Before I began my current stint as a student at Sophia, I moved from my
apartment near Yokohama Station to my current abode in Jiyugaoka. At
first glance, one would think my move was motivated by a desire to be
closer to school or closer to the center of Tokyo. I admit that was a
factor; taking a taxi home after a night on the town is still expensive
but affordably so, the trip to places on the western side of Tokyo such
as Shibuya, Shimokitazawa, and Futako-tamagawa require much less time.
However, to Sophia University, I gained only measly ten minutes in
train time.

No, the primary motivation of my move was the smell of the
Tokaido and Keihin-Tohoku lines which I would have taken to get to
Sophia. Although I have not experienced many of the other crowded
commuter lines, I have experienced mornings and evenings in a packed
train on these lines. Having lived in Jiyugaoka for a year and a half
now, I can firmly say that the smell is noticeably more pleasant than
what I call the two “salaryman” lines.

What is this smell that I
am talking about? Sweat and body odor mostly, and I believe that it is
related to the demographic of the people who use the trains. The Toyoko
Line runs through upper middle-class residential neighborhoods for most
of its way to Yokohama while the Tokaido and Keihin-Tohoku Lines get a
variety of commuters who may come from as far away as Odawara. The
perhaps as a result of the demographic of the Toyoko Line, the average
age (based on my casual observation) seems to be younger as well as
include more women. After the morning rush hour the average drops
significantly due to the many colleges located along the line. The
destination is also a factor in determining the demographics with
Shibuya being the final stop for the Toyoko Line.

The two lines I sought to avoid, by contrast was significantly
male, older and much more crowded. The lines are much longer bringing
people as far away as Odawara and Zushi to Kawasaki, Shinagawa and
Shinbashi–destinations of the “salaryman” as opposed to women. Being
much longer and more crowded as well as employing older trains with
older air conditioning systems, the smell of sweat and body odor (much
more pronounced in the summer than winter but nevertheless prevalent
year round) accumulates in the long commute. It is enough to make more
than one person gag in each car. In the summer, the smell is often
combined with the sea air of Yokohama–and when that sea is rotting
with algae (akashio or red tide), it is what Japanese say, saiaku–the worst. How anyone puts up with it, I will never know.

And this is all part of the city of Tokyo. Train lines and
their dynamics play an important role in determining where people
choose to live, and has arguably replaced the traditional geographic
notion of “place”. One does not choose to live in Setagaya, one chooses
to live on the Toyoko Line, the Denentoshi Line, the Keio Line, the
Odakyu Line. Setagaya is a non-place devoid of coherency and meaning,
but the train lines that run through it are not. Food for thought.

i opened the window that, hidden behind stacks of books and boxes of accumulated time, i had forgotten about.

カメハメハ・スクールズとネイティブ・ハワイアンと差別？
（今回、日本語で書くのが難しいので、皆さん、どんどん私の日本語を直して下さい。）

Appeals court rejects Hawaiians-first policy
控訴裁判所は「ネイティブ・ハワイアン優先」の政策を否定
Akaka bill backers, foes weigh ruling
アカカ上院議員の法案の弁護者も反対者も裁定を重視
Princess’ legacy (history of Kamehameha Schools)
姫様の遺贈（カメハメハ・スクールズの歴史）

The issue at stake Kamehameha Schools’ admission policy which allows
only children with Native Hawaiian blood to enter. The school was sued
by a non-Hawaiian student attempting to enter the school for
unconstitutional racial discrimination, and attempted to fight the case
by arguing that its admission policy was constitutional as an
affirmative action policy. However, the court ruled against it saying
that the blanket no-admission policy to non-Hawaiians amounted to
racial discrimination. Meanwhile, Senator Akaka’s bill that will
formally recognize the Hawaiian people as an indigenous group (like
Native Americans) and allow Hawaiians to form their own government,
etc. is up for vote by Congress in September.
この問題は、ネイティブ・ハワイアンの血を持
つ子供のみ入学させるというハワイのカメハメハ・スクールズの政策に関する。この学校は入学しようとしていたネイティブ・ハワイアンの血を持っていない子
供に憲法違反の人種差別の理由で訴えられたので、自分のポリシーがアファーマティブ・アクション（積極的差別解消政策）のため、合憲性があると論じ、訴訟
を反対しようとしていた。しかし、控訴裁判所の裁定はカメハメハ・スクールズの政策が人種差別と同様であって、原告の側に判定した。一方、ネイティブ・ア
メリカンのようにネイティブ・ハワイアンを土着民族として正式に認識しようとするアカカ上院議員の法案は今年9月に議員会で投票が行われる予定。

