Big In Japan

One day during English Challenge -- it’s kind of an informal conversation period; any student can come – students had to make two statements about a foreign country. About the United States, one student said people are friendly, and everything is big.

America is, indeed, the land of super-sizing, of SUVs, 5-lane freeways, 4-bedroom-2-bath homes, 32 oz. drinks…bigger, is, pretty much, always better, and we (and our possessions) seem to expand to fill the spare room or the new lane or the wider seat.

Through the looking glass, however, by way of my hefty American eyes, Japan is a country in miniature, a doll-sized version of life. This is the country that invented all things “cute.” Apartments are small (I never imagined a refrigerator, microwave, sink, stove, and washing machine could fit in 10 square feet of space), food is small (you know how they invented those ‘serving size’ half-pints of ice cream…here they’re half the size of the half-size!), people are small (I tower over half my male students, and I still don’t know how my co-worker who’s 6’3” doesn’t hit his head on everything), shoes are small (an XL shoe here is an American eight…ouch!). I went shoe-shopping with my friend Eilidh; her feet are slightly smaller than mine, and when we asked for her size the salespeople looked at us like we were trying to find the Yeti. I think they really didn’t believe that such a massive size existed; then they looked down at our size 9.5 and 10 feet in horror.

On the one hand, we Americans could take a lesson from the Japanese. There is very little excess here…you’ll rarely see massive portions of food, or sprawling mansions, or huge trucks. To be fair, this is one of the most densely populated nations on earth, and big things quite simply wouldn’t fit. It doesn’t seem to be ingrained in the mentality of people here, however, that more is better…there is an acute awareness of the presentation of things, and often expansion doesn’t come along with good aesthetics.

I very rarely see really overweight people here. Considering that most industrialized nations are dealing with an increasingly heavier population (as our lives get more convenient, we put on the pounds we once kept off with physical labor), I find it remarkable that this isn’t much of an issue in Japan. It truly doesn’t seem like people always want more…they generally have or take what they need. Also, people always sit down to eat or even to drink; it’s a big faux pas to walk around eating or drinking something. The other possibility is that they’re too busy working to eat – it’s common to work 12+ hour days here, in any employment sector.

I must admit that I do miss some big things. I miss other big people so I don’t feel so much like Gulliver in Lilliput, I miss economy size packs of things (I’ve tragically finished the 3 lb. container of coffee I brought with me from Costco, and now must buy my coffee 6 ounces at a time – the largest container -- from the local market), I miss having a sofa to sit on (no room in my apartment!), I miss shoes that fit (I can’t lie, though, it’s probably better off I’m unable to buy shoes because I for sure don’t need more!), I miss space in general – Japan can be quite a claustrophobic country, it’s pretty much crowded everywhere. Also, although I do admire the Japanese’ penchant for portion control, I do find that the amount of packaging used is quite wasteful – with the exception of rice, that you can buy in 10 lb. packs.

If nothing else, I think it’ll be a little shocking to go home to the Land of Big Gulps after being in the Country of 6 oz. Water Glasses. I can’t lie, though…I’m looking forward to good old American coffee and BIG boxes of cereal. Oh, and other Big People so that I feel normal-sized again.