The "GREG IN JAPAN" Thread...

[_D_]

I guess this proves that you don't have to be an interesting person to have a successful YouTube channel. I just point my camera at stuff I think is interesting and people interested in those things somehow find the videos. I seem to be getting about at least one new subscriber a day, on average. The downside is having to monitor comments for trolls and morons.

I want to put more of the stuff I had up on Vimeo, etc. but not YouTube. Most of the fan shot stuff has never been seen but the Japanese are too anal to put up anything that was from the tube all those years ago, so I will refrain. Even so, there was lots of stuff I shot at conventions from 1986 to 2000 that would be good and the odd TV thing like "The Prisoner Puzzle" which has no availability online as the originating company lost the rights to the show long ago as well as the original master tape. Those for a start...

Hey! I did find someone has reupped my old Prisoner video! It's on YouTube and I can tell it's my old cap as the flagging is the same! Well, one I don't have to do then.

[Daniel]

I want to put more of the stuff I had up on Vimeo, etc. but not YouTube. Most of the fan shot stuff has never been seen but the Japanese are too anal to put up anything that was from the tube all those years ago, so I will refrain. Even so, there was lots of stuff I shot at conventions from 1986 to 2000 that would be good and the odd TV thing like "The Prisoner Puzzle" which has no availability online as the originating company lost the rights to the show long ago as well as the original master tape. Those for a start...

Time Capsule of Early Anime & Manga Fandom

[kndy]

Hi Greg...can you verify this blog for ALT teachers. Lol...

http://en.rocketnews24.com/2012/11/11/i ... d-a-tanuki】/

[greg]

Oh yes. Kanchou means "suppository" or "enema" or whatever. Basically, something that's shoved up the butt. That happened to me one time, nearly 12 years ago. It hasn't happened to me since I moved back (I can't believe it's been nearly a year now already!) Well actually, come to think of it, I think there was a kid who tried doing it to me at the beginning of the year, but I grabbed his hand and said "no." I then tried to cram my finger in his nose and he got the message.

Some ALTs get rather pissed off about it. They don't see the kids doing it to the regular teachers, and they demand to be given the same amount of respect as the other teachers. My first time was a shocker, because I'd never heard of it before. I look at it differently. I see the role of an ALT as having three primary roles:
1. Teach English (duhr-hey, of course!)
2. Break the wall between students and foreigners
3. Break the wall between students and teachers

For me, 2 and 3 are the most fun, and probably the most important. Of course, most kids will just learn enough English to pass their tests, and once they're in college, they won't bother with it ever again. So, #2 is very important for intercultural relationships. By doing so, this entails #3. Kids tend to view their ALTs as friends, set apart from the regular teachers. This means that they approach us to converse as friends, and open up to us in ways they would not do with the regular teachers. Being effective at this entails putting oneself at the level of the kids, and have them feel comfortable with foreigners. The small children come running to me, wanting me to hug them and play with them. It's such a wonderful job to have, unless you're the type who just doesn't like kids.

So anyhow, the whole "kanchou" thing is just a wanpaku or naughty way of the kids trying to be friendly with an ALT. Maybe they don't do that to the regular teachers because they are looking to ALTs to be their friends. I am very blessed to work at five schools, three of them elementary, that are full of wonderful, friendly kids. They are a joy to me.

I know of one guy, an older ALT in his 50s, who grabbed the kid who gave him a kanchou and drug him to the principal's office. He threatened to sue the school for allowing such "miscreant" behavior and that the action was tantamount to assault. So he got what he wanted, which meant the kid and his parents as well as the principal kissing his butt and begging him not to sue the school. I swear, even the mention of using a lawyer shows such terrible lack of comprehension of Japanese culture that it made me sick when I heard that. Sure, everyone kissed his ass and the incident never happened again, but after then, everyone must've thought he was such an asshole and the kids were scared to touch him.

[greg]

On Saturday, I went with a friend and his Japanese friend to the 8-Bit Cafe in Shinjuku. It's a bar with a retro otaku theme, primarily video game and other related mania such as anime and manga. It was a great night and the drinks there are great. Their most popular drink is called a Dr. Mario, which is vodka, gin, Dr. Pepper, some Coke, and a couple of candies shaped like pills that come in a flask. The drink is served in a science beaker. Great stuff! My first drink was the Metroid, which was vodka, tonic, and melon syrup. I also ordered a Donkey Kong, which is Malibu and banana juice. Very smooth!

Here's a video I took of it. Look for lots of retro video game stuff including Famicom, Super Famicom, Mega Drive, Neo Geo, Saturn, and Dreamcast stuff. Also look out for old anime on VHS, including Galaxy Express 999 and Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, and some old Urusei Yatsura records. It was a very fun night!

However, trains stop running at 12:30. I thought they stopped at 1. To make it worse, the limited kaisoku train on the Chuuou line between Shinjuku and Akihabara stops running even earlier, so we had to take the regular train. To make it even worse, the train was delayed due to a passenger injury. We ended up having to walk from Ueno to the Minami Senju area at a brisk walk, which took about 30-40 minutes. It really says a lot about Tokyo that a couple of out-of-towners can walk the streets of such a huge city and not encounter any dangerous individuals. Without mentioning any names, a certain bizarre former forum member on here was just bizarre and out of touch with reality to say that Tokyo can be dangerous.

[greg]

I've uploaded several hilarious Engrish pictures to my Flickr account. It's funny how people will name their company "Automotive Service Shizuoka" or "Fuji Auto Glass" and put a big acronym on their building and not realize how silly it looks. Lots of great T-shirt designs for kids, complete with images of marijuana and four letter swear words.

[Armblessed]

Greg, I dug your video of that cafe. Looks like a nifty place. Kudos on providing the translations for the spoken Japanese as well. I'm interested in seeing if you make something with Perler Beads to take back to the cafe.

[kndy]

I've uploaded several hilarious Engrish pictures to my Flickr account. It's funny how people will name their company "Automotive Service Shizuoka" or "Fuji Auto Glass" and put a big acronym on their building and not realize how silly it looks. Lots of great T-shirt designs for kids, complete with images of marijuana and four letter swear words.

Lol...I'm sure you will find a lot of interesting things at the grocery store... Thanks for posting these!

[davemerrill]

We went by the 8-Bit when we were in Akiba in July, but it was jam-packed, so we wound up going to another bar on the other side of the neighborhood. The bar that impressed me the most was Sonic 44; Kimura who runs it is my kinda guy.

I agree that Tokyo is super safe and that the former forum member might have been exaggerating when he expressed his opinions of the dangers of Tokyo. Ueno might have been the part of Tokyo that felt, I dunno, slightly less reputable than other parts of the city, maybe just the flea-market areas. But we wandered all through the market like idiot tourists (because that's what we were) and emerged unscathed, if slightly sunburned.

[usamimi]

Whoa, just watched your vid on the 8-bit Cafe...that place looks awesome! Definitely the kind of place I'd want to go to if I ever manage to visit Japan. (Of course, there are so many cool themed cafes/bars/etc there that I may never get to visit them all ;3; There's a Sailor Moon themed cafe in Osaka that I would LOVE to go to!!)