May 16, 2007

I stood on the platform of Odakyu Sagamihara station as I had done so many hundreds (thousands?) of times in the past 34 years and never gave a second thought to where I was as it seemed so natural to me. After all, I am home again and it does feel good to be in familiar surroundings.

I heard the familiar tone signaling an approaching train and the familiar female voice informing everyone that the local train was arriving and to stand behind the yellow line. I swear that voice has never changed. I boarded the train and departed at the next stop, Sagami Ono, where I would catch the express train to Shinjuku.

As I boarded the express train I took my all too familiar spot at the opposite door where I could stare out the window as I so much enjoyed doing in the past. This was my favorite spot as these doors would not open until the stop before Shinjuku and I could daydream and observe the sights along the way without having to move. Also, it was my favorite spot during rush hour as I wouldn't be bothered.

After about 10 minutes it dawned on me that it was exactly 30 years and a little over one month that I had first stood in the same spot on the way to my first day of what would be fours years as a university student in Japan. I remembered that I thought to myself that day, "I will be riding this train four days a week for the next four years!" At the time it seemed like an eternity and the thought wasn't an entirely pleasant one as the commute was a little over an hour, but I had so much wanted to stay in Japan after serving in the military the previous four years that it was my only option and one that I really didn't mind and looked forward to with much anticipation.

As I stared out the window I began to contemplate the changes I had witnessed in a generation where I lived and along this train line. And, since I had been back to Japan like clockwork every single year since I left in 1988, I really never gave it much thought before today. The changes were slow and I never really noticed how much things had changed and how much they hadn't. To me it was like returning home. In a way it truly was as not only did I live there, but my wife, while a college student, moved to the area from Tokyo with her parents who had bought a house not far from where I lived. I have been visiting my wife's house for almost 20 years now and it really does feel like my own and I am truly treated as one of the family.

Odakyu Sagamihara, where I lived for 12 years (1973-1985), has really undergone many major changes mostly in the construction of high rise apartment buildings and condominiums otherwise known as "mansions". Gone are the one or two story buildings that surrounded the station. What used to be an empty lot that I used to practice baseball in with a few local men is now replaced by six story mansions. Many of the mom and pop shops that used to surround the station are gone and replaced by four story parking facilities or shopping buildings or, again, mansions. Many of the small restaurants, shops, and snacks on the side streets are still there though. The "Dove Store" otherwise known as Ito Yokado is now owned by 7-11 and is called 7i or 7 holdings.

The McDonalds at the station, where I first met my wife 26 years ago, and the Odakyu Ox department store have been torn down for what will be a 20 story mansion complex above the train station complete with shopping and restaurants on the first few floors. Construction began last year and they are half way through it already. If one rents or buys there, one need only take an elevator for shopping or eating and to catch the train to work. While in Japan last year we checked into buying one but they were already sold out!

The Yokohama bank where I had an account and dated a teller for a while is still there.

The roads are still narrow and have not been widened nor have any sidewalks been added. Still it is quaint and familiar. My old apartment is still there and it is one of the oldest in the neighborhood now! It looks that way too as it has not received a face lift since it was built more than 30 years ago and I was pleasantly surprised to see that the mailbox I bought when I first moved into it in 1977 is still there also. The bar across the street where I first met Mr. Suzuki has now been re-renovated as part of a house. The rest of the houses in the neighborhood are still as they were, although many have received face lifts and the older houses have been torn down and replaced by newer ones. A few of the larger houses with much land have been sold and there are now three or four houses where in the past there was one or they have been replaced by parking lots.

The Chujitsuya department store (or what we in the military used to call "The Flower Store" because of it's symbol of a flower) across from the pachinko parlor where I made my living during my last year of University has been replaced by a 10 story mansion. The mom and pop restaurant where I ate many meals 2 minutes from my apartment has also been re-renovated as part of a house. The neighborhood vegetable store, cleaners and sakaya-san (liquor store) are still there and I always make sure to say hello when I visit. The proprietors are now in their sixties or more, but they are still working as is the mama-san at the karaoke bar/snack "Tsuyuki" that I so often visited on an almost daily basis many years ago. She must be at least 70 now! Alot of the former mom and pop stores like the TV store and such are now gone replaced by huge department stores like Bic Camera, Yodobashi Camera, or Dai Kuma.

I still see my Japanese friends every visit and we are now in our 50's or 60's and some are, or set to become, grandparents and some have passed on. Still, it is like nothing ever changed between us. We reminisce about the times we used to go out "girl hunting" (is that phrase still used today?) at discos in Roppongi and smoking weed, and carrying the Omikoshi (shrine) at festivals on weekends and the weekend local baseball games. We remember the motorcycle rides late at night and on the weekends and staying one step ahead of the police and the beginnings of Karaoke on 8 track tapes in snacks when we had to pay 100 yen for each song! I could go on and on, but I guess you get the picture.

