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You Americans complain about annoying telemarketers calling add odd hours. Well, count your lucky stars. It's election time in Japan, and it's like nothing you've ever experienced. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the Japanese political system, let me fill you in. Japan has no real concept of noise pollution. That's why the motorcycle gangs never get tickets. Anyway, this lack of regulation comes in handy for the wanna-be politicians. Every candidate and political party has his/ its own vehicle, complete with loud speakers. I often hear a political party driving around, shouting its party line. But, election time is near, and this country had gone crazy. Every morning I wake up to candidates shouting their slogans. I hear them as I leave for school. I hear them at school. I hear them when I come home, and until about 9 pm, when they must be silent. These loudspeaker systems are quite impressive. They hurt my ears when I pass them on the street, and I can't hear the TV or my friends, when they come by my house (and my doors and windows are shut). It's been especially bad this weekend. I assure you that no one in Japan slept in this weekend, due to the raucous. And what's more, I thought that elections would be This Sunday, for sure, but they aren't until Thursday! Will the torture ever end? Whoa, we just had quite an earthquake. It was a two-parter. I even unplugged my computer from the socket before it was over. But, I think that it was only a 3 on the Japanese scale. It was one of the biggest I've felt. I think the earth is making up for the dry spell of tectonic activity. Yikes. Back to business. Keeping with the theme of noise pollution, let's talk about the bosozoku (or however it's spelled) again. I've mentioned this motorcycle gang before. Well, my school has just had its first encounter with it. Thursday, one guy came by our school twice. Once in the morning, and once after school. After school, all the kids were doing club activities, and one of the teachers happened to be outside. He's Mr. Sekiguchi, "macho", and he chased the guy away. (That's more than anything my friend's school did). So I hope that that was the one and only encounter we will have. Did you know that "white weddings" are very popular here. Most people aren't Christian, but they still want to get married in a wedding chapel and wear the white dress and tux. This ceremony isn't cheap. It includes party, outfits, gifts for the guests, and sometimes the honeymoon, and will cost about $30,000 for the works. Believe it or not, many Japanese choose this (to rent the dress for the affair costs about $2,000!!!) A funny thing about this, is that the chapel is complete with a white man for the "pastor." Sometimes this man is a genuine pastor, and sometimes not. The point is not to have a real minister, just a man that fits the part. I have AET friends who have been asked to perform the marriage ceremony. Even though they were offered money, my friends turned down the offer. But, the story doesn't end there... There is a guy who lives in a village in NW Gunma. He was asked by a student's father if he'd like to go out. Well, my friend's Japanese isn't great, and the guy's English was about nil, so, there was a communication gap. Anyway, the man picked him up and told him they were going to a bar. He said, "You will be actor." Then he mentioned something about marriage. Well, never had my friend imagined that he was brought there to marry a couple he'd never met. In fact, he thought he was just going to a school enkai. Boy was he surprised when he met the couple in the bar, who were wearing wedding dress and tux. It was then that he realized what was going on. Apparently, the couple was too poor to afford a "real" wedding, so they had asked to have this foreign guy marry them. They assemble at the bar, gave him a Bible, took a tablecloth and drew 2 crosses on it, thus making a stole, and they were ready to go. So my friend read the Bible (all in English), and married them. They took some photos, and had the wedding party. In all honesty, I wasn't surprised at this story. But I suspect that some of you might be! Valerie Straayer |