|
View the H-Japan Discussion Logs by month
View the Prior Message in H-Japan's June 2011 logs by: [date] [author] [thread] View the Next Message in H-Japan's June 2011 logs by: [date] [author] [thread] Visit the H-Japan home page.
On-line editor: Janet R. Goodwin <jan@cs.csustan.edu>
H-JAPAN (E)
June 19, 2011
From: Dana Buntrock <DanaB@Berkeley.edu>
For those of you who have not yet returned to Japan since 3/11, it may be
helpful to understand how significant the absence of "gaijin" is in the
capital, a point noted more than once on this list.
I am using the term "gaijin" here to refer to racially differentiated
(non-Asian) individuals, including those who appear to be from the Indian
subcontinent. If mixed-race children were with a non-Asian parent, I
counted them. I also counted one woman in a version of the headscarf worn
by Moslem women, seen from behind, and her child (in a stroller), because
the attire was clearly non-Japanese in nature. That is, I tended to err
on the side of counting individuals as being foreign.
I did a casual count Friday, June 17 through Sunday, June 19. The first
two days, I went about normal activity, but the last day, I confess, I
deliberately went to a tourist spot. I included those seen within my
hotel, a nice business hotel that maintains a reservations web site in
English and often has foreign guests.
___
Friday count: 22. (8 a.m.-7:30 p.m.) I went through 9 subway stations:
Akasaka, Meijijungumae, KitaSando, Shinjuku (Oedo at Minami Shinjuku),
Aoyama Itchome, Gaienmae, Akasaka-Mitsuke to Nagatacho, and Kojimachi. I
walked at least 6 kilometers: from my hotel to the first station (.6 km),
from Kita Sando west for 1.2 km, from there to several floors, including
the 6th, of the Kinokuniya Bookstore in Minami Shinjuku (1.8 km), from
Aoyama Itchome to Gaienmae (.7 km) and from Kojimachi back to the Akasaka
area (1.6 if done efficiently, which I did not).
----
Saturday count: 135. About 15 under 5 years old.
I went through Roppongi twice, Hiro once, and Midtown twice. I went
through three crowded shopping areas--Ebisu, Midtown, and Roppongi HIlls,
plus the Photography Museum. I went to National Azabu (upstairs) on a
Saturday.
I was out 8 and a half hours, and I went through Roppongi Station (10:30
a.m.), Ebisu (subway) Station, and HIro Station. I walked 1.5 km around
Ebisu, and from Hiro to Roppongi HIlls (another 1.5 km) to Gallery Ma
(another 1.5 km) to Midtown (600 meters) and back to the hotel (1 km).
About 6 kilometers.
----
Sunday count: 60. I counted 13 women; 4 were children.
Out at 9 a.m., walked from Akasaka to near the foot of Tokyo Tower via Ark
Hills (1.9 km), continued on to Daimon Station, boarded a monorail to
Tenozu Isle (1.5 km), Walked a very short distance from there, then
boarded a cab back to Akasaka.Afterward, walked to Kasumigaseki (2 km),
continued to the Imperial Palace Gardens (3 km), walked from there to
Otemachi Stn (1.5), direct line back to Akasaka, and back to hotel (.5 km)
about 6:30 p.m.
21 men and 8 women were seen in the area of the Imperial Palace, including
joggers and apparent tourists. (Note: I attended an English-language
church service, but did not count the congregants. There were about 45
people in the church, and between half and two-thirds were non-Asian.
The church would normally have at least 50% more congregants, and often
double.)
Walked about 10.5 km, was in three not-particularly-busy subway stations,
but lingered around the Imperial Palace.
_______________________
DANA BUNTROCK
Associate Professor
Department of Architecture
University of California, Berkeley
******************************************************************
To post to H-Japan send your message to H-Japan@h-net.msu.edu
To temporarily interrupt your H-Japan service send a message to
<listserv@h-net.msu.edu> with the message:
SET H-JAPAN NOMAIL
When you wish to resume H-Japan service send a similar message:
SET H-JAPAN MAIL
In both cases, leave the subject line blank.
*******************************************************
 Humanities & Social Sciences Online 
|