Day 1 in Japan: Not According to Plan at Riuva : Research Institute for Unicultural Visual Arts

Day 1 in Japan: Not According to Plan

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Popularity: 4% [?] Published by tj_han July 24th, 2009 in Travel

I had a pretty good idea of what to write for day 1. That is, until the past 4-5 hours, when strange happenings occurred.

The day started off with day 0, which was the previous night at Changi Airport. A few of the otaku gang came to see me off, for some reason. I knew I was popular. Anyway, I was going with 2 other girls on the same flight, but realised I did not obtain their handphone numbers and thus I went ahead and checked in without waiting for them. After an hour or two, they showed up and we boarded the plane, which was the new A380, featuring USB ports and all that.

I saw Push, the Dakota Fanning super power movie, and half of Monsters vs Aliens on board. Push is not as bad as reviews say it is, and it should never have gotten the 1/5s it did. I’ll compare it to Hunter x Hunter live-action but with a more convoluted plot and with hottie Camillia Belle.

Night flights are ridiculously uncomfortable for macho men with beefy muscles and long legs like myself as it’s next to impossible to sleep.

At Narita, I realised that the soap dispensers are fucking high-tech! Not only do they dispense by sensor (ok) but they also atomise the soap into foam for you on the spot so you feel extra clean! WOW.

As it was 7-8 am in the morning, I reckoned the Keisei Limited Express, which costs 1000 yen and was the cheapest means to leave the airport, was going to be packed like monkey balls. So I queued up for the Narita Express by Japan Railways, plus Suica card combo for 3500 yen instead. It sounds like a good deal as you get a 2000 yen travel card for essentially free. But some guy popped up and asked if I wanted to go anywhere, for 3000 yen. I asked if he could send me straight to Waseda’s hostel and he agreed.

It was probably a good deal, since we didn’t have to lug our bags around in the trains and could ride in comfort to the doorstep of our lodging. An interesting encounter was with the only other occupant of the minibus (with leather seats and 32 inch hdTV), who turned out to be the MANAGER of some TAIWANESE CELEBRITY who had come to Japan to perform. I talked to her about what the job of a manager required, and whether male or female artistes were easier to serve. I asked for the name of her talent as well and she said some weird Chinese name that I have no recollection or knowledge of, so I brushed it off with the line "Oh I guess I’m not familiar with Taiwanese stars." I felt so heroic like Sentinel011 who spoke to the manager of Chihara Minori.

Ok I jest.

The hostel at Waseda that caters to international students is pretty good. Soshi, our newest writer on Riuva, wants to stay in there badly. It has airconditioning, attachment bathroom, nice bed, giant fridge, balcony and best of all, free Japanese hot chicks in uniforms solving problems for you. There are these two hotties who wore jumpers not unlike those worn by Tomoya in Clannad After Story, and they had faces like gravure idols. For some inexplicable reason, they were in charge of logistics of the dormitory. I’ll try to ask for photo of them.

After settling the little shitty bits of administrative work, I went to get some groceries at nearby store and to eat lunch. It was then that, a rather pretty girl and an wizened old woman shoved brochures of Japanese bibles into my hands and chatted me up. At first I pretended to not know any Japanese, so they would buzz off because as we all know, I don’t like evangelicising Christians. But in the end, they invited me for free curry rice dinner at a Christian party at their church and a meal costs like 10 SG dollars here so I agreed.

That turned out to be possibly life-changing a decision.

Now, before you guys go all crazy and start accusing me of being "brainwashed", I must reiterate that I still am a freethinker and religionless. That said, my impression of Christians have changed for the better, from "Delusional Sheep used by evil men in power" to, "Some Japanese Christians are nice people." The Japanese ones are very friendly and nice, probably because of a few reasons which I have listed below:

1. Their population is 1 percent of the country. This means that they must find it hard to get new members and would treasure their existing ones.

2. The churches are made up of Koreans, American-Japanese, Japanese, Chinese and other nationalities, and there is no animosity or even any tension. In fact, everyone’s busy translating each others’ God praises into multiple languages. I find that Japanese churches tend to be like safe havens for expats or foreign students, to some degree, and this improves the members’ camaraderie.

3. It’s not corporatised like in Singapore or in the USA, where you have to pay 10 percent of your monthly salary to the Chuch if not they’ll hunt you down and burn your face while calling you a son of Satan. Then again, maybe I was just lucky enough to go to a good church.

