I slept in and only caught the 10:00 bus to the Nippon Steel Research and Engineering center where I used to intern.\u00c2\u00a0 I was not able to meet everyone I knew from back then, but came close.\u00c2\u00a0 Many of the group I worked with had been transferred – only three, as far as I can tell, still work in what was the Steelmaking research group.\u00c2\u00a0 My direct supervisor, Sasai-san, I had to go find in the administration department, where he was busy with planning company-wide research and development activities.\u00c2\u00a0 While that sounds like a nifty promotion into a position of increased power and responsibility, Sasai-san is a researcher and I get the impression he longs to be back doing research.\u00c2\u00a0 If you know an engineer with a research bent, you’ll understand.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
Yamada-san had organized a mini-concert at lunch with the Music Club.\u00c2\u00a0 He had asked me to play and I’d agreed to play one song.\u00c2\u00a0 My family will know right away that I played “Autumn Leaves” as it is the only song I can reasonably manage.\u00c2\u00a0 I guess I need to start practising for next year – it won’t do to be a one-hit wonder.\u00c2\u00a0 (As I write that and think about how well I play, I’m tempted to add another letter, but I try to keep this blog clean.)\u00c2\u00a0 Yamada-san himself played a difficult Mozart piece and a small choir with Tsuri-san from the mail center sang a Japanese piece, superbly accompanied on the piano by another Yamada-san.\u00c2\u00a0 It made me glad to have several former co-workers in the audience – even my old boss, Matsumiya-bucho, now a “fellow,” ate lunch in record time to make it to the concert.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
With so many people to meet and everyone apparently glad to see me it at times felt like being a celebrity, which I find weird.\u00c2\u00a0 Kishida-san at the travel agency, who had changed from floral-patterned to striped “diet slippers,” commented that I was very popular because people passing by their glass front would recognize me and say hi.\u00c2\u00a0 I have done nothing to deserve this popularity except for looking different, which is hardly something I chose.\u00c2\u00a0 I wonder if real celebrities are as mystified at their status as I am, if a continual confusion regarding the grounds of their celebrity causes them to do the wacky stuff we see them do.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
Unfortunately March is perhaps the busiest month in Japan, the end of the financial year, and so some meetings such as the one with Ohashi-san were cut a bit short because of company meetings.\u00c2\u00a0 Perhaps better planning on my part could prevent that, but for an essentially unplanned visit I got to see almost all the people I wanted to for at least a little bit.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mizuno-san had reserved a table at the Futtsu club, where we were joined by many NSTR scientists as well as Koji Hirano and Yamada-san.\u00c2\u00a0 Of course, the purpose of a nomikai is to eat and especially to drink, and although several people also refrained from alcohol, I was the only one not to drink for purposes other than being able to drive a vehicle.\u00c2\u00a0 Sure enough, Oe-san pronounced me “boring” with a little shake of his head, and repeatedly tried to get me to share some of his shochu<\/a>.\u00c2\u00a0 I wish I could have.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s so hard to explain that being a Christian by no means requires giving up alcohol or being boring, but that I see it as an exercise in restraint and that the whole point of disciplined restraint is practising it even when it’s unpleasant.\u00c2\u00a0 All I could do was promise I’d drink with them again next time.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n We got into a discussion about how certain people eat certain animals without compunction and why that is, mostly because we got onto the topic of whale meat.\u00c2\u00a0 Someone wondered why Christian countries are so up in arms against Japan’s whaling, but someone else pointed out that Norway whales as well.\u00c2\u00a0 There are, of course, strong connections between religion and diet, so the conclusion is not that far off the mark – although I fear that Christians tend to care very little about the welfare of whales, especially those who feel the UN is about to subjugate the world to totalitarian rule.\u00c2\u00a0 I’ll admit to a preoccupation with the welfare of other humans over that of whales myself.\u00c2\u00a0 But in the end a lot seems to be habit: Japanese people don’t mind a fish being cut up alive and made into sashimi, while they cringe at the thought of wringing the neck of a chicken or killing a lamb by cutting the jugular.\u00c2\u00a0 They also wouldn’t eat bunnies.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n After dinner there was the choice of either going back to the dormitory or joining Suzuki-san, Oe-san, Nakamura-san, and Otsuka-san (not related to the maker of Pocari Sweat<\/a>) for a so-called “nijikai,” second gathering.\u00c2\u00a0 We went to a sunakku<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0called gombei, which apparently means “totally drunk,” had some snacks including whale (no dolphin, although Oe-san declared that to be very tasty), and sang endless songs on karaoke.\u00c2\u00a0 Ms. Otsuka left after a short while – she may have been waiting for transportation, I don’t quite know – and so it was the four of us, sometimes picking songs as a challenge rather than because we were able to sing them well.\u00c2\u00a0 I tried my first ever Japanese karaoke song and at least got the refrain right because I have the CD with that song.\u00c2\u00a0 Nakamura-san and Suzuki-san sang a famous Japanese Enka song for me, one of Ishikawa Sayuri<\/a>‘s best-known, \u00e6\u00b4\u00a5\u00e8\u00bb\u00bd\u00e6\u00b5\u00b7\u00e5\u00b3\u00a1\u00e5\u2020\u00ac\u00e6\u2122\u00af\u00e8\u2030\u00b2<\/a>, a hit in the year of my birth.\u00c2\u00a0 I have that on CD, too.\u00c2\u00a0 Enka’s recurring themes of nostalgia, loneliness, loss, and wistful longing should assure it a continued popularity with modern homeless man – and I wouldn’t be surprised if similar genres gain popularity elsewhere, at least while there are still people who know how to express this type of sadness.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n A few of the guys – especially Sato-san, who shares my predicament – commented on how I’ve lost hair.\u00c2\u00a0 I take comments like that as a sign of friendship.\u00c2\u00a0 Mere acquaintances won’t vocalize such observations.\u00c2\u00a0 I’ve also learned an important lesson: losing hair will keep people from noticing you’ve gained weight.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n