Category: Stuff and Things

How to Act like an Actor

Published February 28, 2013 by Alisha

I do a couple of “odd jobs” in an effort to gain a variety of different experiences here. One of those jobs involves working with a company that produces language learning materials for people all over the world. They don’t just produce Japanese language materials, but dozens of other languages as well. Some readers of this blog might be familiar with the Japanese Pod 101 series of materials. That’s the company I work for!

I do a couple different things for this company. Initially, I was hired to be the host of a web series called “English in 3 minutes”, a short series seeking to instruct students of English in more natural phrases and manners of speaking. The series is entirely in English, and is geared toward people who have already studied English and have a decent grasp of communicating, but need work improving their studies to be more “natural” and less “textbook”. It’s an effort to get away from the: “How are you–I’m fine thank you, and you?” That every textbook teaches, and replace it with: “How’s it goin’?” “Not bad!” Here’s an example (excuse the horrible preview photo):

I am told that the channel has been exploding with popularity. In December, the company told me that the channel had been getting 700 new subscribers every week. I remarked: “Hey, I should just be doing these videos myself!” To which my director replied: “Yeah, you’re not supposed to realize that.” The company also claims that I am their only host not to receive any negative comments. The only thing I’ve ever seen on YouTube is a snarky quip about my eyebrows, and some occasional mutterings that English being taught in English makes no sense. Oh well. Can’t please everyone.

In addition to this web series (for which I am contracted for 25 episodes, 24 of which are filmed), I also do voice recording for audio programs. Thus far, I’ve helped in the production of an Arabic series, a Spanish series, and today am heading off to do the final recordings for a Swedish series. Each series is 25 lessons in total. I don’t actually speak any of these languages (except for a little Spanish). Rather, my role in these lessons is to be the English guide. I’m the voice that asks questions on behalf of the listener, banters with the native speaker host, and tells listeners: “repeat after the host!”

Occasionally I also come in to record English vocabulary; they stick me by myself in the recording studio, and I record a few hundred words and phrases for vocabulary lists. This is arguably the hardest job because I do for them because I am placed in a dim, warm studio with my only job being to push a button and speak a word or two at a time. I won’t lie; I once nodded off.

Before I began doing this sort of work, it all sounded very fast-paced, exciting, and, well, “glamorous”. The reality of it, however, is that it’s pretty normal. It’s fun to have the chance to work with people from all over the world, but it does have downsides.

The studio I shoot the videos in is actually just the office where entire company works. There is no separate space to shoot in. There’s just a green screen on the back wall, and the camera, lighting, and mics are all setup in a space in the back of the office. Because this is the setup, every video has to be shot really, really early in the morning – before the other staff comes in and starts making noise. We often have to stop recording and do re-takes because someone sweeping outside or a car door slamming gets caught on tape, and ruins the shot. We all have to be at the office and ready to go at 7 AM. This means on my shoot days I get up at about 5 AM to get camera-prepared and get to the place for shooting. Following the shoot (which can sometimes last up to 2 hours), I then go to my regular day job. Admittedly, these shoots happen very infrequently, so it isn’t an issue, but it does make my days rather long.

The audio recordings happen once or twice a month, and I have an agreement with my current company where I can plan in advance to leave the office a couple hours early in the afternoon to go and take care of my voice recording responsibilities. The sessions usually involve 2-3 hours sitting across from the native speaker in a tiny studio, and a supervisor sits outside, cutting in occasionally to tell us to re-take lines.

It’s an interesting, fun thing to do occasionally, and it’s just another little tidbit of experience to add to a resume. The studio folks and the people I record my videos with tell me that I’m actually pretty good at it, but I like to think it’s because I have the rather unfair of advantage of doing all my work in my native language.

