Darlo's World

Warning, this post may not be appropriate for young’uns.

So I’d briefly mentioned about Love Hotels in my Kinky in Kinki post back in January, and definately wanted to see inside one at some point out of general curiosity. Being told various things like “the rooms have karaoke and game consoles in them” definately added to my curiosity. After finding a friend who was also curious about the goings on, we decided to check out one of them in Umeda.

For those that don’t know, in a nutshell a Love Hotel is a hotel designed for couples to enjoy some quiet alone time, and can be paid for by the hour or overnight.

I’d just like to take this moment to say that we did not do anything of an adult nature at the hotel. ಠ_ಠ

Before meeting up at Umeda Station, I had a nose around Umeda’s Love Hotel area looking at prices by the hour. Prices really varied depending on the grandeur of the hotel, and at times the rooms had different charges dependant on theme or popularity. The cheapest I’d found was 2,000 yen (£13.38) and most expensive over 8,000 yen (£53.51), with the common price being around the 3,000 yen mark (£20.06). Ironically the least expensive hotel appeared to be one of the less dodgy, but as I’ve seen many times in Japan appearances can be deceptive.

After having a bit of food we headed over to the cheapest establishment. We must have been there at a relatively busy time as we saw one couple leaving (satisfied smiles on faces), and another couple heading in (excited smiles on faces). Apparently the 2,000 yen room had been taken so we opted for the next cheapest room at 2,500 yen (£16.73). At this particular hotel (might be different in others), when you walk in there’s a large wall with pictures of the different rooms and buttons to make your selection (pretty much like a vending machine). It then prints you out a ticket and you head to your room; there’s a little flashing light above your door. When your time is up you pay at a window which is partially obscured to protect privacy, however the security cameras kind of make it directly inadequate. Perhaps it’s to give the customer peace of mind that they don’t have to look in the eye of the cashier.

We headed to our room, conveniently on the bottom floor, and after taking off our shoes we slid the door open to reveal a quaint Japanese style tatami room. Off to the left was the rather nice looking bathroom, complete with washlet and various accessories standard of normal hotels; shampoo etc. Through another door was a large bath and shower area (plenty of room for 2 ^_~), which had a window giving a view of the main bedroom and vice-versa. By flicking a certain light switch, the whole room went red. Romantic for some, this just seemed to remind me of many blood stricken horror films.

And then the main bedroom. A huge futon bed taking up the majority of the space that I could easily have just stayed in all day. Perhaps it’s because my dorm bed isn’t wanderful, but this bed felt great. The only thing that marred it for me was the knowledge of “I know what people have done in this bed” >_<. After flicking on the TV and getting a screen full of boobs and pixels (in Japan certain aspects of pornography are illegal, so those aspects are generally pixelated or blurred) using a series of complex remote controls we managed to flick through some of the other channels, trying to find the karaoke and games. Yes, we did have karaoke, and yes there was a game system; not a PS3 like I'd been led to believe, but perhaps that's in one of the more expensive rooms.

Generally the room itself was really nice, and had it not been for the condoms at the head of the bed instead of the customary chocolate mints, I'd have been none the wiser. But it was time to get to action and do what we'd set out to do by coming to this Love Hotel. I opened my bag, and pulled out my copy of Kanji in Context and cracked on with some revision. What? Did you forget I have an important exam on Friday? My friend also had some work she needed to do so we both got on with it for a bit.

Finishing the hour with a little karaoke we left the room; the room itself was probably very dissapointed with us.

Love Hotels are something I’ve only really seen or heard about in Japan. When I spoke to some people at home about them they instantly got the wrong idea, thinking of brothels or a hotel where people just did it any old where. To be honest I probably won’t visit another one during my remaining couple of weeks, and it’s doubtful I’ll ever go to another one. However, we were really curious about what the more upscale rooms or hotels would be like.

In other news, today is Children’s Day.

The 桜 (sakura, Japanese cherry blossom) season normally lasts but a few weeks, with the best times to see the short lives blossoms varying from place to place. This year however due to changing weather conditions, the sakura trees have been taking longer to fully blossom despite them opening earlier. This meant that people had (and still have for that matter) more time to do お花見 (ohanami, cherry blossom viewing).

