A Japanese Experience

by Gary W. Cantor

     For Fred, there was a lot to like about life in Tokyo.  He loved the city�fs night life, was relieved by the safety of its streets, and marveled at the efficiency of its transportation system.  He also enjoyed his job and liked most of his colleagues as well.  However, like many other gaijin, or foreigners, in Japan, he was often quite conscious of the fact that he was generally treated quite differently from others.  Similarly, he disliked the way many people stared at him on the streets, and absolutely hated it when kids that he didn�ft know tried to greet him in their heavily accented English.  All of this made life somewhat stressful for Fred, and for this reason he felt that he needed some way to relieve himself of that stress.

     For a while, he got into videos.  He found a good video store near his apartment, and averaging three or four videos a week, spent several weeks watching all sorts of movies that he had heard of but had never seen.  However, as time went by he realized that there was less and less that he wanted to see, and so he stopped frequenting the neighborhood video store and decided to spend a lot of time studying Japanese instead.  This way, he thought, he could kill two birds with one stone.  He could learn something, and at the same time he could rid himself of the stress that accompanied life in Japan.  However, this didn�ft work very well either.  The main problem was that, due to his heavy work schedule, he was often too tired to study by the time he got home.  Also, because of the irregularity of his hours, he couldn�ft find a class that he could attend on a regular basis.  So, he gave up, and decided to find a different diversion.

     Finally, after going through three or four more �ghobbies,�h Fred found what seemed to be the ideal way to relieve his stress.  He would go to the tiny park that was located adjacent to his apartment building early in the morning and would jump rope intensively before going to work.  Fred had always liked jumping rope, and he knew that it was great exercise.  And by going early in the morning, he could avoid crowds of people.  So, he would generally leave his apartment at about 6:45 or 7:00, and would jump rope intensively for about fifteen or twenty minutes.  Then, he would go back home, take a hot shower, and go to work.

     This worked fabulously for a while.  Fred felt refreshed before the start of work every day, found that he was getting into very good shape, and slowly but surely, and he didn�ft know why, he started feeling less self-conscious about being a gaijin in Japan.

     Then, one day, like usual, he left his apartment early in the morning and walked over to the park with his jump rope.  When he entered the park, he noticed that there was another man there.  This in itself wasn�ft too disturbing, since on a few other occasions as well there had been other men who exercised there, and they had never bothered Fred.  However, Fred realized right away that this was a rather unusual fellow.  One thing that was unusual about him was his size.  Though he was standing about twenty or twenty-five yards away, Fred could see that he was huge.  Fred had once seen a man, who resembled the legendary Giant Baba, getting into a train at Tokyo Station, and was amazed by his size.  But this fellow, he thought, was just as tall, and was quite a bit overweight as well.  In addition, he had a very wide and rather silly-looking grin plastered on his face, and seemed to be singing a children�fs song.  He�fs mentally retarded, Fred thought, and then he wondered if that expression is still in use.  In this day and age of political correctness, he thought, it probably isn�ft.  But, what�fs the difference, he said to himself.  He�fs not bothering me, so I�fll just get on with my exercising and won�ft bother him.

     So Fred started to jump rope and tried not to look in the direction of the other man.  Like usual, he started jumping slowly with two legs.  Then he sped up and lifted one leg at a time, in a way that resembled running in place.  As he did, he looked at his watch, so he could make sure that he didn�ft cut his exercise short.

     However, after he had jumped for a couple of minutes, he noticed that the man�fs singing had stopped, and he looked over in his direction.  When he did, he saw the man reach down and pick something up that had been lying on the ground next to him.  Fred did a double take, for the man now had in his hands what seemed to be a pogo stick, and Fred hadn�ft seen one of those since he was in elementary school.  A second later, Fred realized that it was indeed a pogo stick, and this giant of a man now started to jump with all of his might over and over again, and cried out for joy as he did.  He didn�ft seem to be saying any words; he just yelled something like  �gahhh�h over and over again in a way that indicated that he was in absolute heaven with that pogo stick.

     Fred tried his best to get back to his exercising, but soon found himself unable to concentrate because even though he was now looking away from the man, he could tell by the sounds of the jumping and the screams that were emanating from his direction that he was heading toward Fred.  So, after several seconds, Fred stopped his own jumping and saw that the man was only about five feet away from him.

     Their eyes met, and that huge hulk of a man stopped jumping, got off of his pogo stick, and nodded to Fred.  Fred nodded back, and then the man gestured to him;  he wanted Fred to use the pogo stick.  But Fred, somewhat overwhelmed by the whole situation, declined by turning his head sideways and making a gesture with his hands.  The man understood, and still smiling, put the pogo stick down and started a new type of play.  He raised his hands high in the air, and pretending that he was an airplane, started to run with his head tilted as if he were �gflying�h around the park.

     I�fve never seen anything so bizarre in my life, Fred thought.  Here was a giant of a man running around pretending to be an airplane.  What�fs next, he thought?  Is he going to start making sandcastles?  He half thought that he would as the man ran through the park�fs little sandbox.  But instead, the man returned to where Fred was standing and once again picked up the pogo stick.  Fred smiled at him, and the giant, who still wore a smile on his face, let out a laugh and once again started to jump up and down on the pogo stick while yelling �gahhh�h at the top of his lungs.

     For a split second, Fred thought that he might be dreaming, but when he pinched himself he realized that he wasn�ft.  No, I�fm not dreaming, he thought.  This is just one of life�fs weird scenes.

     Just then, Fred heard some noise coming from the side of the park, and he and the other man turned toward the noise.  It was a group of children looking toward them with curious eyes.  Then, all of a sudden, one of the children, a boy who looked to be about eight years old, pointed a finger in the direction of the two men and said something in a barely audible voice.

     �gGaijin da!�h he said.  �gThere�fs a foreigner!�h

     Fred�fs head sunk low, and he turned away.  Then, his giant acquaintance patted him on the shoulder and said, �gBye-bye.�h