That said, I promise to stop laughing at Christians (in Japan) for the near future. I’ve made like 20 new Japanese friends in a single night thanks to my open-mindedness in going to a stranger’s event, and it really was a unique experience that most tourists in Tokyo would never think of going for. Their brand of Christianity is also really a bit different in terms of how they do their worship. It’s a bit like otakus singing anime songs on loop. When their Christian songs end, a guy or girl will randomly shout a line from the same song and they’ll continue there in an eternal loop until everyone’s hoarse. Also Jesus in Japanese sounds a bit like Ieyasu from Tokugawa. That said, I enjoyed myself immensely, it was a truly life-changing experience.

If any of you real Christians ever come to Waseda for schooling or for exchange, I’ll recommend you to pop by this particular church for your worship needs. Just drop me a message on facebook and I’ll pass you some contact details.

PS. There are no photos because I am lazy ass. It’s all on my facebook account, but I took only like 6 photos, 4 of which were of my hostel room.

Popularity: 4% [?]

24 Responses to “Day 1 in Japan: Not According to Plan”

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1 gordon 26 comments Jul 24th, 2009 at 10:39 pm

e-mail sent.
2 TP 15 comments Jul 24th, 2009 at 10:39 pm

Lolz. You remind me of Diego Buñuel in “Don’t Tell My Mother I’m In…“, I figured you’re there because of the free lunch. Just kidding.

That said, you should take a look at datacomp’s article about the wave of religious parties in Japan. Something to ponder while I break your happy mood. And Equality Now’s intent on a permanent ban of eroge in Japan.
3 Soshi 32 comments Jul 24th, 2009 at 11:03 pm

I think I have a rough idea of which church it is… But I shall ask you for the details anyway. Not that I’m looking for a church in particular but I’m nerdy and i want to survey different religions around the world…

“the hostel at Waseda that caters to international students is pretty good. Soshi, our newest writer on Riuva, wants to stay in there badly. It has airconditioning, attachment bathroom, nice bed, giant fridge, balcony and best of all, free Japanese hot chicks in uniforms solving problems for you.” –> Somehow I sound damn strange here lah. Hahah. But it’s cheap! And fully-equipped! With attached! Bathroom! AND HOT JAPANESE CHICKS.

Newest writer will get to writing this weekend!
4 Tenshi_MKII 36 comments Jul 24th, 2009 at 11:11 pm

QUOTE: At Narita, I realised that the soap dispensers are fucking high-tech! Not only do they dispense by sensor (ok) but they also atomise the soap into foam for you on the spot so you feel extra clean! WOW.

Actually if I remember correctly, there was this Singapore shopping center that has auto-soap dispensers.
5 tj_han 1440 comments Jul 24th, 2009 at 11:24 pm

Tenshi: I was like “WOAH” when it squirted out foam instead of soap. At high speed no less.

Soshi: I don’t think there are that many churches in the area. Or japan for that matter.

TP: Japan has always had a huge number of cults with fanatical fan bases.
6 IcyStorm 7 comments Jul 25th, 2009 at 12:04 am

Yeah um, I don’t know any churches in Southern California that will hunt you down if you don’t tithe 10% a month. Offerings are voluntary after all.
7 omo 137 comments Jul 25th, 2009 at 1:21 am

I guess there are so few real Christians in Japan, odds are any you meet are authentic. Anyways, it matches my friends’ description when they went there for a mission trip some years ago.
8 jpmeyer 100 comments Jul 25th, 2009 at 1:51 am

Did Dakota Fanning play the illiterate, obese, HIV-positive teenaged girl in Harlem who had been raped continuously (and impregnated twice) by her father since she was three years old?
9 Ascaloth 202 comments Jul 25th, 2009 at 2:03 am

Wait wut, Soshi’s now a RIUVA writer? I must have missed the announcement….

Sounds like you ran into a charismatic church TJ. You should still be careful, the “feel-good factor” IS one of their most effective tools. But eh, I wasn’t there, what do I know.
10 LianYL 781 comments Jul 25th, 2009 at 2:20 am

The auto soap dispenser is in at least 3 malls in Singapore. One of them being the new ION Orchard.
11 Pyoro 7 comments Jul 25th, 2009 at 3:40 am

honestly, could someone explain to me the difference between soup and foam? ’cause they sound the same to me…
12 Brandon 5 comments Jul 25th, 2009 at 3:41 am

Yo, lets meet up some time if your schedule allows.
13 tj_han 1440 comments Jul 25th, 2009 at 7:43 am

Brandon: I don’t have you on facebook, which area of Tokyo are you in?