So, how does one go about getting a job like this? There are a couple things you can do to increase your chances. One is to sign up with an agency. There are a number of agencies throughout Tokyo that do extra work, or have connections for TV or voice recording jobs. I’m signed up with Group Echo, an agency based in Tokyo. The owner, Hikaru, is a very nice bilingual woman who runs things. Show up for a short interview and an introduction to the work, submit a few photos, and they contact you whenever work comes up. I get emails perhaps once a month about jobs I’m eligible to apply for, provided my schedule is open on the days specified.

In the case of this job specifically, however, I found a posting on craigslist and responded to it. I was looking for a little extra part-time work at the time, and although I didn’t have any professional experience in front of a camera, I figured having done a few YouTube videos was at least a foot in the door. I applied, and did a screen test. They liked me, and I got the job! Pretty straightforward.

I will warn people getting into this sort of thing that it does not pay the bills (at least on this level). The pay for the video work and the infrequency with which I come to the office means I get very little in my bank account from this company each month. It’s usually only about $50 a month or so, but I do it because I enjoy a little break in my routine now and then, and it’s a good chance to learn a little bit and meet some interesting people.

The agency I’m signed up with is much the same; jobs are infrequent. I receive emails now and then about upcoming positions that I fit the client’s needs for, and the agency sends out a call to all eligible individuals, asking if they are interested and available. Pay varies from job to job. Average for most one day jobs (as an extra), is about 10,000 yen a day (about $100). I did see one job come through recently for a very high profile video game client, however, where pay was more like $700 for a job. In almost a year of being signed up with the agency, however, I’ve only ever seen one job opportunity like that. The agency pays on time, but it’s usually two months after the date of the actual job.

If you’re interested in this kind of work, get yourself signed up with a few agencies, and have another job or another source of income. Unless you’re wildly successful and famous, chances are that you will not be supporting yourself solely with a career as an extra in Tokyo.

I’m not an actor, but I do act like one from time to time because it’s something I enjoy doing, and it’s a straightforward, interesting job. Many other Tokyo residents have dabbled in this kind of work, and there are a wide range of experiences. As with all career choices, how far you go is up to you! My only recommendations are to be smart, only do work you are comfortable with, and have another source of income. If you think you’re going to be the next big star, you’re setting yourself up to have your hopes dashed. If you’re going into the experience just looking for an couple interesting little jobs here and there, you’ll be in good shape.

Shiken: TEST LIKE YOUR LIFE DEPENDS ON IT

Published February 26, 2013 by Alisha

(Remember how I said I was going to just write about stuff without so much unnecessary nitpicking? Yeah, my computer crashed and burned a little while after that and I still haven’t got it fixed. I have bad luck with them.)

What if your whole life depended on a test? I’m not talking about a medical test in this case (though I’m willing to bet that quite a few people have had their lives hang in the balance of one of those). Instead I’m talking about an educational test. I can’t quite fathom the amount of stress that must get put on a person when they know that their ability to to pass an examination could be a huge determining factor in the groundwork for the rest of their life.

What were you like when you were a high school student? I think I was a pretty average kid. I did pretty well in school, took some honor classes, and had some friends. I generally did my homework, played some sports, and hung around my house doing normal teenagery things. If you had told teenage me that my entire future could potentially depend on a test I’d be taking my senior year of high school with no real chance for a “re-take”, I’d probably have been a little worried.

Yes, American students do have the SAT test, which is a general aptitude test. Some might argue that the SAT is a future-determiner of a test, but I disagree.

I remember my very first full day in Japan. Jet-lagged though my Grandmother and I were, we hopped on our trusty yellow Hato Bus and took a day tour. That tour included a visit to Meji Jingu, right smack dab in the heart of Tokyo. Part of just about any religion I can think of is prayers (or some variation of that; you might call it a “wish”). Shintoism incorporates prayers/wishes as well. At shrines, visitors can purchase small wooden placards, write their desires on them, and hang them up in the shrine, hoping to get a little extra attention from the powers that be.

Our tour guide asked us what we thought was the most wished-for thing. Of course, we guessed: “Health?” “A happy relationship?” “Money?”

Nope.

The #1 wish is to pass the university entrance exam.