As the train made its way towards Shinjuku I also noticed many changes along the way. The majority of the Odakyu line from Sagami Ono to Shinjuku is now four tracks instead of two to accommodate the express trains and the "Romance Car" luxury express and construction is still going on expanding that line. All of the local stations have been expanded accommodate 10 cars instead of four, and mansions abound now at many of the stations. I remember when Shin-Yurigaoka was built and was nothing but empty fields. Today, those fields are now replaced by houses, many houses, and department stores and what have you. Siejo Gakkuen Mae station used to above ground. Today it is underground as is Yamato station going towards/coming from Fujisawa and Enoshima.

The US Army hospital I used to work at Sagami Ono is gone, replaced by stores and a housing complex, and the station itself has been rebuilt into a huge shopping complex with a bus and taxi depot. As a matter of fact, it is quite nice to be able to take the bus from Narita airport to Sagami Ono station now and then a short taxi ride home.

I turned and noticed the people sitting in their seats or standing. Back in the day people would read on the train or listen to mini radios with an earplug for entertainment, or just sleep and nothing has changed much in that department. My first experience into something really technological for the train was when the Sony Walkman first debuted in about 1979. You just weren't cool if you didn't have one on the train or when walking. It was a great experience to be able to listen to your own favorite music on a cassette tape anywhere and anytime you desired, inside your home or outside. Today many people take that experience for granted. As I glance around the train today I see the majority of people looking down at cell phones and texting or reading whatever on their phones. What a change. I felt so out of place not looking at a phone that I actually thought about taking my US cell phone out of my bag and opening it just to look like I belonged! How lame is that? As has always been the case in Japan and elsewhere, people tend to shut themselves off from the rest of the world while on the train by reading, listening to music or just sleeping. No one said a word to anyone. It's amazing how quite Japanese trains can be.

Trains didn't start to be air-conditioned until around 1978 and I believe by 1985 they were all air-conditioned. It was sheer torture riding one in rush hour with just an overhead fan. Often it was I who opened a window for air and a breeze as most Japanese didn't want to be the first to make the move! And the air-conditioner would not be turned on until the first week in June regardless of how hot it was.

Also, back then air conditioning was an unaffordable luxury and I never had one until 1985! The only places that had "air con" were a few department stores and coffee shops and, of course, pachinko parlors. How did I survive the summers and sleep at night? Open windows, mosquito killer incense, and an oscillating fan, that's how! But I do look back on the sultry summers with a sense of nostalgia!

There is now a recording in English on the trains informing people of the next stop and even the station map above the doors is now digitalized and in both English and Japanese. Man, I sure could've used that when I first started living in Japan, but then again I may have not taken the time to memorize the Kanji for all the stations.

I am just amazed that in 30 years overall prices have hardly moved. Coke and juice is still around 100 yen and cans are usually 350ml now, but there are still the smaller cans for sale at the same price. Apartment prices are very reasonable now and a 2DK apartment about a 10 minute walk from the station can still be rented for around 30-50,000 yen/month and a mansion goes for 50-80,000 yen or more. I paid 30,000 yen/month for the 2DK place (with bath!) I rented 30 yrs ago seven minutes from the station! A 3LDK mansion can be bought for anywhere from 19,000,000 yen on up to 40,000,000 yen for a brand new one near, or on, the station! That is very reasonable in my opinion and comparable to any major city in the US. Even a decent house can be bought for around 20,500,000 to 30,000,000 yen these days. The reason why I left Japan in 1988 was because the price of the mansion I wanted to buy went from 8,000,000 yen to 28,000,000 yen in 2 1/2 years! And that was in the boonies of Yokohama! Also, you couldn't buy a house for under 40,000,000 yen at the peak of the boom. Yes, housing and land prices have really come down since I left.

A medium bottle of beer can still be had for around 5-600 yen in a snack although it is still expensive to buy beer in a store and it is still 5-600 yen for a whisky and water! The price for a loaf of Yamazaki bread is still around 150 yen and food prices have remained relatively stable. Unbelievable! The biggest change I have seen, other than housing, is in the price of whiskey both imported and domestic. I could hardly believe that a bottle of Jack Daniels whiskey could now be bought in Japan for less than I'd pay for the same bottle here in Tennessee where it is made! Beer in Japan is still expensive, but at least there is Chu Hai with 7% alcohol content! I could drink that stuff forever as it tastes like soda pop with a hell of a kick! Plus, there are now a variety of cheap beers for about half the price of premium beers.

