The Even Greater Tokyo Region

Tonami:
The convenience of the inaka combined with the intimacy of a big city.

I complain often about having been placed in the middle of nowhere. Almost bi-weekly, friends and me lament about this place. The either unbearably hot/ stupidly snowy/ persistently rainy weather, the depressing city layout with no shops worth going to, the lack of people between ages 18 and 35, the huge distances to get to Kansai or Tokyo… the list goes on. Many people then point out that living in the countryside (the inaka) in Japan is a unique experience. The people are friendlier, not so concerned about time, a sense of community.

But this isn’t true either. In fact, there are several smaller towns around Tonami. People from those towns come to Tonami for fun. What this means is, Tonami is neither a “city”, nor is it inaka. There is no sense of community. Just a few days ago, I was walking down main-street, and there were leftover festival decorations. They had a festival without us! Nobody told us. This is not the 1st time. It is the 4th time. Plus a small festival for all the people in the city block I live in.

I haven’t even met my neighbours. Actually, I lie. When I arrived, we met one. He was trying to sell his girlfriend’s car at the same time I needed a car. He said if I bought it, he would shout me to a ramen restaurant. I never ate noodles with him. I live in an apartment building, and I suspect most people are young-ish people with very a very busy job (or two). It certainly isn’t the inaka we are told about Japan where you frequently get given vegetables to take home. (This only happened once when I went on what I thought was kind-of a date, but she brought a chaperone friend along, and we just drove around for a day. At the end of the day, she took me home to meet her mother. Well, maybe I didn’t have a chance with this girl, but I certainly had my chance with the mother. She loved me. I know this because she said, “I love you”… many times. Anyways, she gave me a selection of vegetables including onions, sweet potatoes and potatoes to take home. Jeez that was awkward. I was less sad after that that I wasn’t living in the inaka, if that was the price for vegetables).

So apart from that, I never really felt the sense of small-community that I was expecting when I arrived… until this weekend. A good friend of a bunch of us ALTs came up for the weekend. I live in the “big city” of Tonami, and frankly, I have probably the nicest apartment to host someone, so she stayed at my place. Yes, “she”… (Japanese people will express shock that people of completely different genders- for example male vs. female -can be friends. The experience of going through my photo album from home inevitably involves the Japanese person asking, “is she your girlfriend” about every girl who makes an appearance.) My favourite elementary school happened to have their school festival on the Sunday. I wanted to go along. My students there are 11 or 12, and such cheeky little shites. I love them.

My friend said she wanted to come along. I realised that this would flare up rumours enough to engulf California that I have a girlfriend. But she really wanted to go, and I’m not going to let the threat of a harmless rumour dictate my weekends. Besides, what am I going to say, no?

All my students there went crazy when they saw me with a girl, but we did point out we weren’t a couple. Not that us telling them that we aren’t a couple would make them think something as preposterous that we aren’t a couple. She was great with my students too. It was really quite funny. One student, I’m sure she has a big crush on me. She seemed really down that I was “off the market…” so cute.
I also ran into my ex-vice principal. He is working at another ALTs school now, so I had a very nice talk with him. He’s such a cool guy. I miss having him at my school. I also saw a lot of other people I know: basketball teammates, people from city hall, students from other schools and their parents. It was a fun morning.

Well, the next day, I got a message from that ALT who has my ex-VP.
“I hear you have a girlfriend!” he wrote.

So, it turns out, my cool ex-vice Principal was gossiping about me to another teacher who I haven’t even met, when my friend walked in.

So, I might not be getting vegetables on a regular basis, but at least I have the privilege to be the topic of vocal tabloids across the city. It’s time for another one of those bi-weekly lamentations.