Ohanami takes the form of a picnic (or similar) where groups of friends, families, work-colleagues (etc) have a fun time in a park with, often under, sakura trees. Often alchohol is drunk (sometimes in excessive amounts), but the atmosphere amongst the groups is usually friendly enough to keep all parties under some sort of control … bare in mind I did say usually.

Coming up in a mo, I talk about my ohanami experiences this week, but first here’s a video from Clark in Japan of ohanami in 2007, which will give you a better idea of what I’ve been talking about.

So I ohanami’d (can’t believe I made an English verb out of a Japanese noun … well, not a very good one) twice this last two days, coming away with two very different experiences from them.

My first ohanami was at the park of 大阪城 (oosaka jou, Osaka Castle) with three others; my French friend and two of our Japanese friends. I and one of my Japanese friends arrived late after deciding to walk from Umeda, not realising how far it was (and not realising we were going in the wrong direction). Along the way I bought a can of beer (Strong Seven), though this stayed in my bag the whole time (honest!). By the time we got there our friends had already drunk theirs, but the small number of us meant that we could really enjoy the moment, a real 一期一会 (ichi go ichi e, a moment to be cherished, link to Nakamura-sensei’s homepare as he taught me about it).

Many (3; English, French and Japanese) languages were spoken and a world variety of topics discussed as we spoke beneath the shade of a sakura tree, with past experiences being shared with one another. We enjoyed the scenery with all the other groups beside and around us doing likewise, and caught a few photos of the land-train that is not unsimilar to Telford Town Park’s own Teddy’s Train.

Walking through the park on the way back, we passed many different groups in the park also enjoying a moment of 一期一会. School sports clubs were together with each other enjoying the moment (not drinking … I assume). Work-colleagues of a variety of ranks were together enjoying some time together out of the office (drinking … I assume), and one group of foreigners were … well, they seemed to be enjoying a game of “that sign’s in Japanese, so it must not apply to us” (to be fair, maybe they couldn’t read it, I just don’t know), as they set up a smoke-spewing barbecue right next to a sign saying “no barbecues or fireworks”.

Today there was another ohanami organised by some of the exchange students at uni and took place in a park in 夙川 (Shukugawa). To be honest I didn’t have high hopes of enjoying this one, especially by comparison to yesterdays, partly due to the common behaviour of some of students who were expecting to attend but mainly because we’d been predicted pretty naff (aka usual UK) weather.

When I arrived, brolly in arm, there was a guy on the roof of the gazebo we seemed to have taken over and many empty bottles and cans. That being said everyone seemed to be in good spirits and having fun (in a non-drunken way). Strangely though we’d taken a spot where the sakuras could barely be seen. After about an hour and half fatigue caught up with me though, not to mention the annoying “stoppy-starty” rain started getting on my wick, so I headed home early.

Cliche as this will sound, and pretty much everyone with a vague interest in Japan will have heard this at some point, but there really is something special about sakura and I don’t just mean it’s scent (which is really nice by the way). The reverance they receive despite and possible because they are only around for such a short time, has given them a real imprint onto the hearts of those they touch.

I’ve also remembered that Telford actually has sakura within the Maxell Cherry Garden, so those of you back home can actually have a little ohanami of your own.

I’m going to end this entry with a song from Kobukuro called Sakura, a song so beautiful it takes the words away from the very man trying to sing them in their 2005 tour. You can see the non-live version here, and if you want to know what he’s saying the lyrics are below.

