Drinking in Japan

Yan-san, the patron saint of those who study Japanese (he was the main character of a 1980's/1990's series that was/is widely pirated on the net), enjoying a cold one at his pad in Tokyo. Yan was never afraid of downing a sake or five.

"Will you drink it alone?" The bright-eyed combini worker eagerly asked me. I paused. In Canada, someone who drinks by themselves is usually considered in need of a full-blown, "let's call AA!" intervention. I should have remembered that I was in Japan before I shook my head: "No". She seemed disappointed. She was the first - but not the last to ask me this odd question.

The truth was that, since I was in the middle of nowhere, I would drink it by myself: one (large) beer while watching movies downloaded from the net. Many foreigners have questioned just what the hell it is about this place that seems to increase their imbibing habits. Was it that there was absolutely nothing else to do? Was it that booze is sold everywhere, such as supermarkets, convenience stores and even (until 11pm) vending machines (oddly, these are now only located in front of sake shops)? I only know that, in the year since I arrived here, I have drank more in volume and frequency than I ever have in my pre-Japan life.


The JET shopping cart, that fateful August when we first arrived in Japan....


Maybe it's due to the fact that drinking is intertwined in the culture as much as the language is. There's even a term for this: nomunication. A "Japanese joke" or pun, it marries the Japanese verb for "to drink" (nomu), with the English "communication". It's often said that in Japan most business is done after hours, when everybody heads to an izakaya (tavern)or akachokin (cheap food/drink) to kick back with a few frostys and some snacks. Also, what happens at the izakaya stays at the izakaya - you can go nuts and no-one will mention it the next day.

Actually, I had heard such tales: Japanese guys setting their pubic hair on fire for a joke or stripping off their clothes and running around the place, but I assumed this was the usual "those crazy Japanese!" exaggeration. However, I actually saw something like this go down: a bunch of us teachers went out for a "2nd year teachers" party. One guy, the 40-ish, super-serious gym teacher who barely ever said anything in the staff room, went fairly nuts at a karaoke place. He grabbed the mic, mimicked as if it was his dick, started yabbering flat-out nonsense into it - not any language, but just gibberish - and started humping the wall. For two full songs. I was in tears of laughter - I mean it was absurd - but the other two teachers, two women in their late 40's, didn't seem to notice anything and just searched the book for a good song to sing. No one ever said anything about it then or ever.

On a slightly more sane level, even holidays are just an excuse to get wasted. There's an expression here that kinda sums this up: hana yori dango. Literally, "(we) prefer dumplings to flowers", it means the mundane/practical is preferred over the artistic. This is taken to a literal level at hanami (flower viewing) festivals. Ostensibly, people gather to gaze at the freshly bloomed sakura (cherry blossoms). However, the real scenario is less prosaic: people gather to thrown down a blue mat, drink some (well, a lot of) sake, and howl into a portable karaoke machine before finally passing out.

Another reason I was drinking a lot was the frequency of enkais (drinking parties). It was quite common to have an enkai to celebrate someone's coming or going or wedding or birthday or it's Monday or let's just have a drink godammit. It seemed like we were always at a bar. At the enkai, there was a certain structure: people would always pour drinks for their "superiors" (a habit that I, as the lowest on the totem pole, wasn't so keen on adapting to as it meant a lot of pouring and not so much drinkin'). Also, Japanese drinkers usually start with beer, move to sake, then drink shochuu (usually, women drinkers would stick with chuhai or cocktails).


There are three main makers of beer in Japan: Asahi, Kirin, and Sapporo. I'm a fan of the latter, myself. Be wary not to buy happoshuu (low malt / sparkling liquor) instead.


You probably know that Japan is famous for rice wine, sake (pronounced "sa-kay", not "sa-key" btw). It can be drunk hot or cold, depending on the weather and tastes. It's usually called nihonshuu ("Can you drink Japanese sake?" is a question that has irritated many a foreigner). However, it's currently much less popular than it used to be and beer has taken its place.

Shochuu is a kind of Japanese vodka, kickin' in at 25% alcohol. It used to be mostly an old-man's drink, but is now more popular than sake due to faddish Japanese tastes: young women now drink it because they believe it's good for their health.

Chu-hai is, as its name implies, a "high ball" cocktail. These are mostly popular among young women and come in brightly colored cans. Apparently, quite a few ALT's have shocked their supervisors by drinking one of these in the teacher's room at lunch, thinking it was only a cola.

A further reason I was drinking is that I wanted to be social. I eat out as often as possible for this same reason. Though many native Japanese folks are nowhere near as likely as a North American to strike up a conversation or even chat, I persist. It works sometimes. I'm now translating a menu into English for a cool couple who run an izakaya near my place. The guy told me he wasn't too keen on foreigners before, but recently he's given me free food, a discount on drinks, and even stayed open for me one night when I was passing by. So, I'm making the menu for them, though it's more for the English-speaking customers that might chance by.

