February 26, 2002
I've been having a lot of no sex lately. Only 5 days until I'm allowed to get sexual release. Gee, it'll be nice when that happens.
To get my mind off of sex, I've been trying to prepare myself for life in Japan. Of course, I've been watching plenty of Godzilla movies- I think I'll be fine if I don't spend too much time on Monster Island. (And, of course, the secret of summoning Mothra to do your bidding is to find a pair of four-inch tall singing girls in a sandalwood box.)
So, one of the books I've read in the meantime is Ruth Benedict's "The Chrysanthemum and
the Sword." If you've ever read this book, or if you ever intend to read
this book always remember: it is anachronistic. It was written in 1945 and was
considered to be the first modern anthropological look at the rules which Japanese
society functions by. (Note: also keep in mind that this book makes an overview
of the rules, not necessarily how Japanese people actually live.
There are sometimes creative ways of circumventing Benedict's rules.) I say it's
the first modern anthropological look at Japan, because Ruth is clearly
inspired by Margaret Mead's work... and Margaret Mead's work was considered to
be fairly cutting-edge in the 40's.
Anyways, if you're gonna read this book,
also remember that the author never actually set-foot in Japan when she wrote
it. She based it on records of Japanese literature, prewar publications and interviews
with interned Japanese nationals during the war years. But still, it's a pretty
good introduction to Japanese society if you remember the book has its flaws.
I've also read another smashingly-good book called "Embracing Defeat" by John W. Dower. (He wrote another good book called "War Without Mercy", which offered a comparison of race hate as featured in Japanese and American propaganda during World War II.) "Embracing Defeat" was, in my humble opinion, an awesome read (it won a Pulitzer Prize, so I'm not the only one who thinks this.) If you like the history of the 20th century or the history of World War II, this book is especially good- it starts after the surrender of Japan in August 1945. The book looks at the effects of the end of the war on Japanese society, the policies (and screw-ups) of the American occupation forces and how things changed tack as the Cold War began to heat-up. The author is a well-known Japanophile in his outlook, so it's a good idea to keep that in mind as you read. But it is a cool read for any student of modern history.
I've also bought the "Lonely Planet Guide to Japan". The Lonely Planet guides are often worth their weight in gold, but they tend to be a little sarcastic and often try to pre-judge the sights before you see them. And... um... I guess I won't pretend to be a book-reviewer any more.
I've been told that my next door neighbor in Japan will be a New Zealander named Miles. I don't know much about New Zealand, but I hope he speaks fluent Japanese by some miracle. Or he'll at least have all the good party-spots scoped-out beforehand. I hope he's not an asshole.
Anything else? Um... well, today my day did not go from crap to shit. Which is pretty good by anyone's standards.