Adjusting to normality

It recently occurred to me that things here don't seem as weird as they used to. Of course, there are still plenty of Japanese oddities to keep me amused, but just the feel of everyday life in Tokyo doesn't seem as distant or foreign anymore. What was once a new and interesting thing to see, like the yakiniku stands coming out in the evening or the wannabe thugs break dancing in front of my train station, is no longer new but just endearing because it's become part of life (but the thugs do still make me laugh). It's amazing how I've come to expect certain things that I never even knew existed before traveling to Japan. Here are a few things I've come to expect:

- If it is raining everyone MUST have an umbrella and there should be either an umbrella rack or a machine providing umbrella "condoms" outside of EVERY store or restaurant

- If I am thirsty there should be a vending machine within a 10 foot radius of anywhere I stand (yes, I exaggerate, but only a little)

- If I am walking on the street in front of my school then there should be instrumental show tunes or Disney movie songs playing over loud speakers at all times for no particular reason.

Despite those expectations, I am always seeing and discovering new things, so Japan never gets old. On Monday I went to Shinjuku with Ivan and saw my first Japanese transvestite / transsexual people, or as Ivan put it "She-he's". They were all just standing around showing off their ugliness... now I know that not all transvestite/transsexual people are ugly, but the ones in Shinjuku ARE. I asked Ivan if they were hookers, but he said that prostitution is illegal here, so I don't really know what the purpose of them standing there is... apparently it's a daily event.

I also made an interesting discovery while at my local movie rental store the other day. On previous visits to the store I had noticed that while there is an adults only section, based on some of the dvd covers I'd seen there seemed to be random bits of porn scattered around in the normal sections as well. On this last visit, however, I happened to see the cover for a movie that I actually own, Almost Famous. I was shocked, because at first glance of this Japanese cover anyone might think Almost Famous was some sort of soft core porn, it was ridiculous and really had very little to do with the actual storyline. It occurred to me then that all those bits of porn I'd seen around the shelves were actually just normal movies that had purposely been given covers to make them more (very much more) related to sex. It's amazing to me how a culture that is often seen as being so traditional and conservative actually has an entirely different side to it that revolves around sex. You see it not just in movie stores, but in newspapers, magazines, manga, and of course the ever intriguing love hotels. I suppose I shouldn't be so surprised considering I myself attended a Penis Festival earlier this year, but it's still something that I had NOT expected and that continues to occasionally catch me off guard.

AMERICAN COVER

JAPANESE COVER