Purikura!

Of course I love photo booths. Even before I saw Amelie, they seemed somehow endearing—maybe because photo booths in the U.S. are mainly used for souvenirs, for recreation. They have a bit of nostalgic appeal, like Polaroids.

Here in Japan, in train stations and next to vending machines on street corners, there are those sterile, single-stool booths that bark robotic instructions then cough out strips of harshly-lit headshots in the appropriate dimensions to serve as passport and ID photos. But there’s also…purikura!Typically located in a section of a video arcade or in a corridor of a shopping center, purikura kiosks—big enough for a group of even 6 or 7 to comfortably pose—allow patrons to first select their photo backgrounds and lighting, then creatively align themselves for the shots, then use a touch-screen to adorn the photos with writing/thought bubbles/sparkles/hearts/clothing accessories and countless other modifications, before the postcard-sized collage of images is finally printed, for you to cut up and share with friends.
At the start of the school year, I’d ask students about their hobbies, and along with the typical answers of playing sports, drawing, watching movies, listening to music, and so on, some girls had told me their favorite pastime was purikura. I could never figure out what they were talking about, but now, do I ever get it. And no wonder these machines are so popular: when the print drops into the tray, you and your besties have been automatically airbrushed to your finest, with ivory cheeks, strangely redder lips, and accentuated eyes. For now, I can part with nostalgia for this eye-straining, color-saturated ridiculousness. My only complaint is that users have only a limited amount of time to add “extras” to the photos before they print, so you’ve got to work fast to jazz up all the images in time (for example, just above: top-right image = success; lower images = failure). Surely we just need more practice.

Fantastic 三年生 Farewells

After 15 months in Japan, it’s official: I’ve become a manga character.I’ve already finished teaching at Osu and Okabe, and here at Aojima, the school year comes to a close with graduation on March 19. Since the 9th graders are taking their final high school entrance exams and rehearsing frantically for the year-end chorus concert, as well as fitting in a class trip to Tokyo Disneyland, I am teaching only 7th and 8th graders from here on out. Much to my delight, after my final classes with the 9th graders, I was showered with many amazing/hilarious/cryptic farewell messages. Basically, I plan to keep these forever and pull them out anytime I need a self-esteem boost.

Here are some of the best—it was difficult making cuts. And please don’t get the wrong impression from these samples: there were many flawlessly written messages. I really have helped these kids with their English, a little! It’s just that the messed-up messages are far more entertaining and endearing, of course. (You can click on some of the images for a larger version.)
How will I ever find another job that compares to this one?!

Kind of a big deal.

Last Sunday, Davin ran the Tokyo Marathon in 3 hours, 45 minutes.

A few of us traveled along to cheer him on in his 26.2-mile/42.1-km feat. Jaime and I went out in Shibuya on Saturday night, so we got back to the hotel (City Hotel NUTS, by the way) not much before Davin had to wake up and get himself ready and over to the starting point.The day was cool and rainy, but the spectators were out in full force to see the 35,000 runners compete. I was not really looking forward to watching hordes of people in agony run past me all morning long—and yes, there were those people, naturally—but the costume selections of many runners really lightened the mood. In Ginza, we stood by some sweet ladies who were cheering for this guy:I also saw a couple dressed as Mickey and Minnie, countless clown wigs, a man with a giant hat in the shape of Mt. Fuji, a man with a giant cross tied to his back, and a guy who was running with an acoustic guitar (happily singing and strumming his way to the finish). Sorry I don't have more photos...I was holding an umbrella in one hand and a coffee in the other.

Here comes Davin!
And there he goes:
I swear, he really is in those photos. Need some help? He looked like this, courtesy of Joyce:
We hopped from stop to stop on the metro, trying (sometimes unsuccessfully) to see Davin pass by. When he crossed the finish line at Tokyo Big Sight, the sun was actually shining…and soon thereafter, glinting off Davin’s shiny new gold medal. Which I believe he is still wearing.We had a fantastic post-race feast at the Roppongi area restaurant, Gonpachi, which was Tarantino’s inspiration for the set of Kill Bill! Aside from monstrous blisters, I think Davin’s ready to run another marathon any day now. Perhaps I will work toward being a better spectator.