Every year, in winter-spring, universities have tests. Part of the application process for university in Japan means you take this test (and pass) to become a student. There are some tests that can be applied to several universities, but many universities also have their own tests year after year that students must study specifically for.

Yesterday (February 25th), happened to be “shiken” day, or “test” day at the university where I work one day a week. Exam day is taken very seriously. I had to show ID to gate guards just to be let on campus in the morning. Motley crews of what were obviously high school students milled around looking nervous.

It’s easy to forget what it’s like to be a high school student when you are not one yourself, and you don’t really spend much time around one. Could you imagine being that high school student and being asked to take a test that might determine the rest of your life? One of my coworkers explained that there really are no options for “transfer” within universities, or “community college” options for students who cannot pass these tests. Admittedly, some tests are much more rigorous and difficult than others, but could you imagine what life must be like in the lead-ups to these exam days? When I was teaching, I remember learning about how some of my senior-year high school students no longer studied regularly for the last half of their final year. Instead, their curriculum shifted exclusively to studying for these tests. Thankfully, my students all passed their university tests and got into universities they were very happy about.

I suppose when this sort of educational culture is what you grow up in, it’s perhaps a little less terrifying to think about (but maybe only slightly). I’d have been a ball of stress and angst at that age without the fear of such a test looming overhead, but I like to think I could still have done it.

It’s an interesting and different approach to higher education, and it makes me think about what sort of programs and curricula are in place in other countries.

What do you think? If your future, your education, your job, and your livelihood could all potentially ride on a pass/fail on a single test, do you think you could pass? Or would you turn into a shriveled ball of terrified humanity? Would you even try?

Setsubun: Do You Know Where Your Beans Are?

Published February 3, 2012 by Alisha

Setsubun: Do You Know Where Your Beans Are?

Ehomaki, a rolled sushi traditional at Setsubun

Ah, Setsubun. This special day marks the end of winter and the beginning of spring on the Japanese lunar calendar. It’s a little bit like a New Year’s party in terms of one period coming to a close while a new one starts. It is celebrated in temples and home throughout the country. There are traditional foods and traditional behaviors. One such behavior involves chasing the male head of the household out of the house while throwing beans at him and yelling “Out with the Devil!”

You can’t make this stuff up.

Setsubun comes around every year on February 3rd or 4th. It’s like the Japanese spring equinox. It’s a day to let go of winter and welcome spring. The behavior of the day is reflective of this – the alpha male of the house traditionally dresses up as an oni (devil) and his family throws beans at him while chanting “Devils out! Happiness in!!” until he runs out the front door, which is then slammed behind him. This is meant to drive evil spirits from the home and welcome good ones.

This tradition isn’t practiced so widely at home anymore. Now, celebrations (some involving bean throwing) are held at temples. At some events, celebrities and sumo wrestlers show up. Rather than having everyone chuck beans at some unlucky guy, however, these events may feature celebrities throwing prizes, money, or gold foil-covered bans into the assembled crowd.

There’s food, too (as there often is with Japanese holidays). Setsubun’s special treat is the ehomaki. It’s a long roll of sushi that hasn’t been cut (about 20cm long). It is filled with seven different items because seven is a “lucky” number, and also reflects the legendary seven gods of happiness in Japanese folklore. Every year, a direction is designated as “lucky” (this year it’s north-northwest), and the goal is to eat the entire ehomaki in silence while facing the lucky direction.

I’m not a big fan of rolled sushi, but it’s not every day you see a compass attached to your food in the supermarket.

The compass attached to each roll of sushi is supposed to help you turn in the correct direction while attempting to eat the entire ehomaki.

While I did not participate in setsubun this year (aside from buying the compass-sushi), it’s a quirky, interesting way to say goodbye to winter and welcome spring. The day also seems to coincide very closely with groundhog day in the U.S. Both are fairly ridiculous. If relying on a rodent to predict the weather for you or throwing beans at your Dad sounds like fun, that’s great. I’m going to wait until I can turn my heater off before I officially welcome spring.

