people are like and it is what the Japanese society is based on.
Despite such prejudice, or probably jealousy, I find it worthwhile to live abroad for a certain period of ones life in order to expand his horizons or promote international cultural exchange in a small way. I dont think you can use your experience abroad in an ordinary corner of middle class Japan. Neither can you make a living by your language skill right away. Nevertheless, in the long run it will enrich your life.
They have various purposes when they come to an English conversation cafe. Some come there to brush up his English. Others come to meet a boy or a girl. Travellers can exchange their information. Whatever your purpose is, you can meet different kinds of people there. It is very refreshing. Outside the cafe prevails the monotonous and homogenous Japanese society. It is really choking. When one needs to breathe some fresh air, it is a good place. The cafe guarantees that you will meet free people and have humane conversations with them. I want visitors from abroad to see this unusual establishment.
Personally, I haven't been to the English conversation cafe recently. Is it a sign that I am stuck in my daily routine?
Every time I think about the cafe it reminds me of my university days when I was not sure of my future at all.
[Related articles]
・Confession of Nampa Samurai