20 years ago today was the day I first arrived in Japan. Actually, I did come here a few times before that but I was a snotty-nosed brat and didn’t have any appreciation for the country. Summer of 1985 was the first time I visited as an adult with freedom to do whatever I wanted. I only stayed for 3 months but I remember all of the things I did and places I visited more vividly than some more recent experiences. That summer there was the JAL plane crash in Nagano which killed Kyu Sakamoto (sukiyaki song) and Seiko Matsuda broke up with Hiromi Go. The US Dollar was worth ¥250 when I arrived and plummeted to ¥130 by the time I left. Hachiko was on a lower pedestal facing North as opposed to East as he does now. The JR used to be called the JNR (Japan National Railway) There were no automatic ticket gates. There used to be a huge number of guys manually clipping tickets and you could hear the sound of those metal clippers throughout the station. Seeing that at Shinjuku was quite a site. There were hundreds of pay phones everywhere and long lines waiting to use them. There wasn’t as much diversity in terms of fashion or lifestyle but people seemed a lot more content and not as disillusioned as they do now.
I took a few photos and will be posting “then and now” comparisons later on once I get them scanned.
You win! In the circle of non-Japanese people that I know or even sort of know, you have been in Japan THE longest. That even includes the all the foreigners born in Japan that I know. Holy poop! Good for you hanging in there through all the good and bad. So what made you move here in the first place?
Yeah! Do I get a prize?
To be honest, I haven’t been here for that whole time but altogether about 16 years. My reason for coming here are many but basically I was just obsessed with Japan like a lot of other foreigners who come here. I don’t have any illusions anymore though.
In all the time I’ve been here, I would say that 1988-89 was the golden era for me. It was just at the end of the economic bubble before the Nikkei225 crashed and burned. There was tons of money flowing and people would pay 16,000 for an hour English lesson. The atmosphere was jovial everywhere and we all had a great time at Juliana’s Tokyo. Japan Inc was still alive and well.
When I came back in 1992, all that was gone and although on the surface nothing much had changed, there was a big change in the attitude of the people, even foreigners coming to Japan were looking for money and not fun like they used to. It seemed like there were more bitter foreigners (maybe I was one too) The Hanshin Earthquake and Sarin Gas Attack was like the 9/11 for Japan although not on the same scale. It changed things quite a bit.
At least that how it seems to me. Or perhaps I’m just getting older and seeing things differently.