Hello friends! I’ve still got a couple of days before it’s February, and here in Japan, New Year’s sort of lasts through the month–so Happy New Year! The Chinese New Year for the Golden Tiger starts very fittingly on Valentine’s Day. Think: power, passion, and daring. Next: live with abandon.
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Life is rolling along here in Hiroshima. I spent the end of 2009, and the bulk of the new year working like crazy on the dissertation, trying to meet my deadline. About 48 hours before I was scheduled to finish a draft of the chapter, I finally figured out what I was actually arguing. So then I pulled an all-nighter, which I never even did in college. Of course, now I’m on to version three of said chapter with an “Aha!” moment coming just this week. And so the dissertation goes. It’s a frustratingly tedious process, but also filled with moments of discovery. I think no one is going to be more surprised by what this dissertation becomes than me.
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My New Year’s resolution is to embark in earnestness upon a discovery of the cafes of Hiroshima. I’ve fallen off the blogging wagon in part because I haven’t had something concrete to organize my thoughts around, and despite the fact that all my friends buy me journals and assume I keep a diary, I kind of detest those things. In fact, on the day of my last major breakup I had been cleaning out my storage unit and threw out a bunch of journals because, frankly, they embarrassed the hell out of me. When I came upstairs and my boyfriend told me he was dumping me, the first words out of my mouth were, “Well, I can tell you one thing buddy, I sure as hell am not going to write about this in a diary.”
Instead of turning the blog into a sentimental, self-indulgent diary, through this next set of posts I will instead share a slice of life in Japan with you through its cafe culture. Here are some surprising facts about cafes in Hiroshima:
1) Wireless is VERY hard to come by. Often, strangely enough, you’ll come upon wireless in a place that seems the least likely to promote actual studying. For example, 44 — a trendy, low-lit cafe for dates and chatting with friends — has wireless but the tiniest tables you’ve ever seen. So does a place called Graffiti, but this is hardly a cafe, it’s actually a Mexican bar that serves margaritas in champagne glasses with soda water. Random.
2) Cafes often do not have plug-ins for your computer. Okay, so no wireless, I guess that’s just about 5 years behind the US. But no plugs? Let me a bit more clear: there usually are plugs, but often they’ve cut the electrical current so that customers cannot use them. This is a good example of Japan’s craze for “efficiency,” also known as “frugality,” also known as plain ass “cheap.”
3) There is a shocking amount of smoking. This is odd for two reasons: a) Japanese people seem to be pretty concerned with health, particularly healthy eating. So how does that jive with smoking like a chimney? b) These cafes are TINY. The normally very considerate people, who basically never even talk on the phone inside public spaces, don’t seem to blink an eye at making everyone else in the space choke on their smoke.
4) As far as I can tell there are two types of cafes: a) something like a coffee shop in the US, and b) something between a coffee shop, cafe, and wine bar (without the wine selection).
The coffee shops serve drinks in to-go cups, but I never really see anyone leaving with them. Apparently, it’s not very kosher to walk and drink, or walk and eat for that matter. Instead, people sit quietly looking at their phones or staring off into space for a few minutes while they quickly get their caffeine fix. On the other hand, there are a couple of coffee shops where people sit for hours, not worrying about buying more than their one small drink. They don’t have laptops with them, but they fill their time reading books, busily poking away at their phones, or even staring off into space / nodding into sleep. It’s also common to see people coming in pairs or groups and chatting for a few minutes, or much longer.
I have also on several occasions, seen the interesting phenomenon of middle-aged parents arriving with their teen daughter sitting at a coffee bar — the three of them in a row — no one talking too much, the teen looking occasionally at her phone. Watching them makes me a bit uncomfortable. Are they enjoying themselves? How will they decide to leave since there doesn’t seem to be a conversation arc, or point to being there, except for sitting together in silence. But then someone will smile or make a comment to one another to elicit a small chuckle, and I realize they aren’t *necessarily* feeling as awkward as I am.
The cafes seem like great date spots: soft music, soft lighting, intimate tables for two. They are less useful for studying, so I try and be mindful not to stick out too much when pulling a long 4 hour haul there. So far, cafes seem to be especially popular for 20-something girl-women. And even though I really don’t understand their conversation, I have the feeling it revolves a great deal around fashion. Cake sets are also extremely popular. There is so much good cheesecake to be had, I’ve started foregoing lunch for dessert.
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Next time, we’ll dig into some actual real-life Japanese cafes, with pictures and everything. Exciting stuff, huh? Such is the substance of my life.
Nippon Adventures 2009-2010 
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