Japanese lyrics (Kanji)
Japanese lyrics (Romanized)
English lyric translation

Kanji version (from Corichan)
名もない花には名前を付けましょう この世に一つしかない
冬の寒さに打ちひしがれないように 誰かの声でまた起き上がれるように

土の中で眠る命のかたまり アスファルト押しのけて
会うたびにいつも 会えない時の寂しさ
分けあう二人 太陽と月のようで

実のならない花も 蕾のまま散る花も
あなたと誰かのこれからを 春の風を浴びて見てる

桜の花びら散るたびに 届かぬ思いがまた一つ
涙と笑顔に消されてく そしてまた大人になった
追いかけるだけの悲しみは 強く清らかな悲しみは
いつまでも変わることの無い
無くさないで 君の中に 咲く Love・・・

街の中見かけた君は寂しげに 人ごみに紛れてた
あの頃の 澄んだ瞳の奥の輝き 時の速さに汚されてしまわぬように

何も話さないで 言葉にならないはずさ
流した涙は雨となり 僕の心の傷いやす

人はみな 心の岸辺に 手放したくない花がある
それはたくましい花じゃなく 儚く揺れる 一輪花
花びらの数と同じだけ 生きていく強さを感じる
嵐 吹く 風に打たれても やまない雨は無いはずと

桜の花びら散るたびに 届かぬ思いがまた―つ
涙と笑顔に消されてく そしてまた大人になった
追いかけるだけの悲しみは 強く清らかな悲しみは
いつまでも変わることの無い
君の中に 僕の中に 咲く Love・・・

名もない花には名前を付けましょう この世に一つしかない
冬の寒さに打ちひしがれないように 誰かの声でまた起き上がれるように

Romanized version (from Megchan)
Na mo nai hana ni wa namae wo tsukemashou
Kono yo ni hitotsu shika nai
Fuyu no samusa ni uchihishigarenai you ni
Dareka no koe de mata okiagareru you ni

Tsuchi no naka de nemuru inochi no katamari
Asufaruto oshinokete
Au tabi ni itsumo aenai toki no sabishisa
Wake au futari taiyou to tsuki no you de
Minoranai hana mo tsubomi no mama chiru hana mo
Anata to dareka no kore kara wo
Haru no kaze wo abite miteru

Sakura no hanabira chiru tabi ni
Todokanu omoi ga mata hitotsu
Namida to egao ni kesareteku
Soshite mata otona ni natta
Oikakeru dake no kanashimi wa
Tsuyoku kiyoraka na kanashimi wa
Itsu mademo kawaru koto no nai
Nakusanaide kimi no naka ni saku love…

Machi no naka mikaketa kimi wa sabishige ni
Hitogomi ni magireteta
Ano koro no sunda hitomi no oku no kagayaki
Toki no hayasa ni kegasarete shimawanu you ni
Nanimo hanasanaide kotoba ni naranai hazu sa
Nagashita namida wa ame to nari boku no kokoro no kizu iyasu
Hito wa mina kokoro no kishibe ni
Tebanashitakunai hana ga aru
Sore wa takumashii hana ja naku
Hakanaku yureru ichirinbana
Hanabira no kazu to onaji dake
Ikite iku tsyosa wo kanjiru
Arashi fuku kaze ni utaretemo
Yamanai ame wa nai hazu to

Sakura no hanabira chiru tabi ni
Todokanu omoi ga mata hitotsu
Namida to egao ni kesareteku
Soshite mata otona ni natta
Oikakeru dake no kanashimi wa
Tsuyoku kiyoraka na kanashimi wa
Itsu mademo kawaru koto no nai
Kimi no naka ni boku no naka ni saku love…

Na mo nai hana ni wa namae wo tsukemashou
Kono yo ni hitotsu shika nai
Fuyu no samusa ni uchihishigarenai you ni
Dareka no koe de mata okiagareru you ni

English Translation (from Megchan)
Let’s name this nameless flower
There’s only one of it in the world
So it’s not battered by the cold of winter
So it can rise again when someone calls

A lump of life sleeping within the ground
Pushing aside the asphalt
Whenever I see you, we can share
The loneliness of not being able to meet, just like the sun and moon
Even the flowers that don’t bear fruit, and those that wither as buds
Are bathing in the spring wind
Watching your future with someone else

Whenever the cherry blossoms fall
Another unreturned love
Disappears with tears and a smile
And then we grow up
And the sorrow of always chasing after
That strong and pure sorrow
Never changes
Don’t ever lose it, let it bloom inside you – love…