Last year, I also went to a regular place, a "snack" bar near my house. A snack bar is kind of like a hostess bar, where there's a "mama-san", who is the owner/manager, and usually female staff who are friendly to customers. No, not friendly in that way - just kind of flirtatious...However, though we had a mama-san, the place by my house was basically just a bar with higher prices than usual. The staff were friendly, but there was never any suggestion of any romance. Michael, the ALT was brought to a similar place in his town where, his co-workers promised, a "sexy lady" waited. She turned out to be at least 50. Anyway, these places usually have the "bottle keep" system, in which you buy a bottle of whatever and it's kept at the bar with your name on it. Also, although there are actual snacks, they are pretty low key: chocolates, chips, salted squid, and the traditional Japanese drinkin' snack, salted green beans (tastier than you'd think).

Full-fledged hostess bars (also called kyabakura, after "cabaret", exist. Despite the name, there's no dancing. The female staff must flirt, talk, and drink with the customers. They are also encouraged to go on paid dates. Some have sex with the customers, some don't. Foreign girls, especially blondes, can do quite well financially. I watched a documentary, Tokyo Girls, about some fairly plain Canadian girls who became well-off by leading on some lonely souls here. Michael and I passed by one of these places in Kyoto, but didn't know what the hell it was - the sign said "Girls Bar", but we weren't sure if that meant women-only or what.

There are also host bars, for women. The hosts are quite visible to visitors to Japan, in that they actually work the street, urging women to come to the bars with pick-up lines. They wear suits, and often have bleached or styled hair. ike the hostesses, the hosts must drink with their customers and thus, many suffer from liver damage. In a scene that is a spectacle of human misery, they encourage their customers to buy champagne to celebrate the slightest event ("Today is your fifth visit here! Shall we open a bottle?" Let's!). Ironically, the clientele is mostly made up of women who are themselves sex trade workers. There is also a great documentary about this, The Great Happiness Space. Though it provides an interesting glimpse into a rarely-seen lifestyle, it makes for depressing viewing. One girl even becomes a prostitute to support her host habit. Another pours her heart out for hours to a host, only to have him reveal to the camera, just minutes after her departure: "I hate her". That she expects to marry this guy makes these hosts worse than any prostitutes - prostitutes provide a service, but these hosts and hostesses provide only lies. I dunno, the idea of paid companionship just seems brutal to me, but maybe I'm just looking at things through my limited, "Western" perspective. What do you think?

You are allowed to drink in public in Japan, but they have a zero tolerance policy when it comes to driving. Even a bicycle. Further, if someone is at your place and gets hammered, then gets into trouble on their way home, you can expect a visit from the po-lice. Yet, like I said, when people get sloshed here they do crazy stuff, just like anywhere else. A few months after I arrived here, I was heading down the road in another prefecture with another teacher (he was driving). We saw a wreck in front of us, so I suggested he call an ambulance (I was kinda surprised that he asked me "What's the number?" as I thought he would know it....anyway, it's 119, in case you ever need it!). As we waited, I noticed the thing was still smoking. "Uh, maybe we should get out and check that the driver's all right?". We were on a bridge, and the traffic was getting backed up behind us. A few Brazilian guys from cars behind us had the same idea, and we headed for the small car, slightly crushed and on its side.

As we approached the car, I was surprised to see that there was someone still inside, an old dude. He was yelling like hell, presumably "get me the hell out of here!" in Japanese. I couldn't hear. So, a bunch of guys began pushing the tiny car, trying to set it straight. I noticed that it was being pushed towards the edge of the bridge and, should it hit it, might well fall off the bridge. I helpfully pointed this out. Finally, they put it right side up. The door was stuck, so a massive Brazilian guy practically ripped the thing off it's hinges and the old guy fell out, cursing. He was stumbling around, and you could definitely smell booze. He was far gone.

I got back in the teacher's car and we waited for the ambulance to arrive. As the teacher was talking on the phone with his brother, I noticed some activity up ahead. Ol' Jack Daniels was back in action! The character had gotten back in his car and was attempting to shut the badly-damaged door. He gave up, turned on the still-smoking vehicle, and took off, weaving down the road. I couldn't believe the car actually worked, and the fact that this guy was on the road again. We followed him for a short while, but he was gone. The ambulance and police passed us, heading towards the bridge. Later, when I told my Kyoto-sensei this story, he just shook his head and said "You have seen a Japanese shameful thing.". However, I was like, cool!

Speaking of my kyoto, he once showed me his small pocket diary. It went back seven years. Every day had either a green or red dot, or both, next to it. The thing had so much green and red it looked like a junkyard for traffic lights and Christmas trees. "What's up with those dots?" I asked. "Green is for when I go running" he said, "and red is for when I have drunk sake". The man had run a lot and drunk a lot. "I usually drink by myself and I watch TV and eat edamame" (salted green beans, actually pretty tasty).

"Do you drink alone? I always do!" said the cute, 24-year old teacher at my last job. "I always drink by myself, every night!" said the cute 28-year old at my new job. They told me the combini worker's question was most likely a subtle prod to get me to ask her to drink together, which I, Mr. Genius, was too retarded* to pick up on. Maybe I should stop drinking...

* apologies if you suffer from retardation and are thus offended by this term.