Salary Night Fever

June 12, afternoon and evening

Today we had our indoctrination into the economics and politics of Japan. We listened to a very informative lecture on a history of economic activity in the past 30 years or so concerning industries, as well as the very present and currently changing views on what had been guaranteed, life-long employment with one company, and then a very good pension for the rest of one’s life. Due to the same economic factors that have been causing American corporations to tighten their financial grip and cut out superfluous spending for a better bottom-line (energy costs, healthcare), Japan’s workers no longer find themselves in the advantageous position of a secured future. This is creating a lot of issues in terms of care for the elderly and is beginning to change and fragment some aspects of society. One big question that came up repeatedly is what does one do when the aging population reaches a critical mass (think our own baby-boomer problem vis-à-vis social security), but because of an almost negative population growth rate in terms of reproduction there are fewer and fewer people available to both work in companies to help fund the pensions and take care of the elderly in general. One answer has been to import nurses from Singapore and other countries to work in nursing home facilities. Although traditionally children are to take care of their parents until they die, this trend is weakening in the 21st century.

After the economics lecture, and a Q and A session, we were fortunate to hear from two very powerful members of Parliament, one of whom, Mr. Tsushima, has not only served longer than any other current member of Parliment, but he is also the chair of Japan’s version of the Ways and Means Committee in our country. Mr. Tsushima represents the party currently in power (Liberal Democratic Party, LDP), and the woman, Ms. Hironaka, represents the opposition party (Democratic Party of Japan, DPJ). Listening to them debate was excellent, especially after having witnessed so many debates recently in our own country. They were both incredibly sharp, quick-witted, and spoke excellent English. They did a terrific job of giving us both an overview of the current political issues and hot-button topics (such as aging, the oil crisis, and the sub-prime crisis), as well as showing their respect for one another despite their disagreements. They offered each party's views on the tough issues and engaged in some very lively discussion. One question that came up was what they thought about “Mud-slinging” and negative ad campaigns and whether such things occur in Japanese politics. The answer was an emphatic distaste for commercials at all, and a declaration that TV commercials are not a part of a politician’s campaign in Japan ever. Oh how nice that would be in our own country.

When the session was over, 68 of us who had purchased tickets to the Seibu Lions baseball game gathered and headed for the subway. It took us about 1 hour to reach the Seibu-dome, but once we arrived, all preconceived notions about what going to a baseball game means had to be thrown out the window. Take seating for instance. The 5 people I traveled with and went into the game with showed our ticket and went in on one side of the stadium, not knowing of course that all of our seats were on the other side. We came in on the Tigers side but then had to go back out and around and into the Lions side, as the officials would not let us through to walk all the way around Because everyone was decked out in team apparel, we looked very out of place with our Lions hats on. Each team has its own marching band in the stands going crazy, playing music; each player has his own song that the crowd sings when he is up at bat; there are chants and even cheerleaders: it’s like a blending of baseball, college football (except the half-time show is always going on), and pure joy. At one point towards the end of the game, every person had what I’m sure was supposed to be a balloon that blows up to look like a bat (although to the untrained eye it really looks like...something else),

and then they sang some chant with band accompaniment, raising the balloon up and down, and then in unison, they all let go of them, creating quite a sight as well as sound. There are whistles at the openings, so when the air comes out there is a high pitched, screaching sound.

Finally, the coolest thing I think I’ve ever seen in professional sports occurred at the end, after the MVP award was given out. The Lions had won and the Tigers had lost, but as soon as some small fence barriers were put up around the infield, the doors were opened and thousands of fans rushed the field, many of them heading for the infield, forming lines. As time went on, those in line were able to take turns fielding grounders hit by the pros. Old and young alike waited patiently for such an opportunity.The rest all found a spot, and without fail, all put on baseball gloves and started playing catch to the BeeGees “Saturday Night Fever,” which blared over the loudspeakers. Apparently every Thursday night they have an event such as this, which typically is for women and children, but tonight the storming of the field was in honor of the "salaryman," that hardworking man who is committed to his company and spends almost more time there than he does with his family (think about those Budweiser commercials that celebrate certain individuals). So, "Salary Night Fever" if you will. For almost an hour everyone got to play. It was like a park on a Sunday, kids laughing and smiling, people fantasizing about being a pro, playing catch on the field. Hundreds of balls were in the air at a time and yet no one got hurt. Well, almost no one. The girl on the far left in the picture below, Laura, did get hit in the head, but she is ok. It was so cool. We were totally stoked that we stuck around to witness this unique event.