When I saw you on the street
You seemed lonesome as you slipped into the crowd
Don’t let the swiftness of time
Sully the sparkle within your clear eyes
Don’t say a thing, it can’t be put into words
The tears you shed will become rain, healing the wounds of my heart
Everyone has a flower on the banks of their heart
That they don’t want to let go of
It’s not a sturdy flower
But a single flower, swaying fragilely
You feel the strength to live
In the number of its petals
Even when the storm rages and the wind flattens it down
There’s no such thing as a rain that will never let up

Whenever the cherry blossoms fall
Another unreturned love
Disappears with tears and a smile
And then we grow up
And the sorrow of always chasing after
That strong and pure sorrow
Never changes
It blooms inside you and me – love…

Let’s name this nameless flower
There’s only one of it in the world
So it’s not battered by the cold of winter
So it can rise again when someone calls

So yesterday started late, my body and soul (as well as my alarm clock) deciding I was due a nice lie-in. Yesterday was the 14th of March and that meant it was White Day. On this day in Japan men who received chocolate (or other assorted goodies) on Valentine’s Day, return the favour. I received a piece of chocolate from my dorm managers wife so I planned to buy some chocolate as an お返し (okaeshi, return gift).

Setting off at about 3 o’clock, not too long after getting my lazy arse out of bed, I headed off in search of some lunch and an appropriate gift. After not too long I found myself in Umeda, under the bridge in the restaurant that I ate in on Monday, eating the same niku-udon. After giving thanks to the woman at the counter I headed towards the far side of the Umeda Sky building, an area I hadn’t yet walked around.

Passing a wide range of small factories and small businesses (including a lot of mechanics), I was reminded of Telfords own industrial areas, the kind of places a normal guy like me could work. Maybe not a fantastic job with a great pay, but work is work. I also pondered the possibility of working in a place like this after my degree. I also considered the average part-time job done by my fellow exchange students, and how all but a few seemed to be doing the well paid English tutor/teacher thing. But the people I really take my (metaphorical) hat of to are the guys working ‘normal’ jobs, like in a cafe, or in McDonalds. Yeah the pay isn’t as good, but this is the sort of job where you’re using real Japanese in a real Japanese environment.

I (metaphorically) salute you.

Coming from the other side of the Umeda Sky Building I soon found myself face to face with a nice garden area with waterfalls, walkways and awesome plant-life. If the weather would have been more Summery (I had to allow for the fact that it wasn’t summer), like when we first arrived in Japan this would have been a very tropical environment, similar to when we went to Jamaica’s Dunn’s River Falls over 10 years ago.

On the walk back, walking a different way from usual (as usual) by chance I looked up to see a sign attached to a fire escape advertising an ‘anime and manga production and training school’. Now I know that I’m more likely to find one of these in Japan than in England but I really wasn’t expecting to actually see one. Walking around the corner I came face to face with it, so casually picked up one of it’s leaflet packs from outside (which came with a copy of one of the schools manga publications). As much as I’d love to go to 大阪アニメーター学院 (Osaka Animator School), it’s a bit expensive for me. Not to mention I’m only here for another 2 months.

On the way home I stopped at the Family Mart convenience store to pick up some chocolate. I decided to buy a piece for all the staff members at the dorm, let’s face it they’ve been pretty awesome, so I bought about 15 or so small pieces. When it came to giving them out, the staff member seemed to be really shocked at the gesture, but at the same time really greatful.

Seeing as I didn’t go out the night before last, I made a point of deciding I would without a doubt go out last night. Checking the schedule for Sam and Daves (once again I couldn’t be bothered to go to Shinsaibashi, wanting to stay in Umeda) they were going to be having ‘Playboy Mansion Party’ theme, so decided to go to that. Unfortunately trying to convince others to do the same wasn’t so easy, especially as I’d left it so late to email everyone. For the homestay students, it was understandable if they didn’t want to go (the same reason I seldom go with them to Sannomiya, it’s too damn far) and for the dorm guys they had other reasons ranging from illness to plans already being made.

