The Year of No Money in Tokyo

Wayne Lionel Aponte, the author of the recently published The Year of No Money in Tokyo, sent me a copy of his book to read and review. This was my first casual summer vacation read, and it was an interesting ride. This book did not strike me as a masterpiece, but Wayne’s experience and personal transformation throughout his “year of no money” was indeed interesting…

Interesting in the way witnessing a train wreck would be… You’re glad you’re not on the train… You feel sorry for whoever *is* on the train… but you just can’t take your eyes off it. I guess it’s a train wreck with a twist, because some how this disaster manages to get itself back together and running smoothly again. And that is quite a feat.

From what I understand, Wayne is still based in Japan, and now has been there for some twenty years. I’m going to send Wayne some questions over email that I will put together and post later if I get answers. Let me know if you have any questions you would like me to ask Wayne in the comments! It might be tough for those who haven’t actually read the book, but give it a shot anyway.

The first half of “The Year of No Money in Tokyo” struck me as yet another bitter gaijin rant written by someone who had brought themselves to Japan, gotten into trouble, and was too proud to admit defeat and leave. Wayne gets caught up in everything and everyone wrong it seems. He’s mixed up in multiple relationships, seems to take everything that happens to foreigners in Japan personally, gets thrown in jail for fighting, and of course, completely runs out of money. Eventually he is surviving on cash handouts from his girlfriends. Let me emphasize the jail and no money part. I could never imagine myself in this position in Japan, or in any country for that matter. The chapter which includes the jail scene is aptly titled, “A Fifty-Two Week Low”. JapanNewbies, if you’re going to Japan, don’t do what Wayne did. Not a role model (not at this point in the book anyway).

The book connects Wayne’s personal year of no money with the Japanese recession (specifically 1995), but the connection is weak and doesn’t quite come through. This is mostly due to the author’s attitude at this point in the book. Far more attention is drawn to the discriminatory practices of Japanese employers, and the “system” working to hold him back. One restaurant refused to hire him because they only hire “foreigners married to natives”, and he relates stories of other people who were denied jobs because of their race. The book never directly address why or why not Wayne was unable to find work, but I felt that the narrative goes out of its way to illustrate that though he was working as hard as he could to try to get back on his feet, Japan was working against him and holding him down. In my opinion, its the author’s attitude that is really holding him back. I think that by the end of the book the author comes to realize this as well.

The entire tone of this first chunk of the book is so negative that I almost put the book down and quit reading. I suspect that Wayne must have actually been writing these chapters as it was happening. The book does in fact mention that Wayne is writing during this entire ordeal, and even alludes to the book:

I, too, need to “meet inspiration halfway,” I mumble to myself. Even when I’m tired and lethargic. I have to write these Tokyo adventures down. Maybe I can help someone avoid my mistakes. p.82

An interesting thing about this entire situation is that Wayne is no slouch. He went to college in Paris and at one point had money in Tokyo. He is a voracious reader and makes many references to relevant things that he has read throughout this book, including Japanese authors such as Kenzaburo Oe. Wayne first went to Japan after accepting a good job in the city. He decided to quit that job on his own volition, expecting that he would be able to easily find other work (whoops). Obviously things didn’t go according to plan. He has been published in The New York Times, The Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and The Nation at various times before this book was published. Now he teaches English at a Japanese university and various domestic companies, and does some proofing at a translation company. Not to mention that he saw this book project through to completion… So as you can see, he is certainly a capable person, which is what makes the crazy mess he got himself into all the more interesting.

The redeeming aspect of this story is that Wayne manages to pull himself out of this whole mess before the end of the book. He literally comes out of doing time in a Japanese jail (just five days) and lands two jobs teaching English at the upper end of the English teaching salary curve. He makes a conscious effort to work extra hours when possible, and completely changes his outlook on life. He mends his broken relationships, giving back to those that helped him when he was poor, and quits his womanizing ways. He even gets religious, quoting scriptures from the Bible and using them as a base for his newfound values. The transformation is incredible.

“The Year of No Money in Tokyo” is a story that could have happened to anyone in any country. In my opinion there is little “Japan specific” about this story, though it is more interesting if you know something about Japan as it will give you something to relate to. The value of this book is in the personal transformation that Wayne undergoes. His determination really shines through, and by the end of the book he really seems to be a completely different person. Hopefully by hearing Wayne’s story other people will be able to skip the whole destitution and imprisonment thing and get right into leading productive and healthy lives wherever they may live.

And, one last thing before anyone asks… Here is one answer to the burning question. Why didn’t he just go home!? - from Readerviews.com

Tyler: Why did you remain in Japan? Did you consider returning to the United States?