Mask Yourself from the Flu

Published February 1, 2012 by Alisha

Mask Yourself from the Flu

Every culture has its own remedies for everything from mosquito bites to zits to the common cold. “Culture” could mean the country you live in, your region, or even your family. Regardless, there’s probably a little something you do that might seem bizarre to someone else.

Japan has a reputation for weirdness that may or not have been fairly earned. An image of this “weirdness” was spread around the globe following the SARS scare from 2002-2003. The image was of Japanese people wearing what western individuals and media deemed unsettling: surgical masks.

A group of Japanese people wearing surgical masks.

(Photo via flavorsofjapan.com)

For the average western-country dweller, surgical masks are worn almost exclusively in medical contexts. If a person is wearing a surgical mask, they are either a doctor or a sick patient. There’s not much else the western brain immediately tends to think when they see these masks (unless you subscribe to a specific sort of fetishism, I suppose). So, it’s a little weird for some people from other countries to see so many people all wearing a mask in this fashion.

This is a preventative measure. While yes, masks are used to prevent the spread of germs from a sick person to another, the Japanese also use masks to prevent themselves from coming into contact with the germs in the first place. In the past, special masks were even designed using ostrich antibodies because a researcher discovered that ostriches have stronger immune systems than other birds. Masks are taken seriously here.

Now that it’s winter, of course, it’s also flu and cold season. The word “epidemic” is being thrown around with regard to this year’s flu numbers. Additionally, new forms of avian flu have been detected in northern Japan. Nobody wants to get sick. But we also can’t stay home. So, what do we do? We put face masks on.

Until recently, I thought this was a bit of a joke. A face mask? Really? I was especially bothered by the way some sick people (salarymen in particular) seemed to feel that because they were wearing the mask it was acceptable to cough and splutter at will. I find myself holding my breath in train cars at times when a person next to me is coughing and hacking without covering their face. Some people seem to think their face mask will take care of disease control altogether.

But I learned something recently. Something I had to look up. The owners of my school have been giving each person who comes in the door a hand wipe to help reduce the spread of germs. They’ve also been running a humidifier, and many students show up in face masks. The most surprising information I heard regarding these practices was that humid air actually helps reduce the spread of the germs.

“HA! SILLY JAPANESE WITH YOUR SILLY IDEAS!” was my first reaction.

I did a little research, and what I found surprised me. Some evidence suggests that moist air may actually make existence very difficult for the flu. In fact, increased outbreaks of the flu (especially in less humid climates) may be due to how easy it is for the germs to travel through the dry air. However, not all scientists are on board with this theory.

So, how does this relate to masks? By breathing into a mask (especially breathing through the mouth), you’re actually warming the air and adding humidity to it. You’re not pulling dry air into your lungs; it’s much less harsh, and it may possibly be helping to eliminate any influenza germs. Or not. You decide. I tend to think masks have an entertaining element about them – I can breathe with my mouth open without appearing ridiculous, I can smile to myself on the train when I’m watching something funny on my iPod, and I even come with the added bonus of looking somewhat like a space alien when I wear one.

(Exhibit A responds with terror when exposed to loud sounds or cockroaches.)

I don’t wear a mask to protect myself from germs. If I am feeling extraordinarily sick, I will wear a mask in an effort not to infect my coworkers and my students. I do, however, wear a scarf that I regularly pull up above my mouth. I tend to breathe through it when I’m out and about in the winter just because the air is cold and breathing through the scarf allows me to heat the air before I pull it into my lungs, which feels much more pleasant. Whether or not my scarf is saving me I may never know.

The thing I find the most entertaining about all of this, however, is knowing for certain now that I live in a nation of mouthbreathers.

Moving Internet House

Published November 20, 2011 by Alisha

Hi readers, as I mentioned in my last post, a couple changes are happening here in the ArishaInTokyo online world.