“Sod it” I thought, “I’ll go solo”, and so I did.

As far as Playboy Parties go, with the exception of the barstaff wearing dressing gowns on top of their normal uniform, there wasn’t really much different to be honest. Non of the customers were dressed up (neither was I thankfully), so if it wasn’t for the fact I’d seen it advertised on the website I wouldn’t have been any the wiser. However, apparently there were bunny girls there before I got there.

Even though I went alone, by chance I met three people in the club who I knew; a guy who I study with at Leeds, a Japanese girl that he knew and I’d met a few times at Konan (despite the fact she goes to another Uni), and one of the guys I met when I did that 初めての日本 (hajimete no nippon, first time Japan) TV show a few months back (skip to the bottom of this entry to watch the show).

So throughout the night I managed to practice Japanese and also held the occaisional conversation in English as I met a few people wanting to learn the language. I did meet one very irritating American buggar though. Here’s a brief of how the conversation went

Him: Approached with a nod of the head
Me: 今日は (konnichiwa, hi)
Him: Yeah, I could speak to you in Japanese, but I save that for trying to score with the ladies
Me: Riiiight … good luck with that.

I was very thankful to see him then walk facefirst into a wall. Karma, you gotta love it.

So like yesterday, the majority of today was spent in bed due to the fact it was about 7 o’clock this morning I got home. Hangover? Meh, if that’s what this is it’s not doing a very good job, more like I ate something funny. And speaking of eating funny things, I now present to you my first (and probably only) television appearance in Japan. Enjoy! (The Room of Living Dolls is on the second video)

So it’s Friday the 13th, again, but to be honest with the exception of the crummy weather and oversleeping on a train causing me to be late for class, nothing really bad has happened. To tell the truth if it wasn’t for me looking at Sam and Dave’s schedule for tonight I wouldn’t have even realised. Though in Japan the number 13 isn’t really considered unlucky like it is in Britain.

Still debating whether or not to go out for a laugh tonight or not. I don’t really want to go to Shinsaibashi where the vast majority of nightclubs are, so I want to stick to good old Umeda. This way if I get bored (or too drunk) I don’t have to dick about waiting for the first train at about 4.30 am. The trouble with this (besides the aforementioned rain) is that Umeda isn’t a club central kind of place. Sure there’re boozers, but they’re not quite ‘nightclub’, you know?

Basically my choices come down to Sam and Dave, where they’re having a costume party (don’t really fancy that), or a club called Explosion which is, hmm how do I put this, gay (not to mention the drinks apparently cost an arm and a leg). I don’t mean that insultingly, just that it’s actually a gay club (don’t really fancy that either. Other option is another night in with a can of Asahi beer.

So while I stay at home tonight, let’s have a tune. I was going to put Gay Bar by Electric Six, but thought the video was a bit too … Lincoln. So instead here’s that infamous Bush-Blair version.

Feeling rougher than usual this morning I decided to take the day off and catch up on a bit of rest, after breakfast of course. Waking up for a second time at about half two in the afternoon, I venture out on a search for food. Easily I could have went to Matsuya or McDonalds, but I didn’t feel like a curry or a burger.

Instead I took a walk towards Umeda where under a railway bridge was a very small udon place. From the outside it was really noisy with trains going by every ten seconds or so, traffic blaring (as it was also a busy crossroad), and the very common sound of ambulance and paramedic sirens. I figured that inside wouldn’t be quiet due to these factors but I was shocked to discover how wrong I was.

When I closed the door everything seemed to go quiet, the only real breaking point to the silence was when the woman behind the counter greeted me “いらっしゃいませ”. I ordered 肉うどん (niku udon, beef udon) from the vending machine, handed my ticket to the cashier and took a seat, stopping on the way to pick up a glass for some water. To give you an idea of how small the place was, I was the only customer and was taking up 10% of the occupancy.

My meal was 400 yen (£2.92), which is quite a bit more than I normally spend on lunch, but it was definately worth it for it’s flavour and size. Good grub! Speaking of good grub, here’s a dog trying (and failing) to eat food off his nose on command.