Wayne: Well, I felt that I had a principle to prove. Returning to the U.S. poorer than I was before I had left wasn’t in line with how I perceived myself at the time. A return home would have been read as a failure and I wanted to regard my time abroad as a success story.

And there you have it.

- Harvey [post updated 05/12/2009 to fix some factual errors]

Links:
Official Website of A Year of No Money in Tokyo
An informative interview with Wayne on readerviews.com

Alone in Tokyo

Check out this short film called Alone in Tokyo by Philip Bloom featuring clips of everyday life in Tokyo.

The scenes in Alone in Tokyo remind me that the first requirement to be able to capture interesting pictures or video is to have the guts to press the shutter or start recording. I would never be able to stand there and record random strangers in order to make a film like this – especially the shots of the homeless. I’m glad he did though, it’s good stuff.

(via BlackTokyo)

- Harvey

Gamer Spots in Japan

Just a quick link, Kotaku has a piece on Ten-plus Spots Gamers Should Visit in Japan. I’ve only been to maybe half of these places… Just the usual Akihabara, Denden Town, stuff like that.

I think it’s no over generalization to say that many students of the Japanese language also happen to play video games more than the average joe… If you don’t fit that stereotype, let me know. I’m curious.

I’m not going to lie, when I was in junior high school I wanted to learn Japanese so that I could one day make video games in Japan (and be a ninja of course). It didn’t quite turn out that way… But I’m not complaining.

The 8-bit Cafe in Shinjuku seems really interesting… Anyone been there? Or, anyone in Tokyo now who is willing to go check it out? Have fun!

- Harvey

TOKYO! - a film by Michel Gondry, Leos Carax, Bong Joon-ho

(higher quality version available here)

Those who have been to Tokyo will notice most of the landmarks in this trailer. Shibuya crossing, the retro-futuristic looking cube buildings, and that location in Shibuya I photographed a while ago. (I think that’s the same local anyway, what do you think?)

This movie looks fun. I’m not going to pretend to understand what it’s actually about… but regardless, I will be hunting this one down!

A similar Shibuya Shot.

- Harvey

Shibuya Shot

Just a shot I took in Shibuya. I kinda like it.

Just to point out some cultural tidbits.

In the upper left you can see an advertisement for “Winter Song” or , Fuyu no Sonata.

In the upper right is an advertisement for Docomo, the phone company.

The orange sign is a sign for Yoshinoya, the famous beef-bowl (gyuudon) chain.

That’s about it.

Oh - Shibuya! Crazy place.

- Harvey

Brain Food

Just a picture of a menu at a Chinese restaraunt in Shibuya.

Brain of Pork.

I didn’t try it.

- Harvey

Ramen in Jyuugaoka

I stumbled upon this yummy Ramen shop in Jyuugaoka while wandering with a friend in Tokyo before I left.

Just look at this.

The peppered stuff in the upper left above the pork is tuna (maguro) –  and boy was it good.

This is some high-quality, high-cost ramen. I think it was something like 900 yen a bowl.

Here’s what the store front looks like, and I have also included the map from the back of the shops business card so you can find it if you’ve got a craving for some posh ramen.

At first I didn’t know how I felt about upper-class ramen. I mean, ramen is generally the poor man’s food right? It’s what you eat every other day when you’re a college student. It’s great after you have spent all your money at the club and want something to fill your stomach. 600, maybe 700 yen, but never breaking 1000 yen  a bowl. This one is right on the border!

It was great though. I’d go again (and again).

- Harvey

Kawagoe - 500 Statues of Rakan

I left Japan from Tokyo, so decided to take a trip to get out of the city before flying back to the United States.

I went to Kawagoe in Saitama prefecture. Kawagoe is only about a 40 minute train ride from Ikebukuro on the Seibu-Tojo Line, so it is possible to leave in the morning and return home by dark.One of the historical sites there is the 500 Statues of Rakan (五百羅漢) at the Kitain Temple (喜多院) site.

Though each statue is small, it was very impressive walking into this area and first seeing the multitude of statues. According to the sight-seeing flier, there are actually 540 of them!

Upon closer inspection it will be clear that each statue is completely different, and they all have expressions so detailed that they literally seem to come to life. The picture above is the most famous statues. The old men appear to be talking.

You can see what appears to be a rib cage coming through on a lot of the statues. Were the monks fasting? The statues are of disciples of Buddha, so I suppose that is the case.Rumor has it that if you feel each statue at night until you find one that is warm and then mark the spot, if you come back again in the daytime you will have found the statue that most resembles yourself.I didn’t stick around until darkness to find out…

I’m enjoying photography!

- Harvey