My thoughts: This is a complicated issue. On one hand, I am opposed
to racial discrimination. On the other, I grew up in a house next to
Kamehameha Schools knowing that I would never be able to attend the
institution. Yet, neither I nor anyone I have ever met from Hawaii has
questioned, much less opposed the school’s Hawaiian-only policy. We
were raised and taught in school about the past and present
discrimination faced by Hawaiians.

The Hawaii we know today was built upon not just land but a country
stolen from the Hawaiian people, and I believe that most people raised
in Hawaii do not begrudge this effort to better the situation of
Hawaiian people. Their island culture/lifestyle was never suited for
contemporary American society and they continue to be the ethnic group
with the worst financial situation, the worst living conditions in
Hawaii.

I have always thought that if the courts were forced to rule on the
Hawaiian-only policy, they would be forced to rule against the policy.
However, I never thought the day would come when anyone would be so
righteous as to challenge it, and now that that day has come, I am
deeply angered and saddened. Hawaiians do not enjoy recognition as an
indigenous people by the Federal Government like other Native
Americans. The bill introduced by Senator Akaka would change that and
allow Hawaiians to continue their struggle for a better life. The
question should not be whether affirmative action is or is not racial
discrimination, but whether the haves and have-nots can be categorized
according to ethnic group. There are thousands of poor children in
Hawaii in a similar situation to Hawaiian children. They should be
helped, yes, but society has also a responsibility to redress past
wrongs, and Kamehameha Schools’ policy attempts to do just that. This
is a sad day.

Golden Week

I have decided that Golden Week is
the best time of the year to travel in Japan. The weather is perfect
unless it rains, but it doesn’t rain too much at this time of the year.
The temperature is not too hot, but not cold either. Japan’s famous
cherry blossoms and plum blossoms have bloomed and fallen away, but the
late spring and early summer blossoms have begun to come out in their
full splendor.

In Atami there is the Akao Rose and Herb Garden that
cascades down a mountainside. A bus takes you to the top where you are
confronted by a true mountain view of the city and ocean. As you make
your way down the mountainside, the path takes you through a variety of
gardens blooming with flowers of all kinds. The roses, unfortunately,
were not in bloom when I was there, but the rose ice cream made up for
it. That sweet tooth of mine was unstoppable.

Uji, where I spent
a year living with the Tanaka’s, was my next stop during this Golden
Week (which is not over mind you). The Tanaka’s took me to Sagano where
we visited the Nembutsu Temple with their thousands of O-Jizou statues.
A quaint little side trip from Kyoto, the Sagano area is a peaceful
community that still maintains its rural lifestyle inspite of being a
destination for tourists. Rent a bike from Arashiyama if you have the
fortune to be in the area.

The city of Uji itself is much more
of a tourist trap than Sagano. However, you won’t find tacky Japanese
souvenirs here. As a destination for Japanese tourists, its fame is
preserved for eternity between the pages of the world’s oldest novel,
the Tale of Genji. The villa turned temple, Byodoin, is featured on the
back of the 10 yen coin and the 2000 yen bill, and when I visited, I
discovered that they had just finished building a small museum to
display the history and art of this National Treasure. Uji tea, green
tea ice cream, green tea soba, green tea everything is what to eat in
Uji. Buy a cone of green tea ice cream and head for the river for a
relaxing and romantic stroll through an older, more simple Japan.