Today on 27 November 2009, I need to take the train to Nagoya from Takayama. I missed the breakfast again at the hotel. So at 9:45 am I took the taxi to Cafe Scenery near the train station and ordered a Danish set, with cinnamon and bluebery croissants plus coffee. Coffee always taste good in Japan, some how.
Yeah, the Japanese is the ultimate consumerist. Perhaps that is the `clue` to all this.
I think we (many people) are fascinated with the Japanese. Since Frank Lloyd Wright and the Art Nouveaurist...the Japanese (question is) are they hell-bent on the preservation of their culture and would use the most advanced technology to preserve their culture? What is culture to the Japanese? Does it matter to the younger generation? (I got one perspective later from 26 year old Yuki)
How can you survive facing globalisation?
I think I want to be beyond Malaysia. Haruki, your novel will make more sense.
At the station, I got the reserved ticket at 5,870 Japanese yen (about USD 58)to Nagoya. Yup, its about 2 1/2 hours ride and I called Yuki that I will arrive there at 2 pm. Taking the Hida express no. 8 at 11:35 am. I hope that everything will be okay. I assumed that the railway station staff will assist me. I don`t think I have too much stuff. But its hard to keep up pace. The Japanese people are so fast. I suppose it is worse in Tokyo.
What is driving the Japanese people?
A sense of duty, responsibility inculculated since childhood I suppose. No wonder nations want to control their children`s minds. This reminded me of Stephie not wanting to be German. That`s the other extreme. Do Japanese still believe deep in their psyche that they are the superior race. I noticed they only talked about the Americans other than themselves and even that just as reference. The British does not impress them.
Is there a huge gap between the older and younger generation?
It`s a quick trip so I don`t expect to get the answers so quickly.
I met Yuki and Koji at Nagoya station. Yuki has yet to finsih architecture and Koji dropped out of college earlier and worked for 10 years and only now started to study again. We went to a cheap sushi restaurant.
It was really great eating all sorts of sushi that I could not get back in Malaysia. They dared me to eat the crab brains sushi - urghh... and the smelly fermented `nato` or is it nutto? I did and the first one was gross. Nice kids. Yuki gave me Doala a Kunichi Dragons mascot...just like the truck driver in Haruki`s Kafka novel. And Koji gave me a milk caramel. I gave them the rest of the silk batik handkerchiefs and keychains, the baseball one for Yuki and the samurai one for Koji...
Yeah, we talked about being Japanese and the culture and preserve and all that. When we went to Nagoya castle, Yuki told me that he agreed the mayor`s decision to do a replica in timber of the castle extension. And the mayor is going to reconstruct the Nagoya castle itself, which was a concrete one built after the war. Why not, because the Japanese has the money and the know-how.
Someone asked me about this Japanese paradox and this is a fine example. Using new technology to preserve the old culture.
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