One of those changes includes the blog moving to its own personal domain (YAY!). I decided to make the move because I wanted to have a lot more control over my site. WordPress.com has been great, but I wanted to move to a self-hosted wordpress blog.

You can now find the new site at ArishaInTokyo.com. This site will remain up for a little while longer, so if for whatever reason you’re particularly attached to the layout, you can see it for a few more weeks. All content, images, comments, etc. have all been moved over to the new site, so no data has been lost.

In December I’m going to use a site redirect so that if you come to this URL, you’ll automatically be taken to my new home on the web.

For people subscribed to the blog: if you are an e-mail subscriber, I have already automatically moved your subscription. If, however, you follow my blog via wordpress, you may need to subscribe again. For whatever reason, I can’t take my wordpress subscribers with me when I move. Apologies for the inconvenience.

I hope you all enjoy the new site! I’ve got lots of new content ready to go up, and I’m excited to share it with all of you! Thanks for reading!

Alisha

P.S. There’s a new video up! Check it out!

Scenes From Summer

Published October 13, 2010 by Alisha

I’ve gotten pretty backlogged with my photos. Summer is finally winding down (at least, I think it is – some days the weather still seems unsure of what month is is), and we’re transitioning into Autumn, at long last. The weeks of complaining about the heat have been abandoned and will be soon replaced by weeks of complaining about the cold. Most of my summer wasn’t experienced through the lens of a camera. However, a few new pictures made their way onto my hard drive. I’ve chosen the best (read: least crappy) to share.

First (because there’s only one photo worth sharing): this photo is from Koenji Awaodori. A huge, jam-packed parade through the streets near Koenji station. Dancing, music, drunk city folk, food, and fun.

Second: The Asakusa Samba matsuri. Old-timey tourist-friendly Asakusa meets scantily clad, noisy, feathery, busty Brazil. Dancing, music, drunk city folk, and fun (again). With about 3000% more boobs and glitter than Koenji awaodori. Wish I could have counted the zoom lenses and flannel shirts.

Lastly, I visited Honmonji temple to the southish westish of the metro area for another obon matsuri. You may have seen my video on YouTube about the circle dancing festival from Gifu prefecture – many, many of these style festivals took place in the summer – this was the same deal. Also, dancing, drunk city folk, food, and fun (sensing a trend here?).

This temple is beautiful – I arrived just as the sun was going down after hiking around the area for a while trying to determine if I was going the right way. It’s at the top of a hill, and there’s a very ethereal quality about the whole place. The pictures don’t do it justice.

Food choice at these festivals is pretty standard wherever you go – meat on a stick, okonomiyaki, yakisoba, chocolate bananas, and takoyaki (think doughnut holes, but made with octopus and batter instead).

I had my first taste of okonomiyaki at this festival (pictured rather unappealingly below). It’s like a pancake pizza thing made with cabbage that they cover in a sauce and you dip in mayonnaise. I realize how unappetizing that sounds. I’m still undecided if I like it or not – I got about halfway through my portion before I decided I was uninterested in eating the rest. Maybe it’s better to try it…not…at a festival.

This is the central “dance tower”, where all the obon dances are performed.

The stairs leading up to the temple. I apparently arrived at the bank entrance, via a hill. These stairs in the evening really lent to the otherworldly feel of the place – probably moreso when there’s less people around.

Lastly, this is a photo of what I was looking at while I was eating the previously mentioned okonomiyaki. I was parked on the steps of a temple older than my home country eating a new food, and looking at this view when I had a “wow, this is my life” moment.

Moments like those are just one of many reasons I enjoy living where I do. Sometimes I’m still surprised that I made it here and I’m experiencing things like this. Mostly, I’m just grateful. These are good times.

Apologies for the lack of updates recently – there’s been some changes in my schedule and my free time is now limited (and treasured!). I haven’t forgotten all things internet – I have some ideas for videos, I just haven’t put them into action yet. I’m still somewhat active on Twitter, but my content isn’t strictly Japanese-culture-related. Feel free to check it out. As always, thanks for reading!