It is really cheaper to eat in McDonalds in Japan than it is in the US and I remember when the first "Makudonaludo's" appeared in the mid 70's! When the one opened at Odakyu Sagamihara station in about 1974 my friend and I ate two Big Macs each that day! Also, for about 1,200 (US$3.60) you could eat all you want for lunch at Shakey's Pizza back then.

Clothing prices in Japan are now reasonable, especially if you shop at Uni Qlo. There, you could buy clothing for what you would pay in the states or less. Cosmetics and personal hygiene products, for both men and women, are still way over priced as they always were. Prices for fiber-optic, high speed cable is way cheaper than I pay for broadband here in the US! Here I pay $55/month for broadband at about 1mb/sec and forget fiber-optic. That is not due for 3-4 years! Cable TV is another $50 for just basic cable and no premium channels!

Yen is now around 123/US$. When I left permanently in 1988 it was 128! Not much of a change if you ask me.

Don't be fooled into believing that all of Japan is more expensive than the US or maybe your own industrialized country. In my experience and opinion it is no less expensive to live in my small suburb of Tokyo/Yokohama than living here in the suburbs of Nashville, Tennessee and that includes housing!

One thing I have always noticed for 30 years and the same holds true today is that, if someone sits next to you on a train, male or female, and they are studying the English language, they will more often than not pull out that book or text and read it while seated next to you. Coincidence? I don't know. Back in the day it was an easy way to make a friend or meet someone of the opposite sex if you said something like, "Are you studying English?" It still amazes me to this day and at my age (52), how many people of both sexes still do it as their way of maybe saying, "I know a little English and would like to meet/talk to you, but I am too shy and not sure if you speak English also." One person even pulled out the NHK book in French. Granted, most of the people that did it this last trip were closer to my age than in the past, but there was one younger female in her late twenties or early thirties who did this that I thought, "If only I were..." Anyway, I digress.

People do seem a little more withdrawn and a little more shut off from society these days, but then again, the Japanese always seemed to be that way, especially the younger generation. I guess the advance in technology today enables them to be more withdrawn. In a way I kind of understand as I spend way too much time on my computer and the internet these days myself and can get lost in a world all to myself complete with video chats with people from not only Japan but all over the world.

TV has not changed in all these years. The programming is still basically the same with the famiry doramas, silly game shows, sports, cartoons, morning shows for housewives, mystery dramas in the evening that always include a murder, and the sexual content on late night TV etc.

As the train made it way towards Shinjuku, had I not been back every year I think I would be shocked at the numerous 20 story or more skyscrapers now dotting the skyline in one of the most earthquake prone countries in the world as well as the numerous, high story mansions now popping up everywhere! I wonder what will happen when the "big one" hits as is inevitable. I guess only time will tell. They sure must've made some great strides in quake-proofing buildings.

Yes, Japan has changed very much on the outside these past 30 years, but for all its changes, at least on the inside, culturally, it remains the same and has not really changed that much to me. Unknown neighbors still greet even a foreigner with a slight head nod and an "Ohayo" or "Konnichiwa" and hardly anyone is shocked to hear a foreigner speaking Japanese. There is hardly any finger pointing and giggles from Japanese school kids as in the past when they encounter a foreigner and I don't believe I have experienced it in many years. I have also noticed that the Japanese, overall, are now not so shocked to see a foreigner or have one walk into their place of business and I have yet to experience being turned away from a place like a bar or snack if I walk in alone. There is much less "panic" than in the past. I guess knowing the language a bit and not being afraid to use it or make mistakes helps, I don't know.

As I exited the train at Shinjuku I made my way quickly, but silently, like an expert walking through a maze, through the crowds towards the JNR train that would take me to my destination. Damn, it is crowded this afternoon, but I am home and I do so much love it crowds and all.

Some may think that I am trying to relive my past or living in a fantasy world, but I beg to differ as Japan is more home to me and I am more comfortable there than in my own country and I have lived here in Tennessee for 18 1/2 years now. Still, it is only temporary, like being assigned overseas for a company or something, and I yearn for the day in a few short years when I will return "home" permanently. Maybe it will sink in when I am turned down for my first house or mansion, but it's not like I've never experienced it before and it really doesn't bother me as I know, sooner or later, I will find what I am looking for. Plus, I know Japan is not perfect and has its warts, but doesn't everywhere?

I understand that the past can never be recaptured, but it is fun to relive some of the most memorable times of my entire life. Maybe it's because I became an adult in Japan and stayed for so long, I don't know. Thomas Wolfe wrote a book entitled "You Can't Go Home Again", showing that one can really never capture one's past and that people change and the home one remembers exists only in the past. Apparently he has never lived in Japan because, to me, more than 30 years later, Japan has hardly changed and the past and present seem as one, only it is a lot more modern on the outside and relatively unchanged on the inside.