Pyoro: I was vague but most places use the cheapo foul-smelling gel-type handsoaps, while the one in Narita is an expensive-feeling sort of hair-mousse-like foam.

Lian: I see Singapore is gradually becoming pro too and I haven’t left my house in ages.

Ascaloth: Yeah no real official announcement yet because it was settled on the day of my departure.

JP: No, she was the child of retard Sam.

Icy: In Singapore there’s a few.
14 Seinime 8 comments Jul 25th, 2009 at 9:20 am

Nice…makes me want to go to Japan too. Their churches must be really good.
15 Julius_Firefocht 13 comments Jul 25th, 2009 at 10:58 am

Going anywhere from Narita for 3K yen is a very good deal. I sure hope I can run into him the next time I go to Japan.

Also, most Japanese already are polite if not friendly, and it is hard to imagine that the Japanese Christians are even more so. Ascoloth has a point, maybe they are trying to draw you in by giving you a good first impression.

You can try attending a few more sessions to find out the truth, but be careful not to get brainwashed in the process.
16 Soshi 32 comments Jul 25th, 2009 at 12:33 pm

Omo: That’s a strong statement to make. What do you mean by “authentic Christians”?

Ascaloth: Hullo there!
17 tj_han 1440 comments Jul 25th, 2009 at 1:23 pm

Julius: I have his name card actually, he charges 4000 yen normally but we got it for 3k cos he was desperate.
18 AK 31 comments Jul 25th, 2009 at 3:40 pm

“Authentic” probably means Orthodox right? Cos as far as I know (I’m a Buddhist who goes to church just to appease his friends WTH) Christianity is branched out into many sects. Lutheran, Protestant, Jehovah’s Witnesses, etc. And it’s always the more Charismatic ones, who go about doing missionary work, whom you have to watch out for.
19 Kherubim 32 comments Jul 25th, 2009 at 6:02 pm

AFAIK, Orthodoxy is a branch by itself, either Greek or Russian Orthodoxy. The oldest branch in Japan is Catholicism, brought by the Portuguese Jesuits, they were isolated from Rome for a couple of centuries when the Edo Shogunate threw out the gaijin…

Sometimes when recommending a church to visiting friends, it’s a good idea to find out which denomination they belong to, it’ll be really embarassing to suggest a Catholic Church to Protestants or Adventists…

Also out of the small percentage of the Japanese who are Christians, how many actually work in anime or manga? We do see some really silly depictions of priests and nuns in anime…

DO WANT pictures of said problem solving hot girls in uniforms…
20 Soshi 93 comments Jul 25th, 2009 at 7:13 pm

Well about the whole parodying of nuns and priests, the Western media does that too, don’t they? Perhaps its even worse, with all the negative “oh priests and little boys” or that charismatic churches are fraught with corruption.

What I meant by my question was, how do you define an “authentic” religion? Especially with Christianity? Like the previous commenters have said, there are numerous branches of “Christianity”.

And frankly, I don’t think it’s fair to just single out charismatic churches. Of course it happens that evangelists in Singapore tend to be from charismatic churches, but over-enthusiastic and closeminded people are the ones you have to look out for. I have met evangelical Christians from different branches, Catholics (if you don’t count them as “Christians”), Buddhists, Muslims — it’s the people rather than the religion itself.
21 MrMayat 50 comments Jul 26th, 2009 at 6:52 pm

Never turn down a free meal. Very Singaporean.

I’d love to debate about missionaries, but online spats are a messy affair.
22 Brandon 5 comments Jul 28th, 2009 at 9:40 pm

Yo, I’m in tokyo, shinjuku area. Left u a message on facebook~
23 nice 4 comments Jul 29th, 2009 at 8:11 pm

Mahatma Gandhi: I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.
I was glad you meet up with noteworthy Christians rather than Christians only by name.

1 RIUVA Presents: Tokyo日常21 « Bokutachi no BLOG Pingback on Jul 31st, 2009 at 1:02 am

Do not use any < and > for your own sake. It will end the comment there and then. Also, there is an automatic IQ filter which weeds out comments made by those who accidentally got transported from the stone age.

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