Bodies and Currents or Shoot Out in the Wild West

I was working on another blog, 'The Sailor and the Firefly,' and then thing kept happening to me that made me think about how my experiences here were laying on top of the economic and political drama that is going on at home.

お雛様 in our living room

 I went a dentist here (walking 5 minutes) with a certain amount of trepidation. (Dentists have almost always seemed to me a bit mercenary--one I visited in Park Slope had his walls covered with picture from the travels to distant parts that his patients had paid for.) I also had this strange idea that American dentists were the best, that is why we pay such big bucks to have our teeth cleaned etc. isn't it? I was in for such a surprise.
Last summer when Yumiko and I received our tax returns we each went to the dentist and without getting much done used up almost $3000 which was a good chunk for humble folks like us. And they wanted us back again for more money infusion. They had hardly scratched the surface..

長母寺

中 村先生 came right in and told me that he believed he could save my tooth (one that Dr. Mossafarri told me would have to be a root canal) and which had since cracked. Dr. Nakamura also said that he would build a crown for the neighboring tooth and the price for this work (the part that the national insurance wouldn’t cover) would be somewhere around $80.00. Would that be OK? he asked. While the anesthesia was taking effect Dr. Nakamura’s assistants came in and cleaned my teeth and did a marvelous job. When Dr. Nakamura came back he carved (drilled) away the decay almost as painlessly as a warm shampoo and invited me back next week for the new crowns. When I mentioned to him that he seemed to me quite skillful he replied, “Maybe more skilful than the average American dentist.” He then went on to explain that American dentists are in too much of a rush to pull teeth or do root canals. “Too much of a rush to get to the bank,” I thought.
On Saturday I rode to 大須 (Oosu) by bike. It's about a 10 kilometer ride cross town and traffic. In Japan the bikers almost always ride on the sidewalks weaving in between and around people and other bikes. It's an amazing performance especially when the sidewalks are full of people the way they were in Oosu on Saturday afternoon. I realized as I was weaving around people, that what makes this possible is that the people here walk in a predictable trajectory. They don't suddenly swerve or stop or throw up their arms. Even in their street motions they move with  遠慮。Enryo; meaning restraint, reserve diffidence, discretion, tact, thoughtfulness. Riding along--on my way back home--at a fairly good clip--someone suddenly broke out of this pattern and changed direction. I guess they saw something attractive in a shop window--and I had to jam on the brakes. It was then I realized it couldn't be helped--he was a foreigner. He hadn't had the generations of training in swimming in the crowds that the Japanese have had. The individual/the group.

長母寺

It got me thinking about freedom. The freedom that Americans always refer to. In the same way that people have freedom from theft when no one steals the Japanese have freedom of motion through group restraint. Freedom through discipline.
It appears to me that a truly rich culture puts it's wealth into the public sphere; building up the libraries, schools, public transportation, protecting the natural resources and does not sanction the great accumulation of wealth and power by individuals (or for that matter corporations). The public good over individual accomplishments/excesses. This is a difficult balance. Ayn Rand would have had a hard time in group think Japan. Lemmings can be lead into disaster--and the second  world war is not forgotten. There is, however something to be learned through group cooperation. This is not a 'communist' ideology--it's just one that says that people can benefit from pooling resources, strengths and talents and that individual competition, which is always held up as the hallmark of western capitalism has it price--alienation, mistrust and isolation.
The tendency that I see going on in America, among all the rancor, Sturm und Drang  and political gesticulations is that people are shoring up their own little (or big) castles and hoping to ride out the storm; kind of like people closing the shutters when the outlaw gangs came to town. The rich are increasingly feathering their nests while calling for the cutting of programs that aid the poor, the environment, women, elderly and public infrastructure. In a trade off they allow the working class their guns--making them feel empowered and able to protect their freedoms. It's all sold as great free enterprise and necessary for unfettering of our great entrepreneurial spirit.
I drink my morning coffee from a cup that was here when we arrived. It says in a typically Japanese and un-American fashion, "We are sure to succeed if [we] work together."

p & l

Photos of Oohinasama and Choboji taken by wms.